Holiday books: Reader recommendations

The best book I read in 2014 was "Thunderstruck and Other Stories" by Elizabeth McCracken. She is a national treasure, and reading her writing is like staring at the sun: You are warmed by its existence and blinded by its brilliance.

Liberty Hardy,

Kittery, Maine

"The Shelf" is Phyllis Rose's nonfiction account of reading all the books on one shelf at her local library. In doing so, her natural curiosity leads her to uncover background for the books (such as "The Phantom of the Opera") and to meet an author she'd never heard of and came to adore (Rhoda Lerman). She discusses how library collections are maintained and encourages anyone who reads to go beyond the "it" book of the moment and find the hidden gems.

Gina Sekelsky,

Minneapolis

Our book club read poetry aloud in April from Edger Lee Masters' masterpiece, "Spoon River Anthology." We realized how alike humans are in 1915 to today. This coming year will be 100 years since "Spoon River Anthology" was published. I recommend these iconic poems for all to read in 2015, especially come April, which is poetry month.

Minneapolis

First, "A Sudden Country," by Karen Fisher. It was a first novel for her some years ago, full of clear descriptions and raw emotions of a colorful time, which was the Oregon Trail in 1847. There is a forbidden love affair, tragedy and finding oneself. It was so authentic one could just about taste the food. I read it twice just to underline the food parts. My second choice was "Transatlantic" by Colum McCann, an Irishman living in the U.S. — the novel spanned the time from Frederick Douglass in the mid-1800s to George Mitchell and the Irish Peace accords in 1998 and beyond.

Becky Glister,

Mound

My book for 2014 — the best I read all year — is "The Hen Who Dreamed She Could Fly" by Sun-mi Hwang. I never would have dreamed that the tale of a chicken could feel so like me. The book is so touching, I felt like a little winged thing for days afterwards. It is at its heart a fantastic story about mothers and sons, parents and children. A short read, but every page is beautiful.

Lindstrom, Minn.

The best book I've read this year is Georges Simenon's "The Train." First published in 1958 as "Le Train" and recently published in English, it tells the story of an ordinary workingman's extraordinary adventure during a flight from German troops in World War II. It is equally mystery, love story and thriller — and it succeeds completely in each. I've read around 30 books this year, but this is the one that I remember best, and the one I'm looking forward to rereading the most.

Joe Harbin,

St. Paul

"Cutting Teeth" by Julia Fierro is a juicy, searing look at what transpires in mommy groups as a group of mothers, and one father, converges on a beachside cottage with kids, spouses and all, letting loose all forms of mom-on-mom crimes. Tough being a parent today, but Julia makes reading about it so entertaining.

Toronto, Ontario

"The Art of Hearing Heartbeats" by Jan-Phillip Sendkar is a wonderful book about discovery and love amidst a life of true hardship. Reads like poetry on the page while sending you on a journey of discovering answers to life's hard questions. Just couldn't put it down.

Jane McCormick,

Eden Prairie

I haven't read many books this year due to my teaching schedule, but one that I really liked was "My Beloved World" by Sonia Sotomayor. An excellent memoir which speaks to courage in dealing with the chronic illness of diabetes and growing up in the projects. An excellent example of affirmative action at work.

Winona, Minn.

"Moby Dick," by Herman Melville. Melville's masterpiece grabbed me from the first page. It's such a cultural icon that I'd thought I'd read it already. When I finished it, I felt I'd been on the long whaling voyage myself — the ship, the waves, the long stretches of boredom in which the narrator has time to mull over every tiny scrimshaw-like detail about whales, then, the frantic rushing of the hunt. The themes of the book are very contemporary. The search for oil — then in the form of the whale — was as problematic as it continues to be today.

Barbara DaCosta,

Minneapolis

Sherry Turkle, MIT professor and clinical psychologist, has written "Alone Together" as the final part of a series on technology's impact on society and the psyche. In story after story from her research, she describes how technology has created the new alone and is rewiring brain patterns. We communicate more than ever with people whom we do not know and will never meet. Conversations that were once deep dialogues are now rapid-fire snippets of techno-talk. And technology in the form of programmed robots is becoming desirable as a "friend" for the left-alone elderly and "alive enough" for educating and entertaining children. Reading this book will leave you changed and likely no longer a passive consumer of technology. And it may reawaken the realization that lasting "count on you" relationships are built over time by true togetherness that uses mouths, ears, hands, eyes and human touch for heart-to-heart communication.

St. Paul

The best book that I've read this year is "I Am Pilgrim" by Terry Hayes. Despite the book's being 700 pages, it is a quick and wild ride. You cannot put it down once you have picked it up. You, of course, are cheering and rooting for the good guy, yet you can find yourself sympathizing with the bad guy, who wants to destroy us. A wicked game of cat and mouse that will keep you twisting and turning. Definitely the best thriller of the year! This is THE book!

Stacy Reller,

St. Croix Falls, Wis.

"The Age of Miracles" by Karen Thompson Walker. Written in first-person style by the 11-year-old main character, Julia, this novel really makes one think. Her life is suddenly thrown into disarray when the Earth's rotation slows down. The days become longer and everything is affected: people, animals, society, the environment — all of Earth, basically. Julia's parents' marriage begins to unravel, and with the slowing rotation, Julia's life is turned upside-down. Excellent writing that is wonderfully descriptive made me feel as though I was part of the story. I couldn't wait to see what would happen next. The story does tend to slow down in parts (just like the Earth's rotation), but it really held my attention. I can already see a movie being made based on this fantastic book. I certainly didn't want the book and story to end!

St. Louis Park

The best book I read this year was "Ordinary Grace" by William Kent Krueger. To me, the mark of a great book is when I don't want it to end because I want to know more about the characters and what happens to them. I fell in love with the narration and was entranced by the people in the book, especially the mother and the father, both of whose lives had taken such drastic turns as the result of the war. I recommend this book to everyone I know. I just loved it.

Laura Stevens,

Mankato

"The Goldfinch" is up there. But you know that. Best book, hands down, was "All Our Names" by Dinaw Mengestu. Stunning.

Minneapolis

The best nonfiction book I've read this year is Amanda Vaill's "Hotel Florida: Truth, Love, and Death in the Spanish Civil War." It is a masterful interpretation of a seminal event of the 20th century told from the perspective of Ernest Hemingway, Martha Gelhorn, Robert Capa, Gerda Taro and the other correspondents and photographers who covered the conflict.

Bill Beck,

Indianapolis, Ind.

"The Last Summer of the Camperdowns" by Elizabeth Kelly, which is about a family spending its last summer together on Cape Cod in 1972 in the midst of hysterically funny and frighteningly dark circumstances. I laughed out loud and was on the edge of my seat. Kelly's characters are so memorable that spending time with them is a reader's treasure.

North Oaks

I learned more about the history of World War II while reading the book "Unbroken" by Laura Hillenbrand. The book is based on the astounding life of Louis Zamperini, who was a prisoner during the war. What I will always remember is his indomitable spirit that was not only able to survive but to come to a place of forgiveness for his captors. I believe we can all learn from his inspirational legacy.

Carole Pearson,