I like Grisham’s esrly works, but eventually tired of his works. This summer, I heard an interview where he discussed his (then) new book (Camino Island) about a rare book dealer on a barrier island in the Southeast who ends up with original manuscripts of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s works stolen from Princeton University. The story focuses on the theft and the plan by the company insuring the works to get them back. I enjoyed it.
For anyone who doesn’t mind a book that’s a little gritty, Christodora, by Tim Murphy is the best book I’ve read in the last year. I follows the intertwined lives of many characters over the course of around thirty years, with the AIDS epidemic of the 80s and 90s being a focus. It kept me awake at night and made me cry at times - it was that good. Very well written.
“My Life with Bob: Flawed Heroine Keeps Book of Books, Plot Ensues” by Pamela Paul. This has been recommended by others on this thread and I second the recommendation. Because of it, I went through my bookcase and found Ex Libris by Anne Fadiman (a few good essays, but a bit too erudite for me), and “So Many Books, So Little Time” by Sara Nelson. The latter one, so far so good.
Other recommendations for books about book lovers?
Not sure if this qualifies, but I like “The Uncommon Reader” by Alan Bennett. It is a charming fictional novella.
Having started this thread in 2007, with Daniel Mendelsohn’s The Lost, I’m now circling back, after many years away, just to say that his new book, An Odyssey: A Father, A Son, and An Epic—a memoir that grew out of his 81-year-old father’s decision to sit in on the Homer seminar he teaches at Bard—is well worth reading, too.
Carry on.
Although this book came out quite a while ago, the recent TV series based on the book inspired me to read it: “Einstein: His Life and Universe,” by Walter Isaacson. It’s an authoritative bio on Einstein. I’m so impressed with Isaacson that now I’m reading his bio on Benjamin Franklin.
“Shirley Jackson: A Very Haunted Life” is very well written. Her own writing was superb and her personal life fascinates me, because it makes me think of my mom and other women of her generation, college educated but expected to focus on marriage and children.
welcome back, @epistrophy…
@epistrophy taking the opportunity to “thank you” for starting this amazing thread, life changing in many ways! Kudos to you- welcome back
“A Man Called Ove” by Fredrik Backman. Heartbreaking and heartwarming all at the same time.
I’m reading The Last Ballad by Wiley Cash and enjoying it. HIstorical fiction fans should enjoy it. I was unaware of the story he tells.
@Empireapple My H reads mostly non-fiction, but picked up my copy of * A Man Called Ove*. He loved it and bought two more Backman books. He says My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry is almost as wonderful as Ove.
I just started but I am already sucked into Philip Pullman’s Book of Dust. I loved the Golden Compass series and this is a prequel. Don’t tell DD but I ordered this for her for Christmas. I thought I should read it and make sure it is appropriate for a thirty year old…
@Onward - every book my son and daughter hold close at night and reread obsessively for years was thoroughly vetted by me first. Harry Potter, Hunger Games, Divergent, Ready Player One, The Martian, Reamde, all Stephen King, etc etc. I freely admit that my taste in books never grew up.
Hmm, what is Reamde?
Neal Stephenson, author of Snow Crash etc. If you cut your teeth on Neuromancer, Neal Stephenson is the logical progression.
But Reamde (correct - the typo is part of the story) is not quite like other Stephenson; it’s a bit more accessible, especially for teenagers.
Okay, thanks. I have read some Stephenson – liked Snow Crash and The Rise & Fall of D.O.D.O. okay. Didn’t like Seveneves.
@Onward -my 30 year old D reserved a copy of the Book of Dust from our local bookstore before it came out. She didn’t want to risk not getting a copy right away. She loved the Golden Compass series. She has now passed along the Book of Dust to her Dad. When she was young she would have book club with her Dad. She would read something and insist that he read it and they would share thoughts on the Book.
Thanks to whoever recommended Joseph Finder. I picked up one of his books at the library. Sometimes I’m at the library and looking for something to read and I’ll pull up this thread on my phone to get ideas. Thank you all.
@mom60 I recommended Finder. Enjoyed his newest book. Have not yet read any other books of his.
I just finished reading an absolutely wonderful book of historical fiction and came to tell you about it as I continue to wipe away tears. News of the World, by Paulette Jiles, is about an elderly gentleman, Captain Kidd, in 1870 who makes a living riding from town to town in the midwest and Texas, conducting readings of newspapers for illiterate townsfolk who pay a dime apiece to hear the news and events in the wider world. The civil war has recently ended, law in the south is a spotty matter, and Indian raids are still commonplace.
A ten year old girl - German by birth - had been kidnapped four years ago by the Kiowa tribe and was now rescued. This girl thinks of herself as thoroughly Kiowa and has no memory of her previous life. Captain Kidd is entrusted with the task of returning her to relatives in the south of Texas - a long and dangerous carriage ride away.
The relationship they build and the experiences they go through are riveting, heartwarming, thrilling, and (for me) educational.
I highly, highly recommend this book.