Less Is Lost by Andrew Sean Greer

Less Is Lost by Andrew Sean Greer

272 pages

Published September 2022 by Little, Brown and Company

Publisher's Summary: 

“Go get lost somewhere, it always does you good.”

For Arthur Less, life is going surprisingly well: he is a moderately accomplished novelist in a steady relationship with his partner, Freddy Pelu. But nothing lasts: the death of an old lover and a sudden financial crisis has Less running away from his problems yet again as he accepts a series of literary gigs that send him on a zigzagging adventure across the US.

Less roves across the “Mild Mild West,” through the South and to his mid-Atlantic birthplace, with an ever-changing posse of writerly characters and his trusty duo – a human-like black pug, Dolly, and a rusty camper van nicknamed Rosina. He grows a handlebar mustache, ditches his signature gray suit, and disguises himself in the bolero-and-cowboy-hat costume of a true “Unitedstatesian”... with varying levels of success, as he continues to be mistaken for either a Dutchman, the wrong writer, or, worst of all, a “bad gay.”

We cannot, however, escape ourselves—even across deserts, bayous, and coastlines. From his estranged father and strained relationship with Freddy, to the reckoning he experiences in confronting his privilege, Arthur Less must eventually face his personal demons. With all of the irrepressible wit and musicality that made Less a bestselling, Pulitzer Prize-winning, must-read breakout book, Less Is Lost is a profound and joyous novel about the enigma of life in America, the riddle of love, and the stories we tell along the way.

My Thoughts: 

I read and reviewed Greer's 2017 Less (review here), which won Greer the Pulitzer Prize and which I felt had a lot to teach me and which I really enjoyed. I wrote then that I had two of Greer's other books on my Nook (still haven't gotten to those), but that I feared they would not be able to live up to Less which was so very good. Unfortunately, this one didn't either, at least not for me. Which is not to say I didn't enjoy it; it was just always going to be tough to live up to the first book. 

This book finds Less crossing the country in a mad effort to try to earn enough money to pay back rent on the home he's been living in for more than a decade without any idea rent should have been paid. Less has been a successful writer so there is some demand for him, but he's struggling to write the next great book so off he goes, in part to earn money and in part to try to find the father that left him years ago. To say that for a smart man Less is often clueless is an understatement. So, of course, he finds himself in one ridiculous situation after another which give the book a lightness. But Less is also trying to find himself and what he wants for his future so there is plenty of weight to the book as well. 

While this one didn't pull me in as much as the first book, Greer's writing still impressed. You can't help but care about Arthur and hope that he finds what he needs. Maybe what this book has done is give me a lower bar for those books I already own to reach. And Greer's latest book, Villa Coco, which recently came out and which I'm waiting to get from my library. 

Life: It Goes On - June 29

Happy Monday evening! This past week was not an intentional break at all. Started last week with a nasty cold that turned into almost a week of sinus headache and I've been almost useless unless it absolutely had to get done. At least I did get some reading done, so there's that. 

The Last Two Weeks I: 

Listened To: M.L. Stedman's A Far-Flung Life and Susan Jane Gilman's Undress Me In The Temple of Heaven. Today I started John Green's Everything Is Tuberculosis. 

Watched: More soccer than I've watched in all the rest of my life combined. Also, The Penguin Lessons, starring Steve Coogan, which is based on a true story of the same name written by Tom Michell. Coogan plays Michell, who saves a penguin in Uruguay and then the penguin decides to bond to him. Michell ends up taking the penguin back to Argenitina, where he is teaching in the 1970's, and the penguin helps him become a better teacher and better person. We both really liked it a lot and would recommend it.

Read: I finished Peter Geye's A Lesser Light and Monica Wood's How To Read A Book. Yesterday I started Dolen Perkins-Valdez's latest, Happy Land. This is my fourth of Perkins-Valdez's books, having previously read Wench, Balm, and Take My Hand. 

Made: BLTs and blt salad, homemade Mac and cheese, stir fry, smoothies. Mostly easy, comfort food. It will be much more of the same this week, what with the heat wave we've just started. 

Enjoyed: Book club friends and I went to hear Lisa See promote her latest book, Daughters of The Sun and Moon. Learned a lot; she does a great job. We followed that with dinner and drinks and it was such good therapy. 

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This Week I’m:  

Planning: Miss H is coming up tomorrow night to pick up a new car and will be spending the night and a chunk of Wednesday here so I've taken Wednesday off to spend with her and I'm hoping to get through some more of the things she's still got at my house. 

Thinking About: How to celebrate the Fourth. 

Feeling: Still lethargic but at least able to finally convince myself to get some things done. 

Looking forward to: See Planning. We haven't seen Miss H since Christmas! 

Question of the week: I feel like this has been a banner 12 months for books and I'm struggling to keep up with the ones I want to read. What's one book you've read in the past 12 months that you can't recommend enough? What's one you'd suggest I skip? 

Brother and Sister by Diane Keaton

Brother and Sister: A Memoir by Diane Keaton

Read by Diane Keaton

4 hours, 29 minutes

Published February 2020 by Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group

Publisher’s Summary: 

When they were children in the suburbs of Los Angeles in the 1950s, Diane Keaton and her younger brother, Randy, were best friends and companions: they shared stories at night in their bunk beds; they swam, laughed, dressed up for Halloween. Their mother captured their American-dream childhoods in her diaries, and on camera. But as they grew up, Randy became troubled, then reclusive. By the time he reached adulthood, he was divorced, an alcoholic, a man who couldn't hold on to full-time work—his life a world away from his sister's, and from the rest of their family.

Now Diane is delving into the nuances of their shared, and separate, pasts to confront the difficult question of why and how Randy ended up living his life on "the other side of normal." In beautiful and fearless prose that's intertwined with photographs, journal entries, letters, and poetry—many of them Randy's own writing and art—this insightful memoir contemplates the inner workings of a family, the ties that hold it together, and the special bond between siblings even when they are pulled far apart. Here is a story about love and responsibility: about how, when we choose to reach out to the people we feel closest to—in moments of difficulty and loss—surprising things can happen. A story with universal echoes, Brother & Sister speaks across generations to families whose lives have been touched by the fragility and "otherness" of loved ones—and to brothers and sisters everywhere.

My Thoughts: 

In the early years of their lives, Randy and Diane slept in the same room, sharing a bunk bed. When they moved into a new house, they no longer shared that room. Grown Keaton wonders if Randy's life would have been different had that not been separated so early, had he had a friend to confide in every night, had they not had other siblings. She ponders the "what-ifs" had Randy been raised differently. But she doesn't throw blame and she doesn't make excuses for his behavior or his troubles. Randy was blessed to have a family who cared so much and never stopped trying to help him. 

Keaton was candid and honest about how difficult Randy's mental health and addiction were on the family and on her She struggled to be honest about what was happening, to be caring. But she also found she needed to be tough when it was called for. 

As Diane's rose to fame, she had to also straddle Randy's descent. Fortunately, her rise allowed Randy to have the best care possible for the rest of his life, something she became well aware of being hard to find, even when you have money. In the end, Keaton is able to look back with humor at the things Randy did and be in awe of the way his brain worked and not entirely sad by the turn his life took and the toll it took on the family. 

It's so wonderful to hear Keaton's voice and I highly recommend the audiobook. But I know that I missed out on those photos, letters and art. I'm thinking a read/listen option is the way to go with this one! 

Theo of Golden by Allen Levi

Theo of Golden by Allen Levi

Read by David Morris

13 hours, 12 minutes

Published November 2025 by Atria Books

Publisher's Summary: 

One spring morning, a stranger named Theo arrives in the small Southern city of Golden. He doesn't explain much about where he came from or why he's there—but when he visits the local coffeehouse, where pencil portraits of the people of Golden hang on the walls, he begins purchasing them, one at a time, and giving each portrait to the person depicted. In exchange, he asks only for the person's story. And so portrait by portrait, person by person, secrets are revealed, regrets are shared, and ordinary lives are profoundly altered.

A story of giving and receiving, of seeing and being seen, Theo of Golden is an unforgettable novel about the power of generosity, the importance of connection, and the quiet miracles that happen when we choose kindness and wonder.

My Thoughts: 

My book club does a book exchange every year at our Christmas party. This year, one of the women gave this book. I had never heard of it at that time, but a few weeks later I was hearing about it every where. Normally, you see me steering away from books that are all the rage; but because my friend seemed to have endorsed this one, I decided to give it a listen. 

• David Morris' reading is excellent. If you're one of the few people who haven't read this one yet, I highly recommend the audiobook option. 
• I was very much into the idea of this man wanting to gift the portraits and was really enjoying his interactions with each of the recipients. I loved that Theo met some wonderful people who he befriended, but also some others who were not so wonderful and some who were prickly.
• I was impressed with Levi's writing...except for his practice of overly describing the appearance of his characters. 
• At a certain point, this book moves away from the storyline of giving away the portraits and focuses more on the relationships Theo has made. Which is all well and good except that it felt like it happened abruptly. Perhaps Levi decided he had introduced enough characters to his story. 
• Something happens in the book, that I will not give away; but after that he feels like Levi reached the point where he decided he needed to tell not show and it seemed to me that the story began to drag on even as things began to tie up a little too tidily. 
• I did feel as though I was being emotionally manipulated at a certain point. 
• After all of that, did I like this one? Yes; and I would recommend it. I just didn't love it as much as so many others did. It would give book clubs a lot to talk about. 

Life: It Goes On - June 14

Happy Sunday! It's a beautiful day here in very busy Omaha. The College World Series kicked off on Friday, farmer's markets are in full swing, there's an outdoor art festival, and Wicked is in town this week. Which of those have we enjoyed this weekend? Not a darn one. 

Well, that's not entirely true. The Big Guy did go to a concert Friday night with a friend (he's always up for a concert!). By and large, though we steer clear of downtown this time of June, except the going down for maybe one game each year. Instead we've thrown windows open and spent a lot of time on the patio. 

Last Week I: 

Listened To: I finished Sarah Waters' The Paying Guests and started M.L. Steadman's A Far-flung Life. Unfortunately, I'm not sure I'm going to get that finished before it's due back. By the time I get it again, I'll have forgotten what I already read!

Watched: The NBA finals, the College World Series, some World Cup, and the final episode of Emily In Paris. 

Read: Still plugging away on the Peter Guy book. It's really good so I can't figure out why I can't make myself pick it up more often. 

Made: Homemade ranch dressing with mayonnaise with lime juice and a restaurant packet of Hidden Valley Ranch dressing. I really didn't believe those two ingredients could make that much difference, but they certainly did. 

Enjoyed: Girl therapy Friday evening. A.k.a. happy hour with a friend that started in a restaurant and ended on my patio. It was a rough week and that time Friday was just what the doctor ordered. 

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This Week I’m:  

Planning: Despite the forecast for a nice week, I'm bound and determined to make a dent in our scary basement. I have a couple of days off of work this week that really gives me time to make a dent. 

Thinking About: How you are only as happy as your saddest child. 

Feeling: Like taking a nap. Even though I slept plenty last night. 

Looking forward to: Getting my hair done this week. 

Question of the week: It's a busy time of year for sports. Are you a fan of baseball, basketball or soccer? 

That's A Good Question, I'd Love To Tell You by Elyse Myers

That's A Good Question, I'd Love To Tell You by Elyse Myers

288 pages

Published October 2025 by HarperCollins

Publisher's Summary:

Elyse Myers is known to her twelve million followers as “The Internet’s Best Friend,” sharing her relatable stories and comedic sketches and serving as an advocate for topics such as neurodivergence, impostor syndrome, body image, and more. Whether she’s making people laugh with tales of disastrous dates or giving a voice to that awkward internal monologue many of us have, she has three simple goals behind everything she makes: To make people feel known, loved, and like they belong.
In That's a Great Question, I'd Love to Tell You, Elyse delivers a debut collection of deeply personal stories and hand—drawn illustrations, offering even more intimate reflections beyond what fans have seen on her social media, including:

• Spending 7 Minutes in Heaven accidentally friend—zoning her crush
• How Lucy, the Magic 8 Ball keychain, changed her life by accident
• Moving from California to Australia to Texas to Nebraska to like (maybe even love!) herself
• How to Fold Hospital Corners in 10 EASY STEPS!—a practical guide and a rumination about…everything
• The “meat cute” when she met her smoke show of a husband at a butcher’s counter in Australia—and how she revealed herself to be an emotional runner

Plus, tales involving bad dates and is—this—a—dates; the tempting yet futile urge to reinvent yourself, panic attacks and escape hatches, and favorite pens and systems to use them, all while loving and letting yourself be loved, preferably at the same time.

My Thoughts: 

I first came across Elyse on Instagram, initially drawn to her positive messages about dealing with depression and self doubt. I introduced her to everyone I thought would benefit from her messages. Then I began to listen to her stories, which always began "That's a good question; I'd love to tell you" and often went on for several  posts, generally accompanied by drawings. Her incredible empathy and honesty drew me to her, her humor kept me coming back for more. Myers had found a way to make her "too much" exactly the right amount and it resonated with hundreds of thousands of people. Soon she began hosting a podcast and now she's written a book. 

This is the story of her life, from the time she was little, through her time in Australia, through a trip to visit the man she'd been talking to on the phone for months in Kansas, to her marriage to Jonas. It's told through chapters that are centered on where she was in her life geographically at the time. After watching her stories and reading her posts for a couple of years, I was familiar with the bones of her life. But the book fills that in, reminding readers of Myer's openness, willingness to share her struggles, and ability to find the humor in the pain. 

Elyse reads the audiobook, which I'm sure is fantastic. But if you listen to this one, you'll miss all of the drawings which really make the stories come to life. There's at least one more book in Myers; at least I'm hoping there is. Her life has been just as interesting since her marriage. And there are all of those anecdotal stories she's shared on social media that I'm certain readers would love to hear about again. 

Would I recommend it? Certainly - who wouldn't love a book that shows how it's possible to overcome your struggles and find happiness? 

The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot by Marianne Cronin

The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot by Marianne Cronin

Read by Sheila Reed and Rebecca Benson

10 hours, 53 minutes

Published June 2021 by HarperCollins

Publisher's Summary: 

An extraordinary friendship. A lifetime of stories. 

Seventeen—year—old Lenni Pettersson lives on the Terminal Ward at the Glasgow Princess Royal Hospital. Though the teenager has been told she’s dying, she still has plenty of living to do. Joining the hospital’s arts and crafts class, she meets the magnificent Margot, an 83—year—old, purple—pajama—wearing, fruitcake—eating rebel, who transforms Lenni in ways she never imagined.

As their friendship blooms, a world of stories opens for these unlikely companions who, between them, have been alive for one hundred years. Though their days are dwindling, both are determined to leave their mark on the world. With the help of Lenni’s doting palliative care nurse and Father Arthur, the hospital’s patient chaplain, Lenni and Margot devise a plan to create one hundred paintings showcasing the stories of the century they have lived—stories of love and loss, of courage and kindness, of unexpected tenderness and pure joy.

Though the end is near, life isn’t quite done with these unforgettable women just yet.

Delightfully funny and bittersweet, heartbreaking yet ultimately uplifting, The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot reminds us of the preciousness of life as it considers the legacy we choose to leave, how we influence the lives of others even after we’re gone, and the wonder of a friendship that transcends time.

My Thoughts: 

• This one was recommended by a friend to whom it had been recommended. I opted for the audiobook because I was ready for a new book and it was available immediately on audio. I'm glad I did - both Reed and Benson did a terrific job. I really felt like I was getting the story from Lenni and Margot. 
• I love finding books about friendship, especially friendships that end up growing a new family, that are able to explore the subject from entirely new (to me, at least) perspectives. 
• Lenni has had a tough life, made so much worse by the fact that she's dying alone with only the hospital staff as company. Until a new employee starts an arts program. Lenni chooses to attend the sessions attended by the elderly and there she meets Margot, who has lived through her own trials and sadness. 
• Between them, Lenni and Margot have lived 100 years. They decide that they will tell their life stories through art, giving them both a reason to fight to live on, at least until they finish that project. While they work through the project, readers are privy to the stories that each of the works of art portray. 
• Lenni also befriends Father Arthur, who finds in Lenni a challenge to his own faith, allowing Cronin to explore the idea of faith in the face of death. 
• Despite the fact that I knew this one had to end sadly, I still wasn't prepared for the ending's emotional hit. 
• Would I recommend this book? Absolutely. Despite the ending, it is a book filled with hope, love in so many forms, and the message that everyone has a story to tell, if we will only take the time to listen. 

Life: It Goes On - June 7

Happy Sunday! As I type, we are getting torrential rain, which will no doubt not last but it's nice to have. If it's going to be grey, I always want it to rain. 

We've had a very uneventful weekend. In the category of "you know you're getting old when," I talked the Big Guy into working on some chores upstairs on Friday evening that we've been putting off. Wild, right?!

Last Week I: 

Listened To: Sarah Waters' The Paying Guests. I've listened to it every chance I've gotten this week and I still have six hours left. 

Watched: Wake Up Dead Man, the latest in the Knives Out series. It's very different from the others in the series, but we both liked it. 

Read: I'm still plugging away at A Lesser Light. I'm liking it, but just can't seem to make myself pick it up. I need to rectify that this week as I have two books waiting to be picked up from the library. 

Made: First batch of caprese pasta with homegrown basil and farmer's market tomato of the season. It's officially summer! 

Enjoyed: So many dinners on the patio this week. It does make it hard to come back inside to get things done after we finish eating, though. 

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This Week I’m:  

Planning: We're planning on working on emptying my dad's storage unit this week.  There's not a lot left in it, but it does have boxes and boxes of my parents' memory binders that will move to my house for me to deconstruct. It's a slow process, but knowing I need to have the boxes out of my dining room before company in a month will keep me going. 

Thinking About: Some furniture I'd like to work on this summer, starting with a table that was BG's great-grandmother's. 

Feeling: Not gonna lie, with my parents' anniversary this week and my trip to Lincoln, it's been a tough week emotionally. 

Looking forward to: An upcoming four-day weekend. 

Question of the week: What is your best tip for getting yourself out of the blues? 

The Guncle by Steven Rowley

The Guncle by Steven Rowley

Read by Steven Rowley

11 hours, 23 minutes

Published 2021 by G. P. Putnam’s Sons

Publisher’s Summary: 

Patrick, or Gay Uncle Patrick (GUP, for short), has always loved his niece, Maisie, and nephew, Grant. That is, he loves spending time with them when they come out to Palm Springs for weeklong visits, or when he heads home to Connecticut for the holidays. But in terms of caretaking and relating to two children, no matter how adorable, Patrick is, honestly, overwhelmed.

So when tragedy strikes and Maisie and Grant lose their mother and Patrick's brother has a health crisis of his own, Patrick finds himself suddenly taking on the role of primary guardian. Despite having a set of "Guncle Rules" ready to go, Patrick has no idea what to expect, having spent years barely holding on after the loss of his great love, a somewhat-stalled acting career, and a lifestyle not-so-suited to a six- and a nine-year-old. Quickly realizing that parenting--even if temporary--isn't solved with treats and jokes, Patrick's eyes are opened to a new sense of responsibility, and the realization that, sometimes, even being larger than life means you're unfailingly human.

My Thoughts: 

More bullet point thoughts, as I desperately try to catch up on reviews!

• Maisie and Grant are precocious. Too precocious? Nah, it worked here because they were also so vulnerable and mostly behave exactly in the way you'd expect 9- and 6-year-olds to behave. 
• Patrick has shut down, emotionally. He can afford not to work, so has isolated himself, following the end of his successful sit-com and the loss of his partner, Joe. He is charming, fun, and sarcastic. He is also deeply insecure about aging and what people would think about him if they really knew him. 
• The relationship between Patrick, Maisie and Grant is delightful. They, of course, help him as much as he helps them. Here is a man who's been living on his own for four years. Now he is not only not alone, he is clueless about how to deal with children. It's no surprise that he figures it out in his own way; getting there is both fun and heartwarming. 
• There's a not unexpected battle with Patrick's sister, a re-entry into acting, and an ending that I was expecting, all of which made the book feel fuller. 
• This is one of those books that I feel benefited from having the author read it. Rowley is Patrick.
• Recommended by my sister, repeatedly. She was right, I did enjoy this one a lot. In fact, I'm waiting right now for the sequel on audiobook and have plans to read more of Rowley's work. 
• Would I recommend it? Yes, it's one of those great palate cleansers I so enjoy, that manages to be light but never fluffy. 

I Am, I Am, I Am by Maggie O'Farrell

I Am, I Am, I Am: Seventeen Brushes with Death by Maggie O’Farrell

Read by Daisy Donovan

6 hours

Published August 2017 by Knopf

Publisher’s Summary: 

We are never closer to life than when we brush up against the possibility of death.

I Am, I Am, I Am is Maggie O'Farrell's astonishing memoir of the near-death experiences that have punctuated and defined her life. The childhood illness that left her bedridden for a year, which she was not expected to survive. A teenage yearning to escape that nearly ended in disaster. An encounter with a disturbed man on a remote path. And, most terrifying of all, an ongoing, daily struggle to protect her daughter--for whom this book was written--from a condition that leaves her unimaginably vulnerable to life's myriad dangers.

Seventeen discrete encounters with Maggie at different ages, in different locations, reveal a whole life in a series of tense, visceral snapshots. In taut prose that vibrates with electricity and restrained emotion, O'Farrell captures the perils running just beneath the surface, and illuminates the preciousness, beauty, and mysteries of life itself.

My Thoughts: 

It's been some time since I finished this book so I'm going to just stick with the notes I made about it when I finished it. 

• This is a sequence of near and not-so-near misses. It's shocking how often O'Farrell has had brushes with death in some way. It started with that childhood illness and ends with her own daughter's medical condition. At 16 she jumps off a harbor wall; but, because of childhood encephalitis and an inability to sense where things are and her place among them, meant she was unable to surface on her own and had to be rescued. At 18, she went for a walk during a break from work and encountered a man who appeared to be waiting for her; she manages to get away but later finds out the man has killed another young girl. Later she is on a plane to Hong Kong that almost crashes and her description of what it was like in that cabin is vivid. The chapter on one of her many miscarriages is superb and heart wrenching. 
• O'Farrell sometimes tells the experience in the third person, which makes it feel less like her own life and more like a story. But they are excellent stories and it's easy to accept them being less personal feeling. 
• I'm a big fan of O'Farrell's fiction and her ability to make readers feel like they are part of the book. This book gave me the same feeling. 
• Daisy Donovan's reading is excellent. 
• Would I recommend it? Definitely. But that recommendation comes with a trigger warning. There are a lot of things here that might be upsetting to some readers. 

Life: It Goes On - May 31

Happy Sunday! It's sunny here this morning, but too wet yet to get outside and work. We've been getting some nice rains this past week, largely during the night, which is lovely. My plants are flourishing. Which, of course, inspired me to buy more.  The Big Guy just shook his head when I came in with another dozen on Friday. Still the cheapest therapy money can buy! 

Last Week I: 

Listened To: The Stationery Shop by Marjan Kamali and I started Sarah Water's The Paying Guests. 

Watched: So many NCAA softball and baseball games, including both Nebraska teams. I also watched five episodes of the latest, and last, season of Emily in Paris. Last night we went with friends to see the movie Tuner, starring Dustin Hoffman and Leo Woodall (who I had previously only known as "the boy" in Bridget Jones: Made About The Boy). I didn't know anything about the movie when we went and was wondering what my friend had gotten me into when the movie got very tense; but we really enjoyed it. 

Read: A Lesser Light by Peter Geye. It's a biggie so it's taking me a while. 

Made: Grinder pasta (as seen on Applesauce and ADHD's social media). It made a huge batch so we got three suppers out of it and a lunch! 

Enjoyed: I had Friday off work and I used a good chunk of the day to start working on my office. I made such good progress that I was inspired to continue this weekend. I'll finish today, having gone through every single thing in that room. I am getting rid of so much in there and feeling so much lighter because of it. 

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This Week I’m:  

Planning: I need to finish up the furniture painting outside and then I'll be focused on getting some small projects done inside in anticipation of being the location of a bridal shower for Miss C being hosted by my sister and sister-in-law. Nothing like an event at your house to push you to get things done you've been putting off! 

Thinking About: June is Pride Month and I'm thinking about books to read and events to attend in support. 

Feeling: Accomplished. 

Looking forward to: Another quiet week on the calendar. 

Question of the week: What book have you read recently that you are recommending to everyone?