I've got a book for you that could save a life. It's a good read, with relevant information. PLUS: Other personal book recommends.

In more than 800 posts, I've never featured a book, especially one that is not a classic (to make myself sound really smart), but a popular read with warmth, humor, good story telling... and just a touch of suicide.

Note: Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the United States. In 2018, there were 48,000 deaths by suicide, more than those dying in auto accidents. More significantly, suicide was the 2nd leading cause of death for ages 10-34 and 4th for ages 45-54. Although I use the term silliness in describing parts of this book, it is the author's method of unraveling a compelling story.

It's the suicide element that justifies the small touch of  silliness, mixed with well done characters. It's a backward story in a way because some of its telling only reveals itself fully as you get deeper into the story.

At the end, you say, "Oh, I get it now!"

"Viewing an apartment normally doesn't turn into a life-or-death situation, but this particular open house becomes just that when a failed bank robber bursts in and takes everyone in the apartment hostage. As the pressure mounts, the eight strangers slowly begin opening up to one another and reveal long hidden truths." --Cafeinated Reviewer

You may be familiar with Fredrik Backman. He is the Swedish author who wrote New York Times bestsellers, A Man called Ove,  My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell you She's Sorry and my favorite, Us against You, which is better appreciated as a completion of his previous book with a hockey setting, Beartown.   He writes believable characters and situations that will have you reading more of his books if you enjoy the way he tells the tale, which obviously, I do.

And yes, this one involves the suicide of a stranger at the very beginning.

All of Backman's books have been translated from his native Swedish, which has me wondering, "How do they do that?" It takes more than knowing the language because of the nuances of storytelling. So maybe Backman isn't really very good but his translator is a genius and this is really his/her story. Nah! I know better. But hats off to the translators who do it so well you can't imagine how it could have ever been written in Swedish, Italian, German or any other language than what you are reading.

Now here's the important stuff I promised from the endpaper of this book. 

IF YOU NEED SOMEONE:

• The National Suicide Prevention Hotline: 800-273-8255.
• The Crisis Text Line: Text "talk" to 741741
• For information and support, whether it's for yourself or someone close to you look at Suicide.com and/or sprc.org
• (My insert) Starting July 16, 2022, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has adopted 9-8-8 (on par with 9-1-1- in use now for emergencies) as the new three-digit number to reach the National Suicide Prevention and Mental Health Crisis Lifeline. Why the long wait? It's the government... these things take time.

As long as I'm on books worth reading, a few of my latest good reads:

Why Fish Don't Exist: A Story of Loss, Love, and the Hidden Order of Life, is wonderful non fiction by a  really good writer, Lulu Miller, who you might know from NPR's Radio Lab and This American Life.

About the book: "Some years back, Lulu Miller disappeared down a very strange rabbit hole that led her to places neither she nor you would ever be able to anticipate. I highly recommend you follow her down the hole, because of her singular and gigantic gifts as a writer and storyteller, but also because of what's down there: love, chaos strychnine, a gun, dangerous delusions, heroic dandelions, a cow, a snorkel mask through which grander truths are revealed... this book is perfect, just perfect. It's both lyrical and learned, personal and political, small and huge, quirky and profound."  --Mary Roach, New York Times bestselling author of Stiff and other remarkable books, all of which I have read and recommend.

Then there's this: "Riveting. Surprising. Shocking, even! Why Fish Don't Exist begins with a mesmerizing account of the life of distinguished biologist David Stall Jordan--and then, quite unexpectedly, turns into so much more. Narrated in Lulu Miller's intimate, quirky voice, this is a story of science and struggle, of heartbreak and chaos. This book will capture your heart, seize you imagination, smash your preconceptions, and rock your world. --Sy Montgomery, New York Times bestselling author of The Soul of an Octopus, and another great read of mine.

To be longwinded, this was one of my all time favorite books, (with 15 really wonderful illustrations by Kate Samworth), though it took me a few early pages to recognize that. It finished with great satisfaction that only comes when reading something that 'rocked your socks." (Yes, damnit, I'm old-ish )

Subtle Acts of Exclusion: How to Understand, Identify, and Stop Microaggressions, is more a business textbook book that dares reading. It tells how subtle, sometime unintentional bias can profoundly impact people's sense of belonging and strives for a more thoughtful and understood world... one that starts on your doorstep. It's real life. And--BIG AND--it is co-authored by Michael Baran, my son-in-law, who lives and works for this better world.

 

Then there is A Promised Land, by Barack Obama, which tells in detail, how one decides to enter the political world, what it's like to campaign for office at every level, then very succinctly, what life and decision making in the office of President of the United States is like. It is apolitically revealing of the toll it takes to be "The Man" or The Woman" leader of the free world.