Random Reading Recommendations

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Random Reading Recommendations
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What do YOU like to read?Click below to go to
the beginning of the section.

• Mystery/Suspense
• Womens Friendships
• Relationships
• Young Adult
• Memoir/Non-Fiction

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Mystery and Suspense
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American Fujiby Sara Backer

• Gaby, a  young American woman living and working
  in Japan, finds herself selling "fantasy
  funerals" to wealthy Japanese families when she
  is fired from her university job. Her life is
  further complicated by mystery when she is called
  up to aid  Alex, an American man who has come to
  Japan to investigate the mysterious circumstances
  surrounding his only son's death. Reluctant to
  assist at first, Gaby soon becomes embroiled in
  Alex's quest to discover what really happen to
  his son and together, the two of them face the
  sometimes impenetrable Japanese culture and
  discover a shocking truth about the fate that can
  endanger foreigners.

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Gone for Goodby Harlan Coben

• Years after his older brothers disappearance,
  Will learns that his brother may be alive, and on
  the run from those who accuse them of murdering a
  neighbor girl. As Will delves into his brothers
  whereabouts, his own personal life becomes
  mysteriously complicated as his girlfriend
  vanishes without explanation and he learns that
  she may not have been the person he always
  thought she was.

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House of Sand and Fogby Andre Dubus, III

• An unlikely premise makes for one of the finest,
  most literary stories of suspense I have read. A
  young woman is mistakenly evicted from her home
  and her house is sold to an Iranian immigrant in
  an auction before she can prevent it. With the
  help of a renegade sheriff's deputy, she launches
  a battle to win back her home. But the new owner
  also feels he has every right--legal and
  moral--to own the house.  A page-turner that ends
  surprisingly. This book has caused more
  discussion among my friends than any other I have
  read recently. Find out why!

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Never Mind Nirvanaby Mark Lindquist

• A commitment-phobic Seattle prosecutor, who is
  also the ex-lead of a a popular rock band, is
  assigned the case of another Seattle musician
  accused of date-raping a teen. As he revisits his
  old haunts searching for clues, he is forced to
  confront his own past as well as his attitudes
  about relationships. A treat for anyone who likes
  legal drama and Seattle music culture.

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Boy Still Missingby John Searles

• Sure to be a movie, this fast-paced story about
  a teenager who finds clues about his mothers
  previous life, her current secrets, and his own
  origins. Dominick steals money from his mother
  and secretly passes it along to Edie, an older
  woman from town who is pregnant with his fathers
  child. When she disappears with his moneywithout
  following through on hints that she and Dominick
  will consummate their friendshipDominick
  disappearsat least to the people of his
  hometown.
•  
• He knows just where he is, howeversearching for
  clues about his own life. He follows a trail to
  New York, where his mother has always told him he
  had an older brother, who lived with an uncle
  there. When he finds his uncle, however, he
  discovers deeper secrets about his mothers life,
  and about his own. The plot is twisting and
  surprising without being confusing or
  ridiculousa terrific blend of good writing and
  good storytelling.

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Womens Friendships(Beyond Divine Secrets of
the Ya-Ya Sisterhood)
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Talk Before Sleep by Elizabeth Berg

• Guaranteed Kleenex material, this is the story
  of two women whose relationship changes
  profoundly when one is diagnosed with breast
  cancer.
• This author is visiting Bellinghams Village
  Books on June24 at 730 p.m.!!

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The Secret Life of Beesby Sue Monk Kidd

• Lily has always felt responsible for her
  mother's death, but when an explosive argument
  with her abusive father indicates that she may,
  in fact, hhave killed, she decides to run away.
  She takes with her the family's black
  housekeeper, Rosaleen, who has just had a
  confrontation with three racists in town after
  attempting to register to vote, and is being held
  in the town jail. The two escape to Tiburon,
  South Carolina, after Lily finds what she
  considers to be a clue from her dead mother. In
  Tiburon, they find three African-American sisters
  living together and raising bees for honey. The
  women take Lily and Rosaleen in, and Lily soons
  learns much about beekeepping, friendship, and
  herself as she grows closer to the sister and is
  eventually able to confront the truth about
  herself and her mother and the past.

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Relationships
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A Theory of Relativityby Jacquelyn Mitchard

• When Gordon McKennas sister, Georgia, and her
  husband, Ray, die in a car crash, he is certain
  he will be able to take on the responsibility of
  raising her one year old daughter, Keefer, as he
  and his parents believe Georgia would have
  wished. The in-laws, howeverwealthy
  southernershave other plans, however, and a
  legal battle for the right to raise the girl
  ensues.
•  
• The in-lawsRays parentsshow no mercy in their
  quest to raise their sons daughter as their own.
  They know that Gordon was adopted, and therefore
  not technically a blood relative of Georgia and
  Keefers, and they use this information in their
  custody battle, citing language in the law that
  refers to blood relations.
•  
• Readers who enjoy legal thrillers and family
  dramas will be pleased by this taut, emotional
  combination of the two genres.

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The Good People of New Yorkby Thisbe Nissen

• A terrific novel about a New York Jewish woman
  who marries, for a few years, a down-home country
  boy from Nebraska. Although a portion of the
  novel is devoted to their marriage, the majority
  of the story follows divorced wife Roz and her
  daughter Miranda as they navigate the murky
  waters of single-parenting and coming-of-age,
  both drifting in and out of relationships with
  men, but sustained by their faith in and love for
  one another.
•  
• Roz mis-marries, originally, Mirandas father, a
  Christian from Nebraska, and while their love at
  first seems ideal, the impending pressure of
  careers and family drive them apart, and Roz and
  Miranda are left alone to raise each other in New
  York City.
•  
• When Roz falls in love with Mirandas
  orthodontist and he moves in with her and
  Miranda, Miranda is at first skeptical. She
  learns to appreciate the new situation, however,
  when she and the orthodontists teenage son hit
  it off. Their own relationship is doomed,
  however, when they discover a secret that drives
  their parents apart.

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The Dive from Clausens Pierby Ann Packer

• Carrie Bells life falls into disarray when her
  fiance in paralyzed after diving from a pier.
  After 8 years, Carrie had been ready to end the
  relationship, but now that Mike is injured, she
  feels pressured to stay by his side. As she
  weighs the choicesstaying with him or
  leavingshe is desperately unsure of how to
  proceed, and so escapes to look for answers
  within herself. This is a compelling, moving, and
  sometimes uncomfortable look at how we handle
  tragedy and react to our worst and best impulses.

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Henrys List of Wrongsby John Scott Shepherd

• After a major life set back, Henry decides to
  right the wrongs hes committed as a ruthless,
  compassion-less businessman. With the help of a
  mysterious girl named Sophie, he retraces the
  past ten years of his life, trying to repair the
  damage he has caused in peoples lives. A funny,
  thoughtful book. Youll see the movie in it, too.

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The Man Who Ate the 747by Ben Sherwood

• J.J. Smith, a records-confirmer for the Book of
  Records, travels to Superior, Nebraska, where a
  man has reportedly been eating a 747 to prove his
  love for a woman. Wally Chubb has a specially
  constructed grinder that allows him to demolish
  small pieces of the airplane and consume them
  with his food.hopefully to catch the attention
  and win the love of Willa Wyatt, whom he has
  loved since they were both children.
•  
• J.J. persuades Wally to go public with his
  pursuit and hopefully win a spot in the Book of
  Records, but the ensuing publicity has some
  disastrous results, and J.J., who has long been
  interested only in records and numbers,
  unexpectedly finds love visiting this small
  community. A funny, light read about small town
  America and the power of love.

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Young Adult
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Hanging on to Maxby Margaret Bedard

• Sam is a high school senior struggling to meet
  the demands of high school and fatherhood. After
  his ex-girlfriend, Brittany, announced that she
  would be giving up their infant son for adoption,
  Sam can't let the baby go, and so decides to take
  on the task of raising the baby himself.
•  
• His first year, as chronicled in this short
  book, is full of challenges. He attends an
  alternative school, where he meets other teen
  parents (all girls) and befriends Claire, who
  used to attend his regular high school with him
  and struggles with the complications that result
  from two teen parents dating each other. In
  addition, his relationship with his father is
  strained--though he knows his dad cares for Max,
  his dad is reluctant to get very involved in the
  boy's upbringing. Sam also impresses his math
  teacher, who convinces him to take the SAT and
  consider a college education--a plan which is in
  direct opposition to the agreement he has made
  with his father to finish high school and get a
  job to support Max.
•  
• Although this is a short book, and there are
  some areas I would have liked to see developed
  more, I absolutely loved it and closed the cover
  in tears. Sam is a likeable, realistic
  character--full of compassion, but also torn
  between being a kid and having fun and being a
  responsible parent. The plot unfolds smoothly,
  with carefully time flashbacks gradually
  revealing Sam and Brittany's story as well as
  Sam's own story about his mother's death years
  earlier.
•  

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Love That Dogby Sharon Creech

• A short, sweet story written in verse about a
  young boy who is encouraged to write poetry by an
  understanding teacher, and as a result, is
  finally able to talk about what happened to his
  beloved dog.

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Life is Funnyby E.R. Frank

• In this series of interconnected stories about
  eleven teenagers in Brooklyn, E.R. Frank creates
  a collection of miniature worlds that expose the
  often harsh truths about being a teen in the 90s.
  Although the subject matter is frequently bleak,
  there is a great deal of humor and happiness in
  the lives of these characters, who despite their
  troubles and flaws, are entirely likeable. Even
  though each story felt complete, I still found
  myself rooting for and wanting to know more about
  the characters and wishing that they would be
  mentioned later in the book, which they sometimes
  were.
• Among the characters are the angry, nearly
  illiterate, Eric, who is raising his young
  brother, Mickey Grace and Sam, who are both
  models and find that having a beautiful face
  isnt necessarily a guarantee that youll have a
  beautiful life Keisha and Gingerbread, who
  discover each otherand first love Monique and
  Molly, sisters who save each other from
  themselves and from their crazy mother and Drew,
  who has listened to his father beat his mother
  long enough.
• I loved this book. At first, I struggled to get
  into it, expecting a traditional plot line, but
  once I met the characters, I found myself longing
  for more of their stories and their lives if
  there is anything at all thats disappointing
  about this book, its that there isnt more of
  it! E.R. Frank doesnt hesitate to use the
  language teens use, and she does it extremely
  well obviously she has an ear for dialogue and
  for the lives that teens lead and the problems
  they wrestle with.

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The Reappearance of Sam Webberby Jonathan Scott
Fuqua

• In THE REAPPEARANCE OF SAM WEBBER by Jonathan
  Scott Fuqua, eleven-year-old Sam Webber and his
  mother move to a poorer section of Baltimore
  after being abandoned by Sam's father. The two
  struggle to make enough money to live, and Sam
  grieves his father. At school, he is bullied by
  larger kids and unhappy until he is befriended by
  the elderly black custodian, Greely, who protects
  and cares for Sam to make up for his own mistakes
  with his children decades earlier. Other adults
  buoy Sam--his mother, her friends Junie and
  Ditch, his mother's boyfriend, Howard, and the
  waitress, Rose, who has known Sam for years.  All
  of them help Sam see his own strengths and help
  his grow and experience happiness despite the
  absence of his father in this well-written,
  entertaining story.

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Hole in My Life by Jack Gantos

• Gantos, now a well-known childrens author,
  recounts his early adulthood, when he was
  arrested and jailed for drug smuggling. As a high
  school student, his family moved to St. Croix,
  and he later joined them. While working there, he
  was approached by a drug smuggler who offered him
  10,000 to help sail a boat with 1000 pounds of
  hash to New York City. Gantos accepted, and
  joined a surly Brit named Hamilton for the voyage
  north, which was fraught with perils, not the
  least of which was the pairs inexperience
  sailing.
•  
• Not long after arriving in New York, Gantos,
  Hamilton, and their recruiter join forces to sell
  the hash, and eventually get caught by the FBI,
  tried, and sent to prison. About half of the
  memoir is Gantos account of life behind bars,
  where he kept a secret journal between the lines
  of The Brothers Karamazov and worked as a
  technician in the prisons hospital.
•  
• After serving a fifteen month sentence, Gantos
  was released and went on to pursue a writing
  career. (His books are popular among middle and
  high school students and include Joey Pigza
  Swallowed the Key and his first novel, Rotten
  Ralph.)
•  
• This memoir is a perfect selection for anyone
  who likes adventure and is interested in knowing
  more about life in prison.

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Shattering Glassby Gail Giles

• Have you ever wondered what it would be like to
  help someone unpopular transform themselves into
  someone whom everyone liked? How would school be
  different if this happened? Would it be a good
  thing, or not?
• Following the leadership and encouragement of
  Rob, a popular and charismatic boy at his high
  school, Young Steward agrees to help school
  geek Simon Glass by transforming him into one of
  the schools most popular students. He suspects
  Robs intentions, but doesnt know exactly what
  makes him suspicious. Only much later, after
  Simons transformation, do he and Simon discover
  together why Rob is bent on changing Simon and
  proving his power to others. What they find out
  puts everyone in danger.
•  
• This is a powerful suspense story that haunt
  readers long after they have finished reading.
  Youngs choicesto participate in the
  re-creation of Simon his decision to withhold
  information about Rob, and his ultimate decision
  (which cant be revealed here!) will leave
  readers thinking about this story long after they
  have finished reading the book.

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Stoner and Spazby Ron Koertge

• Imagine struggling to walk everywhere you
  goeach step a painful one that involves dragging
  your handicapped leg behind you Imagine enduring
  high school with this disabilitypeople staring,
  bullies poking fun, people calling you spaz.
  And imagine that despite your disability, you are
  intelligent and funnyand interested in dating.
•  
• Sixteen-year-old Ben Bancroft has never really
  fit it. Abandoned by his mother and father, he
  has been raised by his grandmother, who is more
  concerned about the way Ben looks than how he
  feels. And he feels bad, much of the time,
  because his cerebral palsy handicaps his walking,
  makes it impossible for him to drive, and
  isolates him from his peers. Hes used to
  spending hours alone, watching old movies, which
  he loves. Until one day, in the theater, he
  encounters another misfithis classmate, Colleen,
  who has a reputation around school for using and
  selling drugs. She befriends Ben, and the two
  begin an unlikely, sweet, and short, romance.
•  
• As Ben becomes more involved with Colleen, he
  also becomes more aware of the life she is
  leading and of the danger she courts with her
  drug dealing and use and with her ex-boyfriend,
  Ed, and he wonders how much hes willing to
  sacrifice in order to have her companionship and
  love.
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Memoir and Non-Fiction
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Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John
Berendt

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John
Berendt is one of my all-time favoritesa
literary true-crime-memoir-travelogue that
profiles a series of unusual minor characters who
happen to be real inhabitants of Savannah,
Georgia.   The author traveled to Savannah and
set up a temporary residence there in order to
investigate a murder. During the course of his
stay, however, he found the residents of the city
as fascinating and often as mysterious as the
crime he came to analyze, and his profiles of
them, and of the city of Savannah, make his story
read like a gothic southern novel.
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The Frailty Myth Redefining the Physical
Potential of Women and Girls by Colette Dowling

• Using the latest research and anecdotal
  evidence, Dowling argues that women are gradually
  catching up to men in terms of physical
  strength.  In previous generations, she argues,
  women were often denied opportunities to realize
  their full physical potential and discouraged
  from athletics, and as those attitudes change, so
  do women's perceptions of themselves, and so do
  their physical abilities. A provocative read, and
  an enlightening look at culture and history.

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Nickel and Dimed On (Not) Getting By in
Americanby Barbara Ehrenreich

• My reading group just read this book and thought
  it was an excellent expose on the lives of people
  who work for minimum wage. Ehrenreich, a regular
  contributor to Harper's and Time and the author
  of several other books about sociological issues,
  assumed the life of a low-wage worker for several
  months to see how people survive on minimum wage.
  What she found out was grim  housing and
  transportation issues face the majority of
  low-wage workers, and working conditions are
  often tiring, demeaning, and de-personalizing. 
  Ehrenreich's approach is personal, funny, and
  very thought-provoking.  A quick read, but one
  that will stick with you long after the last
  page.

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The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne
Fadiman

• This amazingly poignant story illustrates the
  clash of cultures that occurs in the United
  States far too often, but in some cases, with
  tragic results.
• Anne Fadiman retraces the story of a Hmong
  family that moved to L.A. in the 80s and
  discovered their youngest child was seriously
  ill. Suffering from violent seizures, she was
  rushed to the emergency room again and again,
  where doctors eventually diagnose severe epilepsy
  and prescribe medication that will control the
  seizures and prevent brain damage.
• The family rejects Western medicine, believing
  that the epilepy is a form of spiritual
  possession, and that their daughter is blessed.
  As she grows older, the seizuresand the conflict
  with doctors and between culturesgrow more and
  more severe.
• A beautifully written, heartbreaking story.

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The Better World Handbook

• Authors Ellis Jones, Ross Haenfler, and Brett
  Johnson present numerous ideas--and much food for
  thought--about how individuals can, in ways both
  large and small, affect the world in a positive
  way. Many of their ideas revolve around the way
  we spend our money--the food we buy, the cars we
  drive, the gifts we give, the clothes we wear.
  They offer statistics and data that supports
  their claims that consumerism is damaging to the
  environment, the culture, and the individual
  psyche. Most importantly, they offer many ways
  readers can assess their attitudes and behavior
  to make a more positive impact on the world
  around them.
•  
• The authors suggest 7 foundations for building a
  better world (economic fairness, comprehensive
  peace, ecological sustainability, deep democracy,
  social justice, culture of simplicity, and
  revitalized community), and then offer practical
  actions for making those ideals a reality. They
  divide their ideas into suggestions about things
  you can do in these areas money, shopping,
  food, personal life, friends and family,
  community, home, work, media, politics,
  transportation, travel, and organization. In each
  area, they analyze some of the current problems
  and list ways you can help, ranging from buying
  from eco-friendly and reponsible businesses to
  getting enough sleep and exercise. Finally, they
  end with the top ten suggestions for building a
  better world include an "action index" that can
  be used to help remind you of some of the things
  you can do.

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Cant Buy My Loveby Jean Kilbourne

• This is easily the best book Ive read on the
  topic of how advertising permeates our culture
  and sends dangerous messagesespecially to young
  peopleabout the supposed joy to be found in
  cigarettes, alcohol, and material goods.
  Kilbourne has researched her subject matter
  thoroughly and includes hundreds of
  examplesincluding numerous visualsto support
  her claims and demonstrate the dangers of
  commercial media. I thought Id already heard all
  the arguments about the topic, but I was wrong,
  and this book made me realize that although I can
  avoid ads in my own life, I can do very little to
  alter the effects theyve had on those around me.

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On Writingby Stephen King

• Whether or not you appreciate his fiction, you
  will find inspiration and insight in Stephen
  King's book, ON WRITING A MEMOIR OF THE CRAFT.
  King, who only recently recovered from a severe
  accident that left him with a shattered leg,
  broken ribs, and numerous other injuries, recalls
  the life experiences that led to his prolific
  career as America's best-known horror writer.
• King's childhood poverty led him to escapist
  films--mainly genre horrow flicks of the
  1950s--and he developed a taste for the
  imaginative possibilities of horror and fantasy
  writing. He contributed to his brother's
  underground newspaper, was editor of the high
  school paper, and eventually wrote sports for a
  small local daily before attempting--and
  publishing, slowy--short stories. After college,
  marriage, and during his brief career as a high
  school English teacher, King work steadfastly on
  a number of manuscripts, typing his first
  published book, Carrie, in the laundry room of
  his singlewide trailer.
•  
• In the years since, King has published over 30
  novels, two books of non-fiction, dozens of short
  stories, and several movie scripts. He admits
  that while his work has been panned by literary
  critics, he is following the same guidelines and
  using the same writing skills as any other more
  respected literary authors. His stories, he
  says, find him, and he simply follows them where
  they lead.
•  
• In addition to recalling his past and offering
  ideas about writing, King writes movingly of
  being hit by a van two years ago and undergoing
  serious rehabilitation--his leg was shattered,
  four ribs broken, and he suffered severe weight
  loss and other injuries.
•  
• As a writer, I found his testimony about his
  life and his craft moving and convincing. I think
  his story would appeal to any of his fans,.
  others who aspire to write, or anyone looking for
  an inspiration rags-to-riches story.
•  
•  
•  
•  

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Fast Food Nation The Dark Side of the
All-American Mealby Eric Schlosser

• If you need a reason to stop eating hamburgers
  and french fries, this book will provide you with
  dozens. Schlosser traces the history of the meat
  industry and the history of the fast food
  industry and offers numerous revelations about
  the working conditions of meat industry and fast
  food industry workers, as well as some shocking
  (in some cases, sickening) facts about the food
  you may be served at your local fast food
  establishment. I recommend this book over and
  over again because I think it has some important
  and thoughtful information we should consider
  about the food we eat and the industry that makes
  it.

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My Year of Meatsby Cynthia Ozeki

• Another great peek into Japanese culture that
  would also be a great companion read to Fast Food
  Nation. Jane Tagaki-Little is an American hired
  to produce a documentary for Japanese television
  audiences that shows the many uses of beef in the
  home.  Each episode focuses on a "typical"
  American family enjoying meals centered around a
  beef dish. As Jane travels with the production
  crew, she learns some shocking truths about the
  beef industry and the harm it may be doing to
  ordinary people. A great read that is also
  educational without being preachy.

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Me Talk Pretty One Dayby David Sedaris

• David Sedaris, a frequent contributor to Esquire
  magazine and NPR, compiles his latest humorous
  essays in this book, which includes many about
  his life in France, where he struggles to
  understand the language and the culture (my
  favorite is "Jesus Shaves" in which he and a
  group of classmates attempt to explain Easter--in
  broken French--to their Muslim classmate). As in
  his previous collection, Naked, he also find some
  hilarious anecdotes to share about his family (in
  particular, his father) and his sister, actress
  Amy Sedaris. Sedaris recently won the James
  Thurber prize for outstanding American humorist,
  which is basically the Pulitzer of humor.  Read
  his stories and find out why!