Welcome to Readers Recommend, my monthly feature where “regular readers” (i.e. readers who do not have their own book blogs) share their book recommendations!
One of the most surprising things I learned in this year’s reader survey was that over 70% of you do not have your own book blogs. This means you are not book bloggers, but “regular readers”! That’s a large chunk of Sarah’s Book Shelves readers with fantastic book recommendations floating around in their heads and no place to share them. I’m thrilled to be able to mine all this brainpower for some great books! Prepare for your TBR to explode…
If you’d like to be featured in an upcoming “Readers Recommend” post, leave a note in the comments section or email me at sarahsbookshelves@gmail.com.
Let’s welcome our guest…
Get to Know Mary
- Home: My husband and I live in eastern Colorado and have beautiful views of the Rocky Mountains. The climate is dry but generally mild, and we wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.
- Career: After 30 years of teaching (a job that I loved), I am now retired (and I love that even more). (Sarah: this is the second retired teacher in a row we’ve had on Readers Recommend!)
- Hobbies: We enjoy hiking in the mountains and taking long road trips. We have visited all but three of the states and have traveled a little in Canada. I like to do Bible journaling and verse mapping, and, of course, visiting my local library and reading.
- Favorite TV Show: We don’t watch much television since we don’t have cable, so we borrow DVD’s from the library. We do enjoy old movies and some of the British and Australian mystery and crime dramas. We particularly like Poirot and Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries.
Mary Recommends…
An Old Love
To Kill A Mockingbird
Fiction – Literary (Released 1964)
324 Pages
Affiliate Link: Buy from Amazon
Mary:
This is a timeless favorite that I can highly recommend to all, even if you read it years ago. It is the classic story of a woman’s remembrance of her childhood and her admiration for her father. An award winning best-seller, set in a time that everyone wants to forget … but no one should.
My Take (my review):
Well, Mary, I read this one as a child and actually have re-read it within the past few years! It’s one of the few classics I’ve re-read and I loved it the second time around. It’s so quotable and chock full of life lessons that I’m sure I didn’t fully appreciate the first time I read it. During my second reading, I was much less focused on the trial (really the only thing I remembered from my first reading) and realized it was more of a background element to the portrayal of life in the small-town South during that time.
A New(er) Love
The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper
Fiction (Released May 6, 2016)
331 Pages
Affiliate Link: Buy from Amazon
Mary:
I really liked this sweet story of a old man dealing with the death of his wife and the curious circumstances that lead to discovery and adventure. I cared about Arthur and wanted him to succeed in moving out of the rut of his daily routine and solving his puzzle. The descriptive writing was especially enjoyable, creating scenes of far-away places that the reader can just get lost in. While not a mystery in the sense of “crime drama”, the book is nonetheless a mystery story, and, as such, it was very appealing to me.
My Take:
I haven’t read this one, but have heard it described as “charming” and “endearing.” Maybe I should read it because I get requests for “happy” books all the time and need some more in my back pocket to recommend!
A “Didn’t Love”
I’m Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid
Fiction – Thriller (Released June 14, 2016)
241 Pages
Affiliate Link: Buy from Amazon
Mary:
First of all, it took me a while to catch on that the book was going to be mostly through the thoughts of just one character. It was odd that it was so slanted. Secondly, the forward progress of the story was agonizingly slow. And, thirdly, the ending was so confusing and frustrating that I wasn’t really sure what had happened, or why. Then I realized I didn’t care. It’s books like this one that have convinced me that I should simply stop if I am not enjoying the book I’m reading. Struggling on to the end is almost never rewarding, and with so many great reads out there I don’t see any reason to endure writing that is unclear or cryptic.
My Take:
I haven’t read this one (Iain Reid’s debut novel), but it did recently pop onto my radar because I loved his sophomore novel, Foe (my review). Foe made me want to go back and read Reid’s debut. I tend to like books where you have no idea what’s going on, but there’s clearly something off, so I think I could possibly differ from Mary on this one. However, I’m 100% with Mary on DNF’ing a book that isn’t working for you! You’re right…sticking with it rarely ever pays off in the end. I’m DNF’d over 30 books so far this year!
What do you think of Mary’s recommendations (or her “Didn’t Love”)?
Mary’s view sounds fabulous! I’ve heard good things about Arthur Pepper and need to give it a try.
I’d have to disagree with Mary on I’m Thinking of Ending Things. It did leave me very off balance, but I liked that about it. To Kill A Mockingbird si one I really should go back and read. It’s been SO long!
I agree with Mary about Arthur Pepper. Such a charming, heart-warming story!
I read The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper last year, and I definitely think it is a book I love hearing others talking about. I really enjoyed it myself, and think it is a bit of a hidden gem, so lovely to see it mentioned here.
I agree about TKAM; it’s a highly quotable classic with plenty to love. I haven’t read the other books Mary mentioned, but I’ll keep them in mind. I usually stick to reading books from cover to cover, regardless of my enjoyment, simply to know how they unfold, but it’s true that some books give so little in return (reward-wise), which makes me think that maybe I should adopt a DNF policy for books I don’t enjoy.
Oh man! I can’t believe you stick with books you aren’t enjoying! I used to, but then there was just so much to read once I starting blogging that I didn’t want to waste time with stuff I wasn’t enjoying anymore.
I loved Arthur Pepper! TKAM–of course.
I just finished “I’m Thinking of Ending Things” a few hours ago and am mad as all get-out about the ending. I agree that I don’t understand the hype, but I was actually pretty invested up until that ending.
Now you’ve got me super curious! Actually might have made me more likely to read it!
I’d love to be featured in Readers Recommend. I’m a pretty voracious reader (80-100 books a year) & book bloggers are where I get a lot of my book ideas from lately. What are some good book-ish podcasts? You mentioned them in another post and I’ve just recently discovered podcasts – so far mostly true crime.. book-oriented ones sound awesome.
I’d love to have you participate in Readers Recommend! I already have my guest lined up for November, but would you like to be my December guest?
Bookish podcasts – here’s a blog post I wrote a long time ago (https://www.sarahsbookshelves.com/17-awesome-podcasts-ive-been-listening-to-lately-bookish-and-non/). But as an update to this: I no longer listen to Reading Glasses, Drunk Booksellers is more or less inactive, and I haven’t been loving Just the Right Book as much lately. My current favorite bookish podcasts are From the Front Porch (#1), Currently Reading, What Should I Read Next?, and The Readerly Report. Also – I’m actually working on my own podcast and am planning to launch in January!
December sounds great! Can you send me some parameters or guidelines as to what you expect? I will definitely check out some of the pidcasts you have mentioned.
I just re-read Mockingbird and agree completely with Mary. I loved it all over again and felt as if it could be a book I re-read regularly. The writing is that good.
Like you, I loved Foe so am concerned about Reid’s debut. I have my own copy so it can sit on the shelf for a bit longer until I decide!
Oh I love this feature, fun getting to know other readers. I loved Arthur Pepper to
Thank you! Glad you like it and would you like to be featured in an upcoming installment?!
TKAM definitely worth multiple reading. Arthur Pepper sounds interesting. I LOVED I’m thinking of ending things. It was definitely strange and hard to figure out but the ending was the best part to me. It’s nice to read a book that’s doesn’t have the same old predictable formula. I also loved Behind Her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough. I read so much grumbling about the ending but that was the best part. If you want a happy ending you should probably read fairy tales! Looking forward to Foe if my library ever orders it.
So, the ending sounds pretty divisive! Two very different reactions in the comments for this post alone! I HATED the ending of Behind Her Eyes, but I also definitely don’t need happy endings. It was just so outlandish it made me roll my eyes.