What are you reading this week? And what did you think of last week’s books? Please share! We’d love to know.
Let’s see… I finished I’m Not the Only Murderer in my Retirement Home by Fergus Craig for our upcoming book discussion. It was fun, with some interesting twists.
That was followed by Endling by Maria Reva. Wow, what a book! The first half was good, but at about the halfway point the author inserts herself into the narrative, trying to process her grief and guilt about being safe in Canada, writing a novel, while her grandfather and other family members are being bombed in Ukraine. It’s absolutely brilliant, and I don’t know that I’ve ever read anything quite like it. Looking forward to having a Q&A with the author next week.
Now I’m reading A World Appears by Michael Pollan. I’ve enjoyed this author’s work since reading Botany of Desire many many years ago. This one is about human consciousness. I’m not very far into it yet, but so far it’s fascinating.
Next up will be The Violin Maker’s Secret by Evie Woods, followed by Crown of Stars by Shana Abe, both for book club reads here.
In audiobook format, I’m enjoying Book 18 of the Expeditionary Force series by Craig Alanson (Gateway, for those keeping track!) and enjoying it immensely. I’ve then got Vigil by George Saunders lined up (doing a side listen with @Norma_R). I read it a couple of weeks ago, but I’d like the chance to revisit it, and this seems like a good excuse to do so.
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I, too, am reading I’m Not the Only Murderer in My Retirement Home for the book discussion here & am enjoying. It was just the right kind of light humor that I need right now. I’m picking up a copy of Spoon River Anthology that’s being held for me at the library for my book group; it’s a tie-in with How to Read a Book, our January title, that got postponed by the cold/snow we had earlier.
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I’m reading Awake in the Floating City by Susanna Kwan and Every Day I Read: 53 Ways to get Closer to Books by Hwang Bo-Reum. Enjoying both!
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I finished “One Day Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This” and it floored me. Now, I am reading “Everything is Tuberculosis” and it has John Green’s touch of humor in the face of sadness. Next in the stack is “Memorial Days” which is apparently also very sad.
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Like a few others, I’m reading I’m Not the Only Murderer in My Retirement Home. I’ve visited that setting in London and even took a long walk in the Heath. I sense the area. My Friends by Backman is nearly over. Quite different from others he’s written, but I liked it. Waiting in the wings are two books, The Man in the High Castle and Angel Down by Daniel Kraus.********
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Last week I read Conjuring in America and I thought it was fantastic. Followed that with Cursed Daughters which was ok for me. It was interesting that the two books had some overlap that I enjoyed with the extra context.
This week reading Morningside by Aran Shetterly about the Greensboro massacre. Also reading The Wilderness by Angela Flournoy and listening to Happy Land by Dolen Perkins-Valdez.
Finally I’m preparing The Safekeep by Yarl van der Wouden for irl book club discussion.
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I just finished David Guterson’s ‘Evelyn in Transit.’ A 3 star for me, but glad I read it. Certainly not as compelling as his masterpiece (IMHO) ‘Snow Falling on Cedars.’
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I’m reading Skylark by Paula McClain. For those of us in the Cleveland area, she is a “local author.” This latest historical novel is very good!
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Good to know about Evelyn in Transit. I probably won’t bother. Thanks for the honest opinion, @Evonne_Benedict
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Still reading No More Tears about Johnson & Johnson company and its coverups through the years that resulted in death and injury to numerous consumers. Haven’t gotten much reading done due to family with health issues requiring my assistance, but have had a lot of windshield time to listen to audiobooks. Finished Rabbit, Run by John Updike which won the Pulitzer in 1960. It reminded me of an adulting Catcher in the Rye.
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The Murder at World’s End by Ross Montgomery is set during the 1910 passing of Halley’s Comet. The plot is a lockdown mystery with humorous twists and quirky characters.
For the February read of 1,000 Books To Read - The Man in the High Castle by Phillip K. Dick was a delightful surprise for me, however it ddi have some disappointments. I am eager to hear what other readers thoughts.
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Just finished Dugoni’s 3rd book in the Keera Duggan series - Her Cold Justice. Then I went back and finished West with Giraffes. Both of those are very good books. Alka Joshi is next with her latest, Six Days in Bombay. I have to get on that because she will be Zooming in to our book club in March!
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I’m finishing Jane and Dan at the end of the world (what a book!) and last night I just finished Lucy Clarke’s The Castaways - OMG what a fantastic book!
I finished The Nightingale this week. It was one of my 12 by 12 friends’ recommendations that I chose for 2026. When I went to start it, I saw that I had actually read it in 2016. I checked the dates read and saw that I finished it the day before my emergency c section with my daughter. I had no recollection of the book and read it and could barely remember anything. I had rated it a three at the time and now with the re-read it is up to a 5. I am in a different place in my life. I love historical fiction with strong women and see that Kristen Hannah books will keep doing it for me.
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This is such a great example of right book/right time. I’m glad you gave The Nightingale a second chance. It is a really memorable story and one of Hannah’s best, in my opinion.
I just finished WAYFINDER for book club. It was a big decision for us because it is over 700 pages. I would describe this book as fiction, history and magic realism. Interwoven in this story is human shortsightedness, sacrifices and struggles among the islands in the kingdom of Tonga.
Just read Meet the Newmans. Interesting book - different than I had imagined.