The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession, written by Michael Finkel, narrated by Eduardo Ballerini, and author's note narrated by Michael Finkel
This is a fascinating look at a crime that was committed not for any sort of financial gain, but for a personal appreciation of the art itself. The thief was a French man, just a few years older than me, who lived rent-free with his girlfriend in his mom's home during the time of his crimes. The scale of theft - quantity of pieces stolen, monetary value of items stolen, number of countries involved, and years spent stealing, as well as the very casual approach to the task, is impressive in that you wonder how the subject wasn't caught much sooner. Mentioned in a Modern Mrs Darcy post, What I've been reading lately: the new and the notable, I was intrigued by the premise of this book and really enjoyed the audio version.
The Best Minds: A Story of Friendship, Madness, and the Tragedy of Good Intentions, written and narrated by Jonathan Rosen
The author's closest childhood friend, Michael Laudor, someone he competed with academically, but whose brilliance surpassed his own, made the headlines twice. The first time was because he'd made it to Yale Law School after his schizophrenia had landed him a long stint in a psychiatric hospital. The second time was because, after signing contracts for a memoir and a star-studded movie about his life, he murdered his girlfriend in the midst of ongoing delusions. This book looks not only at Laudor's personal, academic, and professional life, but also at mental illness in general and how America's treated it in both healthcare and the courtroom. A friend recommended this book to me and I enjoyed it. It obviously addresses very serious things, but does so in a way that's compassionate and respectful.
The Comfort Book, written by Matt Haig
After reading several books with serious themes, I needed something light. While this book talks a lot about what's hard in life, it does so from the lens of finding comfort. More importantly, the structure is anywhere from one sentence on a page to a chapter no more than a few pages long (and they're small pages). That format was just what I needed. I don't agree with all of Haig's perspectives, but I appreciate his gentle, compassionate tone toward the reader and transparency in talking about his own mental health struggles.
p. 22, In order to get over a problem it helps to look at it. You can't climb a mountain that you pretend isn't there.
p. 23, Depression lies. And while the feelings themselves were real, the things they led me to believe were resolutely not.
p. 60, No is a good word. It keeps you sane. In an age of overload, no is really yes. It is yes to having the space you need to live.
p. 74, No physical appearance is worth not eating pasta for.
p. 140, Virtue isn't something we gain simply by pointing to bad things outside ourselves and making ourselves feel good by contrast. True virtue is something we achieve by looking inward, to our own motives and flaws and cravings, and addressing those sticky and difficult and contradictory parts of ourselves.
p. 169. Much of gossip is envy in disguise. Much of self-doubt is conformity in disguise.
p. 208, If we look at people through the lens of emotion, at the feelings that drive opinions, rather than the opinions themselves, it's easy to see the things we share. The hopes, the fears, the loves, the insecurities, the longings, the doubts, the dreams.
p. 226, We exist on a spinning coin. We cannot predict how it will land but we can enjoy the shine as it spins.
p. 235, And when you really analyze fear you realize, first, that it is only a natural part of us. And second, that it is the sister of hope. Because both are born from the uncertain fabric of life.
58:57 (Ricardo T. Thornton Sr), "What I've seen is that when people are given a chance to grow and contribute, they grow and contribute."
The End of Your Life Book Club, written by Will Schwalbe
This book, which I read about on 20 books by authors who have appeared on What Should I Read Next, is a memoir about time the author and his mom spent talking about books during her treatment for pancreatic cancer. While it's certainly about the specific books they read together, it's more about the conversations about life, both in general and their own, that the books generated. It's also a testament to the meaningful life his mom was intentional about living. Given the title, there's nothing shocking about how the book ends, but I cried anyway.
p. 41, Mom had always taught all of us to examine decisions by reversibility - that is, to hedge our bets. When you couldn't decide between two things, she suggested you choose the one that allowed you to change course if necessary. Not the road less traveled but the road with the exit ramp.
p. 58, "That's one of the things books do. They help us talk. But they also give us something we all can talk about when we don't want to talk about ourselves."
p. 68, Mom was always a little amazed at parents who thought their kids should be reading more but who never read themselves.
p. 110, "And I'm also talking about kindness, not just about being nice. You can be gruff or abrupt and still be kind. Kindness has much more to do with what you do than how you do it."
p. 110, "When I think back on all the refugee camps I visited, all over the world, the people always asked for the same thing: books. Sometimes even before medicine or shelter - they wanted books for their children."
p. 145, "The thing about Americans," she said, "is that you're very concerned about everything all the time."
p. 151, "Still, it's important to read about cruelty."
"Why is it important?"
"Because when you read about it, it's easier to recognize. < snip > You need to learn to recognize these things right from the start. Evil almost always starts with small cruelties."
p. 180, What's odd about commencement is that so many people think of it as the end of something, the end of high school or college - but that's not what the word means at all. It means the beginning, the start of something new.
p. 211, What I suddenly understood was that a thank-you note isn't the price you pay for receiving a gift, as so many children think it is, a kind of minimum tribute or toll, but an opportunity to count your blessings. And gratitude isn't what you give in exchange for something; it's what you feel when you are blessed - blessed to have family and friends who care about you, and who want to see you happy.
p. 256, Then Mom added, with a smile, "And there's something you can always tell people who want to learn more about the world and who don't know how to find a cause to support. You can always tell them to read."
p. 326, She never wavered in her conviction that books are the most powerful tool in the human arsenal, that reading all kinds of books, in whatever format you choose - electronic (even though that wasn't for her) or printed, or audio - is the grandest entertainment, and also is how you take part in the human conversation.
A Fever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan's Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them, written and narrated by Timothy Egan
This book is an informative and phenomenally disturbing look at hatred promoted as love of country and dedication to religious beliefs. It's about hypocrisy, manipulation, excusing bad behavior, confirmation bias, and the abuse of both power and people by a charismatic leader; but also about bravery, integrity, and truth eventually triumphing over lies. I didn't make note of how this book got on my TBR, but it's been there for over a year and I'm glad I read it. Heads up that there are descriptions of physical and sexual assault in the book.
How to Stay Married: The Most Insane Love Story Ever Told, written by Harrison Scott Key
A friend mentioned this book in June 2023 and it sounded interesting. I've heard good things about it ever since, so I finally checked it out. The author found out in 2017 that his wife had been having a long-term affair with a family friend. This book is the story of their relationship, how she ended up falling in love with someone other than her husband, and what they both learned through the heartbreak that ensued. Infidelity is obviously a serious issue and this book shows firsthand the ripple effect of damage that betrayal causes. However, the author is hilarious and I laughed from cover to cover. I chose the print version, but the audio version is narrated by the author and his wife (she wrote one chapter), which means it would probably be a good way to consume the book.
p. 67, I think most divorces are merely a failure of imagination: you lose the capacity to conceive of a happy future. The two of you are like a wet pair of matches, hardly able to get the fire back. Why keep trying? The world is full of dry matches. All you need is a new one.
p. 113, Love is never a bad call. It might seem impossible. It might even seem silly when every atom in your body screams for blood. But how else, other than with love, can a broken thing be made whole again?
p. 133, Nobody told me fighting for my marriage would be less a fight than a kneeling in humiliation at the feet of the enemy.
p. 138, Our greatest enemy was us: we were the people who had killed our marriage, and we, with the help of beings both divine and mortal, would have to be the people to make it live again.
p. 266, Rebuilding broken trust is a little like rebuilding someone's face after a disfiguring chain-saw accident. It can be done, but it'll look different for a while, maybe forever, until one day it looks mostly normal, or you stop noticing the scars, or caring much when you do.
p. 293, One of your greatest misconceptions, the one you must jettison as soon as it is convenient to you, is that you're easy to live with. You're not. You are a monster. Marriage reveals this to you, though you'd prefer to blame your partner, your parents, SCOTUS. Their monstrousness is so much easier to see.
p. 297, That is marriage, in the end: two of you, being you, warring against the worst parts of you, making space for the best to grow, and learning to see that some parts of your spouse are not your favorite, and letting those parts be anyway. Hating those parts is no grounds for divorce. The only thing worth divorcing, in most cases, is the hatred itself, and your inborn desire to shape the world to your will like some kind of Marvel villain.
Kabul Beauty School: An American Woman Goes Behind the Veil, written by Deborah Rodriguez and narrated by Bernadette Dunn
I enjoyed this book, one chosen simply because it was available immediately. I appreciate stories that expose me to a culture different than my own and find it interesting to read about people learning to live in a culture that's unfamiliar to them. In a place where women were generally not allowed to work, go to school, or be outside of their home, the author, a professional hairdresser, started a beauty school. The students learned skills that greatly benefited their family's financial situation, built their confidence, and facilitated meaningful friendships.
Long Bright River, written by Liz Moore and narrated by Allyson Ryan
Set in a part of Philadelphia that's being ravaged by drugs, this novel is about two sisters. One is an addict and prostitute, the other a police officer. With employees at the police department who are honorable and others who are corrupt, complicated family relationships that span multiple generations, and women being murdered in the neighborhood, there's a lot going on in the story. The serious nature of the problems is addressed in a way that respects the humanity of those who find themselves caught in a spiral of negative consequences, acknowledges those who do whatever they can to help others, and making it clear there's no excuse for those who intentionally take advantage of and harm others. My only complaint about the book was there seemed to be a whole lot of she said, he said, she said, he said. Maybe it just stood out because I was doing the audio version, but some variety in indicating dialogue would have been great. One cool piece of trivia is there's a character named Bethany in the book. That almost never happens. She's not particularly likeable, but I'll take what I can get.
The Mistletoe Mystery, written by Nita Prose and narrated by Lauren Ambrose
I enjoyed the first two books in this series, so this novella was a fun option to see in Libby's "skip the line" choices. Molly, the neurodivergent head maid at a fancy hotel, is feeling some insecurity in her relationship with her long-time boyfriend, who works at the same hotel. His behavior is unusual, her suspicions are raised, and everything comes to a head at the staff Christmas party. The story was as light and endearing as previous books in the series. As an aside, I read the first two books in print and the narrator's voice in this one was not how I imagined the main character's to be.
The Return, written by Nicholas Sparks
After a string of non-fiction books with some serious subject matter, I wanted an easy novel. A friend had passed this one along to me and it fit the bill. A military doctor whose war injuries prevent him from returning to his work as a surgeon inherits his grandpa's rundown cabin. A sheriff's deputy dealing with her conflicting desires by sending mixed messages. A teenager who lives in poverty and refuses to answer any personal questions. Their three lives intertwine in predictable ways, making this book what I needed it to be. Not horrible, not amazing.
p. 293, "I made a vow to stay married in sickness and in health. Health is the easy part; it's remaining faithful in sickness where love really shines."
The Stranger Beside Me: Ted Bundy - His Shocking True Story, written and narrated by Ann Rule
This short book is written by a woman who knew Bundy personally before he ever became a serial murder suspect. She talks about his life, their friendship, his crimes, and their interaction through the years of his incarceration. I heard about it on - What Should I Read Next?, episode 209 - Cracking the audiobook code last year.
Wish You Well, written by David Baldacci and narrated by Norma Lane with author's note narrated by Baldacci
