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 […]
Author: bookhound
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 […]
Believe Me
The Evangelical Road to Donald Trump by John Fea, 2018 Excellent book by an Evangelical who is an American history professor and chair of the history department at Messiah College in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. He dedicates the book, “To the 19 percent.” He seeks to explain how 81% of evangelical Christians voted for Donald Trump. He […]
Everybody Always
by Bob Goff, 2018 Al H. recommended this book. Redeemer Lutheran was reading it. It’s about loving everyone always, even your most despised enemies. It’s full of stories about the creative ways in which he has loved others. There’s a chapter about not telling people about the good you have done because you’ve done it […]
The Emperor of All Maladies, A Biography of Cancer
by Siddhartha Mukherjee, M.D., 2010 Fantastic book about the history of cancer. The hundreds of years of unnecessary, radical mastectomies, and the evilness of Big Tobacco stand out. Also, the futility of trying to cure cancer. There are only a few cancers for which we’ve discovered what might be termed cures: CML, Hodgkin’s, breast cancer […]
Akiane, her life, her art, her poetry
by Akiane and Foreli Kramarik, 2006 Short biography of Akiane, the girl who painted the picture of Jesus that the little boy from Heaven Is for Real identified as the Jesus he saw in heaven. This book tells the story of her life up to age 10 and includes her poetry and her paintings. I […]
The Hate U Give
by Angie Thomas, 2017 This book takes you into the world of 16-year-old Starr; I hated the world but fell in love with her and her precious family. They live in the ghetto and Starr witnesses her childhood best friend, Khalil, get shot and killed by a white cop. She has brothers (Seven and Sekani), […]
Hiding in the Light
By Rifqa Bary, 2015 True story about a young Muslim girl who converts to Christianity and has to run away from home for her life and safety. This book demonstrates many things but to me, it mainly shows how we Americans take for granted our religious freedom; we are free to worship who we want, […]
Boys in The Trees, A Memoir
by Carly Simon, 2015 Carly started out life as a rich girl in NYC. Her dad was Dick Simon, founder of publishing giant Simon & Schuster. She was their third daughter and they were hoping for a boy to name “Carl” so they added a “y” and that’s how she became Carly. Music was a […]
Fortunate Son
The Autobiography of Lewis B. Puller, Jr., 1991 In-depth memoir by a Vietnam veteran who lost both legs and most of his hands after tripping a booby trap running from enemy soldiers after his gun jammed. He is the son of a decorated Marine General, a good father but such a decorated war hero that […]
Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine
by Gail Honeyman, 2017 A most-interesting novel! It’s about a 30-year old girl, living a very lonely life in Glasgow. She has a boring office job that pays the bills, but her co-workers don’t like her and often gossip about her. She buys vodka every Friday and stays drunk through the weekend. She has a […]
North and South
by Elizabeth Gaskell, 1854-5 Classic recommended by Kindra, a librarian at the Old Town Library. At first, I thought it would be hard to read because of the old-style language, but after only a couple of pages, it was imminently readable and I couldn’t put it down! The story centers on 19 year-old Margaret Hale, […]
Birds, Beasts, and Relatives
by Gerald Durrell, 1969 A second beautiful book about his time in Corfu in the late 1930’s. What a treasure his books are! His writing brings me to a place and time and among people I love. This book covered stories about a wedding party, Gerry’s surprise birthday present of a goat, Gerry witnessing the […]
The River
by Peter Heller, 2019 What a disappointing book! Can’t believe it is by the same author who wrote The Dog Stars! Two young men, best friends, decide to canoe a river in Canada. They run into 1. A huge wildfire, 2. A lunatic who tried to murder his wife, and after the young men go […]