I could and would happily read the extremely talented Le Guin write about something as mundane as eating a soft-boiled egg — and now I have.

Although it grabbed my attention in the first few chapters, it lost its grip on me pretty quickly thereafter, made another grasp about midway through, and then, just when I thought it was going to part company with an uncomfortably limp handshake, gave a satisfactory fist tap to send me on my way. Described as part history, part mystery, part memoir, part love letter to libraries, "The Library Book" seemed like a good bet as an opener for a book club with library-loving friends. Unfortunately, the whole ended up being less than the sum of its part. What could have been a fascinating narrative felt jumbled; what could have been arresting vignettes of interesting people felt confused and unmoored. On a sentence level, however, the writing is beautiful. If I had been reading on my Kindle, I would have highlighted several surprising, vivid, and delightful phrases. I'd give it a 3.5 for that, but rounding up to a 4 felt too generous.

A short, basic introduction to hygge. Too short and basic for my tastes — I felt like I was reading a school paper or wikihow — but your mileage may vary.

I failed to record about half the books I read this year 🤷‍♀️, but this was one of my favorites. Pair it with the excellent [b:Jim Henson: The Works: The Art, the Magic, the Imagination|357435|Jim Henson The Works The Art, the Magic, the Imagination|Christopher Finch|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1388792872s/357435.jpg|347593] for a good remedy for creeping cynicism. Not because it's all feel-good zaniness and escapism, but because it isn't. It doesn't take perfect people to make fun, timely, beautiful contributions to the world. (OK — a little zaniness never hurts either. 😆)

An excellent, simple, direct but nonconfrontational introduction to the hugely important matter of feminism. It takes less than 30 minutes to read and should be handed out in every middle school class, Sunday school class, driver's license facility, grocery store, and pub across the globe.

Personally, I wanted it to be a little longer and a little more in depth, but I realize that would alter the usefulness of such an approachable piece. For an even more modern-user-friendly format, send your nonreader friends to the 30-minute video of the TedX Talk: "We Should All Be Feminists."