Get Rec’d with Amanda – Volume 121

Welcome back! We have a couple non-fiction titles, plus a mystery and a spooky retelling. It’s an odd bunch, for sure! Any recommendations you’d like to share? Drop them in the comments! Are They Dead Yet? I’m a sucker for non-fiction on niche topics and industries. I also love Caitlin Doughty’s books on death. This is a good marriage of the two! From celebrated New York Times obituarist Sam Roberts, the art of the Who we remember, how we forget, and where we find the true meaning in a life. After nearly a decade behind the obituaries desk at the paper of record, Roberts knows obits aren’t really about deaths. In fact, they usually only mention dying once. Over the course of the nearly 1,500 obituaries he has written throughout his career, he has instead come to understand that they’re about distilling an entire life lived-for someone whose name he may have learned that morning. In Are They Dead Yet?, Roberts explores the major questions that arise from the task of producing a succinct yet record-defining account of a life. Who deserves an obituary, and how do we decide who gets one? How does an obituarist choose what to include-and to omit? What happens when embarrassing informati...