Book Recommendations

In one of my first postings, I had mentioned that I love to read and might make some book recommendations. I think it’s about time I actually do it.

First and foremost, a small warning. I am an indiscriminate reader. It’s almost accidental. If something in in print in front of me (in English) I will read it.

(Sometimes I even try really hard when it isn’t in English.)

Novels, textbooks, research grants, poetry, magazines, cereal boxes, shampoo bottles...the list goes on and on. I consume it all.

Along with this reading obsession, I believe there is value in all types of writing. I’m not into banning or burning books. None of them! Let me repeat that. I don’t believe any books should be burned or banned.

Even if you don’t like the contents of a book, there is something to be learned about the author. Or, you get a glimpse into the mindset of the people who do value its content. With many things in life, you can find tiny grains of truth buried in the most unlikely places. Even if you don’t agree with 98% of what you’re reading, you might find one useful fact or see a new way of thinking or find a new way of understanding. It is rare for anything to be all black or all white.

Before I fall into a lecture on life values, I’ll pull this back to the subject at hand. Books. The point I’m trying to make is I like authors and books for all different sorts of reasons.

And, despite the best efforts of SOOOOOO many literature professors during my college years, I don’t hold with the notion that good literature has to be sad. Real life contains just as many happy endings as sad ones, and I like to see that balance in my reading as well.

((This particular attitude came about after a brutal semester of literature involving the horrific deaths of the major characters in every single reading assignment. Every single one.))

Now that we’ve covered some background, here come the recommendations:

(I will try to refrain from spoilers as I go through this list.)

--- The Bridges of Madison County by Robert James Waller– Plot: Housewife meets well-traveled photographer, they fall in love and must decide the future course of their lives.

Let’s plunge in with my favorite book of all time.

Which is also my most hated book of all time.

Yes, it’s both.

I’ve never had a book tear me apart like this one. For those who have read it (or plan on reading it) I hate the final choices made by the main characters. At the same time, I respect those choices.

Which is a tough concept for many folks these days. Too often, we don’t respect how difficult life can be in someone else’s shoes. Others end up making a decision we don’t agree with and we want to force them to change, rather than back off and leave them alone. THAT is the beauty of this book! I had to accept the ending. No matter how much I hated it, or how much I disagreed, there is no changing the ending of a book.

By the way, I’m not implying the ending was bad or poorly written. In fact, the entire book was wonderfully done, including the ending. I just didn’t agree with it.

And the kicker is I’m sure at least half of you (maybe more) will think the characters made the very best choices. Maaaaaaaybe you’re not wrong. Like I said, the book tore me apart.

So why is it a favorite? Well, the writing is superb. Plus, any book that gets me so worked up is good, in my opinion. You know you’re emotionally invested if you want to fling a book against the nearest wall.

The Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe– Plot: A fictional examination of the consequences when morally bankrupt wealthy people literally run over poor minority people.

In my second recommendation, it’s not the plot that stirs me up. It’s the characters themselves. I hate these people. I loathe them. They are awful people and that is the point. You’re not so much rooting for good guys to win as for the bad guys to lose.

The beauty of The Bonfire of the Vanities is the author’s ability to plunk the reader into the minds of his characters. We are right there with them as they make their decisions, and while we may be screaming at them to “make better choices”, you see how each decision leads to the next.

But to be perfectly honest, I’m only recommending this book because of the level of loathing I feel for the main players. I figure if any author can make me hate someone so much, that author is doing a good job!

So far, my picks have been slightly heavy hitters. Not on the same level as Russian novels (you know the type – there is war, everyone is starving, people are in love with folks they can never be with – that kind), but still not light reading.

Here’s something about me….I believe Cheese Puffs are just as tasty as a juicy steak, if Cheese Puffs are what you’re craving. And I love me some Cheese Puffs!!!

To be fair, though, I think my next few recommendations fall more into a delicious bakery confection category. Delicious perfection!

The All Souls Trilogy by Deborah Harkness – A modern-day vampire and a witch fall into a forbidden love while searching for a manuscript that may reveal the origins of otherworldly creatures.

First and foremost, I cannot say enough good things about these books. I got off to a slow start with the first book, A Discovery of Witches, but about halfway through the first chapter, something magical happened and I became obsessed with these characters. I’ve never looked back. I love, love love that we have a strong and dedicated couple in these books. Yes, they have flaws. They get grumpy. They make decisions their partner may not agree with, but there is no doubt they have each other’s backs. Fundamentally, their love for each other makes them stronger.

In books and television, good relationships where the characters aren’t always being torn apart by circumstances are in short supply. I’ve gotten to a point where I’m kind of sick of couples having to face so many darn obstacles to be together. I know! I know! People say there’s no drama without it. Here’s my thing….life is so full of obstacles, you can have the couple be together, and there’s still gonna be problems for them to face. Since I’ve been married, I’ve not noticed an appreciable decline in the amount of problems I deal with. In fact, there seems to be more. But, (and this is important) I do have a tremendous source of strength due to my connection with my mate.

The All Souls Trilogy brings all types of connections to the forefront. There is deep and abiding love in so many of the relationships, not only the romantic ones. The parents in these books care deeply for their children. Extended families are there for each other. Friends help each other. All of it makes for an underlying sense of reassurance that good will prevail.

All that being said, please don’t feel like the lead characters have a typical white knight to the rescue kind of relationship. The main female is extremely powerful and not to be messed with, which is another reason to read these books.

Besides the strength of the bonds, another thing I like about these books is how they take on deep and serious issues in our real life society, and do it by using representative vampires, witches, and daemons. None of these groups trust each other, and there are struggles for status and recognition. The author weaves these issues into the plot subtly. Questions of race and equality are not in your face, but they are there for your consideration.

Also, this is one of the few sets of books where I feel the television show comes close to being as good as the written word. In fact, the first season is my go-to comfort show. I’ve watched it again and again. I have a ritual. Whenever Ron has to go out of town to visit his mom, I binge watch the entire first season in one sitting.

Before I forget, Ron says the science holds up, too. To be fair, he does complain about how messily they load the DNA into a gel during the show’s opening sequence, but that has nothing to do with the books or the writing, so I gently shush him and we get on with watching it. (Harkness has a scientific background, so DNA and biology topics are expertly handled.)

Now….

All Souls was my comfort recommendation. When it comes to fun…….

The Dresden Files, Codex Alera, and the Cinder Spires series by Jim Butcher

As far as I’m concerned, there is not another author out there who makes me want to happily whoop and holler like Jim Butcher!! I eagerly await new books from him.

Again, no spoilers, but he wrote the best darn scene I’ve ever read. (And I’ve read A LOT of books!) In a battle against zombies, the main character, a consulting wizard by the name of Harry Dresden, brings something back from the dead…..a rather large something…and polka is involved... heck, you just gotta read it for yourself!! (Fair warning, you might want to take a trip to the Field Museum in Chicago afterwards, just to be sure all is well and as it should be.)

This zombie scene is in his Dresden Files series, which is set in our world, but with enhancements like massive guardian doggos, dragons, gods, and fairies that love pizza. Not to mention sexy vampires, bad-ass warlocks, and an intelligent and horny (possibly evil?) spirit who lives in an old skull. And that’s just one set of books.

Butcher has another group of books, the Codex Alera. It takes place in a different world inhabited by people who can control furies. However, one of the main characters lacks this power and is subsequently looked down upon by many. His fight to make his way in the world leads to epic grand-scale adventures.

In the Alera books, I’m in awe of the amount of thought Butcher put into the supernatural powers these characters have, and the limitations to those abilities. Writing about super-human powers often leads to a struggle. How do you keep the characters from becoming god-like in their abilities? You need to constrain them in some way so as to create drama for them to work through, otherwise you won’t have much of a story. Butcher handles that problem skillfully and I have mad respect (and maybe a touch of envy) for how he worked it out.

I can’t move on from my Jim Butcher recommendation without mentioning his Cinder Spires series. In truth, only one book of this series has been published thus far, but it is by far my favorite of all of his books. It’s probably because of the steampunk setting.

((For those of you who don’t know, Ron and I are huge fans of anything steampunk. We even had a steampunk wedding.))

The steampunk aspect aside, though, this book was full of snark which is a sure fire way to make me a fan!

The setting is a world containing three spires, two of which are at war with each other. The surface of the planet, beneath the spires, is home to monsters and definitely a place to be avoided. Against that backdrop, we have a wonderful cast of swashbuckling characters, including some rather snobby cats. (I’m not going to say much about the cats so as not to spoil the fun, but I do love them!)

My next recommendation is another fun one…..

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo – A gang of thieves takes on THE impossible job.

IT’S. SO. GOOD!

I was tempted to declare it my all time favorite book rather than The Bridges of Madison County.

The characters are flawed, yet (unlike Bonfire of the Vanities) they ultimately end up doing good for their world, and that made me like them. Which is saying a lot, because this book is about a heist. No one is setting out to do anything remotely noble or self-sacrificing. For the most part, the characters are motivated by money or self-interest. They’re a ragtag collection of teenage thieves, gamblers, and murderers. Yet, through the use of backstories, we’re able to understand how they came to be so hardened. Ultimately, they are survivors and I found myself cheering them on!

The diversity of characters is part of the brilliance of Bardugo’s writing. None of them are your typical beef fed soldier boy hero. (Well, maybe one, but he realizes he needs to unlearn a lot of toxic stuff.) Every member of Bardugo’s cast has serious issues they need to work through, much like all of us in real life, and it makes the story much more immersive.

Next we’ll move on to the “not as fun, but more important” category. In an effort to be well-rounded, I don’t want to end this list without sharing the name of at least one informative book. To that end, I highly recommend….

The 36-Hour Day by Nancy L. Mace, M.A. and Peter V. Rabins, M.D., M.P.H. - A guide for caretakers of people with dementia and similar illnesses.

After someone we know was diagnosed with Alzheimer disease, we bought this book. Reading it, I learned a lot I didn’t know about the progression of dementia. Afterwards, I found myself regularly going back to consult it.

If you pick up this book, choose a random page, and start reading it, you’ll realize you know someone, or have known someone, who needed this information. Plus, a lot of the content is universally useful, such as the advice covered under the heading of “Legal Matters” or the sections covering end of life care.

Yes, I know it’s not the happiest reading material out there, but it was some of the most useful I’ve encountered.

There ya’ have it!! My first list of book recommendations. It’s definitely not my last. While writing this, I thought of several more additions, plus I’m always reading new stuff. I’ll be sure to pass along more suggestions!

PS from Ron – For the short-attention span types, here’s a few minutes of reading – the first six pages of Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson… a dystopian future in which America excels in high-speed pizza delivery. Best action sequence I know.

((Ron actually took over my keyboard to make that PS!))