Life is Too Short to Read an Average Book

Usually I write about nature or gardening.  But, due to hip surgery I’m not walking for a while, and I’ve had a lot of extra time to read.  Today I am writing about books, a topic I take very seriously.  I have loved books since the moment I learned to read.  There are so many great books to choose from.  I believe that life is too short to read an average book. 

With Stay at Home orders as a result of the pandemic, I would like to offer a few titles that may help to pass the time, may enrich your life, and will definitely broaden your horizons.  My selection is not what you will find on any bestseller lists or Oprah’s list, although she and I overlap once in a while.

Since I am a nature writer writing about books, I’ll start with books by one of my favorite nature writers.

Nature and Science

Sharman Apt Russell

With an MFA in creative writing and a long string of writing awards, Russell’s science and nature books approach science by cleverly enticing you to learn, to pay attention -- using language you won’t find in science textbooks. 

 “Pollen has itchy feet. Pollen has a job to do, going down that long lonesome highway, bound to leave, bound for glory.  You can’t hold him back.  Hit the road, Jack. Pollen is a travelin’ man.”

“A female butterfly lays an egg that looks like a miniature pearl, or a squashed golf ball, or a whiskey barrel.  She might lay one egg or a clutch of many.  The danger begins at once.”

A few of Russell’s books include:

• Anatomy of a Rose
• An Obsession with Butterflies
• Diary of a Citizen Scientist: Chasing Tiger Beetles and other ways of Engaging the World.

Art

Susan Vreeland

My world is a little less vibrant since Vreeland’s death in 2017.  A high school English teacher, writer and brilliant researcher, she made art her lifelong companion. Her books paint a captivating story of history, art and humanity.

A few of her books include:

• Lisette’s List
• Clara and Mr. Tiffany
• Luncheon of the Boating Party

 

Historical Fiction

The term “book mobile” may conjure up an image of a van full of books, but in the 1930s in the rural mountains of Kentucky, women delivered mostly used books by pack horse or mule to poverty stricken families high in the hills in hard to reach places. It was a WPA program that employed 200 people, mostly women, and served 100,000 rural residents. What are the chances that two very good books would recently be published about this topic?

• The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes
• The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson

Another recent historical fiction book:

The foundation of our great nation was fraught with divisiveness, bitter opposition and war. This story is narrated by Eliza Schuyler Hamilton, wife of Alexander Hamilton.  This is not Lin Manuel Miranda’s version of Hamilton. American history is filled with surprises.

• My Dear Hamilton by Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie

 

A Gifted Story Teller

Kate Morton

When a gifted storyteller is also a book lover, you get a Kate Morton novel that is so epically told, the story lingers long after you finish the book.  Getting lost in a Kate Morton novel is a gift you give yourself.

Get started with these Kate Morton novels:

• The House at Riverton
• The Distant Hours
• The Forgotten Garden

Non Fiction

Sam Quinones

Did you ever wonder what happened in America that led to the opioid crisis that swept across our nation leaving destruction and death in its wake?  Journalist and author Sam Quinones outlines in precise details how and when it began, who is responsible along the way, and why it was unstoppable. This book puts it all in perspective, leaving you feeling anger, shock and disbelief that this went on all around us -- unabated.

• Dreamland: The true tale of America’s Opiate Epidemic

David Gran

Sometimes a look at American history can be shameful, especially where minorities are concerned.  In the 1920s the U.S. government relocated a tribe of Native Americans in Oklahoma from one reservation to a smaller and poorer piece of land.  But when oil was found at the new location and tribe members were set to profit, a rising number of them were found murdered, yet few questions were asked.

• Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI

Recent Lifetime Favorites

I am unable to put into words the power of these books.  What I can say, is that these books today are what Pat Conroy’s book The Prince of Tides was to me in 1986.

Expand your horizons with these:

• The Gift of Rain by Tan Twan Eng
• A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
• Paris in the Present Tense by Mark Helprin