Recommended Books

Because of Covid and being trapped at home so much, everyone I know is reading a lot more.  My list of books read this year is already very long, so I thought I would put in some recommendations, based on my reading since January.

***= highly recommended

***All Blood Runs Red:  The Legendary Life of Eugene Bullard—Boxer, Pilot, Soldier, Spy by Phil Keith with Tom Clavin

Amazing saga of a black man from Columbus, Georgia who runs away from home as a child, so he can go to France, where he has heard there is no prejudice.  His amazing journey and exploits through two world wars make spellbinding reading.  This is an astounding true story.

And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer, by Fredrik Backman

Touching story of grandfather, son, and grandson, as the grandfather realizes that he is losing his memories and preparing to die.  It was the author’s personal thoughts that he didn’t expect to turn into a novella, but it is a lovely, warm story of love and loss.

Five Presidents:  My Extraordinary Journey with Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, and Ford, by Clint Hill

Fascinating story by Hill, who was in secret service protecting five presidents.  He was the person who jumped onto the car to protect the Kennedys in Dallas.  His experience there continued to haunt him throughout the rest of his life, causing him to ultimately turn down the directorship and eventually to retire.  Lots of interesting details about the eccentricities of the presidents, those that were easy to work with, like Eisenhower, and those who drove them crazy, like LBJ.  Also lots of details of the many trips that the presidents took, and the amazing work that the secret service had to do to try to protect the president under most trying situations.  A very personal story, though, about the incredible sacrifices the members of the secret service make.

***The Woman Who Smashed Codes, by Jason Fagone

Fascinating biography of  Elizebeth Smith Friedman, who was an astonishing code breaker during both world wars, and between.  Her exploits against rumrunners were well known, but her wartime work was never acknowledged, due to the need for secrecy.  Because she kept meticulous records, which were donated to a college, her biographer was able to piece together the incredible contributions that she and her more famous husband did.  Highly recommended  The book jacket says, “A True Story of Love, Spies, and the Unlikely Heroine Who Outwitted America’s Enemies.”

The Woman in the Window, by A.J. Finn:

Mystery, sort of thriller.  Woman with agoraphobia lives vicariously by spying on people with the telephoto lens of her camera.  She is self medicating with lots of pills and alcohol, so when she sees what appears to be a murder in the house across the street, no one believes her, especially since everyone in the house denies that anything has happened. Lots of interesting twists and turns to the plot, coming to a climactic ending.  Apparently, it is being made into a movie.  It should be good. Recommended because it ropes you into the suspense, although not great literature.  I stayed up until 1:30 one night because I just had to finish it.

My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry, by Fredrik Backman

Delightful, though complicated story about Elsa, a precocious eight-year-old, and her most outrageous and wonderful grandmother.  They have many adventures and a most rich fantasy life, thanks to the grandmother’s fairy tales, all of which end up having some truth to them, related to the grandmother’s life. This is a sort of quest tale, as Elsa is charged with finding and delivering a series of letters, all of which reveal things about not only  her grandmother, but also the receiver of the letter. Lots of Harry Potter and superhero talk, but it is still a fascinating story about love and forgiveness that adults will appreciate. 

Olive, Again, by Elizabeth Strout:

Follows Olive Kittridge through a second marriage and into old age.  She comes to some understanding of how her actions contributed to difficulties in her relationships.  Still the feisty person she has always been.  I liked it, not as much as the original, but it was good.

***One Summer, by Bill Bryson

Fascinating exploration of events in the summer of 1927, as well as the history around them.  From Charles Lindbergh’s famous flight, to Sacco and Vanzetti, to Babe Ruth, to Prohibition, as well as many other things—all told with Bryson’s wonderful style and wit.  Highly recommended! Amazing amount of research went into this book.  The bibliography is extensive. Thanks to Richard, who recommended the book and let me borrow his copy.

***The Buddha in the Attic, by Julie Otsuka

Carefully researched stories of mail-order brides from Japan in the early 1900’s.  Their lives and fates, told in fascinating detail.  There isn’t just one heroine.  This is the story of thousands of women and how their lives turned out after they arrived here in America.  A must-read.

***The Tiger’s Wife:  A Novel, by Tea Obreht

It is so hard to describe this book.  It has fascinating descriptions of life in the Balkans over the lifetime of the doctor grandfather, who is the major character.  Also, there is the tiger, who escapes from a zoo during a bombing and ends up living near the childhood home of the grandfather, and the granddaughter who seeks to find and understand the secrets of the grandfather’s life. The book has many magical realism aspects, including a “deathless man.”  A wonderful read, well worth the effort of keeping track of the people’s names, which are so different for speakers of English.

The Silent Patient, by Alex Michaelides

Psychological thriller:  Psychiatrist who has his own problems takes on a most difficult case, a woman who will not speak after killing her husband.  Many twists and turns make this interesting.  I read this in just two days because I couldn’t put it down.