Last night I finished the book, “Big little lies,” by Liane Moriarty. Oooh, I want to say things, but the ride was so good because of the not knowing — so I’ll only say this, enjoy the ride.
I am a reader. I have always loved to read. I love libraries and books and ebooks and magazines and well, things with words. I love the smell of slight mildew on paper, getting so deep into a book that you’re almost wet. This escape, travel, immergence, I love it all, all the time.
There is an art to the book review. I love listening to the New York times book reviews podcast. They know how to review a book. For real reviews, I recommend them. As for me, I won’t give you the thumbs up, or likes, or ranking, I can only review a book by how much I miss it when I’m done reading it.
I have been voracious this past year, and often lonesome. If I must rank, I would have to say the book I miss the most is Hamnet, by Maggie O’Farrell. Not since college has my heart and mind been cracked this wide open, where so much gets in and rattles around, and remains, a permanent jangling. I remember sitting in the classroom, reading Shakespeare aloud, dancing about the textbooks. What was this noise?…this ballet of words, straining muscles and stretching brain limbs. This is Hamnet. It will test you and bruise you and comfort you. It will leave you with a tiny little hole in your heart, the shape of a feather and a page. If you like that, (which I do) (my husband thinks that sounds like pure torture), then open up Hamnet and break your heart.
If you’d like to make some new friends this year, let me introduce the following. I won’t review each one, but I will tell you that I really enjoyed our time together!
The Vanishing Half, by Brit Bennett
Bridge of Sighs, by Richard Russo
Bird by Bird, by Annie Lamott
Anxious People, by Fredrik Backman
Separation Anxiety, by Laura Zigman
Dear Edward, by Anne Napolitano
Chances Are…, by Richard Russo
Nothing to See Here, by Kevin Wilson
The Shakespeare Requirement, by Julie Schumacher
Every single book by Elizabeth Strout – I mean every single book – many times!
Writers and Lovers, by Lily King
Pretend I’m Dead, by Jen Beagin
Words between Us, by Erin Bartels
An American Marriage, by Tayari Jones
Meet Me at the Museum, by Anne Younson
Disappearing Earth, by Julia Phillips
The Most Fun we ever had, by Claire Lombardo
The Dutch House, by Anne Patchett
Fleishman is in trouble, by Taffy Brodesser-Akner
The Nickel Boys, by Colson Whitehead
The Editor, by Steven Rowley
This should get you started. No time is ever wasted inside the pages. Read anything. Everything. Become a part of the story, your story. It’s beautiful!