Recently read -- what I remember right now, anyway......

Black Fridays, by Michael Sears

Clock Dance, by Anne Tyler

Beginner's Goodbye, by Anne Tyler (reading now)

Dark Sacred Night, by Michael Connelly  (Bosch and Ballard, https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/two-loner-detectives-find-each-other-in-michael-connellys-darkly-brilliant-new-novel/2018/10/30/11c411fe-dbd1-11e8-b732-3c72cbf131f2_story.html?utm_term=.99e254a9cd2b)

Wayfaring Stranger, James Lee Burke (audio book) -- I forgot how Burke's flowery descriptions and overuse of long words could be annoying

Hit Me, by Lawrence Block (audio book)

Long Gone, by Alafair Burke (audio book) at first I thought this was going to be a piece of fluff, very NY-girly, but it turned out to be a very well-written, serious mystery that kept me interested and involved all the way through.

Atonement, by Ian McEwan

It is beyond my talents to aptly praise this excellent novel. It begins in an English country house where the Tallis family lives, circa 1935. A sort of tragedy occurs, or at least is perceived to occur, which changes everyone's life, but only as World War II is about to change absolutely everyone's life.

I read this in about a day. What a great piece of work.

Barkskins, by Annie Proulx

Begins in the late 17th century in New France. Characters include some native people as well as Europeans. Good point-of-view stuff from the natives. This is historical fiction, and necessarily expositive, but this for me is the way to read history. The "real" stuff puts me to sleep.

A mixed review from The NY Times.

End of Watch, by Stephen King

This is the last in the Mr. Mercedes series, which King started out as a project in noir crime fiction. I'd say he got pretty far away from that genre, especially in this latest novel. Nonetheless, it's a good story, with lovable characters -- and a tinge of horror and fantasy. Lots of suspense, of course. Definitely worth reading for entertainment.

Swing Time, by Zadie Smith

One of the best new authors I've "discovered" in a long time. This is a very well-done story about two young women who love dance, who grew up together, and grew apart.

Along the way there is much more, commentary on popular culture and cross-ocean philanthropy.

 Read it.

Invasion, by Luke Rinehart

I became interested in Luke Rinehart from an article that I read about him. I really wanted to read an early novel by him, but the library had only this one.

The book is lighthearted and fantastic, a humorous account of an alien invasion by creatures that believe that what's wrong with the Earth is that people don't have enough fun.

Unfortunately, I really can't recommend the book. I found it tiresome toward the end and more or less just skimmed the last couple of chapters. The ending seems to me the type of ending that happens when a writer doesn't know how to end his book and stops trying.

Everybody's Fool, by Richard Russo

My wife says this is the best book she's ever read.

Russo is certainly one of my very favorite writers. He has the Mohawk River region distilled in his several works located there, and this one is the best of that lot, for sure.

It's too good and complicated of a story to spoil; go and read it, if you've read the novels that precede it. If you haven't, go read them first. Or don't. This book will stand on its own feet just fine, but you're missing something.

Here's his bibliography on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Russo#Works

The books that are related to Everybody's Fool, in chronological order, are:

1. Mohawk
2. The Risk Pool
3. Nobody's Fool
4. Empire Falls

But, do yourself a favor and read them all. "Living Treasure" is a cliche unworthy to describe Russo, but he is, a living treasure.

T. C. Boyle reviews Everybody's Fool

Timequake, by Kurt Vonnegut

Vonnegut's last novel, I think.

If you've read Vonnegut, you will probably enjoy this as you have his other work. If, however, you are not familiar with Vonnegut, this late work is--in my opinion--oddly a very good place to start. It is a sort of fictional autobiography, a tour-de-force in which some of his fictional characters appear along with the author.

The world is a sadder and poorer place without Kurt Vonnegut.

Something Rich and Strange, by Ron Rash

Short stories set in Appalachia. Excellent.

http://www.npr.org/2014/12/04/368510625/set-in-appalachia-this-rewarding-story-collection-is-rich-and-strange

Under the Influence, by Joyce Maynard

Having discovered Joyce Maynard, it is easy to keep reading.

This review is not terribly favorable, but I enjoyed the book, nonetheless.

It is the story of an alcoholic woman who loses custody of her son. In recovery, she is befriended by a wealthy, philanthropic couple, and begins to put her life back together. Her relationship with the Havillands is a little strange, though, and drives the plot into an interesting and suspenseful denouement.

Superdove, by Courtney Humphries

Someone asked--rhetorically, but in my hearing--how pigeons manage to survive the winter in a city where winter is lethal. I started reading about pigeons on the Cornell Ornithology website.

On the Cornell site, I saw a reference to this book.

Pigeons are sometimes reviled. They have been called "flying rats."

I tend to like birds, and have developed a fondness for some species that are not, generally, highly regarded, such as crows, and starlings, and so I began to wonder--what about pigeons?

Whether you consider pigeons a pest, a pet, food, or just another part of nature, you will probably find something interesting in Superdove.

New York Times Book Review

The 50 Funniest American Writers, by Andy Borowitz

A collection of humor. Some are gems, some are not.

Of note:

A passage from Babbit by Sinclair Lewis is included. I never thought that Babbit was funny.

 "Vacation '58" by John Hughes is the story that was used to make the movie "Vacation," starring Chevy Chase. I believe that this story is much better than the movie.

O Henry's "Ransom of Red Chief" is included, as it should be.

Hunter S. Thompson's "The Kentucky Derby is Decadent and Depraved" is vintage Thompson. One feels a little sick after reading this.

Woody Allen's "Look at Organized Crime" is very funny.

Phillip Roth's "Letters to Einstein" is a (fictional, I hope) series of letters to the great man from a would-be PR agent who wishes to promote Einstein as an example of and to American Jews.

 Nora Ephron's "A Few Words About Breasts" is amusing, but at the same time rather piquant, and probably just a little outdated.

"Our White Heritage" by Beard, O'Donoghue, and Trow, is basically a good joke but it is far too long, and in today's climate probably would be misunderstood.

"Better Read Than Dead" by Fran Liebowitz is worth the whole book, but then it's always such a pleasure to read anything by Fran.

 "The Laws of Cartoon Motion," by Mark O'Donnell, is an essay that needed to be written. Hilarious and accurate.

Garrison Keillor's "The Tip Top Club" is a good example of Keillor's brand of humor, with a sort of nihilistic outcome.

Calvin Trillin is devastating with "Corrections."

Dave Barry: well, what can you say about Dave Barry. This is his essay about why relationships between men and women can never, ever work.

Susan Orlean complains about the privileges of babies in "Shiftless Little Loafers."

Ian Frazier parodies the Old Testament in "Lamentations of the Father."

Bernie Mac nearly killed me. "I Ain't Scared of You."

David Sedaris, Wanda Sykes, Jack Handey, and many more. This is a great read, and maybe even a great reference book.









Library of America webpage for this book  (L of A is the publisher)

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, by Barbara Kingsolver

Kingsolver, with contributions from her husband Steven L. Hopp, and daughter Camille Kingsolver, tells the story of how her family lived for a year eating--almost--only locally grown food. A large part of their diet came from their own farm, the rest from farmer's markets and other local sources.

The book is one of the most readable pieces of non-fiction I've picked up in a long time. I will admit that I didn't read every recipe in there, but I did glance through a few of them, and actually read one or two.

Much information is imparted to the reader of Animal, Vegetable, Mineral. I learned that sweet potatoes and potatoes are not actually related. Another potato fact: those who eat the entire potato, skin and all (me), are probably consuming a lot of chemicals left over from insecticides and pesticides that have long been illegal to use, but are still residing in the soil.

There are hundreds, if not thousands, of varieties of vegetables, fruits, and--perhaps the greatest surprise--livestock (chickens, turkeys, goats, pigs, sheep, and more), that are threatened by extinction because large-scale agribusiness corporate farms use only a very few--and large corporations like Monsanto and ADM produce genetically modified seeds that are patented, and may not be gathered and re-used, further reducing the varieties of corn, tomatoes, beans, beets, peas, apples, oranges, pears--you name it.

There is not a little controversy about genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in the current news and literature, but not until reading this book have I felt that I understand much better what exactly is at stake. Certainly we are risking our health by eating these products whose effects are unknown except for some limited laboratory testing. But there are further, more complicated dangers, not the least of which is that our food supply is becoming dependent on the production of these Frankenstein's Monsters, which puts humanity itself at the mercy of a few enormous corporations.

Having said all this, Animal, Vegetable, Mineral is not a shrieking revolutionary diatribe. It is, rather, a pleasant and positive story of how a family could relate to food, meals, and eating. It provides a vision of health and a way of life that is very attractive in our modern world. Not a little of the discussion is about how we spend our time, for those who would grow their own food, even some of it, will spend a lot of time raising, harvesting, and preparing it. This may be seen as brutal, hard work --and no doubt, it is--but it is also, according to Kingsolver, satisfying, and rewarding, not only to the body but to the soul.

We cannot and will not all become small farmers, but we can move in the direction of eating food produced in our local environment, supporting small farmers, and being aware of where our food comes from and how it affects our health, our lives, and the health and lives of our neighbors.


http://animalvegetablemiracle.com/

Rebel Yell, by S.C. Gwynne

The life and times of  Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson.

This book is actually pretty interesting, but I did not finish it. Maybe I'll pick it up again some day.

The Burning Room, by Michael Connelly

Connelly keeps writing Bosch novels, and I keep reading them. This one is pushing pretty close to the "could this be the last Bosch?" question, but it doesn't have to be.

Bosch teams with a young female partner to crack a cold case where a mariachi musician dies from a ten-year-old gunshot wound, and in the process, takes on a second investigation into an arson that occurred many years before.

Completely satisfying.

The Harder They Come, by T. C. Boyle

The first part of this book takes place in Central America. Sten Stensen, a recently retired high-school principal and Vietnam veteran, and his wife Carolee, are on vacation in Costa Rica. They go with a group on what is to be a nature walk in the jungle, but a tragedy ensues during which Stensen kills a man with his bare hands.

I had a strong feeling that I had read this first part of the book before. It may have, for example, been printed in Harper's as a stand-alone story, or perhaps in their "Readings" section. It works as a short story, in my opinion.

The next parts are placed in Northern California, in an area that is much like Humboldt County, but I think somewhat fictionalized. Sten and Carolee return home, where their son Adam is progressively demonstrating that he is dangerously mentally ill. Adam's actions and how they affect his family and a young woman who befriends him are the framework for the rest of the book.

Violence is the overall theme of this novel. Adam sees himself as a sort of survivalist commando resisting forces that will imprison or limit him, and he is armed to the teeth. His delusions lead him to murder, and during most of the last part of the book he is eluding an increasingly larger manhunt.

Mental illness, apparently schizophrenia, is another important element in the plot. Adam is seriously deluded and certainly fulfills the "danger to himself and others" requirement, but as will happen, society has completely failed to diagnose, treat, or protect him -- or to protect others from him. The frustration of being the parent of a person in this situation is well illustrated in this book.


New York Times Review

after her, by Joyce Maynard

A serial killer stalks the trails around Mount Tamalpais. Two young girls, whose Dad is a Marin County detective, try to solve the mystery.

This is also, as the mystery goes on, the story of these two girls as they grow up, and the story of their parents as they grow apart.

It is a completely captivating book. All the cliches apply: can't put it down, page turner, etc.

My wife is responsible for putting these books in my hands, and I'm grateful.

Owning it All, by William Kittredge

Essays

https://www.questia.com/library/80861024/owning-it-all-essays

A terrific and eminently readable collection of essays, mostly about the American West. Kittredge writes about southeastern Oregon, specifically the Malheur Lake area--coincidentally the area that was recently in the news due to the occupation of a federal building by some right-wing extremists. He also writes about Montana, especially Missoula and the nearby area.

This is not only nature and geography writing, though those topics are included. It is also concerned with the life of a writer becoming a writer, as he moves away from the life of a rancher to a life of letters. Kittredge has much to say about what humans have done to the once-pristine land of the West. He writes quite a bit about how agriculture transformed the Malheur area, how that has affected the bird life there.

The Good Daughters, by Joyce Maynard

Two girls are born on the same day in a small town in New Hampshire. This book follows their lives, and their families, as they grow up to be adults. Dana Dickerson's family consists of her brother, Ray; her father, George; and her mother, Valerie. George goes from one get-rich-quick scheme to another over the course of years. Valerie is distant from her family, an artist of some talent (she is a painter), who has little time for her children. George is always leaving for the next big thing.

Ruth Plank's family is quite different. She has four sisters. Her father, Edwin, is a farmer. They live on the farm that has been in his family for many generations. Her mother, Connie, is a hard-working farmer's wife with a strong religious faith.

The story is told in chapters labeled either "Ruth" or "Dana." Most of the time these simply alternate back and forth, in first-person narrative from each point of view.

This is another excellent and completely engrossing novel by Joyce Maynard. As the story of these two women unfolds, a great mystery is revealed, and not fully solved until nearly the last page.

Labor Day, by Joyce Maynard

An escaped convict appeals for, and receives, help from a mentally-ill mother and her young son. A terrifically captivating read, very well done, very entertaining. Told from the point of view of the son.

Maynard is famous for having been the 19-year-old love interest of a much older J.D. Salinger.