I really enjoy the Mary Schmich postings that you provide here. I remember the columns you did together many years ago. It would be nice to see that again.
Book to read: The Lincoln Highway, by Amor Towles. It hits all your marks. It is a wonderful adventure story, filled with compelling and fascinating characters. It is neither corny, lightweight, nor foolish. It neither lectures nor bores. Rather, it entertains: it is evocative, funny, sad, delightful and probing. Plan for a little more than ten minutes a day!
I can recommend "Hamnet, a Novel of the Plague" by Maggie O'Farrell, which invents a back story for Shakespeare (whose name never appears). The protagonists are his wife and his son Hamnet; in the afterword O'Farrell said she was moved to write after she noticed that Shakespeare never so much as alluded to the big story of his times...the Black Death....in any of his writings. Why might that be, she wondered? And why is one of his most famous plays more or less named after his son who died young? The whole thing is a triumph of the imagination.
I basically run the other way from novels. After I grew up, I thought, I don't even like the American custom of making "baby's first book" a novel, albeit one the beginning reader can understand. Pre-literate humans told each other stories, but they weren't novels. In elementary school, we were required to read a variety of books, which was great. But there was one WWII novel I read twice, because it is so good and there weren't other choices as good.
The last novel(s) I read was the Ibis Trilogy by Amitav Ghosh. All the high praise given this set is well-deserved. This year I bought "The Nutmeg's Curse" after a CHF event with the author. OK, not a novel. Years ago I bought Jean Auel's novel "The Mammoth Hunters" and plan to read the rest of the series someday.
For a number of years, most of the time I have available to read books has been occupied mostly by non-fiction books that are part of two history book discussion groups I'm in, both in connection with a local library. The first Ibis book was included as an option for a discussion about this era of history; we didn't end up talking much about it, but I'm grateful for the intro to this author.
Give Cormac McCarthy "The Road" a try. It was a complete surprise: quite unlike the other books of his I'd read or seen synopses of. (I'll share that chance for surprise by standing mute about its content). In this year of family, civic, national, and planetary travail, I'd picked it up on a whim at my favorite bookstore when it finally reopened (for a while), and couldn't have made a better choice. I started it mid-evening a few days later, and never set it down until I'd reached the end--and I'm a non-speedreader who enjoys getting her sleep. I think it will remain in my mind and heart, and on my bookshelves, along as I have any of them.
I read books, a lot -- primarily mysteries and thrillers and novels of little weight. I've actually had a lot of trouble finding books that hold my attention, but have, in the past few years, fallen in love with Inspector Gamache of the Three Pines mysteries by Louise Penny. Specifically, I LOVE the audio versions (haven't "read" one yet). The narrator is top-notch. (I was at the library drive-through pick-up spot once and had the audio book on, and the person smiled and said, "Are you listening to Inspector Gamache? I recognize the voice.") It starts with "Still Life." I highly recommend it and recommend listening in order.
I really enjoy the Mary Schmich postings that you provide here. I remember the columns you did together many years ago. It would be nice to see that again.
Book to read: The Lincoln Highway, by Amor Towles. It hits all your marks. It is a wonderful adventure story, filled with compelling and fascinating characters. It is neither corny, lightweight, nor foolish. It neither lectures nor bores. Rather, it entertains: it is evocative, funny, sad, delightful and probing. Plan for a little more than ten minutes a day!
I can recommend "Hamnet, a Novel of the Plague" by Maggie O'Farrell, which invents a back story for Shakespeare (whose name never appears). The protagonists are his wife and his son Hamnet; in the afterword O'Farrell said she was moved to write after she noticed that Shakespeare never so much as alluded to the big story of his times...the Black Death....in any of his writings. Why might that be, she wondered? And why is one of his most famous plays more or less named after his son who died young? The whole thing is a triumph of the imagination.
I basically run the other way from novels. After I grew up, I thought, I don't even like the American custom of making "baby's first book" a novel, albeit one the beginning reader can understand. Pre-literate humans told each other stories, but they weren't novels. In elementary school, we were required to read a variety of books, which was great. But there was one WWII novel I read twice, because it is so good and there weren't other choices as good.
The last novel(s) I read was the Ibis Trilogy by Amitav Ghosh. All the high praise given this set is well-deserved. This year I bought "The Nutmeg's Curse" after a CHF event with the author. OK, not a novel. Years ago I bought Jean Auel's novel "The Mammoth Hunters" and plan to read the rest of the series someday.
For a number of years, most of the time I have available to read books has been occupied mostly by non-fiction books that are part of two history book discussion groups I'm in, both in connection with a local library. The first Ibis book was included as an option for a discussion about this era of history; we didn't end up talking much about it, but I'm grateful for the intro to this author.
Give Cormac McCarthy "The Road" a try. It was a complete surprise: quite unlike the other books of his I'd read or seen synopses of. (I'll share that chance for surprise by standing mute about its content). In this year of family, civic, national, and planetary travail, I'd picked it up on a whim at my favorite bookstore when it finally reopened (for a while), and couldn't have made a better choice. I started it mid-evening a few days later, and never set it down until I'd reached the end--and I'm a non-speedreader who enjoys getting her sleep. I think it will remain in my mind and heart, and on my bookshelves, along as I have any of them.
I read books, a lot -- primarily mysteries and thrillers and novels of little weight. I've actually had a lot of trouble finding books that hold my attention, but have, in the past few years, fallen in love with Inspector Gamache of the Three Pines mysteries by Louise Penny. Specifically, I LOVE the audio versions (haven't "read" one yet). The narrator is top-notch. (I was at the library drive-through pick-up spot once and had the audio book on, and the person smiled and said, "Are you listening to Inspector Gamache? I recognize the voice.") It starts with "Still Life." I highly recommend it and recommend listening in order.