We survived the party, but I will write about it tomorrow. For now, books! I realized that I had not posted about the book group recommendations and winners and figured I would just write a book post first, since I have been lame and not posted anything for a couple of weeks. Time just gets away from me, you know?
I just finished reading The Mermaid’s Daughter by Ann Claycomb and loved it. I immediately went and searched for more books by her but alas, that is the only one so far. Before that, I read My Life With Bob by by Pamela Paul, also excellent, and now I am finally reading Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor. Yay!
A Cup of Jo just posted this list by Italo Calvino, which I loved and have to share. How do YOU choose books?
Sections in the bookstore —
– Books You Haven’t Read
– Books You Needn’t Read
– Books Made for Purposes Other Than Reading
– Books Read Even Before You Open Them Since They Belong to the Category of Books Read Before Being Written
– Books That If You Had More Than One Life You Would Certainly Also Read But Unfortunately Your Days Are Numbered
– Books You Mean to Read But There Are Others You Must Read First
– Books Too Expensive Now and You’ll Wait ‘Til They’re Remaindered
– Books ditto When They Come Out in Paperback
– Books You Can Borrow from Somebody
– Books That Everybody’s Read So It’s As If You Had Read Them, Too
– Books You’ve Been Planning to Read for Ages
– Books You’ve Been Hunting for Years Without Success
– Books Dealing with Something You’re Working on at the Moment
– Books You Want to Own So They’ll Be Handy Just in Case
– Books You Could Put Aside Maybe to Read This Summer
– Books You Need to Go with Other Books on Your Shelves
– Books That Fill You with Sudden, Inexplicable Curiosity, Not Easily Justified
– Books Read Long Ago Which It’s Now Time to Re-read
– Books You’ve Always Pretended to Have Read and Now It’s Time to Sit Down and Really Read Them
I think I go by most of those, but I definitely subscribe to the section of Books That Are Too Expensive Now and You’ll Wait ‘Til They Come Out in Paperback, though these days, I can indulge must faster with my Kindle. 🙂
Anyway, we had the bookgroup recommendations list to vote on some time ago and we duly voted and here is the list, in case you’re interested or looking for something to read!
Key: blue=recommended/voted for by me. green=voted for by me. yellow=already read. The ones with a star in front won.
1. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
2. Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell
3. The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion
4. Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
5. The Ministry of Utmost Happiness by Arundhati Roy
* 6. Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
7. Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly
8. Secondhand Time by Svetlana Alexievich
* 9. The Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance
10. The Girl Before by J.P. Delancy
11. Eight Flavors by Sarah Lohman
12. Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
13. Why Not Me? by Mindy Kaling
14. History of Love by Nicole Krauss
15. Luckiest Girl Alive by Jessica Knoll
* 16. All the Ugly and Wonderful Things by Bryn Greenwood
17. Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline
* 18. Giving Up the Ghost by Eric Nuzum
19. The Small Backs of Children by Lidia Yuknavitch
20. Rules of Civilty by Amor Towles
* 21. What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty
* 22. A Fall of Marigolds by Susan Meissner
23. The Spy Game by Georgian Harding
24. The Day of the Locust by Nathanael West
* 25. Not Pretty Enough: The Unlikely Triumph of Helen Gurley Brown by Gerri Hirshey
26. Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow
27. The Tower: Tales From a Lost Country by Uwe Tellkamp
28. Passing by Bella Larsen
* 29. The Golden Notebook by Doris Lessing
30. Stars Go Blue by Laura Pritchett
31. Benediction by Kent Haruf
32. A Mother’s Reckoning: Living in the Aftermath of the Columbine Tragedy by Sue Klebold
33. A Lady’s Life in the Rocky Mountains by Isabella Bird
I was once again aggravated by the recommending of books by authors we have already read in book group, especially since one of them is by an author we JUST read. It’s fine to want to read more by authors you like, but do it outside of book group if we’ve already read something by them! I was pleased that 2 of the books I recommended got voted in and promptly read one of them in advance (the discussion for it isn’t scheduled until October…oops) as well of one of my recommendations that didn’t make the cut.
It’s a thundery Sunday. Karin spent the night at a friend’s after going out clubbing last night and still hasn’t called to be picked up. Anders is biking in a mountain bike race in Malmö. I am doing a load of laundry, finalizing the AWC newsletter in advance of our first meeting this coming Tuesday and reading. I am also restraining myself from going to the Flyinge Loppis that is going on in the village right now. I set out a TON of bags of stuff yesterday to be picked up, good riddance to most of it! The only other things on my to-do list are call my mom and Martin. Happy Sunday!