In Other Words, by Jhumpa Lahiri
     This has to be one of the most profound books I have ever read. Compassion for those without one mother tongue because they have two—well kind of. For Lahairi it was English and Bengali. I admired her dedication to search for identity by learning to speak, read, and write in a third language, Italian. Her passion for that language is intense, all consuming. In other words, it represents her life purpose, her reason for being.
     We know something is truly profound when we can’t describe it in other words.

A Book of American Martyrs, by Joyce Carol Oates
     How can I recommend this 700+ page book that delves into the tragedy of murder and abortion? And yet I encourage everyone to read this riveting, page turner.
     From start to finish I felt compassion for both evangelical murderer, Luther Dunphy and for his victim, abortion doctor, Augustus Voorhees—compassion for both men and their families.
     How easy it is to take sides. After all, we all have political and moral opinions on this hot button issue. But Joyce Carol Oates weaves a story that shows no partiality. Murder is a tragedy for everyone.

The Lowells of Massachusetts,’ by Nina Sankovitch
I’m in awe of the research that went into producing this engaging book about the Lowell family. Nina Sankovitch definitely pulled together pieces of Colonial and Civil War history for me.
My first breath of compassion goes to Sankovitch’s perseverance; the next, to the early settlers’ clarity of purpose.

Here's my list so far. I am on my way: 44 down 8 to go, and I have until January 31st. Maybe I will double the challenge. AND some of these were long!

January 2017
**The Glass Castle, Annette Walls
Half Broken Horses, Annette Walls
The Clothes They Stood Up In and The Lady in the Van, Alan Bennett
*All the Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr
Commonwealth, by Ann Patchett
*Hillbilly Elegy, by J.D. Vance
The Space Between Us, by Thrity Umrigar
*Underground Railroad, by Colson Whitehead
When Breath Becomes Air, by Paul Kalanithi
**Astrid & Veronika, Linda Olsson
Tolystoy and the Purble Chair, by Nina Sankovitch
Eleven Hours, by Pamela Erens
*The Lake, by Banana Yoshimoto
*Books for Living, by Will Schwalbe
The Nightingale, by Kristin Hannah
Letters from Rifka, by Karen Hess
Upstream, by Mary Oliver
 
February 2017
* Conclave, by Robert Harris
**The Street Sweeper by Elliott Perlmann
By Chance, by Martin Carrick
*The Buried Giant, by Kazuo Ishiguro
The Navigation Log, by Martin Carrick
*Tattoos on the Heart, by Gregory Boyle
**Colorless Tsuuru Tazaki, by Haruki Murakami
**Burial Rites, by Hannah Kent
Pompeii, by Robert Harris
 
March 2017
Eileen, by Ottessa Moshfegh
La Bella Lingua, by Dianne Hales
Do Not Say we have Nothing, by Madeleine Thien
Flight of the Sparrow, Amy Belding Brown
The Geography of Genius, by Eric Weiner
A Full Life: Reflections at Ninety, Jimmy Carter
Today Will Be Different, Maria Semple
A Tale for Time Being, Ruth Ozeki
Morning Glory, Sarah Jio
 
April 2017
The Jesus Style, Galye D. Erwin
Death in Florence: The Medici, Savonarola, and the Battle for the
Soul of a Renaissance City, Paul Strarthern
The Gentleman in Moscow, Amor Towles
In the Name of the Family, Sarah Dunant
The Lowells of Massachusetts, Nina Sankovitch
The Undoing Project, Michael Lewis
A Book of American Martyrs, Joyce Carol Oates