Elizabeth’s Comments (group member since Jun 05, 2018)

Elizabeth’s comments from the Books Of Your Life with Elizabeth group.

I'm thinking about it...

Apart from my terrible math, I really enjoyed interviewing Neil. He was integral to the early success of Goodreads and I've always thought he has a bit of a midas touch. He also has an incredible sense of humor and imagination. He recommended some very, very interesting books. What do you think of his picks?

*The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe

* Just William by Richmal Crompton

* The Man Who Was Thursday by G.K. Chesterton

* Lud in the Mist by Hope Mirrlees

Glad you liked it! I thought she was really fun.

I'm so glad to hear that you all enjoyed the interview. She is an amazing woman. I also thought that Mrs. Bridge was a force of a novel. It unsettled me.

Helen Hoang was a really interesting interview. She's the first person I've interviewed who only selected books from a specific genre, her genre, romance.
I also thought that she was very articulate in describing her own challenges as well as her motivation for reading. It's a nice departure from some of our other guests!

What did you all think?

She recommended:

* Slave to Sensation by Nalini Singh

* Flowers in the Attic by
V.C. Andrews

* Gentle Rogue by Johanna Lindsey

* Long Shot by Kennedy Ryan

Hi Katey,
That's probably my fault as it took me a while to get this up and running. I certainly have struggled with many of the issues that come up as a parent. I think the proliferation of stuff is very challenging. I've notice that I give fewer and fewer presents every year. But the grandparents are very hard to control!

I know! I tried not laugh at that point.

Hi Katey and Nikkie! Thanks so much for the feedback. We are going to try a few longer ones. One issue is that some of these guests can only provide a short amount of their time. The latest with Helen Hoang is a little bit longer, so I'm also going to take a look at the data and see how it performs.
Warmly,
Elizabeth

I was very excited to get to speak with Melinda as I thought it would be interesting to learn what someone who has so many choices in her life would choose to read. Her books don't disappoint. I found them to be the kind of books that are truly helpful, both intellectually and emotionally.

What did you all think?
She recommended:
*Awakening Joy by James Baraz and Shoshana Alexander
*Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari
*The Book of Awakening by Mark Nepo
*Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton
*Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent and Lead by Brene Brown

Jared was kind enough to invite me into his house where we looked at his books (he's a book stacker) and saw many of the treasures he's procured in his many travels. He also told me that 80 has never felt better--a comforting thought!

What did you think of the books that have shaped his life? I'm still working through them and I've found them fascinating!

Thanks for the thoughts! I think we will try to bump them up a bit. Some of the guests have more time available than others, but I have also thought that perhaps people would like to go a bit deeper.

Would you prefer the podcasts to be longer? I'm interested to know if you would like them to be more in depth.
Thanks!

Many of you may know Will from the books he wrote: The End of Your Life Book Club and Books for Living. Otis and I met Will many years ago when he was an entrepreneur working on the site Cookstr and he was integral to the early success of Goodreads. He was a wonderful advisor and became a great friend

I spoke with him about the books that have shaped his life. He has so many amazing recs. Have you read any of them? Please share your thoughts!

*Stuart Little by EB White
*Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin
Why I Wake Earlyby Mary Oliver Mary Oliver
THE IMPORTANCE OF LIVING The Importance of Livingby Lin Yutang
A LITTLE LIFE A Little Life by Hanya Yanigahara

Oh! And I agree with you about Djuna. Fascinating!

Hi Kaila,
Thanks so much for the feedback. We had a ton that we had to cut out. I'd be curious to know if others want the podcast to be longer. I know Otis had a similar reaction to Will's. I'd be curious to know your thoughts!

Author, essayist, art critic, and Guggenheim fellow Frederic Tuten discussed his memoir, My Young Life, Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann, Nightwood by Djuna Barnes, Pedro Paramo by Juan Rulfo, and why he doesn't want to live in a world without books. 

These three books area all incredibly powerful. I'd be interested to know what everyone else thinks!

I think she said she was nearly 6 feet. But I'm not sure.

Podcaster, author, blogger, and very tall person Nora McInerny discusses her latest book, No Happy Endings, about how she found love again after her first husband Aaron died of brain cancer, and three other books that have shaped her life: Smashed: The Story of a Drunken Girlhood, Food Freedom Forever: Letting Go of Bad Habits, Guilt, and Anxiety Around Food, and Man's Search for Meaning.

I would love to know what everyone thinks of these books!

Marlon recommended several books that I'm excited to talk to him about:

Sula by Toni Morrison

Shame by Salman Rushdie

Dogeaters by Jessica Hagedorn.

If you have any questions that you'd like to ask Marlon (about these books) or any insights about them I'm always interested. Best-E

P.S. They are three fantastic reads!

Hi Everyone, I'm starting to work on Season 2, so you will see some new books being added to the bookshelves. If you want to read them in advance of the podcast you should be able to see them!