Last-Monday-Of-The-Month Book Club
Recommended Book List
Jena
Remote Control by Nnedi Okorafor
Sci-Fi
An alien artifact turns a young girl into Death's adopted daughter
The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune
Fantasy
An absolutely lovely book.
Cara
SPARK - The revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain by John J. Ratey, MD, with Eric Hagerman
Medical
An investigation into the transformative effects of exercise on the brain
Quiet - The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain
Non-Fiction
One should always watch out for the quiet ones....
WILD - From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed
Fiction
A powerful, blazingly honest memoir: the story of an eleven-hundred-mile solo hike that broke down a young woman reeling from catastrophe—and built her back up again.
Kimberly
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Humour
If you haven't read The Night Circus, you totally need to. :-)
Heather
Sourdough by Robin Sloane
Fiction
Robin Sloan does for the world of food what he did for the world of books in Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore
The Piano Shop on the Left Bank by Thad Carhart
Arts
The perfect book for music lovers, or for anyone who longs to recapture a lost passion
Nexus by Ramez Naam
Sci-Fi
Nexus is a nanotechnology that allows human minds to link up. This is one of the best books I've read this year.
The Martian by Andy Weir
Sci-Fi
What happens when you're left behind on Mars, presumed dead? Another one of the best books I've read this year.
The Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon
Drama
These characters deal with Autism, not Aspergers, but, for me anyway, it was the story I loved, not the diagnosis. Rereading the description on Amazon, I realize I clearly focused on certain parts of the book and ignored other parts. But I remember that this book stayed with me and that it was one of the most interesting books I read that year. The characters asked themselves questions I ask myself, all the time.
Bloodsucking Fiends: A Love Story by Christopher Moore
Humour
Here is the book that made me like Christopher Moore.
The Museum of Literary Souls by John Connolly
Short, but I adored it. It made me want to hug my iPad. Which I did.
The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry: A Novel by Gabrielle Zevin
I'm only maybe 2 chapters into this one , but so far, it's made me laugh out loud, twice. Both books were aimed at people who love people who love books... or something like that.
Alcina
The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek: A Novel by Kim Michele Richardson
Fiction
This is a novel following Cussy Mary, a packhorse librarian and her quest to bring books to the Appalachian community she loves. Recommended via Alcina's Family Book Club
Kushiel's Legacy Series by Jacqueline Carey
Fantasy
It is a novel of grandeur, luxury, sacrifice, betrayal, and deeply laid conspiracies.
Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts
Fiction
"It took me a long time and most of the world to learn what I know about love and fate and the choices we make, but the heart of it came to me in an instant, while I was chained to a wall and being tortured."
Charlotte
What the Dormouse Said: How the Sixties Counterculture Shaped the Personal Computer Industry by John Markoff
Fiction (culture -> tech -> culture)
The culture and consciousness behind the first PCs
How to Buy a Love of Reading by Tanya Egan Gibson
Young Adult Melodrama
It's a story about a pair of rich parents who hire an author to write a book for their daughter which will make her fall in love with reading. The prose is jumbled and odd and confusing and, I think, brilliantly sends up bad writing while making the reader feel, vicerally, the confusion and one-step-behind-ness of the teenage daughter trying to find herself in a society that's moving too fast for her.
Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
Drama
Life, seen through the eyes of an austistic boy.
* Heather also echoes this recommendation 8/25/2014.
Judy
Mezzanine by Nicholson Baker
Funny
The best of Baker's books - the entire story takes place during one escalator ride through a lobby.
Post Secret by Frank Warren
Reality
Anonymous postings on everything from bra stuffing to childhood trauma.
Audrey
Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami
Epic
It's a Miyazaki movie in book format.
The Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
Drama
Hopscotching over centuries, Cloud Atlas likewise jumps in and out of half a dozen different styles, all of which display the author's astonishing talent for ventriloquism, and end up fitting together to make this a highly satisfying, and unusually thoughtful, addition to the expanding "puzzle book" genre. - Jeff Turrentine, The Washington Post.
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Suskind
Murder
I vaguely remember reading this while living in a country where English was not the primary (or even secondary) language. I recall relishing my immersion in such a decadent fountain of my native tongue, but I also liked the story.
Deirdre
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
Drama
A coming of age story that will make you feel like you're the first person to have reacted to the story that way.
Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld
Young Adult
An incredibly realistic look into the prep school world I lived in for my teen years. The climax steps (for me) into the true realm of fiction, but the rest was fascinating.
World Without End by Ken Follett
Historical Fiction
This is the sequel to Pillars of the Earth which we all loved so much!
Bonni
Shopgirl: A Novella by Steve Martin
Romantic Fiction
Mirabelle, who is making her way through the romantic jungles of Beverly Hills, meets Jeremy, whose idea of a great second date is a visit to the Laundromat, then she meets Ray, but he never really takes her seriously. Sometimes quirky, sometimes comic, and sometimes languid as a summer day.
Mysteries of Pittsburgh by Michael Chabon
Drama
You meet two "Art's" and Phlox Ursula Lombardi who's a bit of a goof but can explain how an elevator tells the third floor from the fourth. and Jane. I love this book. (perfectly explains the beauty of playing footsies in a bar on a hot summer night and what it's like to work in a 'grocery store-like' bookstore...).
Entries From a Hot Pink Notebook by Todd Brown
Drama
A coming-of-age story of a 13 year old gay boy and his best friend. He's from a troubled family trying their best to wade through the fray. I found this book in Barnes and Noble and picked it just for the color of the spine and was pleasantly surprised.
The Good Times are Killing Me by Lynda Barry
Young Adult
One of my top 5 books! Lynda Barry wrote this book based upon a single word inspiration. "Music". I know it's hard to interpret music to type, but she kicks ass in the way that she illustrates how music affects us. It's about music, friendship and how things seem to change (though you don't know how) between 12 and 13.
The Worst Thing I've Ever Done by Ted Rall
Reality
Similar to the book we were looking at regarding the post cards...only this time Rall collected the stories via email, letters and ads he placed in the back of the Observer and then illustrated himself. Some twisted ass stories to make us feel a little less guilty about the things we're too ashamed to admit to anyone else...