It's been a while since we've talked books, so let's go:
FAVORITE:
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I've read a few fictional books with autistic characters, but none have ever come close to sharing what it's like to be the parent of someone on the spectrum. Until now. Katherine Heiny's 'Standard Deviation' was a joy to read. Told from the point of view of the father, I immediately knew from the first interaction with his son that the child had autism. It's common for them to perseverate on and excel at something, and for this child, that something was origami. There were so many laugh-out-loud moments, but what I loved most was being able to identify with the parents who now must not only help their child find his way in the social world but also examine themselves for signs of the disorder. This was by far the best book I read in 2024. I would recommend any of her books.
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LEAST FAVORITE:
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My worst book of the year was also the last book I read in 2024. I give it zero stars and I do not recommend MJ Wassmer's 'Zero Stars Do Not Recommend.' As I trust you to NOT read it, I will give away the storyline. It's about a fake apocalypse on a Carribean island that turns into a Lord of the Flies situation. The book was described as a "hilarious whip-smart social satire." It was more like an episode of Scooby Doo where Shaggy attempts to outsmart an evil scientist but with much more violence. Just plain dumb!
As a true book lover, I always read the acknowledgements and I'm going to share with you one of the best ones I've ever read. It was for Rufi Thorpe's book, 'The Knockout Queen.' The book is about two teen outcasts who are neighbors and their friendship over a few decades. The actual characters are not relatable for me, but their yearning for connection and the many ups and downs of friendship over the years resonates. Here the author acknowledges her early adulthood friends: |
"But then there are the ones who taught me the lessons in life that made it possible to write the book at all. Who taught me what friendship is, who taught me regret and heartbreak and love. This is a book, like so much that I write, about friendship, and I can’t help but think about all the friends I have been lucky enough to have in my life. Simone Gorrindo, you are the best friend anyone could ever dream of, my first map of the world, and I am so proud just to know you. I can’t imagine Jason Arold, Annie Bassett, Reina Shibata, Margaret Aiken, Sean Kazerian, Josey Duncan, or any of 9C will be able to read this book without seeing flashes of the way we used to spend our time, gloriously, masterfully wasting it. Here is to the stupid adventures, the passions of platonic love, the water bottles of vodka, the things we didn’t understand yet, and all the things we knew too well. You have made my life so beautiful, and I fall on my knees in gratitude."
Here's to friends who make life beautiful, which includes my blog readers! Did you have a Best or Worst Book of 2024?
Thank you SO MUCH for sharing the 'Standard Deviation' because I plan on texting my friend, Diana, today and recommending it. As you know, her son is autistic, so I think it would be a good one for her. Especially since you mentioned there were so many laugh-out-loud moments.
ReplyDeleteAnd OMG, the acknowledgment you shared by the author was so touching! I read it twice.
"Here's to friends who make life beautiful, which includes my blog readers!"
Here! Here! And to YOU, my longtime blogging friend. You are cherished! And thank you!
Have a fabulous week!
X
P.S. I wish I could respond to your question at the end, but as you know, I haven't read a book in over 15 years. LOL!
LOL, I forgot you don’t enjoy books anymore! While you’re watching movies, I’m reading books. I’ve only watched a handful of non-kid movies in the last 30 years!
DeleteIt was so nice for me to read a fictional depiction of someone with autism that made me nod my head and say “Yes!” Most books I’ve read have not been my experience at all (and I have other relatives and friends with kids on the spectrum, so I’ve known a lot). Maybe Diana will enjoy it, too. Sometimes, you just need to laugh about it.
Wasn’t that acknowledgment so heartfelt? I loved it. Thanks for the love, Ron!
I haven't read those. I had a lot of best and worst books last year.
ReplyDeleteYou should do a post like this, Mary. I bet your Worst book would be pretty entertaining for us to hear about.
DeleteI've not heard of either of your books, so thanks. My favorite book of 2024 was: Bookish People by Susan Coll. It was light, well-paced, and made me laugh out loud. Delightfully absurd. My least favorite book of 2024 was: All Good People Here by Ashley Flowers. It was convoluted, with *meh* characters, but I did finish it because I knew there was a twist at the end so I hung in there. 🫤
ReplyDeleteI just looked up Bookish People and ordered it from the library. Thanks for the warning on the other!
DeleteOh I love Standard Deviation - everything Heiny has written, I have loved. She's just such a clever and talented writer! I had a number of really good books in 2024, I'm not sure if I could pick a single favourite. 2024 was the year I (kind of) discovered Rufi Thorpe, I say "kind of" because I read The Knockout Queen in 2021. But I remembered absolutely nothing about it! I think it's because I read it right when I got my first covid vax. Things were a blur! Anyway, it was a great (re) read. I also loved The Rachel Incident, My Last Innocent Year, Long Island Compromise, and probably a few more than I am not remembering right now. Hang on, I'll look at my spreadsheet. I'm back! Tom Lake! The Friend! Commonwealth! The Whispers! Sandwich, Happiness Falls, Peacocks of Instagram, Come and Get It, Summer Romance, A History of Burning. I also read Games and Rituals by Katherine Heiny and I gave that five stars as well. So lots of good ones, but all so different that I can't choose just one. Worst: Breasts and Eggs, Under the Tuscan Sun, Loving Frank.
ReplyDeleteIf I really like a book, I immediately read all of that author’s books, so I read every Heiny and Thorpe book last year. I’ve found lots of good books through you, Nicole! Other authors that I’ve read every book include Strout, Patchett, Taylor Jenkins Reid, Crosley, Hilderbrand , Laura Dave, J Courtney Sullivan, Sittenfeld, just to name a few. I also disliked Tuscan Sun, just disliked Frank in Loving Frank, but I’ll steer clear of Breasts and Eggs.
DeleteThat's fortunate that you found a book about autism you could actually relate to. I find the same, that quite a few books about personal issues (grief, disability etc) don't connect with me and I'm none the wiser for reading them. As for bad books I wouldn't recommend, there are too many to name! In particular so many books are over-written, long-winded and ultimately banal. That acknowledgment is wonderful.
ReplyDeleteIt was nice to find the book with a more realistic character with autism. Too many of these fictional characters (such as in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime) are extreme and don’t represent the population very well, in my opinion. Yes, there are a lot of bad books out there!
DeleteHow did I miss this post yesterday? Just when I thought I was on the ball. That book sounds really good. I think I've read something by Katherine Heiny before and I liked it. I'm laughing at the title of the book that you gave zero stars to. So funny. I read the Covenant of Water last year and it was very good, but I think it could've been shorter. I feel like most of the books I read in 2024 were pretty good, but I started off 2025 with a book titled, Go As a River and wow. It's amazing. It'll be hard to find something else this year that is as wonderful as this book. I have some good friends, but I've not kept in touch with the friends that I was closest to in high school and college, and that stinks. My best friend from high school, who I thought I'd be friends with forever, decided not to be friends with me anymore about 6 years ago, maybe more? She was frustrated that I was frustrated with my family of origin, and wanted me to sever ties with them/didn't want to hear about it anymore I guess. I'm in a better place now - had some therapy that helped me cope with the family of origin issues, basically shifted my expectations, etc. Anyway, I miss those tight friendships. I'm envious of people who have amazing sibling relationships or super strong, lifelong friendships. I always read the acknowledgements too, and that one is pure gold.
ReplyDeleteI’ve heard of Covenant of Water, so I’ll check it out, along with Go As a River. That’s a sad story about your HS best friend. And I totally understand about family of origin issues. Both me and my husband have those. I am lucky that I’ve had such great lifelong friends who have become my family.
DeleteI almost teared up at that acknowledgment; what a way to sum up your childhood friends/experiences.
ReplyDeleteI've not read either of these books and your worst doesn't sound like one I would've picked up, but thank you for the review nonetheless.
I read (listened) to more books last year than I have in the last five! My absolute fave from 2024 would have to be The Covenant of Water, by Abraham Verghese. Oh my, it was a beautiful saga, there were tears, laughter, learning and I just fell in love with the characters that spanned over decades.
Wasn’t that acknowledgment so touching? When I think about the crazy stuff I did with friends. Talk about the ties that bind! And it looks like a second vote for Covenant of Water. Thanks for the recommendation.
DeleteI'm definitely going to add Standard Deviation to my list of books to read. I really don't have a best or worst book this year. I'm not into reading like I used to be so mostly what I read is light beach reads. Nothing I have to think about too much! I keep adding books to my Goodreads account though in the hopes that I will become an avid reader again!
ReplyDeleteI definitely enjoy a light beach read at times. Sometimes life is too stressful to carry other burdens as a reader. I closed my Goodreads account, but I know it’s still very popular.
DeleteFirst, what a lovely acknowledgment! I know her friends must’ve loved reading that in her book. This is going to make me pay more attention to the acknowledgments in books from now on. 😘
ReplyDeleteI love that you felt a connection with that book, my friend. As someone with a child on the spectrum, it’s so nice to find others who can understand what you’re going through. I’m adding this book to my TBR list. Thank you for sharing it. ❤️
I love to read the acknowledgments. They can be very insightful. I hope you like Standard Deviation. It’s quite amusing. Sometimes, you just have to laugh about it all.
DeleteI always read the acknowledgments and that one is exceptional. When I think of all the things my childhood friends and I did it is just crazy to me now. We were absolutely fearless!
ReplyDeleteHow funny that you felt exactly the same way about the book as it's title. I'll have to tell my BFF about Standard Deviation. Her son is on the spectrum also and it sounds like she'd enjoy it.
My friends and I did so much crazy stuff in high school and i usually involved boys we liked - LOL! I may have to re-post on that subject sometime. I hope your friend enjoys Standard Deviation. It was very relatable for me.
DeleteThat title is either a self-fulfilling prophecy or an ironic wink-and-nod, I guess.
ReplyDeleteMy best book of 2024 was "Beautyland" by ;Marie-Helene Bertino; worst by a long shot was "The Perfect Marriage" by Jeneva Rose – a novel I despised so much, I gave it one star and wrote a blog post about it.
I don’t know what that man was thinking when he wrote the book. The cover implies a more beach read feel than the book gave, by a long shot! I vaguely remember your post about the bad book.
DeleteNo books to recommend since I read none last year. I tried but never followed through. I currently have "Soundtracks: The Surprising Solution to Overthinking" by Jon Acuff sitting on my desk but that is all the progress I have made.
ReplyDeleteBest of luck in 2025!
DeleteI will ask my neighbor if she's read Standard Deviation. We like to share book recs with each other and if she hasn't read this one, she might enjoy it as a mother to an autistic child.
ReplyDeleteI did not read a single book that I loved last year. I think the most notable one was Tattooist of Auschwitz or Glad My Mom Died, but the rest were just eh. I DNF several, which is something I rarely do, but last year I chucked quite a few aside before finishing which was surprising.
I also read the Glad My Mom Died book. It was just okay, IMO. I DNF books all the time now. I usually have a lot of books on order at the library, so it’s easy to move on.
DeleteI do have about 300 titles in my "to read" pile from our library's digital catalogue, so I can move on to another quickly as well. I've been going through some of the books that are considered must reads of our time and just chucked Lolita to the curb halfway through last week. And now I need a mental break before diving back into another book because that one irritated me to no end. Not the subject matter because I don't have any trigger warnings, but I felt like the author was more impressed with his vocabulary then telling a story and just wanted to hear himself ramble on and on. Like, how tf did this book get so many positive reviews?
DeleteI read that as an adult and didn’t enjoy it, either. The must reads I enjoyed as an adult were East of Eden, Rebecca, and Pride and Prejudice.
DeleteSuper hilarious that the book you hated wound up being so aptly named! The best book definitely sounds interesting, and I wonder if Hubby and I should read it. I hadn't thought about the parents wanting to look for signs of autism in themselves. (I believe I told you my oldest is on the spectrum.) Did the father in the story find it in himself? May I ask if you and your husband did? I know it's a novel, but I feel like I should read it as though it was a memoir, as it surely must be to some extent. And, yes, agree, that friends are amazing. :) -Betsy
ReplyDeleteHi Betsy! I’m still having trouble commenting on your blog and now Mark’s, so it must be a Wordpress issue. Just an FYI if you don’t see me around. Yes, I think you did tell me about your oldest. It’s extremely common for a parent to realize he/she is on the spectrum, as it’s been shown to be genetic in numerous studies. My husband and I are not, but after my daughter was diagnosed in the late 90’s, I read everything I could get my hands on at the time (limited back then!) and realized that my brother was. It explained so much if our childhood, finally!
DeleteOh, how very interesting that your brother was on the spectrum and what new insight that gave you. Hmm. I'm not really sure if any of our family members are. For my daughter, it's quite mild, if that can be said, so it might be hard for us to notice. I should probably become as well-read as you are on this.
DeleteBijoux, I recently finished listening to Early Morning Riser by Katherine Heiny, which I enjoyed and so appreciated this review of another of her books. I am an avid reader and audio book listener, but don'[t post reviews or reading roundups. However, I always appreciate and check out the recommendations of fellow bloggers. I can recommend The Authenticity Project by Claire Pooley for a lighted read/listen. For a fast thriller read, Freida McFadden is good and I just finished The Boyfriend. This year I am reading/listening to books by authors I am not familiar with. The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill, Queens of London by Heather Webb and Everyone is Watching by Heather Gudenkauf have been recentreads. I just finished The Stolen Queen by Fiona Davis, who is a favorite author, and did not dissapoint with this new book.
ReplyDeleteOh wow! Another Heiny fan! I’ve now read all of her books and really enjoyed them. Thank you for the book recommendations. I’ve only read the Pooley book of those you mentioned. I’ll look into the others (except the thriller; not my thing). Have a great week.
DeleteOhh, how I wish I were able to read books like I did way back!! I've lost the concentration to read anything much more than some articles online. Years ago, I think it might have been you who recommended 'A Gentleman in Moscow' by Amor Towles. I bought and started it but then kept having to go back and reread, and reread. It wasn't the writing or the story, just me. When the book was made into a series we watched it and really enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteI do occasionally keep trying though so I did just buy an Agatha Christie book. Not too far in, but there's still hope I guess. LOL
~Mary
That must be incredibly frustrating, Mary. I'm so sorry! Yes, I'm sure I was the one who recommended the Towles book. I loved it so much! I'm glad you enjoyed the TV version. I had no idea one was even made. I'm the opposite in that I can't sit through a movie or TV show that is longer than one hour. That seems to be my limit.
DeleteOh that 2nd book definitely sounds like something I would not enjoy reading. I used to force myself to finish a book, even if I wasn't enjoying it; but have recently stopped doing that. If I read it and after a few chapters I'm not enjoying it, I stopped and start something else. Too many good books it seems to waste time reading one I'm not enjoying. The 1st book sounds like it would be helpful to anyone with a family member or friend dealing with those issues..
ReplyDeleteI usually do not finish books, but I've been known to hate-read things too, like that second book! It was truly not good. Yes, too many good books out there to waste time on something you don't enjoy.
DeleteThank you so much for the recommendation. That Zero Stars book gives a warning right there in the title. And I understand why you enjoyed Standard Deviation so much.
ReplyDeleteI don't read as much as I should, to be honest, but I did recently finish The Book Thief and I loved it!
Take care, my friend, and thanks for making life beautiful!
The Book Thief is such a great book! I'm sort of burned out on the WW2 historical fiction genre, but I'll always make an exception for a book like that. Have a great week, Rob.
DeleteI'll have to check out "Standard Deviation." It's always nice when a novel accurately depicts someone's experience. Nothing I read last year really jumped out as awesome. I checked The Storygraph, and my average rating last year was 3.9.
ReplyDeleteThe "Zero Stars" title seems appropriate!
It really is nice when one can relate to a character in a novel. I understand about your average rating system. Most books I consider just 'okay.'
DeleteI haven't read any of these, I will take your recommendation on board and not read Zero Stars.
ReplyDeleteThanks for visiting!
DeleteYour favourite book would be a good one for my daughter who has an autistic son. My favourite book was The Spy's Wife
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteYou are welcome.
ReplyDeleteAh the first book sounds really good. Engaging and interesting. But egads the second book does sound really bad. Frustrating when you are expecting something cerebral and it is more silly.
ReplyDeleteAllie of
www.allienyc.com
Yes, that second book was ridiculous.
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