What are you reading this week? And what did you think of last week’s books? Please share! We’d love to know.
FINISHED:
Kutchinsky’s Egg: A Family’s Story of Obsession, Love and Loss by Serena Kutchinsky, read by the author—If, like me, you’ve never heard about Kutchinsky’s Egg here is the 411–made from 33 pounds of 18 carat gold and 24,000 pink diamonds, the egg stands about 2 feet tall and hidden inside is a surprise: a rotating scene with a portrait gallery opposite a mini, jewel-encrusted library. It was designed primarily by Paul Kutchinsky and mostly manufactured by Argyle a large diamond enterprise out of Australia. Paul envisioned the Faberge style egg as being the piece that would bring him renown and wealth. 
THE RENOVATION by Kenan Orhan—a bathroom renovation leaves an Italian family with a Turkish prison cell instead. A look at identity, family, caregiving, and political tension. ~~
NOW READING:
THEY CALLED ME A LIONESS: A Palestinian Girl’s Fight for Freedom by Ahed Tamimi and Dena Takruri, read by Dena Takruri—
PARTITA by Barbara Kingsolver (pub date 10/6)—after a very slow start I’ve finally engaged with this one. If you happen to love piano and especially Bach you are sure to find much to enjoy here.
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This week I’m reading a book for book club that I would have liked more when I was in the eighth grade. It’s not that it’s a bad book. It’s just that my taste has evolved since then. Maybe it will get better.
If Something Happens to Me by Alex Finlay
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Just finished Something in the Water by Catherine Steadman from 2018. Love reading these page-turners that you can’t put down.
Just picked up So Far Gone by Jess Walter. Set in the Pacific NW it’s about an off the grid malcontent who suddenly is pressed to take on his grandkids. It promises humor, heart, and insights into modern family life. How could I resist.
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I am in my last week before going back to school. I finished This Here Is Love by Princess Joy L. Perry and enjoyed it as a time that we do not normally discuss for the enslaved. It has great characters and allows them their humanity.
I just passed the halfway point of Theo of Golden by Allen Levi and see why it is polarizing people. The message seems to be religious in nature and it seems, online, that the devout may quibble with its delivery while others do not like religion as a topic in general. I think that it is engaging and inspiring me to look more deeply into my spirituality.
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I finished listening to Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri for the August BookBrowse side read of 1000 Books to Read Before You Die. My thanks to whomever suggested it as I truly enjoyed it. I’ve never been much for short stories, but the author drew me in from the beginning and the narration was extremely well done. I know little about India, its history, varied regions, and cultures, but the author’s simple telling of the complexities of Indian and Indian-American life overcame my lack of knowledge. I also have Lahiri’s The Namesake and look forward to reading it. I must finish Sylvia’s Farm by Sylvia Jorrin for my book club meeting next week and am still plugging away on War and Peace. There are sections I find fascinating and others that are duller than dull.
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For book club this month I am reading Enrn the World Fell Silent. A novel based on the true event of the 1917 Halifax explosion. I am loving it.
I just finished Unsettled Ground by Claire Fuller–it’s my pick for a prize winning book for the Challenge. It has distinctive, relatable characters–a brother and sister who are coping with the fast descent of their living situation following their mother’s death. As much as I appreciated the nuances of character development, it was pretty grueling at times. Although I figured out a major plot point early on (it’s not that difficult to see) it didn’t change my “enjoyment” of the book (I put enjoyment in quotes because I seem to have a habit of picking books that are well written and richly drawn stories that are sad and a little depressing). Just started Poject Hail Mary by Andy Weir as my "made into a movie book. Not my usual fare, but it seems like it will be a quick and diverting read
Good news for you: Project Hail Mary is not sad and depressing. I hope you enjoy it!
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On my message on recent reads for 8/13 I had my doubts about LAND by Maggie O”Farrell. I did change my opinion and found my eyes were opened by the historical fiction of the Irish Potato Famine, and enjoyed the intriguing development of each character.
ONE NIGHT TWO SOULS WENT WALKING by Ellen Cooney tells the story of a heart broken chaplain who spends night shifts at a medical center. She offers comfort and compassion to patients during their last moments and tries to understand the concept of a soul. At the beginning she has a rescue therapy dog Boo-bo that unfortunately dies. Later she is joined by other rescue dogs that just appear. These dogs provide wonder and mystery to the plot because they may and may not be ghosts.
Also I have been able to stay up to date on my summer reading of War and Peace.
Finished Calamity Club. Enjoyed it very much, but it is overhyped!. I loved When the Cranes Fly South. It was one of the most poignant books I’ve ever read. Finishing up Lion Women of Tehran. Enjoying it, but reminds me of other “friendship/betrayal/redemption set against war” novels!
Yay @Lynne_G . I’m so happy you persevered with LAND. I have a friend of Irish heritage who commented to me that of all her studies of Ireland and the famine, she had never really considered the aspect of generational trauma. This book gave her a new awareness.
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I loved Project Hail Mary. It is the type of book that those who don’t favor the sci-fi genre might like.
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Anthony_Conty,
Theo of Golden did have multiple viewpoints, but it was a great book for our book club discussion. Did you read that Tom Hanks will now be in the movie as Theo?
Hi All, I just finished Joyride by Susan Orlean. It was a great way to write a memoir. She used her short stories written for the New Yorker along with her books as touchstones to discuss her personal life. It showed what it takes to be successful non-fiction narrative writer.
Next up is London Falling by Pratrick Radden Keefe. I was fortunate to see the author in person so I feel ready to enter this world.
Happy Reading All
No! I love the idea. I am reading these online reviews that I am reading a different book. It is inspiring.
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Listening to God of the Woods. I’m enjoying it, even though I don’t often read thrillers. The narrator does a very good job with this one, and there is a head’s up of whose perspective and what timeline it takes place at the beginning of each chapter, but I am wondering if it might have been better to read in print. .. a little less whiplash from the switches between characters and time.
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I’m reading The Song of Stork and Dromedary by Anjet Daanje. Interesting title, isn’t it? In an interview, the author said she chose it because she wanted the title to reflect two extreme opposites. The book is a series of connected short stories, all of which revolve around Eliza May Drayden, an author of one (scandalous) novel before her early death. Eliza is based on Emily Bronte and the book in question was based on Wuthering Heights - which I’m listening to simultaneously.
The book is amazing, although reallllly long at 736 pages. It doesn’t read long, but it’s also easy to put it down when you hit the end of one story. It’s actually been keeping me up at night because I can’t stop thinking about it.
Now, Wuthering Heights… For one of our throwback issues a BookBrowse reviewer chose this novel, and she opened with this:
“It is a commonly held belief that there are two types of people in the world: Jane Eyre people and Wuthering Heights people. Which is to say, if you consider Charlotte Brontë’s most famous novel, a staid and straightforward romance in which the heroine gets her man, to be one of your favorites, you are probably less impressed by her sister Emily’s chaotic story of passionate but miserable people loving and dying passionately.”
I am DEFINITELY a Jane Eyre person. I didn’t like Wuthering Heights when I read it in high school, and I’m not enjoying it now. Man, what a group of unlikeable human beings! I’ve never before encountered so many whiny, immature people in a work of literature. I know that’s one of the reasons it’s considered a classic - it broke a bunch of taboos - but … wow.
Not sure what I’ll read once I finish TSOS&D but in audio, once I finish WH it’s back to War & Peace. It, too, has its share of annoying characters but at least there are some great battle scenes.
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The only good thing about being sick for the past three days is that I’ve been able to completely focus on reading! I inhaled Ann Patchett’s Whistler in a day–I’ve always loved her writing and this might be my favorite of all times! Someone on the forum recommended it (was it you, @Anne_Glasgow?) and all I can say is WOW. I’m obviously a sucker for family-childhood-character driven stories with tenderness, humor and heart wrapped in a really good story, and this certainly has all that. I also finished Project Hail Mary which I enjoyed, but had a harder time getting through. To be honest, the level of science detail had me glazed over for pages at a time. I loved the story and the characters, as well as the back and forth nature of the narrative, and I’m willing to admit that it probably woudn’t have hung together as well without the high level of science detail, but honestly, that’s just not my thing. I’m picking up The Correspondent tomorrow and looking forward to diving in. I just started The Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong, which I’m reading with trepidation. As a poet he has an amazing way with words, but his books can be grueling. Let’s see how far I get!
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Haha @Aprile_G no I wouldn’t have been the one to recommend Whistler. It’s not my kind of book for pretty much the exact reasons you liked it. Project Hail Mary was a favorite for me. I’m in for all the sciency stuff but I completely understand how it overwhelms lots of people. I’m glad you made it through. I did love the Ocean Vuong book and like you I was a bit trepidatious at the start. It just worked on all levels.
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