 Icelandic cafe decor. These are color coordinated books that look cool, but the books have been cut away about 3 inches from the spine so that they can be displayed. The bookshelves don't need to be full sized this way, but the books are unreadable.
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 The Girls from Corona del Mar, Rufi Thorpe. 2014. The Girls from Corona del Mar (Ryan): LOVE LOVE LOVE this one. Couldn't stop reading until it was done. Definitely recommend this relatively short novel about upward mobility, addiction, disability, and abortion. Really, it has so much more than that. The character development, the writing, the story all held together so well. One of my favorites for sure. Will definitely be on the short list of 2018 recommendations. Next up: Promise Me, Dad.
Recommended by college sophomore, Ryan. Comments: Ryan: Glad you liked that one! Did you happen to keep a short list of 2017 recommendations? (Yes! It is in the December 2017 blog) Michele: i just finished this one... absolutely LOVED it! Me: Love, love, love this book. Definitely a favorite.  A Street Cat Named Bob, James Bowen. 2012. A Street Cat named Bob (Kat): I was not keen on this one. It is from the new genre of books by people who have social media followings. It needed another round of serious editing. It wasn't bad, it just wasn't good. It is a story about a quirky recovering addict living a marginal existence who had an equally quirky cat. It did have some interesting insight into his unusual thought process, but I just wasn't drawn into the book. The prose was choppy and the themes repetitive and superficial. Definitely not my favorite.
Recommended by a former student of mine, Kat, who wrote, "Saw the movie and absolutely fell in love and my mom is reading the book. An easy read that will bring up the feelings, yet also gives you a human perspective on homelessness and drug addiction"  The School of Essential Ingredients, Erika Bauermeister. 2009. The School of Essential Ingredients (Karen S1): This book is a series of loosely intertwined short stories about a group of people taking a cooking class, with each story written around a recipe being prepared. It took a while to get into it, especially since I am not a foodie. I ultimately really liked it, especially the prose, but didn’t love it.
Recommended by lawyer friend, Karen S1 (there are at least two Karen S's contributing here, hence the unusual name designation).  A Mother's Reckoning, Cue Klebod. 2016. A Mother's Reckoning (Lucy): As if I wasn't already in constant worry about what is going on for my children and other teens, this book was shocking in the absolute lack of connection one of the Columbine shooters had with his family. Heartbreaking, it did offer some insight into suicide prevention, depression, and the inner lives of teenagers. There wasn't really enough material for a whole book, it was repetitive in places. A good editing could have made it 100 pages shorter and much stronger. The best part was probably the intro by Far From the Tree author Andrew Solomon. Rather than foreshadowing the story, it should have had a spoiler alert because even though we might all think we know the story from the press it got, this book's perspective was unique. Probably a good book for anyone living or working with teens, but I can't really give it a recommend in general.
Next up: The School of Essential Ingredients, but now that I am back at work after winter break and a symposium, the pace is going to slow down quite a bit. Recommended by high school senior Lucy, it was technically the 51st suggestion until one got disqualified when I found out it was a duplicate author. Comments: Me: This looks so good, but I went in order of suggestions being posted & confirmed & this is #51! So, maybe next year or if I finish early, I’ll add this. Also me: This book was heartbreaking, but so good. It really makes you think about how you treat people.  Exit West, Mohsin Hamid. 2017. D.Exit West (Gretchen): I know Obama loved it. But, it just was not my favorite. I’m not a fan of the fantasy genre where the social justice theme hits you in the face. It’s very similar to The Underground Railroad. I like a little subtlety with my social commentary. It wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t fabulous.
Recommended by my friend Gretchen D., then again by Natalie.  Fire & Fury, Michael Wolff. 2018. Fire & Fury (Amy): Nothing shocking here & the writing is nothing fabulous since it was obviously cranked out really quickly. I found it entertaining & scary, but just felt like no one that could learn anything from the book will believe any of it—or care. Depressing. I can’t really recommend it, except everyone is talking about it so you’ll know what the hype is.
*** Comments: Shasta: Won't it be ironic if a book is what brings down Trump". It won't be of course, but I loved the idea. Me: So far, there really isn't anything in there that has surprised me. Julie: Half way through and I agree Tiffany: Just finished Fire and Fury. Do NOT recommend. I still feel dirty. Me: I’m still undecided about a recommendation on this. As a literary piece, it is terrible, but it was an easy read & had some interesting insights buried amid all the fluff. Why wouldn’t you recommend it? Tiffany: It seemed to me a work conceived by Steve Bannon for the benefit of Steve's overarching goals to take the helm of the Trump movement. He's more dangerous than Trump IMO Me: hmmmm...that’s a theory I didn’t consider. Tiffany: Steve gave Wolff the high access to the WH, told people in the admin that they should talk to him for months, and gave him the lion share of the quotes. Steve is only lightly derided in the book as crass, disheveled and conniving. But that seems to be his brand anyway. I say beware.  Homegoing, Yaa Gyasi. 2016. Homecoming (Sybil) : A collection of inter-generational short stories, sometimes difficult to follow how they fit together, but some of the stories are lovely and poignant, others not as strong. Sort of like up updated Roots meets Color Purple meets Americanah meets Beloved. Not my favorite because of the jumping from story to story, but not bad, either. Next up, Fire & Fury.
*** Recommended by my lawyer friend, Sybil: Homegoing, by Yaa Gyasi, a brilliant young Ghanain-American author. I can't stop thinking about it.  Big Little Lies, Liane Moriarty. 2014. I finished the first book yesterday: Big Little Lies (Amanda) .
I was not prepared for what it was & I ended up really liking it. The story held together. Similar to Gone Girl & The Girl on the Train, both of which I hated because of the way they handled the domestic & sexual violence, this gem had a surprisingly sophisticated approach. Given the light writing style & fun banter that kept a fast pace going throughout, the twist ending wasn’t obvious. Recommend. Recommended by Amanda. Comments: Heather: I read that book in one day. It consumed me. 1. Big Little Lies (Amanda)
2. Homegoing (Sybil) 3. Fire & Fury (Amy) 4. The Magicians; 5. Sister Outsider; 6. The God of Small Things; 7. The Rules of Magic; 8. A Street Cat Named Bob, 9. Small Gods, 10. Fall On Your Knees; 11. Cloud Atlas, 12. The Hate U Give, 13. Team of Rivals; 14. Earth Abides; 15. Mink River; 16. Manhattan Beach; 17. Ancillary Justice; 1 8. Morrigan's Cross; 19. Exit West; 20. Origin; 21. The Girl Who Drank The Moon; 22. Homegoing; 23. Beneath the Scarlet Sky: 24. Last Call; 25. The Tour; 26. The Dress Lodger; 27. Little Fires Everywhere; 28. Beyond Belief; 29. Straight Man; 30. When I’m Gone; 31. Neverwhere; 32. Stiff; 33. The Antelope Wife; 34. Call the Midwife; 35. The Black Dahlia; 36. The School of Essential Ingredients; 37. Breaking The Habit of Being Herself; 38. The Language of Emotion; 39. Crossing to Safety; 40. Angle of Repose; 41. Lust for Life; 42. Sapiens; 43. Altered Carbon; 44. The Painted Girls; 45. Promise Me Dad; 46. The Return of the Native; 47. Wild Seed; 48. The Girls from Corona Del Mar; 49. The Black Echo; 50. The Girl from Atomic City. (51. A Mother’s Reckoning). I got lots of recommendations for things I have already read. I'm including those conversations here. At some point, I'd like to go back and write reviews for these, but I haven't gotten there yet.
*** Just Mercy, recommended by fellow Quaker lawyer, Wendy. She ended up selecting The Girls From Atomic City. Wendy: Just Mercy, an amazing book that our book club thought was the best book we read all year. *** Pillars of the Earth, which I read in 2017 while traveling in Europe. I didn't love it and so didn't read the rest of the series. To rapey for me. Tasha recommended Morrgain's Cross instead. *** The Garden of Evening Mist: Read it and loved it. Raul from law school days recommended anything by David so I picked Cloud Atlas. *** Leah: Have you read Octavia's Brood yet? Me: Yes. The stories were hit & miss, though. The hits were big hits & worth it. *** Nadine made many suggestions: "Bel Canto by Ann Pachett, All the Light We Can Not See, Fall On Your Knees by Ann Marie MacDonald (and/or The Way the Crow Flies) A Prayer For Owen Meany. I have more..." Rules are rules and you only get one, but but luckily I had read all of these except for Fall on Your Knees, so that ended up being her contribution. *** You Don't Have to Say You Love Me, recommended by former OSU colleague and dance class buddy, was rejected: "One of my FAVORITE reads from last year. I LOVED it. Try again...It is so good. He narrates the book himself & is amazing. There’s one part where he’s clearly crying while he’s reading. I totally lost it. At the grocery store in the produce section. So powerful." *** Erin first suggested, "(Re-read) A Wrinkle in Time before the movie comes out. I read it to my kids and we all loved it, but it's been a long time." Since I had already read it, though, she tried, "Country Grit: A Farmoir of Finding Purpose and Love by Scottie Jones. Brand new book, just out, by local author. Easy, enjoyable read. It's about a couple from Phoenix who gave up city life and moved to Alsea, pretty much sight unseen, and became farmers. Trials, tribulations, and trying to find a way to be sustainable, which they have. These are the owners of Leaping Lamb Farms. I really enjoyed their story." None of these had an audio version, so they were rejected. Next, she suggested The 100-Year Old Man Who Climber Out the Window and Disappeared, which I had already read and liked. Finally, she recommended The Tour. *** Gabriel suggested Game of Thrones. I hated GOTs. I got about 1/3 of the way through the first book and game up, which is really rare for me. I just could not get into the universe. |
AuthorI'll read anything a friend recommends & I love telling people what I think about it. Every year, I read 50 books recommended by 50 different friends. Welcome to My 50 Bookish Friends Blog. SearchCategories
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