Book recommendations

I don't usually recommend books. I feel like reading preferences are far too subjective for me to decide what someone else will like.  I can tell which books I liked or disliked and why, but that doesn't mean you will have the same reading experience that I had with the same story. There are a few books that I feel confident recommending, that I think are written so well that everyone should read them, or that are so engaging that I feel that everyone will like them.

Sci-fi/fantasy/spec fic

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card : This was originally written as a short story and then fleshed out to novel length. As a result, the writing is spare and tight and the story moves along quickly. You'll get quickly pulled into the world of child prodigies recruited into an international space station for officer training school in the search for the one who can lead Earth's forces against impending alien invasion.

World War Z by Max Brooks: Incredible world building. Follow the Zombie Apocalypse from patient zero and the doctor trying to treat him, through the initial spread from rural towns to suburbs to big cities,  to containment efforts as the zombie plague grows, to military intervention in areas overrun by zombies, to life in isolated strongholds surrounded by undead hoards, to the formation of a plan to finally bring the plague under control, and through the aftermath faced by survivors as they try to rebuild their world in the aftermath of the zombie war. The story is told as a series of first person narratives from people who survived the plague. Brooks' imagination knows no bounds. He creates dozens of original voices to give us perspectives from North America, Russia, China, even astronauts watching the takeover of their planet from space. Completely gripping and thoroughly entertaining.

2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke: It's such a joy to read a book by Clarke. His love of space shines through in his writing, and you can't read his books without becoming imbued with his sense of wonder or amazed at the depth of his knowledge.  I usually recommend 2001 because we've all snoozed through the Stanley Kubrick movie at some point in our lives and been left going "WTF just happened?" at the end.

Memoirs

A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah: I usually only read memoirs written by writers. Sure, lots of people have interesting stories, but not all of them are good at telling those stories. This book is the exception. The author grew up in Sierra Leone and as an adolescent lost his village and entire family to civil war and was then kidnapped and forced to become a child soldier. This book is hard to read. very hard at times. But, it offers an insight into a life that most of us can not imagine living even in the darkest turns of our thoughts. I probably wouldn't have read this book if not for the picture of the author on the back cover. I had to read about this man who could live through these experiences and have such radiant inner joy and peace that he practically glows on camera.

Three Dog Life by Abigail Thomas: Touching and sentimental, but not angsty or drippy, account of the author's life after her husband sustained a severe traumatic brain injury.

Autobiography of a Face by Lucy Grealey: Lucy Grealey was diagnosed with bone cancer in her jaw at age nine. She lost half of her jaw to surgery and then endured several rounds of chemotherapy. Beautifully written. Just, beautifully written. Ms. Grealey tells us of her childhood and early adult experiences,  of the physical, mental and emotional scars left on her by the disease and it's treatment, in a poignant yet straightforward writing style.

The Lonely Polygamist by Brady Udall

I started this book a few days ago and haven't had as much time to put into as I'd like. It's been one of those books I bought and meant to read right away but then forgot to start. So I finally started it and I'm wishing I had left it on my nightstand just a little bit longer, at least until my summer class is finished and I can spend a day sitting on the deck, sipping iced tea, and reading a good book. I'm only a few chapters in and already drawn into the world of this huge family. The title may seem disingenuous, after all, how can a polygamist with 4 wives and 28 children be lonely, but it's easy to see how Golden Richards can feel isolated,  overwhelmed and even marginalized by his lifestyle. Supposedly the head of the three households holding his four families, Golden instead seems to be overwhelmed by the constant activity around him, the need to balance his time and attention evenly among his wives and their children and to provide financial support for his families. He seems lost in his own world, adrift in the constant eddies of family life swirling around him. The book is filled with real characters, all with their own personalities and flaws, and I'm looking forward to reading more about this family.

Introductory post

In this blog, I plan on writing about books I've read or am currently reading. Books I've loved, books I've hated, books to be read, books currently being read, and maybe even books I wish someone would write someday.