Knee injuries and reading lists

Well, just when I was getting into my olympics skiing form (not), a Mary Jane bump bit me hard.  It was inevitable that it would happen, since it was all black bump runs all the time.  Lying in the snow I knew right away that,  oh boy you really blew it this time.  Some would say it was poetic justice, for the day of the big fall was Valentine's Day - and instead of hanging out with the love of my life, Donna on that day, I was skiing at Mary Jane.  Anyway, my self diagnosis was a torn MCL on the left knee.  Why self diagnosis you might ask - as well you might.  Well, the high deductible health plan meant that the doctor visits, X-Rays, and maybe an MRI would all be on my nickel.  Thanks to the internet, I am quite confident that it was indeed a torn MCL - and the cure was RICE (rest, ice, compression and elevation).  So RICE it was for about a month.

  Which leads me to books, favorite authors and books.  I had some time on my hands, so lots of reading (which I love anyway) was on the agenda, while I was "RICEing".  Thanks to my good long-term friend Brad (we go back to 8th grade), and fellow retiree (many years retired), I had no shortage of books to read.  We kind of have a default book group - Brad buys all of these books at used book stores, etc., reads alot, picks out his favorites and passes them on to me to read, and I pick out the favorites from that group and pass them on to Donna to read.

So here is a partial list of some of my favorites, mostly recent reading, but a few from years ago, that I particularly have liked.  I'll add to it as time goes on, and assuming anyone ever reads any of this verbage, I'd love to hear recommendations from anyone.

Books I’ve liked

Devotion by Howard Norman

The Bird Artist by Howard Norman

Atonement by Ian McEwan

The Blue Afternoon by William Boyd

The Ice-Cream War by William Boyd

Brazzaville Beach by William Boyd

The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien

A Very Long Engagement by Sebastien Japrisot

The Welsh Girl by Peter Ho Davies

The Company You Keep by Neil Gordon

The Barracks by John McGahern

After This by Alice McDermott

Homer and Langley by E.L. Doctorow

The Big Rock Candy Mountain by Wallace Stegner

Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner

Recapitulation by Wallace Stegner

East of Eden by John Steinbeck

Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

Cannery Row by John Steinbeck

By A Slow River by Phillppe Claudel

The Surrendered by Chang-Rae Lee

The Madonnas of Leningrad by Debra Dean

Authors I like

Howard Norman

Wallace Stegner

John Steinbeck

Tim O’Brien

William Boyd