You know, we all like to get book recommendations. I know I do. Many of my favorites have come via recs from friends and social media connections. So what I would like to do is come up with a list of great recommendations for everybody. If you feel up to it (aka if you care), can you give us your top 3 books all-time? Let's see what we can put out there. Take a week and either list them on this blog post or email me directly at lloydrrussell@gmail.com. And although I'm sure you've seen my top 3 before, here they are again:
Pillars of the Earth - Ken Follett
The Source - James Michener
Shogun - James Clavell
And P.S. If you want to give us 1, 2, 4, or 5, feel free.
Book Launches:
1. Kate Allure - Lawyer Up. I reviewed Kate's book on July 26 of this year. I liked it a lot. Kate's launch will be Friday, October 2, from 7:30-9:30, at Barnes & Noble on Stevens Creek Blvd. in San Jose.
2. Ellen Kirschman - The Right Wrong Thing. This is Ellen's 2nd book with her police psychologist protagonist, Dot Meyerhof. Ellen is the perfect author to write about a police psychologist since she, herself, was a police psychologist for 30 years! I first saw Ellen at Book Passage in Corte Madera back in September of 2013. I blogged about that appearance on October 1, 2013. Ellen is exceedingly interesting. And what she has to talk about is certainly pertinent to present day news. But I digress. Ellen's launch will be Wednesday, October 7, at Books, Inc. in Palo Alto (the site of Margie's 4th Tuesday Night Book Club).
Both authors have multiple appearances scheduled. Feel free to go on their websites if you want to see them live, but can't make the launches:
kateallure.com
ellenkirschman.com
MUSINGS AND CONFUSINGS: I'm currently reading Vanessa Diffenbaugh's 2nd (and latest) book, We Never Asked for Wings. I really like it a lot. But I've made very few notes. Sometimes I have a lot to say about a book, and sometimes not so much. This one, the latter. I'm trying to figure out why. And here's the only answer I can come up with - I just don't know (it's the same answer Tevya gives in Fiddler on the Roof when he's asked why a certain tradition exists). It's not a function of how much I like a book. It's more a function of sections and passages creating questions and thoughts in my mind vs. just accepting what's written at face value. Someday maybe we can have an online discussion about it.
1. Les Miserables - Victor Hugo. Simply, the best book ever written in any language.
ReplyDelete2. Will Grayson, Will Grayson - David Levithan and John Green. Every generation has a book that captures the mythos and ethos of generation. I think this is such a book (even though the generation it documents is not my own.)
3. Hyperbole and a Half - Allie Brosh. This graphic book is laugh-out-loud funny, but it's bittersweet presentation of what it's really like to suffer depression is perhaps one of the most authentic representations I've ever seen.
Thanks, Killian. I know Les Miserables, but I don't think I ever read it. I haven't heard of the other 2. But I did read Every Day by David Levithan.
Delete