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.
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.