recommended reading

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My favorite books awards are the Man Booker (I can’t think of a single winner that has disappointed me, okay, maybe one), the National Book Award (somewhat the American equivalent), and the Indie Choice Book Award.*  Why the Indie Choice Book Award?  My hobby is to visit independent bookstores and ask the bookseller what book she currently loves.  If I could visit all of the bookstores in the nation in one year (dream road trip!) and ask the same question, then pick the top answers for various genres, I’d come close to the nominees for the Indie Choice Awards.  The nominees are chosen by a jury of independent booksellers, then voted on by booksellers across the country who are members of the ABA.  These are the people I trust to guide my reading and the Indie Choice Awards distills their recommendations. These books are the best of the best, chosen by people who love books and working with readers.  How can you go wrong?  Here are this years choices:

BOOK OF THE YEAR – ADULT FICTION

Border Songs, by Jim Lynch – Haven’t read, yet.

Brooklyn, by Colm Toibin – Loved the quiet beauty of this book and how he used Pride and Prejudice as a model, brilliant.

The Children’s Book, by A.S. Byatt - I have heard a chorus of raves about this book, I’m going to read it this summer (yes, some of my reading is booked that far out).

Cutting for Stone, by Abraham Verghese – This has been a very popular book group choice.

Generosity: An Enhancement, by Richard Powers – I haven’t heard of it, which thrills me, can’t wait to learn more about it.

Wolf Hall, by Hilary Mantel – Loved, loved, loved this book.

I’ve only read two of the books and I can’t decide between them!  Wolf Hall is a safe choice because it has already won the Man Booker.  The atmosphere of Brooklyn is intoxicating, so I’m going to predict it as the winner.  Note, I can’t vote because I don’t own a bookstore, but that doesn’t stop me for having an opinion.  Generally, very little stops me from having an opinion.

BOOK OF THE YEAR – ADULT NONFICTION

Animals Make Us Human, by Temple Grandin

Lit: A Memoir, by Mary Karr

The Lost City of Z, by David Grann

Stitches: A Memoir, by David Small

Strength in What Remains, by Tracy Kidder

When Everything Changed, by Gail Collins

My non-fiction reading hit the skids last year, so many of these books are familiar to me, but I haven’t read them.  People have waited a long time for Lit and the New York Times named it one of the top ten books of 2009 (that’s another list I love).  However, nothing stops me from reading Gail Collins column in the NYT, it’s guaranteed to make me laugh.  I’m hoping Gail will win.

BOOK OF THE YEAR – ADULT DEBUT

The Earth Hums in B Flat, by Mari Strachan

The Help, by Kathryn Stockett

The Piano Teacher, by Y.K. Lee

The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet, by Reif Larson

Still Alice, by Lisa Genova

Tinkers, by Paul Harding

Who has any doubt the The Help will win?  I first heard about it from Haley at Between the Covers in Bend, OR.  I read it during a long drive (Keith was driving) that flew past as I was immersed in Stockett’s version of the South before the Civil Rights movement.

BOOK OF THE YEAR — YOUNG ADULT

Catching Fire, by Suzanne Collins

Going Bovine, by Libba Bray

If I Stay, by Gayle Forman

Leviathan, by Scott Westerfeld, Keith Thompson (illus.)

Shiver, by Maggie Stiefvater

Wintergirls, by Laurie Halse Anderson

This is the list my daughter waits for because she knows I’ll buy her every book she hasn’t read just to hear her opinion about them.  We both learned of The Hunger Games when it was nominated for the Indie Choice Award last year. Read the rest of this entry »

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The perfect poem for book lovers, guaranteed to bring a smile to your face:

Lending Out Books

by Hal Sirowitz

You’re always giving, my therapist said.

You have to learn how to take.  Whenever

you meet a woman, the first thing you do

is lend her your books.  You think she’ll

have to see you again in order to return them.

But what happens is, she doesn’t have the time

to read them, & she’s afraid if she sees you again

you’ll expect her to talk about them, & will

want to lend her even more.  So she

cancels the date.  You end up losing

a lot of books.  You should borrow hers.


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I am a huge, huge fan of David Sedaris.  He visits LA every spring and the tickets for his show sell out as if it were a U2 concert.  I’ve been known to subscribe to a series a UCLA in order to get the chance to buy a ticket.  Claire and I have had multiple conversations about which Sedaris essay we like the best.  Whenever I read something that is too dark for me, I read it in Sedaris’ voice to get through it.  I love David Sedaris.

The Santaland Diaries is the first Sedaris essay I heard.  I was getting ready for work one morning and literally dropped to my knees I was laughing so hard.  Another time I was driving to work and had to pull over because I couldn’t drive with my eyes squeezed closed in laughter.  I’ll share the piece of advice I tell everyone the first time they hear Sedaris, “go to the bathroom because you could pee in your pants.”

Take a break from the hustle and bustle, grab some hot chocolate and get ready to laugh (no need to watch the screen, it doesn’t change):

Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

In honor of Christmas, we’ll be taking a few days off, but will return for a few final reading challenge posts (nothing like leaving it to the last minute).   For Claire, Christmas is a wonderful holiday to spend with the family, for me, it is a precious day of faith.  However you celebrate the holiday, we hope that it is joyous for you.

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Here is the list my daughter has been clapping her hands in anticipation for:  a YA list from Jessica, the pied piper of young literature from Latitude 33 in Laguna Beach, CA.  Last summer, Kelsey and I visited Latitude 33 and Jessica spent a long time talking books with Kelsey – they were reading soul mates.  Luckily for the rest of us, she just started her own blog about children’s and young adult books, Read Schmead:  Tales from the Book.  We asked Jessica for some favorite YA books that any reader would love to receive as a gift and here are her thoughts:

A Non-Definitive List of Great Books for Young Adults

This list, like all lists, is incomplete.  Also, it is definitely not definitive.  My fiancee, Nōn, and myself have compiled this list because we love young adult books.  Enjoy.

 Igraine the Brave by Cornelia Funke – Igraine the Brave, from the author of the Inkheart trilogy, is absolutely delightful.  Igraine wants nothing more than to be a Knight, but little excitement comes to her Pimpernel’s castle, until one day when all craziness breaks loose and Igraine—with some help—must fight against the evil sorcerer.  I listened to the audiobook version and found Xanthe Elbrick’s voices perfect for all of the characters.

 The Maze Runner by James Dashner – Suspense, action, creepy crawlers, The Maze Runner has it all.  Thomas awakes in an elevator shaft in a place called the Glade unable to remember anything of his life, only his name.  He soon discovers that he and the other boys living in the Glade must stay there until they figure out the ever-changing maze, but it’s not that easy because after dark the Grievers come out.  I was utterly captivated by the world Dashner creates and I can’t wait for the next book (this is the first in a trilogy)!  For the first time in a while I found myself unable to put the book down and actually used my cell phone to light the page when I was reading late at night.  [Kim - check out  the book trailer on Jessica's blog.]

 Hunger Games and Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins - Easily the best young adult book in the last few years!  This book is the first in a series about Katniss, a sixteen-year-old girl, living in what used to be America and is now called Panem.  She is forced to participate in the “Hunger Games;” a government orchestrated game in which a boy and a girl from each district is forced to fight until there is only one survivor.  I definitely recommend this book to everyone over the age of twelve, adults included!  If you have not read Hunger Games yet then it is a must buy for the holidays! 

 If I Stay by Gayle Forman – A touching novel, If I Stay left me weepy, but I never felt manipulated. Seventeen-year-old Mia is involved in a terrible car accident leaving her in critical condition and her mother, father Read the rest of this entry »

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Or, alternately, a list of books for the environmentalist on your holiday list!

Kim asked me if I knew any good books to read about the environment and what we can do to help stall global warming, so I instantly went into research mode . . . which means I sent an email to my brother who’s a biology teacher.  He recommended a couple of books and then suggested I get in touch with an old friend of ours, Dan Perlman, who is now a professor of biology and environmental studies at Brandeis.   Maybe that should be capitalized?  Professor of Biology and Environmental Studies?  Either way, you have to admit: the guy’s qualified to recommend books.  Hell, he’s qualified to lead the talks in Copenhagen.

Before I list the books he and my brother both recommended, I have to mention that I asked Dan if he had a bookstore to recommend in his neck of the woods.  His pick?  The New England Mobile Book Fair which, truly faithful readers will remember, was one of the very first Indies I wrote about on this blog.  Not as huge a coincidence as you might think, since Dan and I grew up a couple of miles away from each other.   Anyway, it’s reassuring: New England Mobile Book Fair is as good as I remember.

Now on to books about the environment.  Dan’s recommendations include:

Our Choice by Al Gore. You’ve heard of this guy, right?  Just try to get through his book without asking yourself how different the world would be today if he had been president. Read the rest of this entry »

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