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1 | Directions: | Click here to enter a book | Click here for Basic How To tips | Click here for Adv. Tips (e.g., Searching) | Click here for the MMV Website |
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3 | Genre | Author | Book Title | Your Name | Comments |
4 | Politics | Francis Fukuyama | The end of history | Jan de Vries | An interesting amalgam of world history, philosophy, psychology and political analysis. More in this Google doc. |
5 | History, Non-Fiction, Politics | Nikole Hannah-Jones | 1619 Project | Louanne Nielsen | https://1619books.com/#books |
6 | Fiction, Mystery/Thriller | Sue Grafton | Alphabet Series | Nori Geary | https://www.suegrafton.com/bookshelf.php |
7 | Culture, Art, and Music, Non-Fiction | David Damrosch | Around the World in 80 Books | William "Liam" McKone | https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/679068/around-the-world-in-80-books-by-david-damrosch/ |
8 | Fiction, Historical Fiction, Classic literature | John Steinbeck | Cannery Row | Jeanne Hutchins | https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/292263/cannery-row-by-john-steinbeck-introduction-by-susan-shillinglaw/ |
9 | Fiction | Jane Campbell | Cat Brushing | Carol J. Truesdell | What initially attracted me to this book is that at age 80, this is Jane Campbell's first published book. It is a 133 pages of short stories, (each story only about 3 or 4 pages long.). Cat Brushing explores the erotic, emotional and intellectual lives of old women. Each story is told by a different old woman. The women in these stories fight against prevalent misconceptions and stereotypes of aging. The book is full of surprises and shows how some women overcome the notion that elder women's behavior must be monitored and controlled. This is not a book for the faint of heart. The book is full of humor, sex, and sadness. For example, one story depicts the life of a woman who resides in a retirement home. Her beloved dog has been taken away, against her will and is replaced by a personal attendant robot. There is a shocking ending to this story, as she gets her revenge. You may find these stories shocking, and they may offend you. But they are full of senior woman insight. I could not put these compelling stories down. |
10 | Fiction, Historical Fiction | Anthony Doerr | Cloud Cuckoo Land | Susan Hooper | https://www.anthonydoerr.com/books/cloud-cuckoo-land |
11 | Self-Help | Jon Kabat Zin | Coming to our senses | Jan de Vries | Like a symphony, this book transports to another state of mind. 700 pages telling “Be here now“, seems a bit long. That criticism is like saying that an hour is a bit long for a symphony based on one melody. The informational content could not be simpler; yet, every passage is a bit different. Variation in repetition creates the magic. Awareness of here and now is the most exciting and rewarding adventure. |
12 | Fiction, Mystery/Thriller | Donna Leon | Commissario Brunetti series | Chris Miller | https://crimereads.com/donna-leon-on-thirty-years-of-inspector-guido-brunetti/ |
13 | Environment | Heather Hansman | Down River Into the Future of Water in the West | Nancy McRae | The author rafted down the Green River to the Colorado to explore the viewpoints of farmers, ranchers, cities, and recreational users of its water. Very informative. |
14 | Fiction, Historical Fiction, Classic literature | John Steinbeck | East of Eden | Jeanne Hutchins | https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/354458/east-of-eden-by-john-steinbeck-introduction-by-david-wyatt/ |
15 | Politics | Kurt Andersen | Fantasyland | Jan de Vries | Living in fantasy land is the strength and weakness of America. More extensive review in this Google doc. |
16 | History | Thomas E. Ricks | First Principles | David Schraffenberger | About the educational background of Washington, Adams, Jefferson & Madison. Relevant because we're still living in the house they designed... |
17 | Fiction, Mystery/Thriller | Jo Nesbo | Harry Hole thrillers | Nori Geary | https://jonesbo.com/books/ |
18 | Fiction, Mystery/Thriller, some were made into films | Len Deighton | Harry Palmer series | Penny Miller | https://www.fantasticfiction.com/d/len-deighton/ |
19 | Adventure, Fiction, Mystery/Thriller, Travel | Christopher Bollen | Havoc | Carol J. Truresdell | An evil 81 year old woman playing a cat and mouse game with an evil 8 year old boy at a luxury Egyptian resort. Extremely entertaining, gripping, page turner, full of shocking surprises! Well written. |
20 | Fiction, light Fantasy | TJ Klune | House in the Cerulean Sea | Susan Hooper | https://www.tjklunebooks.com/the-house-in-the-cerulean-sea |
21 | Fiction, Mystery/Thriller | Dorothy B. Hughes | In a Lonely Place | Gary Chicoine | https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/555857/in-a-lonely-place-by-dorothy-b-hughes-introduction-by-megan-abbott/ |
22 | Fiction, Mystery/Thriller | Louise Penny | Inspector Gamache series | Margaret Rushlow | https://www.louisepenny.com/books.htm |
23 | Fiction, Mystery/Thriller | Charles Todd | Inspector Ian Rutledge series | Nancy McRae | https://charlestodd.com/charles-todd-collection/ian-rutledge-series/ |
24 | Fiction, Mystery/Thriller, also a TV series | Elizabeth George | Inspector Lynley series | Penny Miller | http://www.elizabethgeorgeonline.com/books.htm |
25 | Fiction, Mystery/Thriller | Elliot Pattison | Inspector Shan series | Nancy McRae | https://eliotpattison.com/behind-the-inspector-shan-series/# |
26 | Novel, comedy | Patrick Taylor | Irish Country Doctor | Doreen Sheridan | A charming story about an MD, just awarded his degree, who goes to a small town in Northern Ireland for a trial period to assist the local doctor, whose unorthodox methods, and quirky patients are perplexing to the neophyte doctor. An elixir for anyone with a heavy heart, it's reminiscent of, but much lighter than, A.J. Cronin's The Green Years. It would be the perfect prelude to viewing James Harriet's All Creatures Great & Small. PBS "Masterpiece Theatre" will be starting a new production of that series January "21 |
27 | Adventure, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Mystery/Thriller, Horror | Isabel Cana | La Hacienda | Carol J. Truesdell | Horror story set in 1820's Mexico. Woman marries older man to escape her unhappy life. New husband's estate happens to be haunted by his vicious, late wife who had his sister killed. New wife is almost killed by late wife's ghost but is saved by a handsome priest who is also a witch. A well written debut novel. |
28 | Biography/Memoir, Non-Fiction | Margaret Renkl | Late Migrations | Louanne Nielsen | https://margaretrenkl.com/late-migrations/ |
29 | History | Ted Widmer | Lincoln on the Verge | Nancy McRae | Lincoln's 13 day circuitous journey from Springfield to Washington for his inauguration while Jefferson Davis was being inaugurated as president of the Confederacy. |
30 | Fiction, Mystery/Thriller | Dorothy L. Sayers | Lord Peter Wimsey series | Nancy McRae | https://www.harpercollins.com/products/lord-peter-dorothy-l-sayers?variant=32123082997794 |
31 | Fiction, Historical Fiction | Thomas Mann | Lotte in Weimar | Jan de Vries | https://tomruffles.wordpress.com/2017/09/14/lotte-in-weimar-by-thomas-mann/ |
32 | Fiction, Mystery/Thriller, World War I | Jacqueline Winspear | Maisie Dobbs series | Nancy McRae | https://jacquelinewinspear.com/books/?vp_filter=maisie_dobbs_novels#all-books |
33 | Fiction, Mystery/Thriller | Lindsey Davis | Marcus Didius Falco series | Chris Miller | https://lindseydavis.co.uk/publications/ |
34 | Victorian era novel | George Eliot | Middlemarch | Nori Geary | Centuries change, but genius endures. No genius has seen deeper into human nature than George Eliot in her masterpiece Middlemarch. Eliot’s irony is gentler than Jane Austen’s, and thus less humorous, but more thought provoking. Her final evaluation of the worth of average lives is optimistic and encouraging. A tonic for present times. |
35 | Fiction, Mystery/Thriller | Patricia Highsmith | Mr. Ripley series | Nori Geary | https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/79866/the-talented-mr-ripley-ripley-under-ground-ripleys-game-by-patricia-highsmith-introduction-by-grey-gowrie/ |
36 | Fiction, Historical Fiction, Classic literature | Willa Cather | My Antonia | Jeanne Hutchins | https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/292287/my-antonia-by-willa-cather-introduction-and-notes-by-john-j-murphy-illustrations-by-w-t-benda/ |
37 | Fiction, Historical Fiction, Mystery/Thriller, Military/War | Alan Furst | Night Soldiers series | Gary Chicoine | https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/9514/alan-furst/#:~:text=Alan%20Furst%20%7C%20Penguin%20Random%20House |
38 | Fiction | Brad Kessler | North | Nancy McRae | A young woman refugee from Somalia is stranded near a monastery in northern Vermont. The abbot must reconcile his cloistered life with the call to help others. A large part of the book details Sahro's journey as a refugee. The author lives in VT. |
39 | Fiction, Nature | Laurie Frankel | One Two Three | Susan Hooper | https://www.lauriefrankel.net/one-two-three.html |
40 | Historical Fiction, Mystery | William Kent Krueger | Ordinary Grace | Barb Blokland | This takes place in 1961, in Minnesota. It’s a mystery about 5 deaths (1 is a murder), but a really beautiful story about forgiveness and family. |
41 | Historical Fiction | Diana Gabaldon | Outlander | Jen Bartlau | The grandmother of the historic time travel genre. Claire, a WWII nurse, travels back 200 years to Jacobean Scotland, suffers heartbreak, danger, and a tenuous love. |
42 | Fiction | Shelby Van Pelt | Remarkably Bright Creatures | Nancy McRae | A nice story, easy read. |
43 | Fiction, Mystery/Thriller | Laurie R. King | Sherlock Holmes/Mary Russell series | Nancy McRae | https://laurierking.com/books/russell-holmes/ |
44 | Adventure, Biography/Memoir, Culture, Art, and Music, Fiction, Classic literature | F. Scott Fitzgerald | Short Stories | Jeanne Hutchins | https://www.scott-fitzgerald.com/html/fitzgerald_short_stories.html |
45 | Fiction, Historical Fiction, Classic literature | Truman Capote | Short Stories | Jeanne Hutchins | https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1646582.A_Tree_of_Night_and_Other_Stories |
46 | Fiction, Historical Fiction | Jane Austen | Short Stories | Jeanne Hutchins | https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26100486-jane-austen-juvenilia-and-short-stories |
47 | Fiction, Mystery/Thriller | John le Carré | Silverview | Nori Geary | https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/703350/silverview-by-john-le-carre/9780735244467 |
48 | Fiction, Mystery/Thriller | Louise Penny | State of Terror | Sandy Gillim | https://www.louisepenny.com/stateofterror.htm |
49 | Biography/Memoir | Benjamin Franklin | The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin | Doreen Sheridan | https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Autobiography-of-Benjamin-Franklin-and-Other-Writings/Benjamin-Franklin/Word-Cloud-Classics/9781684122899 |
50 | Fiction, Mystery/Thriller | Raymond Chandler | The Big Sleep et. al. | Gary Chicoine | https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/4639/raymond-chandler/ |
51 | Energy, Science, Autobiographical | William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer | The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind | Mike Weisel | Wonderful true story about a young African boy who designs and builds a windmill to provide power to his small village |
52 | Biography/Memoir, Non-Fiction | Ron Howard and Clint Howard | The Boys: A Memoir of Hollywood and Family | Penny Miller | https://www.harpercollins.com/pages/theboys |
53 | Nature, Non-Fiction, Science | Sy Montgomery | The Curious Naturalist | Louanne Nielsen | http://symontgomery.com/the-curious-naturalist/ |
54 | Historical Fiction | Pam Jenoff | The Diplomat's Wife | Lois Adams | https://pamjenoff.com/books/the-diplomats-wife/ |
55 | Mystery | Laurie R. King | The Game | Nancy McRae | This is the 7th book in the series featuring Mary Russell and her husband, Sherlock Holmes. In this mystery, Mary and husband are dispatched to India to locate a missing English spy who was the inspiration for Rudyard Kipling's Kim. Always entertaining, but not a fast moving thriller. One should start with the first book, "The Beekeeper's Apprentice", available at Brownell. |
56 | History | Tom Brokaw | The Greatest Generation | Betsy Harper | I've always wanted to read this book because my father was in WWII but he never talked about his experiences. He came home from the war and started a family with my mother, had a good job and contributed to his community. This is similar to the men (and women) that Tom Brokaw interviewed and wrote about in his book. The stories have similarities of growing up poor during the depression and enlisting in the armed forces at a young age and persevering through war and how that war shaped their lives. The book also highlights racism that occurred not only for African Americans but Japanese/Asians and Native Americans. It's a book that tells how my parents' generation shaped America for my generation (Baby Boomers). |
57 | Politics | Kwame Anthony Appiah | The lies that bind; 2018 | Jan de Vries | Identities are lies that bind. More in this Google doc. |
58 | Fiction, Mystery/Thriller | Tana French | The Likeness | Sandy Gillim | https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/300449/the-likeness-by-tana-french/ |
59 | Adventure, Fiction, Travel | Amor Towles | The Lincoln Highway | Betsy Harper | https://www.amortowles.com/the-lincoln-highway-about-the-book/ |
60 | Adventure, Fiction, magical realism | Evie Woods | The Lost Bookshop | Carol J. Truesdell | Sweet, entertaining tale of people who are looking for a magical bookstore lost to history but is found in the end. Several generations connect. Gripping plot. Magical realism |
61 | Fiction, Mystery/Thriller | Dashiell Hammett | The Maltese Falcon et. al. | Gary Chicoine | https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/11744/dashiell-hammett/ |
62 | Fiction | Nathaniel Ian Miller | The Memoirs of Stockholm Sven | Margaret Rushlow | https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/nathaniel-ian-miller/the-memoirs-of-stockholm-sven/9780316592550/?lens=little-brown |
63 | Fiction, Historical Fiction | Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai | The Mountains Sing | William "Bill" Wilson | https://nguyenphanquemai.com/page/the-novel.html |
64 | Historical Fiction | Nguyen Phan Que Mai | The Mountains Sing | Nancy McRae | An epic account of a multigenerational family enduring Viet Nam's turbulent 20th century, and how love, hope, courage, and hard work sustained them. |
65 | Fiction | Damon Galgut | The Promise | Sarah Robinson | https://www.europaeditions.com/book/9781609456580/the-promise |
66 | Historical Fiction | Sue Monk Kidd | The Secret Life of Bees | Donna Johnson | This is an intriguing story of a young woman's journey to adulthood. The story is relevant to today as it touches on racial prejudice and inequality. |
67 | Historical Fiction | Pam Jenoff | The Winter Guest | Lois Adams | https://pamjenoff.com/books/the-winter-guest/ |
68 | Historical Fiction | Pam Jenoff | The Woman With The Blue Star | Lois Adams | https://pamjenoff.com/books/the-woman-with-the-blue-star/ |
69 | Mystery | Anthony Horowitz | The Word Is Murder | Gary Chicoine | Horowitz is an accomplished British screenwriter (Foyle's War & other British series) and a novelist. This is the first book (copyright 2018) I've read by him and, as an inveterate reader of mysteries, I was immediately immersed. His construct is quite novel (no pun intended) -- he is both the real life author, narrator, and one of two main characters in the book as he accompanies a disgraced (?) detective through present day London on the path to solving the murder while Horowitz (ala Dr. Watson style) takes notes to write a book about the detective and his investigatory methods. Very engaging. Highly recommended. |
70 | Biography/Memoir, Non-Fiction | Ann Patchett | These Precious Days | Louanne Nielsen | https://www.harpercollins.com/products/these-precious-days-ann-patchett?variant=33090914385954 |
71 | Adventure, Fiction, Travel | William Kent Kreuger | This Tender Land | Betsy Harper | https://williamkentkrueger.com/standalone/this-tender-land/#about |
72 | Fiction, Mystery/Thriller | Richard Osman | Thursday Murder Club Mystery Series | Susan Hooper | https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/series/TM9/a-thursday-murder-club-mystery |