Neil G isn’t done with you yet. Short read but magical.https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15783514-the-ocean-at-the-end-of-the-lane

>Nobody does

Sure they do-lots of people who aren't avid readers but love a series get drawn in and buy the book, even if they never read it. It's a marketing tactic that wouldn't have carried on for years if it didn't prove profitable.

I don't like those covers, and especially hate when a book cover gets changed to the actors that are in the movie or TV show.

My mother is from WV and while I knew the conditions described in this book would shock others, they didn’t surprise me at all. If you are from Appalachia through to southern Ohio, you’ll get it.

If you want to know the why, that is more complex. Appalachia very much has its own (misunderstood) culture. Controversial as it is, “Hillbilly Elegy” (book, not movie) may help break down some of the “why” but it’s not applicable to everyone. WV is critically impoverished but no one cares, particularly not Joe Manchin.

It’s okay that the author grew to be able to accept her parents had mental illness, lack of education, lack of compassion, lack of resources that informed their ability to parent.

My thoughts about it become disjointed because I’m so passionate about the area and the culture and it’s affects on future generations.

A bit off-topic, but once an author wins a prestigious award, all their books will highlight this on the cover.

So it looks like every book won that award.

Nobody does. Seems like a waste of money to make those beautiful covers, only to ruin them with those stickers.

Just hoping that the movie/show ones go away after enough time has passed.

I think my issue was the quality dropoff. I quit reading them around book 10 or so? The last book I read was like half a book, and I remember seeing a subsequent book on the shelf with two typos...on the back cover. Whoever is running Baen since Jim Baen died is barely even phoning it in.

Maybe of interest to you then: I also enjoyed reading the letters exchanged between the writer Ingeborg Bachmann and her great love, the poet Celan.

I completely agree with this. I don’t think that the term homophobic really fits because there are plenty of people who don’t fear or hate gay people but are part of a religion where it’s viewed as sinful, therefore they don’t want to be associated as gay. Both straight and gay people do this where any form of affection beyond what is considered “standard” in today’s western modern world can be looked at or perceived as gay or someone being in the closet and too afraid to say anything. I’ve definitely heard this sentiment from people across the sexuality spectrum and it’s sad. If people just minded their business and weren’t so quick to judge simple affection, I don’t think it would be as stigmatized

See paragraph 3. Yeah Haven has some good guys, Manticore has some bad guys, but when the chips are down these characters are either textually "good" or textually "bad" regardless of what side they are on. At least if they are alive. There are no (for example) Tyrion Lannisters, no Mabs. There are np guys that are on their own side. They all fit neatly into one of four boxes Manticore Good, Manticore Bad, Haven Good, Haven Bad. They aren't allowed their own motivations, or if they are they fit in the bad category because they aren't patriots. That's what leads to them feeling flat. Manticore good is ride or die Manticore. Manticore Bad is "this is what will best fit my personal political ambitions and screw Manticore for the long term." There isn't any nuance between them.

I was just going to say that, and no, it’s not pedantic. I think it helps to get the centuries straight when reading.

I do not like them or the book club stickers, etc.

i am so sorry!

I would push back just a bit at the notion that his good guys are simply Good and his bad guys are simply Bad.

Not All Havenites.

There are also conflicted characters, some whose motivations are colored by their own ignorance or they are victims of propaganda or circumstances beyond their control.

Also have you read any of L.E. Modesitt Jr.'s Ecolitan stuff? ...always wished he'd gone back there like he did with Recluse or Lydiar (Imager).

Thank you, both of these sound right up my alley.

I loved both of these books. Such great writing. Makes me very happy of how I grew up despite thinking my life was crap.

If you are in for a long haul, A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara may appeal. Otherwise, Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart sounds like a good fit.

Maybe a joke that he "Never could get the hang of Thursdays" unless that's too insensitive for people.

Yeah, you would probably appreciate the Three Body Problem trilogy by Cixin Liu.

Because that would take effort (and potentially failure at the attempt which would then lead the kids to question the abilities he boasts about). He probably could’ve done it but steps aren’t as grandiose as a glass castle (and nothing to brag about).

Our book club read Glass Castle when it first came out and loved it. It lead to great discussion. I have a friend whose parents were abusive (SA and VA) but, to this day, she still speaks of them in a positive way and tries to care for them in their old age. Kids want to be loved and some compartmentalize the abuse and grasp onto the slivers of attention and love they might receive. It breaks my heart. I thought the Glass Castle author did an amazing job at writing about her family and the dynamics. She shows a lot of grace. There were times I felt some pity for her parents, knowing how they probably grew up but, still made me angry for those children. “Education” on the other hand had me mad the whole time at the parents.

Along these same lines, I highly recommend the movie “Winter’s Bone” - set in the Appalachias, it is a story about a girl’s struggles in the poverty and drugs and dynamics of that area. Definitely worth watching.

Men used to share a bed unflinchingly. Travelers would end up in a bed in an inn with a random other person if they were not wealthy, or share it with a friend if they were well off (the writer Goethe frequently mentions doing this on his travels).

Of course, Moby Dick begins with Ishmael sharing a bed with Queequeg.

I’ve even heard her touted affectionately as “CoHoo”

My father's passing was unexpected - so when I spoke, I used this, which I thought captured the impossibility of understanding something so senseless. It may not apply here, depending on circumstances:

"There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened." (from The Restaurant at the End of the Universe)

Others that are potentially useful:

"He hoped and prayed that there wasn’t an afterlife. Then he realized there was a contradiction involved here and merely hoped that there wasn’t an afterlife." (from Life, the Universe, and Everything)

"The quality of any advice anybody has to offer has to be judged against the quality of life they actually lead.” (from Mostly Harmless)

Whatever you go with, you're awesome and I'm sure your dad knew it.

You might enjoy the Crave series by Tracy Wolff. I actually picked up the first book because it gave me huge Twilight vibes & Im a sucker for silly Twilight knockoffs. It borrows from a lot of different YA series.

I consider it a "so bad its good series". The books are way too long though so youd have to set aside a good chunk of time for them.

Oh yeah, this one absolutely. It‘s pure Douglas Adams. My favorite quote from it (with the context that a dozen porters carried a magazine collection or similar to Kilimanjaro):

„I believe in traveling light - but then, I also believe in giving up smoking and shopping early for Christmas“.

Ok