Didion, Joan. The Year of Magical ThinkingNew York: Knopf, 2005ISBN 1-4000-4314-X HighBridge Audio, narrated by Barbara Caruso Highly Recommended On the evening of December 30, 2003, Joan Didion’s husband of 40 years, John Gregory Dunne, sat down to dinner in their apartment in New York City. Didion and Dunne had just come home from visiting their […]
“The Year of Magical Thinking” by Joan Didion Read More »
Patchett, Ann. Truth and Beauty: A FriendshipNew York: HarperCollins, 2004ISBN 0-06-057214-0 Harper Audio, narrated by Ann Patchett Ann Patchett and Lucy Grealy both attended college at Sarah Lawrence at the same time, although they were not friends there. Ann tells us that at Sarah Lawrence everyone–students and faculty–knew Lucy as a tremendously talented poet. Everyone also knew
“Truth and Beauty” by Ann Patchett Read More »
Luskin, Fred. Forgive for GoodSan Francisco: HarperCollins, 2002Trade paperback, 240 pagesISBN 0-06-251721-X Highly Recommended This book changed my life. Extensive research has shown that forgiveness is good for us, both physically and emotionally. We can understand this intellectually. But, as most of us also know, it’s much harder to find forgiveness in our hearts. I
“Forgive for Good” by Fred Luskin Read More »
Clarke, Brock. An Arsonist’s Guide to Writers’ Homes in New England: A Novel Chapel Hill: Algonquin, 2007 ISBN 978-1-56512-551-3 Random House Audio, narrated by Daniel Passer This quirky novel is about stories–the stories we tell about our lives and about ourselves, and the stories we tell to others and to ourselves. The story’s narrator is
“An Arsonist’s Guide to Writers’ Homes in New England” by Brock Clarke Read More »
Follett, Ken. The Pillars of the Earth New York: Morrow, 1989 Penguin Audiobooks, narrated by John Lee Highly recommended “It’s a truism of the book business that the best advertising is the kind you can’t buy: the personal recommendation of one reader to another,” says Ken Follett in the preface to the recently rereleased
“The Pillars of the Earth” by Ken Follett Read More »
Flynn, Sean. 3000 Degrees Warner, 2002Hardcover, 245 pagesISBN 0-446-52831-5 Recommended On December 3, 1999, six firemen died fighting a fire in an abandoned storage warehouse in Worcester, Massachusetts. 3000 Degrees tells the story of that fire, of the six who died and their families, and of several Worcester firefighters who survived that night. Like Sebastian Junger
“3000 Degrees” by Sean Flynn Read More »
Sebold, Alice. The Lovely Bones (2002) Little, Brown, 328 pages, $21.95 hardcover ISBN 0-316-66634-3 “My name was Salmon, like the fish; first name, Susie. I was fourteen when I was murdered on December 6, 1973” (p. 5). So begins Susie’s story, her narrative of watching from heaven as her family and friends go
“The Lovely Bones” by Alice Sebold Read More »
Flaherty, Alice W. The Midnight Disease Houghton Mifflin, 2004Hardcover, 307 pagesISBN 0-618-23065-3 Trained as a scientist, neurologist Alice W. Flaherty always enjoyed writing. But after the birth and death of premature twin boys, she had a mental breakdown that made her write nearly constantly, a condition known as hypergraphia. She took medication and was hospitalized for
“The Midnight Disease” by Alice W. Flaherty Read More »
Grafton, Sue. “Q” Is for Quarry (2002)Putnam, 385 pages, $26.95 hardcover ISBN 0-399-14915-5 After her worst outing yet (“P” is for poor), Kinsey is back, this time helping two aging police detectives take another crack at a cold case—a still unsolved murder from 18 years earlier. Found with her hands
“Q” Is for Quarry by Sue Grafton Read More »
Review: Lucky: A Memoir Sebold, Alice. Lucky: A Memoir Scribner, 1999Hardcover, 251 pagesISBN 0-684-85782-0 Simon & Schuster Audio, narrated by Alice Sebold In the tunnel where I was raped, a tunnel that was once an underground entry to an amphitheater, a place where actors burst forth from underneath the seats of a crowd, a girl had been
“Lucky: A Memoir” by Alice Sebold Read More »
