What are you reading this week? And what did you think of last week’s books? Please share! We’d love to know.
FINISHED:
GLITZ, GLAM AND A DAMN GOOD TIME: How Mamie Fish, Queen of the Gilded Age, Partied Her Way to Power by Jennifer Wright, read by Ashlie Atkinson (who played Mamie Fish on The Gilded Age tv series.)—
Descended from the best stock on this planet— the old Puritans—Mamie came onto the scene with her larger than life personality, married the incredibly wealthy Stuyvesant Fish, and began to throw the most outrageous parties in Newport. Mamie Fish had more control over the Newport social register than anyone ever had or probably ever will. With laugh-out-loud situations and the self-absorbed upper crust as her subject matter author Jennifer Wright surely must have enjoyed this project.
Transcription by Ben Lerner.
I have to admit that I don’t really understand Ben Lerner’s books and this is no exception. It’s about an interviewer with a broken (or in this case waterlogged) recorder who is interviewing Thomas, a man famous in the arts. It’s about technology and memory and connections (maybe?)
TRASH! A Garbageman’s Story by Simon Pare-Poupart, trans by Pablo Strauss, read by Jean Brassard.
At 18 the author asked his father how he could toughen up before going out into the world. His father told him to run behind a trash truck. So he did. Now 20 years and multiple degrees later he still does and he wants the world to know that garbagemen are people too.
NOW READING:
The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny by Kiran Desai—still reading…
Country People by Daniel Mason.
The Complex by Kiran Mahajan, read by Neil Shah—
I started this past week by reading Iona Iverson’s Rules for Commuting by Claire Pooley. A nice easy read about a group of people who have bonded with each other and have an amazing friendship. The main character is Iona Iverson, a magazine columnist who is the witty leader of the group. For the July 1000 Books my read is Captain Blood by Rafael Sabatini. I had hesitations because reading about pirates would not be my normal choice. I surprisingly changed my mind. The book is well written with many twists in the plot. It was very engaging because I wanted to keep reading after each chapter. The story does not merely lay out events but describes the motivations and emotions behind the charactersʼ behaviors.
I am currently finishing **TOO OLD FOR THIS by Samantha Downing for our online book discussion in late July. I have to admit parts of the book are hilarious and disturbing. The elderly character is enigmatic. I know this will be an interesting discussion.
I am still continuing with the summer read of WAR and PEACE. When I tell my friends this is my summer read, they laugh and tell me that describes my life this summer.
Yes, @Lynne_G I love the reactions of people when they hear about War & Peace. I’m very much enjoying it and so far the length hasn’t bothered me—that may change by the end.
It has flown by so far and it surprises me that we are closing in on the halfway point. I’m so glad you are hanging in despite your early reservations about tackling it.
BY the way, I just this morning read the hunting scene that you asked about earlier. It was indeed gruesome and disturbing.
I have finished a quiet, but powerful book Dear Teacher by Maddalena Vaglio Tanet. I don’t remember how I heard about this book, probably here. It is based on a true situation in a small village in Italy. The basic story of a teacher and a student is simply the framework to tell all about practically every member of the community. The writing, I guess, is “evocative’ and every detail is written about in exquisite detail. You end up knowing all about this community, it’s fears, mores and beyond. It is referenced as having the depth and emotional power of Go as a River. I agree wholeheartedly.
I should add that one of my measures for reading a book is the book Strength in the Four Doors to Reading. It scored the highest of 600+ books in my current TBR. Above others that are popular in many ways.
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Like several of you my reads this week include War & Peace and Captain Blood, both books which I am really enjoying. I have also just started Life: A Love Story by Elizabeth Berg and it is captivating. It still might just turn out to be a favorite.
I just finished The Windsor Affair by Melanie Benjamin, a book primarily told from the perspective of Queen Elizabeth I and Wallis Simpson-Windsor with an occasional chime-in from Queen Mary. While the author took many liberties with conversations, I found the snarky soap-opera nature of the book kind of entertaining. (Go QEI!). The book probably isn’t for those who desire their historical fiction to be closer to non-fiction. Also, now finally on my “read” shelf is John Berendt’s Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. The quirky Savannah citizens in the book made for an interesting read.
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Oh Gabi, I really loved Life. The book gave me so much peace on *the true meaning of life’!’’
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I like Elizabeth Berg, so I figured I’d read Life at some point. Now, I’m thinking I should move it closer to the top of the book pile!
I love Clare Pooley’s books! And just discovered she has one coming out next March–”Friends You Haven’t Met Yet” that is definitely going on my TBR list.
I finished “Ars Poeticas” by Juliana Spahr yesterday and enjoyed my yearly Pulitzer Poetry reading. For those that do not read the “Acknowledgements,” be prepared for the best ones you have ever read. Spahr has some things to say.
I just started “Flesh” by David Szalay. The reviews are very mixed but it is off to a solid start. There is a lot to unpack and it fits the label of “literary fiction" since there is so much going on beyond the page. Booker Prize winners are hit and miss for me, so we’ll see.
@Anthony_Conty I was on the side of those who loved Flesh. I hope you’ll post some thoughts when you finish.
It wasn’t a great reading week for me. I spent a lot of time just sitting in a courtroom - jury duty - and for some reason they don’t all you to read while they’re trying a case. (And in this case, I really could have. The entire jury had made up their mind within a couple of hours, yet both the prosecution and defense droned on and on and on. The jury literally took less than a minute to come to a verdict. But I digress…)
So BookBrowse has an issue coming up that’ll focus on summer. Reviewers could pick any book they wanted, as long as it had some sort of summer focus. I chose The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara, which features the Battle of Gettysburg, which took place July 1-3, 1863. It’s a Pulitzer winner, so I expected it to be good, but WOW. I don’t find many novels that sharpen my view of a historical event or the people involved to the extent that this one did. It was absolutely unforgettable, and a must-read for sure.
My other reading has been for the BookBrowse Book Club - a couple of mysteries that were good but not exceptional. And now I’m on to a book for our indie review program - a scifi novel, Reset, by Kevin Charles.
In audiobook format, I’m miraculously caught up on War and Peace (OK, the long commute to jury duty over the past four days did help here). I’ve decided to try putting it aside for a few days, and so I’m listening to Mad Mabel by Sally Hepworth and enjoying it immensely.
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To @Diane_Jones ,@Gabi_J
I would love to know how you both felt about Elizabeth Berg’s new novel LIFE. I know her books are centered more for the boomers. She does a remarkable job of reflecting on our past —both good and bad times. We have had terrible times in the past (60’s with Nixon and Vietnam War) however our current situation is so full of anger. Looking back on my life I did the best I could at the time. After reading LIFE my feelings were It’s Okay to not be Okay.
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@Gabi_J I just sent a note to you and @Diane_Jones about Elizabeth’s new novel Life. I would love your feelings about her book.
Kim, I have read that book, and it is a fantastic nonfiction book but also very horrifying. I have been to Gettysburg 4 times for my children to learn of that terrible battle. I have stood on the edge of many of the battlefields. I cannot imagine the per severance of the soldiers on both sides charging at each other and facing death. It was extremely devastating, however my children and I were able to imagine that terrible event. So very tragic.
Hi! I should finish the book in a couple days. Promise to chime in then.
I just binge read More or Less Maddy by Lisa Genova….what a great book!
Lynne - I decided to secure a copy of Elizabeth Berg’s Life from the local library. I’m the next one in line to receive it. Thoughtful perspective and I’ll definitely keep it in mind when I start the book.
My 26 year old great niece came for a visit this week, so I my reading time decreased, although my book store time was greatly increased! (She enjoys reading.) I did read This Book Made Me Think of You by Libby Page in preparation for a book club discussion. As I was reading it, I kept thinking that it would be a great choice for Emily Henry fans. Emily Henry does not hit the list for my top 25 favorite authors, so I’ll leave my comments at that. I am looking forward to the discussion because I’ll likely hear something that makes me appreciate the book more.
One of my new book purchases is **The Original Daughter**by Jemimah Wei. I’ll probably pass it along to my great niece because I now know she appreciates Asian centric reading. But first, I need to get back to Higginbotham’s Challenger and finish it.
OMG I finally finished The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny. I found this entire book to be a slog and very confusing. I know it received tons of critical praise so my opinions are not widely shared but I just didn’t understand what the author was doing. I’m gratefully moving on to something (hopefully) more to my liking.