What are you reading this week? (04/10/2025)

That book was so good but heart-rending.

I just started my May book club book, The Girls of Good Fortune.

This book is one of my top favorites from last year.

Re Careless People, I just saw that the author testified before Congress this week re Facebook’s relationship with China. Interesting testimony.

I think she may be the only honest one.

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Just finished Bad Nature, now reading The Paris Express and listening to The Last One At The Wedding.

I am curious what you think about it. She is visiting my local library at the end of this month, and I am planning on going.

First of all, may I say I am green with envy that Perkins-Valdez will be visiting your library. How very exciting! I thought the author did an extraordinary job of bringing so many important points to life by alternating the voices of Nikki and Mother Rita as the story of their family history unfolds. In the author’s interview on NPR, she stressed how important it is for young people to talk to their elders, to ask for the stories, to honor those stories and keep them safe. The novel is based on historical events, and P-V gave great tribute to that history by weaving it into an engaging novel that for me, was hard to put down. And for that, I believe she is indeed a master storyteller. Have a wonderful time meeting her!

Her book Take My Hand was exceptional.

As a former New Englander I found the historical tie-in compelling. That got me strted reading it, and the excellent writing kept me there for all the bitter endings.

It was a difficult story to read. The author wrote vivid descriptions, too. It seems the Islanders were content with their lifestyle even with the difficulties and drawbacks. Yet, one would wonder how much longer they could biologically survive.

Thank you for commenting on Take My Hand,Gabi. I totally agree with your assessment. I very much appreciated the way the author slowly and methodically unfurls such deeply troubling and heart wrenching facts with both care and powerful agency. I know I could not have absorbed the enormity of the historical record at a faster pace. Wench is next on my list and then Balm.

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I’m reading the Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald and The sweetness of Water by Nathan Harris

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I’m about 3/4 done with Jennifer E. Smith’s Fun for the Whole Family, her second adult novel. The premise strains believability (four siblings, one of whom is an Oscar-nominated actress, one who’s a professional athlete, and one is a National Book Award–winning novelist), but the sibling dynamics feel genuine, and I’m enjoying the way she uses multiple timelines and points of view.

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This week I finished Black in Blues: How Color Tells the Story of My People by Imani Perry. This series of essays were often poetic and lyrical. Several of the essays resonated with me and I rated the book 3 out of 5.
I also finished listening to Everyone Who is Gone is Here: The US, Central America & the Making of a Crisis by Jonathan Blitzer. This book was riveting, eye-opening, and informative. I gave it 5 stars.

I’m reading Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall. It’s fast-paced and hooked me right from the start.

Good to know, @Holly_K! That one’s coming up for discussion in a few weeks here at BookBrowse so it’s on my list, too!

Just finished ‘Black Cake’, which I loved for my library book club. A great generational read on family secrets, traditions, love, and friendships.

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I, too, loved the book but sadly found many of my book club members didn’t have the same reaction. Unsure why (and I can’t remember why!) Maybe some didn’t have a generational connection or experience from which to draw.

I’m reading The Book Club for Troublesome Women by Marie Bostwick which I got from Goodreads. Such a great title and so far it’s good, some laughs. Hope it gets better though but I’m only 50 pages in.