What are you reading this week? And what did you think of last week’s books? Please share! We’d love to know.
1 Like
Finished An Artful Dodge (Karen Odden) and Mad Mabel (Sally Hepworth). Both were entertaining and fast reads. Good fillers for the moments when I am not reading War and Peace. And now, I just started The First Lady Next Door by Eliza Reid - non-fiction about Iceland’s First Lady.
3 Likes
Loved “Mad Mabel”, loved the characters and storyline. Best book I read this year. Found myself drawn to Mabel and seven-year-old Persephone, the relentless little chatterbox who lived across the road. .
However, this evening I read TJ Klune’s “We Burned So Bright” Certainly a book one needs to read during.Pride. The last chapter brought on the tears. The book will make you think about the purpose of life (and perhaps have a bit of an existential crisis) and what’s really worth spending your time on during your short stay here on Earth.
2 Likes
I wanted to move to Ireland when I finished that book @Gabi_J . She’s such a wonderful spokesperson for her country.
1 Like
FINISHED:
Kingfisher by Rozie Kelly—for Pride month I read this novel of polyamory and also because it was shortlisted for the Women’s Prize. At the beginning the unnamed protagonist is in a loving but open relationship with his partner Michael. Then he meets a work colleague who happens to be a somewhat older woman poet. So ensues an old relationship timeworn and boring while a new one holds all the excitement of different and enticing. A powerful look at grief, family, desire—all the things of life in this brief 200 pg novel.
The Most Mysterious Bookshop in Paris by Mark Pryor—this is a charming and fun mystery set in an old convent that has been turned into an elite artisan chocolate factory. Mark is a local, to me, author who I’ve been following for years. This book is connected to an earlier series so many of the favorite characters are back with slightly revised purposes. Pure delight!
DID NOT FINISH
Buckeye by Patrick Ryan—not for me.
NOW READING:
How to Dodge a Cannonball By Dennard Dayle—a revisionist and humorous Civil War novel.
Land by Maggie O’Farrell—a man is called into service to map an Irish island. The year is 1865.
2 Likes
Currently reading War and Peace for the BookBrowse summer side read and The Ascent of Rum Doodle for the 1,000 Books to Read Before You Die side read.
Also listening to Force of Nature by Jane Harper. I’m not much of a mystery reader, but enjoy these Aussie mysteries, especially the audiobooks. The narrator is excellent.
Currently reading ‘Country People’ by Daniel Mason (advanced review copy). I absolutely loved ‘North Woods’ so am excited about this one.
1 Like
I’m a little bit envious you got an advance Daniel Mason. I have my fingers crossed that it’s a good one. He’s pretty much an auto-buy for me.
1 Like
I like it so far but I’m still on a reading high from ‘Whistler’ so it’s taking me awhile to get through.
1 Like
I am reading “Taiwan Travelogue” by Yang Shuang-Zi. It has a lot about food as a metaphor for oppressing and joining cultures. Last Week I finished “Legendary Frybread Drive-In: Intertribal Stories” and highly recommend it. Even if some don’t speak to you, you will connect with a few stories.
1 Like
You didn’t like Buckeye?!? And here I thought we were reading twinsies, LOL. I’m sorry I steered you wrong on that one. You’ll have to add that to your list of “books that people loved that I didn’t.”
My instincts told me it wasn’t likely to be my kind of story but because our tastes are so similar I gave it a try. I found this in the Kirkus review that sums up exactly what I didn’t like: “It is an earnest and empathetic family drama.” That’s it in a nutshell. I seek out things that are a little edgier, more intense, and usually darker. But I still think we are pretty simpatico on our reading selections.
So many good books out there! I’ve got Taiwan Travelogue, Mad Mabel, How to Dodge a Cannonball, and Land on my list! Argh, I’ll never get to all the books I want to read!
This week I finished Merry-Go-Round Broke Down for the discussion here. There are things I enjoyed about it and it gave me lots of food for thought, but it was a struggle to get through at times. It had a lot to do with the financial crisis, and reminded me quite a bit of Liar’s Poker by Michael Lewis.
I started The Calamity Club by Kathryn Stockett a couple of days ago and I’m thoroughly enjoying it. It’s a large book, but it’s a quick read and doesn’t bog down at all. I’ve gotten to 60%, though, and a new plotline has been introduced that I’m not sure I’m going to like. I already have…questions.
After that, I’ve got a couple of books I need to read/review for our independent author program, and we’ve also got Chelsea Girls and Days of Sun and Shadow coming up for our BookBrowse Book Club. TBD.
In audiobook, I should complete Mother of Rome by Lauren J.A. Bear today. If you enjoyed her other book, Aphrodite in Pieces, I’d highly recommend this one. Then I’ll started Izzy Broom’s The House of Hidden Letters in prep for a Q&A with her a week from Monday. And THEN I get to dive into War and Peace. I’m reading along, but I don’t have as much time as I’d like to enjoy it, so audiobook is going to be the only way I’ll be able to stay with the group.
1 Like
Anne, so good to hear someone else was not enthralled with Buckeye. However, I watched a BookReporter interview with the author. After the discussion I was taken back by the amount of research time he spent before writing a book about this era. I still was not in love with its storyline, however, I came away with an appreciation for the author’s research skills.
1 Like
Thanks for the confirmation @Carol_N. I mean no disrespect whatsoever to Buckeye or to the people who enjoy it. It takes all kinds of books and a variety of readers to make the world go round. This one just wasn’t for me.
1 Like
I find that the books I most want to talk to other readers about are those that so many people love (including my reading twin friends) that just don’t work for me. Buckeye is one of those. Maybe just the wrong time for me but I couldn’t stay interested in the characters and the research went beyond scene-setting to distracting display. I don’t mean to sound cranky! I was just disappointed.
1 Like
Last week I finished both Calamity Club by Stockett & Pair of Aces by Benjamin & Murray. Liked them both with their differing takes on prostitution during the 1930’s in the South & NYC. I’ve just started Bumblebee Season by Eileen Garvin that I found by chance at the library–it’s the sequel to her Music of Bees that I just loved so I have high hopes for it.
Good point @Vicki_F. If I’m going to ditch a book I have a personal rule that I have to know why. I may have bailed on Buckeye too soon but nothing about it was capturing my interest and it felt a bit like everything was going to be tied up neatly. That might be an incorrect assumption and maybe I’m just pushing back against all the popular acclaim.
Maybe it’s just the naming of the town Bonhomie. Doesn’t that sort of obviously set the tone?
I actually enjoy it when people disagree on a book. I think it makes for a much better discussion. I’m wondering if those of us who enjoyed it, did so because of its setting & general Ohio vibe? I know @Dee_Driscole enjoyed it, too, but we’re both from Ohio so it felt super real to us.
I agree @kim.kovacs that a connection to a book’s setting can really pull a reader in. Unless the author has not done their research and makes a lot of egregious mistakes that probably only someone familiar with the locale would recognize. There is a really popular writer who published a new book and it was set near where I grew up and went to college. He had so many things wrong I had to quit.
1 Like