So who doesn’t like books? Books can take you anywhere you want to go, anywhere in the world. You can read about any place on this earth, or with photo books you can even go see any place on this earth (or in the sky!). All in books.
You can learn about all manner of different cultures, music, clothing, animals, weather, religions, geology, ghost stories, or shoes or micro-organisms. You can learn how to wire a house, how to install plumbing, how to grow food crops, how to sew or knit clothing, how to paint a picture or take a photo, how to rebuild a diesel engine or how to trim your eyebrows. You can read made-up stories, or read real stories about real people. Who doesn’t like books?
Ok, I must admit that, in my youth, there were times when I didn’t want to read anything … I just wanted to play … in the house or out in the woods or down on the beach … who needs books? But these days, no longer in my youth, I love books.
Throughout most of my adult life, I used to read mostly science fiction and mysteries and westerns and other novels. These days, later in life, I read more non-fiction and historic novels, or scientific sorts of books, but I still enjoy fiction here and there. And I love “coffee table” books, books with photos in them, about places and people all around the world.
Friends of mine in the community where I live have started a small, informal book club. We pick a book to read, then most of us read that book, and then we talk about that book, or we talk about life or cooking or gardening or travel or world events. It’s a great group of folks … a great group of friends and neighbors.
I’ve been sharing my RV-ing, camping, adventures with you folks here. Thought I’d just share a little more about me too. Here are some of the books I’ve read in the past several months that I’ve liked a lot. And yes, I started reading several other books that I didn’t like. If I don’t like a book early on, I just put it down and proceed to the next book. Life is short … too many books! 🙂
Horse, Geraldine Brooks … a true story about a real horse, where most of the people in the book are real people too, but some fictional liberties are taken to flesh out the story.
Silent Scream, Angela Marsons … #1 in a series of novels about Detective Inspector Kim Stone in Britain.
Mad Honey, Jodi Picoult … I thought this novel rather tame at first, but it changes!
Sunset Song, Lewis Grassic Gibbon … a 1932 novel by a Scottish author, considered one of the most important Scottish novels of the 20th century.
The Indifferent Stars Above, Daniel James Brown … a very well-written and fascinating historic novel about the Donner Party. Don’t miss the descriptions about how he researched the history.
The Ride of her Life, Elizabeth Letts … a true story of a woman (Annie Wilkins) and her horse (and her dog) and her last ride on her horse clear across the USA, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean, in the 1950s. The author walked and drove the entire route first hand in order to research Annie’s journey.
Facing the Mountain, Daniel James Brown … during WWII there were entire Japanese families who were American citizens, yet who were incarcerated by the USA government, were never returned to their homes, were never repaid for what was taken from them, with no due process of law. There were also thousands of Japanese who fought (and died) in the USA Army supporting the USA. And there were Japanese who were consciencious objectors as were many people back then. Heroes, all of them. This was a tough read, but well worth it.
The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School, Sonora Reyes … a wonderful novel about a 16-year-old finding her way. Yes, the book is written for “youth” but it’s a great book for adults too, for anyone who cares about anyone.
Spilled Milk, K. L. Randis … a novel that spoke to my life … a novel, but written by a woman about her own life. Silence in our culture, in the world, about child abuse is so abusive in itself, the silence is so loud, the silence itself is so painful. Let’s learn, and let’s help. If this book is hard for you to read, then you’d best read it. It’s also a really good read … go get it.
Women Aviators, Karen Bush Gibson … the stories of 26 women from around the world who were the first women to fly, either professionally or “under the radar”. Interesting to me, I was at the store today and paid in cash and received change in coins. One of the coins was a USA quarter that had the image of Bessie Coleman on the reverse side of the quarter. In 1921, Bessie Coleman was the first African American to hold a commercial international airplane pilot’s license.
A Psalm for the Wild-built, Becky Chambers … book 1 of a 2-book series … centuries into our future, the robots of Panga developed “awareness”, and so decided to separate themselves from humanity in order not to contaminate or influence humans. But one robot appears one day to a human, having been sent to “check in”.
So many more books I’ve read and loved! But I’ll stop here with 11 books. If any of them interest you, take a look at them. They may be available online, but certainly they will be available through your local library. All of these books were available at or through my local library. Most libraries can order books that they don’t have from another library using an ILL process, Inter-Library-Loan. Ask your local librarian. 🙂
And please support your local libraries … they support us, they support kids and schools, they support education and illumination and a sense of human kindness … and science … and your taxes already pay for them so they are “free”. Go to your local library and meet the nicest people.
Ok, I have to add one more book here … maybe just to round it out to a dozen books. But in looking at the list of books that I’ve ordered from my local library over the past year, this one stands out.
Fox and I, Catherine Raven … winner of so many awards it would be crazy to list them all here … just get it and read it. I’m not sure who wrote it … the fox or the woman. 🙂
Feel free to comment with your favorite books from the past year. I need more books to read! I have more to learn and more places to see and more people to meet. 🙂
I’ve read about half the books on your list, and enjoyed each one thoroughly. I’ll check out the others on your list for sure. The most recent non-fiction book I’ve read that isn’t on your list is The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. It asks LOTS of questions about human rights regarding medical procedures, particularly use of our bodies after we die that we didn’t approve. But it also brings up the idea that solutions to medical problems have been a result of such non-approved testing. Another conundrum. Looking forward to digging into your list. 🙂
Because of your comment, Babe, I ordered The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks from my library. Can’t wait to get it. And then a friend of mine just a day ago mentioned that book and how much she liked it, is troubled by it, etc, but also saying how well written it was … and that we ALL need to be asking questions of our health providers, our insurance companies, our government, our lawyers, and each other. Thanks for sharing the book here, Babe.
One of my favorite books this year was A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson. I learned a ton of stuff, or at least his idea of all of it. Written factually, mostly, but also with a great sense of wonder and humor.
I’ve ordered it from the library, Bill. Sounds just up my alley … fun and scientific. Thank you. 🙂
Wow, what a gorgeous cat! And speaking of cats, another good read is: Dewey by Vicki Myron. True story of the small-town cat who touched the world.
Gorgeous cat, indeed. 🙂
I’d not heard about the book, Dewey, but I looked online and WOW! It has now been ordered through my library. The cat was dumped into a library book return bin at just a few weeks old, lived to be 18 years of age because the library staff (and the head librarian who wrote the book), took Dewey in and loved him. You folks may know about the “dewey decimal system” that libraries use to number their non-fiction books. Hence, these folks named the cat, Dewey. 🙂 Pretty cool. The book is an international best-seller.
meow.
My wife and I thought we knew every british detective writer ever known, but we don’t know Angela Marsons … we’re on it!!
Love the black cat header, by the way. Our cat is black. We named him Obsidian, but we call him Siddy. My wife likes to say to him “you’re such a siddy boy!” I roll my eyes. 🙂
I have #2 on my reserve list with the library here. Better get yours fast, Tim. 🙂
Arggggh! “siddy boy” … I’m rolling my eyes too. And laughing. 🙂
Hub and I recently finished reading Bill Bryson’s .. A Walk in the Woods. About the Appalachian trail. We both thought it was amazing! If we were still RVing, we’d be over there in a heartbeat.
I’d seen that book online somewhere and figured it would be somewhat tame or boring. But I’ve now re-read reviews and they say what you say … it’s amazing. Ok, I need to ask you first from now on. Thanks Marge. 🙂 I’ve ordered it from the library.
The Escape Artist by Jonathan Freedland. About the man (just a boy, a teenager) who broke out of Auschwitz in 1944 and purposefully memorized names and dates and occurrences so he could tell the world. He was just 19. I was amazed by the writing and amazed by and horrified by the facts. Rudolf Vrba was the kid’s name. I read this book years ago, I’m not Jewish (I’m of German descent mostly), but I’m a human being. What happens to other human beings matters to me. The fact that this teenager thought through this and KNOWINGLY RISKED HIS LIFE and made this change in history makes me listen to young people today. Sometimes we adults are so busy dealing with and fretting about what’s happening, that we don’t listen to people who have a new view … and support them.
Ok, I’ll be reading Angela Marsons’ detective novels too. 🙂
Oh my word, I’ve never heard of this book either. How can so many wonderful books exist that we/I don’t know about? I’ve ordered the book from the library, Greg. I bet it’s a difficult read, and an important read.
And yes! Let’s listen to the young folks today. They seem to have wisdom that maybe we used to have, but that we’ve lost.
You mentioned westerns, I love westerns, especially the old ones where “stuff” was “stuff” (fill in any word you want there). 🙂 True Grit, Lonesome Dove, Riders of the Purple Sage, and hundreds others are on my book selves. Louis L’Amour was superb at this genre. All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy … gotta rain/reign/rein up there with the best of them.
I love westerns, haven’t read any in many years, but I still own some … including a number by Louis L’Amour. Ok, gonna pull one or two off the shelf and read them again.
LOL! Loved your rain/reign/rein comment. Thanks Nebraska. 🙂
Oh, I’m an Agatha Christie fan. I have all of her books and I re-read them every year or two or three (or four) and STILL see more detail and more deceit and more innuendoes than I did in prior readings. What skill she had.
And I like the Narnia books by C. S. Lewis, what a fantastic imagination, especially for children to read, but for adults too, ahem ahem. 🙂 The Lion and the Witch was the first in that series.
Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi. A puppet who wants nothing more than to be a real boy. What it means to be human.
I guess I like fiction … but fiction that speaks to what it means to be human. Is that fiction?
I have several Agatha Christie books too. Sigh. Ok, two have been added to my pile to re-read. I know I’ll love them.
I haven’t read any of the Narnia books. On my list!
And I’ve never read the original Pinocchio … on my list!
I like what you say about “fiction that speaks to what it means to be human”. Maybe that’s NOT fiction. Great comment, Kinny.
My favourite book is Daniel Defoe’s, A Tour Through the Whole of Great Britain. It was written in separate parts during about 1725. It is factually detailed and he speaks with a gentle humour. I read “mystery” novels too. Bound books are so different to movies and bring so much more.
Henry, I’ve placed an inter-library-loan for Defoe’s book. Some library in the USA may have a copy. But I’ve also been successful at getting books from England and/or from Scotland and/or from Australia, and one the Philippines, using the inter-library-loan system. I look forward to reading “the Tour”! Yes, bound books are so much different and better, the heft and feel of a book in my hands, the whole story as the author chose to portray it, so much better than movies. Thank you. 🙂
Love the black cat header photo.
Edgar Allan Poe wrote a sinister, somewhat disturbing short story, The Black Cat.
There’s also a really fun, good mystery by Martha Grimes called The Black Cat. I have that one, and most of her books and love to re-read them after several years.
I have a few Martha Grimes paperbacks, but not The Black Cat. Ok, Olivia, I’ve ordered it. I love her mysteries. I also ordered a copy of a collection of Poe that includes his “Black Cat”. Will steel myself for that. 🙂 thank you!
I love biographies, can’t get enough of them. My latest read was Schulz and Peanuts, by David Michaelis. Yes, it’s about THAT “Peanuts” … the cartoon strip and its author. 🙂
I had no idea the life that the author Charles Schulz experienced, and that brought forth that “comic” strip that connected childhood to adulthood for so many of us. Absolutely amazing. A really good read.
Yes, books!!! Support print/bound books and libraries. And please do what you can to stop the current censoring of books in schools in the USA. Our kids need to learn about the entire world, they need to learn about everyone. I’m with you Greg Schellen, reader of this blog, we need to listen to our youth. And they need all the help and education we can give them. They are wise.
I keep forgetting about biographies and auto-biographies. Your reminder is excellent. Ok, “Schulz and Peanuts” has been requested/reserved. Thanks Sesapa. 🙂
And … thank you for the words in support of libraries, and education. Censoring seems to be on the increase in the USA lately, but not from libraries … the censoring is coming mostly from local, political, small government factions. If you readers here can influence your local community, schools, libraries, etc, please do so.
I think I should print this and work my way through your list!
I think so too! 🙂 And if you have books you love, Dawn, please feel free to post a comment here anytime you want. Your blog has been such an incentive to me. Not sure my blog would be here but for your example. Thank you!