The books I have recommended most often to my friends this year are:
Pioneers! Strong families! Resourcefulness! I’ve always been drawn to the stories of Laura Ingalls Wilder, and I’ve often recommended her books to those who are learning to write memoirs. I’m rethinking all of that after reading Prairie Fires. This vivid, meticulously researched biography, which won the Pulitzer Prize in 2018, is the most memorable book I’ve read this year. I’ve found myself thinking about it in my dreams.
Fraser, Caroline. Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Engalls Wilder. Henry Holt and Company, 2017.
When someone wants “a fun novel that can make you laugh – and think” I recommend Less. This novel is light, amusing, and surprisingly provocative. It explores important ideas, but without trying to impress us. This light touch is hard to manage successfully, which is one of the reasons it won the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for fiction. This book was passed along to friends more frequently than any other this year.
Greer, Andrew Sean. Less. Little, Brown and Co., 2017.
The most controversial book that I’ve read this year is Lost Connections,
which challenges the pharmaceutical industry’s assertion that people who are depressed should take anti-depressants. It made headlines that resulted in editorials and heated debates in England, where it was first published. It was “the” book everyone was discussing there. The importance of “connections” is quite compelling.
Hari, Johann. Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression — and the Unexpected Solutions. Bloomsbury Circus. 2018.
The book that I have waited the longest for is the newly-translated sixth volume of Karl Ove Knausgaard’s My Struggle, which I have described a record-setting ten times in this blog over the last five years. What’s the big deal? He performed a literary experiment on his family. Without changing any names, he told truth about this life – only to see it all fall apart from the weight of the exposure.
Knausgaard, Karl Ove. My Struggle: Book 6. Translated by Don Bartlett and Martin Aitken. Archipelago Books/Penguin Random House, 2018.
The book that I never expected to see by one of the wisest people on the face of this earth is On the Brink of Everything by Parker Palmer. He’s turning 80 this winter, and he continues to illuminate the darkness for fellow travelers. He’s best known for The Courage to Teach, but the book that I have shared most often is Let Your Life Speak. If he’s new to you, now is the time to meet this wonderful writer.
Palmer, Parker J. On the Brink of Everything: Grace, Gravity & Getting Old.Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc., 2018,