What We See What We Read by Peter Mendelsund (2014)

Utterly loved this nonfiction book which deconstructs 'what we see when we read': the physical and emotional act of reading. 

Absolutely fascinating, marvelously designed. So many keeper quotes. Like:

"One should watch a film adaptation of a favorite book only after considering, very carefully, the fact that the casting of the film may very well become the permanent casting of the book in one's mind. This is a very real hazard."  

"When I read, my retirement from the phenomenal world is undertaken too quickly to notice. The world is in front of me and the world "inside" me are not merely adjacent, but overlapping; superimposed. A book feels like the intersection of these two domains--or like a conduit; a bride; a passage between them." 

This is a book to buy and refer to often.  Fascinating.

The Cinderella Deal by Jennifer Crusie (1996)

Another utter love. Picked this up at a used bookstore out of a remembered fondness for Jennifer Crusie and she did not disappoint. 

Daisy is a scattered, free spirit artist trying to make her living through her art. Her neighbor, Linc, is a straitlaced English professor who is angling for a job at a prestigious school but needs a fiancee to complete the picture. 

Crusie creates a charming story out of this familiar premise, thanks to her vivid and realistic characters, her humor and her ability to create real chemistry and believable romance for her characters. Beautifully done as always.

The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo (2013)

Oh my gosh, I LOVED this book. I have no idea where it came from, why I requested it but it's marvelous.

Li Lin lives in colonial Malaya with her opium-addicted father and her beloved Amah. All is satisfactory pretty much until she receives a marriage proposal from the son of an influential neighbor. However, the son is dead and the proposal is for Li Lin to be his ghost bride. When her intended haunts her in her dreams and she falls in love with the new (live) heir to the family, Li Lin embarks on a fantastical voyage among the dead. 

Choo creates a marvelously rich and detailed world of the dead, from paper funeral offerings and hell money, to the Plains of the Dead and the afterworld bureaucracy. Along the way, she meets Er Lang, a guardian spirit who is not at all what he appears to be. 

This novel is utterly original and impossible to label in a particular genre. It's historical fiction, and fantasy, and a bit of horror, and a bit of romance as well as being wonderfully suspenseful and beautifully written. Much of the mythology is based on Chinese folklore, and Choo's notes section outlines the original stories and her own creations. CRIPES, I loved this book.

The Moon and More by Sarah Dessen (2013)

Aw, I adore Sarah Dessen. Although the plots are fairly conventional, her relationships and characters are so wonderfully complex.

This one is about a girl recently graduated from high school, working her butt off at her family's realty company in her coastal tourist town, and her relationships with her longtime boyfriend, an attractive new guy in town who is the assistant on a documentary about a reclusive artist AND her relationship with her semi-estranged father and her new half-brother. Whew! 

 But all you need to know is this: Great characters, even the most minor characters and realistic, well drawn relationships. Just lovely. Oh, and funny. Not laugh out loud funny, but gently, dryly funny.

Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott (2008)

"Alice" was kidnapped by Ray when she was about 10 and has been living with (and abused by him) ever since. She barely remembers her former life, and her only hope for escaping him is to find her replacement and she thinks she's found her at a local park.

 Chilling, genuinely upsetting, but well and simply told.

The Girl From the Well by Rin Chupeco (2014)

This young adult horror novel is narrated by Okiku, a 300-year old ghost who avenges murdered children by killing their murderers and freeing their spirits.

Some excellent imagery--very much as if you were reading a novelization of The Ring (but well done) and quite interesting back story and info on Japanese ghost stories. I love the imagery of the ghosts of the murdered children clinging to the murderers, as well as the occasional people who can see Okiku and other spirits.

Quite a well-done and original young adult horror novel.

Son of a Gun by Justin St. Germain (2013)

After watching Tombstone (in a spate of Michael Biehn movie binge-watching), I wanted to read more about Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday and Biehn's character, Johnny Ringo.  In one of those serendipitous coincidences, St. Germain's book popped up in my catalog searches. 

St. Germain lived in (or just outside) of Tombstone with his mother and brother with a succession of his mother's boyfriends.  When he is just 20, his mother is shot to death, likely by her current husband (her fifth).  

In this book, St. Germain chronicles his attempts to make sense of his mother's death as he tries to answer the unanswered questions of her death.  

He wanders back and forth in time as he recalls his own troubled childhood with his mother, and along the way, the story of his hometown and the famous shootouts that took place there.  Simply and sparely written, St. Germain weaves together all of these elements beautifully in a very emotional, suspenseful and touching book.  A good pairing with After Visiting Friends by Michael Hanley.

Breathing Room by Marsha Hayle (2012)

Set in 1940, this is a children's novel about a young girl suffering from tuberculosis who is sent to Loon Lake Sanatorium to recover.  

Based on similar historical events and illustrated with marvelous images of medical devices and sanatoriums, this Minnesota-set historical fiction is filled with great characters, poignant situations and a fascinating slice of history.

Dragnet Nation by Julia Angwin (2014)

Subtitled: A Quest for Privacy, Security, and Freedom in a World of Relentless Surveillance.  Angwin is an investigative journalist who explores the many ways we are being watched and recorded and what we can do about it.  

Short answer?  Not much.  

Angwin looks at how our private lives are under watch and how our private data is being collected by the bushelful, then goes deeply into security and hacker circles in order to figure out how to evade being tracked.  Fascinating and eye-opening.  

A good companion to Brandwashed by Martin Lindstrom.  Also, Angwin's sources are marvelously documented in full detail.

The Blue Castle by Lucy Maud Montgomery (1926)

As a longtime lover of the Anne of Green Gables stories, I can't believe I had never heard of this novel.  I finally read about it in the lovely booklovers' catalog Bas Bleu and immediately requested it from the library (sorry, lovely catalog--I promise to buy it soon!).

Montgomery's only novel for adults (though at my library, it's cataloged as YA), The Blue Castle is about Valancy, a 29-year-old mousy spinster living with her overbearing, unkind family and dreaming of life in her beautiful, imaginary Blue Castle.  When Valancy learns that she has a fatal illness, she decides to stand up for herself with her family and do what she wants to do--including getting a job, asking a man to marry her and finding her Blue Castle in real life.  

I utterly loved this novel, and would put it right up there with my favorite romances of the early 20th century, such as Daddy Long-Legs and I Capture the Castle.

I always love a quote about houses: 

"Would you like a house like that, Moonight?" Barney asked … "No," said Valency, who had once dreamed of a mountain castle ten times the size of the rich man's 'cottage' and now pitied the poor inhabitants of palaces.  "No.  It's too elegant.  I would have to carry it with me everywhere I went.  On my back like a snail.  It would own me -- possess me, body and soul.  I like a house I can love and cuddle and boss."

Me too!

Pride and Pyramids by Amanda Grange and Jacqueline Webb (2012)

How can you not love a Pride and Prejudice retelling which is essentially P&P combined with The Mummy? 

Pride and Pyramids finds Elizabeth and Darcy married with five (six?) children and in search of a bit of adventure.  Their cousin proposes a family trip to Egypt to join him on an expedition to Egypt to find an abandoned tomb. There's also a story about a restless Egyptian spirit and a little mystical element. 

Nice depiction of well-loved characters, a setting that is original, and lots of good characters. Quite fun!

Sad Monsters by Frank Lesser (2011)

Loved, loved, loved, loved this adorable collection of short, humorous pieces on monsters subtitled: Growling on the Outside, Crying on the Inside.  

I especially loved it because I had just skimmed John Moe's awful book: Dear Luke, We Need to Talk, which is every bit as unfunny as his work on the radio show Wits. Sad Monsters, however, is everything that book wanted to be.  

This collection is filled with short vignettes that perfectly live up to their titles and premises, such as Missed Possessions (Missed Connections for succubi), His Fangs Just Aren't That Into You, Giant Ape Class-Action Lawsuit, and The Passive-Aggressive Monster in the Closet.  

SO so so clever and funny, and presented in a charming variety of different forms, from diaries to letters to court transcriptions, accompanied by adorable illustrations by Willie Real. Oh, and I can't forget the notes from The Roommate of Dorian Gray.  Fabulous!  So many funny funny lines.  LOVE.

The Vacationers by Emma Straub (2014)

Started reading this in a digital ARC, but it didn't grab me immediately.  It did in book form, though.  I really liked her book Laura Lamont's Life in Pictures and it stayed with me quite a bit.  This one will as well.  Although when I started it, I was like, ooh white people problems, it did draw me in.  

The characters:  a couple whose husband just cheated on his wife and got fired from his job, her best friend and his husband, their grown son and his girlfriend, and their daughter who is off to college in the fall.  They all stay in a house on Mallorca.  Marvelous character and relationship writing; I loved the depictions of both Franny (the cheated-upon wife) and Sylvia (the daughter, who has her first crush and is crushed).  Just spot-on.

And a quote I loved: 

"Yes, it was true that Franny had gotten thicker in the last decade, but that was what happened unless you were a high-functioning psychotic, and she had other things to think about."  (p. 29)

Can't We Talk about Something More Pleasant? by Roz Chast (2014)

I love Roz Chast, and this memoir of dealing with her parents' aging and eventual death is poignant, sad, truthful and surprisingly funny.  

She had a mixed relationship with her parents growing up, and dealing with her parents' eventual dependence on her is honestly and touchingly told.  

Very, very much enjoyed.  

How to Succeed in Business Without Really Crying by Carol Leifer (2014)

Subtitled: Lessons from a Life in Comedy, I'm totally considering this for my all-time favorite business books.  (Along with Good Boss, Bad Boss and Creating Magic.)

It's a bit of a mix--memoir, comedic essay and some good solid business sense mixed in. Fascinating look at her career, the challenges she's faced and her useful advice, including her great advice to always say hi to people and be kind to everyone.  Also, this quote really hit home for me personally:

"Still I wish I knew then what I know now, and I hope you'll benefit from knowing now what I didn't know then. Whatever workplace you're in, always aim to please the captain. It matters, even if the first mate is ecstatic with your performance, because it's the captain who ultimately decides who stays onboard. If, like I did, you sense that the one person in charge isn't thrilled with what you're doing [spoiler: it was Lorne Michaels], ask for feedback and figure out how to correct your course. Because flying under the radar is a passive tactic that will eventually get you tossed off the ship."

Cure for the Common Breakup by Beth Kendrick (2014)

I am always so proud of myself when I read a book that was actually published in the current calendar year. You'd think being in a library almost every day would give me a leg up on the new releases, but I tend to be a bit behind the times.  I blame the excess of amazingly readable books I see every day (and my constantly expanding GoodReads To-Read list--current count: 298).

Anyhoo, this is a delightful chick littish novel about an airline attendant who gets in a plane crash and her pilot bf (who was about to propose), breaks up with her while she's still in the hospital.  So she takes her settlement and her injuries and goes to Black Dog Bay, a town whose entire tourism industry is dedicated to healing people who are getting through break-ups.

The surprisingly delightful part of this novel is that Summer, the stewardess, is hilarious and full of the devil.  No neurotic, shy, insecure chick lit heroine here.  She's funny and full of sassafras and turns the town upside down, in a good way.  A host of wonderful little details (like the Rebound Salon and local bar the Whinery) and great, rich characters, as well as a very dashing romantic lead, make this great fun.

Dark Harvest by Norman Partridge (2007)

It’s Halloween night and every teen boy in town has been locked up for five days.  Tonight they are released, ready to do battle with a legend come to life: The October Boy—born in a cornfield and made of candy, vines and a pumpkin head.  The boy who succeeds in killing him gets to leave town and the competition is fierce, but who are they truly fighting?  

Partridge creates a suspenseful, chilling novel and beautifully evokes the feeling of autumn and Halloween, while telling a truly original story with well-drawn characters.

The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo (2013)

You MUST read this book.

I hear about books from a lot of sources.  Blogs, friends, reviews, whatever.  And then there's the books that I just run across in the library catalog while looking for something else.  Which is to say, I have NO idea how I found this book.  But I'm so glad I did!

Set in colonial Mayala, among the Chinese who reside there, the story is about Li Lin, a young woman of marriageable age who lives with her opium-addicted father and her beloved Amah.  Despite the loss of her mother at a young age, all is pretty much satisfactory until she receives a marriage proposal from Lim Tian Ching, the son of an influential neighbor.  A promising engagement with one small detail: Lim Tian Ching is dead and the proposal is for Li Lin to be his ghost bride.

Lim Tian Ching begins to haunt Li Lin in her dreams, and she is quickly drawn into a dark world of murder, hungry ghosts and restless spirits.  She also falls in love with Tian Bai, the new (live) heir to the family.  Li Lin ventures into the Chinese afterlife, travelling to the Plains of the Dead on an errand for the mysterious Er Lang, a man who may not be what he seems.

Choo creates a marvelously rich and detailed world of the dead:  paper funeral offerings and hell money, afterworld bureaucracy and the shifting corporeal nature of ghosts.  This novel is utterly original and impossible to slot in a particular genre.  It's historical fiction with elements of fantasy, wonderfully suspenseful and spooky with more than a touch of romance.  It's also just beautifully, vividly and cinematically written.  Much of the book's world is based on Chinese folklore, and Choo's notes section outlines the original stories as well as her own creations.  CRIPES, this is a good book.

Dead End Gene Pool: A Memoir by Wendy Burden

I picked this up in a used bookstore based on the intriguing cover and it paid off in every way possible.  This is a memoir about the descendants of a very, very wealthy family (Vanderbilt), and how things went terribly wrong.

Wendy Burden writes unsparingly and hilariously about her very wealthy and very dysfunctional family.  From visiting her grandparents' estate on an island to only occasionally seeing her flighty, hippie mother, this is a fascinating look at the 1% and how things can go terribly wrong no matter how much money you have.  

But above all, it is utterly hilarious.  I didn't write much about it when I read it, but DANG, it's good.  You should read it.  I mean, look at that awesome cover!

The Outsmarting of Criminals by Steven Rigolosi (2014)

This mystery novel, subtitled: A Mystery Introducing Miss Felicity Prim, is absolutely adorable.

Miss Prim lives in NYC, but gets mugged and decides to move to Connecticut and take up her dream job: Criminal Outsmarter. This book has so much love for mysteries and books, and great, rich characters, including the fabulous Miss Prim herself, who is practically perfect in every way (but has NO idea that she drives like a bat out of hell) and is not averse to a slight crush on an attractive policeman. So darling. And she's one of those characters who gets everyone to do what she wants--kindly and with excellent etiquette--but it gets DONE.

A few things I particularly loved:  The signs at her local bookstore:

 "New York Times Best-Sellers That Nobody Reads, The Latest Dreck from Writers Who Phone It In, Ponderous Literary Prose with No Plot and Snotty Characters, Urban Musings by Self-Involved Authors who Don't Take Showers, Ongoing Sagas/Series That Lost Their Edge 4-5 Books Ago," and my all time favorite: "Books by Ivy League Graduates That Got Glowing Reviews in Prestigious, Low-Circulation Magazines Edited by Other Ivy League Graduates." (p. 123) Hilarious and SO true.

 Also: 

"Why, Miss Prim could even see a highly talented novelist writing about her exploits. The book jacket would feature a slim, attractive woman in her rose garden. under the title, the words "A Mystery Introducing Miss Felicity Prim" would appear, thus positioning her tale as the first in a wildly successful, long-running series. But no--Miss Prim was getting carried away. All of that was fiction, and this was the real world." (p 151-2)

Glitter and Glue: A Memoir by Kelly Corrigan (2014)

Kelly Corrigan begins this memoir, her second, with a discussion of her mother's cancer diagnosis. This triggers the memory of a trip she took in her youth to Australia, and the job that she took there to stay in the country.

She became a nanny for a widower with two children, who had recently lost their mother to cancer. As she struggles with becoming a caregiver, she hears her mother's voice in her head. A very subtle, poignant and sweet memoir that focuses on her realization of the impact that her mother (the "glue" of the title) had on her as she grew to adulthood.

Side note: I read it as an e-book from the library and placed 'notes' on a couple of pages I rather liked. However, as the book expired and disappeared from my 'bookshelves' so did the notes, darn it.

This is a lovely book about Corrigan's relationship with her mother, and when she began to stop taking her mother for granted. Here are a couple of quotes I just loved:

"The fact is, lately it seems like the only person who can lift the anvils that sit heaviest on me is my mother. It didn't happen all at once. Maybe it was inevitable, something that develops as daily life delivers its sucker punches, streaks of clarity, and slow-dawning wisdoms." (p. 8)

"The only mothers who never embarrass, harass, dismiss, discount, deceive, distort, neglect, baffle, appall, inhibit, incite, insult, or age poorly are dead mothers, perfectly contained in photographs, pressed into two dimensions like a golden autumn leaf." (p. 56)

Killer Librarian by Mary Lou Kirwin (2012)

A pretty adorable mystery novel despite the cheesy tagline on the cover: "When she checks in, someone always checks out."

Karen Nash is a librarian at a small-town Minnesota library who has dreamed of travelling to London her whole life. She planned a trip with her boyfriend and is all set to go when he breaks up with her. She decides to go anyway (spying him at the airport with a new, younger woman) and stays in a charming bed and breakfast. All goes well apart from a few murders here and there.

Great characters, charming setting, and a fascinating profession (librarian!) make this a lovely cozy mystery that hits all my favorite points: libraries, bookstores, London, pubs. Fun!

Lost Girls: An Unsolved American Murder Mystery by Robert Kolker (2013)

Perfectly marvelous true crime book about the unsolved murder of at least five women whose bodies were dumped on Long Island. Kolker does a beautiful job of giving us the full story on these women and their troubled lives that led to their becoming sex workers.

This book explores the semi-underground world of sex workers, the danger that they are so often in, and the heartrending stories of the family members who worked to keep their girls in the minds of the police officers who were investigating the crime (not always with much enthusiasm.)

Chilling and absorbing.

I See You Made an Effort by Annabelle Gurwitch (2014)

Subtitled: Compliments, Indignities and Survival Stories from the Edge of 50, this is a hilarious and poignant collection of essays about aging.

Gurwitch is not just funny, but a great comic craftsperson.  She doesn't go for the easy joke--she stays true to her story. I loved the mental affair she had with her Apple Genius, all the way down to the best position to have the most flattering sex (rock climbing wall for best gravity defiance, wrap dress for flattering and easy access). 

Struggling with cancer, being part of the sandwich generation, living in Los Angeles, and many more topics of interest to those of us who are feeling the effects of age are all covered in this collection.  If you like her sense of humor (and you should), check out this, check out her excellent Fired! Tales of the Canned, Canceled, Downsized, and Dismissed (2006).

Anything Goes by Ethan Mordden (2013)

Subtitled "A History of American Musical Theatre", this is a comprehensive and dense history of musical theater. It starts in 1728 and goes all the way up to fairly recent musicals. Mordden spends the majority of his time on the alleged (and Mordden scoffs at the term) "Golden Age" of musicals.

As someone who loves opera and operetta, it's fascinating to read the progression of musical theater over the years, from an offshoot of opera to its own entity.  I love Mordden's pointing out of the tropes of musical theater (the merry villagers intro, first and second couples), and the R&H Rules.

I also love that, above all, he is interested in what truly makes a musical integrated. Here's a quote that explains what, for me, makes a great musical (besides a great score, lyrics, etc.):

"This is what the American musical had been working up to for some one hundred years, and all its artistry dwells in the historian's key buzz term "integrated"; the union of story and score. Once a mere collection of songs and now a pride of fully developed numbers supported by incidental music, intros and development sections, and musical scenes mixed of speech and song, the score not only tells but probes the story, above all unveiling its characters."

YES.

Five, Six, Seven, Nate! by Tim Federle (2014)

In Tim Federle’s sequel to Better Nate Than Ever, theater geek Nate Foster begins rehearsals for E.T. the Musical…on Broadway! Nate struggles with finding his place in this new world (as Alien #7) with his usual quirky charm. 

The inside story of getting a show up and running is vividly depicted and includes tons of the same humor that made Federle’s first book such a treat.  Such as:

About Roscoe, the old stage manager: "(The other day, I overheard him saying he misses the old days, when the only children who appeared in musicals 'were in the background or dead by the second scene.')"  

And:

"'I need my sopranos down front and my altos just to the side of them.' Everything is 'my my my' on Broadway. There's a lot of territory disputes, like a junior high school cafeteria but with more glitter." 

Love, Nina: A Nanny Writes Home by Nina Stibbe (2014)

In the early 1980s, Nina Stibbe moved to London to work as a nanny to Mary-Kay (MK) Wilmers, deputy editor of the London Review of Books, and her two children with Stephen Frears, Sam and Will. 

Stibbe kept in touch with her sister Victoria back in Leicestershire through letters outlining the events of the household, reproducing hilarious (and eminently quotable) conversations with Sam, Will and MK as well as frequent household visitor Alan Bennett. 

 Along the way, Stibbe is persuaded to attend university and studies English (her observations on literature are a stitch). With an introduction by Nick Hornby, this charming epistolary novel is a treat for anyone who loves dry, British humor and gets a bit starstruck by London literary elite.

What I'd Say to the Martians: And Other Veiled Threats by Jack Handey (2008)

Oh man, I LOVE Jack Handey.

He is the perfect, miniaturist, humorist with perfect petite humorous essays. And I love the call-forwards to The Stench of Honolulu with Doctor Ponzari and his friend Don. 

I love Handey's crazy, crazy world. And his humor is like perfectly crafted little jewel boxes. And there's a gem on every danged page.

That's all there is to say.  

Pride and Pleasure by Sylvia Day (2011)

I recently read about a huge advance that Sylvia Day got for a recent book and decided I'd better check out her work.  Day is one of the authors who got very popular after the Fifty Shades of Grey phenomenon and her books were published with covers suspiciously similar in appearance.  (By the way, you should really read Brigid *Flying Kick-a-pow!*'s GIF-laden GoodReads review of Fifty Shades.  It's stinking hilarious.)

Back to the book.  And I have to tell you:

OOH, Sylvia Day writes a good romance. Pride and Pleasure is a Regency-set romance with a great plot, about a heiress who's been through six seasons and has no desire to marry.  However, (there's always a however) she's in danger by someone, so she hires Jasper Bond, thief-taker, to pose as her suitor and track down whoever is trying to scare her. Fabulous simmering of chemistry and tension, strong, likable characters, and of course, great dishy love scenes. Quite well done!

[I don't love that cover, though.  It makes the characters look inert and vapid--neither of which they (or the plot) are.]

Better Nate Than Ever by Tim Federle (2013)

"Imagine: pretzels sold on the street!  It's as if anything is possible.  Do they also sell hopes on the street?  Do they sell hugs and dreams and height-boosting vitamins?  Or hot dogs?  I bet you they do."

Straight from the children's section, this is a hilarious novel about 13-year-old Nate who runs away to New York City to audition for E.T. the Musical, with the help of his devoted friend and fellow musical theater lover Libby.  

Utterly endearing characters, fascinating backstage look at the world of auditioning for musical theater, surprisingly complex relationships and characters, and OH, so much love for musical theater and for New York City.  Followed up by Five, Six, Seven, Nate!, just as endearing and hilarious.  A few more words from Nate:

"And by the way, this isn't one of those things where I tell you that, in life, we're each both a little good and a little bad, all just trying our hardest.  That's kid's an a-hole, and I'm not.  Sometimes people are just a-holes, and you have to decide, every day, which kind of kid you are.  (Not to get all preachy on you.)"

Who Asked You? by Terry McMillan (2013)

I listened to the audiobook of McMillan's latest novel, and much like reading Stephen King, I was so pleased to be back in Terry McMillan's world again. I forgot how much I loved Waiting to Exhale and her other books.  I was disappointed by her sequel to Waiting to Exhale (so dark!), but this renewed my love for McMillan all over again.

Betty Jean has her hands full.  She has an ill husband, two opinionated sisters, a hard job, and challenging grown children.  Things just got even more complicated as her daughter has just flaked off and left her children in Betty Jean's care.  

The audiobook is read by Phylicia Rashad, Michael Boatman, Carole DeSantis, and the author and it's one of the best audiobooks I've ever listened to.  The novel is structured so that a variety of characters are narrating the action, and the narrators so perfectly embody the characters, I can hear them in my head right now. Rashad narrates all three sisters and she creates three separate characters so wonderfully that you never wonder who's telling the story, and you can practically see the characters.

I loved this book and I've never listened to an audiobook where I actually said (out loud in my car) things like: "WHAT?" or "Oh, Luther!" The whole book surprised, touched and delighted me. I often half listen to audiobooks but this had me fully engaged and invested. LOVED.

Good Boss, Bad Boss: How To Be the Best-- and Learn from the Worst by Robert I. Sutton (2010)

While waiting for Sutton's The No Asshole Rule, I picked up this one instead.  I read and started marking all the parts that really hit home.  When I found post-its sprouting on way too many pages, I realized that I would surely need to buy it. Which I did, for full price (almost) at Barnes & Noble, no less.

Sutton, whose No Asshole Rule is subtitled: Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One That Isn't has a great, humane view on management, and admits that there are no easy answers.  Sutton's stance is that management is a great balancing act, and he includes real-life stories and great advice to successfully balancing. Definitely a must for any manager's professional bookshelf. Too many good points to possibly include here!

The Girl You Left Behind by JoJo Moyes (2013)

Jojo Moyes has written some books that I very much enjoyed.  Windfallen, an unfortunately titled novel with a terrible cover, but nonetheless a lovely novel about a stately home and the family it belongs to, and Me Before You, about a girl who works for a young man who has been paralyzed.

This is a different feel from those, as it is set during WWI in France (at least in the beginning) and focuses on Sophie Lefevre, the wife of an artist (currently off fighting) and her struggles with the Germans who have occupied her town and one General's obsession with a portrait of her. The second half of the novel is about Liv Halston, who owns the painting now and is facing a challenge to return the painting to its "rightful" owner. A wonderfully unfolding story, with vivid characters and a truly suspenseful plot. Very enjoyable.

I do have to quibble with the cover art, though. It looks exactly like the art for Me Before You, which was a great success for Moyes, but this novel is so very different from that one, it seems like it should have a different cover.

White Girl Problems by Babe Walker (2012)

 Recommended by a co-worker, this looked fun.  And it was! I love when an author creates a character who is so self-unaware that you can't help but like them even though they're incredibly irritating.

Babe Walker ended up in rehab after spending $246,893.50 at Barney's, and is writing her memoir to explain how she got there. With chapters like "I hate my horse", "Sorry for texting you ninety-three times last night" and "I miss you, unless you miss me, in which case I'm over you and into me being me", this novel is incredibly hilarious and over-the-top and somehow even a little endearing.

Followed by the equally hilarious Psychos: A White Girl Problems Book.

Accidents Happen by Louise Millar (2013)

Once again, this is an absolute treasure hidden away in a seemingly innocuous, almost generic-looking trade paperback original. Like this book by Louise Millar, who also wrote The Playdate, which I also enjoyed.

Kate has had a lot of tragedy in her life: Her parents died tragically in a car accident, her husband was killed in a break-in, and she is obsessed with statistics and safety, and making her ten-year-old son very anxious as well, to the point that her in-laws are threatening to take him away. But we quickly and very creepily discover early on that her paranoia is not as unwarranted as it appears. 

Incredibly suspenseful, creepy and delightful, this page-turnerkeeps the suspense going all the way to the last page. Marvelous for fans of Gillian Flynn.  Fabulous.

Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend by Matthew Dicks (2012)

There are few things that I love more than having a fabulous book just fall in my lap.  I was checking in returns at work, and this one caught my eye, despite the rather common looking cover.  (Not to say it's not a nice cover, it's just that there are a lot of covers that look just like this one.)

This is a terrifically fun and touching novel narrated by Budo, imaginary friend to eight-year-old Max Delaney. Max is in school and is on the spectrum, and Budo is about his only friend.  When Max gets in trouble, it's up to Budo to figure out how to rescue him--with the help of a few other imaginary friends. 

Although it sounds a bit on the twee side, it's really not. It's charming, but poignant, and also incredibly suspenseful. The world of imaginary friends that Dicks has created is beautifully imagined and incredibly vivid--a lovely insight into the strange minds of kids. For example, Budo doesn't sleep, because Max never imagined him sleeping.  And when Budo gets lonely, he goes to the children's hospital, because he can always find imaginary friends there.  The descriptions of the other imaginary friends are so endearing, like one that is made of the paper on which kids draw outlines of themselves, and one that is little more than a spoon.  A lovely book.

Doctor Sleep by Stephen King (2013)

Sometimes you're just grateful to be back in the capable hands of a writer you really like. Even the little traits that can sometimes annoy you (like parenthetical comments in italics randomly interspersed in the text) don't bother you.

This sequel to The Shining was a fabulous sequel. I loved how beautifully it built on the original story, and fleshed out the shining in particular so well. I loved seeing Dick Halloran again, and Dan Torrance's struggles with alcoholism and work with AA was really well depicted. 

I love how Stephen King always has unexpectedly good people who are willing to help and fight the forces of evil, like Casey and Doctor John and Billy Freeman. I loved the character of Abra, and the realism of all the relationships. I absolutely the depiction of Dan's work as Doctor Sleep, when he comforted people who were close to death and helped them on their journey. Such a lovely way to use his gift. I just loved this book.

Strippers, Showgirls, and Sharks: A Very Opinionated History of the Broadway Musicals That Did Not Win the Tony Award by Peter Filichia (2013)

Absolutely delicious and opinionated book about (as the subtitle reads) the musicals that did not win the Tony.

Filichia discusses why or why not various musicals didn't win the Tony in chapters devoted to various reasons, from it being the wrong year, the wrong time, or just not quite good enough. 

I love how he sprinkles little allusions and musical comedy lyrics in his text (like saying something "just isn't a hummamumamummable melody") and I love the context that he provides on how many performances certain shows ran, the theaters that they transferred to, the reviews that they received, and so on. 

Very dishy and fun. I loved his analysis of shows like Passing Strange and Sister Act, and they were right on as to why I never wanted to see them. Quite good reading for the musical theater fan!

How to Be a Woman by Caitlin Moran (2011)

So utterly utterly utterly loved this book.

I saw this collection of essays by Moran in bookstores all over London and wanted to buy it then but suitcase space didn't permit. When it FINALLY came in for me at the library and I started reading it, I loved it instantly. 

So funny, so charming, so realistic, and she is so awesome on women's issues. I love her diatribes about reclaiming the term "strident" (not to mention feminist) and stopping waxing. Love her!!! Caitlin Moran is smart and funny and my new heroine.

Followed by the equally wonderful Moranthology, which for me was the perfect book at the perfect time. Returning from an awesome trip to NYC, I was consoled by coming home and reading this tremendously fun, funny and endearing collection of Moran's essays. Lighter than How to Be a Woman, but still fabulous. Essays about Sherlock, Downton, the Royal Wedding, poverty and being a woman--all amazing. LOVE her.

Wench by Dolen Perkins-Valdez (2010)

Wench is an utterly original and fascinating novel set before the Civil War at a resort in Ohio where white slaveholders brought their favored slave women on their vacations.  The women who spend their summers there struggle not only with their own lives, but with the prospect of freedom tantalizingly close at hand.

Perkins-Valdez provides an amazing look at a very specific part of the slave experience and provides insight into the bigger world of slavery. Unbelievably vivid and evocative of what life must have been like for these women--from losing their children to struggling with the decision of whether to try to escape. Memorable, touching characters and an amazing look at a very specific part of history.

666 Park Avenue by Gabrielle Pierce (2011)

I picked up this book at a charming used bookstore in Winona called Paperbacks and Pieces, and I picked it up purely for its fabulous design.  The cover is not only gorgeous, but has fabulous texture.  Even the edges of the pages and chapter design is really striking and original.

That said, I finally read it, and found it to be way more fun than it should be. Jane Boyle, architect living in Paris meets swoony and rich Malcolm Doran, has a whirlwind romance and goes to NYC to live with him and his rich and influential family on Park Avenue. Only problem is, she discovers that she's a witch, and they want her power. Pierce sets up her world and the mythology very well, and creates a very suspenseful story filled with very well-drawn supporting characters. 

Followed by two sequels: The Dark Glamour and The Lost Soul, both of which I enjoyed every bit as much as this one.  I finished The Dark Glamour and literally immediately picked up The Lost Soul, which is really saying something as I have a very short attention span for series.  Delightful.

Longbourn by Jo Baker (2013)

As I've mentioned before, I do love a good Jane Austen spinoff, take-off, adaptation or reference.  And occasionally, they are awfully good.

Quite a buzzy title this year, Longbourn follows the household staff of the families in Pride & Prejudice.  When I first heard about this, I thought it was going to be quite focused on another perspective on the Bennets and the Bingleys, but it turned out to be quite different.

Baker uses the setting as the springboard for a completely different story, one that really examines the inner lives and work of the household staff, and what having such a position in those times really meant.  As someone who loves a good supporting character, I loved the way the original story of Pride & Prejudice touches the servants only as it relates to their lives.

This is a beautifully researched novel, vividly realistic and a fresh take on a classic story.  Definitely one of the best of the Austen-inspired novels out there.

Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy by Helen Fielding (2013)

Reading this book was exactly like visiting an old friend.  Bridget is the same darn character we've seen through trials and tribulations and some awfully bad decisions, but she's awfully fun to hang out with.

It was also lovely to catch up with her hilarious friend Tom, note-perfect mess Daniel Cleaver, and her parents as well.  I did miss Shazzer like crazy, and thought there was a bit too much Jude. Very, very fun.

Yes, Chef by Marcus Samuelsson (2012)

Listened to this memoir on audio and loved, loved, loved it.

Marcus Samuelsson was adopted from Ethiopia (along with his sister) by a family in Sweden. He grew up with a grandmother who loved cooking and cooking for people and became a chef. This book chronicles his whole life, but especially his journey to becoming one of the top chefs in the world, working in Sweden and Europe before coming to New York City, where he was the Executive Chef at Aquavit and then opened his own restaurant Red Rooster in Harlem. 

Along the way, he also explores his own Ethiopian heritage, and getting in touch with his birth family. Just a beautifully told story, narrated by Samuelsson himself in his own charming accent. Wonderfully insightful into his journey as a black cook and the challenges and greatest moments. And he speaks so interestingly about race, how it affects his work in kitchens, and his experience coming to America as a black, but not African American, cook. Through the entire story, Samuelsson is always humble and always kind. 

Just a wonderful story, wonderfully told.

Mr. Lynch's Holiday by Catherine O'Flynn (2013)

Despite the fact that she's only written a few books, Catherine O'Flynn is one of those authors that I will request and read her books without reading a single word of the description.  (See also her amazing What Was Lost.)

This short novel is about Dermot Lynch, a widower who travels to a town in Spain where his son Eamonn has purchased a condo and emigrated with his wife.  As the novel begins, Eamonn's wife has just left him and he is unemployed when his father drops in for a visit from England.

Terribly poignant and just a lovely, lovely story of the complex relationship between an adult child and his father (and vice versa).  As always with O'Flynn you get a little something extra, and this time, it's a fascinating look at expatriate communities, not just the one Eamonn lives in Spain, but also his father's in England and so on. Just lovely.

Astor Place Vintage by Stephanie Lehmann (2013)

In my ever-enduring quest to point out the excellent novels hidden in plain sight on the racks of the many enticingly-covered trade paperbacks found on your local library shelves, I present Astor Place Vintage.

Amanda Rosenblum runs a vintage clothes shop in Manhattan and, during the course of accepting a consignment of clothing from an elderly woman, finds a journal written by Olive Westcott, a woman who moved to Manhattan in 1907.

It's a novel with much affection for New York and a very strong sense of place, both Old New York and new.  The chapters alternate between the two narrators very skillfully--often a tricky thing for writers to accomplish.  Rather than try to depict Olive's story completely through her journal, Lehmann includes a paragraph from Olive's diary, and then the chapter goes off into Olive's POV and narration. 

I was not enamored of Amanda's character, due to her enormously bad judgment in her personal affairs, but liked the novel very much anyway and found both stories equally compelling.  Well written and pretty well researched, it also includes some charming photos of old New York--very much a novel for anyone who loves New York City.