Books get 'Oprah' recommendation

An old friend asked the question the other day: Why don’t you do your Oprah thing again?
I must have looked completely baffled.
Then he reminded me that about once a year I’ve recommended books — like Oprah does — in this column.
It’s been awhile since I’ve done it, so here goes.
For me, good fiction has always provided a way to understand the world and other cultures. Think of it as traveling without leaving your easy chair.
And for much of 2014, my easy chair has been in Ireland. Specifically, it’s been in the working class neighborhoods of Dublin. I’ve been reading Roddy Doyle.
I was a fan of Doyle’s before I even knew his name. That’s because I love the movie “The Commitments,” which was based on one of his Dublin novels about an Irish “soul” band’s ups and downs.
So when I heard Doyle had a new book out this year that followed up on the inimitable Jimmy Rabbitte, the impresario behind the band, as he deals with middle age and a diagnosis of cancer, I had to read it.
The book is called “The Guts,” and it’s not for everybody. I loved it, but it takes awhile to adjust your ear to the Irish dialect and it requires a real tolerance of obscenity to get through the dialogue. (The book could probably have been 20 pages shorter if certain words had been omitted.)
No sooner had I finished “The Guts” than I felt I needed to go back and read the rest of Doyle’s novels about Jimmy and the rest of the Rabbitte family. So, in quick order, I was back in Dublin with “The Commitments,” “The Snapper,” and “The Van.” By the end, I was almost speaking with an Irish accent myself.
I’ve continued to read a great deal of Tolstoy and Chekhov this year in an effort to better understand the history and mindset of the Russian people, but there are lighter ways to accomplish the same thing.
The Arkady Renko series by Martin Cruz Smith is solidly entertaining thriller/police procedural fiction suitable for the beach or a lazy afternoon. But it also provides insights into the Soviet and post-Soviet world. Smith’s latest, number eight in the series, is “Tatiana,” which came out earlier this year. I heartily recommend it.
In much the same category is the Tom Robb Smith trilogy: “Child 44,” “The Secret Speech,” and “Agent 6.” Those three books make for a plot-filled roller coaster ride.
My travels via books also took me back to the Indian subcontinent where Jhumpa Lahiri, one of my favorite authors, had me spellbound with her latest, “The Lowland.” I finished it months ago, but it still resonates. It’s that haunting.
Back in the U.S. and turning to non-fiction, I have to recommend my friend Mike Lackey’s book “Spitballing” about the dead ball era of professional baseball in the early years of the 20th century.
Mike, who spoke at Jay County Public Library last month, follows the career of a journeyman pitcher from the Wapakoneta, Ohio, area who played for the Cincinnati Reds. In doing so, he also brings alive the entire tapestry of American life in those years. If you love baseball and enjoy history, it’s a great read. Plus, the library has a copy, so you can save a few bucks.
A heavier, more thoughtful book worth your time is “The World Until Yesterday,” Jared Diamond’s take on what the modern world could learn from traditional societies.
Diamond’s the author of “Guns, Germs, and Steel,” which is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand world history. This latest book takes his encyclopedic, all-over-the-globe approach to examine what groups we might have categorized as “primitive” a generation ago could teach us in the 21st century.
Thought-provoking is the best way to describe it.
Then again, that could describe any of the books mentioned here. If you don’t believe me, go ask Oprah.