Some Book Suggestions for the New Year!

With a couple days of the New Year under my belt, I took a look back at the books I had read in 2023. Out of the bunch, there were 15 that I really enjoyed. The books I’ve read over the past year(s) have come from many different sources. I read Book Page (available at most libraries free of charge) which tells about new and upcoming books. I love to frequent book stores, especially used book stores and I often get suggestions on what to read from friends. I also make use of the public library, a resource that sadly, too many people never use! The books I have listed may not necessarily be best sellers or on any “must-read” lists, they are just some of the ones which I really enjoyed during the past year. I hope someone else might find them enjoyable also.

    They are not ranked; they are listed in the order that I read them. That being said, here is my list. I’ll try to keep it short…

    1) Ready Player One, by Ernest Cline. (Fiction) Taking place a few decades into the future, Wade spends his days in a virtual world called OASIS, along with the majority of the world’s population. In the game are puzzles based on the Pop Culture of decades gone by. When Wade solves one of them and gets the first key, he finds out that other players are willing to kill to win the game. (It is a pretty good movie also!)

    2) The Invention of Hugo Cabret, by Brian Selznick. (Fiction) Hugo lives secretly behind the walls of a Paris train station, keeping the station clock running correctly. He has a notebook that is taken from him by one of the shopkeepers in the station. He meets the shop keepers’ daughter, Isabella who helps him retrieve it and together they discover more about both of their families. This book is thick but half of it is comprised of drawings. The drawings help to tell the story. In some ways, this might also be described as “Historical-Fiction, you will see why after you read it!  I had to buy a copy after I finished it.

    3) The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, by V.E. Schwab. (Fiction) In the year 1714, a woman makes a pact which insures she will continue to live, but no one will remember her, she will be forgotten by everyone she meets. After 300 years she meets a man in a bookstore who remembers her…

    4) City Under One Roof, by Iris Yamashita. (Fiction) An Alaskan police detective goes to a tiny Alaskan town to investigate a possible murder. When she gets there, she finds out that the only way into the town is through a tunnel in the snow and that all the residents of the town live in the same building. The tunnel collapses and she and the residents are unable to leave. She soon finds out that everyone in town has things to hide.

    5) Remarkably Bright Creatures, by Shelby Van Pelt. (Fiction) A widow starts working at a Seattle Aquarium and makes friends with an octopus. The octopus is much brighter than anyone realizes and helps her to discover what happened to her son who disappeared on a fishing boat 30 years ago.

    6) The Selected Works of T.S. Spivit, by Reif Larson. (Fiction) I loved this book! It is about a 12-year-old kid who is a bit of a genius. He has filled notebooks with his notes and maps. He maps everything! Selections of his journal and maps are printed beside the text of the book. He is invited to The Smithsonian Museum, they don’t realize that he is just 12. He decides to go on his own without telling his parents, so he heads across the country and starts to discover the world outside of his hometown.

    7) The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho. (Fiction) After a young shepherd has a dream of finding treasure, he looks at it as a prophecy and so, embarks on a journey to find it. The book incorporates, magic, mysticism, wisdom and wonder. Originally published in 1988, it has become a “modern classic”.

    8) The Reading List, by Sara Nisha Adams. (Fiction) The book tells the stories of two very different people who are drawn together after a chance encounter with a reading list found in a library.

    9) Walking With Sam, by Andrew McCarthy. (Non-Fiction) The actor, Andrew McCarthy is feeling old and wants to hike the Camino de Santiago trail across Spain. His son accompanies him on the 500-mile trek and in the process, both learn about themselves and each other.

    10) The Lost City of the Monkey God, by Douglas Preston. (Non-Fiction) There have been rumors and tales of a city of extreme wealth hidden in the jungles of Honduras. The White City or The City of the Monkey God has been searched for but never found. The author joins a group of scientists who are trying to locate where it might be. Their destination is between steep mountains filled with deadly snakes, disease carrying insects, jaguars and quicksand.

    11) Dead Mountain, by Lincoln Child and Douglas Preston. (Fiction) In 2008, a group of experienced mountaineers never return from a long hike in the mountains of New Mexico. After search parties are sent out, they discover bizarre things at the hikers last campsite. Only 6 bodies of the 9 hikers were found. In the present day, 3 more bodies are found and a young FBI agent is sent to find out what happened 15 years ago.

    A couple interesting notes; While talking with my nephew Henry, he told me about a similar incident which took place in Russia, in the 50’s. As he was telling me about the incident, I wondered about the similarity between this and the book. After investigating a bit more, I found out that there was another book called Dead Mountain, by Donnie Eichar which tells a true story about a group of hikers who disappeared in Dyatlov Pass in the Ural Mountains. I also found out that Douglas Preston had written an article for the New Yorker about this event. He later morphed the article into a fictional book with his coauthor Lincoln Child. I have just started reading Eichar’s book!

    12) The Cartographers by, Peng Sheperd. (Fiction) When Nell’s father, the head of the NY Library’s Map Collection, is found dead in his office, she discovers a seemingly unimportant map in his desk. The simple gas station map leads her on a journey which helps her discover secrets about her family and also the “true” power of maps.

    13) Just My Type, by Simon Garfield. (Non-Fiction) This is a book about “fonts”. It has some history, many different stories about how and why certain fonts were made along with some trivia that anyone who is interested in books and reading might appreciate. (This blog was originally written in Bookman Old Style font in case you are wondering.) The book covers things that we see daily in so many places and never even think about. You will notice them more after reading this book!

    14) Starter Villain, by John Scalzi. (Fiction/Science Fiction) A substitute teacher, divorced and living in a house owned by his siblings, inherits his uncle’s super-villain business. A humorous book that shows that cats are a lot smarter than most people realize!

    15) Our Missing Hearts, by Celeste Ng. (Fiction) Bird Gardner lives with his father in a dorm at the college where his father works. He is 12 years old and his mother has been gone for 3 years. Having an Asian background, they must be careful in what they do and say. Many children are getting “relocated”, for their own good and the good of the country. Bird finds out that librarians were helping families to find out where their children were. Through the library he discovers why his mother left. In the second half of the book, he goes to find his mother. This book in many ways could describe parts of our own civilization. Though no dates are given, this book could very well take place in our near future!

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So, there are a few books to check out. Hopefully one or two piqued your interest. Remember, by visiting your local library, you can borrow them…for free! If you like the book, go to your local bookseller and get a copy to keep, and re-read!