Books, Books, Wonderful Books!

I will never understand people who don’t read books. I mean, what do they do? (Oh, socialize….) 

Speaking of books, I was planning to write this post about the history of bookstores because I recently read a good book on the subject. I remember writing down all my notes on a piece of paper. When it came time to write the post, where was the paper? I looked everywhere, and I think it must have landed in the trash.

So instead of that post,  here is the substitute post:  The books that I ended 2024 with and began 2025 with.

Revenge of the Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell –  I read The Tipping P0int years ago as well as other Gladwell books, and I liked them all. For some reason, I couldn’t get through this one. Actually, I didn’t get very far. He started by talking about the world’s most famous bank robbers, and that is as far as I got. It may have gotten more interesting when he talked about a forgotten television show from the 1970s that changed the world or explored two of the biggest epidemics of our day: COVID and the opioid crisis. Give it a try if you like Gladwell and his discussions of social epidemics.

Here One Moment by Lianne Moriarty is her latest novel – I think I have read all her novels, and except for one or two, loved them. I really liked this one and gave it four stars. It is about a woman on a flight who starts telling all the passengers at what age they will die and the cause.  You can probably imagine what happens next.

Who Could Ever Love You by Mary Trump – This is a family memoir, and if you like what Mary Trump has to say (as I do), you will like this book. Four stars.

The Paradise Problem by Christina Lauren – A romance about a couple who fakes a relationship to gain a family inheritance. It is actually more interesting and involved than that. I liked it and gve it four stars.

A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson – This is the first in a mystery series. A high school girl is murdered and it is assumed her boyfriend did it. One of the boyfriend’s female friends thinks there is more to this murder and goes about solving it herself.  I gave it four stars.

The Year of What If by Phaedra Patrick – Another romance about a women who starts a dating service founded on logic. She then is told by a psychic that the man she herself met, and is planning to marry, through this logical service isn’t “the one” for her. She then goes to Europe and looks up all her exes from a summer abroad to see if one of them might be “the one.” Three stars. It’s okay.

What Does It Feel Like by Sophie Kinsella – This one sure took me by surprise! Sophie Kinsella writes humorous romances about shopping….this one was fiction, but completely autobiographical about an author who faces a devastating diagnosis. It is the story of Kinsella herself and is a beautiful story. It is also very short so you can read it in a sitting. Highly recommended. Five stars. 

I’m Mostly Here to Enjoy Myself by Glynnis MacNichol – A 46-year old never-married woman has just spent month upon month in her New York apartment during the beginning of the Covid crisis. She longs for touch, so she goes to Paris where she has some friends. She goes on a dating app to find sex and enjoyment, nothing serious. And she succeeds. A good read. Four stars.

The Bookshop: A History of the American Bookstore by Evan Friss – If you love bookstores, this is the book for you. It starts with Ben Franklin and his bookstore/printing press. It goes on to talk about bookstores in major department stores before they disappeared. Outdoor bookstores, Nazi bookstores, black bookstores, chain bookstores, indie bookstores, all kinds of bookstores. Four stars.

Dinner for Vampires by Bethany Joy Lenz – This is a great book that I thought was fiction at first because I didn’t know who the author was and that she was an actress who starred in One Tree Hill. What started out as a Bible study group slowly morphed into a cult, so she was living a double life — cult member and actress. She finally did escape from the cult. Highly recommended. Five stars.

James by Percival Everett – Well, I guess you have to read this one, since it is the book of the year, getting rave reviews from everywhere. I have read Percival Everett before, and I discovered it wasn’t exactly my kind of book. I believe that was the book where he had three versions with three endings, and it was just random which ending you got. This one is a retelling of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (which I have never read, if you can believe that) from the slave’s viewpoint. I nearly quit near the beginning. It still isn’t my kind of book but I have to admit it is pretty interesting in parts. I would recommend it, since everyone else seems to like it. I am about 90 percent done, so I guess I will finish it. And give it four or five stars. It certainly is a well-written book. 

By the way, the title of this post (Books, Books, Wonderful Books) is from a play I starred in, in fourth grade. I played Betty, a girl who loved books, and the line was said by the bookworm.