Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly linkup of book bloggers hosted by The Broke and The Bookish! This week’s topics are books we liked that have stayed mostly under the radar (i.e. have only a couple thousand ratings on Goodreads). I found this an intriguing topic and I can’t wait to see everyone else’s lists too…a lot of “hidden gems” lists often feature books that were actually fairly popular at one point or another. These ones are really pretty hidden!
The Anointed One: I can see why this one doesn’t have many Goodreads ratings…it’s really good, but it’s really focused on Nevada politics, and that’s a really small world of people. But if you are interested in politics on any level, Jon Ralston tells a fascinating story behind a gubernatorial election and how the sausage is really made!
Welcome To My World: Figure skating is my favorite sport. I’m not, like, good at it at all, but I just love watching it. And Johnny Weir, during his skating career, was one of my favorites (he’s still a favorite in his commentating career). He published a memoir and I bought it and I liked it! And when he did a tour to support it and came to the Ann Arbor Borders (RIP), I totally went and got my copy signed, so I’ve got that on my shelf still.
Kinky: This poetry collection based on Barbie was something I picked up from a high school classmate in AP English (who is completely off social media and I wonder what ever happened to). Denise Duhamel uses America’s favorite doll to reflect on social expectations, particularly of women, and it’s actually a book I still think about and pick up every so often. I’m not a poetry buff, so that’s a big endorsement.
Star Split: I do have a copy of this, although I haven’t read it in forever and I’m pretty sure it’s out of print now. This genetic-engineering based dystopian young adult book by Katheryn Lasky really got me thinking about those kind of issues, which obviously continue to be relevant, as a teenager and was a good story besides.
Bo’s Lasting Lessons: If you know me, you know that I love Michigan football. LOVE Michigan football. I worship at the altar of Bo Schembechler. Popular Michigan professor and writer John U Bacon teamed up with the legendary coach to reminisce about his years as a leader and teacher of young men and how to be fair and decent without being a pushover. This is the closest thing to a motivational book that I own and now that I’m thinking about it I want to go back and re-read it.
The Chaneysville Incident: I honestly can’t remember how I came to have this book on my Kindle (I presume it was on sale at some point), but I do remember that it was a bit of a slow start, kind of hard to get into. But once I did connect with David Bradley’s story, about an African-American historian who comes back to his hometown to investigate his father’s death, I rocketed through it and found it really hard to put down.
Supreme Conflict: I eat up books about the Supreme Court like candy. This one came out around the same time (and tread fairly similar territory) as Jeffrey Toobin’s more popular The Nine. Which is a pity, because legal correspondent Jan Crawford Greenberg (who was actually my commencement speaker when I graduated from Alabama Law) wrote a really good book.
Kramer v Kramer: Lots of people are aware of the Meryl Streep-Dennis Hoffman movie about a ferocious custody battle, but most don’t know it was actually based on a book. The evolution of Ted Kramer from a self-centered workaholic to a devoted and responsible single father is beautifully written and really affecting.
No Lifeguard On Duty: For a long time, my guilty pleasure TV was America’s Next Top Model. And the best part of early ANTM? Supermodel judge Janice Dickinson. She was loud and often crass, argumentative but right more often than not. And her life, which she recounts in this memoir, was some really crazy stuff. Given the title, might I suggest it as a beach read for the fashion-interested crowd?
Letters From A Self-Made Merchant To His Son: I think I actually did find this one on a hidden gems list! It is what it says it is…a series of letters written from a self-made man to his son over the course of his lifetime, from starting out in the workplace to marriage and family. It’s full of common sense approaches to issues we still face today.