McNevin
I reread paragraphs and entire chapters of this novel immediately after finishing them for their sheer beauty and surprise. But how to explain this novel? It feels like living inside a labyrinthine myth. It follows a boy who is transported to another realm in which he has been transformed into an adult man, enchanted, and assigned a quest. The story is told in the form of an endless letter from that boy after he has disappeared from our world. As the story progresses a single line of description or dialogue will change one's entire sense of what is transpiring. Mysteries transform into still greater mysteries—and into dazzling revelations—with masterful finesse. And brief recognitions will reframe the book's universe. Heroic, beautiful, and haunting. ~ McNevin
Hilarious and often frightening. In Northern Ireland, nothing is safe and you can’t hide, though you can try to live. Names are dangerous. Suspicion is constant. The novel is told from the point of view of “middle sister,” whose life is utterly disrupted by the appearance of The Milkman, who insinuates himself into her life, bringing danger she has spent her life trying to avoid. The language and cadence in this one need to be experienced! ~ McNevin
Kurt Andersen found himself, like many of us, trying to understand how we ended up, as a nation, in a time of post-truth, alternative-facts political reality. The more he dug, the more he found that, hey, we’ve always been this way. Tracing American history back to the Protestant Reformation and through until today (or at least last year) he carries us through story after fascinating story of our American ability to believe whatever takes our fancy, even when we’ve made it up our very own selves. Stimulating, hilarious and frightening, but always illuminating, this one is well worth your time. ~ McNevin
Cartoonist Roz Chast, in this nakedly uncomfortable confessional memoir, takes us through the process of caring for her aging, ailing parents. Perhaps you know Roz Chast from her New Yorker cartoons. If so, you will not be surprised by the laugh-out-loud humor in her story, though you might also be moved by how deeply touching it is. For all her parent’s idiosyncrasies, as well as her own, this is a universal story of something many of us have lived through, or will. As an added bonus, if you were to tell me you do not connect with graphic novels, this is the one I would tell you to read. ~ McNevin
A friend recommended this classic as possibly the best novel he’s ever read. I wholeheartedly agree on its excellence. George Eliot’s clarity of perception and deep empathy, even for characters with pronounced unsympathetic traits; the suspense she builds over the fate of all characters; her ability to weave an entire social tapestry in an enlightening and inspiring way; and the way she drops an aphorism on just about every page—all are reasons to love this book. Also, she’s really funny. ~ McNevin
