As promised to listeners of The Piffcast (and an effort to bring people of similar and different interests together), we’re kicking off the first of multiple show “clubs”.
This one…?
The Piffcast Book Club!
Here’s a list of recommended reading material for you to choose from. At the end of the month, those in the Chicagoland area can meet up with me for some pizza and brews while others can join us digitally…either by Twitter tChat or a possible livestream chat on this site. Stay tuned!
In the meantime, let me know which books you choose to read on either Facebook or Twitter.
Midnight Sun
by Jo Nesbo
A fugitive Norwegian hitman attempts to find himself in the Arctic wilderness.
Released: November 5th, 2015. Can order on Amazon here.
Gumption:
by Nick Offerman
Nick Offerman, aka Ron Swanson from ‘Parks and Recreation’, humorously highlights twenty-one figures from our nation’s history, from her inception to present day—his personal pantheon of “great Americans.”
Released: May, 2015. Available on Amazon here.
The Yiddish Policemen’s Union: A Novel
by Michael Chabon
A detective story set in an alternative history version of the present day, based on the premise that during World War II, a temporary settlement for Jewish refugees was established in Sitka,Alaska, in 1941, and that the fledgling State of Israel was destroyed in 1948.
Released: May, 2007. Available on Amazon here. (Recommended by Johnna Silver)
Songs of a Dead Dreamer
by Thomas Ligotti
Short-story collection, acknowledged as one of the seminal collections of modern weird horror fiction, that shows the influence of Ligotti’s literary idols of horror such as H.P. Lovecraft and Edgar Allan Poe.
Released: March, 2010. Available on Amazon here. (Recommended by Andrew W.K. on The Piffcast)
A Just Cause
by James H. Holzrichter Sr.
When a seemingly ordinary and seriously underestimated family man discovers evidence of potentially massive mismanagement and fraud on the part of the US defense contractor he works for, his desire to help the company itself and his need to protect his newly healing family and newfound sobriety crash headlong into the seventeen-year-long corporate assault on everything he holds dear for knowing too much and refusing to ignore or help bury the truth.
Released: May, 2013. Available on Amazon here. (Recommended by Dan Doherty)
The Nightingale
by Kristin Hannah
Despite their differences, sisters Viann and Isabelle have always been close. Younger, bolder Isabelle lives in Paris while Viann is content with life in the French countryside with her husband Antoine and their daughter. But when the Second World War strikes, Antoine is sent off to fight and Viann finds herself isolated so Isabelle is sent by their father to help her.
Released: February, 2015. Available on Amazon here.
Blood Brothers
by Randy Roberts & Johnny Smith
Based on previously untapped sources, from Malcolm X’s personal papers to FBI records, Blood Brothers is the first book to offer an in-depth portrait of this complex bond between he and Cassius Clay. Acclaimed historians Randy Roberts and Johnny Smith reconstruct the worlds that shaped Malcolm and Clay, from the boxing arenas and mosques, to postwar New York and civil rights–era Miami.
Released: February, 2016. Available on Amazon here.
Slammed
by Colleen Hoover
Following the unexpected death of her father, eighteen-year-old Layken becomes the rock for both her mother and younger brother. She appears resilient and tenacious, but inside, she’s losing hope. Then she meets her new neighbor Will, a handsome twenty-one-year-old whose mere presence leaves her flustered and whose passion for poetry slams thrills her.
Released: September, 2012. Available on Amazon here. (Recommended by Libbey Hanley)
Risk Savvy: How To Make Good Decisions
by Gerd Gigerenzer
In this age of big data we often trust that expert analysis—whether it’s about next year’s stock market or a person’s risk of getting cancer—is accurate. But, as risk expert Gerd Gigerenzer reveals, most of us, including doctors, lawyers, and financial advisors, often misunderstand statistics, leaving us misinformed and vulnerable to exploitation…Here, showing how ordinary people can make better decisions for their money, their health, and their families.
Released: March, 2015. Available on Amazon here. (Recommended by Jamie Duff)
Indentured: The Inside Story of the Rebellion Against the NCAA
by Joe Nocera & Ben Strauss
Fans have begun to realize that the athletes involved in the two biggest college sports, men’s basketball and football, are little more than indentured servants. This is the dramatic story of a loose-knit group of rebels who decided to fight the hypocrisy of the NCAA, which blathers endlessly about the purity of its “student-athletes” while exploiting many of them: The ones who get injured and drop out because their scholarships have been revoked. The ones who will neither graduate nor go pro. The ones who live in terror of accidentally violating some obscure rule in the four-hundred-page NCAA rulebook.
Released: February, 2016. Available on Amazon here.
It’s. Nice. Outside.
by Jim Kokoris
An ex-basketball player, husband, english teacher and author is secretly planning to do something to change his family forever. Funny, heartbreaking, and generous..This story asks: What happens when you have to let go of the person who has been holding you up?
Beatlebone
by Kevin Barry
It is 1978, and John Lennon has escaped New York City to try to find the island off the west coast of Ireland he bought eleven years prior. Leaving behind domesticity, his approaching forties, his inability to create, and his memories of his parents, he sets off to calm his unquiet soul in the comfortable silence of isolation. But when he puts himself in the hands of a shape-shifting driver full of Irish charm and dark whimsy, what ensues can only be termed a magical mystery tour.
Let me know what you choose to read on Facebook or Twitter. Feel free to make recommendations for April’s list too.
michaelpiff 