lalbro will read again ... in 2017!

I miss reading. 2016 turned out to be the year with much dabbling in books, but many too few completions. We traveled more than we typically do - and I did a deep dive back into photography - a glimpse of which are here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/134164461@N02/ - and, well, parenting 3 not-quite-adult children has proven to be much more all-consuming than I thought it would be. The next 3 months will continue to be filled with stress (college applications and auditions and what not), but I am sure that my time for reading will increase exponentially this year. So I'm baaack!!

On the initial 2017 TBR list:

Between The World and Me
Another Brooklyn: A Novel
Books for Living
Commonwealth
Coming Apart: The State of White America
Mislaid
The Underground Railroad
The Confessions of Nat Turner
The Dream Life of Astronauts: Stories
A Field Guide to Getting Lost
The Gene: An Intimate History
Grief is the Thing with Feathers: A Novel
The Hidden Life of Trees
Hillbilly Elegy
A History of Pictures
Hope in the Dark
I Contain Multitudes
In the Darkroom
Known and Strange Things
LaRose: A Novel
Madam Secretary
Moonglow: A Novel
Nutshell: A Novel
Vinegar Girl
Slouching Towards Bethlehem
Spill Simmer Falter Wither
How to Read Literature Like a Professor

Moving the fish along in 2017

JANUARY

1. When Breath Becomes Air - COMPLETED 1/2/17
2. The Lotus Eaters - COMPLETED 1/7/17
3. The Clothing of Books - COMPLETED 1/8/17
4. Cry, Heart, But Never Break - COMPLETED 1/14/17
5. The Joy of Leaving Your Sh*t All Over the Place - COMPLETED 1/14/17
6. Mislaid - COMPLETED 1/16/17
7. A Field Guide to Getting Lost - COMPLETED 1/23/17
8. Grief is the Thing with Feathers: A Novel - COMPLETED 1/27/17

FEBRUARY

9. Books for Living - COMPLETED 2/3/17
10. The Dream Life of Astronauts: Stories - COMPLETED 2/12/17
11. Night - COMPLETED 2/18/17

MARCH

12. Thunderstruck - Currently listening
13. I Contain Multitudes - Currently reading
14. Walking - Currently reading
15. Spill Simmer Falter Wither - COMPLETED
16. Hillbilly Elegy - COMPLETED 3/31/17
17. Today Will Be Different - COMPLETED 3/30/17

NO IDEA WHEN I FINISHED THEM :)!

18. The Silver Music Box
19. A Beautiful Poison
20. Birds, Art, Life: A Year of Observation
21. Family in the picture, 1958-2013

Hillbilly Elegy is also on my TBR for this year.

I am looking forward to reading it --and to hearing your thoughts on it as well!

Good to see you back for 2017, Liz.

Hi Liz, I hope to read The Gene: An Intimate History too in 2017

Nice to see you back, Liz! I really loved Another Brooklyn and Nutshell - I hope you do, too. And we share a few TBRs for the year ahead, including Hillbilly Elegy, The Underground Railroad, and Commonwealth. I look forward to following your thread!

>9 katiekrug: So glad we'll have some shared reads this year! My husband has been telling me for months that I must read The Underground Railroad, so I'll probably read that early on, but I am excited to "talk" with you about the other two. And, thrilled to hear that you loved Another Brooklyn and Nutshell. I'm off to drop a star on your thread.

>8 FAMeulstee: I loved Emperor of Maladies and am really looking forward to The Gene: An Intimate History - it would be awesome if we could read it at the same time. Now I'm off to find your thread!

Welcome back!

I am part of the group.
I love being part of the group.
I love the friendships bestowed upon my by dint of my membership of this wonderful fellowship.
I love that race and creed and gender and age and sexuality and nationality make absolutely no difference to our being a valued member of the group.

Thank you for also being part of the group.

Dropping my star since I'm wanting to read several of your prospects. I've already read a couple.

I see several books on your list that I hope to get to this year as well -The Underground Railroad, Hillbilly Elegy, The Confessions of Nat Turner, Commonwealth, The Gene: An Intimate History. I read Vinegar Girl last spring and enjoyed it quite a lot.

>15 thornton37814: Thanks for dropping a star - I am looking forward to sharing some reads!

>16 cbl_tn: Yeah! The best part of this group is reading together. I am really excited about Vinegar Girl - we saw Taming of the Shrew (with an all-male cast) and Kiss Me, Kate last year and I can't wait to read Anne Tyler's interpretation of the story.

Hello, Liz, I'm Mamie, and I have not been to your thread before. I like your list of possibilities for 2017. I read The Lotus Eaters years ago, and I really loved it. Might be time for a reread. Looking forward to following your reading in 2017. LOVE your topper!

>17 lalbro: Vinegar Girl was one of my top 20 reads last year. I gave it 4 stars. Hope you love it!

Hi Liz! I love the pic at the top of your thread and the ones in your Flicker. I'm a huge fan of lighthouses, and some of your close-up shots really caught my eye as well. You've got some great reading planned for 2017!

>18 Crazymamie: I am really enjoying The Lotus Eaters - I will never be a war photographer but I do love reading about it - oh, and the relationships part of the narrative is great too :)!

>19 thornton37814: I can't wait for Vinegar Girl - it's on my request list at the library.

>20 porch_reader: Thanks, Amy - I am really enjoying having time to play with my camera. Many of the lighthouse pictures are a result of one of my kids' obsessions with lighthouses - so wherever we travel, if there are lighthouses, we are there. I'm excited about my TBR list - it's been so fun reading everyone's threads - and seeing so many shared books.

1. When Breath Becomes Air - COMPLETED 1/2/17



My husband thinks I'm nuts, but I find myself drawn to first- or second-person narratives about death and dying. Especially in January (I love the NYTimes Magazine "The Lives They Lived"). These narratives help me reflect on life, and never fail to move me. Like The Year of Magical Thinking and A Widow's Story: A Memoir - two touchstones for me in thinking about death and the life that comes after - I found this book compelling. I was particularly struck by the structure of the book - and how effectively it served to tell this most sad/elegiac/inspiring story. I only hope that when I reach the moment in my life where I must confront the end, that I will be as reflective.

My favorite picture from today's snow walk

>23 lalbro: Adorable, a smiling trunk :-)

Happy Sunday, Liz! Thanks so much for posting that photo over on my thread - made me smile big!

>23 lalbro: >24 FAMeulstee: So happy to bring a smile to you both!

2. The Lotus Eaters



A tale of being a female war photographer in Vietnam and of two relationships that shape who she is and how her life evolves. I found myself staying up late at night so that I could find out what was going to happen next - but at the same time finding myself purposefully stopping at the conclusion of a chapter so that the raw emotions of the chapter could sink in. I am not entirely sure about the ending - I must admit that it didn't end in the way I thought it would - but that is part of why I couldn't put it down - I just had to know what happened. Definitely glad to have read it - and am absolutely sure that I could never be a war photographer!

Nice review! Sounds like a good read.

Nice review, Liz. I really loved that one - I was slightly disappointed in the ending, as you say, it doesn't take you where you think it will go. But such lovely, thoughtful writing.

>28 drneutron: >29 Crazymamie: Thanks, Jim and Mamie! Writing reviews is new to me - I'm usually just a consumer of books, and not so good at discussing them. But LT has inspired me to try to capture my reactions in written form. And, Mamie, I really did enjoy her writing.

3. The Clothing of Books



Reading a lecture for a 75 book challenge feels a bit like cheating to me. And yet, it provides the opportunity to linger on a turn of phrase, to ponder, to look back, and to which that you could have heard the written word spoken by the author. The focus of this lecture, on making choices (or having choices made for you) about book covers speaks volumes to me. I must admit to making many choices of books based on what is outside, as well as what is inside. Especially when multiple versions of a book are present to choose from. Size, weight, color, and the choice of image are critical. I loved hearing the author's point of view on this, and being asked to reflect on what motivates me to choose one book (or one edition) over another.

So interesting, Liz. I have purchased books just for their cover, and I have searched out other editions of books to get a different cover than what is available in the US. Thinking I need to track down that lecture - Lahiri always has something relevant to say, and I like how much thought she puts into things.

Happy Sunday to you - hoping that it is full of fabulous.