I haven’t read Sonia and Sunny. Was there something in particular that was a turn-off?
All of it? 
. It is 600 pgs of a young man and woman, set up by family members who keep sort of missing connections. There are interfering parents, job related separations, and lots of author driven narrative.
Every page was a struggle for me but it has received a lot of critical acclaim and some prize nods. I was told by someone, maybe here at BB, that it was more relevant for the Indian diaspora. I think @kim.kovacs sort of liked it.
Thanks! Now that I know, I will have a better idea if you might like Ghost-Eye. To early to know.
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For my two bookclubs, I read Theo of Golden - so yes, I read it twice! If I don’t enjoy a bookclub book, I try to read it again to find something likable. I found a few likable things, however I did not enjoy Theo of Golden book.
Hopefully, for September (The Lies I Tell by Julie Clark and The Masterpiece by Fiona Davis) I’ll enjoy both books!
I’m reading A Woman in Berlin which was written by a journalist named Marta Hillers who wrote it anonymously. It is her diary which she kept from late April 1945 until June 1945 during the time that the Russians had advanced into Berlin. Along with her other war experiences, she details the mass raping of German women by Russian soldiers. It was published in 1954 and at the time it faced a backlash because it was felt that it shamed German women (as if German women had anything to do with being raped—typical!). Some 100,000 women in Berlin and overall 2 million German women were raped by Russians. As a result of the backlash the author’s identity wasn’t revealed until she died in 2001. I was particularly interested in this book because my mother was German and had to flee her hometown because of the Russian advance and I know she was terrified of them. It’s a sad truth that women often get blamed in these situations. I’m sure a similar situation is happening in Ukraine and elsewhere.
Just finished Yesteryear. Great unpredictable ending! Thought-provoking storyline.
Just finished Yesteryear. Great unpredictable ending! Thought-provoking storyline.
Other books read:
Everything was beautiful and nothing hurt- Told from Death’s viewpoint about observing various end of life scenarios. Death is not quite characterized as you might imagine.
The Faraway Inn- A sweet YA story of a get-away for guests of other realms that is on the brink of closure. I loved it!
The Midnight train-A rehashing of The Christmas Carol, but interesting.
Wow, A Woman in Berlin sounds really intense.
It’s interesting because the author was a journalist so the writing was somewhat clinical and unemotional but the circumstances were grim. Many of the raped women committed suicide as did many Germans in general during the War. War is just awful and for many it was hard to stay hopeful. People really suffered. All because of one madman.
Thanks for your review. I’ve not heard if this one.
Unfortunately, the rape of women in war zones, in refugee camps, and other unstable areas is not uncommon. It happened in Bosnia and was recently reported in Ceuta. I wouldn’t be surprised if it wasn’t happening to the Palestinians as well. It’s tragic and wrong on so many levels.
I hear that! It’s probably good that I have to wait for that book, I could use a break from hard-hitting nonfiction.
I finished The Correspondent and I’m still not certain if I really liked it or not; I also finished Father of the Rain by Lily King which was another of my typical “rough family dynamics but really good characters and scenes that stay with you” kind of books. I also finished The Emperor of Gladness which I really loved. Ocean Vuong has such a way with words, and I really fell in love with all the characters at Home Market. I’m struggling to find a new book. I started Kelly Link’s The Book of Love and I am really hating it–I think this might be a DNF. I definitely have to save space for Exit Party, Emily St. John Mandel’s book that comes out on September 15. The only book of hers that I didn’t love was Last Night in Montreal (although I didn’t exactly hate it either).
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This week I’m reading Light Upon You by EM Jensen about St Peter’s tomb and the building of St Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City.
Last week I read Blade by Wendy Walker - and it was excellent.
I also finished Mother Daughter Sister Stranger by Hank Pilipi Ryan- another excellent book
I, too, have There Is No Place for Us on hold. But, judging by Evicted, Rough Sleepers, and Poverty by America it’s a must read book.
After several months, I’ve dropped down to #21 for Yesteryear. Fortunately their are dozens and dozens of books on my TBR list that will keep me company while waiting.
I am reading A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Houdini. Purchased it in Zurich for a long plane ride home and read half of it then. Had read The Kite Runner so took a chance on this equally compelling story of women in Afghanistan and what they endure. Glad to live in America, thank you.
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I just finished two books in quick succession. Writers and Lovers by Lily King and Divine Ruin by Margot Douaihy.
Writers and Lovers caught my attention as it’s set in Cambridge and Boston, a part of the world I miss. The plight of a thirty-something women weighed down by college debt, the sudden death of her mother, and a driving need to finish the novel she started writing some years before was beautifully presented. Amidst all of that “Casey” meets not one but two men who are interested in her, and whose very different lives present her with another dilemma.
Divine Ruin probably has a niche audience comprising people who like unusual sleuths. The central character, Sister Holiday, is a formally addicted, wildly tattooed, lesbian about to take her final vows. Also a former rock musician, she teaches music at a Catholic school, and harbors an attraction to another teacher. The good nun also offers an internal monologue on her understanding of Christianity and the calling issued to all Christians. (A niche audience for sure.) When a student at the school dies from ingesting fentanyl, Sister Holiday becomes obsessed with finding the source of the pills and taking the drug dealers down.
I just started A Burning by Megha Majumdar. Less than a quarter of the way in I find it might be a good corrective for anyone (myself included) who thinks their internet use has a shred of privacy or they’ve nothing to fear from the ubiquitous cameras that follow us everywhere.
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@Robin_G, have you read Lily King’s Heart the Lover? It’s a companion book (it functions as both a prequel and a sequel to Writers and Lovers, and it’s pretty amazing. I thought it was much stronger than Writers and Lovers.
I’m in one of those slumps where nothing I read is really holding my attention well. I finished Land by Maggie O’Farrell a couple of days ago, and had a really difficult time getting into it. About the halfway point I started liking it a lot better, but I’m not sure I completely understood what the author was trying to do with some of the sections. Plus a lot of it was heartbreaking (not to mention TWO dog deaths).
I’m about to start Catcher in the Rye for our side read (yet another book I should have read earlier in my life but didn’t).
In audiobook format, I’ve returned to War and Peace. That one, I’m really enjoying. I’m currently at the section where people can’t decide whether to abandon their homes in Smolensk. It put me in mind of the people in Ukraine as Russian forces encroached on their cities. When’s the right time to leave? When you hear enemy forces are coming, do you believe the rumors, or wait just a little longer to see what happens & risk it being too late? Maria Reva touched on that some in Endling.
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I had the exact experience reading LAND. The narrative improved in the second half.
I have to tell you I finished War and Peace last night!! I read the Kindle light blue —all 1,997 pages. Parts of the book I liked and I am glad that I read the book but I have to admit, I am more proud of myself for reading the 62 pages of the second epilogue than the rest of the book.
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