Which books are you happy to read for May bookclub?

Afghanistan: A Cultural and Political History by Thomas Barfield 2010 . History https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7718203-afghanistan Afghanistan traces the historic struggles and the changing nature of political authority in this volatile region of the world, from the Mughal Empire in the sixteenth century to the Taliban resurgence today. Thomas Barfield introduces readers to the bewildering diversity of tribal and ethnic groups in Afghanistan, explaining what unites them as Afghans despite the regional, cultural, and political differences that divide them.

This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone 2019 . Sci Fi and Romance https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43352954-this-is-how-you-lose-the-time-war Among the ashes of a dying world, an agent of the Commandant finds a letter. It reads: Burn before reading. Thus begins an unlikely correspondence between two rival agents hellbent on securing the best possible future for their warring factions. Now, what began as a taunt, a battlefield boast, grows into something more. Something epic. Something romantic. Something that could change the past and the future.

Giving an Account of Oneself by Judith Butler 2003 . Nonfiction (Philosophy) https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/171254.Giving_an_Account_of_Oneself In this invaluable book, by recasting ethics as a project in which being ethical means becoming critical of norms under which we are asked to act, but which we can never fully choose, Butler illuminates what it means for us as “fallible creatures” to create and share an ethics of vulnerability, humility, and ethical responsiveness.

The Man Who Was Thursday by G. K. Chesterton 1908 . Metaphysical/Farcical/Thriller/Dream https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/184419.The_Man_Who_Was_Thursday G. K. Chesterton's surreal masterpiece is a psychological thriller that centers on seven anarchists in turn-of-the-century London who call themselves by the names of the days of the week. Chesterton explores the meanings of their disguised identities in what is a fascinating mystery and, ultimately, a spellbinding allegory. As Jonathan Lethem remarks in his Introduction, The real characters are the ideas. Chesterton's nutty agenda is really quite simple: to expose moral relativism and parlor nihilism for the devils he believes them to be.

The Hearing Trumpet by Leonora Carrington 1917 . Fiction/fantasy/occult https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/46987.The_Hearing_Trumpet It tells the story of 92-year-old Marian Leatherby, who is given the gift of a hearing trumpet only to discover that her family has been plotting to have her committed to an institution. She finds that there are occult-like activities going on in and around the nursing home.

The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion 2005 . Non-fiction, memoir https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7815.The_Year_of_Magical_Thinking Joan Didion's 2005 memoir, The Year of Magical Thinking, chronicles the year following the sudden death of her husband, writer John Gregory Dunne. The book is a blend of raw emotion and precise prose, as Didion reflects on her grief, memories of their marriage, and the unpredictable nature of loss. She weaves in medical research and questions the nature of time and folly. Didion also deals with her adopted daughter Quintana's severe illness during this time.

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum 1900 . Fantasy https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/236093.The_Wonderful_Wizard_of_Oz Swept away from her home in Kansas by a tornado, Dorothy and her dog Toto find themselves stranded in the fantastical Land of Oz. As instructed by the Good Witch of the North and the Munchkins, Dorothy sets off on the yellow brick road to try and find her way to the Emerald City and the Wizard of Oz, who can help her get home. With her companions the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman and the Cowardly Lion, Dorothy experiences an adventure full of friendship, magic and danger. A much-loved children's classic, The Wizard of Oz continues to delight readers young and old with its enchanting tale of witches, flying monkeys and silver shoes.

Achilles in Vietnam by Jonathan Shay, MD 1994 . Psychology, War https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6069.Achilles_in_Vietnam Doctor Shay talks about the parallels between his Vietnam-era veterans that he cares for and the trials of the heroes of the Iliad. Beyond drawing comparisons between the experiences of different groups of men at war, it speaks about leadership and how people can fall apart when confronted with conflict.

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro 2005 . Sci-fi https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6334.Never_Let_Me_Go I don't want to spoil the novel but it's about kids growing up in a boarding school in the UK (🤮) - it follows them through graduation into college years and poses the question of whether it is kinder to withhold information to protect people from painful truths or if everyone deserves to know their fate no matter how harsh. Also touches on questions of humanity, what being "human" means, and if the sacrifice of "lesser" beings is justified to make life marginally better for "normal" people

Normal People by Sally Rooney 2018 . slice of life/romance/drama https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41057294-normal-people I am sad and I want others to be sad and this book will make people sad. Trigger warning: Ireland

The name of the rose by Umberto Eco 1980 . HIstorical Fiction https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/119073.The_Name_of_the_Rose A medieval version of Sherlock Holmes and Watson seek to solve a murder mystery in a monastery on top of a mountain.

The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan 1990 . Fantasy https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/228665.The_Eye_of_the_World "The Wheel of Time turns and Ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth returns again. What was, what will be, and what is, may yet fall under the Shadow. Moiraine Damodred arrives in Emond’s Field on a quest to find the one prophesized to stand against The Dark One, a malicious entity sowing the seeds of chaos and destruction. When a vicious band of half-men, half beasts invade the village seeking their master’s enemy, Moiraine persuades Rand al’Thor and his friends to leave their home and enter a larger unimaginable world filled with dangers waiting in the shadows and in the light."

Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. 1963 . Science Fiction https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/135479.Cat_s_Cradle "Dr Felix Hoenikker, one of the founding 'fathers' of the atomic bomb, has left a deadly legacy to the world. For he's the inventor of 'ice-nine', a lethal chemical capable of freezing the entire planet. The search for its whereabouts leads to Hoenikker's three ecentric children, to a crazed dictator in the Caribbean, to madness. Felix Hoenikker's Death Wish comes true when his last, fatal gift to humankind brings about the end, that for all of us, is nigh..."

The Chinese in America by Iris Chang 2003 . Non-fiction, narrative history https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/503633.The_Chinese_in_America In an epic story that spans 150 years and continues to the present day, Iris Chang tells of a people’s search for a better life—the determination of the Chinese to forge an identity and a destiny in a strange land and, often against great obstacles, to find success. She chronicles the many accomplishments in America of Chinese immigrants and their building the infrastructure of their adopted country, fighting racist and exclusionary laws and anti-Asian violence, contributing to major scientific and technological advances, expanding the literary canon, and influencing the way we think about racial and ethnic groups. Interweaving political, social, economic, and cultural history, as well as the stories of individuals, Chang offers a bracing view not only of what it means to be Chinese American, but also of what it is to be American.

Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said by Philip K Dick 1974 . psychology/dystopia https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7026738 Man without documentation is forced to forge documents just to avoid being sent to a Freedom Gulag, and this sets him on an adventure into the queer underground. Setting: America is a police state and all the communists and pacifists have been put into prison camps (i.e. fiction).

House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski 2000 . Fiction https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24800.House_of_Leaves A young family moves into a small home on Ash Tree Lane where they discover something is terribly wrong: their house is bigger on the inside than it is on the outside. Of course, neither Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist Will Navidson nor his companion Karen Green was prepared to face the consequences of that impossibility, until the day their two little children wandered off and their voices eerily began to return another story—of creature darkness, of an ever-growing abyss behind a closet door, and of that unholy growl which soon enough would tear through their walls and consume all their dreams.

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller 2011 . Historical fiction, romance https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13623848-the-song-of-achilles Helen of Sparta has been kidnapped, all the heroes of Greece are called upon to lay siege to Troy in her name. Seduced by the promise of a glorious destiny, Achilles joins their cause, and torn between love and fear for his friend, Patroclus follows. Little do they know that the cruel Fates will test them both as never before and demand a terrible sacrifice.

The Guns of August, by Barbara W. Tuchman, 1962. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/128755430-the-guns-of-august-by-barbara-w-tuchman "Historian and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Barbara Tuchman has brought to life again the people and events that led up to World War I. With attention to fascinating detail, and an intense knowledge of her subject and its characters, Ms. Tuchman reveals, for the first time, just how the war started, why, and how it could have been stopped but wasn't. "

Howl's Moving Castle, Diana Wynne Jones, 1986. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6294.Howl_s_Moving_Castle "Sophie has the great misfortune of being the eldest of three daughters, destined to fail miserably should she ever leave home to seek her fate. But when she unwittingly attracts the ire of the Witch of the Waste, Sophie finds herself under a horrid spell that transforms her into an old lady."

Promise Me, Dad By Joe Biden, 2017 https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35633343-promise-me-dad "Promise Me Dad is Joe's deeply moving memoir about the year that would forever change both a family and a country."

Which books are you happy to read for May bookclub?

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