• About this blog

feastonbooksblog

~ Time is precious – read the best first

feastonbooksblog

Category Archives: meaning of life

When the Cranes Fly South by Lisa Ridzén (Author), Alice Menzies (Swedish Translator)

04 Tuesday Nov 2025

Posted by Weston Public Library Staff in Fiction, meaning of life

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

atonement, dogs, domestic fiction, families, father and sons, fatherhood, friendship, love, older people, Sweden care takers

INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER • WINNER OF THE SWEDISH BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD

“Engaging. . . . Moving. . . . Readers will laugh and cry. In Bo, Ridzén has created a character who can evoke empathy in anyone.”—Library Journal (starred review)

“A powerful, sneakily emotional meditation on life and death, and the foundational relationships in our lives. This is a book that will echo in your soul.”—Garth Stein, New York Times bestselling author of The Art of Racing in the Rain

“A tender tale about aging, our own and others’, and the quiet brutality of love. About what being a man is, and what being a human is, about fathers and sons and fathers and dogs. It’s really a book for anyone who’s had to say goodbye. The kind of book you give to someone when you’re really trying to say ‘I’ve been thinking about you’ but don’t know how.”—Fredrik Backman, #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Man Called Ove

Find this book

Sipsworth by Simon Van Booy

09 Friday May 2025

Posted by Weston Public Library Staff in England, Fiction, meaning of life

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

friendship, human-animal relationships, loneliness, mice, widows

This is a very sweet story about friendship and finding a new way out of loneliness.

“Sipsworth is a love story about a woman and a mouse. Reason suggests that such a relationship couldn’t possibly work, and yet I found myself pulling for this unlikely duo on every page. Simon Van Booy’s characters are loaded with charm, resilience, and the deep desire for connection that all mammals share. I loved it.”—Ann Patchett

“A memorable story about serendipity—and what can happen when we keep our hearts open to surprise.”—Christian Science Monitor

“Whimsical, beautifully detailed, and filled with heart, Sipsworth is a slim, sparkling jewel of a novel.”—Christina Baker Kline

Find this book

Orbital: a Novel (2024 Booker Prize Winner) by Samantha Harvey

05 Wednesday Feb 2025

Posted by Weston Public Library Staff in Fiction, meaning of life, Science fiction, Travel

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

astronauts, space, space flights, space stations

Wondrous – like no other book I ever read. 207 pages. Can’t get it out of my mind now that I closed the last page.

“Harvey takes readers on board a cramped space station with six members of an international mission as they rotate the earth 16 times in 24 hours. Through their eyes, we watch typhoons grow in the Pacific, packs of noodles float in zero gravity, and continents whir by. A meditative novel that reveals our changing planet with a new urgency, and its inhabitants with a new and profound love.” —Oprah Daily, A Best Book of the Year

“Orbital is as beautiful as it is profound. It’s not a long book, but I made the final chapters last for weeks because I didn’t want the book to end.” —Emily St. John Mandel, author of Sea of Tranquility

“A short novel of cosmic proportions.”—Financial Times, A Best Book of the Year

“Coming from five different countries, the space travelers represent a microcosm of humanity. This is a beautifully written, deeply thoughtful meditation on planet Earth and our place in it.”—Library Journal, Starred Review“

Luminous and profound, Orbital is hard to put down and even harder to forget.” —Booklist, Starred Review

Find this book

Look for Me There: Grieving My Father, Finding Myself by Luke Russert

18 Friday Aug 2023

Posted by Weston Public Library Staff in adventure, Biography, meaning of life, Travel

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

biography, families, fathers and sons, Luke Russert, parenting, television journalists, Tim Russert 1950-2008, travel

What began as several open-ended months of travel to decompress and take the time to mourn his larger-than-life father (NBC Tim Russert) who died too young morphed into a three-plus-year odyssey across six continents.  Armchair travel at its best.

‘This starts as the story of one father and one son, and soon grows into something much deeper and more profound: a meditation on loss, and grief, a search for home, a journey to find a missing hero that leads the author finally back to himself. It is Luke Russert’s story but in the end, the main character is you, the reader.’ — Wright Thompson, senior ESPN writer and bestselling author of Pappyland and The Cost of These Dreams

‘A rich and compelling account of family, grief and coming of age. Luke Russert turns tragedy into rich lessons of life.’ — Tom Brokaw, legendary journalist and author of The Greatest Generation

‘In Look For Me There, Luke Russert traverses terrain both physical and deeply personal. On his journey to some of the world’s most stunning destinations, he visits the internal places of grief, family, faith, ambition and purpose–with intense self-reflection, honesty and courage.’ — Savannah Guthrie, co-anchor Today

Find this book

This is Happiness by Niall Williams

11 Saturday Mar 2023

Posted by Weston Public Library Staff in Fiction, meaning of life, nature

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

bildungsromans, communities, interpersonal relations, Ireland, manners and customs, rites and ceremonies, rural electrification, Secrecy

How did I miss this book in 2019?! Travel back to a simpler time in a small Irish parish with a young boy/man living with his grandparents.  Niall Williams’ language and turn of phrase will keep you savoring every twist and turn of the character’s experiences made so real you will think you are right there with him. A portrait of community and the power of stories.

“Warm and whimsical, sometimes sorrowful, but always expressed in curlicues of Irish lyricism, this charming book makes varied use of its electrical metaphor, not least to express the flickering pulse of humanity. A story both little and large and one that pulls out all the Irish stops.” ―Kirkus Reviews, starred review

“Williams has the eye of a poet and the raconteur’s knack for finding a tale in the most unpromising nook of everyday life.” ―The Daily Mail

“The beauty and power of Irish author Niall Williams’ writing lies in his ability to invest the quotidian with wonder. A truly peerless wordsmith, he even makes descriptions of gleaming white appliances and telephone wire sing…the book is hilarious among its many other virtues. Buy, rent, get your hands on this book somehow and savor every word of it. Its title says it all: Plunging into This is Happiness is happiness indeed.” ―BookPage, starred review

Find this book

Between Two Kingdoms: A Memoir of a Life Interrupted by Suleika Jaouad

16 Monday May 2022

Posted by Weston Public Library Staff in 20th century, meaning of life, memoir, Non-fiction, United States

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

biography, leukemia, patients, women journalists


Just after graduating college and starting a new job in Paris, Suleika Jaouad is diagnosed with leukemia. This beautifully written, powerful memoir explores her illness, treatment, and the loneliness of being a young person battling cancer, along with how it impacts her relationships with her family and friends.

“When the life we had is snatched away, how do we find the conviction to live another? Between Two Kingdoms will resonate with anyone who is living a different life than they planned to live. This is a propulsive, soulful story of mourning and gratitude—and an intimate portrait of one woman’s sojourn in the wilderness between life and death.”—Tara Westover, author of Educated

“A beautiful, elegant, and heartbreaking book that provides a glimpse into the kingdom of illness . . . Suleika Jaouad avoids sentimentality but manages to convey the depth of the emotional turmoil that illness can bring into our lives.”—Siddhartha Mukherjee, author of The Emperor of All Maladies

“Jaouad does a beautiful job of writing from this place of ‘dual citizenship,’ where she finds pain but also joy, kinship, and possibility.”—Library Journal (starred review)

“This is a deeply moving and passionate work of art, quite unlike anything I’ve ever read. I will remember these stories for years to come, because Suleika Jaouad has imprinted them on my heart.”—Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat Pray Love

Find this book

These Precious Days: Essays by Ann Patchett

08 Tuesday Mar 2022

Posted by Weston Public Library Staff in anecdotes, Biography, meaning of life, Non-fiction

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

American authors, autobiography, essays

Here is a book to linger with.  It’s like talking and reflecting with a an old friend over shared experience with someone who has gone down the same road but whispers a little more wisdom so gently that you just want more time with her.  Savor this collection about Patchett’s family, clearing the clutter, her decision not to have children, her three fathers, writing, her own bookstore, and an unforgettable friendship during Covid.  You will definitely find favorites. 

“The elegance of Patchett’s prose is seductive and inviting: with Patchett as a guide, readers will really get to grips with the power of struggles, failures, and triumphs alike.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“An enviable life shared with candor, emotion, and knockout storytelling power.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“To read this collection is to be invited into that sacred space where a writer steps out from behind the page to say Hello; let’s really get to know each other. Stoic, kindhearted, fierce, funny, brainy, Patchett’s essays honor what matters most ‘in this precarious and precious life.'” — Oprah Daily

Find this book large print audio cd’s

Subscribe

  • Entries (RSS)
  • Comments (RSS)

Archives

  • December 2025
  • November 2025
  • October 2025
  • September 2025
  • August 2025
  • July 2025
  • June 2025
  • May 2025
  • April 2025
  • March 2025
  • February 2025
  • January 2025
  • December 2024
  • November 2024
  • October 2024
  • September 2024
  • August 2024
  • July 2024
  • June 2024
  • May 2024
  • April 2024
  • March 2024
  • February 2024
  • January 2024
  • December 2023
  • November 2023
  • October 2023
  • September 2023
  • August 2023
  • July 2023
  • June 2023
  • May 2023
  • April 2023
  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014

Categories

  • 20th century
  • action
  • adventure
  • anecdotes
  • Biographical fiction
  • Biography
  • case studies
  • chronically ill
  • Comedy
  • crimes against
  • cuisine
  • detective
  • Drama
  • dystopian fiction
  • England
  • fantasy
  • Federal Bureau of Investigation
  • Fiction
  • Future
  • Graphic novel
  • Historical Fiction
  • History
  • homicide investigation
  • Horror
  • Humor
  • London
  • magic
  • meaning of life
  • memoir
  • murder
  • murder and investigation
  • mystery
  • nature
  • Non-fiction
  • poetry
  • romance
  • Science fiction
  • Sports
  • suspense
  • thriller
  • Travel
  • True crime
  • Uncategorized
  • United States
  • western

Meta

  • Create account
  • Log in
Weston Public Library 781 786 6150

Blog at WordPress.com.

  • Subscribe Subscribed
    • feastonbooksblog
    • Join 155 other subscribers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • feastonbooksblog
    • Subscribe Subscribed
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...