The Next Good Book
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 so i like to read- 

friends often ask for book suggestions so i created this site in 2014 to help me think about what i read and pass it on.  

I hope you find many good books here!


e-mail-thenextgoodbook5@gmail.com

virgil wander by leif enger

10/29/2018

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Virgil Wander by Leif Enger
300 pages
 
What’s it about?
  Greenstone is a small mid-western town that has seen better days.  Virgil Wander owns the local movie theater.  It seems like Virgil’s life has been on autopilot for a long time, until one day his Pontiac careens off the road and lands in the icy waters of Lake Superior. Virgil survives but his language and memory are just not the same.  This is the story of a small town…
 
What did it make me think about?
 I have read so many good books lately with a small community at the heart of the story.  This story just made me think of the goodness in most people.
 
Should I read it?
I loved “Peace Like a River” years ago and I loved this book as well.  Who wouldn’t love Virgil, Rune, Nadine, and Bjorn- as well as countless other characters living in Greenstone.  I will miss them all!
 
Quote-
“A person never knows what’s next-I don’t anyway.  The surface of everything is thinner than we know.  A person can fall right through, without any warning at all.”

If you liked this try-
Less by Andrew Sean Greer
The Summer Before the War by Helen Simonson
Beartown by Frederik Backman
Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger

9 stars

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the clockmaker's daughter by kate morton

10/25/2018

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The Clockmaker’s Daughter by Kate Morton
482 pages

What’s it about?
This story is told from many different viewpoints but remains rooted in England.  We begin in the summer of 1862 with a group of young artists who have taken up residence in Birchwood Manor.  In time, a murder is committed, jewels are stolen, and a young woman goes missing.  Over 150 years later Elodie Winslow happens upon a leather satchel containing clues to what happened. This is a story told across time about murder, art, love, and loss.

What did it make me think about?
 I have enjoyed all of the Kate Morton books I have read.  She has such a distinctive style to her writing and all her stories seem to be so very English.  I have come to the conclusion that I am a sucker for anything English.  

Should I read it?
Get yourself a cup of tea and a scone and settle in.

Quote-
“People value shiny stones and lucky charms, but they forget that the most powerful talismans of all are the stories that we tell to ourselves and to others.”

If you like this try-
The Summer Before the War by Helen Simonson

Lila by Marilynne Robinson
The Heart's invisible Furies by John Boyne
The Temporary Gentleman by Sebastian Barry

8 1/2 stars

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the last girl by nadia murad

10/11/2018

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The Last Girl by Nadia Murad
306 pages

What’s it about?

Nadia Murad was born in raised in Kocha, a small village in Northern Iraq.  She is a member of the Yazidi community and has always lived a quiet life in her close community.  Nadia is just twenty-one years old when ISIS militants take over her village. They quickly execute all the men that refuse to convert to Islam, and all the women too old to become sex slaves.  Nadia ,along with thousands of other Yazidi women, is taken to Mosul and forced into the slave trade.   This is her story.
 
What did it make me think about?
 Reading this I kept thinking about all the Holocaust books I have read.  I always thought,, "We need to remember so it does not ever happen again".  But it does happen- Rwanda, Iraq, and Syria are just recent examples.  It just boggles the mind that such evil exists- and so little is done to stop it.

Should I read it?
 Nadia Murad just won the Noble Peace prize.  She is remarkable young woman who has turned her personal tragedy into her life's work.  As she said, "I know now that I was born in the heart of the crimes committed against me."  I found this book to be a page-turner that was disturbing and unsettling.  How do these events keep happening?  How does religion so often play a key role?  We see the refugee crisis on the evening news, but this book makes the crisis personal.

Quote-
"I still think that being forced to leave your home out of fear is one of the worst injustices a human being can face.  Everything you love is stolen, and you risk your life to live in a place that means nothing to you and where, because you come from a country now known for war and terrorism, you are not really wanted.  So you spend the rest of years longing for what you left behind while praying not to be deported."

If you like this try-
Madame President by Helene Cooper
​Forty Autumns by Nina Willner
​My Brother Moochie by Issac J. Bailey
Everything Happens for a Reason and other Lies I have Loved by Kate Bower

9 stars
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clock dance by anne tyler

10/8/2018

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Clock Dance by Anne Tyler
292 pages


What’s it about?
 This novel centers around Willa Drake.  We see her in 1967 as a schoolgirl, in 1977 as a college co-ed trying to decide about marriage, in 1997 as a grieving widow, and then at 2017 at another crossroads in her life. 

What did it make me think about?
This book looks at the seasons of your life.  We clearly see Willa as a child, a young adult, a woman in midlife, and woman who longs for grandchildren.  This story also emphasizes how our personalities may be set from a young age but if we open, we are never too old to change.

Should I read it?
This was really four short stories that all centered around Willa.  We see how Willa is shaped by her childhood and thus becomes a certain type of mother.  I really liked Willa so I would recommend this book. Anne Tyler is always so insightful and remains one of my favorite writers.  
  
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Quote-
“She wondered if her sons would keep in touch with her after they were gone.  Would they remember their childhoods fondly, or were they storing up grudges against her?  She had tried her best to be a good mother- which to her meant a predictable mother.  She had promised herself that her children would never have to worry what sort of mood she was in; they would never peek into her bedroom in the morning to see how their day was going to go.  She was the only woman she knew whose prime objective was to be taken for granted.”


If you like this try-
Less by Andrew Sean Greer
Anything is Possible by Elizabeth Strout
​Grief Cottage by Gail Goodwin
Lila by Marilynne Robinson

8 stars


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the perfect nanny by leila slimani

10/1/2018

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The Perfect  Nanny by Leila Slimani
228 pages

What’s it about?
 Myriam and Paul have two small children.  When Myriam decides to return to work as a lawyer she looks for just the right nanny for her children- the perfect nanny.  She finds Louise and it seems too good to be true.  It is too good to be true…

What did it make me think about?
This was a good page turner that plays on our fears of leaving our children with a stranger.  It also touches on the difficult choice that so many women have to make once they have kids.   “For months she pretended she was okay.  Even to Paul, she didn’t dare admit her secret shame.  How she felt as if she were dying because she had nothing to talk about but the antics of her children and the conversations of strangers overheard in the supermarket.  She started turning down dinner invitations, ignoring calls from her friends.  She was especially wary of women, who could be so cruel.  She wanted to strangle the ones who pretended to admire, or worse, envy her.  She couldn’t bear listening to them anymore, complaining about their jobs, about not seeing their children enough.  More than anything, she feared strangers.  The ones who innocently asked what she did for a living and who looked away when she said she was a stay-at-home mother.”  

Should I read it?
This is a good psychological thriller but if I was a young parent I would steer clear of this one.  It is everyone's worst nightmare, but it would hit too close to home if I had a crib in my house.

Quote-
“She became aware that she could never live without feeling that she was incomplete, that she was doing things badly, sacrificing one part of her life for another.  She had made a big deal out of this, refusing to renounce her dream of the ideal balance.  Stubbornly thinking that everything was possible, that she could reach all her objectives, that she wouldn’t end up bitter and exhausted.  That she wouldn’t play the role of martyr or of the perfect mother.”

If you like this try-
Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh
Tangerine by Christine Mangan
The Child Finder by Rene Denfeld
​The Girl in the Red Coat by Kate Hamer

8 stars
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    “Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers.”
    ― Charles William Eliot
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     ratings

    1 to 2- I did not enjoy this book.
    3 to 4- I found some aspect of this book redeeming but would not recommend it.
    5 to 6- I really enjoyed something about this book (characters, plot, meaning etc.) but it was uneven. Some aspects were stronger than others.
    7 to 8- It was a good book.  I liked lots of aspects of this book.  I would recommend it.
    9 to 10- I was sorry to turn the last page.  I highly recommend this book!
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