So That Happened by Jon Cryer (2015)

Really, really liked this memoir of Cryer's experience in Hollywood. SO funny. 

Many laugh-out-loud moments as well as a great amount of humility and behind the scenes dish and insight into what life is like as a Hollywood actor and theater actor as well. Fabulously fun. SO many funny parts. For example:

 "Beginnings are easy. See how I did that? I began the chapter with a statement about beginnings. This book has layers! Being an author is a cinch! In your face, Herman Melville." (p. 111)

My Sunshine Away by M.O. Walsh (2015)

Engaging novel about a man looking back at his youth and a traumatic event that occurred to his beloved neighbor girl, and how he became a suspect. 

Walsh does a gorgeous job of encapsulating what it's like to be a child and have limited information and also to look back as an adult and see what you missed. 

Lovely, lyrical (but not in love with itself) writing.

Oh! You Pretty Things by Shanna Mahin (2015)

Jess is third-generation Hollywood and deeply immersed in the culture, from her failed actress/stage mother to her friends in the industry. She gets a job as a personal assistant to an agoraphobic composer, then gets stolen away by an A-list actress, who is also best friend to one of her best friends. 

I love all the wit in this novel--I love Jess's sense of humor. This is one of those novels where I could quote my favorite lines on about every page. The plot itself is less compelling, with a romantic prospect that keeps popping up in the unlikeliest places, and a seriousness that comes out of left field at the end. But the characters are great, the friendships are realistic and truthful, and it was delightful summer reading.

Because I can't recreate the entire book, here's a tiny bit is from when Jess is working as a barista:

"I consider charging him an extra dollar because he made me strain to hear the word "coconut," but I've already hit my limit on groundless irritation for the day." (p. 4)

Groundless irritation!  Love it!

The Voices by F.R. Tallis (2014)

Really interesting haunted house novel, set in the 1970s in London, about a composer, his wife, and their young daughter, who move to a stately home in Hampstead Heath where they start to hear mysterious voices. The wife hears them through the baby monitor, he picks up voices through his recording equipment. This starts them on a mysterious journey of finding out who may have lived in the house and where the voices came from. 

It's hard to say anything else without spoiling the mystery, so I'm not going to. Quite suspenseful and chilling, and extremely atmospheric. Surprising and haunting.

Hugo & Rose by Bridget Foley (2015)

Rose has been having the same dream every night since she was a child, about a beautiful island and adventures she shares with Hugo. As a married mother of three, her life changes irrevocably when she sees a man working at a fast food restaurant who looks just like Hugo, and who recognizes her as well.  

Fascinating blend of fantasy and realistic fiction that reminded me of the British movie Paperhouse. Intriguing and original, and perfect for anyone who ever woke up from a dream and wanted to get right back into it.

How To Be Black by Baratunde Thurston (2012)

This book is awesome. I loved it immediately from the introduction ("Thanks for Celebrating Black History Month by Acquiring This Book"), which tells us that "this is a book about the ideas of blackness, how those ideas are changing, and how they differ from the popular ideas promoted in mainstream media and often in the black community." And Thurston discusses all of this with insight and utter hilarity.

Chapters include: "How Black Are You", "How to Be the Black Friend", "How to Speak for All Black People", "How to Be the Black Employee", and "How's That Post-Racial Thing Working Out For Ya?"  

In addition to his own thoughts, Thurston brings in his "Black Panel," including W. Kamau Bell, other interesting writers on race, and even one white guy (Christian Lander from Stuff White People Like) to provide even more insight and perspective on the issues he discusses.

I love this quote from Damali Ayo: 

"There's only so much we can say to white people anymore about this, because we've been saying the same things to white people for generations, decades upon decades. It is now really up to them. I've done workshops where I have literally taken all of the people of color out and left the white people and said, 'Your job is to end racism and I'll be back in twenty minutes. You set it up. Take it down.'" (p. 216)  

Also, Thurston's commentary on Cheryl Contee's discussion of the new Harmlem Renaissance and African American culture impacting larger culture: 

"all of these are part of this more global, collaborative resurgence of black culture and thought, and when it comes from the bottom up like this, it challenges the prevailing and limited images of blackness peddled by our major media but also the limited expectations of many black people themselves." (p. 223)

Fabulous, funny, thoughtful and important.

Scrumptious by Amanda Usen (2011)

Pretty adorable romance novel about a chef and the hotshot new chef that her friend hires to come in and fix her ailing restaurant. 

There's a less interesting subplot about someone sabotaging the restaurant, but the romance itself is pretty adorable. It's fun to read a romance about grown-ups--two people who aren't afraid to get busy, but aren't so sure about commitment. Good characters, well-done and spicy sex scenes.

Smoke Gets In Your Eyes by Caitlin Doughty (2014)

Subtitled: And Other Lessons from the Crematory.  I utterly LOVED this book.  

Doughty, after graduating with a degree in medieval history, gets a job at a crematorium and learns a LOT. This book is beautifully written, so readable and yet she integrates an amazing amount of anthropological research into her writing. 

I love her advocacy for death acceptance and the "good death.' This is totally a buy for me. I love how she talks about the real truth of death in America and how divorced we are from the reality of death. Beautifully written, and I wholeheartedly support her cause. Wonderfully said. Rave, rave, rave. 

Also, don't miss her Order of the Good Death page on Facebook. She posts the most fascinating articles and links.

Whipping Boy by Allan Kurzweil (2015)

Subtitled The Forty-Year Search for my Twelve-Year-Old Bully, I loved this book immediately.  

Novelist Allen Kurzweil, who was sent to a Swiss boarding school after his father's untimely death, was bullied by another student. In adulthood, he became obsessed with figuring out what happened to his childhood tormentor. Amazingly, what happened to his bully is so unbelievable that Kurzweil had to make it a nonfiction book--no one would believe it if it was a novel. 

His bully was part of a fraud ring that involved elaborate banking scams, and amazingly eccentric character--one wears a monacle! After a bit of a digression into the details of the fraud case, he returns to the resolution of his emotionally charged quest. And the resolution is really, really satisfying. Great story.

Dead Mountain: The Untold True Story of the Dyatlov Pass Incident by Donnie Eichar (2013)

I was compelled to read this book after watching the fabulously undiscovered horror film Devil's Pass, (which fictionalizes the Dyatlov Pass Incident slightly). 

Here's the story: In 1959, nine experienced hikers went on a challenging mountain hike and were found dead outside their tents. Something made them run outside barely clothed, despite the fact that they had adequate heat and shelter in their tents. 

Many conspiracy theories resulted, from avalanche to aliens to government agents to weapons testing to yeti. Although I found Eichar's travels to Russia to the site far less than compelling, I like his conclusion that it was a combination of a Karman vortex (high wind resulting in unnervingly loud noises) and the emotional effect that infrasound can have on people -- only recently discovered. A bit on the skimmable side, but still interesting.