Here are 100 books that At the Villa of Reduced Circumstances fans have personally recommended if you like
At the Villa of Reduced Circumstances.
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I find that one of the advantages of having worked as a professor (now Emerita ) of German at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, is that it helped me gain perspective. When I study literature–especially in languages other than English–I am forced to step outside of my everyday world to identify the motif and leitmotif of the author. I am proposing that the medical training of these five authors helped them do the same: to dig below the surface to find other structures and root causes and to present their findings and unique diagnoses.
Döblin was a practicing Jewish psychiatrist in Berlin when the Nazi regime drove him and his family into exile in France. Already an established and prolific writer, he was forced into a clandestine existence on the run in France.
This memoir essentially depicts the anatomy of life in exile, the isolation from community, whether in France or later as one of the many exiles from Nazi Germany living and working as writers for the film industry in Hollywood. Döblin returned after the war to work in the French zone of a shattered Germany in the uniform of a French officer. His commentary is a masterpiece of psychological analysis both at the personal and collective level.
Reissued as a paperback by Plunkett Lake Press, Destiny's Journey is a memoir reconstructed partly from notebooks that Döblin kept from the time he worked in the French Ministry of Information in the spring of 1940 and partly written without notes in Los Angeles where he took refuge during the Second World War. It tells the personal and generational story of the flight of Jewish and anti-Nazi intellectuals from Europe to America, their fear and frustration, isolation, and inability to work. Döblin’s story differs from that of other Jewish intellectuals and artists in that his family converts to Catholicism in…
Journey to an unnamed mountainous country in central Europe at the end of the Great War. Enter Citizen Orlov, a simple fishmonger and an honest, upright citizen, who answers a phone call meant for a secret agent and stumbles into a hidden…
I find that one of the advantages of having worked as a professor (now Emerita ) of German at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, is that it helped me gain perspective. When I study literature–especially in languages other than English–I am forced to step outside of my everyday world to identify the motif and leitmotif of the author. I am proposing that the medical training of these five authors helped them do the same: to dig below the surface to find other structures and root causes and to present their findings and unique diagnoses.
Written by a clinical psychologist with a keen eye for dissection, Cloud explores the concept of trust and its components, which he presents as understanding, motive, ability, character, and track record.
The loss of trust is a key issue in today’s world, and this author puts the personal and societal implications under his microscope. Cloud’s book will make you think twice before you make a major decision.
Trust is the fuel for all of life. We are wired biologically, neurologically, emotionally, spiritually, and psychologically to trust. Trust is the currency that drives every relationship, beginning with the foundational bond between infants and their mothers, extending to the trust networks that undergird every human endeavour - art, science, commerce - and binding together every relationship we have ever had or ever will have. Nothing in our world works without trust.
It is tempting to think that trust is simple, that we should be able to spot a lack of trustworthiness relatively easily. But we all have our stories…
I find that one of the advantages of having worked as a professor (now Emerita ) of German at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, is that it helped me gain perspective. When I study literature–especially in languages other than English–I am forced to step outside of my everyday world to identify the motif and leitmotif of the author. I am proposing that the medical training of these five authors helped them do the same: to dig below the surface to find other structures and root causes and to present their findings and unique diagnoses.
Beauty transcends transience and remains a thing of beauty that is a joy forever. The words of the odes of John Keats are familiar, but we forget that the poet was originally apprenticed to a surgeon in 1811. He knew disease and death firsthand, and many of his odes were written while he himself was suffering.
His medical training and recognition of death informed his vivid imagery; his awareness of the brevity of life compelled him to capture beauty in the ephemeral and transcendence in the transient. I boldly propose that Keats’s poetry would resonate with this generation of young readers. They will lean into its musicality and find comfort in the cadence of his verse.
Helen Vendler widens her exploration of lyric poetry with a new assessment of the six great odes of John Keats and in the process gives us, implicitly, a reading of Keats's whole career. She proposes that these poems, usually read separately, are imperfectly seen unless seen together-that they form a sequence in which Keats pursued a strict and profound inquiry into questions of language, philosophy, and aesthetics.
Vendler describes a Keats far more intellectually intent on creating an aesthetic, and on investigating poetic means, than we have yet seen, a Keats inquiring into the proper objects of worship for man,…
East of Troost’s fictional narrator has moved back to her childhood home in a neighborhood that is now mostly Black and vastly changed by an expressway that displaced hundreds of families. It is the area located east of Troost Avenue, an invisible barrier created in the early 1900s to…
I find that one of the advantages of having worked as a professor (now Emerita ) of German at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, is that it helped me gain perspective. When I study literature–especially in languages other than English–I am forced to step outside of my everyday world to identify the motif and leitmotif of the author. I am proposing that the medical training of these five authors helped them do the same: to dig below the surface to find other structures and root causes and to present their findings and unique diagnoses.
I recommend these short stories for both younger and older readers. In the latter case, they may well be re-reads and if so, they are essential reading in that they lead the reader to reevaluate past aspirations and ambitions. Chekhov’s medical training is immediately apparent in his uncanny ability to dissect both personal and societal issues.
Though the diagnosis is frequently abrupt and unexpected, the treatment is less obvious. For example, in Gooseberries, written in 1898 as part of a trilogy, the reader is left with no doubt about the diagnosis of the social pretentiousness and even cruelty of the central character, but the possibility that happiness is elusive lingers like the pervasive smell of tobacco on the armchair. These stories are a must-read by the fireside on a rainy night, with the wind howling outside.
Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky, the highly acclaimed translators of War and Peace, Doctor Zhivago, and Anna Karenina, which was an Oprah Book Club pick and million-copy bestseller, bring their unmatched talents to The Selected Stories of Anton Chekhov, a collection of thirty of Chekhov’s best tales from the major periods of his creative life.
Considered the greatest short story writer, Anton Chekhov changed the genre itself with his spare, impressionistic depictions of Russian life and the human condition. From characteristically brief, evocative early pieces such as “The Huntsman” and the tour de force “A Boring Story,” to his…
I’ve been captivated by interesting people since I was a kid. Family
members always thought I asked too many questions of people, trying to
learn more about who they are. For that reason, when I started reading
fiction, I looked for characters with originality who opened new
horizons and who I wanted to hang out with. (That’s also why I host the
Novelist Spotlight podcast.) I agree 100 percent with novelist Larry
McMurtry, who said: “For me, the novel is character creation. Unless the
characters convince and live, the book’s got no chance.” The books I
placed on my list reflect this belief. I hope you dig them.
I found this book hysterically funny, and the dialogue more imaginative than any book I’ve ever read. The characters are without equal in terms of their originality, including the children of Jack and Babette Gladney.
The sheer number of meaningful topics this story covers is also without equal. The author’s observations are extremely keen. At its core, it is about the fear of death, though it is not a depressing story in any sense. It’s no wonder why it won the 1985 National Book Award.
The National Book Award-winning classic from the author of Underworld and Libra-an "eerie, brilliant, and touching" (New York Times) family drama about mass culture and the numbing effects of technology-soon to be a major motion picture starring Adam Driver and Greta Gerwig
White Noise tells the story of Jack Gladney, his fourth wife, Babette, and four ultra modern offspring as they navigate the rocky passages of family life to the background babble of brand-name consumerism. When an industrial accident unleashes an "airborne toxic event," a lethal black chemical cloud floats over their lives. The menacing cloud is a more urgent…
I could say I’ve had a hard life (and I have), but who hasn’t? Life is one adversity after another, and we need all the help we can get. Without that help, moods suffer, hope falters, and our souls are diminished. During my own personal journey through this quagmire called life, I have often been lifted up and out of the mud whilst reading the books I suggest below and more. These books either made me laugh and cry, made me think, or made me change the way I approached things. Quite often, they did all four at the same time. Their insights were invaluable.
No one has taught me more about life than Terry Pratchett. No one has taught me how to wrestle with my demons (both literal and metaphorical) or how to be a better person no matter what fate befalls me. Humanists don’t need a bible, but if they did, the collected works of Terry Pratchett would be that book.
More than just fantasy, humor, or satire, his words work at a profound and subtle level. All of his books are favorites of mine, but this one is my most favorite of all. It’s a book about witches and magic and fairy tales. It’s also a story that contains stories within stories, but most of all, it’s a book about knowing who you are.
'You can't go around building a better world for people. Only people can build a better world for people. Otherwise, it's just a cage.'
There's power in stories. The Fairy Godmother is good. The servant girl marries the Prince. Everyone lives happily ever after . . . don't they?
The witches Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg and Magrat Garlick are travelling to far-distant Genua to stop a wedding and save a kingdom. But how do you fight a happy-ever-after, especially when it comes with glass slippers and a power-hungry Fairy Godmother who has made Destiny an offer it can't refuse?
What Happened to Frank? is the first book in the Meg Sheppard Mystery Series. Meg is an amateur sleuth who owns racehorses and lives on a horse farm. Her beloved border collie, Kelly, is usually at Meg's side as she investigates murders and solves other mysteries. The books are action-packed…
As someone who was both a funny kid and a lover of superheroes, it was
always exciting to find a book where those two things crossed paths.
In the young readers' books I’ve written for Marvel and DC Comics, I
always try to inject humor where I can. Humor can be healing. If I
couldn’t laugh, especially about things that have caused me pain, I
don’t know that I would be around today. I love books about funny,
sensitive kids with big hearts. The world is a cold place sometimes,
but whenever I see a young person making positive change and having
fun along the way, it reminds me that anything is possible.
Leon is a big dreamer. He’s a good kid with a zest for life who truly wants to help people. The only problem is he doesn’t have superpowers. But! He does have a cool homemade costume and a keen mind.
I can relate as someone who used to tie towels around their neck and jump off the back of the couch. Don’t try that at home, by the way. Leon’s passion is infectious. His positivity is inspiring. Does it annoy the jerks and bullies? It sure does. But Leon isn’t one to act without considering all the angles. I love that about him.
Jamar Nicholas has crafted a super charming story that explores what it means to be a hero, a villain, and whatever lies in between.
Leon is an ordinary kid who becomes extraordinary when he fights a supervillain to save his school!
"Leon is a superhero, whose powers are kindness and common sense. It's a really good book about a really good kid!" -- Jerry Craft, author and illustrator of New Kid
"A heartfelt and hilarious hero’s journey. LEON is super!" -- Lincoln Peirce, author and illustrator of Big Nate
In the city where Leon lives, superheroes -- and supervillains -- are commonplace. So how does an ordinary kid like Leon, who has no superpowers himself, become the superhero he wants to be? When all…
As a former U.S. Army service member and a student of life, espionage and intelligence have often been staples in my research (as a creative writer), the cornerstones of my professional experience (as a combat veteran and slum baby), and a central theme in most of my novels. I’ve always enjoyed dissecting the inherent struggles of mankind and their inevitable fallouts—the pain, the joy, the misguided hopes and leaps of faith. Espionage and intelligence weaponize these sentiments. They transform them into actionable information and, sometimes, life-altering schemes.
That is what drives my work and sparks my interest in this subject matter: the psychological warfare we subject ourselves—and others—to.
This book takes a comic yet piercing look at espionage.
Jim Wormold, a vacuum-cleaner salesman in pre-revolutionary Cuba, is recruited by MI6 out of desperation and fabricates his spy reports. He invents agents, sketches of weaponized vacuum parts, and absurd clandestine plots—all to keep the money coming and satisfy his daughter’s extravagances.
What makes the novel shine is its satire of the spy apparatus—how credulity, vanity, and bureaucratic inertia turn fiction into danger. Greene balances light humor with real human stakes: financial strain, moral compromise, a man pretending to be something he is not. Even decades after its writing, Our Man in Havana remains sharp, funny, and deeply relevant in its critique of power, truth, and illusion.
This is both your main course and palate cleanser. Absolutely riveting!
MI6’s man in Havana is Wormold, a former vacuum-cleaner salesman turned reluctant secret agent out of economic necessity. To keep his job, he files bogus reports based on Charles Lamb’s Tales from Shakespeare and dreams up military installations from vacuum-cleaner designs. Then his stories start coming disturbingly true…
First published in 1959 against the backdrop of the Cold War, Our Man in Havana remains one of Graham Greene’s most widely read novels. It is an espionage thriller, a penetrating character study, and a political satire of government intelligence that still resonates today. This Penguin Classics edition features an introduction…
I can't be the only one to see men with power manipulate their status to hold back others. This isn’t just a Hollywood thing. A Sunday supplement piece by a young gay actor about his troubled life with a leading director struck a chord. Fate led me to him, and he connected me with others who shared off-the-record stories of exploitation and ambition. I wanted to tell these tales but not launch yet another bad news book into an already battered world. I aimed to create something accessible and engaging, darkly funny while shining a light on Hollywood's underbelly.
After 608 days, Maggie is single again and almost 30–two things that give cause for concern and reflection. Thankfully, Maggie takes no blame for either thing happening and plows on, determined to find the pearl in the gritty oyster her life has become.
I laughed, but I also found myself filled with sad recognition of how we all too often set goals we’ll never score, only to find that halfway home is where the heart is.
The No. 2 SUNDAY TIMES Bestseller An Observer Best Debut of the Year 'Intoxicating ... heralds a really good author to watch' The Times 'Hilarious and profound' Dolly Alderton, author of Everything I Know About Love 'Wildly funny and almost alarmingly relatable' Marian Keyes, author of Again, Rachel 'Monica Heisey is a genius' Nina Stibbe, author of Reasons to be Cheerful
One of the most hotly anticipated, hilarious and addictive debut novels of 2023, from Schitt's Creek and Workin' Moms screenwriter and electric new voice in fiction, Monica Heisey.
I feel like when you get a divorce everyone's wondering…
An auctioned storage locker comes with a box of Raggedy Ann books and a dresser drawer stuffed with grisly momentos. A small college town in Georgia is now ground zero for a mind-bending cold case.
Local journalist James Murphy wishes he had never bought the storage unit which either contains…
I am Susie Black. Before I became an award-winning, humorous, cozy mystery author, I had a successful career as a ladies’ swimwear sales exec. As you can imagine, I spent a lot of time in Florida. I interacted with progressive, traditional, and conservative buyers and sellers from large cities to small towns all over the Sunshine State. My experiences gave me a unique perspective on the social mores and hierarchy of Florida’s diverse, multi-layered, and complicated society.
Maybe it’s because, as a woman who worked in a historically male-dominated industry, I always root for the underdog—be it a newbie with the chutzpah to say no to a pushy buyer or a small town fighting off a huge conglomerate. Give me a character who is a caricature of an amusement park scion, dialog dripping with sarcasm, and a zany plot that spits in the eye of corporate America.
I led the applause as S. V. Date gleefully poked fun at the greediness of big business while indicting a state government that, for a price, was more than happy to go along for the ride.
A witty satire of planned communities introduces readers to Serenity, Florida--the lifelong dream of amusement park scion Waldo Whipple--a town on the verge of a very public nervous breakdown. 10,000 first printing.
