Bookish chat
I love a cantankerous old woman. Any book recommendations with a brilliant curmudgeonly old lady?......
Book mentions in this thread
The Stone Angel (Phoenix Fiction)
by Margaret Laurence
The Stone Angel, The Diviners, and A Bird in the House are three of the five books in Margaret Laurence's renowned "Manawaka series," named for the small Canadian prairie town in which they take place. Each of these books is narrated by a strong woman growing up in the town and struggling with physical and emotional isolation. In The Stone Angel, Hagar Shipley, age ninety, tells the story of her life, and in doing so tries to come to terms with how the very qualities which sustained her have deprived her of joy. Mingling past and present, she maintains pride in the face of senility, while recalling the life she led as a rebellious young bride, and later as a grieving mother. Laurence gives us in Hagar a woman who is funny, infuriating, and heartbreakingly poignant. "This is a revelation, not impersonation. The effect of such skilled use of language is to lead the reader towards the self-recognition that Hagar misses."—Robertson Davies, New York Times "It is [Laurence's] admirable achievement to strike, with an equally sure touch, the peculiar note and the universal; she gives us a portrait of a remarkable character and at the same time the picture of old age itself, with the pain, the weariness, the terror, the impotent angers and physical mishaps, the realization that others are waiting and wishing for an end."—Honor Tracy, The New Republic "Miss Laurence is the best fiction writer in the Dominion and one of the best in the hemisphere."—Atlantic "[Laurence] demonstrates in The Stone Angel that she has a true novelist's gift for catching a character in mid-passion and life at full flood. . . . As [Hagar Shipley] daydreams and chatters and lurches through the novel, she traces one of the most convincing—and the most touching—portraits of an unregenerate sinner declining into senility since Sara Monday went to her reward in Joyce Cary's The Horse's Mouth."—Time "Laurence's triumph is in her evocation of Hagar at ninety. . . . We sympathize with her in her resistance to being moved to a nursing home, in her preposterous flight, in her impatience in the hospital. Battered, depleted, suffering, she rages with her last breath against the dying of the light. The Stone Angel is a fine novel, admirably written and sustained by unfailing insight."—Granville Hicks, Saturday Review "The Stone Angel is a good book because Mrs. Laurence avoids sentimentality and condescension; Hagar Shipley is still passionately involved in the puzzle of her own nature. . . . Laurence's imaginative tact is strikingly at work, for surely this is what it feels like to be old."—Paul Pickrel, Harper'sThe Case against Education
by Bryan Caplan
"Caplan argues that the primary function of education is not to enhance students' skill but to certify their intelligence, work ethic, and conformity--in other words, to signal the qualities of a good employee. [He examines] why students hunt for easy As and casually forget most of what they learn after the final exam, why decades of growing access to education have not resulted in better jobs for the average worker but instead in runaway credential inflation, how employers reward workers for costly schooling they rarely if ever use, and why cutting education spending is the best remedy"--Dust jacket flap.A Court of Thorns and Roses Series Sarah J. Maas 4 Books Collection Set (A Court of Thorns and Roses, A Court of Mist and Fury, A Court of Wings and Ruin, A Court of Frost and Starlight)
by Sarah J. Maas
Feyre survived Amarantha's clutches to return to the Spring Court – but at a steep cost. Though she now possesses the powers of the High Fae, her heart remains human, and it can't forget the terrible deeds she performed to save Tamlin's people. Nor has Feyre forgotten her bargain with Rhysand, the mesmerising High Lord of the feared Night Court. As Feyre navigates his dark web of political games and tantalising promises, a greater evil looms – and she might be key to stopping it. But only if she can step into her growing power, heal her fractured soul and have the courage to shape her own future – and the future of a world cloven in two. Sarah J. Maas is a global #1 bestselling author. Her books have sold more than nine million copies and been translated into 37 languages. Discover the sweeping romantic fantasy for yourself.Votes: 6
Average is Over
by Tyler Cowen
A renowned economist describes the post-recession job market that is erasing the middle range, leaving only high-earning jobs that utilize machine intelligence and data analysis and low-earning jobs for those who aren't learning and adopting the new technologies.Votes: 2
Dolores Claiborne
by Stephen King
The chilling, compelling #1New York Times bestsellerÂ-and the inspiration for the blockbuster film starring Kathy Bates and Jennifer Jason Leigh.Votes: 1
The Cut
by Chris Brookmyre
The entertaining, moving, and unpredictable new thriller from multi-award-winning bestseller Chris Brookmyre is a wholly original masterpiece and the best crime novel of 2021. Millie Spark can kill anyone. A special effects make-up artist, her talent is to create realistic scenes of bloody violence. Then, one day, she wakes to find her lover dead in her bed. Twenty-five years later, her sentence for murder served, Millicent is ready to give up on her broken life - until she meets troubled film student and reluctant petty thief Jerry. Together, they begin to discover that all was not what it seemed on that fateful night . . . and someone doesn't want them to find out why.Votes: 1
The Possible World
by Liese O'Halloran Schwarz
“A brilliantly written, moving story” (The Washington Book Review) about the converging lives of a young boy who witnesses a murder, the ER doctor who tends to him, and a woman guarding her long-buried past, from the author of What Could Be Saved. It seems like just another night shift for Lucy, an overworked ER physician in Providence, Rhode Island, until six-year-old Ben is brought in as the sole survivor from a crime scene. He’s traumatized and wordless; everything he knows has been taken from him in an afternoon. It’s not clear what he saw or what he remembers. Lucy, who’s grappling with the demise of her marriage, feels a profound connection to the little boy. She wants to help him…but will recovering his memory heal him or damage him further? Across town, Clare will soon be turning one hundred years old. She has long believed that the secrets she’s been keeping don’t matter to anyone anymore, but a surprising encounter makes her realize that the time has come to tell her story. As Ben, Lucy, and Clare struggle to confront the events that shattered their lives, something stronger than fate is working to bring them together. The Possible World spans nearly a century—from the Great Depression through the Vietnam War era and into the present—and “in beautifully crafted prose” (Booklist) captures the complicated ways our pasts shape our identities, and how timeless bonds can triumph over grief. “A bittersweet story full of imagination and nostalgia, loss and redemption…The Possible World will seize readers from the first scene and hold tight until its satisfying conclusion” (Kirkus Reviews).The Thursday Murder Club
by Richard Osman
'Such a beacon of pleasure' KATE ATKINSON 'So smart and funny. Deplorably good' IAN RANKIN 'A gripping read' SUNDAY TIMES THE FIRST BOOK IN THE #1 BESTSELLING THURSDAY MURDER CLUB SERIES BY TV PRESENTER RICHARD OSMAN In a peaceful retirement village, four unlikely friends meet up once a week to investigate unsolved murders. But when a brutal killing takes place on their very doorstep, the Thursday Murder Club find themselves in the middle of their first live case. Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron might be pushing eighty but they still have a few tricks up their sleeves. Can our unorthodox but brilliant gang catch the killer before it's too late? __________________________________ WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING ABOUT THE THURSDAY MURDER CLUB 'Thrilling, moving, laugh-out-loud funny' MARK BILLINGHAM 'A great read, I really enjoyed it' GRAHAM NORTON 'As the bodies pile up, and more is revealed of the lives and loves of Joyce, Ibrahim, Ron and Elizabeth, you can't help cheering them on - and hoping to meet them again soon' THE TIMES, CRIME BOOK OF THE MONTH 'Mystery fans are going to be enthralled' HARLAN COBEN 'Pure escapism' THE GUARDIAN, BEST CRIME AND THRILLERS OF 2020 'One of the most enjoyable books of the year' DAILY EXPRESS 'Smart, compassionate, warm, moving and so VERY funny' MARIAN KEYES 'As gripping as it is funny' EVENING STANDARD 'Funny, clever and achingly British' ADAM KAY 'An exciting new talent in crime fiction' DAILY MAIL 'A warm, wise and witty warning never to underestimate the elderly' VAL MCDERMID 'Delight after delight from first page to last' RED MAGAZINE 'I completely fell in love with it' SHARI LAPENA 'This is properly brilliant. The pages fly and I can't stop smiling' STEVE CAVANAGH 'Charming, clever debut' STYLIST 'I laughed my arse off' BELINDA BAUER 'A witty and poignant tale' DAILY TELEGRAPH 'Clever, clever plot' FIONA BARTON 'An absolutely delightful read' PRIMA MAGAZINE 'Utterly charming' SARAH PINBOROUGH 'Funny and original' THE SUN 'Properly funny and totally charming... steeped in Agatha Christie joy' ARAMINTA HALL 'This is one of the most delightful novels of the year' DAILY MIRROR 'A bundle of joy' JANE FALLONVotes: 1
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