100 Weeks of Books: The Community Speaks
And that's something to be thankful for!
Are you picturing me like Dr. Evil, stroking my cat and saying “one hunnnndred newsletters!” No, you’re probably not, because your pop culture references are not twenty-five years old. Kudos on that.
Nevertheless, here we are, 100 weeks of book recommendations in (well, 99 and one full-throated airing of the grievances), all designed to share the books I’ve loved and hopefully help you find something new. So I feel it fitting that this week, I report what you, the Vox Populi, have enjoyed the most (and the least) over our time together. As a bonus, I will also give you a delightful FIVE LAMB book recommendation because to paraphrase that literary stentorian Rihanna, baby, is this not what you came for?
Book Newsletters You Loved
Going by the numbers, I’m here to report that you apparently have a much healthier parasympathetic nervous system than I do and can handle more stress because here’s what you’ve loved the most:
Books That Leave a Mark - wow, what’s up, you gorgeous gluttons for punishment? These are all great reads, and punches to the gut.
Mysteries and Thrillers - the more mysterious and thrilling the better, apparently! You also really loved newsletter #2, A Series of Mystery … Series.
And less stressfully, you really like Non-Fussy Historical Fiction, though who doesn’t? Similarly, you also ate up the Wolf Hall trilogy newsletter and the Yes I Liked: Matrix. Apparently a popular genre!
Also, you seem to like audiobooks a lot. Like, a lot a lot. I still don’t get audiobooks, but agree to disagree!
Book Newsletters Where … Perhaps You Had Better Things To Do
On Day One, I set out our motto here, which is: read what you love and don’t let anyone, including me, tell you different. And, well, I guess that’s what you did because you did not love:
Traveling Fiction: Okay, but, you guys? You should really check these books out because there are some excellent ones in here. Pachinko? The Poisonwood Bible? Come on! An embarrassment of riches in this bad boy.
Books to Change the System: Hang out with me long enough and I will talk your everlovin’ ear off about incarceration and criminal justice reform. But fine, even if this is NOT a passion subject of yours, you should at least read Just Mercy, you’ll be better off for it.
Pride is Every Month: LGBTQ Reads: This is why I’ve had to yammer on about The Guncle in other newsletters. IT IS A CHARMING CROWDPLEASER, y’all!
Breaking: An Unexpected End-of-the-Year Joy
Literally everything about My Family and Other Animals is perfectly charming, starting with its gilt edges, ribbon bookmark and wee stature - LOOK at this! It can fit in the palm of my hand. I imagine toting this around like a devotional that Anne of Green Gables would carry to Sunday church. ADORable.
Written by British conservationist Gerald Durrell, it’s a delightful tale of the five years he, his mother, and his three siblings decamped from 1930s U.K to the Greek island of Corfu. A witty, warm, and rapturous portrait of the animals and insects young Gerry discovered on the island as well as the equally unpredictable and unlikely family interactions. Very much in the vein of All Creatures Great and Small or Cheaper by the Dozen. (And if you don’t want to read it, you should at least watch The Durrells in Corfu, an equally funny, spirited and heartwarming adaptation with stunning Greek settings.)
It somehow couldn’t be more apt that Edition 100 features a five-lamber. If you don’t know what that is, learn more here.
It’s “Best Books of the Year” Season
It’s THAT TIME where everyone, including me, starts to list their best of the year. This week, that also includes The New York Times who listed 100 notable books and of which I have read exactly three (3). Once again, I am forced to ask “how?” and “why?” and “who’s to blame?” Is THREE PERCENT a good score on literally anything? Maybe body fat but that’s it.
Anyway, stay tuned for my Top Ten reads of the year, starting next week. Will I cross over in those three with the Grey Lady? Will Barack and I share a best books of 2023 list and become pen pals? Do you and I have the same list of best books? Please drop your best reads of the year in the comments so we can all rejoice in this magical season together.
And until then, please share this newsletter with a friend who might want to smell what I’m cooking, or at least get my books of the year. Every new subscriber means an angel gets a pair of reading glasses.
I’m jumping on the bandwagon in 2022 for Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow. One of my faves in a long long time! I’m a sucker for books about friendship anyway, and this one is about how friendship shapes creativity. Admittedly, I grew up playing video games with my brother in the 80s and lived important years in the main settings of the book (Cambridge and Venice Beach), so it’s almost too perfect for me. But: I’m not the only big fan. Highly recommend!
The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak. It’s a gorgeous blend of family saga and nature writing, possibly right at home on the shelf next to My Family and Other Animals, which sounds like a total delight. Putting it on my TBR right now :)