literary fathers

 

BookBub polled readers about their favorite literary dads and these were among the top votes!

Atticus Finch from To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Matthew Cuthbert from Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery

Arthur Weasley from the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling

Goh Wye Mun from Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan

Gomez Addams from The Addams Family by Charles Addams

Ta-Nehisi Coates from Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates

Hans Hubermann from The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Bob Cratchit from A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

James Fraser from the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon  

Mr. Bennet from Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Stu Redman from The Stand by Stephen King

William from The Swiss Family Robinson by Johann David Wyss

Ned Stark from the Game of Thrones series by George R. R. Martin

Michael Carpenter from The Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher

Jess Birdwell from The Friendly Persuasion by Jessamyn West

Barack Obama's Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters by Barack Obama and Loren Long

Daniel Howitt from Shepherd of the Hills by Harold Bell Wright

If you’re looking for more reading inspiration, put some of these new and forthcoming books on your holds list!

The Beach Trap by Ali Brady
“An enchanting, heartwarming story about the families we’re born into—and the families we choose for ourselves. The Beach Trap is full of beauty, and hope, and reminders that it’s never too late to roll up our sleeves and rise above the mistakes we made . . . Take this book on vacation with you, and let its heart and humor sweep you off your feet!”—Ali Hazelwood, New York Times bestselling author of The Love Hypothesis

Rogues: True Stories of Grifters, Killers, Rebels, andCrooks by Patrick Radden Keefe
“Patrick Radden Keefe is a brilliant writer . . . Rogues is a marvel, showcasing the work of a reporter at the absolute top of his game.”—Daniel Alarcón, author of The King is Always Above the People

The Catch by Alison Fairbrother
“In this wonderful, wholly absorbing family drama with a mystery at its beating heart, Alison Fairbrother asks, What are we owed by the people we love? The answers she provides are funny, sad, complex, and always surprising. I loved this book and you will too.”—Meg Wolitzer, author of The Female Persuasion

The Lifestyle by Taylor Hahn
“This book is fun as hell. Hilarious, addictive, moving, and sexy. I lost track of time reading it, and I couldn’t get enough!” —Jasmine Guillory, bestselling author of While We Were Dating

An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us by Ed Yong
“I don’t know how to put into words the awe I felt while reading this book—for the incredible sensory diversity of our planet, and for Ed Yong’s talents.”—Mary Roach, author of Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers

Horse by Geraldine Brooks
A discarded painting in a junk pile, a skeleton in an attic, and the greatest racehorse in American history: from these strands, a Pulitzer Prize winner braids a sweeping story of spirit, obsession, and injustice across American history.

Kaleidoscope by Cecily Wong
“Sparkling with sharp observations and deeply wise in its insights . . . Cecily Wong’s dazzling second novel deftly explores the complex push-pull of family and ambition, and the ways we learn to define ourselves in—and out of—our loved ones’ orbits.”—Celeste Ng, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Little Fires Everywhere

Miss Aldridge Regrets by Louise Hare
“In Lena Aldridge, Hare has created a heroine who practically leaps off the page with her sharp wit and incandescence. Throw in a Jazz Age ocean crossing on the Queen Mary and series of diabolical murders that would make Agatha Christie proud, and I was done for, turning the pages late into the night. Irresistible and smart.”—Fiona Davis, New York Times bestselling author of The Lions of Fifth Avenue

Dele Weds Destiny by Tomi Obaro
“The bonds between women—as friends, and across the generations—are the jewels that make this story shine.” —Tayari Jones, author of An American Marriage

Lapvona by Ottessa Moshfegh
In a village in a medieval fiefdom buffeted by natural disasters, a motherless shepherd boy finds himself the unlikely pivot of a power struggle that puts all manner of faith to a savage test, in a spellbinding novel that represents Ottessa Moshfegh’s most exciting leap yet.

As Cooked on TikTok
This cookbook features both viral and brand-new recipes from many of the community’s most beloved TikTok food creators.

Gilt by Jamie Brenner
“Gilt is a dazzling page-turner. Family intrigue, sparkling gems, long-buried secrets, juicy twists and turns . . . what more could you ask for in a novel? Jamie Brenner is my go-to author for my beach bag!” –Elyssa Friedland, author of Last Summer at the Golden Hotel

How to Fake It in Hollywood by Ava Wilder
A talented Hollywood starlet and a reclusive A-lister enter into a fake relationship . . . and discover that their feelings might be more than a PR stunt in this sexy debut.

best books of 2022

 

TIME magazine has posted their picks for the best books of the year so far.  These selections pick apart what it means to grieve, how to love after loss, and what it takes to survive the unthinkable. These stories offer a comforting reminder that we all grapple with hardship—and that there is light, even in the darkest of situations.

The Naked Don’t Fear the Water: An Underground Journey with Afghan Refugees by Matthieu Aikins

In 2016, Canadian journalist Matthieu Aikins went undercover, forgoing his passport and identity, to join his Afghan friend Omar who was fleeing his war-torn country and leaving the woman he loved behind. Their harrowing experience is the basis for Aikins’ book, which chronicles the duo’s dangerous and emotional journey on the refugee trail from Afghanistan to Europe. As they are confronted with the many realities of war, Aikins spares no details in his urgent and empathetic narrative.

In Love: A Memoir of Love and Loss by Amy Bloom

The first pages of Amy Bloom’s memoir set up the book’s devastating ending: It’s January 2020 and Bloom and her husband are traveling to Switzerland, but only Bloom will return home. Her husband plans to end his life through a program based in Zurich. He has Alzheimer’s and wants to die on his terms. Though In Love is rooted in an impossibly sad situation, Bloom’s narrative is more than just an expertly crafted narrative on death and grief. It’s a beautiful love letter from a wife to her husband, rendered in the most delicate terms, about the life they shared together.

The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan

In Jessamine Chan’s unsettling debut novel, we begin on Frida’s worst day, when her lack of sleep has caused a lapse in judgment, and she leaves her baby at home alone for two hours. Soon, Frida is sent to a government run facility with other mothers deemed “failures” by the state. Reminiscent of The Handmaid’s Tale, this eerie page-turner is a captivating depiction of a dystopian world that feels entirely possible. It’s not only the gripping story of Frida’s personal struggle, but also a thought-provoking work of commentary on American motherhood.

The Candy House by Jennifer Egan

Egan spins fresh commentary on technology, memory, and privacy through 14 interlinked stories. In them, a machine called Own your Unconscious allows people to revisit any memories from their past whenever they want—if only they make those memories accessible to everyone else. It’s a thrilling concept brought together by Egan’s astute hand, offering a powerful look at how we live in an increasingly interconnected world.

Olga Dies Dreaming by Xochitl Gonzalez

It’s the summer of 2017 and Olga Acevedo is seemingly thriving: She’s a wedding planner for the Manhattan elite and living in a posh (and rapidly gentrifying) Brooklyn neighborhood. The protagonist of Xochitl Gonzalez’s absorbing debut novel had humble origins as the daughter of Puerto Rican activists, raised by her grandmother in another part of the borough where she taught herself everything she needed to know to be where she is today. But in Olga Dies Dreaming, the reality of Olga’s self-made success is more complicated. She struggles with the loneliness that has accompanied meeting her lofty goals, and she’s haunted by the absence of the mother who abandoned her family when Olga was just 12 years old. As hurricane season in Puerto Rico amps up, Olga begins to grapple with family secrets just as she falls in love for the first time. What ensues is a thoughtfully depicted romantic comedy full of domestic strife, executed in Gonzalez’s vibrant prose.

Fiona and Jane by Jean Chen Ho

In her debut short story collection, Jean Chen Ho traces the evolution of a friendship between two Taiwanese American women for two decades. In interlinked narratives, told in alternating voices, Ho captures what makes female friendship so special by following these characters from their adolescence and beyond. In intimate and layered terms, Ho describes the love that keeps their friendship together, even when life tries to pull them apart.

Constructing A Nervous System: A Memoir by Margo Jefferson

In 2015, the Pulitzer Prize-winning cultural critic Margo Jefferson released her debut memoir Negroland. In the award-winning book, Jefferson reflected on her life as she reckoned with what it meant to grow up as a privileged Black person in a wealthy area of Chicago, crafting a searing examination of race and class in America. The author now returns with a bruising second memoir that goes beyond her personal story, blending criticism and autobiography. Constructing A Nervous System is an exciting collection of Jefferson’s thoughts and musings on the world, from her love of Ella Fitzgerald and Bud Powell to her own writing process.

Vladimir by Julia May Jonas

Julia May Jonas’ outrageously fun and discomfiting debut Vladimir puts an unexpected twist on the traditional campus novel. Her narrator is a prickly English professor at a small liberal arts college who has developed a crush on her department’s latest recruit. Meanwhile, an investigation into her husband, the chair of the same department, looms large. He’s been accused of having inappropriate relationships with former students, but our protagonist could care less. As her feelings for the new hire enter increasingly dark territory, Jonas unravels a taut and bold narrative about power, ambition, and female desire.

Life Between the Tides by Adam Nicolson

Historian Adam Nicolson dissects all aspects of marine life to make stirring observations about crustaceans, humans, and the world in which we all live in this deftly reported book. Blending scientific research, philosophy, and moving commentary on what it means to live, Nicolson’s book defies genre categorization as the author, with the help of stunning illustrations, strives to tackle the biggest questions about humanity through investigating a sliver of the sea’s inhabitants.

Young Mungo by Douglas Stuart

The latest novel from Douglas Stuart shares a lot in common with his first, the Booker Prize-winning Shuggie Bain. In both, young men live in working-class Glasglow in the late 20th century with their alcoholic mothers. This time, the narrative focuses on the love story between two boys, Mungo and James, and the dangers that surround their romance. It’s a piercing examination of the violence inflicted upon queer people and a gripping portrayal of the lengths to which one will go to fight for love.

The Books of Jacob by Olga Tokarczuk

It’s been such a treat to read through Nobel Prize winner Olga Tokarczuk’s catalog as her books are being translated from Polish and released in English. The latest, translated by Jennifer Croft, is perhaps the author’s most ambitious. The Books of Jacob is a sprawling narrative set in the mid-18th century about a self-proclaimed Messiah who travels the Hapsburg and Ottoman empires. Tokarczuk fills the chapters with delectable prose to paint a portrait of this complicated man—based on a real-life figure—through the perspectives of the people in his life, creating a compelling psychological profile of a mysterious leader that masterfully oscillates between humor and tragedy.

Time Is a Mother by Ocean Vuong

Ocean Vuong’s second poetry collection finds the acclaimed writer wrestling with grief after he lost his mother to breast cancer in 2019. Like his novel On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, this collection is a tender exploration of memory, loss, and love. Through 28 poems, Vuong showcases his original voice as he asks pressing questions about the limits of language and the power of poetry in times of crisis.

https://time.com/6178674/best-books-2022-so-far/

 

I'm all ears

 

The next Books & Beyond meeting will be on Tuesday, June 28th at 6:30pm and the topic up for discussion is Booker Prize winning books.  Peruse the Booker Prize Winners row on the Shelf Care section of the library’s website at https://oneallibrary.org/adults---reading-recommendations.

In May, BAB met to discuss audiobooks of every description from cds, to Youtube, to the wonderful apps you have available with your library card!

Anarchism and Other Essays by Emma Goldman (available in audio on Youtube or on ebook on Libby)

Lithuanian born anarchist Emma Goldman emigrated to the United States at the age of sixteen. She first became attracted to anarchism following the Haymarket affair of 1886, a massacre in which seven police officers and an unknown number of civilians were killed during a march of striking Chicago workers. Eight anarchists were subsequently tried for murder. In the early part of the 20th century Emma Goldman would become one the most ardent supporters of the anarchist philosophy, advocating it through lectures and writings, and even in helping to plan, with her lover Alexander Berkman, a failed assassination of wealthy financier Henry Clay Frick. In 1906 Goldman founded the anarchist journal “Mother Earth”. “Anarchism and Other Essays” is a collection of essays first published in that journal and later published together as a book in 1911. In these twelve essays we find a representative collection of Goldman’s political philosophy, including her view of what anarchism stands for, the psychology of political violence, feminism and women’s rights, the injustice of the prison system, and other opinions on art, education, sexuality, religion, and patriotism. 

The Anarchist Handbook by Michael Malice et al. (available in eaudio on Hoopla for select locations)

Anarchism has been both a vision of a peaceful, cooperative society—and an ideology of revolutionary terror. Since the term itself—anarchism—is a negation, there is a great deal of disagreement on what the positive alternative would look like. The black flag comes in many colors.The Anarchist Handbook is an opportunity for all these many varied voices to speak for themselves, from across the decades.

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

Initially published under the pseudonym Currer Bell in 1847, Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre erupted onto the English literary scene, immediately winning the devotion of many of the world’s most renowned writers, including William Makepeace Thackeray, who declared it a work “of great genius.” Widely regarded as a revolutionary novel, Brontë’s masterpiece introduced the world to a radical new type of heroine, one whose defiant virtue and moral courage departed sharply from the more acquiescent and malleable female characters of the day. Passionate, dramatic, and surprisingly modern, Jane Eyre endures as one of the world’s most beloved novels.

Love and Other Disasters by Anita Kelly

The first openly nonbinary contestant on America’s favorite cooking show falls for their clumsy competitor in this delicious romantic comedy debut that USA Today hailed as “an essential read.”

The World-Ending Fire: The Essential Wendell Berry (available on Hoopla for select locations)

A collection of essays celebrating the cultural heritage of history and home argues that arrogance must be abandoned in favor of respect and care for oneself, one's neighbors, and the land.

As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of ThePrincess Bride by Cary Elwes et al.

From actor Cary Elwes, who played the iconic role of Westley in The Princess Bride, comes the New York Times bestselling account of the making of the cult classic film filled with never-before-told stories, exclusive photographs, and interviews with costars Robin Wright, Wallace Shawn, Billy Crystal, Christopher Guest, and Mandy Patinkin, as well as author and screenwriter William Goldman, producer Norman Lear, and director Rob Reiner.

Vox by Christina Dalcher

On the day the government decrees that women are no longer allowed more than one hundred words per day, Dr. Jean McClellan is in denial. This can't happen here. Not in America. Not to her.
Soon women are not permitted to hold jobs. Girls are not taught to read or write. Females no longer have a voice. Before, the average person spoke sixteen thousand words each day, but now women have only one hundred to make themselves heard. For herself, her daughter, and every woman silenced, Jean will reclaim her voice. This is just the beginning...not the end.

How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu

For fans of Cloud Atlas and Station Eleven, a spellbinding and profoundly prescient debut that follows a cast of intricately linked characters over hundreds of years as humanity struggles to rebuild itself in the aftermath of a climate plague—a daring and deeply heartfelt work of mind-bending imagination from a singular new voice. From funerary skyscrapers to hotels for the dead to interstellar starships, Sequoia Nagamatsu takes readers on a wildly original and compassionate journey, spanning continents, centuries, and even celestial bodies to tell a story about the resilience of the human spirit, our infinite capacity to dream, and the connective threads that tie us all together in the universe.

The Widow by Fiona Barton

Following the twists and turns of an unimaginable crime, The Widow is an electrifying debut thriller that will take you into the dark spaces that exist between a husband and a wife. There’s a lot Jean hasn’t said over the years about the crime her husband was suspected of committing. She was too busy being the perfect wife, standing by her man while living with the accusing glares and the anonymous harassment. Now her husband is dead, and there’s no reason to stay quiet. There are people who want to hear her story. They want to know what it was like living with that man. She can tell them that there were secrets. There always are in a marriage. The truth—that’s all anyone wants. But the one lesson Jean has learned in the last few years is that she can make people believe anything...

The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner

A forgotten history. A secret network of women. A legacy of poison and revenge. Welcome to The Lost Apothecary…Hidden in the depths of eighteenth-century London, a secret apothecary shop caters to an unusual kind of clientele. Women across the city whisper of a mysterious figure named Nella who sells well-disguised poisons to use against the oppressive men in their lives. Meanwhile in present-day London, aspiring historian Caroline Parcewell spends her tenth wedding anniversary alone, running from her own demons. When she stumbles upon a clue to the unsolved apothecary murders that haunted London two hundred years ago, her life collides with the apothecary’s in a stunning twist of fate—and not everyone will survive.