101 Books to Read Before You Die discussion

Reservoir 13 by Jon McGregor
Irene (Harborcreek, PA)’s review of Reservoir 13 | Goodreads

A 13 year old tourist goes missing while hiking with her parents on the edge of a rural English village. In the glare of TV cameras, with the entire country watching, this feels like the most significant event that has happened in this community. The specter of the missing girl flickers behind the fears and hopes, the plans realized and failed for years to come. Meanwhile, with few looking, people are born into this world and leave it, children depart for university and jobs and the family business changes hands, loved is professed between young lovers and old friends and parents who protect their troubled children at all cost. Could the disappearance of a stranger really be more significant than the myriad stories of fidelity and heart-break and quiet kindness that is lived without remark each day? This is an extraordinary account of ordinary lives.

Intuition by Allegra Goodman
Irene (Harborcreek, PA)’s review of Intuition | Goodreads

Ambition, jealousy, competition play out in a post-doc lab doing cancer research. I appreciated a setting that has not been over used in novels. It was over written in places, descriptive or explanatory phrase layered on top of phrase like pancakes, all pretty much saying the same thing, adding no new information or insight, simply more words piled on (you get the picture).

The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri
Irene (Harborcreek, PA)’s review of The Lowland | Goodreads

It is the 1960s in India when a young college student gets involved in a violent revolutionary movement. The tragic consequences rip the family apart. Lahiri masterfully creates characters and portrays family dynamics. This is a very slow moving book. Little happens apart from the gradual shifting of relationships in this family.

River Sing Me Home by Eleanor Shearer
Irene (Harborcreek, PA)’s review of River Sing Me Home | Goodreads

This slave story is set in the Caribbean in 1834. Slavery has just been outlawed in British colonies, but the former slaves are forced into 6 years of indentured servitude. One woman in desperation flees and embarks on a search to find the children who were sold away from her many years earlier. This follows the tradition quest story line. Along the way she has to overcome great challenges, picks up those who will assist her and prove herself. 3.5 stars

A Pilgrimage to Eternity by Timothy Egan
Irene (Harborcreek, PA)’s review of A Pilgrimage to Eternity: From Canterbury to Rome in Search of a Faith | Goodreads

The author follows an ancient pilgrimage route from Canterbury to Rome. As with most great travel writing, he brings to life the sights and smells, the culture and history of each town along the road. This is a traditional Catholic pilgrim way; its history and culture are explicitly linked to the larger Catholic story. But the author is a religious sceptic whose criticism of the Catholic Church comes close to distain. I enjoyed the writing and learning about each place. But I do not share the author’s religious attitude and found the juxtaposition of revered holy sites with condemnation of the Church to be jarring.

Harsh Times by Mario Vargas Llosa
Irene (Harborcreek, PA)’s review of Harsh Times | Goodreads

This is a fictional account of the violent political turmoil in Guatemala in the 1950s. This novel tells the story of the power brokers, the deceitful campaign of United Fruit, the brutal hand of Trujillo, the callous manipulation of the Eisenhower administration. I needed a better understanding of the historical figures in Guatemala at that time to appreciate this book.

Perfect Little World by Kevin Wilson
Irene (Harborcreek, PA)’s review of Perfect Little World | Goodreads

For an experiment in child rearing practices, 10 sets of new parents and their first born infants are recruited to live in an intentional community where child care is shared. What would be the impact on the children’s development if all sources of stress or anxiety were removed from their lives and the lives of their parents. This novel lacks the quirky humor I expect from a Wilson story. 2.5 stars

Vision by David Tatel
Irene (Harborcreek, PA)’s review of Vision: A Memoir of Blindness and Justice | Goodreads

This is a memoir of a civil rights lawyer and D.C. Superior Court judge. He sees himself as demonstrating judicial restraint and faithfully interpreting the law. He is very critical of the current Supreme Court. Much of this memoir is given over to educating the reader about the way the judicial system should work.

Second Place by Rachel Cusk
Irene (Harborcreek, PA)’s review of Second Place | Goodreads

Drawn to a certain artist’s paintings, a middle aged woman is convinced that he holds the answers to her existential questions. Although the time they spend together is revelatory, it is not what she expected. This is a very well written novel. Despite that, I did not enjoy it. I find the self-absorbed angst of well-off characters in comfortable lives tedious reading.

When Bishops Meet by John W O’Malley
Irene (Harborcreek, PA)’s review of When Bishops Meet: An Essay Comparing Trent, Vatican I, and Vatican II | Goodreads

This is a side-by-side comparison of the three modern Church councils, Trent, Vatican I and Vatican II. Each chapter looks at a different structural topic such as its intended purpose, the involvement of professional theologians, the dynamic between pope and bishops.

The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters by Robert Lewis Taylor
Irene (Harborcreek, PA)’s review of The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters | Goodreads

A 13 year old boy and his kind-hearted father travel from Louisville to the gold fields of California in 1849. This is the story of their adventures told primarily from the vantage of the young boy. This won the Pulitzer Prize in 1958. I doubt it would win today. There is a clear sense of white male superiority. The only good Indian is the one who embraces European ways. I doubt this is the most accurate depiction of the mid-19th century trip across the continent. I probably would have enjoyed it more had I read it as a 13 year old.

Clear by Carys Davies
Irene (Harborcreek, PA)’s review of Clear | Goodreads

This is a beautiful story of the power of encounter to transform us for the good. Two men, a minister who has lost his parish and a hermit who is about to lose his land, are forced together. Despite being separated by lived experience and language, the two realize that they are united by their common humanity. Society is still cruel. The powerful exploit the powerless, the poor are victims of injustice. But when we encounter another in mutual goodness and respect, we can make the burden lighter and the pain easier.

The Death of Rex Nhongo By C. B. George
Irene (Harborcreek, PA)’s review of The Death of Rex Nhongo | Goodreads

This novel captures the complex social dynamics in Zimbabwe’s capital. From the amazing dialogue to the vivid characters to the stunning writing, this is a terrific novel.

Super-Infinite by Katherine Rundell
Irene (Harborcreek, PA)’s review of Super-Infinite: The Transformations of John Donne | Goodreads

Thorough and engaging biography of John Donn.

The Other Name by Jon Fosse
Irene (Harborcreek, PA)’s review of The Other Name: Septology I-II | Goodreads

This is the type of book that usually captures my imagination, a story in which memory and present experience weave together in a fragmented way, where seemingly ordinary events reveal deeper insights. But this one did not work for me. I could not get past the writing with its constant repetition of “I think”, often twice in the same sentence. I never connected with the narrator or his story.



The Autumn of Ruth Winters by Marshall Fine
Irene (Harborcreek, PA)’s review of The Autumn of Ruth Winters | Goodreads

Mediocre writing, cliched characters, sappy story line, predictable outcome, poor development, I found nothing to recommend this story. The unpopular kid in high school returns to her 50th reunion and is the belle of the ball. After years of strain and resentment, a sister makes an unqualified apology, taking full responsibility for evry issue in the relationship. There is no nuance to these changes, no internal struggle to accept the new social perceptions.

The House of Eve by Sadeqa Johnson
Irene (Harborcreek, PA)’s review of The House of Eve | Goodreads

In alternating chapters, we encounter two young women at the middle of the 20th century. One is an impoverished high school student in segregated Philadelphia dreaming of a college scholarship as her way out. The other is a Howard student who marries into wealth beyond her imagining. Both women’s lives are upended by romances that defy social expectations and by unplanned pregnancies. The novel delt with themes of race, class and the tension between professional dreams and motherhood in ways that felt rather conventional.

Orbital by Samantha Harvey
Irene (Harborcreek, PA)’s review of Orbital | Goodreads

This felt more like reading a poetry collection than a novel. There is no plot or characterization. The descriptions are lush. The reader is invited into the tension between humanity’s connectedness and our singular uniqueness, between the mastery to explore the cosmos and our powerlessness before the forces of nature, between scientific advances and the mysteries of the universe that are beyond human comprehension, between being a resident of earth and a creature of endless space, etc. I wish I had read this as a book of poems, a few lines at a time rather than as a novel, in a large gulp.

The Pretender of Pitcairn Island by Tillman Nechtman
Irene (Harborcreek, PA)’s review of The Pretender of Pitcairn Island: Joshua W. Hill – The Man Who Would Be King Among the Bounty Mutineers | Goodreads

I knew next to nothing about the history of Pitcairn Island. I was completely unfamiliar with Joshua Hill. This is well researched, heavily footnoted, and offers extensive breadth when depth is not possible. Despite the lack of historical documents about Joshua Hill, the author uncovers a compelling story that shifts the way this man has been thought of in the past.

Portrait of a Novel by Michael Gorra
Edit Review - Portrait of a Novel: Henry James and the Making of an American Masterpiece | Goodreads

For any fan of Henry James or The Portrait of a Lady, this would be a fascinating book, part biography of the author and part biography of that novel.

Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth
Irene (Harborcreek, PA)’s review of Darling Girls | Goodreads

Human bones are found when an old farmhouse is being demolished. Twenty-five years earlier, that house was the home of a woman who fostered children. Three of those former foster girls share an unbreakable bond born of the trauma of the abuse endured in that home. This book is told in chapters that rotate between the past and the present and among numerous characters. I expected a murder mystery, but this was the story of young adolescents enduring psychological abuse together. There were many times when the actions of characters did not feel realistic or consistent with what we had been shown of them previously. But they were necessary to advance the plot. The epilogue wrapped up the lives of these women too neatly.

The Removed by Brandon Hobson
Irene (Harborcreek, PA)’s review of The Removed | Goodreads

A Cherokee teen is mistakenly killed by police, probably a result of prejudice. Fifteen years later, his family are still suffering from the impact of their grief. Chapters alternate between the voices of the family members over several days leading to the anniversary of the death. This date is also significant in Cherokee history and one of the voices is that of a ancestral spirit. I appreciated the way this novel wove the personal, the familial and the historical trauma. It did not feel as if the various voices were distinct, except for that of the spirit. 3.5 stars

The Lost Heirs of the Medieval Crown by J. F. Andrews
Irene (Harborcreek, PA)’s review of Lost Heirs of the Medieval Crown: The Kings and Queens Who Never Were | Goodreads

This read like a series of encyclopedia entries, informative but lacking any narrative flair.

Picnic at Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay
Irene (Harborcreek, PA)’s review of Picnic at Hanging Rock | Goodreads

It is 1900 and a group of teens of British families at an Australian boarding school have an outing to Hanging Rock. But 3 of the oldest teens and one of the teachers walk off after lunch and don’t return. This novel explores the impact of this event on the many lives it touches. This is extremely well written without being showy. There are incredibly creative similes and metaphors. With just the right details, all the characters are brought to life. The emotional tension is high, but never overdone. I can see why this is a modern classic.

Devil In A Blue Dress by Walter Mosley
Irene (Harborcreek, PA)’s review of Devil in a Blue Dress | Goodreads

This detective novel combined a fast paced plot with well-developed characters and outstanding dialogue. It had a bit too much blood and sex for my taste. It deserves its high regard in the genre.

The Best We Could Hope For by Nicola Kraus
Irene (Harborcreek, PA)’s review of The Best We Could Hope For | Goodreads

This novel explores the impact of suppressed memories and buried secrets on generations of mothers and daughters. Although I liked the theme, I never felt connected to the characters or engaged in their stories. There was something distant in the way the story was told.

An Unfinished Love Story by Doris Kearns Goodwin
Irene (Harborcreek, PA)’s review of An Unfinished Love Story: A Personal History of the 1960s | Goodreads

This is a look at the Kennedy and Johnson administrations from the vantage of her husband’s memories. He was a speech writer for both. This is part memoir and part history of a decade. It assumes that the reader has a familiarity with these presidents and the events of the 1960s. 3.5 stars

The Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins
Irene (Harborcreek, PA)’s review of The Let Them Theory | Goodreads

I don’t usually read self help books, but a good friend highly recommended it. The author tells us that the secret to a happy life is let others feel what they feel, behave as they choose without taking responsibility for those feelings or trying to alter their choices. Rather than change others, we should give ourselves permission to react in a way that is healthiest and happiest for us. Growing up, we spoke of this as “Live and let live.” There were a few nuggets that were worth holding on to, but for the most part, I found this overly simplistic. There are many constraints on people which circumscribe their freedom to choose. There was no discussion of how to handle power imbalances in relationships when you are not free to walk. I was irritated by the tone that the author and all of her highly successful and brilliant collaborators had the wisdom of the universe.

Allegedly by Tiffany Jackson
Irene (Harborcreek, PA)’s review of Allegedly | Goodreads

A baby is dead and the 9 year old neighbor girl is convicted of the crime. Six years later, that girl is living in a halfway house for adolescent violent offenders. She is the narrator of her experience as a survivor in a setting filled with violence and uncertainty. Underlying her narration is the question whether she is truly guilty or has been framed.

This Strange Eventful History by Claire Messud
Irene (Harborcreek, PA)’s review of This Strange Eventful History | Goodreads

I loved this account of 3 generations of a French Algerian family. The story spans seven decades from 1940 to 2010. Seemingly ordinary moments are used to reveal much about each person and to draw the reader into the family circle. Over time, each of these moments take on new and deeper meaning.

The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai
Irene (Harborcreek, PA)’s review of The Inheritance of Loss | Goodreads

An imbittered Indian judge who has adopted the ways of the British colonizers and his orphaned granddaughter, the impoverished cook and his son struggling to raise his family out of poverty by working degrading jobs in New York City illustrate the devastating impact of colonization on a people being forced into the modern world. This novel is tragic and hopeful, brutal and tender, and always brilliantly written.

A Song for Issy Bradley by Carys Bray
Irene (Harborcreek, PA)’s review of A Song for Issy Bradley | Goodreads

This novel explores grief against the backdrop of a Morman faith. I appreciated the way grief manifests itself differently for each character, sometimes unwittingly adding to the burden of others who are grieving. This novel wove in other themes: how faith can be a scaffold offering strength and a way out of tragedy and can completely fail before life’s most difficult moments, the tension between an adolescent’s desire to be faithful to the world view of family and the cultural landscape of peers, the comfort and violation of a tight knit community and more.

All We Were Promised by Ashton Lattimore
Irene (Harborcreek, PA)’s review of All We Were Promised | Goodreads

This novel tells a story of abolition with Black women as the protagonists. I liked the premise, but the plot felt forced. Maybe I was not in the right head space.

My Friends by Hisham Matar
Irene (Harborcreek, PA)’s review of My Friends | Goodreads

This is an exquisitely written powerful novel that captures the loneliness of exile, the enduring fear of a tyrannical regime despite distance, the bonds of family, the complicated and important dynamics of friendship and the struggle to discern one’s journey. 4.5 stars

The Peacock and the Sparrow by I. S. Berry
Irene (Harborcreek, PA)’s review of The Peacock and the Sparrow | Goodreads

This is a traditional spy novel with the tropes associated with this genre. I read it to fulfill a challenge for a book set in Bahrain. 2.5 stars

The Keeper of Hidden Books by Madeline Martin
Irene (Harborcreek, PA)’s review of The Keeper of Hidden Books | Goodreads

Set in Warsaw during Nazi occupation, this novel depicts the importance of literature to sustain the soul. A high school senior is working at the library in 1939 when Nazis invade. Lists of books are ordered to be removed from shelves. She aids an effort to hide these titles in a secret warehouse. Eventually, she is also helping to remove Jews from the ghetto and hide them in safe houses. What was most compelling for me was parallels with our current situation, the lists of books to be removed from libraries, words that must be scrubbed from documents or websites, masked government agents rounding up innocent people simply for where they are from and deporting them to horrific prisons. The major difference I saw between the setting of this novel and the present reality is that the atrocities were committed by an invading army, not one’s own government.


The Last Days of Night by Graham Moore
Irene (Harborcreek, PA)’s review of The Last Days of Night | Goodreads

This historical novel depicts the fight between Edison and Westinghouse over the patten of the lightbulb. I enjoyed the way the historical characters came to life. What might have been a dry legal battle became a compelling story.

Shadow Country by Peter Matthiessen
Irene (Harborcreek, PA)’s review of Shadow Country | Goodreads

In 1910, in a part of southern Florida newly inhabited by whites, a man was killed by his neighbors. Was this vigilante justice, mob violence, self defense? In three sections, this novel looks at this man’s life from different perspectives: his neighbors, his son, and his own voice. Any one of these sections would have made a decent novel. But this extremely long book became so repetitive it could not hold my attention. by

Red Land Black Land by Barbara Mertz
Irene (Harborcreek, PA)’s review of Red Land, Black Land: Daily Life in Ancient Egypt | Goodreads

The author explores what is known about the daily lives of ancient Egyptians. The tone is conversational, presented for a popular audience. Topics range from hair styles to hand writing, from furniture to foods, from board games to popular stories. Attitudes toward and practices around death is given the greatest attention.

Snap by Belinda Bauer
Irene (Harborcreek, PA)’s review of Snap | Goodreads

I was pleasantly surprised by this murder mystery. It was perfectly paced, had compelling characters, rose to the level of great writing.

The Seventh Function of Language by Laurent Binet
Irene (Harborcreek, PA)’s review of The Seventh Function of Language | Goodreads

This is a novel about a novel in which characters are mutilated and murdered in a world of deadly linguistic games and linguistic arguments. This was probably a very clever book, but I did not grasp most of what was going on.

The Safekeep by Yael Van der Wouden
Irene (Harborcreek, PA)’s review of The Safekeep | Goodreads

In 1960 Holland, a young woman lives alone in the home she grew up in. Her parents are dead. Her brothers have moved away. And she is obsessed with her privacy and maintaining her domain free of any change. But when her brother insists that his girlfriend stay at the home for a month while he travels for work, her world is altered. The writing is fabulous. The characters are so perfectly drawn. I could have done with less explicit sex.

This Cold Heaven by Gretel Ehrlich
Irene (Harborcreek, PA)’s review of This Cold Heaven: Seven Seasons in Greenland | Goodreads

Beginning in 1993, the author made 7 prolonged trips to Greenland to experience its varied culture, traditional ways of life, befriend residents and marvel at the beauty of the artic. Part travel-log, part cultural exposition, part historical record of 19th and early 20th century European explorers, this focuses on the more remote communities of Greenland. This could have benefited with some editing down. It became repetitive. I wanted far less stories of earlier expeditions and more contemporary Greenland, including more of its contemporary politics, urban centers and modern economic life. 2.5 stars

The Better Sister by Alafair Burke
Irene (Harborcreek, PA)’s review of The Better Sister | Goodreads

Against the backdrop of a murder, this novel explores the relationship between estranged sisters and between biological mother, step-mother and the son between them. I did not find the scenario and the characters’ actions completely believable. 2.5 stars

Why We Did It by Tim Miller
Irene (Harborcreek, PA)’s review of Why We Did It: A Travelogue from the Republican Road to Hell | Goodreads
Tim Miller is a public relations professional who worked on a number of Republican campaigns at a prominent level. Frightened by and incredulous over the election of Trump, he is among many trying to figure out how Trump gained such hold over the GOP. In the first chapters, Miller looks at his own political career and those compromises he was willing to make with his values. In the later chapters, he looks at the motivations of specific individuals who were initially opposed to Trump but who hitched their wagon to his rising star. There are some insights here, but any serious conversation is lost in the snarky tone. The ambitions of some political players does not explain the larger question of what attracted so many Americans to a man who boasted of grabbing women by the privates, who praised white supremacists, who fomented an insurrection and who violated countless ethic rules. This book was published before Trump’s 2024 campaign.

Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood
Irene (Harborcreek, PA)’s review of Stone Yard Devotional | Goodreads

This is a quiet, introspective book. Facing a divorce, a middle-aged woman is given permission to spend an extended period with a small monastic community. The monastery is near her childhood home which prompts a steady flow of memories. The COVID pandemic, a plague of mice, the arrival of the remains of a former community member, are images of the multiple ways death enters the story: death from cancer, suicide, murder, mysterious means, death of innocence, of the spirit, of dreams, the death of the martyrs. Letting go and the many ways that does and does not happen is at the heart of this book.

The Kingdom of the Poor by Fr. Charles Strobel
Irene (Harborcreek, PA)’s review of The Kingdom of the Poor: My Journey Home | Goodreads

Ordained as a Catholic priest in 1970, Fr. Strobel dedicated himself to serving the poor, particularly the unhoused, of Nashville. This is his reflections on his life as he neared its end.

Absolution by Alice McDermott
Irene (Harborcreek, PA)’s review of Absolution | Goodreads

In 1963, a newly married woman accompanies her husband to Saigon where he works for the U.S. navy. There she is befriended by another young American wife who is organizing charitable events for the poor and sick of Vietnam. As the men plot regime change and plunge a country into a devastating war, the women threaten to up end lives of the powerless in the name of doing good. This novel tries to reckon with the implications of US involvement in Southeast Asia.

Listen For the Lie by Amy Tintera
Irene (Harborcreek, PA)’s review of Listen for the Lie | Goodreads

This is a murder mystery with an unreliable and immature narrator. Evidence is collected through podcast interviews. I did not find the interactions believable.

Headshot by Rita Bullwinkel
Irene (Harborcreek, PA)’s review of Headshot | Goodreads

Eight teen-age female amateur boxers compete in a small elimination tournament. Between descriptions of the rounds we hear the thoughts and background on each girl. This felt like a series of character sketches punctuated by punches. Muy revulsion toward the brutality of boxing as entertainment prejudiced me against this book.

This Motherless Land by Nikki May
Irene (Harborcreek, PA)’s review of This Motherless Land | Goodreads

This is a story of family, of friendship and of cultural displacement. When a car crash kills the mother and brother of a 9 year old girl, she is sent from her home in Nigeria to live with her maternal grandparents and aunt in England. Not only does she have to adapt to a very different cultural environment, but she also has to find a way to navigate a toxic family. Luckily, she finds a refuge and best friend in her cousin. As is true in most stories of friendship, that relationship will be tested to the point of breaking. The story was predictable. But the cultural details gave it some flavor.

Careless People by Sarah Wynn-Williams
Irene (Harborcreek, PA)’s review of Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism | Goodreads

In her account of her years in senior positions at Facebook, the author describes a toxic environment where greed and the desire to win were the only motivations. She portrays Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg as narcissists, immoral, hypocritical, abusive and dangerous. She was fired when she reported sexual misconduct. It could be easy to dismiss her scathing report as the anger of a disgruntled employee. But if it is true, this needs to be sanctioned.