Reflections From The Bell Curve: Reading Re-Cap: 2024
Those of you who read the post above a week ago can't say you weren't warned. With the number of books finished during this extended time away from home rapidly approaching a monthly record, it was more than predictive that - before 2024 was over - I might still stumble across at least one solid novel worth recommending to people I've heard describe themselves as casual readers.
"The women were talking about people, the men talking about things. It was why so many of the men prospered on Wall Street and in the big law firms, where things could be turned into money and people were interchangeable and even insignificant, and there were hardly any women running the show."
Alternate Side (2018) is engaging and smart end-to-end. Anchored by Anna Quindlen's sturdy prose, well-etched characters, and storytelling skill, the book is filled with sharp insights touching on money, marriage, and messy New York City life. Not since finishing Amor Towles's debut novel Rules of Civility in 2011 have I read a novel that consistently captures NYC as well as Quindlen does here.
"...some of their marriages were like balloons: a few went suddenly pop, but more often than not the air slowly leaked out until it was a sad wrinkled little thing with no lift to it anymore."
In addition, unlike some family novels, the emotional ending in this one struck me as both well-earned and authentic. "People go through life thinking they're making decisions when they're really just making plans, which is not the same thing at all." Put this on your list, casual or discerning readers.
p.s. I'll let you decide if you want to read my Goodreads review (link below) to learn of one quibble I have with the editing of Alternate Side. That quibble aside, let me be clear: I adore Anna Quindlen.
Edit Review - Alternate Side | Goodreads
Hey Pat .. This will be my last comment for 2024. And for no other reason than it's December 31 and a little after 4, so ...
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I have definitely read more in 2024 than the years before. I enjoy reading and hope to be able to do more in 2025 than this year. And I may have to read your GoodReads reviews, although you have provided a number of suggestions via earlier Blog Posts that my shelves, and reading lists, are now large enough.
And while I don't have anything to add to what you've referenced above, I do appreciate the suggestions.
Finally ... Happy New Year to you and Kim, and to your family. Be well, Be Happy, Be Healthy. See you soon ... Hopefully in an Advanced Beginners Guitar Class somewhere :o)
Bob
Bob; Thank for consistently commenting through all of 2024. Sorry about that long list of books that my blog has helped to expand. And I only write about the ones I really like. Imagine how unmanageable things could get if I wrote about the "just OK" ones! Hope to see you in a class (guitar or otherwise) in 2025. Your unwavering support means a great deal to me; really.
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