There are some books I read that are so good they stay with me. I still wonder how the characters are doing from time to time. Truly the mark of great writing. There's a glut bad stuff (i.e., chick lit) out there; I'm always happy to find a gem. And I think to myself I wish I had some sort of platform from which I could share these titles...
Duh, WINNING! (Had to do it once; won't do it again.)
Here are a few titles I enjoyed.
The Last Town on Earth, Thomas Mullen.
Set in a small Washington logging town during the Spanish Flu epidemic of 1918. The town takes drastic quarantine measures to keep the flu away. The book is compelling, historical (in its way), and very human. (Plus, for reasons I'm not entirely sure of, I'm drawn to books about epidemics. Weird, huh?)
Bright Shiny Morning, James Frey.
Yes, he's Oprah's whipping boy. And, for the record, though the veracity of A Million Little Pieces is up for debate, the author's talent is not. This book is about LA; Frey explained that though there are great books about many great cities, there were no (up until this point) great books about LA (which either says that there are plenty of shitty books about LA or that LA is not a great city; it also says plenty about Frey's ginormous ego). The book follows the stories of multiple characters making their way in the city (there's also plenty about the city itself, which I found a little tedious at times, but it doesn't detract too much). It's gritty and good.
Zeitoun, Dave Eggers.
The true story of one family's experience during Katrina and the storm's aftermath. Unputdownable. And the most horrifying part of it all is that it's a true story. As you read, you keep thinking I can't believe this happened here. This could not have happened here. How could this happen here? One reviews described it as Kafkaesque. That's the perfect word.
That's it for now (luckily, there are more than three good books out there). More to come.
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