Play Book Tag discussion

I thought it might be nice to have a place where people could solicit personalized recommendations for next month's tag. While I am already in the midst of reading the highly recommended (80 tags) Lonesome Dove, who knows if that actually gets finished in December?

So please, I want your recommendations! I am going to put all of your (not previously read) ideas in the randomizer and let fate do the selecting.

Please suggest to me a memoir you think I would love but haven't read yet. On December 1st, I'll put all your ideas in the randomizer, and we'll see what happens!

First, Anita, my recommendation for your enjoyment of Lonesome Dove ... keep a little sheet of paper as a bookmark, and list all the characters!


As for recommended books ...
The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell
Red Sky at Morning by Richard Bradford
Atonement by Ian McEwan
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee


I'll leave it at four ... for now.

OH ... I guess I didn't read to the end before listing.

Memoirs for Anita (I'm sorry, but I haven't looked at your list to see if you've read them yet)

Driving Miss Norma: One Family's Journey Saying "Yes" to Living by Tim Bauerschmidt
A Year in the World: Journeys of a Passionate Traveller by Frances Mayes
American Like Me: Reflections on Life Between Cultures edited by America Ferrera
Taste: My Life Through Food by Stanley Tucci
Solito by Javier Zamora
West with the Night by Beryl Markham
Miracle in the Andes: 72 Days on the Mountain and My Long Trek Home by Nandy Parrado
The Piano Shop on the Left Bank: Discovering a Forgotten Passion in a Paris Atelier by Thad Carhart
Not Becoming My Mother: and Other Things She Taught Me Along the Way by Ruth Reichl
Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E Frankl
Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson (NOTE for Amy .... this is written in verse, and you would LOVE it; get the audio if you can.)

I have to head out for the day, but I leave you all with a link to my 'highly recommended by me' shelf: Theresa's recommended shelf.

It is very diverse. Just added: The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi. A fantasy pirate adventure that for those who wanted one of tne other tags, has a marriage and a shapeshifter critical to the plot.

@Anita - will get back to you.

Anita, I think you would enjoy these memoirs:

Walking the Nile by Levison Wood
Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, Her Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed by Lori Gottlieb
Question 7 by Richard Flanagan
Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson

I just finished reading A Year in the South: 1865: The True Story of Four Ordinary People Who Lived Through the Most Tumultuous Twelve Months in American History. I am rating it 4 stars, quite enjoyable

I've read many excellent memoirs recently so it is hard to narrow down to one, but one which I will recommend both because it is a little outside your reading and because of the excellent prose (it was a huge surprise to me and also was a play harder task):
The Consolations of the Forest: Alone in a Cabin on the Siberian Taiga

Because I've read some really good memoirs and maybe other members will pick these up as recommendations:
Raising Hare: A Memoir
Memorial Days
The Amur River: Between Russia And China
A Woman in the Polar Night
We Will Be Jaguars: A Memoir of My People
Cowpuppy: An Unexpected Friendship and a Scientist’s Journey into the Secret World of Cows
The Place of Tides
A Season for That: Lost and Found in the Other Southern France

I have more but will stop.

I also wanted to ask for a recommendation for a book which members have read this year. Here is mine(2):
Heartwood
The Sideways Life of Denny Voss

I won't include any five star reads I've had already above.

Anita--I'll list a few memoirs at the end of this

Any of the Vinyl Cafe books by Stuart McLean They are short stories which I normally do NOT like, but I love these. There are some that are poignant but heart-warming and others that are laugh out loud funny. The audiobooks on CD are amazing, but the ones in print I've read are Vinyl Cafe Unplugged, Secrets from the Vinyl Cafe andHome From The Vinyl Cafe: A Year Of Stories

The Wedding by Dorothy West
The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim

There are far too many to list even though I rarely give them.

Memoirs for Anita
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Ann Jacobs
The Color of Water
Swimming to Antarctica: Tales of a Long-Distance Swimmer -- one of her swims helped with the bridging of relations between the former USSR and the US and it covers quite a few years
The Girl with Seven Names: A North Korean Defector's Story
My Lord, What a Morning by Marian Anderson
Catch Me If You Can: The True Story of a Real Fake

These are just a few; not sure if any of them are up your alley.

Book Concierge wrote: "First, Anita, my recommendation for your enjoyment of Lonesome Dove ... keep a little sheet of paper as a bookmark, and list all the characters!


As for recommended books ...
[book:T..."

I love this idea because I am already struggling with keeping track, BUT I am doing it on audio while walking the dog. I'm going to search online to see if I can find a "cheat sheet" to assist me.

Book Concierge wrote: "OH ... I guess I didn't read to the end before listing. u..."


Thank you! I have only read four of these recommendations so the rest will be going in the randomizer! (Taste, Man's Search for Meaning, Miracle in the Andes and West with the Night are the ones I've read). This is so helpful. I love memoirs.

Joy D wrote: "Anita, I think you would enjoy these memoirs:

Walking the Nile by Levison Wood
[book:Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, Her Therapist, and Our Lives R..."

You must know me well because I've read the Gottlieb and Just Mercy and loved both of them! But the others are new to me!!

Booknblues wrote: "I've read many excellent memoirs recently so it is hard to narrow down to one, but one which I will recommend both because it is a little outside your reading and because of the excellent prose (it..."

OMG, these look amazing. My poor TBR. There are at least a couple of these that I'm going to just try to get to next year even if the randomizer doesn't accommodate me. Thank you!!!

Memoirs ( I don't read a lot of them so they have to be good)

Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood
Becoming
I Am Malala: The Story of the Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban
She has a brand new book Finding My Way, which I haven't read yet
Solito
Gang Leader for a Day: A Rogue Sociologist Takes to the Streets

A memoir and a lot more - Muppets in Moscow: The Unexpected Crazy True Story of Making Sesame Street in Russia. I have recommended it to multiple people.

Karin wrote: "I won't include any five star reads I've had already above.

Anita--I'll list a few memoirs at the end of this

Any of the Vinyl Cafe books by Stuart McLean They are short stories whi..."

Swimming to Antartica was amazing. I totally loved it.

And while I haven't read Catch Me If You Can, I did see the author speak here in Baltimore, and what an incredible story. That will be a fun one to read if the randomizer picks it!

Booknblues wrote: "I've read many excellent memoirs recently so it is hard to narrow down to one, but one which I will recommend both because it is a little outside your reading and because of the excellent prose (it..."

My reading this year was not the best in terms of fiction, and there are some books I loved, but wouldn't necessarily recommend to others. But here are my favorites that I think have broad appeal.

Non-fiction: The Art of Spending Money: Simple Choices for a Richer Life While I think this book would be better for younger people to read, it really resonated with me. It's so easy to get caught up with what other people are doing with their money instead of looking inward and seeing what the real gift of money can be.

Fiction: The History of Sound This was the very first book I read this year. It's a quiet book. 12 interconnected stories spanning the 1700s to the present. I loved the structure and the emotions.

I also love a good memoir!

Here are some recommendations:
What My Bones Know by Stephanie Foo
What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami
I Am, I Am, I Am: Seventeen Brushes with Death by Maggie O'Farrell
Memorial Drive: A Daughter's Memoir by Natasha Trethewey
All the Beauty in the World: The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Me by Patrick Bringley
Speak, Memory by Vladimir Nabokov
Aftershocks by Nadia Owusu

Apparently I read so many more memoirs than I realized. These all were at least 4 stars for me:
The Year of Living Danishly: Uncovering the Secrets of the World's Happiest Country - Helen Russell
If You Can't Take the Heat: Tales of Food, Feminism, and Fury - Geraldine DeRuiter
I'll Be Seeing You: A Memoir - Elizabeth Berg
This Time Next Year We'll Be Laughing: A Memoir - Jacqueline Winspear
Call Me American: A Memoir - Abdi Nor Iftin
The Bridge Ladies - Betsy Lerner
Courage Has No Color: The True Story of the Triple Nickles, America's First Black Paratroopers - Tanya Lee Stone
Driving Miss Norma: One Family's Journey Saying "Yes" to Living - Tim Bauerschmidt
32 Third Graders and One Class Bunny: Life Lessons from Teaching - Phillip Done
Candy Freak: A Journey Through the Chocolate Underbelly of America - Steve Almond
Under One Roof: Lessons I Learned from a Tough Old Woman in a Little Old House - Barry Martin
The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio: How My Mother Raised 10 Kids on 25 Words or Less - Terry Ryan
Cross Country: Fifteen Years and 90,000 Miles on the Roads and Interstates of America with Lewis and Clark - Robert Sullivan
Dog Days: Dispatches from Bedlam Farm - Jon Katz
Ask Me Why I Hurt: The Kids Nobody Wants and the Doctor Who Heals Them - Randy Christensen

I have three memoirs for Anita:

Dinners with Ruth: A Memoir on the Power of Friendships by Nina Totenberg

When We Were the Kennedys: A Memoir from Mexico, Maine by Monica Wood

These Precious Days: Essays by Ann Patchett

I would like a suggestion about your most obscure but favorite Christmas story, something that is not the classics that everybody reads. For me an example would be the Christmas stories of science-fiction writer Connie Willis

Algernon, I recommend:
- Time of the Child by Niall Williams
- Christmas Days: 12 Stories and 12 Feasts for 12 Days by Jeanette Winterson

Jen K wrote: "I also love a good memoir!

Here are some recommendations:
What My Bones Know by Stephanie Foo
What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by [autho..."

Thank you, Jen!!! I haven't read any of these.

Ellen wrote: "Apparently I read so many more memoirs than I realized. These all were at least 4 stars for me:
The Year of Living Danishly: Uncovering the Secrets of the World's Happiest Country -..."

I don't think I have read any of these either, but a bunch look fascinating. Especially the one about candy!!

Holly R W wrote: "I have three memoirs for Anita:

Dinners with Ruth: A Memoir on the Power of Friendships by Nina Totenberg

[book:When We Were the Kennedys: A Memoir from Mexico, Ma..."

Thank you so much! These look like very interesting suggestions . . .all three of them appeal to me.

Similar to Connie Willis, John Scalzi has a collection of Christmas stories - A Very Scalzi Christmas

A classic that isn't well-known - Victorian and sentimental but not Dickens - The Christmas Hirelings
A Dickens story that not many people read - The Holly-Tree - a frame story and several within

Small Things Like These - a short but powerful book

Humor - The Shepherd, the Angel, and Walter the Christmas Miracle Dog
Wishin' and Hopin'
the American classic The Best Christmas Pageant Ever - a children's book but fun for everyone
In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash contains a chapter with the gist of the movie A Christmas Story

I'm a film geek, so my favorite memoir might be Life Itself by Roger Ebert.
Another one is Bring on the Empty Horses by David Niven
Decades ago I read two memorable biographies that I didn't write down, so I'm not sure of the source. One was a detailed biography of Audrey Hepburn and another of Edith Piaff, maybe Piaf

@Anita - my memoir recommendations for you - all got 5 stars from me when I read them. As my reading of memoirs tends to reflect interests like food, travel and such rather than individuals, some of these may be something you would not ordinarily come across.

Mastering the Art of French Eating: Lessons in Food and Love from a Year in Paris - centered on food but also on the author's struggles alone in Paris where she was originally to spend a year with her husband, then he's sent on assignment elsewhere.

Read My Pins: Stories from a Diplomat's Jewel Box - heavy with photographs, but the text gives a fascinating glimpse into Albright's use of brooches on her St. John suits to reflect occasions and mood during her time as Secretary of State.

The Book of Emma Reyes - from my review: Locks, keys, and the click of keys locking doors echo throughout the remarkable memoir of Latin American artist Emma Reyes' childhood in Colombia, a contrast to the rich creative spirit and imagination revealed. Her childhood is told in a series of letters, revealing grinding poverty, cruelty, yet also an incredible creative spirit strong enough to survive. Beautifully and compellingly written, I found myself unable to set it aside when I finished it. I actually had to go back to read some of it again.

Oh my goodness, I’m gonna have to move my post here. Once I get on the computer and off my damn phone! Clearly, I put it in the wrong place….

A few more Memoirs:

The Milk Lady of Bangalore: An Unexpected Adventure -NRI family moves back to India

Dead Now Of Course - delightful, great Briitish actress Phyllida Law's early days in theater in 1950s. She's Emma Thompson's mother.

Trail of Crumbs: Hunger, Love, and the Search for Home: a memoir - this is wonderful and fascinating. Read this before I was on GR and writing reviews.

Ru: A Novel by Kim Thúy - short, winner of Canadian literary awards, about her family's fleeing Vietnam. Beautiful

Come, Tell Me How You Live - Agatha Christie Mallowan's memoir of the 1930s digs in Syria with her husband Max, an archeologist of note. Marvelous! One of my top 10 this year.

Clementine in the Kitchen: Modern Library Foods -While the author created a fictional name for the family in this, it's his memoir of his family's French cook who accompanied them when they were reassigned to the US from France. Likely to be another top 10 read for me this year.

Year of the Fat Knight: The Falstaff Diaries - Tell's of Antony Sher's year of preparing to perform Falstaff, a role for which he earned many accolades.

I also recommend Carrie Fisher's Wishful Drinking - I gave it 4 stars, only because it was originally written as a one woman show (which I saw) and making it a prose memoir lost a little something.

Algernon (Darth Anyan) wrote: "I would like a suggestion about your most obscure but favorite Christmas story, something that is not the classics that everybody reads. For me an example would be the Christmas stories of science-..."

Mr. Ives' Christmas by Oscar Hijuelos.

A memoir that I really liked was The Road from Coorain by Jill Ker Conway

The books that I can recommend are here in this link, along with my reviews. https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...

Theresa wrote: "A few more Memoirs:

The Milk Lady of Bangalore: An Unexpected Adventure -NRI family moves back to India

Dead Now Of Course - delightful, great Briitish actress P..."

These look definitely a bit outside of my usual fare, which is fun to me, but I hope I get one of the foodie ones especially! I definitely love food and love reading about food.

Linda C wrote: "A memoir that I really liked was The Road from Coorain by Jill Ker Conway"

I already read that one, but thank you for the suggestion!

Anita wrote: "Theresa wrote: "A few more Memoirs:

The Milk Lady of Bangalore: An Unexpected Adventure -NRI family moves back to India

Dead Now Of Course - delightful, great Br..."

Theresa and I read The Milk Lady of Bangalore at about the same time. While we both have an interest in cows as dairy farmers daughters, I do think that you would find this quite interesting. An Indian woman from America who moves back to Bamgalore (or Bengaluru, India) and the adjustment she makes and what life is like there. I was intrigued.

Booknblues wrote: "Anita wrote: "Theresa wrote: "A few more Memoirs:

The Milk Lady of Bangalore: An Unexpected Adventure -NRI family moves back to India

Dead Now Of Course - deligh..."


Thanks, Fran for doing a better description of The Milk Lady of Bangalore -- I too think Anita would enjoy it for the reasons you stated.

One more food memoir that I can suggest - it's short too:

Provençal Cooking by Mary Ann Caws. Caws is n American author, translator, art historian and literary critic, was on faculty of Graduate Center of City University of New York. She and her family buy a summer place -- little more than a hillside 2 room dwelling -- in Provence and this is her memories of those summers. Among her neighbors was acclaimed French poet Rene Char who became quite close to the family.

Re: memoirs featuring food, here are two good ones:

Tender at the Bone: Growing Up at the Table by Ruth Reichl.

Where I Come From: Stories from the Deep South by Rick Bragg - These are memoir-type essays (often humorous) on different topics. One whole cluster is about cooking. Here's a quote from my review.

"His descriptions of food seriously made me hungry. I had to stop reading and go get something to eat. His descriptions of Po Boy sandwiches made my mouth water."

NOT a memoir, but a dystopian trilogy starting with Earth Girl by Janet Edwards

I will read any memoir of people who go to France and fall in love with the culture/language/food/a person. Here are some:

French by Heart: An American Family's Adventures in La Belle France
Paris to the Moon
The French Art of Living Well: Finding Joie de Vivre in the Everyday World
When in French: Love in a Second Language (this might be Belgium or Switzerland, but same idea)
French Like Moi: A Midwesterner in Paris
C'est la Vie: An American Woman Begins a New Life in Paris and--Voila!--Becomes Almost French
Almost French: Love and a New Life in Paris
Flirting with French: How a Language Charmed Me, Seduced Me, and Nearly Broke My Heart
Pancakes in Paris: Living the American Dream in France

Robin P wrote: "I will read any memoir of people who go to France and fall in love with the culture/language/food/a person. Here are some:

[book:French by Heart: An American Family's Adventures in La Belle France..."

Oh, good, I have French Like Moi on my tbr and keep trying to fit it in, so perhaps December will do it for me.

Robin P wrote: "I will read any memoir of people who go to France and fall in love with the culture/language/food/a person. Here are some:

[book:French by Heart: An American Family's Adventures in La Belle France..."

I am like Robin....

I have most of her list on my TBR.

Booknblues wrote: "Robin P wrote: "I will read any memoir of people who go to France and fall in love with the culture/language/food/a person. Here are some:

[book:French by Heart: An American Family's Adventures in..."

The author, Scott Carpenter, is a professor at my alma mater. During Covid, he did an entertaining Zoom presentation about his experience.

I also read memoirs about sheep farming, because of growing up on one. These can be appreciated by anyone:

Diary of a Pint-Sized Farmer: A Year of Keeping Sheep, Raising Kids, and Staying Sane

Sheepish: Two Women, Fifty Sheep, and Enough Wool to Save the Planet
That author also wrote Hit by a Farm: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Barn

And on other kinds of rural life - the 2 I got mixed up - BC recommended to me If You Lived Here, I'd Know Your Name. I mistakenly got from the library If You Lived Here You'd Be Home By Now: Why We Traded the Commuting Life for a Little House on the Prairie - I later read the first one and both are delightful.

In a more serious vein there is Here If You Need Me. The author is a minister who works with search & rescue teams and the victims, survivors, and families, in Maine.

OMG, so many great food memoirs that I haven't heard of, lol. I hope the randomizer is kind to me and kicks out one of them, lol.

Attention!: Theresa, Robin, Joanne & Anita ...

A F2F book club selection; I'm currently listening to the audiobook

The French Ingredient: A Memoir by Jane Bertch

About half-way through and really enjoying it!

@Anita - I have a huge number I've not even read yet and so didn't recommend! Love food memoirs, biographies and just general books about food. Also have on my food shelf fiction that has significant food and cooking references.

@BC - I have that in TBR Tower. So glad to hear it is good.

All of you have so kindly recommended 92 memoirs!!! I can't wait to find out what I'm reading so into the randomizer they go. I may try to get to more than one, but I will certainly save this great list for future reading.

The Top 5 Memoirs from the randomized list of memoirs were:

1. The Girl with Seven Names: A North Korean Defector's Story
2. Muppets in Moscow: The Unexpected Crazy True Story of Making Sesame Street in Russia
3. Mastering the Art of French Eating: Lessons in Food and Love from a Year in Paris
4. Not Becoming My Mother: and Other Things She Taught Me Along the Way by Ruth Reichl
5. Diary of a Pint-Sized Farmer: A Year of Keeping Sheep, Raising Kids, and Staying Sane

I will definitely read #1 in December, and then if I can squeeze in another memoir I will see which of the other 4 I can get ahold of readily. They all sound fascinating!!

#1 is rated 4.43 on Goodreads so YAY!! I'm very excited!!!

Thank you everyone for the fantastic suggestions!! I had only read 9 of the entire list of 92.

The icing on the cake:

The Girl with Seven Names was available immediately from Libby!

So that gives me $$ to spend on another one.

@ Anita - what a marvelous list of 4! A great variety and of course there's a food one for you.

I found it a whole lot of fun the sort through my read memoir list to see what I would recommend, especially as the ones I read tend to reflect personal interests of mine rather than be about individuals or specific events.

I also want to comment that Muppets in Moscow, recommended by Robin, keeps catching my attention and clearly needs to be read sooner than later.

Anita wrote: "The Top 5 Memoirs from the randomized list of memoirs were:

1. The Girl with Seven Names: A North Korean Defector's Story
2. Muppets in Moscow: The Unexpected Crazy True Story of Making Sesame Str..."

Excellent--I think I recommended that one (The Girl with Seven Names)--if not, I gave it 4 stars and thought it well worth reading!