I was recently somewhere here in town where conversation suddenly turned to the books people were reading. It was really interesting, and I mentioned to the people I was with that I would love to have their reading list. I started to think about what other people in Maynard might be reading and thought, Why don't I ask people and then do a blog post about it?
So here, in no particular order, are the books that some of your fellow citizens are reading. It's so cool to see the diversity of all these titles.
Free to Learn: Why Unleashing the Instinct to Play Will Make Our Children Happier, More Self-Reliant, and Better Students for Life, by Peter Gray - Denise
Rick Steves Snapshot Lisbon, by Rick Steves - Denise
Men Explain Things To Me, by Rebecca Solnit - Holly
The Language of Flowers, by Vanessa Diffenbaugh - Michel
Ivy Cole and the Moon, by Gina Fargo - Claire
Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, by Marie Kondo - Claire
The Wright Brothers, by David McCullough - Ken
Team of Rivals, by Dorothy Kearns Goodwin - Ken
Atlas Shrugged, by Ayn Rand - Ken
Raising the Curve: A True Portrayal of Classroom Life, by Ron Berler - Lauren
Tragedy & Hope: A History of the World in Our Time, by Carroll Quigley - Amanda
Permaculture: Principles and Pathways Beyond Sustainability, by David Holmgren - Amanda
Whatever Happened to Penny Candy? An Uncle Eric Book, by Richard J. Maybury - Amanda
The Six Pillars of Self-Esteem, by Nathaniel Branden - Amanda
Station Eleven, by Emily St. John Mandel
Secret Sisters, by Jayne Ann Krentz - Meghanne
Missing Pieces, by Heather Gudenkauf - Meghanne
Orphan Train, by Christina Baker Kline - Meghanne
Coaching the Artist Within, by Eric Maisel - Pencil Lady
Memoirs of Hadrian, by Marguerite Yourcenar - Pencil Lady
After the Reich: A Brutal History of the Allied Occupation, by Giles McDonogh - Rob
The World Below, by Sue Miller - Brenda
Being Mortal, by Atul Gawande - Kat
How Should a Person Be?, by Sheila Heti - Sue
Behind the Beautiful Forevers, by Katerine Boo - Sue
The Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and the Golden Age of Journalism, by
Doris Kearns Goodwin - Margaret
An Embarrassment of Mangoes: A Caribbean Interlude, by Ann Vanderhoof - Andrew
The Drums of Autumn (Outlander Series Book 4), by Diana Gabaldon - Gwen
The Tao of Physics, by Fritjof Capra - Gwen
Skinner Luce, by Maynard author Patricia Ward - Priscilla
The Age of Innocence, by Edith Wharton - John
All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr - Whitney and Joan
Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen, by Lois McMaster Bujold - Rob
Too Many Children Left Behind, by Bradury, Corak, Waldfogel, Washbrook - Rob
Death in Paradise, by Robert Parker - Joanie
The American Class Structure In an Age of Growing Inequality, by Dennis Gilbert - Dennis
Charleston, by John Jakes - Larry
Seveneves, by Neal Stephenson - Katrina
Bernini: His Life and His Rome, by Franco Mormando - Liz
The Chronicles of Master Li, by Barry Hughart - Josh
Number Ten Ox, by Barry Hughart - Josh
The Space Below My Feet, by Gwen Moffat - Donna
A Man Called Ove, by Fredrik Backman - Lauren
The Purpose Economy, by Aaron Hurst - Lauren
The Age of Innocence, by Edith Wharton - Jan
The Whites, by Richard Price - Jan
Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain, by Maryanne Wolf - Carolyn
The Fifth Season, by N K Jemisin - Liz
Into Oblivion, by Arnaldur Indrisason - Dottie
Faithfully Feminist; Jewish Christian and Muslim Feminists On Why We Stay, edited by Jennifer
Zobair and Gina Messina-Dysert, and Amy Levin - Lois
The Gold Eaters: A Novel Hardcover, by Ronald Wright - Laura
The Yacoubian Building, by Alaa-Al-Aswany - Elizabeth
Daughters of the Samurai: Journey from East to West and Back, by Janice P. Nimura - Christie
Needles and Pearls, by Gil McNeil - Christie
The Art Forger, by B. A. Shapiro - Loretta
Rival Rails: The Race to Build America's Greatest Transcontinental Railroad, by Walter Boardman - Christie
Along the Infinite Sea, by Beatriz Williams - Trudy
Ready Player One, by Ernst Cline - Trudy
The Grownup, by Gillian Flynn - Trudy
The Bat, by Jo Nesbo - Trudy
Protocol Zero, by James Abel - Trudy
Silo series, by Hugh Howey - Trudy
The Ringed Castle, by Dorothy Dunnett - Laura
An Instance of the Fingerpost, by Iain Pears, - Linda
Made in Detroit ( poetry), by Marge Piercy - Linda
the Bible - Linda, Dorothy
A Prayer for Owen Meany, by John Irving - Dorothy
The Cold War: A New History, by John Lewis Gaddis - Sander
Candy Freak, by Steve Almond - Kathy
The Pale View of Hills, by Kazuo Ishiguro - Kathy
With this next one, I couldn't help but keep the readers book report with it:
"I came upon a great mystery series that is totally engrossing and unexpected! It takes place in the 1970s in newly Communist Laos. You read me right, Laos. The hero is a 72 year old man (!) the country's only coroner—not by choice. Oh he also happens to have the spirit of a 1,000 year old Hmong shaman residing within him. It is hysterically funny! I am totally transported into a culture as foreign to me as can possibly be and can't stop reading them. It reminds me of the #1 Ladies Detective Agency books that take place in Botswana. Anyway the series is The Dr.Siri Mystery Series I am currently reading the 3rd book Disco for the Departed. (He's haunted by a particularly cruel spirit that plays disco music.). The first one is The Coroners Lunch, - oh, all by Colin Cotterill. - Kathleen
This was kind of fun. Maybe I'll make it a regular post that I do a couple times a year. Thanks so much to everyone who participated.