Rhoda's best books of 2018

As usual, I am posting the best books I read in  the previous year.  It was an unusually slim year of good books for me.  I spent a lot of time reading about and planning the various trips we took.  However, here they are, in the order I read them, not in rank order.  The comments afterwards are from the notes I wrote after reading the book.

In Harm’s Way:  The Sinking of the USS Indianapolis and the Extraordinary Story of Its Survivors by Doug Stanton

Horrifying on so many levels:  First the awful circumstances surrounding the sinking; second the incredible ordeal the survivors had in the waters of the south Pacific for five days; finally the total screw-up of the Navy, not only before, during, and afterwards, and how they covered it up by blaming the captain.  I’m glad that I read it because it is important history.  Some of the images will never leave my mind, though.  Notes:  1.  The Indianapolis had just delivered the first atomic bomb to the place where it would be loaded on the plane for Hiroshima, although none of the crew knew that, so it was not traveling in battle formation, as it usually would have been. 2.  I watched a great PBS special on the Indianapolis last night.  I really recommend finding it and seeing it if you can.

Imagine Me Gone, by Adam Haslett

Father that suffers from serious depression does weird things with his kids so they are basically scarred for life.  Follows the children into adulthood as they try to cope with life.  Well written compelling

The Sense of an Ending,  by Julian Barnes

Four friends from school, one, Adrian, is brilliant and others admire him.  The main character goes on to have an ordinary life that he is satisfied with.  Suicide by Adrian and arrival of a bequest of Adrian’s diary from former girlfriend’s mother sends him searching for answers.  What he finds out both about his former actions and their consequences is most surprising.  I liked this book.

No Ordinary Time, By Doris Kearns Goodwin

Fascinating story of Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt just preceding WWII—up to his death.  I had no idea the extent of Eleanor’s influence on events, and how much she tried to advance liberal causes during such a difficult time.  Goodwin showed their faults, as well as the wonderful things they accomplished.  It is quite long, but I was happy I trudged on through it.  Read in anticipation of going to Hyde Park last fall.

Less, by Andrew Sean Greer

Hard to describe.  Gay writer, whose one claim to fame, despite having written several books that got modest praise, is that his great love was a famous poet of the Russian River school. He has gone through life having many lovers, but is facing great angst as he is about to turn 50 and his present love has decided to marry another man.   He puts together a series of places where he will travel to around the world, where he will be paid to do something.  Each chapter is one of the locations.  It won the Pulitzer Prize for literature.

Braving the Wilderness, by Brene’ Brown

A lot of it is psychobabble, but I really liked a couple of the chapters:  “Speak Truth to Bullshit.  Be Civil.”  I also liked the chapter “Hold hands.  With Strangers.”  She talked about the importance of participating in larger events with lots of people, like listening to live music.  “Show up for collective moments of joy and pain so we can actually bear witness to inextricable human connection.”  “When we come together to share authentic joy, hope, and pain, we melt the pervasive cynicism that often cloaks our better human nature.  When we come together under the false flag of common enemy intimacy, we amplify cynicism and diminish our collective worth.”  “There is no substitute for in-person interactions.  They are proven to bolster our immune system, send positive hormones surging through our bloodstream and brain, and help us live longer."

P. S. 

In this time of such anger and divisiveness in our society, I am going to try to take her advice. I need to diminish my cynicism and have more moments of collective joy.  That is my only New Year's resolution.  So...If you are local and see something that we might enjoy doing with you or others, let us know. I could use a surge of positive hormones!