I’m reading The Salt Stones by Helen Whybrow - a lovely book on her journey to becoming a shepherd while raising a family and building a farm. I’ve found myself reading several ‘nature’ books this year (a lot on birds!) as a way to remind myself that hope (and life) spring eternal! My favorites were The Place of Tides by James Rebanks (must read HIS book on being a shepherd), Turning to Birds by Lili Taylor and of course the wonderful Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton.
I loved the Correspondent too! It did send me a little Olive Kitteridge vibes. Have you read any of that series?
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Vicki, I share in your fondness for 84 CCR. What a hug of a book. The movie also with such beloved actors - took me a while to recognize the young Judi Dench and Ian McNeice.
After previously reading WhaleFall by Daniel Kraus, I just finished Whale Fall by Elizabeth O’Connor…The first exciting and gritty, the second sparse and soft spoken. Both stories feed off (rather literally) the nature of a whale’s demise. Each story in its own unique way. I enjoyed them both very much.
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Dang it, @Connie_K, now I’m gonna have to pick up Whale Fall by O’Connor too! You people are a very bad influence. 
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I’m finishing “The Last Hours” by Minette Walters.
Yes! I like the Olive Kitteridge books very much. I have a fondness for what I think of as “community books” - people connected by place and community, living complicated albeit ordinary lives. I get the same enjoyment from Wendell Berry’s Port William novels. Interestingly, I did not love Buckeye as much as many readers. Perhaps just too much hype and unrealistic expectations going into it?
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Oh my, I’m going to have to go back and watch the movie again! I remember Judi Dench but not Ian McNeice. That’s one of the few movies I like just as much as the book.
I’ve been on the library hold list for The Place of Tides for ages but almost there so can’t wait to start it. I’m glad to have your recommendation for Salt Stones and will add it to my list.
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I loved loved loved The Place of Tides, hope you do too!
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Yes, I loved the series, and when Olive and Lucy meet in Tell Me Everything, it’s perfect.
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I am still reading Lolita, almost done. For another bookclub I read The Hired Girl by Laura Amy Schmitz. It was interesting. I liked reading about the Jewish customs. Last month’s banned book was Normal People by Sally Rooney. And just for me, not for a bookclub, Apostle’s Cove, I like Krueger’s mystery series. Well I like his stand alones also!!
A good girl’s guide to murder - Holly Jackson
She left us - Callista Arden
Play nice - Rachel Harrison
All excellent reads!
I am reading The Rent Collector, by Camron Wright, for our October book club meeting. Camron will be Zooming in to our meeting, as all the authors do.
I am reading “107 days” by Kamala Harris. It is well written and insightful. Next, I will read “Buckeye”.
I have finally gotten around to reading Night by Kristin Hannah. Better late than never.
I missed commenting last week so I’m doubling up: All the Way to the River by Elizabeth Gilbert (heart wrenching, brutally unabashed as only Gilbert can pull off, raw truth at every step); Apostle’s Cove by William Kent Krueger (a long, tedious, 10-hour listening journey to arrive at an abrupt dénouement in the last 20 minutes); reread Book 2 in Philip Pullman’s Secret Commonwealth in anticipation of Book 3 recent release; currently rereading Diana Gabaldon’s Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone in anticipation of book 10 in the Outlander series 5 years in the making (and waiting 
) recently released. Phew. 
For a book club, I read The Storied Life of A. J. Fiery by Gabrielle Zevin. I rate it 2/5 which is the same rating I gave another of the author’s book — Tomorrow, Tomorrow and Tomorrow.
Something must be wrong with me because the author receives rave reviews for her books. To me, the plots are too shallow and thin. Plus, I rarely think about the author while reading a book, but I wonder if the author is trying show the reader how “very clever” she is, but it feels pretentious. Unfortunately, the plot can’t be redeemed by the characters — they are all boring because they are two-dimensional.
Please, if you like Gabrielle Zevin’s books, tell me what I’m not appreciating about her writing skills!