The Next Good Book
  • Home
  • Alphabetical Archive
  • Archive by Category
  • About

 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

here comes the sun by nicole dennis-benn

12/25/2016

0 Comments

 
Picture
Here Comes the Sun by Nicole Dennis-Benn
345 pages

What’s it about?
Set in Jamaica, this novel explores the lives of three women.  The mother and her two daughters eek out an existence far from the world the local tourists see.  Delores is a wounded mother who will do anything to survive.  Her oldest daughter Margot learns to use sex as currency to get what she needs.  The youngest, Thandi, is burdened with all the expectations of Delores and Margot.  

What did it make me think about?
How sad are many peoples’ lives?  Delores, Margot, and Thandi are born into a life that they have very little control over.  The brutality of their lives is set against the beautiful island of Jamaica- what a stark contrast.  What responsibility do we have to try to understand their struggles?

Should I read it?
This was one of the most depressing books I have read in a long time.  It is beautifully written and very engaging, but just sad!  I did think about half way through that if people can live this way- I should have the fortitude to at least be aware of it.  If you know Jamaica at all, this will give you a whole other view of the island.

Quote-
“ ‘Well, one day yuh g’wan pay me back tenfold.  So here.’  Margot peels off a couple of bills.  ‘I’m sure you will put it to good use.’  Margot and Delores bank on Thandi as the one who will make it.   Like an old mattress, Thandi is that source in which they plant their dreams and expectations.  ‘it’s you who will get us out of this place,’ they say to her.  She hears Delores telling her friends this too when they come over to play dominoes.  No one knows how crushing the weight of Thandi’s guilt is when they excuse her from cooking, cleaning, and even church because of the importance they place on her studies.”

If you like this try
The Invisible Life of Ivan Isanko by Scott Stambach
Rooftops of Tehran by Mehbod Sehraji
The Tsar of Love and Techno by Anthony Marra
The Sympathizer by Viet Thahn Nguyen

7 stars



0 Comments

the last chinese chef by nicole mones

12/19/2016

0 Comments

 
Picture
The Last Chinese Chef by Nicole Mones
270 pages


What’s it about?
Food writer Maggie McElroy sets off for China to settle the estate of her late husband and simultaneously write an article.  The article centers on a Sam Liang, a half-Chinese American chef cooking in Beijing.  Secrets are uncovered, friendships formed, and Maggie learns much about Chinese culture while watching Sam prepare for a very special dinner.


What did it make me think about?
The novel was pretty predictable but it was kind of like comfort food- Chinese style.  It was quick and enjoyable. I did like learning more about Chinese cuisine and how the history of China has impacted their cuisine.  I would love to have been at one of those dinners!


Should I read it?
If you love novels that center on food, or just a good love story this book will satisfy.


Quote-
“Inside the leaves, the rib meat came away under their chopsticks, rich and lean and long-cooked with a soft crust of scented rice powder.  Underneath, the darker, more complicated flavor of the meat, the marrow, and the aromatics.  Maggie thought it was wonderful.  She ate everything except the rib bones, which she nibbled clean and folded back up, polished inside the leaf.”

If you like this try-
for foodies-

Sweetbitter by Stephanie Danler
Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
interested in China
The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
Beach read
Bittersweet by Beverly Wittemore


7 1/2 stars


0 Comments

great quote for the holiday season

12/17/2016

0 Comments

 
Picture

So many of the passages from this book resonated with me.  This quote has been popping into my mind all holiday season so I thought I would share it again!


" 'Closeness', he said surveying the congregation. 'It's easy to be close, but almost impossible to stay close. Think about friends. Think about hobbies. Even ideas. They're close to us – sometimes so close we think they are part of us- and then, at some point they aren't close anymore.  They go away.  Only one thing can keep something close over time: holding it there.  Grappling with it. Wrestling to the ground, as Jacob did with the angel, and refusing to let go. What we don't wrestle we let go of.  Love isn't the absence of struggle.  Love is struggle.' "

From "Here I Am" by Jonathan Safron Foer

​
0 Comments

hillbilly elegy by J.D. Vance

12/17/2016

0 Comments

 
Picture
Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance
272 pages

What’s it about?
J.D. Vance is thirty years old and a former marine, Iraq war veteran, and Yale Law School graduate.  J.D. struggles through school and often feels overwhelmed as a child.  Through his journey we look at a culture in crisis.  Through J.D. Vance’s eyes we feel how limited his life often felt.  

What did it make me think about?
This book made me much more aware of another perspective.  A perspective we have not heard much about until recently.  However, this book did not make me feel like their were easy solutions to the problems we are facing as a nation.
  
Should I read it?
This was an quick book to read.  I appreciated what Mr. Vance was trying to say, and he certainly puts a face and voice to another problem in America.  

Quote-
“In our race-conscious society, our vocabulary often extends no further than the color of someone’s skin- “black people’, “Asians”, “white privilege”.  Sometimes these broad categories are useful, but to understand my story, you have to delve into the details.  I may be white, but I do not identify with the WASPs of the Northeast.  Instead, I identify with the Scots-Irish descent who have no college degree.  To these folks, poverty is the family tradition- their ancestors were day laborers in the Southern slave economy, share-croppers after that, and machinists and millworkers during more recent times.  Americans call them hillbillies, rednecks or white trash.  I call them neighbors, friends, and family.”

If you like this try-
All Over But the Shoutin' by Rick Bragg
Ghettoside by Jill Leovy
Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward
The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls

8 1/2 stars

0 Comments

news of the world by paulette jiles

12/14/2016

0 Comments

 
Picture
News of The World by Paulette Jiles
209 pages
 
What’s it about?
This story takes place in Texas, after the close of the Civil War.  71 year-old Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd is drifting through North Texas reading the news of the world to groups of locals for money.   One day he is offered a 50 dollar gold piece to return a 10 year-old white girl, who has been rescued from the Kiowa Indians, back to her aunt and uncle near San Antonio.  Against his better judgment, but worried for the young girl’s safety, he decides to take the girl back to her relatives.
 
What did I think?
Captain Kidd is such a great character!  Two novels in a row that have strong male characters whose integrity is challenged by their circumstances.  Captain Kidd is living in a hard time, and this novel is filled with hard characters.  Ms. Jiles does a wonderful job of conveying the hard-scrabble life in Texas after the war.  I enjoyed “Enemy Women” years ago, so I had high hope for “News of the World”.   I was not disappointed.
 
Should you read it?
This book is perfect for anyone with an interest in historical fiction.  The long term impact on settlers of being captured by Indians is again explored by Ms. Jiles.  It was a really interesting time in history, and it made for a very interesting book.
 
Quote-
“At the age he had attained with his life span short before him he had begun to look upon the human world with the indifference of a condemned man.  Who cares for your fashions and your wars and your causes?   I will shortly be gone and I have seen many fashions come and go and many causes so passionately defended only to be forgotten.  But now it was different and he was drawn back into the stream of being because their was once again life in his hands.  Things mattered.”
 
If you like this try-
 Last Bus to Wisdom by Ivan Doig
The Summer Before the War by Helen Simonson
Frog Music by Emma Donaghue
The Sisters' Brothers by Patrick DeWitt

8 1/2 stars
0 Comments

a gentleman in moscow by amor towles

12/11/2016

0 Comments

 
Picture
A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
462 pages
 
What’s it about?
Count Alexander Rostov is 30-years-old when he is sentenced to house arrest in the Hotel Metropol in Moscow.  The novel opens in 1922 as the Count is on trial.  Count Alexander Rostov has lived in a world that will no longer exist in this new Russia.  Juxtaposing the Count's old world sensibilities against the backdrop of a newly communist Moscow sets this story apart.  Seeing the changes in Russia through the eyes of the Count is brilliant.  
 
What did I think?
I loved the whole book!  Count Alexander Rostov may go down as one of my favorite literary characters.  Amor Towles is fantastically talented!
 
Should you read it?
I highly recommend this novel!
 
Quote-
                  “ ‘I’ll tell you what is convenient,’ he said after a moment. ‘To sleep until noon and have someone bring you your breakfast on a tray.  To cancel and appointment at the very last minute.  To keep a carriage waiting at the door of one party, so that on a moment’s notice it can whisk you away to another.  To sidestep marriage in your youth and put off having children altogether.  These are the greatest of conveniences, Anushka- and at one time, I had them all.  But in the end, it has been the inconveniences that have mattered to me most.' ”
 
If you like this try-
The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery
The Summer Before the War by Helen Simonson
The Tsar of Love and Techno by Anthony Marra
A God in Ruins by Kate Atkinson

9 1/2  stars
0 Comments

shoe dog by phil knight

12/7/2016

0 Comments

 
Picture
Shoe Dog by Phil Knight
383 pages


What’s it about?
 This is Phil Knight’s memoir about his life.  He wrote the book himself (no ghostwriter involved) and most of the book focuses on his time developing NIKE into the company and brand it has become.  


What did it make me think about?
This book reinforced that becoming a billionaire is not for the faint of heart.  Phil Knight not only worked hard for years, but he lived on the precipice of bankruptcy for a very long time.  The NIKE we know was a long time in the making.  I also found it interesting how the idea for the company developed and morphed over time. I think I imagined Phil Knight sitting down at a cobbler’s bench and creating the first pair of NIKE shoes, and that is not quite how it happened.


Should I read it?
I would recommend this book to anyone, but especially those that have an interest in how a business is developed.  Really interesting story- I do have to admit that Phil Knight does not seem like someone that I would look forward to spending a ton of time with…  
 
Quote-
“Like it or not, life is a game.  Whoever denies that truth, whoever simply refuses to play, gets left on the sidelines, and I didn’t wasn't that.  More than anything, that was the ting I did not want. 
    Which led, as always, to my Crazy Idea.  Maybe, I thought, just maybe, I need to take one more look at my Crazy Idea.  Maybe my Crazy Idea just might….work?”


If you like this try-
The Wright Brothers by David McCullough
On the Move: A Life by Oliver Sacks
Fire Shut Up in My Bones by Charles Blow
All Over But the Shoutin' by Rick Bragg

8 stars

0 Comments

faithful by alice hoffman

12/5/2016

0 Comments

 
Picture
Faithful by Alice Hoffman
255 pages

What's it about?
Shelby is a normal 17-year-old girl until one snowy night an auto accident seriously injures her, and kills her best friend.   This novel explores grief, guilt, and love in equal measures.

What did  it make think about?
The first fifty pages I just wanted Shelby to get a grip- as the story moved on I became more engaged in it.  Alice Hoffman does a nice job of pacing Shelby's recovery.  I am sure a trauma like this would impact your life in ways we can't imagine.  The book was also a sweet reminder of what a mother-daughter relationship can be.  

Should I read it?
I am an Alice Hoffman fan so I say "of course"!

If you liked this try-
Sweetbitter by Stephanie Danler
Language Arts by Stephanie Kellos
All My Puny Sorrows by Miriam Toews
Elegies for the Broken Hearted by Christie Hodgen

8 1/2 stars
0 Comments

    Subscribe! Enter your email address:

    Delivered by FeedBurner

    RSS Feed

    next up

    Picture

    favorites from 2020 

    Picture

    some favorites of the last decade

    Picture

    best of winter 2020

    best of summer/fall 2019

    best of winter/spring 2019

    best of summer/ fall 2018

    best of winter/spring 2017-18

    best of spring/summer 2017

    best of winter
    2017

    best of fall
    2016

    best of spring-summer 2016

    best of winter
    2016

    best of fall 2015

    best of summer 2015

    best of spring 2015

    best of winter
    2014-15

    best of fall 2014

    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture

    best of summer 2014


    last spring favorites

    Picture
    A sad, poignant, mystical read. I won't give too much away. Quick and well worth it! 9 1/2 stars!
    Picture
    A coming of age story set in Mexico. It certainly gives you a whole new view of all the people coming over the border. 9 stars
    Picture
    Quirky characters and the story told through letters to Richard Gere. Who could ask for more? 9 stars

    on my nightstand


    edge of your seat

    FUN READS

    Picture
    RECENT FAVORITES
    PAST FAVORITES
    WORTH READING AGAIN
    Picture

    guest reviews

    and the mountains echoed

    the bully pulpit

    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014


    Picture
    Picture
    “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
    Picture

     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!
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.