The Two Lives of Lydia Bird by Josie Silver

Yesterday would have been Broadway actor Nick Cordero’s 42nd birthday. Last year, when he turned 41 years old, he had just moved to Laurel Canyon from New York with his wife, fitness guru Amanda Kloots and their baby, Elvis. Nick died of complications related to Covid-19 on July 5, 2020, in Los Angeles. I still follow Amanda on Instagram because I find her posts uplifting, positive and nothing-short-of-amazing. One minute she has this loving and talented husband, and the next minute he is gone. Yet, she is still working, taking care of her son and dancing as fast as she can. “The Two Lives of Lydia Bird” by Josie Silver, presents a similar, fictional love story cut short. On the way to celebrate Lydia’s 28th birthday, her long-time love and fiancé Freddie dies in a tragic car accident. Her best friend Jonah survives the crash, but Lydia’s world is suddenly shattered in a single day.  While she is trying to move forward with her life, something magical happens: thanks to participation in a clinical sleep study, she suddenly has the ability to travel back in time and be with Freddie, periodically. Like the best time travel romances, the rules are unpredictable, but the ability to once again see someone who has died is insatiable. Lydia toggles back and forth between the past and the present, trying to figure out which world is real and which one is not. When she begins to feel uncomfortable in the past, she must make a decision about her future. I love books that explore not only romance, but also the different levels of grief and this books does both. To buy this book on Amazon click here.

"This is San Francisco" by M. Sasek

It is going to take a lot more than smoke in the air to make me break up with San Francisco, because you see, we go way back. I moved here in August of 1989, two months before the Loma Prieta earthquake. The day the Bay Area shook, I was on the second floor of a building on the corner of Grant and Geary, working as an editor at a travel magazine. My co-workers and I clung to each other, and then gingerly tip-toed out of the building, watching each others’ backs. In the days that followed the earthquake, I knew I was not going anywhere. I had already decided that this was my city, and soon it would become my daughters’ city, too, because it is quirky, funny and friendly, just like us. I came into The City yesterday to walk with a friend, because that is what we do in San Francisco, we walk, a lot, even when there is smoke in the air. I then did a zoom yoga class in my apartment and in the middle of a triangle pose, I spotted this book smiling at me from Lily’s books case. “This is San Francisco” is a beautiful children’s book by M. Sasek with iconic images of The City. After my yoga zoom, I opened the book and read through it for probably the first time in at least 10 years. I smiled at nearly every page, and marveled at the drawing of the Embarcadero freeway that is no longer standing. There is a picture on page 44 of some telephone poles and it says “300 days a year the western sky is blue.” That figure might not be accurate any more, but there is still no other city I would rather live in. When the pandemic is over, when the heat wave is done, and when the fires have been tamed, I will still be on Turk, heading out on another walk. To purchase this book on Amazon click here.

LLP #237 "100 Things Phish Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die" by Andy P. Smith and Jason Gershuny

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I Almost Forgot About You by Terry McMillan

LLP Week #236: “I Almost Forgot About You” by Terry McMillan

The author Terry McMillan once said, “I write about what breaks my heart. What I don’t understand. And what I wish I could change.” What important words to live by during this very uncertain time. McMillan discovered her love of literature when she was shelving books at the local library in Port Huron, Michigan. At 17, she moved to Los Angeles where she worked as a secretary and took a class in African American literature at Los Angeles City College. She has gone on to become an extremely prolific writer, publishing such blockbusters as “How Stella Got Her Groove Back” (1996) and “Waiting to Exhale’ (2012). “I Almost Forgot About You,” published in 2016, is a book of hers you might not have read yet. It is about a Bay Area optometrist named Gloria Young who decides to shake up her life, sell her house and track down all of her ex-boyfriends. I know my close friends are saying right now, “Yes! This is Lori’s kind of book,” because it is. This story touts the fact that it’s never too late to change, find love, start a new job and move to a new city. But it is also about how your past strengthens and informs your future. I love the premise that change can feel good, and right, and even hopeful rather than scary. With a posse of children, ex-husbands and great girlfriends by her side, Gloria carves a new path for herself, different than where she was stuck before. McMillan has written more than a dozen books, I encourage you to read one you have not read before, and enjoy her wonderful storytelling. To buy this book on Amazon click here.

Mamba Mentality by Kobe Bryant with photos by Andrew D Bernstein

 When I was about 8 or 9 years old, my dad told me, “You have to learned about all the sports, because this will help you in dating and in life.” I took this advice very seriously. I studied the Dodgers, rooted for the Rams and cheered the Los Angeles Lakers to every one of Magic, Kareem, Kobe and Shaq’s championships.. So, when that helicopter went down on January 26, 2020, I knew that the world lost one of the greatest basketball players it had ever seen. Over the course of his 29-year-career, Kobe played every season with the L.A. Lakers, winning five NBA championship rings. “Mamba Mentality: How I Play” is a gorgeous book full of colorful photographs by Andrew D. Bernstein along with Kobe’s words. He shares his thoughts on the game, the players and coaches he worked with, as well as the opponents whom he fought against. His philosophy was that you have two hands, so you need to learn to use both. When he was younger he started brushing his teeth with his left hand to make it as strong as his dominant right hand. When he was a Laker he found out his ankles needed strengthening, so he took up the best activity to strengthen them: tap dancing. And, while others were designing traditional, high-top basketball shoes, he designed a low-top version to give basketball players more flexibility. With four daughters at home, he even found a way to work out when they were sleeping. He designed midnight workouts for himself so he could train after he put his girls to bed. He details how he played through injuries, and studied his opponents plotting different choreography for each one. You can tell by his words that he not only liked playing the game, but also hoped to teach the game for many years to come. What a loss for all of those players who could have studied under him. “Mamba Mentality” is his legacy to the sport that he loved so much, and his strength and determination resonate from every page. To buy this book on Amazon click here.

Slouching Towards Bethlehem by Joan Didion

I had a great catch up on the phone yesterday with one of my best friends from college. It was so fun to share updates on our children, husbands, summer road trips and twin passion for walking fast. I was so excited to hear what was new in her life, but I was also flooded with memories of our time together at Northwestern. I remember the night she kindly, without judgement, put a bathrobe over me as I threw up into a trash can after drinking too many Kamikazes at a fraternity party. I remember how she introduced me to Havarti cheese and bean sprout sandwiches on whole grain bread. I remember how she bravely continued to take German, while I took one Spanish Lit. class and then let it go. And I remember how much we both loved then, and still love now, curling up with a good book. Our conversation took me back to a classroom in Fisk Hall on the shore of Lake Michigan, talking to my fellow journalism students about this book: “Slouching Toward Bethlehem.” It was the first time I remember eagerly speaking up in class about a book, because I loved it so much. From that point on everything Joan Didion wrote would speak to me, but it all started with this book. First published in 1961, it is a collection of essays about American life in the 1960s, exploring everything from murder and hippies to movie stars and politics. Some of the articles first appeared in the “Saturday Evening Post.” Collectively, they tell the story of a California writer trying to report on her times, while also lifting the lid on objectivity, and deftly inserting her own perspective onto the page. To purchase this book on Amazon click here.

Comfort by Ann Hood

I take a 45-minute walk around Larkspur Landing on my lunch break on the four days a week that I work at my hospice. I have been doing this same walk for about four years now, so the route is pretty familiar. While I walk, I listen to an audio book. The other day I was zipping around a tight corner and my headphones got tangled up around a bush. The more I tried to de-tangle myself, the further the bush seemed to be tugging me toward it. And all of the sudden, there I was, face to face with the bush’s bright purple flowers. Purple. My dad’s favorite color was purple. It felt like my dad was just saying “Hi.” It had to be. I finally pried my headphones from the prongs of the bush and said, “I miss you too, Dad.” Then I walked back to work. My dad died four years ago, and that painfully sad time has passed like the blink of an eye. “Comfort: A Journey Through Grief” is one of several books Ann Hood has written about her five-year-old daughter Grace who died in 2002 from a virulent form of strep throat. This book is about the time after Grace’s death when Hood, her husband, Lorne, and son, Sam, had to learn how to live again. A well-known novelist, Hood could not find comfort in writing or even reading after Grace’s death. She was, as you can only imagine, paralyzed by the memories a daughter who has suddenly vanished. One day, a friend suggested Hood should learn how to knit. That simple suggestion was one of the things that brought her back to life. “Comfort” is a small book packed with heart, wisdom and so much soul.  It gives great insight into grief, and how to find the road back from loss to comfort. To buy this book on Amazon click here.

The Opposite of Certainty" by Janine Urbaniak Reid

LLP Week #231 “The Opposite of Certainty” by Janine Urbaniak Reid

In 1995, when my daughters were born three months early and were later diagnosed with cerebral palsy, everything changed for me. Some of those changes felt hard, but other moments were enlightening and uplifting. Whenever I meet another mother of a disabled child, it still, to this day, feels like meeting a friend in a dark cave. I want to know how they cope, manage, struggle and persevere. So that is why I took “The Opposite of Certainty” by Janine Urbaniak Reid to read recently, while I was on a beachy trip to the Russian River. I wanted to read another mother’s story about what it is like when your child faces a struggle with a disability or illness. The fact that this author lives in Marin County interested me even more. Reid belongs to St. Andrew Presbyterian Church in Marin City, where author Anne Lamott is also a member. In fact, Lamott wrote the foreword to this book and the two women are friends. “The Opposite of Certainty” is Reid’s account of her son Mason’s life after he was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Along with her husband Alan, and siblings Austin and Sarah, Reid wages a reluctant journey into the world of cancer, chemotherapy, MRIs, rehab facilities accompanied by a maze of insurance claims. I found her writing beautiful and her story heartbreaking because of the way she shares her fears and hopes for Mason with such honesty. In an interview with Lamott, Reid explained, “Writing and living the story, I began to recognize the improbable good that shows up, and notice the strength I’m able to tap, especially when I’m exhausted and it all feels like too much.” In these uncertain Covid times, it is important to remember how to tap into your strength whenever possible, and read stories written by those still waging that daily battle. To buy this book on Amazon click here.

"Brother & Sister: A Memoir" by Diane Keaton

LLP Week #230 “Brother & Sister” A Memoir by Diane Keaton

For the last 10 years or so, my sister, brother and I have had a monthly conference call. My dad loved this so much because he wanted nothing more for the three of us to be as close as he was to his two sisters. Whenever my dad heard about people fighting with their siblings, he would get a sad look on his face. Garry felt that life is hard enough, and having siblings to help you battle the storm is essential. Actress Diane Keaton, I believe, would agree with this philosophy. “Brother & Sister” is the story of Diane reflecting back on the relationship with her younger brother, Randy. Growing up in the Los Angeles suburbs in the 1950s, Diane was a raised with Randy and her two younger sisters, Dorrie and Robin. The early years of a relatively happy family life quickly turns into a predicament, plagued with confusion and pain when they all realize that Randy is struggling with a mental illness. This brutally honest and brave book shows Diane combing over Randy’s journals, poems and collages, looking for clues to his story, while it also reveals her own inner story and strength. She wants to know why and how her brother ended up living on “the other side of normal.” While her career was taking off with starring roles in critically-acclaimed movies directed by Woody Allen, he was dealing with divorce, alcoholism, depression and eventually a move to an assisted living facility. A talented photographer as well as an actress, this is Diane’s third book and a fascinating read. We don’t get to select our parents or siblings, but choosing to support them is often a leap of faith and love.  To purchase this book on Amazon click here.

"Mostly Plants 101 Delicious Flexitarian Recipes from the Pollan Family" By Tracy, Dana, Lori & Corky Pollan

My husband Jeff is a natural cook and can create his own delicious meals out of thin air. When we are on our big family vacations in North Carolina, everyone at breakfast literally waits for Jeff to wake up and make breakfast so they can copy his creation.  I am cut from a different cloth. I am a visual learner when it comes to cooking. I need pictures as well as very detailed directions on how exactly to prepare a meal, and the precise timing of every step. I’m not a spontaneous fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants kind of cook. So what a delightful read I found “Mostly Plants” by the Pollan Family. Author Tracy is, of course, the wife of actor Michael J. Fox, and her brother, Michael, a journalist and activist who coined the phrase: “Eat Food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” This time Tracy and her mother, Corky, along with sisters Dana and Lori, take to the page to share their favorite recipes through wonderful text and gorgeous pictures. Jeff and I recently had two friends over for a social distancing brunch and we made the Pollan’s recipe for Rainbow Frittata. With its sliced cremini mushrooms, single red bell pepper, zucchini and Gruyere cheese it was a real winner. I even made the mistake of buying smoked Gruyere instead of regular, and the recipe was very forgiving.  The 101 recipes included in the book are geared toward flexitarian eating, which is a diet of mostly vegetables, but occasionally meat or fish. I look forward to making more of the recipes including Crispy Kale and Potato Hash with Fried Eggs, Vegan Thai Red Curry with Tofu, and the Salmon Farro Bowl. With so many of us huddling close to our families, this is probably the perfect time to treat yourself to a new cookbook for inspiration. To purchase this book on Amazon click here.

"Becoming" by Michelle Obama

My friends Gordon and Bob told me about a show I had not heard of before called “My Next Guest Needs No Introduction” with David Letterman on Netflix. Jeff and I watched our first episode, an interview with Barak Obama. During the interview, the fact that first ladies do not get a salary came up. My jaw dropped. For all the work Michelle Obama did in the White House, she didn’t get paid?! What a crime. But the wonderful interview with the President reminded me how much I loved Michelle’s memoir “Becoming.” There is a realness that comes through during her television interviews that permeates nearly every page of this book. She grew up on the South side of Chicago with her older brother Craig, mother Marian, and dad Frank, who suffered from Multiple Sclerosis. Frank worked hard to support his family, despite his disability. She went to Princeton and later Harvard Law School, and then got a job as a lawyer in Chicago.  It was at her law firm that she met a new associate named Barak Obama. She describes how they fell in love, got married and then started to raiser their two daughters as working parents. We get to see during their early married life how different they are. Michelle is always on time and organized, while Barak is disorganized with his things, and often unapologetically late. There are so many great moments in this book including this one: When she was working she tried to cram all of her mom errands into her lunch break, while eating a Chipotle burrito bowl, in her car, in between stops. “I excelled at the lunchtime blitz – the replacing of lost socks, the purchasing of gifts for whatever five-year-old was having a birthday party on Saturday, the stocking and restocking of juice boxes and single serving apple sauce cups.” The honesty and richness of her story, before and after their time in the White House, are fascinating. The only problem with this book is that it had to end. I hope she will write more. In the meantime, after you read the book, follow it up with “Becoming” on Netflix, which chronicled her history-making book tour. She is riveting to read, and even more so to watch.  To purchase this book on Amazon click here.

"The Bluest Eye" by Toni Morrison

“The Bluest Eye” was Toni Morrison’s first novel which she published in 1970 when she was 39 years old. It is a haunting tale about racism, incest and child molestation set in Lorain, Ohio, where Morrison grew up. The year is 1941, following the great depression at the beginning of World War ll. At the center of the novel is Pecola Breedlove, an 11-year-old foster children sent to live with the MacTeer family. Pecola meets the family’s two daughters Claudia, age 9, and Frieda, age 10, with whom she will be living. Claudia narrates part of the novel, and the relationship that develops between the girls and their new roommate. Pecola has spent her childhood being told she is “ugly” by her parents and other because of her dark skin and eyes. Unable to process the abuse she has suffered, Pecola instead dreams of magically developing blue eyes so she can be told she is “beautiful” like Shirley Temple. Morrison’s writing is lyrical, full of sadness and sorrow, but also features moments of survival and strength – and eventually loss. The book turned 50 years old this year, and Hilton Als wrote in “The New Yorker Magazine” that the book “cut a new path through the American literary landscape by placing young black girls at the center of the story.” Morrison once said she wrote the book because she wanted to read it. Novels like “The Blue Eye” are not easy to read, but they are necessary to read, to witness the injustice of racism and sexual abuse and to forge new paths and roads to stop them.  Click here to purchase this book on Amazon.

Untamed by Glennon Doyle

There is a bright light in all of this, and her name is Glennon Doyle. Where do I begin to explain why I love Glennon and why she is an important author to read right now. Let’s start with her own words. “Untamed is about how we got caged by the world’s expectations of us, and how we break free. It is about how to reclaim yourself, love yourself, trust yourself and abandon other’s expectations so you can stop abandoning yourself.” That is only the beginning. The backstory about Glennon is this: She was married to Craig Melton for 12 years, they had three children and he cheated on her. She tried to stay together with him for the children’s sake, because she is a Christian, but that became harder for her each day. Then, while on a book tour, she meets soccer icon, two-time, Olympic gold medalist Abby Wambach, and the two women fall in love before even kissing. Now Glennon, Abby, her three children and Craig are all quarantining together. If you wrote this as fiction it would appear too far-fetched, but the simple fact is these people have all done a lot of work on themselves, and they are not only making it work, they are thriving. “Untamed” is part memoir, and part call-to-action for women and men. There is a passage in the book when the front door rings, and Glennon and her three kids are afraid to open it. Why they are afraid to open the door, and how they became too afraid is at the root of their problems, and a lot of people’s problems. In the end, they open the door! Learn to live your life without being afraid or ashamed. Glennon is an activist, speaker, mother, wife and author. She has done the hard work on herself and it shows. This book is a great read, and a wonderful gift to give to a friend. To buy this book on Amazon please click here.

"Over The Top: A Raw Journey to Self-Love" by Jonathan Van Ness

Like many people, I have experienced some lows and occasional highs during our quarantine, but my heart truly skipped a beat last week when Netflix dropped the new season of “Queer Eye.” I laugh and cry thru every single episode, and one of the shining reasons is this man: Jonathan Van Ness. For those don’t watch the show, he is the grooming expert and self-care guru. The way he transforms each participant’s hair and skin care routine is nothing short of stand-up-and-cheer amazing. He gives light and love to every story the fab five tackle, and his playful attitude is infectious. “Over The Top” is his time to shine and share his own story. He grew up in Quincy, Illinois, where his mother’s family owned the local broadcast company and newspaper. Despite having a loving mother and step-father, Jonathan was picked on, and bullied at school for being different, and sexually abused by an older boy at church. However, this didn’t stop him from becoming the first male cheerleader at his high school, and pursing his passion for skating. He dropped out of college to become a hairdresser, and took a detour into drugs and addiction. Despite the blow of being diagnosed HIV-positive, he was able to recover from his drug addiction and build a successful career as a stylist. His seven-season web series, “Gay of Thrones,” is a parody of the popular TV series, that brought him to the attention of the producers of “Queer Eye.” When he bonded with the other cast members at the audition, he was cast in the show and became an integral part of the team. His story is one of pain and suffering but also triumph and pure joy. His is a wizard with scissors, a master of transformation and a man whose story is inspiring to the core. To buy this book on Amazon click here.

Heavy: An American Memoir by Kiese Laymon

If there was ever a time to read more, it is now. Michelle Obama offered on Instagram the other day, “It starts with self-examination and listening to those whose lives are different from our own. It ends with justice, compassion, and empathy that manifests in our lives and on our streets.” With this guidance in mind, I read “Heavy” by essayist Kiese Laymon this week. It took me just three days to read this book because I could not put it down. Laymon’s memoir is about the weight of race, the heaviness of abuse, the haunting stigma of body shaming and the family ties that hold us back, and push us forward at the same time. Laymon grew up in Jackson, Mississippi, the son of a single mother who was also a political science professor. She made him read, write and dream big — while also beating him when he was just a little boy. Later when he was sexually abused by a college student/babysitter, he sought comfort in food and overeating became his best friend. College would lead to a new life, but his eating issues became centered on depravation rather than binging. He would lose a lot of weight and then gain it back, by over exercising and starving himself. His food issues parlayed themselves into another kind of addiction: gambling, a vice his mother secretly shared as well. His story is dark and sad, and yet at the same time filled to the brim with light because he uses his writer’s eye to process and feel everything that he is experiencing. He brings us into his world, and shows us the door through which he was able to march out, triumphantly. Laymon is currently an Associate Professor of English, Creative Writing and co-director of Africana Studies at Vassar College. To purchase this book on Amazon click here

"In Five Years" by Rebecca Serle

I am finding that being an adult right now is losing its luster for me. As we enter our fourth month of quarantine, all I want to do it sit in the sun on my husband’s deck and read a book. Let me improve upon that picture: All I want to do it sit on his deck, read a good book while eating Wheat Thins and drinking cold white wine from a plastic cup. Gone are my earlier days of quarantine when I cleaned closets, rolled my socks and painted my apartment. As summer approaches, let’s start cueing up the good romantic reads. “In Five Years” by Rebecca Serle puts an interesting twist on familiar girl-meets-boy scenario. In this story, a girl starts out preparing to marry one man, but suddenly wakes up five years later in the arms of another one. The story of what transpired in those five years provides the arc of this novel. New York lawyer, Dannie Cohan is the lead in this romance, and she must unravel the mystery of her own love story from the inside out. Is she destined to end up with David, the traditional legal-eagle choice for a partner? Or will she end up with Aaron, the bohemian and perhaps more spontaneous choice? In the center of this novel, is Dannie’s relationship with Bella, her best friend, her forever friend. Their friendship is put to the test when they are faced with those grownup problems we all secretly fear the most. “In Five Years” is a well-crafter, intelligent read for this summer, when we all need a break from the pace of daily worrying, and what-not. To buy this book on Amazon click here.

"Waiting for Godot" by Samuel Beckett

This stay-at-home quarantine is starting to feel like a “Waiting for Godot” type of situation. We are given dates when things will change, these dates arrive and then we are told things will change later on. We look forward to the warmth of the summer, and then fear the brutal fall that could be even worse than now. So to give some perspective on the situation, I would like to recommend “Waiting for Godot” as good, quick read for the month of June, 2020.  Written originally in French in 1948 by the Irish writer Samuel Beckett, “Waiting for Godot” is billed as a tragicomedy in two acts. It was one of my dad’s favorite plays. The play features two characters Vladimir and Estragon who are waiting for a character named Godot who seemingly is destined never to arrive. While they wait for Godot, they meet three other characters and engage in conversations about life, religion and friendship. Classified historically as an example of the Theatre of the Absurd, the play seems less absurd and more metaphorical when you think about it today. I read online that the word “godillot” means military boot in French, and is perhaps the inspiration for the title. Beckett fought in World War II, and historians have written that what brought him joy during the war was waiting for letters to come in the mail. Waiting is difficult, and finding strength and patience is even harder. World War II came to an end, and one day our pandemic will, too. We just have to find ways to enjoy the time in between. Reading is an excellent way to spend that time, and so is sending snail mail letters. To purchase this book on Amazon click here.

"Karamo: My Story of Embracing Purpose, Healing and Hope" By Karamo Brown

LLP Week #221: “Karamo: My Story of Embracing Purpose, Healing and Hope” by Karamo Brown

I have a lot to say about how much I love the “Queer Eye” show on Netflix. But let’s start here: Karamo Brown. In the series, he is billed as the “culture expert” but that does not even begin to describe the heart and soul of this wonderful man. He is more like the show’s social worker and psychotherapist, which is what he actually was trained to be. During the series, he spends his moments with participants not just seeing them, but seeing deeply within them into the person they were meant to be. His words in the show are both hypnotic and mesmerizing. His scenes are so riveting that I was excited to tackle his memoir and find out more about the man himself. Raised in the south, he grew up in a blended Jamaican-Cuban family. In high school and college he struggled not only with the person he wanted to be on the outside, but also on the inside. Early on in his life, he was faced with physical and emotional abuse, which later dovetailed into personal battles with drugs and alcohol. The revelations about his past seem almost startling when you see the calm-cool-and-collected way he is on television today. But then again, that is what is at the core of his creative memoir – finding your inner strength, confidence and self-love. He is now the single, gay father of two sons, one biological and one adopted. He is a tall, composed man who seems to almost radiate energy while he is helping others. “Karamo” is an inspiring read for those who are fans of the show, or even those who have never seen it. Anyone who has done the hard work on themselves, and survived, is a success story to me. To purchase this book on Amazon click here.

"Buddenbrooks: The Decline of a Family" by Thomas Mann

The other night my step-daughter Violet was sitting at the far end of our couch knitting , while I sat at the other end working on my latest needlepoint project, with a big magnifying glass around my neck. I glanced over at my husband, Jeff, who sat between us with a long look on his face that read, “We are all going to be on this couch together forever, and there is no end in sight.” Across the world, families are spending more time together than ever before, and with that togetherness comes some highs and some lows. As we all struggle with uncertain logistical and financial times ahead, I thought of Thomas Mann’s book “Buddenbrooks,” which he published in 1901, when he was only 26 years old.  The novel chronicles four decades in the life of a wealthy, bourgeois family of grain merchants in northern German from 1835 to 1877. Much like a modern-day soap opera, “Buddenbrooks” follows the threads of marriages, birthdays, divorces, deaths and re-marriages. For this particular family, the years bring  loss of  money, values and happiness. The book, which was highlighted during Mann’s Nobel Prize win, is said to be based on his own Mann family, and set in a town much like his own birthplace of Lubeck, Germany. The fact that he wrote such a rich novel at only 26 is impressive, considering it would be another 23 years until he wrote his legendary romance, “Magic Mountain.” In “Buddenbrooks,” Mann uses the structure of the family to exemplify the theme of artistic sensibility and creativity vs. financial success and wealth. If you are done streaming “Downton Abbey,” and are looking for a great 19th century family saga, look no further than Thomas Mann’s incredible “Buddenbrooks.”

To purchase this book on Amazon click here.