Small world story–my H was friendly with Doris and Dick because H’s office was in the town where the Goodwin’s lived and the three of them frequented the same local establishment. Doris and DIck were serious fans of our local MLB team as was my husband and he often watched away games with them at said establishment. Doris gave my younger daughter a signed copy of Team of Rivals.
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Our son was born in Concord, and I worked occasionally in one of our offices there. I wish I had known them. You can tour their Monument street house online. They called it their “book house” because almost every inch of wall space was bookcases, basically a live-in library, but she sold it and moved to Boston a few years after he died. What a life. Your H and daughter were very fortunate.
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I tried reading Emily Henry’s “ Beach Read” which a lot of people raved about. Found it unreadable. Haven’t read anything else by her.
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I read they used focus groups to edit parts - even if it’s not a unique work of art with an author’s unique style and vision.. it’s got to lose consistency and integrity if you let a bunch of people shape it every which way.
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Same. I finished it, but I shouldn’t have. Terrible plotting, unbelievable characters, and pretty bad writing. I really don’t get it.
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And adding–it’s not because it’s a “beach read”–I’ve read plenty in that category that were perfectly enjoyable.
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I know it has been mentioned a few times on this thread, but I wanted to say that I just finished The Correspondent and my goodness, if that isn’t one of the best books I’ve read in the last 6 months! I loved it.
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I just finished it yesterday and I feel exactly the same.
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I don’t want to give any spoilers on The Correspondent. I’ll just say that I found it uplifting to read (in a book that really did have some grim aspects) about characters and relationships evolving nicely.
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I read in one sitting Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan. It’s a tiny book – only around 105 pages – and takes place in Ireland in 1985. Fantastic book, excellent writing.
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FWIW Cillian Murphy (of Oppenhimer fame) made a touching movie of this novella.
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The Admissions by Meg Mitchell Moore was a great read. I have been reading through all these posts to load up my Kindle before being snowed in this weekend!
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I just finished the All the Broken Places(Joh Boyne), the audio book version. Thought it was really well done. It turns out to be a sequel to The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, a sad story from concentration camps (which I had seen as a movie, did not realize it had been a book). Serious topics but great storytelling.
One of the few amusing discussions could have been mentioned in various threads here. It went something like this. Son of elderly women - “You really should sell this 3 million pound flat (and give me some of the proceeds - I worry that you might fall down the stairs”. Mother - “And I worry that somebody my push me down those stairs!”
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Ah, adding. I read (didn’t see the movie of) The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. It stayed with me for a long time.
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I started this audiobook the other day and ….i cannot listen to it. Something about the author/narrator’s voice just grates me, and I don’t like her intonations. I mean, I get that she wrote it and should know where to emphasize but I’m going to have to get a print copy. (I’m not a great audiobook fan and hate fiction audiobooks, but am usually ok with non-fiction).
In the meantime any other good non-fiction recommendations to save me from way too many true crime podcasts on my commute are welcome. I have enjoyed varied ones from The Cuckoo’s Egg (recommended here a while back) to Sapiens to Everything is Tuberculosis. So anything really.
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I don’t care for audiobooks either. You really need the print version of this one if just for the pictures at the end.
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I read a lot of books. If some of them are audio, it allows me to “read” while walking, running, gardening etc. (Two years ago I finished 58 books, 15 audio. Last year only 38, 6 audio… ha, pickleball to blame for the decline. ) Often I listen to non-fiction, but I’ve been surprised how much I like hearing narration of fiction too. Though there are also some disadvantages. I like the convenience of kindle, especially for traveling. But I also still do a fair amount of printed books, preferring hardcopy.
Regarding non-fiction – I read a lot of NF. Here are some recommendations:
The Splendid and the Vile - Eric Larson
A Woman of No Importance - Sonia Purcell
The Woman They Could Not Silence - Kate Moore
The Radium Girls - Kate Moore
The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs - Steve Brusette
The Girl with Seven Names: A North Korean Defector’s Story - Hyeonseo Lee
Solito - Javier Zamora
Rough Sleepers - Tracy Kidder
Random Acts of Medicine - Jena & Worsham
I could go on – but I’ll stop now. I haven’t even gotten to the NF I’ve read over the last two years.
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@VeryHappy -“The Splendid and the Vile” and “ Radium Girls” are two of the best non fiction books I’ve read.
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I read NF almost exclusively and would add to @VeryHappy’s great list:
“The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” by Rebecca Skloot tells the story of Henrietta Lacks, whose cancer cells were taken without her knowledge and became one of the most important tools in medicine, raising significant ethical issues in medical research.
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