I'm closing in on the end of my Best Friends (dog on the cover) book: Unsaid by Neil Abramson.
I didn't think I would finish it that quickly, the final scenes are fast reads.
I really liked this book. Veterinarian and former primate researcher Helena Colden has died, and watches mutely as her married-to-his-lawyer-job husband David, vet partner Joshua, and friend Jaycee come to terms with her death and try to move on with their lives. She can't interact with the living world, only observe. The dramatic "Hollywood" subplot is that Jaycee is conducting animal communications research with a chimpanzee named Cindy who is able to communicate through sign language at the level of a four-year-old human, and employs David to represent her in the court case when the government agency funding the research pulls the plug and Jaycee is caught trying to steal Cindy from the lab. Meanwhile, Sally, Joshua's vet tech, has a son Clifford with Asperger's who has a way with the animals Helena has left behind and David struggles to care for. The most touching parts of the book come from the scenes of mourning and rebuilding, and I think could have sustained the book on their own--the "famous final courtroom scene," although very well done for what it is, came off as hackneyed and there for the sake of those looking for a drama thriller.
This is, however, an intensely spiritual book and one of the few that so forwardly presents a world view similar to my own: there is no Grand Purpose, no Great God's Plan, and not everything happens for a reason. But that doesn't mean that love, compassion--or even God--don't exist. As one character explains in the scene at the pet cemetery in Paris and the events of the story bear out, the point is not whether or not there is a Plan, but that we respond to events with love and acceptance, no matter how unfair they might be. If unfair, evil things can just
happen, and there is no Reason Things Occur, why not choose to respond with empathy, understanding, love and connecting to our fellow beings? That's where the hope lies amid the suffering, not in an unfounded bromide that it's all God's Plan and that sets the bar way too high that things will all work out for a Purpose. As happens in the story, this realization is what sets us free from the pain. I've toyed with writing something that says something similar, and maybe this book will give me ideas on how I might do that in my own way.
9.
Best friend: A book with a dog on the cover.
Unsaid - Neil Abramson
Done 9/16/19
16.
By its cover: A book you know nothing about, chosen solely by the FRONT cover (no reading the jacket flap, back cover blurb, or reviews).
Happiness - Aminatta Forna
Done 7/23/19
24.
Down on the farm: A book featuring farmers, agriculture, or taking place in an agrarian setting.
Of the farm - John Updike
Done 8/17/19
28.
Keep up with the Joneses: A book everyone else seems to have read but you have not.
The Hate U Give - Angie Thomas
Done 8/6/19
34.
Ye olde booke shoppe: A book written before 1800.
Gulliver's Travels - Jonathan Swift
Done 7/8/19
41.
Locked up: A book taking place in a prison, mental institution or treatment center.
Papillon - Henri Charriere
2. That old black magic: A paranormal novel.
The Ocean at the End of the Lane - Neil Gaiman
Done 3/4/2019
7. Doorstoppers: A book more than 600 pages.
Mexico - James Michener
Done 2/28/2019
13. Learn the Quadrille: A regency romance.
A Wicked Kind of Husband - Mia Vincy
Done 1/26/2019
14. Crossing the (color) lines: A book about a person of color (PoC), any variety, written by an author of the same variety.
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave - Frederick Douglass
Done 1/14/19
17. Back in the day: A historical of any genre.
My Name is Red - Orhan Pamuk
Done 4/18/19
19. Support the home team: A book by a fellow AWer.
A Dangerous Fiction - Barbara Rogan
Done 3/15/19
24. Down on the farm: A book featuring farmers, agriculture, or taking place in an agrarian setting.
Charlotte's Web - E. B. White
Done 1/17/19
27. Halcyon days: A bestseller or book published the year you turned 21.
The English Patient - Michael Ondaatji
Done 6/24/19
29. You might also like. . .: A book recommended by someone real, or by a bot.
Less - Andrew Sean Greer
Done 7/2/19
33. Happy days are here again: A book published between 1945 and 1960.
Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury
Done 5/13/19
37. Read it again, Sam: Reread a book you have already read.
Freedom - Jonathan Franzen
Done 1/14/19
43. Still time for more chapters: A memoir/biography by/about someone who’s still alive (as of January 1).
Educated - Tara Westover
Done 5/30/19
