Submissions for 2013-2014 Reading Year
Book Title
Author
Synopsis
Why this book?
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from Ann
AKA Shakespeare: A Scientific Approach to the Authorship Question
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NF
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Peter A Sturrock
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A professor emeritus of applied physics lays out a method of weighing the evidence of the authorship of the canon.
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Author uses fictionalize characters to represent various points of view about who wrote what plays and you even get to vote on line. Also an entertaining lesson in scientific thinking.
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Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal
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NF
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Mary Roach
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A funny science writer (“Packing for Mars”, “Stiff”) takes us down the hatch and gives us the inside scoop to questions such as: Can constipation kill you?
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I heard the author interviewed on Fresh Air and it sounded like an interesting read.
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How to Be Sick: A Buddhist-Inspired Guide for the Chronically Ill and Their Caregivers;
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NF
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Toni Bernhard
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An invitation to gently set aside the fear and fight in order to truly live with chronic illness. A different perspective on illness and wellness.
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I’m getting old and my friends are getting old and sick and I need all the help I can get to deal with aging and illnesses.
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And the Mountains Echoed
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F
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Khaled Hossieni
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A novel about how we love, how we take care of one another, and how the choices we make resonate through generations.
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I’ve enjoyed the other books by this author.
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Maya’s Notebook: A novel
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F
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Isabel Allende
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Coming of age story of a remarkable teenager abandoned by her parents who gets into trouble and escapes to Chili.
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I’ve enjoyed the other books by this author.
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Beginners Goodbye
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F
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Anne Tyler
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from Andrea
Doing the Best I Can: Fatherhood in the Inner City (2013, 294p)
Non-fiction
by Kathryn Edin and Timothy Nelson
Across the political spectrum, unwed fatherhood is denounced
as one of the leading social problems of today. Doing the Best I Can is a
strikingly rich, paradigm-shifting look at fatherhood among inner-city men
often dismissed as "deadbeat dads." Drawing on years of fieldwork and
intimate interviews with more than 100 fathers, Doing the Best I Can shows how
mammoth economic and cultural changes have transformed the meaning of
fatherhood among the urban poor.
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Homeward Bound: Why Women Are Embracing the New Domesticity
(2013, 288p)
Nonfiction
by Emily Matchar
Amid today’s rising anxieties, a groundswell of women (and
more than a few men) are choosing to embrace an unusual rebellion: domesticity.
A generation of smart, highly educated young people are spending their time
knitting, canning jam, baking cupcakes, gardening, and more. Some are even
turning away from traditional careers and corporate culture for slower, more
home-centric lifestyles that involve “urban homesteading,” homeschooling their
kids, or starting Etsy businesses.
Matchar, an acclaimed journalist, takes a long, hard look at
both the inspiring appeal and the potential dangers of this trend she calls the
New Domesticity, exploring how it could be reshaping the role of women in
society and what the consequences may be for all of us. This groundbreaking
reporting on the New Domesticity is guaranteed to transform our notions of
women in today’s society and add a new layer to the ongoing discussion of
whether women can—or should—have it all.
=================================
A Canticle for Leibowitz (1959, 334p)
Fiction
by Walter Miller, Jr.
This book opens with the accidental excavation of a holy
artifact: a creased, brittle memo scrawled by the hand of the blessed Saint
Leibowitz, that reads: "Pound pastrami, can kraut, six bagels--bring home
for Emma." To the Brothers of Saint Leibowitz, this sacred shopping list
penned by an obscure, 20th-century engineer is a symbol of hope from the
distant past, from before the Simplification, the fiery atomic holocaust that
plunged the earth into darkness and ignorance. As 1984 cautioned against
Stalinism, so 1959's A Canticle for Leibowitz warns of the threat and
implications of nuclear annihilation. Following a cloister of monks in their
Utah abbey over some six or seven hundred years, the funny but bleak Canticle
tackles the sociological and religious implications of the cyclical rise and
fall of civilization, questioning whether humanity can hope for more than
repeating its own history.
Winner of the 1961 Hugo Award for Best Novel and widely
considered one of the most accomplished, powerful, and enduring classics of
modern speculative fiction.
============================
Wolf Hall (2009, 560p)
Fiction
by Hilary Mantel
England in the 1520s is a heartbeat from disaster. If the
king dies without a male heir, the country could be destroyed by civil war.
Henry VIII wants to annul his marriage of twenty years and marry Anne Boleyn.
The pope and most of Europe opposes him. Into this impasse steps Thomas
Cromwell: a wholly original man, a charmer and a bully, both idealist and
opportunist, astute in reading people, and implacable in his ambition. But
Henry is volatile: one day tender, one day murderous. Cromwell helps him break
the opposition, but what will be the price of his triumph?
====================================
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (2006, 240p)
Fiction
by John Boyne
Berlin, 1942: When Bruno returns home from school one day,
he discovers that his belongings are being packed in crates. His father has
received a promotion and the family must move from their home to a new house
far far away, where there is no one to play with and nothing to do. A tall
fence running alongside stretches as far as the eye can see and cuts him off
from the strange people he can see in the distance.
But Bruno longs to be an explorer and decides that there
must be more to this desolate new place than meets the eye. While exploring his
new environment, he meets another boy whose life and circumstances are very
different to his own, and their meeting results in a friendship that has
devastating consequences.
I saw the movie based on this book and it was very good.
Devastating, but good.
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from Heidi
A Long Way Gone; Memoirs of a Boy Soldier (2007; 229p)
Non-fiction
Ishmael Beah
This is how wars are fought now: by children, hopped up on drugs and wielding AK47’s. What is war like through the eyes of a child soldier? This is a first person account from someone who became a killer and stopped.
This book is also used in some High School reading lists. I first came upon it at our school and the students seemed to enjoy it.
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Somebody’s Someone; a Memoir (2003; 367p) Non-fiction
Regina Louise
This is a story of an abandoned child who goes through the foster system. She endures extreme trials and emerges as a gifted writer whose story is told with raw emotion and shocking honesty.
The writer was the key note speaker at a Head Start Convention that my cousin attended. Regina Louise was well received and my cousin enjoyed her book. Ms. Louise may be willing to meet with us or at least Skype.
==============================
House Rules; a novel (2010; 532)
Fiction
Jodi Picoult
Jacob is a teen with Asperger’s syndrome. He is brilliant in many ways – but the thing he loves most is forensic analysis. He shows up at local crime scenes and tells the authorities what has taken place – and he is usually right. But then this small town has its own horrible murder and the number one suspect is Jacob.
I loved this book. I love the way this author writes. She tells this story through the eyes of the six main people: Jacob, his mom, his younger brother, the detective and the lawyer. There’s a lot of information on Aspberger’s. I found it really interesting. The book is rather long – but I read it in a couple of days…
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Snow (2004; 425)
Fiction
Orhan Pamuk (translated from the Turkish by Maureen Freely)
This is a story about a famous exiled poet named Ka who returns to Turkey and his hometown of Kars. The real purpose for his return is to report on the wave of suicides among religious girls who are forbidden to wear head scarves. But he is also hoping to have a relationship with an old friend who is recently divorced. The novel is about dread, yearning, identity, the lethal chemistry between secular doubt and Islamic fanaticism.
Okay, so I started this book a few months ago and have put it down to read other things. I do like it. The characters are really interesting and there is even some humor. I guess I get bogged down with the religious elements. It is hard to fathom that these beautiful young women kill themselves because they can’t wear a scarf. I know it is much more than that and it is why I want to share the book. I want to read it but I want help in understanding what it all means…
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from Janice
The Unlikely Pilgrimage Of Harold Fry (2012; 320p)
Fiction
by Rachel Joyce
The story of recently retired Harold Fry, who sets out one morning to post a letter to a dying friend. Quite unexpectedly in a moment of impulse, Fry finds himself at the start of a journey which will lead him to walk hundreds of miles from home, en route making chance encounters and reflecting on tragic events from his past which transforms his life and in turn alter the lives of the people he meets.
Nominated for the Man Booker award 2012. Named one of the Best Books of the Year by the Washington Post.===============================
Cider House Rules (1985; 560p)
The story of recently retired Harold Fry, who sets out one morning to post a letter to a dying friend. Quite unexpectedly in a moment of impulse, Fry finds himself at the start of a journey which will lead him to walk hundreds of miles from home, en route making chance encounters and reflecting on tragic events from his past which transforms his life and in turn alter the lives of the people he meets.
Nominated for the Man Booker award 2012. Named one of the Best Books of the Year by the Washington Post.===============================
Cider House Rules (1985; 560p)
Fiction
by John Irving
Cider House Rules is set in rural Maine in the first half of the twentieth century. The novel tells the story of Dr. Wilbur Larch - saint and obstetrician, founder and director of the orphanage in the town of St. Cloud, ether addict and abortionist. This is also the story of Larch's favorite orphan, Homer Wells, who is never adopted.
===================================
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1943; 493p)
Fiction
Cider House Rules is set in rural Maine in the first half of the twentieth century. The novel tells the story of Dr. Wilbur Larch - saint and obstetrician, founder and director of the orphanage in the town of St. Cloud, ether addict and abortionist. This is also the story of Larch's favorite orphan, Homer Wells, who is never adopted.
===================================
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1943; 493p)
Fiction
by Betty Smith
Though it is often categorized as a coming of age novel, A Tree Grows In Brooklyn is much more. It is a richly plotted narrative of three generations in a poor but proud American family. The novel offers a detailed and unsentimental portrait of urban life at the beginning of the century.
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The Tender Bar; a Memoir (2005; 370p)
Non-fiction
Though it is often categorized as a coming of age novel, A Tree Grows In Brooklyn is much more. It is a richly plotted narrative of three generations in a poor but proud American family. The novel offers a detailed and unsentimental portrait of urban life at the beginning of the century.
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The Tender Bar; a Memoir (2005; 370p)
Non-fiction
by J. R. Moehringer
A raucous, poignant, luminously written memoir about a boy striving to become a man and his romance with a bar.
Named one of the most notable books of 2005 by the NYT.
======================================
White Masai (2005; 307p)
Non-fiction
A raucous, poignant, luminously written memoir about a boy striving to become a man and his romance with a bar.
Named one of the most notable books of 2005 by the NYT.
======================================
White Masai (2005; 307p)
Non-fiction
by Corrine Hoffman (trans. from the German by Peter Millar)
Corrine Hoffman tells how she falls in love with an African Warrior while on holiday in Kenya. She moves into a tiny hut with him and his mother and spends four years in his Kenyan village. Slowly but surely the dream starts to crumble, and she hatches a plan to return home with her daughter.
===================================
The Man Who Quit Money (2012; 260p)
Non-fiction
Corrine Hoffman tells how she falls in love with an African Warrior while on holiday in Kenya. She moves into a tiny hut with him and his mother and spends four years in his Kenyan village. Slowly but surely the dream starts to crumble, and she hatches a plan to return home with her daughter.
===================================
The Man Who Quit Money (2012; 260p)
Non-fiction
by Mark Sundeen
The true story of a man who has reinvented "The Good Life". In 2000 Daniel Suelo left his life savings ($30) in a phone booth. He has been living without money and with a new found sense of freedom and security ever since.====================================
The true story of a man who has reinvented "The Good Life". In 2000 Daniel Suelo left his life savings ($30) in a phone booth. He has been living without money and with a new found sense of freedom and security ever since.====================================
We also might enjoy reading
The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
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from Lori
On Saudi Arabia: its people, past, religion, fault lines--and future (2012; 308p)
Non-Fiction
Karen House
A summary of the historical rise of the House of Saud on the Arabian peninsula, and the current status of the country of Saudi Arabia. The last chapters contain projections for the possible future direction of the country.
This is a readable, thought-provoking discussion about a country with a unique history, a present of great power in the world and a future filled with uncertainty. Saudi Arabia will influence world events, no matter what direction the country moves in. The closely-tied relationship between the US and Saudi Arabia, and the position of Saudi Arabia within the Islamic world should be interesting to explore.
================================================
This is a readable, thought-provoking discussion about a country with a unique history, a present of great power in the world and a future filled with uncertainty. Saudi Arabia will influence world events, no matter what direction the country moves in. The closely-tied relationship between the US and Saudi Arabia, and the position of Saudi Arabia within the Islamic world should be interesting to explore.
================================================
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2012; 320p)
[originally published as These Foolish Things in 2004)
Fiction
Deborah Moggach
Moving novel about British expats retired in India, faced with all sorts of adjustments and issues. The book's characters are much more complex and the situation is a little different than the movie's, where everyone is (mostly) likeable and everything is "nice". The relationship of the expats and Indians to each other and to the Indians in the story is interesting, and thinking about the relationship we have with expats that end up in the US would be fun.
Moving novel about British expats retired in India, faced with all sorts of adjustments and issues. The book's characters are much more complex and the situation is a little different than the movie's, where everyone is (mostly) likeable and everything is "nice". The relationship of the expats and Indians to each other and to the Indians in the story is interesting, and thinking about the relationship we have with expats that end up in the US would be fun.
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from Robert
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (2007; 339 p.)
fiction
by Junot Diaz
Things have never been easy for Oscar, a sweet but disastrously overweight ghetto nerd, a New Jersey romantic who dreams of becoming the Dominican J.R.R. Tolkien and, most of all, of finding love. But he may never get what he wants, thanks to the fuku - the ancient curse that has haunted Oscar's family for generations, dooming them to prison, torture, tragic accidents, and, above all, ill-starred love. Oscar, still dreaming of his first kiss, is only its most recent victim - until the fateful summer that he decides to be its last.Junot Diaz immerses us in the uproarious lives of our hero Oscar, his runaway sister Lola, and their ferocious beauty-queen mother Belicia, and in the family's epic journey from Santo Domingo to Washington Heights to New Jersey's Bergenline and back again.
====================
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (2008; 278 p.)
fiction
by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
===============
Never Let Me Go (2005; 288 p.)
fiction
by Kazuo Ischiguro
Now, years later, Kathy is a young woman. Ruth and Tommy have reentered her life. And for the first time she is beginning to look back at their shared past and understand just what it is that makes them special–and how that gift will shape the rest of their time together. Suspenseful, moving, beautifully atmospheric, Never Let Me Go is another classic by the author of The Remains of the Day.
===============================
The Paris Wife (2011; 324)
fiction
by Paula McLain
Chicago, 1920: Hadley Richardson is a quiet twenty-eight-year-old who has all but given up on love and happiness—until she meets Ernest Hemingway and her life changes forever. Following a whirlwind courtship and wedding, the pair set sail for Paris, where they become the golden couple in a lively and volatile group—the fabled “Lost Generation”—that includes Gertrude Stein, Ezra Pound, and F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald.
...
A heartbreaking portrayal of love and torn loyalty, The Paris Wife is all the more poignant because we know that, in the end, Hemingway wrote that he would rather have died than fallen in love with anyone but Hadley.
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Plot Against America (2004; 391 p.)
fiction
by Phillip Roth
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NEW RELEASE
And The Mountains Echoed (2013; 404 p.)
fiction
by Khaled Hosseini
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from Teri
Prague Cemetery (2011; 444p)
Fiction
Umberto Eco
Follows the controversial nineteenth-century story of a European world where violence and occult practices shaping key historical events are commonly linked by a solitary evil genius. Umberto Eco takes his readers on a remarkable journey through the underbelly of world-shattering events. Here is Eco at his most exciting, a book immediately hailed as a masterpiece.
I've enjoyed other titles by this author. The plots are intriguing puzzles, if a bit convoluted; and the conspiracy elements hold sway today. All of which should make for a good discussion.
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Telegraph Avenue (2012; 468 p)
Fiction
Michael Chabon
Telegraph Avenue is a big-hearted and exhilarating novel that explores the profoundly intertwined lives of two Oakland, California families, one black and one white. In Telegraph Avenue, Chabon lovingly creates a world grounded in pop culture (Kung Fu, ’70s Blaxploitation films, vinyl LPs, jazz and soul music) and delivers a bravura epic of friendship, race, and secret histories.
Local author, local setting -- and lots of nostalgia .... what's not to like?
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Spies of Warsaw (2008; 266p)
Fiction
Alan Furst
Furst's latest novel is sure to be counted as one of the very best of the historical espionage genre. Literate, admirably plotted, and featuring a memorable protagonist, it is realistic and sad but hopeful and romantic ... In 1937 Warsaw, on the eve of World War II, intelligence operatives on both sides of the forthcoming struggle wage their own espionage battle in a world of betrayal, intrigue, and abduction ..
I saw a very favorable review of the TV show (BBC America) based on this book; and the book sounds like a good read.
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We Are Anonymous (2012; 498p)
Nonfiction
Parmy Olson
With all the makings of a fast-paced espionage thriller, Olson—basing her work on plenty of research and exclusive interviews with hackers, including Hector "Sabu" Monsegur—meticulously and impartially recreates the operations of Anonymous and LulzSec, leading up to the arrests of core members, and their betrayal by one of their own. Includes timeline and glossary.
The first few pages read well, and promise an interesting and very topical book.
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The Invisible Gorilla and other ways our intuitions deceive us (2010; 306p)
Nonfiction
Christopher Chabris and Daniel Simons
Reading this book will make you less sure of yourself—and that’s a good thing. In The Invisible Gorilla, Christopher Chabris and Daniel Simons, creators of one of psychology’s most famous experiments, use remarkable stories and counterintuitive scientific findings to demonstrate an important truth: Our minds don’t work the way we think they do. We think we see ourselves and the world as they really are, but we’re actually missing a whole lot.
I’ve read about the ‘gorilla experiment’ before, and it is fascinating. This sounds like a good book to improve one’s approach to critical thinking.
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Hallucinations (2012; 326p)
Nonfiction
Oliver Sacks
An investigation into the types, physiological sources, and cultural resonances of hallucinations traces everything from the disorientations of sleep and intoxication to the manifestations of injury and illness. … Writing with his trademark mix of evocative description, probing curiosity, and warm empathy, Sacks once again draws back the curtain on the mind's improbable workings.
I’ve found Sacks to be a reliably entertaining author; and one is sure to pick up some interesting conversational tidbits ….
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