Feature and Follow #13 (Older book suggestion)

What is Feature and Follow?

F&F is a weekly blog hop that consists of book bloggers. It is hosted byAlison Can Read and Parajunkee. The rules of involvement are simple:
1.) Link up on the blog hop Linky gadget below this post, 2.) follow the hosts via their network of choice, 3.) follow the weekly featured blog(s) via their network of choice (listed as "featured" in the blog list below), and lastly, 4) check out the rest of the blogs on the hop! If you become a new follower of a blog, let them know and they will follow you back.

The F&F is a great way to network, meet other book bloggers, and gain new followers. Even more so, it's a great way to drive fun discussion on a weekly topic.

This week, the topic is:

Recommend some of your favorite back-list books - books that are at least a few years old (I’m thinking 5-10 years old rather than classics).

There are two FF posts today. One by Jessi (The Book Cove) and one by author L.A. Kelley (co-blogger). Each have their respective follow sites.
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L.A. Kelley's recommendation
One book I heartily recommend is Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris (2001). A collection of autobiographical essays they range from the snort-milk-out-your-nose-funny to the more touching and sweet. The book is split into two parts. Part One concerns his childhood, family, and growing up gay in the South. It’s wry and poignant with a “bless your heart” humor. (If you don’t understand the term, y’all don’t live around here.) The title comes from Part Deux which entails essays on his move to Paris with his lover, and the trials of adapting to a foreign culture. His attempt to learn French from a teacher who makes Severus Snape look like Mahatma Gandhi is less than a resounding success.


(Blurb): Anyone that has read NAKED and BARREL FEVER, or heard David Sedaris speaking live or on the radio will tell you that a new collection from him is cause for jubilation. His recent move to Paris from New York inspired these hilarious new pieces, including 'Me Talk Pretty One Day', about his attempts to learn French from a sadistic teacher who declares that 'every day spent with you is like having a caesarean section'. His family is another inspiration. 'You Can't Kill the Rooster' is a portrait of his brother, who talks incessant hip-hop slang to his bewildered father. And no one hones a finer fury in response to such modern annoyances as restaurant meals presented in ludicrous towers of food and cashiers with six-inch fingernails.

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L. A. Kelley is the author of The Naughty List. She’s married with three kids and lives in Florida where the heat and humidity has driven everyone slightly mad. She never cleans under her sofa. You can follow her at http://lakelleythenaughtylist.blogspot.com

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Jessi's recommendation

I took a couple of philosophy classes during my undergrad (yes, willingly) and one of the books that was on our reading list was House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus III (1999). The reasoning behind this was to discuss man vs. man. What makes one person/group/nationality's mindset so different from another. And is it really that different? Or are we made to perceive the difference through inherent judgmental means?


Stepping away from the deep philosophical theories - This is very much a thought provoking book that requires you to step into another person's shoes and asks "What would you do?" It covers issues of race, religion, nationality, rights, morals, and ethics. Most importantly, it shows that situations are not always as they seem, and not to judge a book by its cover.


I highly recommend this to anyone from high school on up.



(Blurb): The National Book Award finalist, Oprah Book Club pick, #1 New York Times bestseller and basis for the Oscar-nominated motion picture.

On a road crew in California, a former colonel in the Iranian Air Force sees a way to restore his family's dignity in an attractive bungalow available on county auction. But the house's owner, a recovering alcoholic and addict down on her luck, will fight for the one thing she has left. And her lover, a married cop, will be driven to extremes to win her love. In this masterpiece of American realism and Shakepearean consequence, Andre Dubus III's unforgettable characters careen toward inevitable conflict, their tragedy painting a shockingly true picture of the country we live in today.