LinkBack URL
About LinkBacks
I just read Short Talks by Ann Carson and loved it. It's a little weird but the writing is just incredible. And I read it all in about an hour.
Now I'm reading We Killed which is an oral history of American women in comedy, starting with Phyllis Diller and moving through the decades up to the up-and-comers right now like Chelsea Handler and Aubrey Plaza. So far it's fantastic.
I don't think I could handle reading that.
This is the lone review on amazon for Short Talks: This wonderful book is also in print as a section of Carson's _Plainwater_collection, which is much more broadly available. If you're nuts about her work, you might want to have it anyway. And you should at least want it, because she's great, as much as the word "great' has meaning. She has Ann Sexton's confessional toolkit, balanced by a scholarship that Sexton never had. Her essay ideas are always fascinating. Her translations are rich and spare at the same time. She's great.
The Plainwater collection was cheaper, so I got that.
I haven't posted in awhile but have read so many great books in the last couple of months. I will try to condense the list but do apologize in advance for the length of this post!Has anyone else read any of these?
A Land More Kind Than Home: 8 year old Jess and his older brother Stump (who has autism) witness something they don't truly understand which results in tragedy. This novel takes place in the Appalachians and is hauntingly beautiful.
by Wiley Cash
The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane: A history student at Harvard uncovers a mystery from the Salem Witch Trials while exploring her grandmother's home.
by Katherine Howe
The Hurricane: 17 year old Daniel's family and peers are obsessed with technology. After a violent hurricane which destroys almost everything his community is used to, Daniel discovers a simpler way of living, family ties, loyal friendships and love.
by Hugh Howey
The Snow Child: A grieving middle-aged couple relocates to Alaska and finds the gap between them widening. One night, in a rare lighthearted moment, they impulsively build a snowman. The next morning, the snowman has vanished, but they later glimpse a young girl all alone in the snowy forest. A simply beautiful tale!
by Eowyn Ivey
Get Well Soon: Anna is sent to a mental hospital by her self-absorbed parents. She spends three weeks there dealing with her depression and learning to love herself and by extension, others. One of my favorite YA novels.
by Julie Halpern
Have a Nice Day: Sequel to "Get Well Soon" When Anna returns home after staying in a mental hospital, she tries to figure out her place in the world and her relationships with her family, friends and teachers.
by Julie Halpern
Clan of the Cave Bear: A prehistoric tribe rescues and takes in an usual young girl. As she grows, she struggles with her instincts which often differ from her adopted tribe.
by Jean M. Auel
Ashes: A different kind of apocalyptic/zombie/YA fiction. Really enjoyable with unusual twists. First in a trilogy.
by Ilsa J. Bick
Shadows: Second in the above-mentioned "Ashes" trilogy.
by Ilsa J. Bick
The Empress of Ice Cream: Young man gets involved with political intrigue as he invents ice cream for royalty.
by Anthony Capella
The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake: This reminded me of "Garden Spells". It is a sweet, sad story.
by Aimee Bender
The Twelve (Book Two of "The Passage"): Continuation of the post apocalyptic novel "The Passage".
by Justin Cronin
The School of Essential Ingredients: If you love reading descriptions of great meals, cooking and love, you will enjoy this lovely novel.
by Erica Bauermeister
It's Kind of a Funny Story: Yes, it is another teenager-in-a-mental-hospital YA book, but I really enjoyed the humor, the main character and his fellow patients.
by Ned Vizzini
Eat Cake: A middle-aged woman de-stresses by baking wonderful cakes. She needs de-stressing with all the family nuttiness going on. Another one that will make your mouth water.
by Jeanne Ray
The Ninth Life of Louis Drax: Louis lies in a coma in an exclusive clinic as his doctor tries to piece together what caused it.
by Liz Jensen
Hate List: Aftermath of a school shooting. Hard to read due to recent events but very well done. This one is from the point of view of the shooter's girlfriend who had no idea what was coming.
by Jennifer Brown
The Love Goddess' Cooking School: Title says it all...with great food descriptions.
by Melissa Senate
The Perks of Being a Wallflower: Book on which the recent film is based. Wonderful stuff!
by Stephen Chbosky
The Last Chinese Chef: Oh dear! More descriptions of the yummiest food. Plus romance, grief and travel to a distant land. Loved it!
by Nicole Mones
The Fault in our Stars: Tops many 'best of 2012 lists' a YA novel about young people with cancer. Contrary to the subject matter, this book has quite a few laughs, charming characters and unexpected twists. My favorite book of 2012.
by John Green
Gone Girl: Anatomy of a marriage told by both parties, plus an enigmatic mystery with one hell of a twist ending. My second favorite of the year.
by Gillian Flynn
I read the Physick Book and really enjoyed it. Right now I am reading Gods Like Us by Ty Burr, a fascinating account of the movie industry from nickelodeon to todays online delivery system. He makes you think of fame and what we want out of our movie heros.
Gods Like Us - review - Ty Burr Review | Book Reviews and News | EW.com
Elk - I read The Snow Child about a year ago and loved it. Totally mesmerizing! The publishing rep who recommended it to me said it was his favorite book of the year. It was definitely one of mine! I read in pretty much one sitting - stayed up all night to finish it.
I finished Fever this morning. Very good, but sad too. I'm fascinated with everything to do with late-19th/early-20th century NYC history, so I would have read it just for that. The book made me want to do more research about Mary Mallon to see how much of this book about Typhoid Mary was actually true.
Now I'm reading Brush With Death by Karen McInernry, a fluffy mystery to cleanse the palate, so-to-speak.
Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.' - Isaac Asimov
I was thinking of the immortal words of Socrates, who said, "... I drank what?"
Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain. So good. Never again will I order fish on Monday!
Time you enjoy wasting was not wasted - John Lennon
Waywyrd, I read most of his culinary books and Kitchen Confidential is still my favorite one!
I think it's been said since the book came out that the fish thing is now bogus, but I still wouldn't take a chance
I'm reading a book about slums in India titled Behind the beautiful forevers, by Katherine Boo (a journalist). The topic is interesting, the writing is good and the people are interesting, yet I find the book does not interest me as much as I thought it would. I'd love to hear the opinion of someone who's read it.
elk, I read The Snow Child last year and agree it's "a simply beautiful tale." Also read Clan of the Cave Bear many years ago and loved it, and have read the other books in the series as well. Some I liked and some not so much, but CCB remains my favorite of the series. Thanks for all the recommendations!
I'm reading 4 different books about lowering cholesterol right now with some contradicting opinions. I also just re-read "The Pleasure of my Company" by Steve Martin. It's my favorite of his books that I've read. I recommended it to my daughter, who has it on her Kindle, too, and she thought it was hysterical. I was waiting while my other daughter had her wisdom teeth out and meant to read another book, but just wanted to remind myself how funny it was first. Next thing I knew, I was well into it and couldn't put it down.
Posting Permissions
154Likes
Reply With Quote