I love reading your recommendations, and will definitely check a lot of these out! I did read "Hamnet" (twice, and saw the film), also "Stoneyard Devotional". A favorite that springs to mind is Kevin Frank's, "Nothing to See Here" ~ I strongly recommend the audiobook version. The narrator won first prize from Audible, the year it was published, for spot-on characterizations in this most humorous yet pointedly wry book. I continue to reread Viola Davis's memoir, "Finding Me" when I want to get inspired. Amor Towles's 'Rules of Civility' satisfied me on every level, and I revisit that periodically as well. I am currently reading Mark Nepo's book, "Drinking from the River of Light". It is deeply spiritual and profoundly stirring for people who live through their creativity. It is a celebration of process, and I recommend it to anyone who wishes to "live 1000 lives" by embracing the joy of inventing something from nothing. I reread Maggie O'Farrell's memoir, "I Am, I Am, I Am: Seventeen Brushes with Death" and I'm very glad I did! Here's to living our best lives… All 1000 of them, all of us happy readers! Which reminds me, I gained great joy by listening to the wonderful narration of Niall Williams book, "This is Happiness"… It will fill your heart with joy if you let it…
The book I've been recommending is The History of Sound, by Ben Shattuck. This collection of short stories set in New England is uniquely organised in pairs of stories that explore the relationship between past and present. More importantly, each story summons strong emotions independent of their time periods, universal emotions. The intensity of emotion mingles with the immersive settings and strong characters to create a kind of dream.
I fell into each of these mysterious and tender stories so profoundly that I could only read one a day. I had to sit with that story, think about it, try to grasp what it meant to me before I could move on. It was as though each one left me with a handful of shells, or stones perhaps, that I had to examine, turning them over and over, rubbing one or another to see what it might tell me.
I love reading your recommendations, and will definitely check a lot of these out! I did read "Hamnet" (twice, and saw the film), also "Stoneyard Devotional". A favorite that springs to mind is Kevin Frank's, "Nothing to See Here" ~ I strongly recommend the audiobook version. The narrator won first prize from Audible, the year it was published, for spot-on characterizations in this most humorous yet pointedly wry book. I continue to reread Viola Davis's memoir, "Finding Me" when I want to get inspired. Amor Towles's 'Rules of Civility' satisfied me on every level, and I revisit that periodically as well. I am currently reading Mark Nepo's book, "Drinking from the River of Light". It is deeply spiritual and profoundly stirring for people who live through their creativity. It is a celebration of process, and I recommend it to anyone who wishes to "live 1000 lives" by embracing the joy of inventing something from nothing. I reread Maggie O'Farrell's memoir, "I Am, I Am, I Am: Seventeen Brushes with Death" and I'm very glad I did! Here's to living our best lives… All 1000 of them, all of us happy readers! Which reminds me, I gained great joy by listening to the wonderful narration of Niall Williams book, "This is Happiness"… It will fill your heart with joy if you let it…
The book I've been recommending is The History of Sound, by Ben Shattuck. This collection of short stories set in New England is uniquely organised in pairs of stories that explore the relationship between past and present. More importantly, each story summons strong emotions independent of their time periods, universal emotions. The intensity of emotion mingles with the immersive settings and strong characters to create a kind of dream.
I fell into each of these mysterious and tender stories so profoundly that I could only read one a day. I had to sit with that story, think about it, try to grasp what it meant to me before I could move on. It was as though each one left me with a handful of shells, or stones perhaps, that I had to examine, turning them over and over, rubbing one or another to see what it might tell me.
Thank you for this, Barbara. I will check out this book!