Ten More Books I Read on Recommendations

I'm linking up with That Artsy Reader Girl for another Top Ten Tuesday.

This week's topic is books we read because someone recommended them to us! I last did this topic in 2016, so here are some books I've read on recommendations since then!

1. The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery (recommended by Sian)
I'm pretty sure I got this recommendation from my friend Sian when everyone was doing that "ten books that made an impact on me" meme going around Facebook, and that I got the recommendation of Winter of Fire from her at the same time, which is another book I really enjoyed. I was familiar with Montgomery's work from Anne of Green Gables, of course, but probably wouldn't have picked this one up without Sian's recommendation.

2. Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender (recommended by Eli)
Eli enthusiastically recommended this one during a book club meeting, so I put a hold on it right away, and I thought it was great! YA can be hit-or-miss with me but I trust Eli's taste.

3. Friendship at the Margins by Christopher L. Heuertz (recommended by Heidi)
This was recommended to me a long time ago by the founder of LOVEboldly and it took me a few years to finally get around to reading it. It's both a gentle indictment of typical "mission" work and an exploration of the benefits and challenges of becoming friends with people whose life circumstances are vastly different than your own.

4. Greenglass House by Kate Milford (recommended by MacKenzie)
MacKenzie invited me to go hear Kate Milford speak at a local event, and I wasn't familiar with her, but MacKenzie and I share a love of The Mysterious Benedict Society so she knew I would love it too, and she was right! I finished the first book and was already partway through the sequel when we went to hear Milford speak.

5. The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers (recommended by Morgan)
This was already on my to-read list when Morgan recommended it to me, so I bumped it up to the top of my list. Although it wasn't necessarily a favorite, there was a lot that I really liked about it, and Morgan and I then got to have a great discussion about the book once I finished!

6. A Kiss Before Dying by Ira Levin (recommended by 'Becca)
This is another recommendation that I got from one of 'Becca's Quick Lit posts. I then turned around and recommended it to some friends who were looking for a mystery on audio for a car trip!

7. A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara (recommended by Patrick)
I had heard about this book during the time it was getting lots of buzz, but I might not have picked it up if Patrick hadn't enthusiastically recommended it. Then I was glad to be able to discuss it with everyone else!

8. Sadie by Courtney Summers (recommended by Chelsea)
I enjoy getting annual book recommendations from my younger sister, and this one may be my favorite of the ones she's recommended. I recommended it to my book club this year for the month we were reading an Audie Award winner, and for some people it was their first ever audiobook but they really enjoyed it!

9. Untamed by Glennon Doyle (recommended by Sharon)
This is another one that was getting plenty of buzz but I didn't feel a strong pull to pick it up until Sharon started sending me passages and emphasizing how amazing it was. I think it was probably unusually relevant for Sharon's life at the time, but I still found it to be an enjoyable read!

10. You're Not Listening by Kate Murphy (recommended by Diana)
I found Diana via Quick Lit, I think, and then discovered via her blog that she was also an adoptive mom, and then discovered that we'd attended the same university! I like seeing her recommendations for both adult books and kid books since our sons aren't too far apart in age.

What books have you read because of a recommendation?

Looking back:
One year ago I was reading: Possession, An Untamed State, and Whistling Vivaldi
Five years ago I was reading: The Other Wes Moore, A Snicker of Magic, and Death in the Andes
Ten years ago I was reading: Asking Questions

Ten 5-Star Reads with Under 2,000 Ratings

I'm linking up with That Artsy Reader Girl for another Top Ten Tuesday.

This week's topic is books we've loved that have under 2,000 ratings on Goodreads. I've done some past posts on this topic: great books with under 1,000 ratings, under 2,000 ratings, under 5,000 ratings, and underrated books read in 2016. However, it's been long enough that I think I can include some I've mentioned before. Interestingly enough, these are all nonfiction books.

1. American Hookup by Lisa Wade
One of my favorite books of 2017, this book hasn't gotten the press it probably should have. It's an honest and insightful read about hookup culture on college campuses, incorporating historical and sociological context while keep students' voices front and center.

2. Ask a Manager by Alison Green
This book is a must-read for anyone in the workforce. It's a compilation of useful scripts for the most common and most difficult conversations you're likely to have at work.

3. Ask For It by Linda Babcock and Sara Laschever
Women tend to be socialized not to ask for things, while men are much more likely to ask — about a higher salary, an open position, or better service at a hotel. This not only explains a large part of the wage gap but also leads to women missing out on all kinds of things they could get if they just learned to ask. Through real-life stories and exercises, the authors illustrate how to make "asking" a part of your life.

4. Fed Up by Gemma Hartley
It's not an exaggeration to say that this book has transformed my marriage. Hartley articulated my personal experience (and that of many, many women in different-gender relationships) so perfectly that I told my husband, "I'd do almost anything to get you to read this book." He listened to the first 15 minutes, said everything suddenly clicked for him, and before I knew it I had an equal partner in the running of our daily lives. Women will appreciate it, but men need to read it.

5. Parent Effectiveness Training by Thomas Gordon
Gordon's writing is clear, straightforward, and presents a logical framework for identifying which communication methods are most appropriate for different situations with children. At the core of P.E.T.'s ideas is the notion that a child is a person, which does not sound that revolutionary until Gordon illustrates how we treat children different from every other person in our lives. Highly recommended.

6. Radical by Michelle Rhee
I'm not surprised this has few (and mixed) ratings given Rhee's controversial career, but I still think it's worth the read. It's both a memoir of Rhee's career in education reform and a battle cry for parents, teachers, students, and politicians to use their voices to fight for every student to have a quality education.

7. Shameless by Nadia Bolz-Weber
I have loved all of Nadia Bolz-Weber's books to date, and this one is no exception. What I love most about this "sexual reformation" is that, while she illustrates how many destructive ideas about sex originate in the church, she advocates for a sexual ethic that is not separate from the Christian faith but rather deeply informed by it.

8. Small Animals by Kim Brooks
Brooks captures perfectly what it is like to be a parent in modern-day America, how the majority of your decisions are spurred by fear — fear of what will happen to your child if you don't do everything correctly and/or fear of what others parents will say or do if they believe you aren't parenting correctly.

9. Urban Injustice by David Hilfiker
This book, assigned reading in college, was my wake-up call about all of the beliefs I never realized I had about poverty, welfare, and the "inner city." The author cuts through any politics to provide facts and figures about the history of public assistance programs and what has worked in other parts of the world to lift people out of poverty. At 158 pages, there's no excuse not to read it.

10. With Burning Hearts by Henri Nouwen
This is a beautiful reflection on the different parts of the Mass and how we are invited to participate at each stage, using as a scaffolding the story of the travelers on the road to Emmaus.

Have you heard of any of these? What underrated books do you recommend?

Looking back:
One year ago I was reading: The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, and The Stand
Five years ago I was reading: And the Mountains Echoed and War and Peace
Ten years ago I was reading: Copyediting

Ten Book Recommendations for New Parents

I'm linking up with The Broke and the Bookish for another Top Ten Tuesday.

I missed the great revival of Top Ten Tuesday last week because I was linking up with Quick Lit, but I didn't want to pass up this first topic, so I'm getting to it a week late. I've been wanting to compile my recommendations for new parents in one place, and it seemed especially appropriate since many of the TTT hosts took a break due to new babies!

These ten books are divided up into sections based on when I think they're most helpful to read. Even if you've missed the window, I think they're still worth a read!

Before Birth

1. Baby Meets World by Nicholas Day
This overview of the history and science of child-rearing will show you that there are very few "wrong" ways to raise a child, so you don't need to panic about fundamentally damaging your child as long as you're doing your best.

2. The Science of Mom by Alice Callahan
This is a readable, scientifically grounded overview of the most controversial areas of parenting, from vaccinations to breastfeeding to co-sleeping. It'll make you feel more confident about sifting through the wide range of unsolicited advice you're inevitably going to receive.

The First 6 Months

3. Baby-Led Weaning by Gill Rapley and Tracey Murkett
I'm glad my best friend pointed me to this method for introducing solids. It's cheaper, easier, and more developmentally appropriate than feeding your kid sugary purees.

4. The Happy Sleeper by Heather Turgeon and Julie Wright
I wish I'd read this book in my son's first six months, but unfortunately I was lulled into thinking he was an easy sleeper when he didn't have any problems his first two years. Then suddenly he developed a knack for pulling out every stalling technique in the book and pushing all our buttons, and we had no toolbox for dealing with it. Learn from my mistake and start developing your toolbox early!

Around 18 Months

5. Einstein Never Used Flashcards by Kathy Hirsh-Pasek and Roberta Michnick Golinkoff
Right around the time you might start feeling the pressure to break out the flashcards, this book provides a nice reminder of all the ways in which kids learn through play, and gives you fun milestones to look for that you might not otherwise notice.

6. Oh Crap! Potty Training by Jamie Glowacki
This potty training method came highly recommended and worked wonders for us. You have to be committed to the process, but it's so worth it. Read it when your kid's around 18 months and you can start looking for the first signs of readiness to start training.

2 Years and Up

7. Dear Mister Rogers, Does It Ever Rain in Your Neighborhood? by Fred Rogers
This isn't a parenting book per se, but I learned a lot in seeing how Mister Rogers responded to the wide variety of letters he received over the years and reading some of his commentary on those responses. He provides a nice model of how to answer your kids' questions with honesty and empathy.

8. Liberated Parents, Liberated Children by Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish
This is a classic parenting book that led to the even-more-classic follow-up, How to Talk So Kids Will Listen and Listen So Kids Will Talk. It provides a way to approach parenting that's both constructive and kind.

9. How to Talk So Little Kids Will Listen by Joanna Faber and Julie King
This recent publication co-authored by Adele Faber's daughter takes the techniques from Faber and Mazlish's classic books and focuses them on kids ages 2-7. Through example scenarios and concrete suggestions, they provide a toolbox of ways to deal with the challenges of parenting.

10. Parent Effectiveness Training by Thomas Gordon
I need to reread this book, which provides a framework for identifying which communication methods are most appropriate for different situations with children. Along with the How to Talk... books, this gives parents a wide range of effective tools for parenting.

What parenting books would you recommend?

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Top Ten Things That Will Make Me Instantly Want To Read A Book

I'm linking up with The Broke and the Bookish for another Top Ten Tuesday.

This week's topic is what will unquestionably make me want to pick up a book. I wrote recently about what's on my to-read list and why, so there will be some overlap, but this will drill down more into why, for example, a book seems "interesting" or "fun" to me.

1. Everyone seems to be talking about it
I don't feel like I'm a big sufferer of FOMO, except when it comes to books. If I keep seeing a title pop up and people keep asking me, "Have you read this?" then I immediately feel like I need to pick it up.

2. Getting a recommendation from someone I trust
I pretty much feel obligated to read all personal recommendations, but I really want to read a book when someone who knows me and my reading style well says that they think I'll enjoy a particular book.

3. It involves books, reading, or wordplay
I loved The Phantom Tollbooth and Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore. A book that celebrates books and language is one that I want to be reading!

4. It's a lesson in something I probably should know about but don't
This is how a lot of books end up on my to-read list. I read a book description and say, "Hmm, I don't really know a lot about X..." and then The Story of Christianity or The New Jim Crow or The Gulag Archipelago ends up on my to-read list.

5. It's about sexual or gender minorities
For a long time I've felt most at home in the LGBTQ community (inasmuch as a straight cis chick can ever be part of that community), so I'm always excited to read books where queer and trans characters are foregrounded, especially if the books come recommended.

6. It's by an author I love
I've shared my always-want-to-read authors before, but that list keeps growing (like, I had a hold on The Upside of Unrequited from the moment I heard about it, and OMG it was just as good as Simon).

7. It's social science research
People are so interesting! I love well-presented research, but especially when it's about human behavior. That's why I put a hold on American Hookup as soon as I heard about it, and why I loved Being Mortal and The Righteous Mind and many others.

8. It's a step-by-step life manual
I don't read a ton of self-help books, but I love books that provide a clear process for making change in your life, whether it's The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up or The Happiness Project or I Will Teach You to Be Rich. I do well with checklists!

9. Realizing I should have read it by now
This is why there are dozens of classic books on my to-read list. This is different than book FOMO, which is about books that are currently popular, and more about books that keep getting referenced by other books. Like, I don't think I can pick up another Christian book until I get my hands on Crime and Punishment.

10. Seeing multiple people raving about a book
While #1 is more about mere exposure (I see the same title listed on tons of blog posts and articles), this is when I see multiple people I follow on Goodreads — who I know have tastes similar to mine — all giving a book 5 stars and writing about it in all caps. You can bet that book is going on my list!

Based on this list, what should I add to my to-read list?

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Ten Great Books I've Read on Recommendations

I'm linking up with The Broke and the Bookish for another Top Ten Tuesday.

When you talk about books a lot, like I do, you get asked for recommendations a lot, and you get a lot of recommendations back. Because of my ever-growing to-read list, I filter most recommendations — that is, they go into my mental bank, and if I see them pop up several more times or multiple other people recommend them, I'll decide to add them to my list.

But sometimes books go right on my to-read list, either because they sound like something I'd like or because the recommendation is coming from someone I trust. Here are some books I've read based on a single person's recommendation (limited to one recommendation per person).

1. Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood (recommended by 'Becca)
'Becca has been my blogging friend since back in the early days of my previous blog, and I trust her on just about everything from parenting advice to book recommendations. I added this book to my list on her recommendation, and after reading it I went back to read her thoughts on it and saw they were almost exactly the same as what I'd said in my review!

2. The Crossover by Kwame Alexander (recommended by Eli)
Eli graciously allows me to co-manage the Nerdfighteria Online Book Club with her, and she's a great book blogger/vlogger in her own right. Although we tend to have different tastes in books, we often have similar views on the books we read for book club, so I like getting recommendations from her that stretch my comfort zone, like this middle grade novel-in-verse.

3. Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino (recommended by Meryl)
I've had Calvino's If on a winter's night a traveler on my to-read list forever, but Meryl (a friend from college and fellow Nerdfighteria Online Book Club member) lauded this as one of her favorite books of all time, so I decided it would be my introduction to Calvino instead. It's probably not a book I would have picked up on my own, but I found it intriguing and imaginative.

4. The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh (recommended by Sara)
I didn't even remember that this favorite book of mine had originally come via recommendation from a friend until I was looking through Goodreads, but now I remember! Sara and I have very similar tastes in books and tells me she often looks to my blog and reviews for suggestions. Her recommendations to me are more sparing but always right on target!

5. The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins (recommended by Kirsti)
I know that I will never read as many books as Kirsti, who regularly exceeds 300 books a year, but I love reading her detailed and emphatic reviews and have gotten quite a few recommendations from her. This mystery novel from the 1800s is probably my favorite of the bunch.

6. One Hundred Names by Cecelia Ahern (recommended by Molly)
When Molly lived on campus (and before I had a baby) we would occasionally take long walks and talk about family and books. This heartwarming Irish novel is not one I would have found on my own, but on her recommendation I picked up and enjoyed the excellent audiobook.

7. The Other Wes Moore by Wes Moore (recommended by Missy)
Missy's known me for so long that she can usually spot a book I'd like without too much trouble. In this case, I don't think she'd read the book yet when she asked me if I'd heard of it, but she said the author was coming to speak near her and she was planning to read it, so I did too.

8. Stolen by Lucy Christopher (recommended by Chelsea)
I love that my little sister is turning into a bookworm like me, and that she's old enough now for us to swap book recommendations. After she listed this on Goodreads as one of her favorite books, I added it to my to-read list, which prompted her to gift me a copy for Christmas. It ended up being way better than I expected!

9. The Unthinkable by Amanda Ripley (recommended by Fiona)
My friend and former coworker was involved in disaster preparedness planning when she worked on campus here, and after one meeting she came back with this book recommendation. I don't know if she ever got a chance to read it herself, but I was glad she pointed me to it!

10. With Burning Hearts by Henri Nouwen (recommended by Rachel)
Rachel and I have a lot of similar interests, and she's recommended tons of books to me, of which this is my favorite. It was the best book I read in July and possibly one of the best this year.

What are some good books you picked up on a recommendation?

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Ten Books Best Experienced on Audio

I'm linking up with The Broke and the Bookish for another Top Ten Tuesday.

This week's topic is all about audiobooks! I have become a frequent consumer of audiobooks since learning how to download them from the library, and previously I shared my thoughts on what makes a book good or bad for audio. Here are ten books that I highly recommend experiencing as audiobooks if you're going to read them.

1. Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner, narrated by Mark Bramhall
This story of a couple in the western United States in the late 1800s is narrated (in-story) by the couple's grandson, and due to his physical limitations he is dictating the story into some recording device, along with his present-day, stream-of-consciousness thoughts. This makes it a perfect fit for audio, and Bramhall perfectly captures the tone of a crotchety old man piecing together this family story while muttering comments about his meddling son and his weird caretaker.

2. The Bonesetter's Daughter by Amy Tan, narrated by the author and Joan Chen
This story is told from alternate viewpoints, those of a mother and daughter, and the two narrators allow these two characters to speak with unique voices. The fact that they are separated generationally and culturally, a key part of the story, is emphasized on audio by the mother's Chinese accent (Chen) and the daughter's American one (Tan).

3. David Copperfield by Charles Dickens, narrated by Martin Jarvis
I struggled to read this in print and finally switched over to the audio version, and I'm extremely glad I did. The characters all came to life with Jarvis' masterful narration, which provided distinct and recognizable voices for at least 30 different characters. That is especially helpful in a fairly long book where characters pop in and out of the story with long breaks between appearances.

4. Family Matters by Rohinton Mistry, narrated by Martin Jarvis
After picking up David Copperfield on audio, I realized the narrator was the same as another audiobook I'd enjoyed previously, Family Matters. This novel about a family in Mumbai shows how people are at their best and their worst with their family members, and Jarvis again brings the characters of all ages to life with his narration.

5. The Help by Kathryn Stockett, narrated by Jenna Lamia, Bahni Turpin, Octavia Spencer, and Cassandra Campbell
I was surprised to learn after reading this about the controversy of how Stockett wrote out the characters' voices (briefly: the black characters were written using heavy dialect while the white characters' Southern accents were not indicated typographically in any way). On audio, the characters' voices were all distinct in their own way, and the three primary audio narrators distinguished the three primary first-person narrators in the story. And how cool that Octavia Spencer also played Minny in the movie and won an Oscar for it!

6. Middlemarch by George Eliot, narrated by Juliet Stevenson
This is another case where I was able to keep many characters straight throughout a long story due to the excellent narration on the audiobook. This is especially important in a book where the first half is just about getting to know all the various inhabitants of the town of Middlemarch before we really get to dive into the drama of their families, relationships, and mistakes.

7. A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving, narrated by Joe Barrett
I picked this up on audio after seeing the Irving had handpicked Barrett to narrate this book. I honestly can't imagine getting the full impact of this book if it wasn't on audio, as a key component of the story is Owen Meany's voice. This is also another one that's quite long with a large cast of characters, and having those distinct voices is helpful for me.

8. The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro, narrated by Simon Prebble
This story is told by a 1950s English butler reflecting over his career, which sounds kind of boring but is actually funny, sweet, and sad as we're forced to read between the lines of his very proper and professional narrative. I don't think I would have enjoyed this nearly as much if it hadn't been read to me in the butler's posh English accent by the talented Simon Prebble.

9. Room by Emma Donoghue, narrated by Michal Friedman, Ellen Archer, Robert Petkoff, and Suzanne Toren
People seem to have very strong feelings about whether hearing Jack's 5-year-old narration in a "child's" voice was better or worse than reading it, but I personally loved it. I'm glad that they chose to have other narrators for the adults in the story — it's rare to have multiple audio narrators just to break in briefly for character dialogue when there's a single first-person narrator, but I thought it worked well for this book. Some people have said that the way Jack's voice was written didn't always sound like a kid, but the woman who voiced him made everything sound natural and child-like.

10. Yes Please by Amy Poehler, narrated by the author (with cameos from others)
It's not common for audiobooks to go off-script from the written text, but Poehler made the most of the medium to include jokes, songs, and guest voices just because she could. Although the book itself didn't blow me away, it was delightful to hear it narrated by her along with as many celebrities and family members as she could drag into the recording booth.

Which books have you found particularly suited to audio?

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