I had been hearing so much about ‘Bird Box’ (a movie on Netflix) that I was ready to give in and watch it too, but then I happened across a copy of the book at a used book store. I honestly didn’t realize this movie was based on a book until I saw it for sale:
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Favorite Children’s Books – Part II
I was helping my 10-year-old clean out his room yesterday – I mean really clean it…it took us more than 2 hours and resulted in a full bag of trash, a pile of recycling, and several other piles to be relocated to other areas of the house. We even went through the closet and under the bed, Ick!!
And in the closet I found the tattered covers of a book I want to recommend.
A couple of years ago I wrote My Favorite Children’s Books Part I about my absolute favorite series of children’s books. I’ve been so focused on my own reading that I forgot to finish this series of posts, but I was inspired to do so yesterday.
Because what I found was obviously another favorite considering the state of this book…I have no idea where the pages went! It literally fell apart due to lots of reading over two kids!
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‘THE RAGGED EDGE OF NIGHT’ – more WWII fiction
WWII is a favorite genre of mine. Although a couple of years ago I read SO MUCH of it that I needed to take a break from it, but not before I started this WWII fiction reading list that I add to occasionally.
Today I am happy to add this book to my running list of WWII historical fiction that I recommend:
The Ragged Edge of Night by Olivia Hawker
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This is my third year of blogging on “Leslie’s Bookcase” and my year-end tradition is to announce my favorite five books of the year. To keep this process consistent from year to year, I only consider books published within the past year. And I can’t read ALL the books so this honor is obviously limited to the books I have read and posted about.
And here are my favorite books of 2018:
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Decades ago I sat at a bar next to a older man who – with great pride – pulled a stack of library cards out of his wallet.
“I’ve moved a lot in my life, and the first thing I did in any new town was get a library card,” he said.
Writing this post triggered this memory I hadn’t thought of in years but it speaks towards the variety of people who use libraries. This man was a character although an intelligent one. And at that point in my life (early 20s) I wasn’t necessarily using my library although I had grown up visiting the library. These days, however, I am there at least once a week if not more. So when I heard great things about a book that is about libraries I had to check it out! And add it to my winter reading list.
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I can’t believe I forgot to put A Ladder to the Sky: A Novel on my winter reading list, but I read it as soon as I remembered!
A book by the same author, John Boyne, made my favorite books of 2017 list and this new book is a contender for this year’s list. Check back; my list is coming soon!!
Maurice Swift, a truly unforgettable and unique protagonist, is a charming psychopath who steals others’ ideas because although he can write well, he can’t come up with his own plots.
“There’s something in all our pasts that wouldn’t want revealed. And that’s where you’ll find your story,” his first mentor tells him. The book’s title is a reference to a proverb about ambition: “It’s like a ladder to the sky. A pointless waste of energy.” Maurice’s ambition leads him to do things you wouldn’t believe until you start anticipating just what he’ll do next and how far he’ll go!!
The book is entertaining, disturbing, funny, thought provoking, and irresistible.
For me personally it had two traits that I loved:
- Intertextuality, something I write about a lot.
- Pub references. The chapters of the last section are titled by the pubs he is sitting in. hysterical!
Through the last page, this book is brilliant. Bravo bravo – I hate that I don’t still have this book to read tonight.
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One of my favorite reads over the past few years has been The Paris Wife
Love and Ruin: A Novel
I didn’t previously know much about Martha Gellhorn, but this woman was a real journalist and author in her own right without being tied to Ernest Hemingway. She was his second wife between Pauline and Mary. (The Paris Wife is about his first wife Hadley.)
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THREE BOOKS THAT GOT MY HUSBAND EXCITED TO READ AGAIN
When I met my husband 13+ years ago, he had a ton of books, including lots of Stephen King and other mysteries and thrillers, mostly paperback. Apparently he used to read a lot! But over the years I have known him he hasn’t read books too often, and more recently (like since I started this blog) he doesn’t seem to understand why I’m SO into reading. So I made it my goal to find books that would get him excited about reading again.
I succeeded by putting these three books in his hands:
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An engaging “domestic thriller,” The Winters: A Novel
I thoroughly enjoyed the suspense as I anxiously read up to the point when this love story went wrong.
And a reader knows it’s all going to “go wrong” as soon as a young woman who works in the Cayman Islands at a boat charter (honestly I can’t even remember her name; the book is from her point of view) meets Max, a wealthy politician who recently lost his wife in a dramatic accident.
This younger woman moves back with him to the East Coast and his mansion on a private island, and at this point the novel becomes extremely reminiscent the classic novel Rebecca and its Manderley both in scenery and plot details. This is not a retelling of Rebecca but there are many similarities and references.
I’m happy to recommend the second book I finished reading off my winter reading list:
A Well-Behaved Woman: A Novel of the Vanderbilts
After the civil war, Alva Smith and her family are left with nothing but their good reputation. During this same time, the Vanderbilts have made a fortune from shipping and railroads but are shut out of New York “society” despite their millions. So…a match is made between Alva and William Vanderbilt.
After their marriage, Alva successfully maneuvers society and finds her own passion for architecture. But as she learns, a place in society and all the money anyone could want (even more millions by this point) don’t equal happiness, and she must take more drastic measures…