Reading and absolutely loving The Correspondent by Virginia Evans. It may just be my favorite this year. Such an extraordinary character has she written in Sylvia; wish I could talk with her! EXCITED TO SEE THE AUTHOR IN A COUPLE OF WEEKS.
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I finished The Correspondent by Virginia Evans and Spectacular Things by Beck Dorey-Stein. I really liked both of them. I just started When We Were Silent by Fiona McPhillips because I’m craving some dark academia. 
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I read The Housekeeper and the Professor which was 
.
I am pleased you liked The Man in the Stone Cottage. It was a suggestion on my kindle so I did download the book.
I hope you enjoy it too, Lynne.
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I wanted some comfort reading as I had a death in my family. So I turned to William Kent Krueger’s new book in the Cork Cochran stories (there are 20 in the series! ). This book does not disappoint- and if you haven’t read the other books, this one goes back in time so you learn a lot about his past as a Sheriff. The book is Apostle’s Cove,
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I’m sorry to hear about the death in your family. I hope you’re doing OK!
Books can definitely bring comfort. The only book I’ve read by that author was Ordiinary Grace, but I thought it was really well done. I’ll have to check out some of his other works.
Best of luck to you!
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Still reading The Listeners by Maggie Siegverts. Not sure what to think of it, including what the title means. Finishing up the audiobook of All the Presidents Men by Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward. The comparison to present day is uncanny except that politicians in Congress still knew their duty was to their country and not their political party and there were still individuals in the Executive branch of government (including the Department of Justice) who had integrity and believed in the rule of law.
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I just finished Wild Dark Shore on my return flight from vacation in Oregon. I loved it and am still processing it. I have Migrations on my TBR. Thanks for the endorsement.
I have started Silver Nitrate by Silvia Moreno-Garcia.
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What did you think of House of Leaves? I’m definitely not a horror fan, but am interested in the premise of the book. Being a scaredy cat, I’ve stayed away from it.
My husband is a diehard Yankees fan and enjoys reading about baseball. I’ll let him know about this book and your recommendation.
Hello Laurie:
Just finished The Armor of Light by Ken Follet. Despite it’s length it was a page turner but to be honest it was a tad too much in the sex and violence category. I am by no means a prude or do I shy away from violence but this got to be more repetitive than necessary.
It’s a very strange book and I’m still processing.
Johnny Truant gains possession of a trunk after the death of an elderly man named Zampano. The trunk contains bits and pieces of a manuscript, and Truant becomes obsessed with reconstructing it. A man with a history of violence, drug use, and from a family with a background of psychosis, Johnny gradually becomes more and more unhinged by his project.
Zampano’s manuscript is a critical analysis of a movie - The Navidson Record - shot by Pultizer Prize-winning photojournalist Will Navidson.
The Navidson Record starts out with Navidson - “Navy” - documenting his family’s experiences in their new house, a place in the country they bought so they could chill. After a few months, however, the house begins to change, with a mysterious (and seemingly endless) corridor appearing where one hadn’t been before. As Navy and later others explore this pitch-black space, even more weirdness occurs.
Much of House of Leaves is pretty dense commentary with lots and lots of footnotes about the movie. There are references to mythology, psychology, filmography, and a ton of other subjects.
There are also very long footnotes added by Johnny, who slips from commenting on the movie and Z’s interpretation to documenting his own experiences. There’s a lot of sexual content here, and some of his descriptions are pretty scary (as his madness progresses, he becomes convinced he’s being stalked by a creature).
The true horror comes as Z. describes people entering the tunnel and what they find there. These scenes are widely spread out, which I think may heighten their impact. Some are pretty gorey, too, so they may not be for the faint of heart.
House of Leaves is also written in such a way that the format of the book itself plays a role in the reading experience. The last 200 or so pages contain extra material - poems, letters, drawings - that add to the story, and at times the text is formatted in such a way that it enhances the reading experience. For example, in one section, someone is crawling through a tunnel that gets progressively smaller. The text blocks on subsequent pages shrink correspondingly, going from filling the whole thing to being maybe 4” x 4” to 3” x 3” on the next page to 1”x1” on the following page. Some pages might contain just a sentence, some just a word.
The fun of this book is trying to figure out what is real and what isn’t. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since I finished it yesterday afternoon.
… and now you don’t have to read my review when it comes out in a couple of weeks, haha.
The new Elizabeth Gilbert book All The Way To The River. Although I’m usually a fan of her books, this latest offering proves more difficult to get through. The memoir describing Ms Gilbert’s relationship with her partner Rayya Elias with every aspect of their life on full view. Addiction, recovery, relapse, depression, glorious sharing events and the ravages of all of these years. It was a difficult book to listen to because of the emotional ups and downs read by the author. The sheer honesty was often times brutal however redemption can be the light at the end of the tunnel. I stayed with it and was rewarded with a huge sigh of relief at the end.
Lana,
If interested I will send this book to your husband next week. Only a true baseball fan will appreciate it. Since he’s a diehard Yankees fan I don’t mind since they rarely compete with my Nationals😁. Email me at atlanta22209@yahoo.com to let me know.
Joyce
I finally acquired The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny. As I recall many of BB members have read the book already and have highly acclaimed the story.
I truly appreciate the offer, but I’ve been trying to think of a birthday gift for him and it will be perfect to purchase for him. And I’ll cheer for the Nationals next season!
I hope he enjoys it. I learned some interesting historical background info on how today’s game is being played. 
I am reading Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck. I’m loving it. Steinbeck can craft a sentence like no one else.
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I am reading This Tender Land and finished Ordinary Grace last week. Enjoying William Kent Krueger for a bit!