What are you reading this week? And what did you think of last week’s books? Please share! We’d love to know.
This week I finished Black Messiahs by Steven A Holmes. It was a WWII story from the perspectives of Black brothers who enlisted in the US Army and a dual storyline of a Polish Jew named Daniel. I liked it.
Also finished The Secret of Snow by Tina Harnesk. This is about the Sami people of the Nordic countries. This one was a little inconsistent for me. The payoff was held back until the very end and there was a technology thread that I simply didn’t like. I think it was meant to be charming.
I am down to less than 200 pgs to go in Tom’s Crossing so I’m hoping to maybe finish tomorrow.
Next up on audio is There is No Place for Us by Brian Goldstone from the Pulitzer prize list.
Also starting On the Calculation of Volume IV by Solvej Balle. I’m very invested in this series so I look forward to heading back to Nov 18–IYKYK.
2 Likes
I had a good reading week!
I finished Shelter Island by Jill Wisoff for our indie/self-published program. It was a YA adventure, but it was quite entertaining. It might be the first five-star book I’ve read for the program.
Then there was Palaces of the Crow by Ray Nayler. Wow. It was fantasic. I’m super irritated that because Nayler won a Hugo for a previous book, this one is being billed as speculative fiction. It’s got some very intelligent crows but this is 99% historical fiction. WWII, four children hiding in the woods/surviving while fighting rages around them. Recommended for those who’ve enjoyed No One is Here Except All of Us by Ramona Ausubel, A Constellation of Vital Phenomena by Anthony Marra, or All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr.
Finally, there was The World’s Greatest Detective and Her Just Okay Assistant by Liza Tully for the book club here. It was a nice, cozy mystery. For this type of book I’m more of a thumbs-up/thumbs-down rater. It kept me guessing and I enjoyed the characters, so definitely a thumbs-up.
I’m about to finish another indie book, I Live You Forever, by Meredith Rutter Marple. It’s a nonfiction blow-by-blow by a woman whose husband is suffering from dementia. It’s probably going to end up being another five-star book, but it’s certainly painful reading this woman’s journey.
Then, on to The Family Man by James Lasdun, since he’ll be visiting for a Q&A soon, followed by When No One Else Will by Amanda Skenandore for the book club here. (And no, no one’s gotten a physical copy of this one yet! Hopefully soon!)
In audiobook, I finished The Forgiving Kind by Donna Everhart. She’s also the author of Women of a Promiscuous Nature. Her niche is Southern Fiction, and I keep expecting her books to be gentle, but both of those have been pretty brutal. Has anyone else read anything by her? I’m curious as to if that’s common in her novels.
And I just started The Little Red Chairs by Edna O’Brien for our 1000 Books side read. I’m only 5 minutes into it so… TBD!
2 Likes
I’m still working on The Everlasting (Hugo winner) which has lovely writing but I’m not find compelling.
My new start is John of John which is very atmospheric and a character study that is a treat.
2 Likes
I just finished Taliesin, by Stephen Lawhead, first in his Pendragon series. It’s the start of the King Arthur saga and I read it in preparation for a class I am going to audit this summer. I will be reading other related books, but it won’t stop me from branching out. Based on the wonderful author visit, I’m starting Women of a Promiscuous Nature today! And I’m also beginning Yann Martel’s The High Mountains of Portugal for my IRL Book Club. I selected this book after reading the fabulous Son of Nobody. I wanted to read more Martel!
1 Like
Btw, I need a tutorial in linking to the books! I do everything on my phone, so it seems cumbersome to do so!
Is the new Ray Naylor connected to the previous one? I did not read it despite hearing people rave about it. Now I really feel like I should be checking him out.
1 Like
@Anne_Glasgow - No, the two books aren’t connected. Palaces of the Crow was really good, though, and I think you’d like it.
I am reading the YA Graphic Novel, Brownstone by Samuel Teer. It is a pretty nice story so far. I finished Broken Country yesterday and it floored me. It seems to have polarized people on here but it was two big thumbs up from me.
1 Like
Thanks @kim.kovacs Adding it to my wish list.
1 Like
Hi @Jacqueline_B - Linking books is cumbersome even from a computer!
The three little bars in the right corner toggle the formatting menu on and off. So, to link a book:
- Type the name
- Tap to highlight the name
- Toggle of the formatting menu
- Tap the I to make it itallic
- tap the link tool
- paste in the link to the book from BookBrowse
- Save
You can switch over to copy the link to paste in at any point.
On Tuesday I finished The Insomniacs by Allison Winn Scotch. It was a fun read with twists of mystery and romance. The plot centered on four sleepless strangers that connected with each other from a blog on the internet.
Now I am approaching 50% of John of John by Douglas Stewart. A VERY emotional and intensive story about a young man returning home. I don’t want to write any spoilers, but I am eager to read the ending. The book is everything the reviews say that it is!
1 Like
I finished reading The Future Is Peace: A Shared Journey Across the Holy Land Aziz Abu Sarah, Maoz Inon. Informative, very sad at times of course, but gives some hope as we hear from people who are working towards peace and friendship. 
I’m now reading the The Right Murder by Craig Rice. 
(I can’t help but imagine Danny DeVito as John J. Malone and Carole Lombard as Helene Brand; not sure who’d be Jake Justus.)
Oh wow, I’ve lost count how many books you finished, sounds like a good reading week indeed!
Just finished “Names” for book club. Needed to restart from the beginning in order to keep the storyline . Did that after having read several reviews and felt in order to give it a fair shake I need to begin once again. It was a good choice, I enjoyed it and was able to follow it better. I am now just into “Go Gentle”, hope it is as good as her “Bernadette” book.
1 Like
I feel like John of John is destined to be this year’s big breakout novel. I haven’t read it yet but the praise seems pretty universal and getting Oprah’s blessing won’t hurt.
2 Likes
@Lisa_B3 The Future is Peace sounds like such an amazing read. I’m adding it to my wish list in hopes that I will be motivated to work it in. Did you by any chance read The Lemon Tree by Sandy Tolan? They sound sort of similar.
1 Like
No, I haven’t read that one – I’ll try it sometime, thanks! It took me a while to read The Future is Peace because there were times I just wanted a lighter read. That said, it didn’t really get too heavy as could be expected, and after seeing the authors on that interview on Amanpour & Co., I wanted to support them by reading it (albeit it was borrowed from the library).
Another book on the topic in general that I can recall reading is Palestine Peace Not Apartheid by Jimmy Carter. I don’t really even remember any specifics about it, just that it was heartfelt, thoughtful, and insightful and that I was glad to have read it.
Thanks @Lisa_B3 . This is all great info. A novel that sort of covers some of the same relationships is The Human Scale by Lawrence Wright. It is a thriller but Wright has intimate first hand knowledge of the area from his years as a journalist so it feels very realistic.
1 Like
I am reading A Far-Flung Life by M.L. Stedman but only just started. Interesting setting for me (sheep station in Australia in 1950’s) as I had no knowledge of how they operated, Just finished Last One Out by Jane Harper and enjoyed the writing and storyline. Will be moving out of Australia with Buckeye as my next read.
1 Like