by Hugh Gilmore

I can offer only two generalizations about your neighbors as booklovers. First, they mostly follow their own stars and not the best-seller lists. Second, women tend to like fiction more than men do.

First to ring in this year was Lucretia Robbins, an artist and teacher from Wyndmoor. She also gets the heroism award-in-the-campaign-to-keep-book reading-alive. She writes, “Hi Hugh, and a Happy New Year to you. I’m in bed with bronchitis this week, but wanted to recommend two novels I literally could not put down. The first is ‘Euphoria’ by Lily King (2014), a fictional account based on Margaret Mead. The other is Isabel Allende’s (I've always loved her writing) ‘The Japanese Lover’ (2015).”

Next up is poet, novelist, and food and beverage writer Lynn Hoffman, now a resident of Blue Bell Hill. Lynn is also the author of the inspiring memoir “Radiation Days: The Rollicking, Lighthearted Story of a Man and His Cancer” (2014). He writes, “Brief Eulogies at Roadside Shrines” by Mark Lyons (2014), is a collection of short stories sparked by those wonderfully mysterious and provocative roadside shrines that you see occasionally along country roads. Have you ever imagined their stories? Mark Lyons, the director of the Philadelphia Storytelling Project, has and he puts a lifetime of storytelling practice into telling them.

Chestnut Hill businessman Tom Tarantino, was interested in a different kind of shrine. He writes: “I read eight different English-language translations of the ‘Tale of Chushingura,’ including ‘Tales of Old Japan’ by A.B. Mitford (1871). This is a Japanese tale of duty and revenge that is a beloved subject of many woodblock prints.

“It is based on an historical event from 18th-century Japan where a feudal lord was forced to commit suicide (‘seppuku’). Though it took nearly two years of patient planning, his 47 then-masterless samurai (‘ronin’) revenged their master’s death by cutting off the sentencing judge’s head and laying it at their master's grave.

“The ronin then turned themselves in to the authorities, who ordered them to commit seppuku. This they gladly did, asking only to be buried at the graveside of their lord. This temple, Sengaku-Ji, located in the Takanawa section of Tokyo, has become a national shrine. The ‘Forty-Seven Ronin’ are revered in Japan for their loyalty, honor and duty. It is said that ‘to know Chushingura is to know Japan.’"

Mary Phipps, an artist and antiques dealer from Manayunk, sought another kind of history: “Hi, Hugh. This book may be too old to suit your readers, but it tops my list (I enjoyed it better than ‘Wolf Hall’ actually): “The Autobiography of Henry VIII: With Notes by His Fool, Will Somers,” written by Margaret George (1986). At 900-plus pages this historical novel was a book I could savor over a couple of weeks. The book is written as if it were Henry's private diary, in which the infamous English King lets his real feelings about his mistresses, wives, children and court officials, be expressed. Wonderfully written, with a strong historical veracity based on actual historical evidence. We get to imagine the human side of the Tudor monarch as he tries to balance life between God, country, and his private desires. Engrossing, enlightening and enjoyable to the end.”

A more current concern with power and authority comes from Dennis Brookshire, of Erdenheim, a writer and photographer. He found “Between the World and Me,” by Ta-Nehisi Coates (2015) to be a special book. “As if he were writing to his son, Coates speaks movingly, graphically, and with controlled anger about the dangers, challenges, and potential for success in America – if you are a black man. I must say I occasionally wondered when reading it why I found the material more difficult to grasp than I did when James Baldwin wrote ‘My Dungeon Shook: Letter to My Nephew’? I was helped by a comment (on the radio? in a book review? I don’t remember) by another black writer who summed it up this way: James Baldwin’s writings were tuned for a white audience, Ta-Nehisi Coates' writing in this instance is directed to a black audience – people he assumes have similar experiences and similar fears for themselves and their loved ones. He need not over-explain. Powerful stuff!”

Denny Whalen, an Ambler resident who is a therapist and Wissahickon walker, says she very much enjoyed, “Night Train to Lisbon” by Pascal Mercier (2004). “This beautiful tapestry of a novel unfolds though the voice of a Swiss classics instructor who unexpectedly stumbles upon the intense philosophical writings of a Portuguese doctor whose life was caught up in Salazar’s right-wing dictatorship. Fascinating reading.”

In the memoir genre, Denny also recommends, “H is for Hawk,” by Helen MacDonald (2014). “The author describes her total obsession and life-changing involvement with the very vicious predator goshawk (a type of large hawk). Her obsession started in early childhood, was exacerbated by her father's sudden death and by her absorption in the book ‘The Goshawk,’ by T.H. White. It all culminated in her attempt to raise a goshawk. This is an absorbing look into one person's extreme adventure on the path to resolving a terrible personal loss. Happy New Year to you, Hugh! I look forward to reading your column!”

Denny’s husband, Bill Blakeslee, volunteers a different book. Bill writes, "I am a 75-year-old Ambler resident who rowed in college and still rows as a hobby. ‘Boys in the Boat’ by Daniel James Brown (2013), is a true story of how a depression-era crew from Washington state bested the elite Eastern rowing establishment and then took on the world at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. The author amazingly describes every race in a manner that makes it more exciting than the previous one.”

One of Chestnut Hill’s favorite persons, Annie Hart, recently moved to Ashland, Oregon. She says she misses the Hill and the folks she knew. However, “Ashland is the most stunning place,” Annie writes, “situated at the southern-most base of Oregon (15 miles from California) between two mountain ranges. You all should come visit!” Annie is a consultant, writer, storyteller and world traveler. (Visit her at anniehart.com)

Her choices: “The first one is one of these books you would be embarrassed to admit that you read, and worse yet that you truly enjoyed, but I did! ‘Behind the Candelabra: My Life with Liberace,’ by Liberace's former lover, Scott Thorson (1988). Everyone needs to read a good trash book like this once a year! And just so you know I read other, more worthy titles, I also loved ‘Outlander: A Novel,’ (2004), by Diana Gabaldon. It was really good. I hated for it to end.”

We next hear from Katie Haegele, a writer and Philadelphia Inquirer book reviewer. Katie lives in East Falls. She is the author of the charming memoir “White Elephants: On Yard Sales, Relationships, and Finding What Was Missing” (2012).

Katie writes, “Good morning, Hugh. After much thought, I’ve decided to offer Jane Gardam’s ‘A Long Way from Verona’ (1971). Gardam published this novel, set in England during World War II, in the 70s, but I’d never heard of the book, or her, before I found it while browsing the library one day this fall. It ended up being the best book I read all year. Twelve-year-old Jessica Vye is hilarious as a spunky aspiring writer, an original and memorable heroine on a par with Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm. Both books were published as children’s novels, and went on to become deeply rewarding reading for adults, too. Warm wishes, Katie.”

Last up today is Larry Schofer, of Mt. Airy, a professional translator of legal and technical material (from German, French, Polish, and Hebrew!) and a lover of fiction.

He recommends Ivan Doig’s “Last Bus to Wisdom” (2015), the final novel by this chronicler of American life as seen through the eyes of Montanans. Larry says, “In a way, it’s a modern equivalent to ‘Little House on the Prairie.’ An 11-year-old Montana boy is sent off to live with a distant relative in Wisconsin. Nothing works out there, and he has to return. On two fascinating bus trips the boy learns about growing up amidst kindly and unkindly bus travelers, rodeos, farm work, and a good deal more. Doig died recently, and I will miss his insights into hard living on Montana soil and growing up in America.”

HG: Here’s hoping you found something in today’s recommendations that will help kick-start your reading year. More from your neighbors next week.