Years ago I read One Blade of Grass, by Henry Shukman. It's a memoir about a man who's parents were British spies. He suffered from excruciating eczema growing up. Eventually he grew up to become a Zen Buddhist Monk. The book which I read during lock down, captivated me. I have searched reddit and can't even find discussions about this book or many about the author, but it's a terrific journey through his life. Check it out! And please share your own.
by InvisibleAstronomer
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When I Sing, Mountains Dance by Irene Sola. Excruciatingly beautiful, it healed something inside me.
“The Ways of White Folks” by Langston Hughes?
It’s one of my favorites, and yet I’m constantly surprised by how many people have never even heard of it! I’m a librarian, and run two book clubs – and I finally put this on our schedule this year, to read in February in honor of Black History Month. It’ll be interesting to see what a bunch of (mostly) elderly white and Asian ladies think of it. lol
The Sojourn
Even though it’s a famous book and considered to be one of the greatest hundred novels of all time, it is very very rare that I run into anybody who has read Under the Volcano. It is pretty much my favorite book that I never recommend to anybody because nobody likes it…
The Wild Birds by Emily Strelow. I never see it mentioned anywhere, but it’s a fantastic debut novel.
Going back to middle school for this one.
Gordon Korman’s Island trilogy.
I read it probably twenty times before I turned 15, and I recently reread it at 29, and I still loved it.
The Pearl. A compilation of underground, Victorian erotica
Hadji Murad – Tolstoy
Brog The Stoop. But I read it when I was 10.
At Swim Two Birds by Flann O’Brien
The Passenger by S. D. Wickett. Wonderful novel set in post WW2 Britain.
Six Frigates:The History of the Founding of the U.S. Navy by Ian Toll. It’s great if you like this kind of history
The Crying of Lot 49
The Little Girl Who Was Too Fond Of Matches – Gaétan Soucy
Raptor Red by Robert Bakker. I have a signed copy that I won in 8th grade. Almost 30 years ago at this point.
The Voyage of the Northern Magic
The Bunjee Venture
Children’s book that’s been out of print for years. Children travel back in time to rescue their scientist father and come home with a creature buddy. What’s not to love?
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/412535.The_Bunjee_Venture
40 Autumns: A Family’s Story of Courage and Survival on Both Sides of the Berlin Wall by Nina Willner was interesting and unlike anything I had previously read.
*Outline of My Lover* // Douglas A. Martin
So poetic, so queer, so beautiful.
The Enormous Egg by Oilver Butterworth was read to me a lot as a child. Need to read it again. Author’s name is a classic, too!
Joseph Heller’s “Picture This”.
The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint (by Brady Udall)
The Tsar of Love and Techno (by Anthony Marra)
Fingersmith (Sarah Waters)
Plainsong, by Kent Haruf. So touching, and the writing is beautiful.
Otherwise Engaged. I have a signed copy 💅🏼