Book Suggestions for May 2021 (+ summer 2021)

4/11/2021

Post recommendations for our 'Book of the Month' for May in the comments. Get them in by Saturday, April 24th at 2:00 pm MT so they may be included in the survey. The survey will be available at 3:00 pm.

Additionally, I'm interested in doing a summer-long-read, in which we would choose a really long book and read it over the course of May-August, at a pace of a quarter of the book per month instead of our usual quarter per week. If anyone else is interested and would like to suggest a book for these purposes, add them to the comments, specifically denoting that it is a suggestion for the summer-long read.

6 Comments

Evan

4/12/2021 10:27:50 am

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

Two starcrossed magicians engage in a deadly game of cunning in The Night Circus, the spellbinding New York Times best seller that has captured the world's imagination.

The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night.

But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway: a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them both, this is a game in which only one can be left standing. Despite the high stakes, Celia and Marco soon tumble headfirst into love, setting off a domino effect of dangerous consequences, and leaving the lives of everyone, from the performers to the patrons, hanging in the balance.

Evan

4/12/2021 10:34:09 am

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

*My dad recommended Hosseini as a writer like Zafon, worth reading if only for his prose alone, but who also has interesting stories. If anyone else has read this I am more interested in reading the author so would be willing to substitute it with any of his others.*

The #1 New York Times bestselling debut novel that introduced Khaled Hosseini to millions of readers the world over.

The unforgettable, heartbreaking story of the unlikely friendship between a wealthy boy and the son of his father’s servant, caught in the tragic sweep of history, The Kite Runner transports readers to Afghanistan at a tense and crucial moment of change and destruction. A powerful story of friendship, it is also about the power of reading, the price of betrayal, and the possibility of redemption; and an exploration of the power of fathers over sons—their love, their sacrifices, their lies.

Since its publication in 2003 Kite Runner has become a beloved, one-of-a-kind classic of contemporary literature, touching millions of readers, and launching the career of one of America's most treasured writers.

Evan

4/20/2021 08:16:08 pm

A few ideas for the summer long read:
- Middlemarch by George Elliot (880 pp) This was has been on my reading list for a long time, sol long I don’t remember how it got there. But it’s recommended as a long book worth reading on most sites on that topic.

- 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami (928 pp) Having read Kafka on the Shore a few months ago I am up for more Murakami, and this is considered to be arguably his best.

- Underworld by Don DeLilllo (827 pp) Because I already own it. I’ve tried to read it a few times and didn’t get very far. Not that it was a bad book, just not the right time in my life I guess. Maybe this time could be the one that sticks.

Generally speaking I am not well read... I am up for the usual suspects Cervantes, Dumas, Hugo, the Russians, etc. in order to remedy this a bit. I think Don Quixote would be my preference out of these. May as well start at the beginning.

Sean

4/21/2021 10:27:57 am

A Crack in Creation, by Jennifer Doudna

Not since the atomic bomb has a technology so alarmed its inventors that they warned the world about its use. That is, until 2015, when biologist Jennifer Doudna called for a worldwide moratorium on the use of the gene-editing tool CRISPR—a revolutionary new technology that she helped create—to make heritable changes in human embryos. The cheapest, simplest, most effective way of manipulating DNA ever known, CRISPR may well give us the cure to HIV, genetic diseases, and some cancers. Yet even the tiniest changes to DNA could have myriad, unforeseeable consequences, to say nothing of the ethical and societal repercussions of intentionally mutating embryos to create “better” humans. Writing with fellow researcher Sam Sternberg, Doudna—who has since won the Nobel Prize for her CRISPR research—shares the thrilling story of her discovery and describes the enormous responsibility that comes with the power to rewrite the code of life.

Andy link

4/24/2021 02:03:02 pm

The woman in the window

* It's a bit long (~600pp), but they'll release the movie in the middle of may, so it's a candidate for book club movie club *

Anna Fox lives alone—a recluse in her New York City home, unable to venture outside. She spends her day drinking wine (maybe too much), watching old movies, recalling happier times . . . and spying on her neighbors.

Then the Russells move into the house across the way: a father, a mother, their teenage son. The perfect family. But when Anna, gazing out her window one night, sees something she shouldn’t, her world begins to crumble—and its shocking secrets are laid bare.

What is real? What is imagined? Who is in danger? Who is in control? In this diabolically gripping thriller, no one—and nothing—is what it seems.

Twisty and powerful, ingenious and moving, The Woman in the Window is a smart, sophisticated novel of psychological suspense that recalls the best of Hitchcock.

Andy

4/24/2021 02:37:16 pm

Just kidding, it's 464pp.

Book Suggestions for May 2021 (+ summer 2021)

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