Top Five No. 01
I have decided to title my book recommendation posts "Top Five." When I have read five books worth recommending, I will share a short review on each of them. I may also include a short excerpt from the book that made me stop and reread it and then just sit there and ponder. (I love when a book does that.)
Please understand that when I recommend a book, I am not endorsing every single scene, paragraph, and word. I am simply recommending it because I enjoyed the story or because it made me think about important things.
I mentioned earlier that I use the Goodreads app to track my reading. I am only going to recommend the books that I have given a four or five star rating to. I will indicate the few books I think deserve a five star rating by putting five stars beside the title. These are the books I totally LOVED and can't stop talking about it.
When Breath Becomes Air ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
by Paul Kalanithi
I think this is the first book that ever made me cry. A young brain surgeon is used to giving patients devastating news regarding their health. He finds himself switching roles and battling a terminal illness himself. These are his words as he lives with the knowledge that he is dying. He writes until he no longer has the strength. His wife finishes the story in the epilogue. I don't agree with all his "Christianity" but this book made me come face to face with my own mortality in a way I never had before.
All the Light We Cannot See ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
by Anthony Doerr
It took Anthony Doerr a decade to write this book and after reading it, you will understand why. He weaves the lives of a Nazi soldier and a blind French girl together in a way that will leave you thinking "How in the world did he do that?" I am completely fascinated with World War II history and I loved the sneak peak it gave into the lives of VERY young Hitler Youth. The book opens with both of them being trapped in Saint Malo. It then goes back to their childhoods and follows their seperate journeys to that particular city. The ending is unexpected and bittersweet but I was not disappointed. It's a story that will stay with you for a long time.
Still Alice
by Lisa Genova
This book is about a college professor who is diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease at a very young age and how the disease strips her of everything she holds dear. This book interested me for several reasons. My great grandmother died with Alzheimer's disease and I used to work in a retirement community where I cared for residents in every stage of the disease. Lisa Genova did an excellent job of getting inside the disease and uncovering the patients perspective. The reader experiences Alice's pain and lost as if it was their own. It was an eye opening book with a brilliant ending.
Pride and Prejudice
by Jane Austen
This is the first Jane Austen book I have read. At first, I found the writing style very difficult to read. But I was determined to finish it because I had heard so many wonderful things about the author. By the middle of the book, I was thoroughly enjoying it and realized the old language had gotten easier to understand. The dialogue in this book was splendid and left me laughing out loud several times. And the characters were so well developed that I feel like I knew them personally.
Favorite excerpt:
"Affectation of candour is common enough - one meets with it everywhere. But to be candid without ostentation or design - to take the good of everybody's character and make it still better and say nothing of the bad - belongs to you alone."
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
by Mary Ann Shaffer
This is a collection of letters between a frustrated author and a group of strangers who became friends. The setting is London, post World War II. The only word I can think of to describe this book is "heart warming." (Oops, that's two words.) The characters are fun and unique. You will find love, death, World War II history, and a charming little girl in these pages. I love how books brought unlikely people together in the story. And how our stories live on even after we are gone.
What's that one book you can't stop talking about?
Please understand that when I recommend a book, I am not endorsing every single scene, paragraph, and word. I am simply recommending it because I enjoyed the story or because it made me think about important things.
I mentioned earlier that I use the Goodreads app to track my reading. I am only going to recommend the books that I have given a four or five star rating to. I will indicate the few books I think deserve a five star rating by putting five stars beside the title. These are the books I totally LOVED and can't stop talking about it.
When Breath Becomes Air ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
by Paul Kalanithi
I think this is the first book that ever made me cry. A young brain surgeon is used to giving patients devastating news regarding their health. He finds himself switching roles and battling a terminal illness himself. These are his words as he lives with the knowledge that he is dying. He writes until he no longer has the strength. His wife finishes the story in the epilogue. I don't agree with all his "Christianity" but this book made me come face to face with my own mortality in a way I never had before.
All the Light We Cannot See ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
by Anthony Doerr
It took Anthony Doerr a decade to write this book and after reading it, you will understand why. He weaves the lives of a Nazi soldier and a blind French girl together in a way that will leave you thinking "How in the world did he do that?" I am completely fascinated with World War II history and I loved the sneak peak it gave into the lives of VERY young Hitler Youth. The book opens with both of them being trapped in Saint Malo. It then goes back to their childhoods and follows their seperate journeys to that particular city. The ending is unexpected and bittersweet but I was not disappointed. It's a story that will stay with you for a long time.
Still Alice
by Lisa Genova
This book is about a college professor who is diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease at a very young age and how the disease strips her of everything she holds dear. This book interested me for several reasons. My great grandmother died with Alzheimer's disease and I used to work in a retirement community where I cared for residents in every stage of the disease. Lisa Genova did an excellent job of getting inside the disease and uncovering the patients perspective. The reader experiences Alice's pain and lost as if it was their own. It was an eye opening book with a brilliant ending.
Pride and Prejudice
by Jane Austen
This is the first Jane Austen book I have read. At first, I found the writing style very difficult to read. But I was determined to finish it because I had heard so many wonderful things about the author. By the middle of the book, I was thoroughly enjoying it and realized the old language had gotten easier to understand. The dialogue in this book was splendid and left me laughing out loud several times. And the characters were so well developed that I feel like I knew them personally.
Favorite excerpt:
"Affectation of candour is common enough - one meets with it everywhere. But to be candid without ostentation or design - to take the good of everybody's character and make it still better and say nothing of the bad - belongs to you alone."
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
by Mary Ann Shaffer
This is a collection of letters between a frustrated author and a group of strangers who became friends. The setting is London, post World War II. The only word I can think of to describe this book is "heart warming." (Oops, that's two words.) The characters are fun and unique. You will find love, death, World War II history, and a charming little girl in these pages. I love how books brought unlikely people together in the story. And how our stories live on even after we are gone.
What's that one book you can't stop talking about?
This was a fun post to read! Please don't stop with these, I am always on the lookout for a good book to read. One of my favourites is Finding Grace by Donna Vanlier. True story of her struggle with God and life.
ReplyDeleteI haven't read that one. Will have to check it out. And thanks for your encouragement to continue these posts. I love seeing what other people are reading and thought my readers might enjoy the same thing. :)
DeleteYes!!! I love a good book list. And I have read all but one of these books and loved them, so I guess that means I like your taste so I have to read only one I haven't read. I've heard lots of good things about All the Light We Cannot See and I need to push it to the top of my list, but I guess I've been scared that the war setting would be too depressing.
ReplyDeleteAnd you make me want to go back and reread (for the upteenth time) my favorite parts of Pride and Prejudice. It is one of those books, in my opinion, that just gets better with age.
Gina
I can honestly say I didn't find All the Light We Cannot See to be depressing. And I would consider myself to be a fairly sensitive reader. I think you would enjoy it. :)
Delete