August 2019 books read

• Fall, or Dodge in Hell – Neal Stephenson, 2019. I love most Stephenson, but this was a snore. The VR Paradise Lost is an interesting idea but dragged out way way too long, and the elevated diction was clumsy.
• The Liar’s Club – Mary Karr, 1995.
• The Big Thirst: The Secret Life and Turbulent Future of Water – Charles Fishman, 2011.
• The Grapes of Wrath – John Steinbeck, 1939
• Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha – Roddy Doyle, 1993. Irish Writers book group selection. Most of us got kind of tired of the 10-year old’s voice and found it a slog, but we had a great discussion. We wondered why it won the Booker! It re-pointed me to Oliver Goldsmith’s “The Deserted Village“: ” And still they gazed, and still the wonder grew / That one small head could carry all he knew,” and I looked up Clarnico Iced Caramels.
• Advice for Future Corpses (and Those Who Love Them): A Practical Perspective on Death and Dying – Sallie Tisdale, 2018. Wonderful and yes, very practical, if you’re ready to think about such things. A great companion to Being Mortal (Atul Gawande, 2014).
• Old in Art School: A Memoir of Starting Over – Nell Irvin Painter, 2018. Enthralling and thought-provoking. I identified in many ways, as I’m slowly working my way towards a second bachelor’s in CS.
• Estranged – Ethan M. Aldridge, 2018

Wow, no re-reads this month! Pretty unusual for me—but that’s one of the advantages of belonging to so many book groups, keeping me focused on new stuff (or purposeful re-reads, not just comfort reading).