EVERYONE Has Read This but Me - The Catch-Up Book Club discussion

Hello everyone! Welcome to our discussion-based monthly challenge called Themes of Our Lives, a fairly open platform for discussing multiple books centred around a common theme. It could be a book you are already reading this month, giving you a chance to reflect on what you’re reading from another angle, or you could pick a book at the start of the month based on the chosen theme: Unusual Professions, Unreliable Characters and Unusual Minds.
All genres and book lengths are permitted: the aim of this challenge is to create an atmosphere for unconventional and inspiring book talk.

To start us off, why don't we discuss some ideas for what titles we will be reading and what draws us to them?

I'm currently reading two that will fit, and the next on my nightstand will, too.

(And because February is a short month, I'm gonna start one day early. :)

A Little Love Song has a whole village of Characters who are challenged into new ways of thinking and being by WWII.

The Vanished Birds is an epic yet intimate SF, exploring the ramifications of this imagined future world on various individuals, many of whom certainly have Unusual Professions.

I haven't started The Undercover Economist yet, but the kind of person who came up with that title must have an Unusual Mind, eh?

I love the idea of themed reads like this! As much as I'd love to find something about an unusual profession, I am also trying to read books off my shelves or check things out from the library as much as possible this year.

I picked up We Were Liars for my Kindle. I don't know much about it, other than it comes highly recommended by a friend, it's rated highly on Goodreads, and it shows up on a listopia list of books with unreliable narrators.

Looking forward to starting this book in the next week!

Erin wrote: "I love the idea of themed reads like this! As much as I'd love to find something about an unusual profession, I am also trying to read books off my shelves or check things out from the library as m..."

We Were Liars is chaotic-good.

I am reading The Tenent of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte. I think it qualifies as unreliable characters as it is written in First person narration and then starts revealing the main character’s diary.
I have read books by the other Bronte sisters but not Anne. I am about a third of the way through. So far - very likeable main character but I am waiting to hear the real story ...

I am struggling to find excitement for this theme, I can't find a good book to fit it that is already on my shelf... I have lots of ideas for next month's Science and Nature theme.

I saw Love Lettering on my library's 'big read' shelf on overdrive/libby and decided I was in the mood for something light and different.

Now I realize that it fits this theme perfectly: she's a letterer, as in, draws custom planners, journals etc., he's apparently on the autism spectrum (? don't know for sure as not done yet) and is a quant (not sure I understand that either). And I don't know how much I can trust what she's narrating, either.

But it is a fun easy read, not too cliched like formula chick lit or romance. I think that I can recommend it if any of you are stuck but want to participate.

Cheryl wrote: "I saw Love Lettering on my library's 'big read' shelf on overdrive/libby and decided I was in the mood for something light and different.

Now I realize that it fits this theme per..."

I have not done the big reads before. How does it work?

Kate Clayborn is one of my favorite authors. I'm glad to see this book getting the traction it is. I do hope you enjoy, and I will be curious on your thoughts.

It certainly fits the theme of unusual professions.

Laura H wrote: "I am reading The Tenent of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte. I think it qualifies as unreliable characters as it is written in First person narration and then starts revealing the main character’s diar..."

Laura, I read this one last year, and it surprised me how much I liked it. I don't get why Anne is the least popular Bronte. I enjoyed it more than Jane Eyre or Wuthering Heights.

Cheryl, Love Lettering sounds intriguing. I read the first page on Amazon and like the style a lot.

I really want to read The Tenant of Wildfell Hall Laura, and I want to hear what you thought about it Joanna as I tried a couple of years ago but perhaps I wasn't ready for it? I would love to hear how it fits this theme well.

Betsy wrote: "Cheryl, Love Lettering sounds intriguing. I read the first page on Amazon and like the style a lot.

I really want to read The Tenant of Wildfell Hall Laura, and I wa..."

That’s possible Betsy. I don’t think I would have liked it as much 10 years ago. I think it has a bit of the unreliable narrator to it.

The narrator is an outsider/newly introduced from the tenant’s story so you get wrong suppositions at times. There are rumors explored. The narrator becomes more a part of the series more as the story goes and there times when he feels duped and times when he’s the tenant’s biggest believer.

I would say that Anne Bronte seems to glorify toxic relationships much less than her sister. I think this cartoon sums it up nicely:


https://images.app.goo.gl/8UXbkYrFcr9...

Betsy wrote: "Cheryl, Love Lettering sounds intriguing. I read the first page on Amazon and like the style a lot.

I really want to read The Tenant of Wildfell Hall Laura, and I wa..."

I am about halfway through and enjoying it so far. I love the strong female character during this time period. I am enjoying hearing her point of view rather than Gilbert's narration.

Unusual professions and unusual minds... I just read the first two Dexter books and they definitely fit this. His day job is a Blood splatter Analyst and his hobby? Killing murderers.

I just started reading H is for Hawk which is a memoir about a falconer. So far, it's pretty interesting.

I liked Love Lettering enough to consider more by the author. Different libraries and communities do big reads or community reads differently, and one's level of participation is up to oneself. I'm not doing anything except reading the same book a bunch of others are. In the old days sometimes the author would come speak, or an expert of the setting would present, and there would be a discussion. Now, I don't know.

Cheryl wrote: "I liked Love Lettering enough to consider more by the author. Different libraries and communities do big reads or community reads differently, and one's level of participation is up to oneself. I'm..."

Thanks. It came up on the Libby App on my library too, and I've noticed other books at different times, but haven't participated in it before.

I would recommend her latest Love at First. Found family. Her others are good too, but probably a bit more formulaic.

I just finished listening to Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know About the People We Don’t Know, which isn't necessarily an unreliable narrator, but it does discuss reasons why people might unreliable narrators.

A lot of the focus was on how people are bad at telling when others are lying, particularly if looking for normal social cues. It discussed current and distant events on how trying to understand the "stranger" or other party led to wrong conclusions. It was interesting. I enjoyed it, but not quite sure what I thought of it as a whole.

The audio use clips from actual interviews rather than reading straight from the text. It was a bit like listening to a podcast.

Considering how hard communication is even among family who try hard, we need all the help we can get from books like that, I think, Joanna.

Thanks for the rec, too.

Well my bad. I actually read several others that fit this theme:

The Empress of Mars - there's a lot more to tending bar when the Company withdraws support and the colonists are on their own.

The Magnificent Migration: On Safari with Africa’s Last Great Herds - Montgomery is determined to speak for the voiceless, in any format and for any audience she can reach. This is a coffee table book that has as much fascinating text as it does gorgeous pictures. And her idea of a safari is more like an expedition than I'd ever want to do!

The Bees - Flora 717 has a lot of different jobs, from sanitation worker to handmaiden to the queen to forager... but her obsession is what makes us ache for her.

A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking looks like it's written for children, and is about a youngster, but it's really awfully complex for kids. And sometimes pretty intense, too. Baking for your neighbors is one thing, but baking to defend your kingdom is something else....

Even though this theme is for last month, I'll add some of the books I've enjoyed for any who come mining later.

Unusual Professions:
Upstairs at the White House: My Life with the First Ladies
Into the Planet: My Life as a Cave Diver - this is actually still on my TBR, but a source I trust evangelized it to me, so I'm excited to read it.
Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise

Unreliable narrators:
Educated - a memoir in which on a few occasions the author Tara Westover shares how other family members remember things differently. Fascinating implications as to what makes up truth and memory.
Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine
Rebecca
Piranesi

Unusual Minds:
Steve Jobs
The Stranger
Something That May Shock and Discredit You - Daniel Ortberg is so brilliant and this memoir on his experience with transitioning f:m is very experimental in its writing
The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary

I'll have to look at Ortberg's book. The other memoirs I've read, and the one woman I dated, have been m:f, which actually surprises me because it seems to me the less appealing choice. Of course, the point is that it's not a choice, it's one's very nature, I know. But still.

For unreliable narrator these ones come to mind that Ive read:
The Silent Patient
The Girl on the Train
Gone Girl
The Woman in the Window

Thomas Murphy is an extremely unreliable narrator... but somehow it's still a wonderful novel.

I'm thinking about how much we identify with our professions, and how that may be an interesting way to look at how characters in books are portrayed. Are characters memorable to you because of their job title?

I am reading a couple of books which fit this theme

One is Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead: The narrator certainly has a very unusual mind. She had such a unique way at looking at things and comes up with the most interesting points of view. She does not believes in names. She thinks the names people are given have nothing to do with who the person is so she gives her own nick names to everyone she meets. She also has a hobby in astrology and tracing peoples astrological charts.

Another book I am reading is Grotesque: This is another first person narrative and I would say the character is both very unreliable and has an unusual mind. She seems to have a complete lack of emotional connection to other people. She is detached from everyone she meets including her own family. She also has an odd hobby. Whenever she meets a man regardless of any feelings she may or may not have for him she visualizes what their children would look like if they had any. It could be a co-worker or a random person she sees on the street.

My own government was an unreliable narrator. I just finished The Afghanistan Papers: A Secret History of the War by Craig Whitlock - my first 5☆ this year. Get a look inside the room where it happened.

My review - www.Goodreads.com/review/show/4526675440

The Price of Altruism: George Price and the Search for the Origins of Kindness definitely fits the category. He usually worked as a mathematician, when he worked. before he (apparently) went mad. The book reminded me a bit of the movie A Beautiful Mind (I've not read the book yet).

Betsy, I love your question.

These two biographies absolutely appealed to me because I'm curious about how it seems that those of us who are the most brilliant are the most vulnerable to mental illness. It's not just artists like Van Gogh, clearly, that reinforce the stereotype... and it would be interesting to try to run data analyses to see if the stereotype is based on truth.

I actually do not have friends or family that identify themselves by job title or even by job or career. So I need more examples, from life or from books, to fully understand and be able to think about what you're asking.

Silver, those two titles sound very intriguing and mysterious. And dark!

I love your response Cheryl! I relate to the idea that those most creative are normally troubled with mental illness. It reminds me of the trope of the Fool employed by Shakespeare and other more modern writers; being on the edge of the world, you can sometimes see things clearly and say how it is, which is what creative members of society generally do by pushing boundaries and discovering essential elements that were always there but covered over with dust.

I think it's holistic to view a person in their entirety, as we are not only what we 'do' but how we 'be'. But I see it in books (and 'real' life) that we judge someone's intellect and purpose by their profession.

Huh. I guess that I'm lucky. The only time I encounter characters that are being defined only by what they 'do' or by any other single factor is in bad books with 'cardboard' characters... and when I do encounter them, I write a review calling the author out for that laziness!

But ooh, I love connecting creative people to the Fool. I won't try to paraphrase or echo what you said; it's just brilliant as you wrote it.

But then to extend the thought, it's the Fools and the Creative Geniuses, those who see what the rest of us overlook, who therefore are seen as mad... because they aren't conformists. Many so-called mental illnesses are probably actually just differences, not actual problems.

For example, homosexuality used to be, in my lifetime, in the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association). And now "autism" is much more carefully defined (https://www.autismspeaks.org/dsm-5-an...), in part, I'm sure, because people who are neuro-diverse are not necessarily mentally ill.

So, yes, absolutely, people are not their title, or their diagnosis!

Betsy wrote: "I'm thinking about how much we identify with our professions, and how that may be an interesting way to look at how characters in books are portrayed. Are characters memorable to you because of their job title?"

Bump, because I like the way you asked that and I hope some folks have comments.

Cheryl is busier irl atm. wrote: "Betsy wrote: "I'm thinking about how much we identify with our professions, and how that may be an interesting way to look at how characters in books are portrayed. Are characters memorable to you ..."

I cannot think of too many books where a characters profession has really made a strong impression on me or where I really identified a character through their character.

Though as an English major and an Artist I tend to be drawn to books that deal with the inside workings of the Art or literary academia world or feature characters that are artists.

I just finished Great Circle and loved it. I enjoyed reading the fictional story of Marian Greaves, a female pilot. What I appreciated about the book was it depicted the history of females who aspired to a profession that was dominated by men. I loved her grit and determination. The idea of women relegated to moving the planes during WW2 was fascinating.
There have been a few of these books in recent years that have told these type of stories - Hidden Figures comes to mind. I really enjoy reading these books because the women are in non-traditional roles and are really interesting.

I am not sure if this book will fit the theme but i read Seven Years by Peter Robinson; the main character, in my opinion, had an unsual mind because he found a note written in a second hand book and found out where she lived and everything just to find out if she was okay?

I don't know to me that just seemed so strange I wouldn't have done half the stuff he did in order to find her and it was just an obssession of finding her which to me was so weird.

characters in search of an author (6)

Laura, in my opinion that certainly counts. Obsession is not all that uncommon, but it is unusual... and interesting to read about. One could even say that some of the pioneering females in Laura H.'s book were obsessed, I imagine... it's not a disorder, I believe, unless the person has lost control over their mind.

Reading about unusual minds always makes me thankful that I have as much control over my sanity as I do, even though it's imperfect.

I just read Fluke which definitely qualifies for the theme, but in a way that's a little different. A man in the body of a dog, with the 'minds' of both struggling to find balance and purpose....

Cheryl is busier irl atm. wrote: "Many so-called mental illnesses are probably actually just differences, not actual problems."

THIS. You said it perfectly, Cheryl.

Hi Cheryl. I have been thinking about your comment about obsession and I think you are right. In the book I read, Great circle, Marion was obsessed about becoming a pilot. I think obsessed has a negative connotation but should it? If you are really determined to achieve your goal or you are really fascinated by the work you are doing … is that a bad thing? Especially when it makes you happy and you are really good at it?

I think you're right, Laura H. Obsession can be a good thing... I suppose we normally say 'passion' so it doesn't seem negative, but that's not such a powerful word imo.

It's funny how obsession has a negative connotation and passion doesn't. It's all about perspective, and framing. I'm reading Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It by Chris Voss and it reminds me of how you are more likely to acquire a better salary by saying a range of numbers like $120,000 - $150,000 rather than just saying $120,000, because it sounds cheaper in relation to 150K! Crazy how we can't really have an objective stance.

Yeah, if only we were all Vulcans, right?

:jk:

Betsy wrote: "It's funny how obsession has a negative connotation and passion doesn't. It's all about perspective, and framing. I'm reading [book:Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended ..."

Behavioral economists have exposed our fallacy in believing that humans are "perfectly rational" but it's been a vital, simplifying assumption for many economic models.

Betsy wrote: "Cheryl is busier irl atm. wrote: "Many so-called mental illnesses are probably actually just differences, not actual problems."

THIS. You said it perfectly, Cheryl."

Yes, in the past society (ie men) and the nascent psychiatric field were quick to mislabel people. Certainly many readers including me were trying to understand the protagonist Meursault in this month's BOTM - The Stranger - whether the protagonist was suffering from grief-induced depression, if he was on the autism spectrum, or even whether he was a sociopath. But in the end, I didn't believe that any of these suppositions was apt. This book fits February's theme because of Meursault's unusual mind due to his fervent embrace of Absurdism.

My review - www.Goodreads.com/review/show/4565705108