by Sarah M. Broom, 2019 Interesting and well-written memoir about growing up in New Orleans East, the youngest of 12 siblings. The home she grows up in, which she calls the Yellow House, was damaged by Hurricane Katrina and then demolished. She has had such an interesting life, growing up the youngest of 12. Her […]
Author: bookhound
How to Do Nothing
by Jenny Odell, 2019 Too many big words and thoughts! This young lady is just too smart! She doesn’t appear to believe in God so all of her deep philosophizing is for naught because, “Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.” Psalm 127:1 Without reading the book, Wayne predicted […]
The Field Guide to Dumb Birds of North America
Matt Kracht, 2019 This was supposed to be one of the funniest books of 2019, but it’s mainly an unfunny, potty-mouthed berating of birds. He likes to use the f-word, butt, dumb, gd, etc. I didn’t read it for that reason, just scanned a few. Here’s what he says about the wonderful chickadee that is […]
Cost
by Roxana Robinson, 2008 One of the most powerful books I’ve ever read. Excellent but harrowing. So painful and scary. If anyone is thinking about taking heroin, read this first. Through the character of 22 year-old Jack, you learn what it is like to be an addict. The dark, awful, soul-consuming world of a heroin […]
Dopesick
Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company that Addicted America by Beth Macy, 2018 Painful, scary book about the opioid epidemic, which started with the release of Oxycontin by Purdue Pharma in the mid 1990s. This was a drug so powerful and so over-prescribed by doctors in the Appalachian areas, that many were addicted and when […]
Before We Were Yours
by Lisa Wingate, 2017 This book was the February selection for our Old Town Library Book Club. It’s historical fiction about the Tennessee Children’s Home Society, a real organization, and children stolen and taken to an orphanage in Memphis. The truth is that many children were stolen or taken away from their parents under duress […]
Waste
by Kate O’Neill, 2019 Interesting, short (189 pages), academic book on garbage, particularly e-waste, food waste, and plastic. Main take-away is we are producing more and more waste and it will take all of us to manage it. For e-waste, that means changing the way things are produced so that they can be repaired (Right […]
Lab Girl
by Hope Jahren, 2016 I loved this book! I love its author, Hope Jahren! It’s a memoir about how she became a scientist with her very own lab, and her deep, deep friendship with a guy named Bill, who has been with her since the beginning of her journey. It’s laugh-out-loud funny, informative, uplifting and […]
The Overstory
by Richard Powers, 2018 I cannot believe this book won the Pulitzer Prize! I got so tired of it half-way through and am so glad I finally finished it and can return it to the library. It was 502 pages of new-age gobbledygook about trees and 5 humans that try to save them. I don’t […]
Home Comforts – The Art & Science of Keeping House
by Cheryl Mendelson, 1999 What an amazing book! Everything you could ever want to know about keeping a home in 837 pages! She gives instructions on EVERYTHING – cleaning, what to do in what order and with what products, the actual chemistry behind cleaning products, how to set a table, stock a kitchen, clean anything […]
Lies My Teacher Told Me
by James W. Loewen, 2018 Eye-opening book about the sorry state of American History textbooks in high schools. This was one of our Old Town Library Book Club selections for 2019-2020. He provides the truth about Woodrow Wilson (extremely racist), Helen Keller (ardent socialist), Christopher Columbus (extreme brutality to the natives), the first Thanksgiving, how […]
Gulliver’s Travels
by Jonathan Swift, 1726 What a strange book! I didn’t like it! It is about a LOT more than just his journey to Lilliput. In fact, that is only a short portion at the very beginning. He ends up going to many other places – a land of giants, another place governed by a floating […]
The Tennis Partner
by Abraham Verghese, 1998 Tragic true story by the author of ‘Cutting for Stone.’ He tells about his move to El Paso, Texas, to teach internal medicine at Texas Tech. He meets David Smith, a medical student who was a former tennis pro. They develop a deep friendship via the tennis court. Abraham is an […]
A Christmas Carol
by Charles Dickens, 1843 Loved reading this after enjoying the movie with George C. Scott every year for many, many years! I was surprised at how closely the movie follows the book, in most places word-for-word. I like the way he describes the ghosts better in the book than the way they are portrayed in […]
CSU’s Sense of Place, A Campus History of Colorado’s Land-Grant University
by James E. Hansen II, Gordon A. Hazard, Linda M. Meyer, 2018 Very complete book giving pictures and history of EVERY building and even the places of Colorado State University. Especially liked the pictures of the first buildings in the late 1800s (the Pioneer Era from 1870-1909). They divided it into The Pioneer Era (1870-1909), […]
Nomadland
by Jessica Bruder, 2017 Eye-opening book about a subculture of aging Americans living in RVs, vans, or cars and traveling around the country. Gretchen recommended this book. These Americans lost homes in the 2008 Great Recession, went through messy divorces, had physical injuries or illnesses, or a combination of factors that made them unable to […]
The Common Good
by Robert B. Reich, 2018 Adam saw this book over at Ben’s house so I got it from the library. Mom read it first and said, “This was an excellent read. I sense a slipping away of everyone in the U.S.A. focusing on ‘me!’ and self only.” It’s true and he gives three reasons for […]
The Stationery Shop
by Marjan Kamali, 2019 Recommended by Christie, this is a sweet book about two young lovers in 1953 Tehran, Iran. They meet in the Stationery Shop, a shop filled with beautiful pens, papers, journals, books, etc. They decide to marry, despite the young man’s mother’s objections, and arrange to meet in the square at a […]
The Pilgrim’s Progress
by John Bunyan, Part I-1678, Part II-1684 Lora Lee told me about this book and the movie. The book has never been out of print and, second to the Bible, is the most popular book in the world. The writing style is Old English, of course, since it was written 350 years ago. At first […]
The Soul of an Octopus
by Sy Montgomery, 2015 Who would have thought an octopus had a soul? But after reading this book, you can’t help but believe it! How sweet and precious this story is! She spends most of the book with octopuses in the New England Aquarium, and with the people who work and volunteer there. Through her […]