Welcome to the Book Nook! This is the weekly thread for Avocados to discuss books we’re currently reading, recommendations, genre, and serious literary criticism.

This week’s recommended discussion: When I was young, there were a lot of prestige bestsellers about things I couldn’t relate to – divorce, mid-life crisis, adultery, money. I recently read a book that was widely praised as a new classic from a great Millennial voice, but I didn’t get it. I have trouble buying into the notion that there are books that just aren’t meant for me. If a book does a good job, any story is relatable. But is my failure to connect with some old-person books when I was young, and some young-person books now that I’m older the books’ fault? I suspect that it might be my fault. Or maybe it’s the same thing as not reading other books with subjects that don’t interest me (family drama springs to mind – I’ve learned over and over that’s not for me). What about classics from previous time periods that are losing relevance because of shifts in technology and communication? What are your thoughts on the generation gap in reading?

Settle into your favorite chair, and let’s celebrate the written word.
One caveat: because we’re here to use our words, this is a NO GIF/YouTube/social media embed zone (the OTs are full of clutter, and I want to keep that out of this thread).

upcoming topics:
8/21: challenging books
8/28: hide the cover (h/t to CineCraft)
9/4: less than the sum of its parts (h/t to Robert Maitland, Architect)
9/11: how structure informs character interpretation and growth

Book Nook posts every Wednesday at 8:15 AM Eastern.