Tuesday, January 01, 2019

2018 in Books (Martha and Shirley)

Martha and Shirley:  Our ten favorite books of 2018.  Did they have to be published this year?  No, they could be from any year.  Did they have to be fiction?  No, they could be non-fiction.  They could be fiction.  They could be memoirs, graphic novels, anything.  Thus far, though, they did have to be published.  That's about the only rule.  Here are the ten the community selected.


1)  THE CHICKEN CHRONICLES  by Alice Walker.
 Ruth and Marcia both reviewed this lovely book.  Alice raises a group of chickens -- a flock? -- and writes about the experience.  This was the number one book.  Voting took place before the attacks on Alice (for what was on her reading shelf) and we're glad the voting took place before.  Alice had several books getting votes in the survey -- though only this one made the top ten.  Had the attack been known of before voting ended, we wouldn't be surprised to see the community show their support by making the whole top ten Alice.  With nothing to support but the writing itself, they still chose Alice for the number one book of the year.


2) THE INHERITANCE: POISONED FRUIT OF JFK'S ASSASSINATION.
Ruth praised this one and a lot of you agreed.  Who killed JFK?  Maybe it was LBJ argue Christopher Fulton and Michelle Fulton.  RFK comes off very good in the book but our democracy?  Not so much.


3) EXIT STAGE LEFT: THE SNAGGLEPUSS CHRONICLES.
Isaiah found the graphic novel everyone ended up loving -- an updating on Snaggle Puss by Mark Russell  and Mike Feehan.
 
4) MY LOVE STORY.
 I, TINA came out in 1986.  It told Tina Turner's journey.  In 2018, MY LOVE STORY continued to chart the journey.  Betty raved over the book and the community embraced it as well.



5) IN PIECES
Would the community have embraced this book, Sally Field's autobiography, if C.I. hadn't praised it?  Probably not.  Surveying those who made this their top ranked book (we utilize rank choice voting), we came across a recurring theme of 'I really didn't think I'd like this' and 'I didn't plan to read this.'  Sally Field, America really, really wants to like you again.  We're just exhausted by your partisan nonsense.  We get it.  You want to be political.  We wish you would do the work required to be political.  Instead, you're just partisan repeating talking points crafted by the DNC.  Hint to Sally, Big Politics is a lot like Big Business and only a fool embraces either.  But thanks for writing the book, it showed more insight than we could have guessed.

6)  Alice Isn't Dead.
 The highest ranked novel -- non-graphic novel -- is this science fiction book Marcia loved.  A woman loses her wife only to discover that she might not be dead.  Joseph Fink has written a page turner and a very good book.


7)  Forced Into Glory: Abraham Lincoln's White Dream.
Ann steered us to this book.  It's a rethinking and a history book we embraced.




8) YOU'RE ON AN AIRPLANE.
 Mike loved Parker Posey's autobiography and so did a lot of the rest of you.  Parker writes in a style that's as unique and humorous as some of her best performances.  Next up, we want her to write a book that focuses solely on the making of and impact of PARTY GIRL.


  
9) NATURAL CAUSES.
Rebecca highly enjoyed Barbara Ehrenreich's latest book which explores the difference between health and wellness and how a wealthy class of people yet again get the life boats while the rest of us are stuck on the Titanic.  Medicare For All remains the only fair position.



10) THE THIRD HOTEL.
What is it about betrayal, when written well, that resonates with so many of us?  Like ALICE ISN'T DEAD, THE THIRD HOTEL is about a woman who loses a spouse (this time a husband) only to discover that he may not be dead.  While ALICE is science fiction, THE THIRD HOTEL is a mystery.  Laura Van Den Berg's setting is Cuba which is as important a character as Clare, the woman looking for her husband in this book noir which Trina reviewed.



So those are your picks for the ten books that spoke to you the most this year.  Below, we'll note the book coverage at community sites this year.



"ALL THAT HEAVEN ALLOWS: A BIOGRAPHY OF ROCK HUDSON" -- Stan.
"EXIT STAGE LEFT: THE SNAGGLEPUSS CHRONICLES" -- Isaiah.
"Tina Turner's love story" -- Betty.
"Chris Hedges' AMERICA: THE FAREWELL TOUR bids adie..." -- C.I. 
"Leslie Bennetts writes about something but it's not Joan Rivers" -- Trina.
"Iraq snapshot" -- C.I. reviews Michelle Obama's BECOMING (pair it with Ava and C.I.'s "TV: The Selfie").
"THE INHERITANCE: POISONED FRUIT OF JFK'S ASSASSINATION" -- Ruth.
"The Women’s Suffrage Movement is an awful (and rac..." and "Penguin's embarrassing and racist book on feminism" -- Ann and Elaine.

"Alice Isn't Dead" -- Marcia.


"I NEVER LOVED A MAN THE WAY I LOVE YOU: ARETHA FRANKLIN, RESPECT, AND 
THE MAKING OF A SOUL MUSIC MASTERPIECE" -- Elaine.


"WHEN BLANCHE MET BRANDO" -- Betty.


"When a book no longer pleases" -- Betty.


"I HATE EVERYONE . . . STARTING WITH ME (Jess)" -- Jess.


"Parker Posey's YOU'RE ON AN AIRPLANE" -- Mike.


"Sally Field IN PIECES" -- C.I. 


"Neil deGrasse Tyson and his superficial book" -- Betty.


"Alice Walker's The Chicken Chronicles" -- Marcia.


"The really bad book The Bridge" -- Ann.

"The Third Hotel by Laura Van Den Berg" -- Trina. 


"T.J. Berry's Space Unicorn Blues" -- Marcia.  


"HELLO GORGEOUS by William Mann" -- Stan.


"CLEOPATRA: HISTORIES, DREAMS AND DISTORTIONS" -- Mike.


"Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M.: Audrey Hepburn, Breakfast at Tiffany's and the Dawn of the Modern Woman Paperback" -- Ann.


"No one Peter Bogdanovich knows is ever gay" -- Marcia.


"Seymour Hersh meanders throughout REPORTER: A MEMOIR" -- C.I. 


"Dusty (by Karen Bartlett)" -- Marcia.


"Media critiques -- Nora Ephron's SCRIBBLE SCRABBLE" -- Mike.


"Judy Garland (the biographies)" -- Kat.


"JEAN HARLOW: TARNISHED ANGEL" -- Betty.  


"UNCOMMON TYPES: Let's kill whomever taught Tom Hanks to type" -- Elaine.


"THE YELLOW WALLPAPER" -- Marcia.


"Anne Sexton: THE COMPLETE POEMS" -- C.I.


"Charlotte Chandler's MARLENE" -- Elaine.


"A sexist woman writes She's a Rebel and distorts music history" -- Ann.


"barbara ehrenreich's 'natural causes'" -- Rebecca. 


"Weight Watchers New Complete Cookbook" -- Trina.


"IN SEARCH OF OUR MOTHERS' GARDENS" -- Elaine.


"Blackfish City" -- Marcia.



"THE CHICKEN CHRONICLES by Alice Walker" -- Ruth.



"Harry Belafonte" -- Mike.



"THE SAME RIVER TWICE (Alice Walker)" -- Isaiah.





"Dancing with Demons: The Authorized Biography of Dusty Springfield" -- Marcia.


"Good for Jimmy Stewart, bad for readers" -- Stan.

"Conversations with Toni Morrison" -- Marcia.

"Forced Into Glory: Abraham Lincoln's White Dream" -- Ann.


"He Ran All The Way" -- Trina.


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Martha and  Shirley have also done the year in books for 2017, 201620152014201320122011, 20102009, 2008, 2007, 2006 and 2005.