Monday, March 9, 2026
Monday, March 9, 2026
Good morning, everyone. This post is written by the eldest of the Snarski siblings - Elisabeth aka Lis.
All of the followers of Andy’s blog know what an avid reader he was. He frequently wrote about how becoming immersed in a book was a way for him to forget about the shitty disease. Many of us shared our book recommendations with him and were delighted when he reported on how much he enjoyed one of our picks. None of us could slow the progression of ALS, but if a book could take him away from that reality even briefly, it counted as a big win.
Early on, I shared some of my books with him. Many were hits, such as No Ordinary Time by Doris Kearns Goodwin and The Stand by Stephen King. Others were misses, such as Rot: An Imperial History of the Irish Potato Famine by Padraic Scanlan (that one is on me - what was I thinking??) But of all my recommendations, the biggest hits were the Prey books, written by John Sandford. When I ordered the first book in the series to be sent to Andy via Amazon, I thought I had checked the box to have a gift message enclosed. It wasn’t - either my error (always a distinct possibility when I have to interface with the Internet) or Amazon’s error (Bezos!) So no sender was identified. Andy was intrigued and wanted to know who sent the book. Hmmm, I thought. This mystery could be another distraction from the shitty disease. So I decided to see how long I could keep it going. I was “accused” several times by various family members of being the sender. Nikki said this scheme had my fingerprints all over it. I never lied and never denied it, but I deflected and tap danced all around the questions in order to avoid a straight answer. And for those of you who don’t know me, yes I am a retired attorney.
I did have a plan to reveal my identity. When I got close to the end of the series, I emailed the author of the Prey series four different times, asking if he would please send an email to Andy outing me. I attached entries from the blog in which Andy wrote about how much he enjoyed the books, hoping that flattery might help persuade the author to grant my request. Alas, my plan failed, as Andy never heard from him. And then his ALS progressed much more quickly than I could have anticipated, and I did not have time to share that information with Andy. I’m sorry that I missed the opportunity to resolve the mystery for him. Instead, I am taking this opportunity to out myself as the mystery book sender to all of you - his blog readers.
I hope all of you emulate Andy in his love of reading. Below is a list of all the books Andy mentioned in his blog, along with his comments.
Love you guys. And F ALS.
The following books are in reverse chronological order as they appeared in the blog. Where I know who recommended the book, I noted this. If Andy made a comment in the blog about the book, I have included it in quotes. I know there are books he read that didn’t make it into the blog.
• The Library Book by Susan Orlean. A Lis pick. The book he was reading when he died. Tim read the last 20 pages aloud to him.
• River is Waiting by Wally Lamb. “enjoyed”
• Head Cases by John McMahon. A Di pick. “So so”
• The Oligarth’s Daughter by Joseph Finder. A Di pic. “enjoyed”
• The Intruder by Freida McFadden “already forgot the plot”
• All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr “excellent”
• The River is Waiting by Wally Lamb “a heavy novel” “the jury’s still out”
• Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon “good book overall”
• The Nine by Gwen Strauss. A Nikki pick. “thanks for the recommendation”
• To Die by David Baldacci “wasn’t time well spent”
• The Valley by John Renehan “enjoyed the book but it was a challenging read”
• The Civil War by Shelby Foote. A Tim and Pete pick. “It’s worthwhile reading and I’ve started it; it’s just more difficult to read.”
• 11/22/63 by Stephen King. A Brenda K. pick. “A good read”
• Cry Havoc by Jack Carr “if you like war-era thrillers, I think you’d enjoy this.”
• Northwoods by Amy Pease “a good journey and a quick and easy read”
• The Secret of Secrets by Dan Brown. I’m not sure if he read it - he just mentioned he received it from the library.
• Unnamed mystery novel set in northern Wisconsin. A Di pick. He doesn’t mention the name or whether he read it - he just said he received it.
• The Iron Storm by Jack du Brul “the setting really hooks me”
• Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger. A Di and Mark O pick. “another good read” “a worthy book to read”
• Peace Like a River by Leif Enger. I’m not sure whether he read it but he mentioned it.
• Look Closer by David Ellis “it kept my attention right through to the end.”
• The Gray Man by Mark Greaney. A Lis pick. “entertaining, sure, but too far-fetched for me”
• The Little Liar by Mitch Albom. A Di pick. “it’s a quick read, but a powerful on”
• No Ordinary Time by Doris Kearns Goodwin. A Lis pick. “ a great recommendation “
• The Stand by Stephen King. A Lis pick. “captivating, eerie, and disturbingly easy to connect with” “totally engaging “
• Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis. A Tim pick. I’m not sure if he read it but he mentioned it.
• Bomber Mafia by Malcom Gladwell. A Lis pick. He just described the book.
• Nelson de Mille books. Mark O picks. “kept me hooked right up to tax season”
• Battle Mountain by CJ Box and other books in the series “ loved them at first, but I think too much of a good thing has dulled my enthusiasm”
• James by Percival Everett “it didn’t resonate with me”
• One Long River of Song” by Brian Doyle. A Paul pick. He didn’t make any comments about the book
• The Prey series - all 35 books by John Sandford. Lis picks, although he never knew this, unfortunately. Too many comments to list. He looked forward to all of them.
