I intend to discuss books on this list
https://sites.google.com/site/kirbyvariety/some-good-books-fall-2017-1
I won't be surprised if someone asks which is my favorite or even what is my favorite book, period. I always slide away from answering. It's like saying what is my favorite food. There are foods I like and foods I am not that crazy about but a favorite? Nah - too much depends on the weather, my mood, what I have just eaten, when I last had what is on offer.
I read to Lynn aloud just about every night. I began more than 50 years ago because one of the novels of Peter DeVries was so funny, I wanted to be right there when she heard some of the lines. I wanted to see if she laughed at what I did and to hear her laugh.
The most recent book read aloud was "Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine" by Gail Honeyman. Before that, we finished "LaRose" by Louise Erdrich. Both are moving, memorable stories. We don't always read fiction although it is often warmer and more colorful than non-fiction, of course. We did read "Sapiens" by Harari, a very worthwhile book and a surprisingly upbeat look at the history of man and our likely future.
A favorite? Among classics, I might mention "The Scarlet Letter" and "Silas Marner." I read both in high school, back in the early days of my life. I admit to a prejudice against famous classics. Some are great and all are important but for fun and for knowledge, give me a recent good one. I am not big on bodice rippers or hot-blooded sex. I prefer to rip my own bodices and have real hot blood. Some mysteries are good. We have read a couple of Tana French, a couple of Louise Penny and several Victoria Huston (she writes about a town in the north of Wisconsin).
There is an important difference between A favorite and THE favorite. A favorite, or more simply, a recommended read is one that I suspect you might like. I thought "The Time Traveler's Wife" was excellent but normally I don't read supernatural or fantasy so I couldn't recommend in those areas. I don't read much Young Adult but I did read and enjoy "Unschooled."
An all-around favorite I often fall back on in recommendations is "Big Trouble" by Dave Barry, which may be the funniest book I know.
