What are you reading this week? And what did you think of last week’s books? Please share! We’d love to know.
I read Tailbone by Che Yeun for review. Set in South Korea in 2008, just as the financial crisis hit, it’s the story of a 17-year-old girl who runs away from home. A typical teen, she does no planning, just takes some clothes and a few won. She ends up living in a run-down women’s only boarding house where the other residents are sex workers. One of them takes the girl under her wing, helping her so she doesn’t have to become a prostitute herself. It’s excellently written - unforgettable, really - but very grim. You really have to be in the right mood for it.
Currently reading The Flower Sisters by Michelle Collins Anderson in prep for an upcoming Q&A with the author, and so far I’m enjoying it at least as much as her second novel, The Moonshine Women, maybe more.
Next up will be Aphrodite in Pieces by Lauren A.J. Bear for the online discussion here.
In audiobook format I’m listening to The Green Mile by Stephen King. So far it’s really not doing much for me but I’m only about 25% of the way through so the jury’s still out.
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I finished reading Things In Nature Merely Grow by Yiyun Li. I have read seven of her other books and talked to her briefly after a reading she gave at the Weisman Art Museum. This book was written after the suicide of her son James, six years and four months after his brother Vincent also committed suicide.
The book is eloquent, thought provoking. It does not make sense of things, does not solve any riddles, crack any codes, or find any answers. It is not an act of mourning or grieving, yet there’s a kind of transparency and honesty. It could possibly be read in a sitting if one could handle all the feelings that arise.
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I just started The Lost Story of Eva Fuentes by Chanel Cleeton. It has been on my to read list and I was encouraged to pick it up now because the author will be at the Pgh Book Fest (Pittsburgh, PA) next month.
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I’m nearly finished with The Moonshine Women and enjoying the story. I’m also nearing the end of The Little Red Chairs. I must do some research prior to our May discussion (1000 Books Chat). The mood is dark. At the top of the pile is Won’t Be Long Now.**
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I’m in the middle of a reread of Endling by Maria Reva. I’m getting way more from it on this second read and I especially enjoy thinking of the insights gained with the author discussion here.
I’ve just started listening to London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe. There are a lot of players but I feel like I’m keeping up pretty well. I do love PRK being the narrator for his own material.
Finally, I’m plugging away with the 1200 pg tome: Tom’s Crossing by Mark Danielewski. It is a good story with overtones of Lonesome Dove and News of the World, maybe even a little Cormac McCarthy, but unlike those others it is set in a more modern Utah.
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I’m reading ‘The News from Dublin’ by Colm Tóibín (because I have to read ALL the Irish books I can get my hands on). Last week was ‘Almost Life’ by Kiran Millwood Hargrave (mainly set in Paris). I wanted to like it more than I did, alas a 3 star for me.
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I finished Theo of Golden. I wanted to like it but I didn’t like it at all. Like a Hallmark movie but worse. An immediate turnoff just after starting it was when a person who caused an accident was described as an “illegal”. Then black characters spoke in dialect while white characters had perfect English grammar. Too much Christian proselytizing. I guess this book is for some people, but I’m not one of them.
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I finished “Angel Down” by Daniel Kraus this week and it was a visceral experience. So much was going on at once and it was a lot to take in for me.
I started “Time of the Child” by Niall Williams. It is off to a slow start but a couple of people here told me to stick with it so I am giving it a chance.
Next in the stack is “Wild Dark Shore,” which is more up my alley. I would read crime drama all the time if I didn’t try to branch out and learn things.
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Ooh, very curious to hear what you think about the Danielewski @Anne_Glasgow. I’ve wanted to read something else by him ever since House of Leaves and I was thrilled when I heard Tom’s Crossing was coming out…and then I saw it was over 1000 pages. Yikes! I don’t know when I’ll have time to read something that long “just because.”
Re: Tom’s Crossing
I’ll do my best to report back @kim.kovacs. It is a good tale so far but I’m only about 300 pgs in. I love a good western so I’m game to keep going in what at this point feels kind of like a coming of age story.
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I’m just going through some of my TBR notes and Ann Patchett (author) highly recommended Things in Nature Merely Grow. With your feedback, the book needs to go higher on my to read list. Thank you!
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I remember you were going to read Angel Down. I agree with your opinion. A lot to understand. The WWI setting held my attention given my grandfather’s and great uncles’ serving in WWI.
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I finished “The Moonshine Women” by Michelle Collins Anderson and have just started Elizabeth Berg’s latest, “Life: a Love Story”.
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I am currently reading Keeper of Lost Children and it is really fascinating. It is a historical fiction book that was inspired by a real life journalist named Mabel Grammer. In Keeper of Lost Children Ethel gathers organizes the adoption of mixed race orphans in post World War II Germany.
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I had my first DNF of the year. I was about four hours into The Green Mile by Stephen King, and I just couldn’t do it anymore. There was so much foreshadowing about something terrible happening to a character I liked (and his mouse!) that I had to stop. It was making me feel too sad.
Swapped it out for The Trees by Percival Everett. Seems like that’ll be a better choice for me right now.
Love Percival Everett and The Trees was the book that got me started. It is startling with the way the satire is employed. At first I was very put off then I was able to relax I to it and could see how Everett was using his satire almost like a weapon. Look forward to your thoughts @kim.kovacs.
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I have been traveling and appreciate my Kindle loaded with books. Have been reading some powerful books after an extended reading slump. They are: Call Me Ishmaelle, Vigil, A Guardian and a Theif, and Cape Fever. Currently listening to Kin. It is so exciting to have a reaction to a book rather than “Meh…”
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My thoughts exactly. I pushed through Theo of Golden, but hated the sentimental and nostalgic sense of a place that exists only in the author’s head. I want my reading to challenge my world view and make me think.
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I am currently reading ‘Surviving Savannah’, by Patti Callahan. Great story so far taking place in present day and the 1830’s just before, during and after the luxury steamship Pulaski sank. Great story if you like history, academia and mystery and love the historical south.
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