Find the Good: Unexpected Life Lessons from a Small-Town Obituary Writer by Heather Lende

After interviewing innumerable families in their times of great grief and discovering wonderful and unexpected things about the people in her town, author Heather Lende offers a hopeful, encouraging text about living the rest of our lives looking forward and looking up.

This book is a quick read - either consumed in one sitting or in morsels an essay at a time - full of sparkling stories of remarkable people. The author lives in a harsh Alaskan town full of fisherman, and she's found that you don't have to look too far to find a notable story about everyone you meet. From the fisherman whose tragic death inspired safety measures that may save others to the "homeless" lady who left to serve Christ in England and the daughter transporting her mother one final time across the ferry - these are the kind of people you see and meet in your town, too. It's just that Lende's made a habit to look for the connections and the stories in us all.

It's a habit of positivity, and she believes you can do it too.

A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki

Tidal debris deposits a baggie containing a heck of a story, right at the feet of a beach-combing stymied writer.

The bag's contents include artifacts and journals: an early-2000's Japanese schoolgirl's troubles, her 104-year-old great-grandmother's zen teachings, her depressed father's woe, and a dramatic WWII kamikazi story told two ways. Those many, many stories are layered and twisted into the threads of the novelist's life and longing in a small Canadian outlier island as she explores her find.

Many times while I was listening to this book, I suspected I'm not deep enough to really get all that was going on in subtext and philosophy. But none-the-less, I enjoyed the story immensely.

This audiobook is read by the author - and there's an interesting note at the end. Ozeki explains that the book includes graphs, footnotes and other marginalia that doesn't translate well to the audio format, so you may wish to find a copy of the book to see what you missed. Additionally, though, she explains that audio listeners get a richer, deeper portrayal of the book's characters as she gets to add inflection, tone, and characterization through her dramatic reading. Much like the book itself, many different interpretations of the same text. Up is down - down is up.

The Fault In Our Stars by John Green

First love can be true love - and this is one of those books. It's really a book about two teens who are too wise and philosophical for their age. Perhaps, that's because they're terminally ill. Perhaps, it's because they're John Green characters (who are all too smart and philosophical, but in the BEST POSSIBLE WAY). Perhaps, people like this really exist.

It's a funny book about a girl with cancer. Or it's a book about teens who despise the Kids With Cancer cliche and make jokes about the misuse of the word literally. No - it's a hilarious and heartbreaking book about the self-proclaimed King of Cancervania who is too gorgeous to exist.

How can I sell you on a book about cancer?

Just read it.

Shop Class as Soulcraft by Matthew B. Crawford

Written by a guy with a PhD in political philosophy who now owns a motorcycle repair shop, this book is a deep, analytical look at the value of getting your hands dirty. The author discusses the loss of blue-collar job training in our schools, and ponders the general unhappiness of much of our country's white-collar workers.

It's an interesting topic and there are a lot of chewy bits that I find myself pondering and working over. It's extremely thought-provoking, especially for those who do enjoy working with their hands and their heads.

But I found the book heavy - it is written much like a doctoral thesis and I found the point was sometimes lost and bogged down by the scholarly analysis.