"Outside a dog a book is man's best friend, inside a dog it is too dark to read!" -Groucho Marx========="The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid." -Jane Austen========="I don’t believe in the kind of magic in my books. But I do believe something very magical can happen when you read a good book."-JK Rowling========"I spend a lot of time reading." -Bill Gates=========“Ahhh. Bed, book, kitten, sandwich. All one needed in life, really.” -Jacqueline Kelly=========

Monday, September 9, 2024

TTT: Books That Provide a Much-Needed Escape


Top Ten Tuesday: Books That Provide a Much-Needed Escape

Funny/Humorous Books -- We all need to laugh more, right?
  • In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson. Actually most books by Bryson are quite funny. If you listen to his audiobook, make sure he is the narrator for extra funny points.
  • The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. This book, and others in the series, are a scream. They are so funny. Do not even try to take these books seriously.
  • A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole. Dry, dry, dry humor. I can still repeat lines from this one.
  • Less by Andrew Sean Greer. We read this in book club. Everyone else in the club tried to take it seriously and didn't like it. I laughed my way through it and was delighted by it.
  • Citizen Vince by Jess Walter. -- I keep finding myself reading this guy and often finding myself laughing at the inane situations his characters get into. I often think "Well, that is the last Jess Walter books I'll read." Then I find myself reading another.
  • Born a Crime by Trevor Noah. -- Many comedians write funny memoirs. This is one of the best -- humor with a point.
Poetry books -- Some poetry books are hard to read and digest, others are just fun and light-hearted. Today I'm listing those in the latter category.
  • Blue Lipstick: Concrete Poems by John Grandits -- if you aren't familiar with the form, concrete poems have a shape to them. The words may form a spiral, form a picture, or bounce back and forth. 
  • Counting in Dog Years and Other Sassy Math Poems by Betsy Franco -- Lots of children's books are also poetry books. This one delighted me a lot when I read it to my grandson.
  • I Hope This Finds You Well: Poems by Kate Baer -- Ms. Baer's poems, erasure poems evolved out of criticisms given to her on her social media accounts. We all deserve a chance to tell our critics off.
Mysteries -- Not the gory kind, though, which actually stress me out.
  • The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman -- I just discovered this series and enjoyed it a lot.
  • Symphony of Secrets by Brendan Slocumb -- What's not to love? It is a musical mystery.
  • Anything by Agatha Christie
Graphic novels/biographies
  • Strange Planet by Nathan Pyle -- I love his funny aliens interpreting life on Earth.
  • Dragon Hoops by Gene Luen Yang -- A biography of the author/artist and the history of basketball. Information can be digested easily.
  • The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy -- illustrated and inspirational.
  • Brazen: Rebel Ladies Who Rocked the World by Penelope Bagieu -- illustrated miniature biographies in bite sized pieces of information.
When I need to escape from the seriousness of our world or from my seriousness on my usual reading choices, these are the kinds of books I reach for.

-Anne
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