Carol's favorite books as of Jan. 2017

Bill Bryson

Neither Here Nor There 

This travel memoir lets the reader tag along as the author experiences Europe from his own humiliating yet hilarious point of view.

Augusten Burroughs

Possible Side Effects 

A memoir by a young gay alcoholic who finally manages to turn his life around. His richly detailed childhood and young adult stories are recounted with a warmth and humor that are a sight to behold.

James  Anderson

The Never-Open Desert Diner

Set in the southeast desert of Utah, this novel captures the life of a long-haul trucker as he encounters the desert rats who inhabit this well-told atmospheric story of loneliness, revenge, and love.

Kent Haruf

Plainsong

The folks who populate this small town located in northwest Colorado during the 1970s represent humanity's timeless spectrum of old and young, wise and foolish, and isolated and passionate.

Elizabeth Berg

Open House

As she moves through the process of her broken marriage, the heroine grows by taking on new experiences. A heartwarming story that's populated with creature comforts and characters that ring true.

Randy Pausch

Last Lecture

A memoir of one man's reaction to the news that he has pancreatic cancer. Wise, funny, and unforgettable, the author conveys a sense of humanity and the meaning of life.

Christina Baker Kline

Orphan Train

Orphan trains existed in the 19th and 20th centuries to help place homeless kids with families in the Midwest, with varying degrees of success. The story follows one of them from the early 1900s and counterpoints her experience with that of a present-day orphan. A  well-told story.

Ruth Ozeki

A Tale for the Time Being

Nao, a 16-year-old girl living in Tokyo begins a diary that eventually ends up in the hands of Ruth, who lives on an island off the Pacific coast of Canada. Nao recounts her life as well as that of her great grandmother, a Buddhist nun. Past and present, and inner peace and hopelessness are only some of the marvelous subjects touched upon in this adventure mystery.

Abraham Verghese 

Cutting for Stone

The lives of twin brothers begins in Ethiopia and follows them through their interest in medicine and love. Epic and tragic, the story hits every high and low that you can imagine, and then some. 

Jeannette Walls

The Glass Castle

This family puts the 'd' in dysfunctional. The story of a woman growing up in a family whose parents are highly irresponsible, the author and her siblings do their best to rise above their environment. At times exasperating, hopeless, and  hopeful, it puts a fine point on the idea of how vulnerable children are and what a monumental challenge parenting is.

Carol and Paula

 

Paula: Carol is equal parts optimist and skeptic. On the one hand, there is no problem she hasn't attempted to solve with a self-help book. On the other hand, how can we know anything with certainty?

But in a effort to get to the bottom of that, and many other questions, Carol looks deep -- really deep into the details. In fact she loves the detail! No detail is too small. Or maybe its that she likes small things, like her! From tiny homes and tiny bits of code to tiny typographical devices and words, the smaller the better.

But what I like best about Carol, and why she's a great conversationalist and book reviewer, is that she's curious and wants to explore new sights, sounds and ideas (and lets face it, when our memories start to go, everything's new!) Seriously, she asks great probing questions and you know she'll get to the heart of the matter. And she wants to read a lot of books! That's why we started this blog.

 

Carol: When she's not sampling new perfumes, doting on her nieces and nephews, or experimenting with new recipes, Paula loves Opera, Broadway musicals, and all things digital. A native Wisconsinite, she enjoys traveling and her journeys have reached England, Spain and Italy. Paula is intrigued by what motivates folks.

 

She's a liberal, and as JFK said, "If by a Liberal they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people — their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights, and their civil liberties — someone who believes we can break through the stalemate and suspicions that grip us in our policies abroad, if that is what they mean by a Liberal, then I'm proud to say I'm a Liberal."

 

A fondness for reading and debating led to the creation of this blog.