I finished listening to The Moonshine Women by Michelle Collins Anderson. It was the second novel in a row that I’ve read that was about strong independent women surviving in the South during the Great Depression. It was good, but I enjoyed the first book, The Calamity Club by Kathryn Stockett, more. Perhaps that is because I’m getting a little weary of this theme. This week I had to lay The Zealot by Reza Aslan aside so I could read Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke for an upcoming book discussion at a nearby library. Audiobook-wise I just started listening to Passing by Nella Larsen.
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I thought the Passing was excellent.
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Janine - Strapless: John Singer Sargent and the Fall of Madame X by Deborah Davis has been on my list for a long time, so your mention of Family Romance by Jean Strouse has piqued my interest!
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Hi Diane. The subtitle of Family Romance is John Singer Sargent and the Wertheimers. It’s about the twelve portraits Sargent painted for the London art dealer. It’s been in my TBR list too long so I’ve decided it’s time to be read.
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I’m reading The Borrowed Life of Frederick Fife by Anna Johnston for the local library IRL book discussion. I think it is being adapted into a movie? It was difficult for the library to obtain copies since there is a long waitlist - unusual for a backlist title - expect in cases when a movie or TV series makes the book popular again.
I’m struggling a bit with the book - and this is really silly! - but I’m averse, in general, to a mistaken identity plot! This odd personal quirk keeps me from fully appreciating Hitchcock’s film - North by Northwest. Meanwhile, I’ll soldier on with the Frederick Fife story.
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Have you read Mary Coin by Marisa Silver? It’s a wonderful book about women and the Depression. It’s based on Dorothea Lange’s photo of that famous depression photo “Migrant Mother.” I recommend it highly.
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Thanks, @John_B1, I appreciate the heads-up on the format. Not too worried about the Hungarian content; my family is Hungarian & that’s actually why this book caught my attention. 
@Evonne_Benedict, those two books (Partita and Luna, Phoenix, Queen) are super high on my want-to-read list. Thanks for confirming the former is worthwhile, and looking forward to hearing what you think of the latter once you’ve finished it.
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I’m speeding through Luna, and a friend who is also reading it says the same. Hope it stays this compelling, and let us know what you think!
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Sipsworth is a wonderful book! He has a new one - Whitlock House - due out in Fall 2027, according to his Instagram.
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That does sound good. I’ll add to my TBR.
I couldn’t get into Fast Company by Marco Page, so it became a DNF at 31%.
I then found a book with “ghost” in the title just to try something different and seasonal: The Ghost and Mrs. McClure by Alice Kimberly (aka Cleo Coyle). I’d say it’s a somewhat cozy mystery (maybe a squeak above cozy due to some suggestive lingo). It was a quick, easy read and I don’t remember much else about it.
I’m now trying Nature and the Mind: The Science of How Nature Improves Cognitive, Physical and Social Well-Being by Marc G. Berman. BUT, I can’t seem to get into it, either (so far it’s too memoir-ish and not as science/nature as I was expecting).
Hope everyone is doing well and reading something good!
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Interesting - I had a Hungarian family connection when I lived in London and spent a holiday their in 1979, then visited again three times on business in the early 2000s. I still regularily cook some Hungarian dishes - love the spice palette of Hungarian cuisine!
Making Hungarian goulash with nokedli (a type of dumpling similar to German spaetzel) later this week!
I loved Luna Phoenix Queen and hope (expect) you will too. Julie Orringer is one of my favorite authors. I just hate having to wait so long for her books.
I’ve never read her work before, but think I need to catch up now.
Flight Portfolio was a book I tried to get everyone to read. It was such a different perspective on the war. I still need to read Invisible Bridge and very much want to make time for it.