Favorite books of the year!!!

It's way too hard to pick my favorite reads of the year but I will try my darndest. Deep breath. Here we go... in NO particular order, some of my favorite novels of the year:

31 Hours by Masha Hamilton - this makes you think about the people behind the crimes that we find unspeakable. It makes you think that they too have mothers and there is no black and white. Make sure you have an evening/afternoon free for this one, you'll need to read it in one sitting. Just ask my neighbor Randy.

Very Valentine by Adriana Trigiani - I'm a sucker for ANYTHING this woman writes. I don't care about fancy high heeled shoes, I don't live in New York, I don't travel to Italy to study artisan craftsmanship but I do love my family and food and my work. And this character Valentine. She's stubborn, faithful and so imperfect that anyone would be drawn to her. MN tie: her mother grew up in Chisholm, MN.

Starvation Lake by Bryan Gruley- Who knew that high school hockey could be so mysterious? It is set in the U.P of Michigan amidst a community obsessed with hockey who hasn't quite gotten over the championship that got away. When a journalist comes back to town to edit the newspaper he finds more than memories of his high school hockey career. MN tie: once my luggage was sent to Michigan instead of Minnesota. Does that count?

Remedies by Kate Ledger - this is the story of a physician who thinks he's discovered the cure for pain. He and his wife have been growing apart and the story delves into how there are times in our lives where we feel ENTITLED to break the rules. MN tie: Kate is a freelance writer from St. Paul.

Billie Standish was Here by Nancy Crocker - okay fine, this one is a young adult novel, but still, it counts. I'm a sucker for a book about friendship. Unlikely friendship at that, people of different generations who really change the course of another's life. Miss Lydia becomes the caretaker that 11 year old Billie Standish needs. MN tie: Nancy lives in Minneapolis

Rough Country by John Sandford - I'm one of the few who had never read one of his thrillers...
so it was a big deal to not only finally read one, but to interview him and meet him in person. This is a Virgil Flowers book and set in Grand Rapids, MN where a woman's body is found at a resort that has some secrets of its own to reveal. MN tie: Sandford is from St. Paul

A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick - This one was chilling and surprising. Chilly in setting and tone in northern Wisconsin in the wintertime, and surprising in that the style of storytelling he uses made me think it would be a sweeping historical novel in the vein of Laura Ingalls Wilder all grown up. Holy man, it was gripping. MN tie: is northern Wisconsin close enough?

so many books! Here's some other notables from the year:

Heaven's Keep by William Kent Krueger
Missing Mark by Julie Kramer
The Yamas and the Niyamas by Deborah Adele
All Cakes Considered by Melissa Gray


I know I've left some out - what are your favorite books of the last year?

your 'go to' author?

Is there an author or books that you have continually gone back to in your life? For my husband Tom that author is Louis L'Amour. For as long as I've known him, when we go on a trip he always throws a L'Amour paperback in the suitcase.

When I got the chance to interview L'Amour's widow Kathy about the newly published "The Collected Short Stories of Louis L'Amour - Frontier Stories Volume 7" Tom was excited.

Before I did that I needed to get to the bottom of this reading passion of his. "Why?" I asked.

Tom talked about a couple of things that stood out to him. Setting. The wild west. Wide open uncivilized territory where Louis himself had been. Or at least it FELT like Louis had been to.

And the eternal battle of good v. evil. Tom keeps going back for the formula of a Louis L'Amour novel.

There are more than 300 million copies of his books in print and he's the American born novelist in history to receive both the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal. Tune in this week for my conversation with Kathy L'Amour about her late husband's work. Or check the archive.

And let us know what paperback you stuff in your suitcase!

From last week's show....Zippora Karz & Sandra Harper

Zippora Karz was my guest - talking about her book "Sugarless Plum - A Ballerina's Triumph Over Diabetes" Check out her video here:


I also talked with novelist and playwright Sandra Harper about her new book with a holiday setting, "Over the Holidays". If you missed the conversations, check out the Realgoodwords archive. And as long as we're doing videos, check out this one with Sandra Harper.

what I'm reading on my sick day

Could you handle....

living off the land, with no electricity, sometimes faulty equipment, monitoring the habits of sea ottters for over a year??? Wait, there's as second part to this question. Could you handle all of that, with your spouse?

Judy Swain Garshelis and her husband Turk did just that. They spent over a year in the remote near Prince William Sound in Alaska, studying the breeding and eating and general movements of sea otters.

Judy told me how the head of the project (from the University of Minnesota) said that he didn't think it was a good idea for a married couple to do the project together. But the Garshelis' proved him wrong. Now, years later, Judy has written about their experiences. The book is called "Otter Spotters - A Wildlife Adventure in Alaska". Judy will be talking about her book and experiences on Thursday Dec. 1st at 7pm at the Grand Rapids Area Library and also signing copies of her book at the Village Bookstore on Saturday Dec. 5th.

Upcoming library/author events in northern Minnesota

Thursday Nov. 19th - The Amazing Charles will be at the Hibbing Public Library from 6-7 teaching about balloon art.

Thursday Nov. 19th - Lorna Landvik is at the Bemidji Public Library at 7pm.

Saturday Nov. 21 - 10:30 at Bemidji Public Library Alison Edgerton will talk about the "real" Laura Ingalls Wilder.

Saturday Nov. 21 - Stephanie Stevens will be at the Village Bookstore in Grand Rapids at noon to talk about her book for children, "Isabelle and Grandma Birdie".

Sunday Nov. 22 - Deborah Adele will be at CENTER in Grand Rapids at 11am to lead a discussion of her book "The Yamas & the Niyamas - Exploring Yoga's Ethical Practices". See Center's website for prices and more information.

Saturday Nov. 28 - Tom Chase has a book part for his first sci-fi novel "Stargazer - The First Days" at Brewed Awakenings in Grand Rapids starting at 11am.

Thursday Dec. 1 - Judy Swain Garshelis is at the Grand Rapids Area Library at 7pm to talk about her book "The Otter Spotters - A Wildlife Adventure in Alaska".

Saturday Dec. 5 - Judy is at the Village Bookstore in Grand Rapids at 12, signing copies of "The Otter Spotters - A Wildlife Adventure in Alaska".

Yamas & the Niyamas

What?

Yamas? Niyamas?

The Yamas & Niyamas are yoga's ten ethical guidelines and comprise the first two limbs of Yoga's eight-fold path.

They are the foundation of skillful living.

Yamas include nonviolence, truthfulness, nonstealing, nonexcess and nonpossessiveness. Niyamas include purity, contentment, self-discipline, self-study and surrender.

Deborah Adele is the author of the book "Yamas & the Niyamas - Exploring Yoga's Ethical Practice"and the co-owner of YogaNorth in Duluth, MN.

She'll be not only my guest this week on Realgoodwords, but she'll also be in Grand Rapids on Sunday morning (November 22) to kick off a guided study of her book at Center.

In the preface of her book, The Yamas & Niyamas: Exploring Yoga's Ethical Practice, Deborah Adele says, "We all want to live well. Let's face it, at the end of the day, it's not how much you have or how much you accomplished that counts. What matters is how well you have participated in your own life, both the ordinary routines and the extraordinary surprises." Deborah brings these 10 guidelines to life with gentleness and grace as she shares her own life stories. She provides opportunities for self reflection as she challenges us to apply yogic wisdom to our lives today.