A Day for Literature Lovers: Celebrate National Book Lovers Day Aug. 9 with a good novel
There may be hundreds of movies and shows on TV, millions of videos on YouTube and countless posts on social media to scroll through — but nothing quite compares to the feeling of getting lost in a good book. In this world dominated by smart phones and touch screens, there is something special about sitting down and holding a book, flipping through the pages and scanning line after line, with the crisp smell and soft feel of freshly printed paper.
Whether keeping it old school with a print copy or enjoying the convenience of a kindle, book lovers are encouraged to open up a book and ready today. Aug. 9 is National Book Lover’s Day, an unofficial holiday that inspires book lovers to simply get reading.
Reading provides the perfect escape, bringing readers into another world with different people, time, places and possibilities. Check out a book at a local library for free, indulge and buy that favorite novel at a bookstore to read time and time again or tuck in a little one with a bedtime story.
Need a nice, cozy place to relax with a good book to celebrate the day? Greater Gainesville has many quaint and quiet coffee shops to enjoy a cup of joe while getting lost in a story.
The team at True North shares their favorite books as recommendations to help celebrate the holiday:
Daniel Wright: “Live by Night” by Dennis Lehane
Synopsis: “Boston, 1926. The ’20s are roaring. Liquor is flowing, bullets are flying, and one man sets out to make his mark on the world.
Prohibition has given rise to an endless network of underground distilleries, speakeasies, gangsters, and corrupt cops. Joe Coughlin, the youngest son of a prominent Boston police captain, has long since turned his back on his strict and proper upbringing. Now having graduated from a childhood of petty theft to a career in the pay of the city’s most fearsome mobsters, Joe enjoys the spoils, thrills, and notoriety of being an outlaw.
But life on the dark side carries a heavy price. In a time when ruthless men of ambition, armed with cash, illegal booze, and guns, battle for control, no one – neither family nor friend, enemy nor lover – can be trusted. Beyond money and power, even the threat of prison, one fate seems most likely for men like Joe: an early death. But until that day, he and his friends are determined to live life to the hilt.”
Laura Parrinello: “Shanghai Baby” by Wei Hui
Synopsis: ” Publicly burned in China for its sensual nature and irreverent style, this novel is the semi-autobiographical story of Coco, a cafe waitress, who is full of enthusiasm and impatience for life. She meets a young man, Tian Tian, for whom she feels tenderness and love, but he is reclusive, impotent and an increasing user of drugs. Despite parental objections, Coco moves in with him, leaves her job and throws herself into her writing.
Shortly afterwards, she meets Mark, a married Westerner. The two are uncontrollably attracted and begin a highly charged, physical affair. Torn between her two lovers, and tormented by her deceit, her unfinished novel and the conflicting feelings involved in love and betrayal, Coco begins to find out who she really is.
Here is a beautifully written novel with a distinct voice that describes China on the brink of its own social and sexual revolution.”
Scott Costello: Favorite nonfiction novel, “1776” by David McCullough
Favorite business/self-improvement book, “Start with Why,” by Simon Sinek
Favorite fiction novel, “If I Never Get Back” by Darryl Brock
Synopsis: “Contemporary reporter Sam Fowler is stuck in a dull job and a failing marriage when he is suddenly transported back to the summer of 1869. After a wrenching period of adjustment, he feels rejuvenated by his involvement with the nation’s first pro baseball team, the Cincinnati Red Stockings. But American sports isn’t the only thing to undergo a major transformation–Sam himself starts to change as he faces life-threatening 19th-century challenges on and off the baseball diamond. With the support of his fellow ballplayers and the lovely Caitlin O’Neill, will he regain the sense of family he desperately needs?”
Jensen Taylor: “Almond” by Sohn Won-pyung
Synopsis: “Yunjae was born with a brain condition called Alexithymia that makes it hard for him to feel emotions like fear or anger. He does not have friends—the two almond-shaped neurons located deep in his brain have seen to that—but his devoted mother and grandmother aren’t fazed by his condition. Their little home above his mother’s used bookstore is decorated with colorful post-it notes that remind him when to smile, when to say “thank you,” and when to laugh. Yunjae grows up content, even happy, with his small family in this quiet, peaceful space.
Then on Christmas Eve—Yunjae’s sixteenth birthday—everything changes. A shocking act of random violence shatters his world, leaving him alone and on his own. Struggling to cope with his loss, Yunjae retreats into silent isolation, until troubled teenager Gon arrives at his school and begins to bully Yunjae.
Against all odds, tormentor and victim learn they have more in common than they realized. Gon is stumped by Yunjae’s impassive calm, while Yunjae thinks if he gets to know the hotheaded Gon, he might learn how to experience true feelings. Drawn by curiosity, the two strike up a surprising friendship. As Yunjae begins to open his life to new people—including a girl at school—something slowly changes inside him. And when Gon suddenly finds his life in danger, it is Yunjae who will step outside of every comfort zone he has created to perhaps become a most unlikely hero.”
Rita Barron: “Left Behind” series by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins
First novel synopsis: “An airborne Boeing 747 is headed to London when, without any warning, passengers mysteriously disappear from their seats. Terror and chaos slowly spread not only through the plane but also worldwide as unusual events continue to unfold. For those who have been left behind, the apocalypse has just begun…”
Jen Clark: Favorite fiction novel, “The Cabin at the End of the World” by Paul Tremblay
Favorite nonfiction novel, “Lost Moon: The Perilous Voyage of Apollo 13″ by Jeffrey Kluger, Fred Sanders and Jim Lovell
Synopsis: “April 1970. The glory days of the Apollo space program. NASA send Commander Jim Lovell and two other astronauts on America’s fifth mission to the moon.
Only fifty-five hours into the flight, disaster strikes. A mysterious explosion rocks the ship. Its oxygen and power begin draining away. Lovell and his crew watch as the cockpit grows darker, the air grows thinner, and the instruments wink out one by one.
In this tale of astonishing courage, brilliant improvisation and thrilling adventure, the reader is transported right into the capsule during one of the worst disasters in the history of space exploration.”
Angela Underwood: The Bible, The Message version
Ryan Walsh: Favorite fiction author, Carl Hiassen
Favorite nonfiction novel, “Alexander Hamilton” by Ron Chernow
Synopsis: “Alexander Hamilton was a man that came from nothing, but changed the world over the years. From an immigrant to an influential and significant figure in American history, he shaped the newborn America and gave it the order and prosperity it has today. Nobody has done a better job than Ron Chernow in presenting the full life story of America’s founding father, Hamilton. It allows us readers to go back in time and witness the birth of America, the professional and private struggles of Hamilton and how he overcame them all.
‘Those who stand for nothing will fall for anything”’ — Alexander Hamilton
Alexander is one of the most greatly misunderstood figures in American history. He had been criticized for many of his ideas but he always stood by them firmly. His long-sightedness has allowed the United States of America to prosper today.” — Readtrepreneur, via Goodreads
Rose Derkay: Inspirational author, Jane Eyre
Favorite novel: “The Bookshop of Yesterdays” by Amy Meyerson
Synopsis: “A woman inherits a beloved bookstore and sets forth on a journey of self-discovery in this poignant debut about family, forgiveness and a love of reading.
Miranda Brooks grew up in the stacks of her eccentric Uncle Billy’s bookstore, solving the inventive scavenger hunts he created just for her. But on Miranda’s twelfth birthday, Billy has a mysterious falling-out with her mother and suddenly disappears from Miranda’s life. She doesn’t hear from him again until sixteen years later when she receives unexpected news: Billy has died and left her Prospero Books, which is teetering on bankruptcy—and one final scavenger hunt.”
Skylar Carter: “The Girl On The Train” by Paula Hawkins
Synopsis: “Rachel catches the same commuter train every morning. She knows it will wait at the same signal each time, overlooking a row of back gardens. She’s even started to feel like she knows the people who live in one of the houses. “Jess and Jason,” she calls them. Their life—as she sees it—is perfect. If only Rachel could be that happy. And then she sees something shocking. It’s only a minute until the train moves on, but it’s enough. Now everything’s changed. Now Rachel has a chance to become a part of the lives she’s only watched from afar. Now they’ll see; she’s much more than just the girl on the train…”
Shelley Akins: “Where the Lost Wander” by Amy Harmon
Synopsis: “The Overland Trail, 1853: Naomi May never expected to be widowed at twenty. Eager to leave her grief behind, she sets off with her family for a life out West. On the trail, she forms an instant connection with John Lowry, a half-Pawnee man straddling two worlds and a stranger in both.
But life in a wagon train is fraught with hardship, fear, and death. Even as John and Naomi are drawn to each other, the trials of the journey and their disparate pasts work to keep them apart. John’s heritage gains them safe passage through hostile territory only to come between them as they seek to build a life together.
When a horrific tragedy strikes, decimating Naomi’s family and separating her from John, the promises they made are all they have left. Ripped apart, they can’t turn back, they can’t go on, and they can’t let go. Both will have to make terrible sacrifices to find each other, save each other, and eventually…make peace with who they are.”
Jewell Tomazin: “A Land Remembered” by Patrick Smith
Synopsis: “In this best-selling novel, Patrick Smith tells the story of three generations of the MacIveys, a Florida family who battle the hardships of the frontier to rise from a dirt-poor Cracker life to the wealth and standing of real estate tycoons. The story opens in 1858, when Tobias MacIvey arrives in the Florida wilderness to start a new life with his wife and infant son, and ends two generations later in 1968 with Solomon MacIvey, who realizes that the land has been exploited far beyond human need. The sweeping story that emerges is a rich, rugged Florida history featuring a memorable cast of crusty, indomitable Crackers battling wild animals, rustlers, Confederate deserters, mosquitoes, starvation, hurricanes, and freezes to carve a kingdom out of the swamp. But their most formidable adversary turns out to be greed, including finally their own. Love and tenderness are here too: the hopes and passions of each new generation, friendships with the persecuted blacks and Indians, and respect for the land and its wildlife.”
All book synopses by Goodreads.com.