Here is something I really liked: “Dear Committee Members” by Julie Schumacher. It is a scathing, hilarious take on the academic world told through a series of letters from a creative writing professor. Funniest LORs I have ever read included…
I just read The Rosie Project…a charming, funny story about a man who seems quite Aspie to me tries to analytically find a wife. I didn’t think I’d like it based on the blurbs, but I ended up really enjoying it. Seems my favorite books lately are coming out of Australia.
Just finished The Narrow Road to the Deep North. It was a book I will be thinking about for a long time, but have to say the first 70 pages were not gripping. But ended up a five star read for me despite the slow start. Very graphic though (war violence).
The Rosie Project has a sequel The Rosie Effect.
I loved We Are Completely Beside Ourselves. It was one of my best reads of 2013. I just finished Everything I Never Told You, which cut close to the quick because its setting mirrors my life (growing up Asian in the midwest in the 70s and feeling “Other”.) Also, a lot to say about parents’ unrealized dreams and their effect on children. Very moving.
A Beer Drinker’s Guide to God by William Miller is extremely good. Chatty, funny,meaningful.
@garland, I reread Gaudy Night pretty regularly. I love everything about it.
So came to report that the best book I read all year hand’s down was Patrick Rothfuss’s The Name of the Wind. It’s the first of a trilogy, and I can’t wait to read the second one (it’s out already) and the third. If you hate fantasy, it’s probably not for you, but otherwise highly recommend it. It’s not perfect, but it’s still darn good a bildungsroman, an heroic adventure, some interesting women characters (actually more interesting than most of the men) and lots to think about.
I just finished The Remedy for Love, by Bill Roorbach. This was a wonderful book. Two strangers are snowed in in a remote cabin as a result of an altruistic impulse, under rather primitive and definitely dangerous circumstances: a small town lawyer and an apparently derelict woman. It contains NONE of the cliches one would expect, given the premise. Absorbing, thoughtful, vivid.
@mathmom–now I just finished Murder Must Advertise, and in a different way, I like that just as much! 
It’s hard to believe it’s almost 100 years old–the satire of advertising, and the clever comparisons to drugs, feel very contemporary. And the characters continue to be more and more complex.
My New Year’s gift was discovering that the second book of Peter May’s Lewis trilogy is now available on Audible. The first one, The Blackhouse, was one of the best books I read in 2014. Now it is not available so I guess they offer one at a time. Hoping they will make the third available at some point.
@garland, I probably should reread Murder Must Advertise. I suspect I was too young to appreciate all of it when I read it, and I’m not sure if it’s one I’ve reread.
Oh, do! It’s spectacularly fun!
(full disclaimer–no Harriet, except for one very elliptical reference.)
No Harriet is why I haven’t reread it.
Thanks everyone! I got some Barnes & Noble giftcards for Christmas, and my nook is now fully loaded! 
I just finished William Bradford: Plymouth’s Faithful Pilgrim by Gary Schmidt. It was a present to my wife who is a descendant of Bradford’s. I grew up in Massachusetts but never fully understood what happened in the early 1600s until reading this excellent book. Now I want to visit Plimouth Plantation next summer and can’t believe I have never been there.
This week I finished Doerr’s *All the Light We Cannot See/i and then Laura Lippman’s *After I’m Gone/i. Now I’m sad that I don’t have anything new to read :((
What are you in the mood for? I’m sure we could help!
Has anyone read anything by Thomas Perry? He is mentioned in the NY Times Book Review today so I requested his new book from the library.
I really like Perry’s “Jane Whitefield” novels, and it appears that his newest book is part of that series. Jane Whitefield, the protagonist, is a great character, and these books are usually well-plotted and well-written. Plus, I always learn something new when I read one of Whitefield books (usually something about Native American culture).
I’m not such a fan of his other novels, though. The Butcher’s Boy was good, but I found many of his other books kind of …meh. He always writes well, though. I am happy to hear about A String of Beads!
@nottelling - I read a lot of mysteries and thrillers (Robert Crais, John Sandford, Dennis Lehane, Michael Connolly, Thomas Perry, James Lee Burke, Laura Lippman) but lately I’ve been branching out. I’m working my way through some of the books on the Lariat List, whose main criteria for inclusion is that the books are “a pleasure to read.”
I’ve already got Everything I Never Told You, We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves, and Black House on my reading list.
Really, I’m happy just to read something well-written!