I love anything by Lewis Nordan. I recommend Wolf Whistle, or The Sharpshooter Blues. He has several volumes of short fiction as well. Welcome to the Arrowcatcher Fair, The All Girl Football Team, Music of the Swamp, Sugar Among the Freaks, and I recommend ALL of them. I do love short fiction.He makes me laugh out loud every time I read one of his books, even though I’ve read them many many times. I had the good fortune to be one of his students at the University of Pittsburgh. I was a writing major. I’m a re-reader. If something gave me so much pleasure the first time, l’ll return to it again. I love anything by Margaret Atwood (have since 1985) and even got to hear her lecture at the Carnegie library in the 90’s. It was a red letter day! Anything by Cormac McCarthy, I am stunned by his prose. Have read a lot of Anthony Burgess beyond A Clockwork Orange.
A much lighter read than most have suggested, but anymore I read for unapologetic escapism.
Just finished “Where the Crawdads Sing.” By Delia Owens.
The movie comes out in July and depending on what the covid landscape looks like, I’d love to go watch it.
Had to settle for streaming Dune at home this winter and I’m still bummed about that.
If you can find " The Missing" or "The Clearing" by Tim Gautreaux, read it. Also, "The Bottoms" by Joe R. Lansdale, and "Strange Peaches" by Bud Shrake. I've been voraciously reading for fifty years, and these are four of my favs. Local color at its best, and a much more realistic portrayal of the South and its inhabitants than the chisellers and crumb bums we see on SAV.
I love this question because I get to tell anyone who will listen about my favorite modern book (that is not written by David Sedaris or Stephen King).
City of Thieves by David Benioff
To quote a reviewer of the book, it's, "unputdownable".
It's been my favorite for years and years. I had no idea he was the show runner for GOT until it was off the air so that has no bearing on my adoration of this book. He wrote it before GOT came out. It's just...great. Fantastic book.
I'm a voracious reader, 2 books a week usually. I read the classics decades ago, then got into historical fiction with Mitchner, Clavell, Uris etc, but the last 20 years have been strictly non-fiction. Currently reading "Ping Pong Diplomacy" which has many ties to "Operation Mincemeat" (soon to be a motion picture), same spies and commies outed in the Philby books etc.
I've read over 3000 books, retained about 1% of what was written. I really wish I could have a Marilu Henner memory where I could have instant recall of facts, dates, times and data but I'm just a putz entertaining myself and grabbing some useful data I might use before I forget it, my hard drive (brain) is very inefficient.
One of the greatest things ever for us readers was the internet. I used to read books on my laptop, then a PalmPilot back in the late 90's, downloaded from IRC (still the #1 repository of E-books, if you know where to look). It might be considered theft, I consider it an online library. We've donated hundreds of "dead tree tomes" to our local library and I consider that payback. We have zero bookshelves at home now, we are bookless, unless you delve into our hard drives.
That's an interesting progression of "book relationships (preferences?). I went from well over 1000 hard copy cooks on my shelves (probably approaching 2000), but about 15 years ago started "simplifying" (i.e getting rid of stuff) and gifting or giving away my books and am now down to about a hundred. It was a slow process. Initially I tried to find friends/relatives who I thought would really enjoy the books. By the end I was just loading up books to drop off at the "Friends of the Library and Literacy" non-profit used book store in town. The hundred or so hard-copy books I kept fall into two categories: art books and science books. The art books because you just don't get the same zing from looking at a computer screen picture of a famous painting, that you get from a giant glossy coffee table art book. The science books because I actually re-read them frequently and like to flip back and forth and compare things I am reading with other books etc something I find easier to do with a hard copy compared to my Kindle books. I also was a total fiction reader early in life (an English Lit major in undergrad school so think classics and books that won awards) but as I aged I started reading more and more non-fiction (primarily science). I still read a lot of what I consider total fluff but I've always relied on the library for that, and still rely on the library for it. In the fluff category I am a cozy English mystery and hard science fiction addict.
It's fiction, but I think "Doomsday Book" by Connie Willis should be required reading for everyone during this pandemic. It's about the Black Death, and a modern viral plague.
Oh that's a good one. I'm not sure I see a lot of correlation between the plagues in the story (both in the past and in the future) to the current pandemic (keeping in mind that I read that book so damn long ago that I had to look it up before I realized I had already read it) but it was a well written piece of science fiction. Science Fiction of the "hard" variety is my favourite genre and I have been known to cheerfully read inordinate amounts of soft sci-fi especially if it involves puns.
I am so lazy I am just copying a book suggestion I made when we were about a year or two into The Orange Cone of Treason's administration.
have finally finished "Why? Explaining the Holocaust" by Peter Hayes.
As most of my friends know I am a compulsive reader averaging about a book a day. Of course my dirty little secret is that 99% of the books I read are trashy science fiction or cosy murder mysteries set in English manors and quaint Maine villages. So great is my guilt over my reading habits, that once a month I make it a point to check out "Books That Hurt My Brain" in an effort to redeem myself. "Why?" was checked out as a BTHMB.
"Why?" did not hurt my brain but it did hurt my heart. The book caught my eye because I have seen so many comparisons, on social media, between Nazi Germany and Trump's America. Invariably, there is at least one post in the threads outraged at the comparison because the comparison diminishes the horror of the Holocaust or something along those lines. So I thought I might try educating myself on how the Holocaust came about and if the same could occur here with a new scapegoat(s).
After finishing the book I am both reassured and apprehensive. Reassured because, pursuant to the analysis of Hayes the Holocaust required a number of different trends/situations to come together at the same time in the same place much like the "perfect storm". Apprehensive because many of the parallels of early Nazi Germany are strikingly similar to Trump's attitude, policies and followers today.
If you've got the time I strongly recommend this book to you. It is actually not that hard of a read, not that long (@ 350 page) and not as dry as a lot of academic books, although like any good academic Hayes footnotes and reference the heck out of stuff.
And I know it's been said/printed before but I'd like to give a shout-out to Denmark. Most people who have even a passing knowledge of the Holocaust remember that Denmark made an impressive effort to save its Jewish population (although as the book made clear the success of this effort had less to do with any individual heroism and inate goodness and mostly to do with outside factors and timing that worked in its favor) but this is the thing that really impressed me - to quote "Perhaps even more amazing then these numbers is the fact that after the war, when these people returned to Denmark, they found their homes and property not only unmolested but also carefully tended in their absence." Damn! Those Danes are awesomely good.
Escapist book: Norman Maclean's "A River Runs Through It and Other Stories". Specifically, one of the other stories "USFS 1919: The Ranger, the Cook, and a Hole in the Sky". My old man and uncles were loggers in the 1950's, and other than chain saws, not much had changed since 1919. Maclean's writing reminds me of them and their logging camp days. I'm also reminded of a hike in a remote part of Olympic National Park where I bushwhacked my way up an uncleared trail ascending Six Ridge, then popped out of the jackstrawed windfalls and right into a very surprised trail crew who was clearing the very same trail--from the other end. They didn't see how I ascended that tangled mess.
Also Michael Lewis's "The Fifth Risk." Basically the idea that if there are 4 risks, there's that other unknown 5th risk that can't now be imagined, but which it's the government's job to plan for. And stories of what some specific government agencies do and how Psycho Donnie set out to dismantle and sabotage them.
This is an important read as the GQP now openly advocates the overthrow of government. That digusting J.D. Vance is saying that the next (Republican) president should fire every federal employee.
I love anything by Lewis Nordan. I recommend Wolf Whistle, or The Sharpshooter Blues. He has several volumes of short fiction as well. Welcome to the Arrowcatcher Fair, The All Girl Football Team, Music of the Swamp, Sugar Among the Freaks, and I recommend ALL of them. I do love short fiction.He makes me laugh out loud every time I read one of his books, even though I’ve read them many many times. I had the good fortune to be one of his students at the University of Pittsburgh. I was a writing major. I’m a re-reader. If something gave me so much pleasure the first time, l’ll return to it again. I love anything by Margaret Atwood (have since 1985) and even got to hear her lecture at the Carnegie library in the 90’s. It was a red letter day! Anything by Cormac McCarthy, I am stunned by his prose. Have read a lot of Anthony Burgess beyond A Clockwork Orange.
On The Farm by Stevie Cameron
A much lighter read than most have suggested, but anymore I read for unapologetic escapism.
Just finished “Where the Crawdads Sing.” By Delia Owens. The movie comes out in July and depending on what the covid landscape looks like, I’d love to go watch it. Had to settle for streaming Dune at home this winter and I’m still bummed about that.
I MISS THEATER MOVIES!!!!!!
Interlinked Destiny.
If you love horror and hate MAGATs, it is definitely a twisted tale. The opening kill is definitely a red hat.
It positively addresses COVID and vaccines.
Probably triggering for some. The book itself has a trigger warning on it.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B09M27Q272/
"Attack of the Theocrats: How the Religious Right Harms Us All" by Sean Faircloth, 2012
I now read mostly non-fiction, but other than most everything Pratchett, I have an absolute favorite from childhood. Dogsbody by Dianne Winn Jones.
Shake Hands with the Devil by Romeo Dallaire
The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz
The Dirt:Confessions of the World's Most Notorious Rock Band by Neil Strauss
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck by Mark Manson
In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts by Gabor Mate
1984 by George Orwell
Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl
The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk
Strega Nona by Tomie de Paola
And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
One from the classics pile: "Travels with Charley", John Steinbeck. Witty, interesting, and a glimpse of an America that is now practically gone.
The power of one - Bryce Courtenay. And it's follow up, Tandia.
The Pillars of the earth - Ken Follet.
Both great couch companions. Both turned into tele-movies which never do the books justice imo.
If you can find " The Missing" or "The Clearing" by Tim Gautreaux, read it. Also, "The Bottoms" by Joe R. Lansdale, and "Strange Peaches" by Bud Shrake. I've been voraciously reading for fifty years, and these are four of my favs. Local color at its best, and a much more realistic portrayal of the South and its inhabitants than the chisellers and crumb bums we see on SAV.
I love this question because I get to tell anyone who will listen about my favorite modern book (that is not written by David Sedaris or Stephen King).
City of Thieves by David Benioff
To quote a reviewer of the book, it's, "unputdownable".
It's been my favorite for years and years. I had no idea he was the show runner for GOT until it was off the air so that has no bearing on my adoration of this book. He wrote it before GOT came out. It's just...great. Fantastic book.
I'm a voracious reader, 2 books a week usually. I read the classics decades ago, then got into historical fiction with Mitchner, Clavell, Uris etc, but the last 20 years have been strictly non-fiction. Currently reading "Ping Pong Diplomacy" which has many ties to "Operation Mincemeat" (soon to be a motion picture), same spies and commies outed in the Philby books etc.
I've read over 3000 books, retained about 1% of what was written. I really wish I could have a Marilu Henner memory where I could have instant recall of facts, dates, times and data but I'm just a putz entertaining myself and grabbing some useful data I might use before I forget it, my hard drive (brain) is very inefficient.
One of the greatest things ever for us readers was the internet. I used to read books on my laptop, then a PalmPilot back in the late 90's, downloaded from IRC (still the #1 repository of E-books, if you know where to look). It might be considered theft, I consider it an online library. We've donated hundreds of "dead tree tomes" to our local library and I consider that payback. We have zero bookshelves at home now, we are bookless, unless you delve into our hard drives.
A Constellation of Vital Phenomena by Anthony Marra; Novel about both Chechen wars
The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates; Novel about slavery; well done, subdued magical realism; should have won major prizes
Bewilderment by Richard Powers; Novel - astrobiology, autism, family, love, ecological destruction.
Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doer
You'll Never Believe What Happend to Lacey by Amber Ruffin
Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
I read as a distraction
Well shit, The Stand, of course!
It's fiction, but I think "Doomsday Book" by Connie Willis should be required reading for everyone during this pandemic. It's about the Black Death, and a modern viral plague.
The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History
https://www.amazon.com/Great-Influenza-Deadliest-Pandemic-History/dp/0143036491
I am so lazy I am just copying a book suggestion I made when we were about a year or two into The Orange Cone of Treason's administration.
have finally finished "Why? Explaining the Holocaust" by Peter Hayes.
As most of my friends know I am a compulsive reader averaging about a book a day. Of course my dirty little secret is that 99% of the books I read are trashy science fiction or cosy murder mysteries set in English manors and quaint Maine villages. So great is my guilt over my reading habits, that once a month I make it a point to check out "Books That Hurt My Brain" in an effort to redeem myself. "Why?" was checked out as a BTHMB.
"Why?" did not hurt my brain but it did hurt my heart. The book caught my eye because I have seen so many comparisons, on social media, between Nazi Germany and Trump's America. Invariably, there is at least one post in the threads outraged at the comparison because the comparison diminishes the horror of the Holocaust or something along those lines. So I thought I might try educating myself on how the Holocaust came about and if the same could occur here with a new scapegoat(s).
After finishing the book I am both reassured and apprehensive. Reassured because, pursuant to the analysis of Hayes the Holocaust required a number of different trends/situations to come together at the same time in the same place much like the "perfect storm". Apprehensive because many of the parallels of early Nazi Germany are strikingly similar to Trump's attitude, policies and followers today.
If you've got the time I strongly recommend this book to you. It is actually not that hard of a read, not that long (@ 350 page) and not as dry as a lot of academic books, although like any good academic Hayes footnotes and reference the heck out of stuff.
And I know it's been said/printed before but I'd like to give a shout-out to Denmark. Most people who have even a passing knowledge of the Holocaust remember that Denmark made an impressive effort to save its Jewish population (although as the book made clear the success of this effort had less to do with any individual heroism and inate goodness and mostly to do with outside factors and timing that worked in its favor) but this is the thing that really impressed me - to quote "Perhaps even more amazing then these numbers is the fact that after the war, when these people returned to Denmark, they found their homes and property not only unmolested but also carefully tended in their absence." Damn! Those Danes are awesomely good.
Escapist book: Norman Maclean's "A River Runs Through It and Other Stories". Specifically, one of the other stories "USFS 1919: The Ranger, the Cook, and a Hole in the Sky". My old man and uncles were loggers in the 1950's, and other than chain saws, not much had changed since 1919. Maclean's writing reminds me of them and their logging camp days. I'm also reminded of a hike in a remote part of Olympic National Park where I bushwhacked my way up an uncleared trail ascending Six Ridge, then popped out of the jackstrawed windfalls and right into a very surprised trail crew who was clearing the very same trail--from the other end. They didn't see how I ascended that tangled mess.
The Premonition by Michael Lewis is non-fiction about the pandemic. It’s on my shelf to be read.
https://www.npr.org/2021/05/03/991570372/michael-lewis-the-premonition-is-a-sweeping-indictment-of-the-cdc
Favorite fiction:
The Great Alone by Kristen Hannah, The Four Winds, same author
American Dirt
Where the Crawdads Sing