“Observatory Mansions”

Tags

2000s, apartment, Books, debut, dilapidated, Edward Carey, English, Francis Orme, living statue, misfits, Observatory Mansions, woman behaves like dog

Observatory Mansions (Vintage, 2002)

In Observatory Mansions a group of misfits live in a dilapidated apartment complex. What kind of misfits? Francis Orme is a living statue who steals the possessions of others to add to his private museum. Or how about a woman who behaves like a dog. Observatory Mansions was English author Edward Carey’s debut.

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“The Heart of a Dog”

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banned, Bolshevism, Book, bureaucrat, communism, criminal, deceased, glands, implanted, Mikhail Bulgakov, Russian, satire, stray dog, The Heart of a Dog

The Heart of a Dog (Harcourt Brace, 1968)

Heart of a Dog was written by Russian author Mikhail Bulgakov and is a biting satire of Bolshevism at the height of NEP period, when it looked like communism was relaxing in the then Soviet Union. Its publication was initially prohibited in Russia (though it was passed around secretly) before being officially released in 1987. The plot of Heart of a Dog sees a stray dog becoming implanted with the glands of a deceased human criminal who ends up a bureaucrat.

Mr. Silly

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1970s, blue grass, Books, children's, Contest, green trees, Mr. Men, Mr. Silly, Nonsenseland, red trees, Roger Hargreaves

Mr. Silly (Fabbri, 1972)

Mr. Silly was the tenth book in the Mr. Men series by Roger Hargreaves. Mr. Silly lives in Nonsenseland where the trees are red and the grass is blue. All the animals do human activities and say the wrong sounds. Every year there is a contest for the silliest idea of the year. Mr. Silly wins by painting the trees green.

“Let’s Pretend This Never Happened”

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Books, Jenny Lawson, Let's Pretend This Never Happened, memoir, rural Texas, The Bloggess, upbringing

Let’s Pretend This Never Happened (Putnam, 2012)

Internet star Jenny Lawson, aka The Bloggess, wrote her debut (mostly true) memoir about the mortifying moments in our lives that end up being the ones to define us. In Let’s Pretend This Never Happened you can trace her hilarious journey through her upbringing in rural Texas, her devastatingly awkward high school years and her relationship with her long-suffering husband. As a bonus, there are a multitude of pictures with captions.

“The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian”

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all white high school, American Indian Youth Literature Award, banned book, Books, comic, Ellen Fornay, farm town, illustrated, Junior, National Book Award, personal experience, Sherman Alexie, Spokane Indian Reservation, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (Little, Brown and Company, 2007)

Author Sherman Alexie writes from his own personal experience when telling the story of teenage Junior who grew up on the Spokane Indian Reservation and left to attend an all-white high school in a farm town. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian won the 2007 National Book Award and the 2008 American Indian Youth Literature Award. It also contains art by Ellen Forney for the 65 comic illustrations that help to further the plot. However that didn’t stop the novel from ending up on banned book lists for objections to its strong language and racial slurs as well as topics of alcohol, poverty, bullying, violence and sexuality.

“The Bluest Eye”

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banned book, Books, debut novel, Great Depression, materials unsuitable for students, Pecola Breedlove, profanity, sexual references, The Bluest Eye, Toni Morrison

The Bluest Eye (Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1970)

In The Bluest Eye Pecola Breedlove is an African-American girl living in Ohio who is growing up in the years following the Great Depression who wishes for blue eyes. The Bluest Eye contains much profanity, sexual references and materials deemed unsuitable for students (including topics of racism, incest and child molestation) and has ended up on many banned book lists. It was author Toni Morrison’s first novel and initially did not sell very well.

Bubby’s Brunch Cookbook

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200 recipes, 2000s, Books, Bubby's Brunch Cookbook, cookbook, New York City restaurant, Ron Silver, special occasion

Bubby’s Brunch Cookbook (Ballantine, 2009)

Bubby’s is a popular New York City restaurant that has been in business for almost two decades. In the cookbook, Bubby’s owner and chef Ron Silver reveals the secrets behind his signature dishes and brunch staples. Almost 200 recipes (including drinks) are presented and have menus for special occasion brunches — such as New Year’s, Mother’s Day and more.

“The Dinner”

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2000s, Amsterdam restaurant, Books, Dutch, Herman Koch, international best seller, Paul Lohman, politician, security camera, Serge, sons, The Dinner, three film adaptations, violent crime

The Dinner (Anthos, 2009)

The Dinner was originally published in Dutch by Dutch author Herman Koch in 2009. It was translated into English and published in Great Britain in 2012 and the U.S. in 2013. It became an international best seller and has been adapted into three films (the most recent being in 2017 starring Richard Gere).

The dinner sees Paul Lohman, a former history teacher and his wife Claire meeting at a fancy Amsterdam restaurant with his elder brother Serge, a prominent politician and contender for the position of Dutch prime minister and his wife Babette. They are meeting to discuss how to handle a crime committed by their teenage sons, Michael and Rick. The two boys committed a violent crime that had been filmed by a security camera and broadcast on TV, but have yet to be identified. The dinner debate causes much tension throughout the evening.

“The Snowy Day”

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Books, Caldecott Medal, children, color barrier, Ezra Jack Keats, first winter snow, illustrated, Peter, The Snowy Day

The Snowy Day (Viking, 1962)

The Snowy Day won (white) American author and illustrator Ezra Jack Keats the 1963 Caldecott Medal for illustration. During his early career as an illustrator, he was dismayed that an African-American child was never the main character. (It was also one of the first books to break the color barrier.) When he began to write his own books, he changed that. The Snowy Day was Keats’ first book that he both wrote and illustrated. It tells the tale of Peter, a little boy who lives in the city and his delight in the first snow of winter.

“All the Light We Cannot See”

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All the Light We Cannot See, Andrew Carnegie Medal, Anthony Doerr, blind, Books, citadel, fixes radios, German troops, Marie Laure, orphan, Paris, Pulitzer, Werner, World War II

All the Light We Cannot See (Scribner, 2014)

In All the Light We Cannot See author American Anthony Doerr tells the story of Marie Laure, a young girl living in Paris who went blind at the age of 6. Set during World War II, when German troops come storming into Paris, Marie Laure and her father flee to the walled citadel/small town Saint Malo where she meets Werner, an orphan and a master at fixing radios. The novel demonstrates the ways that humans try to be good to be each other, despite the odds.

All the Light We Cannot See won the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the 2015 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction.