WHAT ARE YOU READING? - Part 6

The old thread is getting long so time to restart again. Feel free to finish existing conversations either in the old thread or here - it just started taking too long to load so I am starting a new one. :)

How is your reading summer (winter if you are down under) going?

Shakespeare’s Sonnets. That’s all because I finished Persuasion Saturday, and Roadside Geology of Colorado a few minutes ago. I think i may try to pick up Anniversaries again next (I’m still in January).

Side note: I didn’t read yesterday. It ended a 301-day streak according to Bookly.

>2 dchaikin: i somehow think you are allowed....

reading she who became the sun liking it. my previous compaint was solved by reading more and finding the novice she slept with was smartr than her. So, the writing is good and the characters are amazing and Im back to reading

In the last few days, I've finished the recent German epidemic-thriller Monschau on audio, and on paper Hester (Q3 Victorian read) and a random collection of Pushkin prose fiction I picked up, The captain's daughter and other stories.

I'm getting towards the end of Part I of Don Quijote — a long-term project, which will probably carry on after the summer. I'm listening to Eugen Ruge's Metropol, and I'm also reading a seasonal Simenon, Les vacances de Maigret.

I'm off on my own vacances (family party first, then pleasure) in a couple of days. I'm not sure what that will do to my reading, but it will certainly cut into my posting on LT.

I took a bunch of fat, physical books on vacation and finished The Old Drift, The Adventures and Misadventures of Maqroll, Memoirs of My Nervous Illness, and The Shadow King.

>3 cindydavid4: yeah, covid played a role. I’m a little pleased it took something so major to set me off. ☺️

I'm just past the halfway point of Isaac Bashevis Singer's glorious novel, The Family Moskat. It is an extremely rich tapestry about Jewish life in Poland from around 1910 through 1939.

After finishing M. M. Kaye’s Shadow of the Moon, which I loved, I dithered around for a few days, determined to save The Far Pavilion for a little later. I’m now settled into two books, both good, Guests on Earthby Lee Smith and When I’m Gone, Look for Me in the East by Quan Barry.

>8 rocketjk: I have not read that. Ill put that on my list

With the whole mess around my health lately (my thread for details if you are interested), I am deep into comfort reading - catching up with the early entries in the Brunetti series -- I got through books 4-10 while I was on vacation, now back to the series with book 11 after a bit of a detour with Gallic Noir: Volume 1 by Pascal Garnier (which was great as usual with Garnier but too dark for my current mood so I will be back for the rest of Garnier later in the year (I hope)).

I was a bit worried if that series will work well being read one after another but I had not had issues so far so... I am staying with it. But as I read the latest Give Unto Others (the 31st) the week before I left, I could also see how much the series had changed. 9 left to go -- I started with the 20th back in 2011 shortly after I moved -- I already knew the series characters from the TV series so it worked well; then I decided to go back and pick up the missing 19 at the start of the pandemic (and got distracted as usual after a few).

>13 Bamf102: Do you plan to read more Butler?

>15 Bamf102: If you are interested (and had not seen it), she was one of the authors of the month awhile back: https://www.librarything.com/topic/327413 (which reminds me I never finished the reviews of some of her novels... and I still have 2 stories to read). I'd recommend either edition of Bloodchild and Other Stories - it is a pity she believed she is not good at writing stories (or did not like writing them anyway) - I found them fascinating.

>17 Bamf102: Short stories - I tend to shorten that expression and probably should not done that here - sorry, thought it is clear from the context :) Kindred is a novel and she thought this is her strength.

As for her novels - she experimented with the genre(s) a lot - the only books which are similar are inside of the series - each standalone and/or series are as different from each other as humanly possible.

Somebody on the last thread was reading Fonda Lee’s book Jade City. That’s the first book in a trilogy. The other two books are just as good as the first. I hope you will read the,.

>18 Bamf102: I agree with you about Kindred. Its been decades since I read it but I remember the thrill it gave me. I tried a few of her other books but they didn't take like this one.I should perhaps try Bloodchild.

Enjoying the anthology of modern Newfoundland poetry. And allmost finished the The Nature of Oaks: The Rich Ecology of Our Most Essential Native Trees. I'm also dipping into a short fiction collection: The Sea Cloak: And Other Stories by Nayrouz Qarmout.

I’m reading Scenes from Provincial Life: Boyhood, Youth, Summertime by Coetzee. It’s fictionalized autobiography which I almost wish I didn’t know. So far he’s a pretty strange kid. I’m still reading Companion Piece but I have a hard time reading late at night - I keep falling asleep.

I’m taking some new meds and they are disrupting my life. Hoping my body gets used to them.

>18 Bamf102: men called patrollers

You'll sometimes hear them referred to in the vernacular as "paddy-rollers". Same unpleasant guys.

I’ve finished Guests on Earth, Lee Smith’s novel set at the famous Highland Hospital in Asheville, N.C. The fictitious narrator writes of her life as a patient there. She particularly focusses on her interactions with Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald, one of the many historical characters in the novel, who was hospitalized at Highland at various times in the 1930’s and ‘40’s and who died in a fire there in 1948. I found the novel very readable, at times even compelling.

I’m back and forth in my interest into Anniversaries. I finally made it to February (1968) this morning. And I finally opened The Man Without Qualities by Robert Musil. First several pages are paragraphs creating mystery out of nothing, or that’s how it seemed to me. So I liked that, but also it’s slow already. I’m not convinced I really want to spend 2000 pages here. I’ll give it more time.

I started Piranesi and I'm thoroughly enjoying it.

I'm reading Catriona Wright's Difficult People, a short story collection about exactly that—the prickly, the cornered, the resentful, the deluded, the disconnected, and I'm only halfway through. Unless you need your characters to be nice—I was going to say relatable, but actually a lot of them are, even if you don't really like them, which speaks to the quality of Wright's writing—it's a fun read.

Finished Adam Minter's Secondhand last night and found it interesting. I hadn't realized the global extent of the trade. (Is it ironic that I got the book second-hand and will pass it on when husbeast finishes reading it?)

Just started Apologizing to Dogs -- the book; I'm not starting an odd new hobby. Anyway, it's ... quirky. I had some trouble sorting out the characters and am very grateful for the map of the neighborhood, showing who lives where. Even with that, I flipped back and forth through the first 50 or so pages. Much of the content is coming from an unreliable narrator, which makes it even more difficult to really understand who these folks are. But I am curious to see where Coomer is going with this.

And bought The Murder Gene, by Karen Spears Zacharias, this morning. (Touchstones doesn't seem to want to work for the title, which is a fairly new release. It doesn't even show up with the Touchstone to the author.) Anyway, it's a true crime with two local connections -- the crime takes place locally, and the author spent some time living in this area and working for local newspapers before beginning to publish her work. So I'm looking forward to that, soon. She will be in town on a book tour the end of September, so I have plenty of time!

Looking for some more long books to take on vacation, I've started Breasts and Eggs as my read for women in translation month.

>36 Bamf102: ah thats too bad. Her descriptions of the night circus are so visual it feels so absolutely real. And I loved the romance, and the game. But I get it; i know what its like to hate a book so many others like. Its all good (I do wonder if they'll make a movie of it someday, it would be spectacular, in my humble opiion)

>34 Bamf102: It's been literally a decade since I read The Night Circus. Don't remember many details, but it did get a rare "A" rating from me. Isn't it odd how different readers can have such different reactions to the same book? (I'm currently on the lonesome side of the fence regarding Where the Crawdad Sings, which I thought was overhyped and generally awful.)

Finished Apologizing to Dogs. Strange little book, but it did have an interesting quote about past vs future (which is a major theme wound through the whole novel). Here, a character is being chastised for living in the past, and she says: "The past is more valuable than the future. It's richer, wiser, older. ... The future only happens a squeaky little moment at a time. The past is as big as everything I remember."

Next up is an autobiography from James Doohan (with Peter David), Beam Me Up, Scotty. Over many-many years of Trek fandom, I've had the opportunity to hear Jimmy speak several times, and he has always seemed to be one of the more approachable cast members. (Most of them would come out, give a canned speech, and open it up for a short Q&A afterwards. Jimmy would come out, sit himself down on a stool, microphone in hand, and say "Okay -- what would you like to know?" and take it from there.)

Okay -- fangirl interlude over.

Hope everyone is staying cool. We're heading into our third day of temps over 110, and looking down the barrel of three or four more, Obviously, not doing much but hanging out under the air-conditioner.

>42 Bamf102: some of the best bg discussions weve had in my live bookgroup has been about books that had a variety of opinions. Night Circus was actually one of our favs; we spent much of the evening discussing who should play each charatcter and what will happpen next

crawdads is still #1 on the NYT best seller list Have no idea why, maybe its being required in school? still dont get it

>40 LyndaInOregon: oh i feel so sorry for you guys! when we have days of 100+ we shrug and say its summer and go hibernate in the AC. You guys cant do that. I hope youall get back to normal soon (are you getting the rain you usually do?)

oh I love Gaiman! What else have you read of his?

just finished with she who became the sun and really loved it, its a gender twist on the story of the founder of the Ming dynasty, with the character the same name, but its definitely a fantasy, . Like my previous read dragon republic the main character has desires of greatness that she comes to understand comes at great costs. but I liked her strenght, intelligence, compassion despite what she she has to do to get what she wants. The ending lends itself to a sequel which I hope comes soon!

Note: people are comparing this with Mulan and Song of Achille. Dont be decieved: its not a heart warming tale of female empowerment, and except for the battles I have now idea how its connect to the Achilles story. But regardless its very much worth reading!

>44 cindydavid4: We're in eastern Oregon. Whole different ball game. It's sagebrush steppe, and average annual rainfall is around 10 inches. Last week of July / first week of August is normally the hottest part of our summer, but Ma Nature has outdone herself this year. Most homes do have AC, so yeah, hibernating, lots of iced tea, and DVDs set in winter landscapes! (Dr. Zhivago, anyone?)

Finished Born a Crime, which I loved, and will start Snow Country by Nobel Laureate Yasunari Kawabata. It will be my first book for August/Japan in the Asian Book Challenge.

>49 LyndaInOregon: oh I had forgotten about that.And yes Ma Nature is not happy and is showing her displeasure.

Now reading Klara and the Sun and Convenience Store Woman for the August Asian Challenge -Japan

>52 Bamf102: hee funny, was talking about the books with another poster on the china thread. I loved the poppy war tho admit to covering my eyes at times. Was very disappointed in Dragon Republic and have no desire to read the third one

Love all of those books! He is such an amazing writer. Theres a reason the book might be stilted I think. You might check out the film Coraline; its definitly creepy; I thought it told the story very well,

BTW you might also look for good omens written by Gaiman and Terry Prachett. Lots of fun.

Finished Beam Me Up, Scotty, which brings the total reads for July up to 14. Highlight of the month was Larry Watson;s Montana 1948.

Will start August with Calvin Trillin's Tepper Isn't Going Out. Have never read anything by him, so it will be interesting to discover a new voice.

I finished Companion Piece and Where the Crawdads Sing tonight.

>55 dianeham: what did you think of Crawdads?

I started Custom of the Country by Edith Wharton this morning. It's for our next Wharton buddyread on Litsy. That means I have five books going. The other four are: two editions of Shakespeare's Sonnets, Anniversaries, and The Man Without Qualities. I should finish at least one edition of the Sonnets this month, but that should be it. The rest will carry over. (I'll add The File on H. by Ismail Kadare late this month, for another buddy read.)

>57 Bamf102: Me too!

I stayed up late last night to finish the last 50 pages or so of Isaac Singer's brilliant second novel, The Family Moskat. I'll need a while to process my thoughts and check over the many passages I marked before I can come up with a coherent review. The novel chronicles the ever-tightening noose that the Jews of Poland found themselves in from the beginning of the 20th century right up to the Nazi invasion.

I'll start on a round of my "between books" shortly, and then begin Boy in Blue, an American Civil War novel published in 1937, written by Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Royce Brier. This book was already on my shelf when I began cataloguing my LT library in 2008.

I am still on my light reading: finished the 11th Brunetti mystery (Willful Behavior) and the 3rd Ordinary Magic book (Gods and Ends - urban fantasy, less annoying than the first two books - I like the series but its writing of some characters can be a tad annoying sometimes).

Next - the next book in one of the two series... :)

Have taken up:
The Forward Book of Poetry 2022 and The Sea Cloak & Other Stories by Nayrouz Qarmout...a crime novel will be added to this cache once I pick one off the pile :-)

>58 cindydavid4: I liked Crawdads. I liked the main character. Don’t have a lot to say about it.it kept me reading wanting to know what happened next.

I finished Small Things Like These. Excellent parable but Booker prize?

I got The Complete Poems of Carl Sandberg from the library today. The book was printed the year I was born. I’m afraid of pages falling out etc.

I went for a walk this morning. I picked up Booth from Audible to join me. It took an embarrassing ten minutes to figure out the title reference.

>64 dianeham: the character was fine and the writing excellent, but a 6 year old basically left fending for herself? that gnawed at me the entire time I read it.

I am reading The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie. I just finished Bill at Rainbow Bridge which I am hoping will help me get through the loss of two of my faithful felines just a week apart in July.

>70 cindydavid4: Didn’t bother me, I guess. I was able to suspend disbelief. The use of dialect for Jumpin’ bothered me more.

>72 dianeham: I usually can suspend disbelief, heavens I read enough fantasy, but the teacher in me had trouble. and yeah the dialect

I am currently working my way through the Ember in the Ashes series and liking it. I am listening to them in the car and the first three books have been great entertainment while driving.

finished convenience store woman My goodness, Im not sure what to say about this. The character may have been autistic, lots fo clues. But regardless she was out of step everyone telling her how to be. So when she realizes what shes is supposed to be, just wow.
Jonathan Swift came to mind

I do have to admit, I related to her when she left the store. When I retired I was constantly thinining about school and the kids so I had to smile. Fortunatly the resemblence stops there!

>66 dianeham: Sandberg is one of my favorite poets. (Also Frost, cummings, and Yeats.) I really should have used Carl Sandberg and Lillian Steichen The Poet and Dream Girl for the "romantic" listing in my nonfiction list. For some reason, that book didn't get into my journal and so didn't come up when I was looking for NF titles to consider.

>71 LadyoftheLodge: (((Hugs))) for you and your fur-babies. It is so hard to lose them.

>71 LadyoftheLodge: Oh no,so sorry! they do live in our hearts so we aren't surprised if our hears are broken

>79 Bamf102: I used to have to teach this novel to 10th-graders (15-year olds). Not my choice! I think a lot of the negativity about the book comes from the fact that people don’t like to see the human capacity for evil it reveals as “bred in the bone.” That is truly a gut-wrenching concept for me, and I too hate to think that such characteristics are an inborn part of human nature. I’m glad you were impressed and moved by it, I think it deserves the response you give.

Another complaint about LF as a novel is how it ends. What did you think about the ending?

>79 Bamf102: read it in hs and remember the excellent teacher who guided us through it.Very powerful indeed. But the hate you hear is probablyy becaues it was required reading in practically every HS in the country since it came out!

>77 LyndaInOregon: >78 cindydavid4: Thanks for your kind words and thoughts. The remaining two cats and my husband and I are trying to figure out our life without the other two. I had them since they were kittens. It is like losing two children. My neighbor says she still cries about her fur child who died twenty years ago. I found some resources about pet loss that have helped.

Currently reading Divergent and just finished The Murder of Roger Ackroyd which had a twisty ending that I never saw coming. Well done, Dame Agatha!

>79 Bamf102:, >80 dianelouise100:, >81 Bamf102:, >82 cindydavid4:
I have never understood the hate for Lord of the Flies. I also think that it is a magnificent book. I have often wondered why Lord of the Flies causes so much controversy and Hunger Games doesn't? That seems like a contradiction to me.

I am reading some lighter fare this week. I started Swans of Fifth Avenue by Melanie Benjamin while I am also finishing Clementine: The Life of Mrs. Winston Churchill by Sonia Purnell.

>84 benitastrnad: It is the curse of the mandatory school books - a lot of people associate it with Lit classes and cannot see it as a book you can enjoy - some because of bad memories, some simply because their brain cannot disconnect what they had been taught. Make Hunger Games mandatory, get it dissected and analyzed (and over-analyzed) and you will end up with the same amount of hate in a few decades :)

Plus Lord of the Flies is a lot more removed from what contemporary readers expect from books which does not help much. I liked it when I read it a couple of decades ago - but then I never had to read it for class (or analyze it)..

>84 benitastrnad: hunger games did cause lots of controversy at the time. Excellent reads (movies weren't too bad either)

id be interested in hearing about clementine. I read an HF about here that was poorly written as are her other books. Would expect the bio to be better.

Ok still reading a history of reading I keep going back to it because it is fascinating, but its a lot. Right now Im on the chapter about stealing books where he talks abuot how books started becoming valuable enougj for theives, such as Gughlielmo Bruto IcilioTimoleon one of the most accomplished book theives of all time. to steal thosands of book. Later tje author starts talking about his own library, and how hard it is to let go of books

"Ive had to abandon these books of mine before,t hen I also have to acknowledge a great loss...my memory keeps going back with mornful loss. And now with the years my memory is recalling l.ess and less of these books.It seems to me like a looted library with vandals destroying my memory, The more decrepit my memory becomes the more I want to protect this repository of what Ive read...possesion of these books become all important to me, because Ive become jealous of the past"

something tells me that many readers here may have a similar feeling. Anyway each time i jump back into the pages, I learn more.

I finished The Family Moskat, Isaac Bashevis Singer's second novel about the many tensions on the Jewish community in Poland from the beginning of the 20th century through the start of the German invasion in 1939, as experienced by the members of the family of the title. The novel resonates with me in very many ways. At any rate, my long (even for me!) review is now up on my CR thread.

I'm now reading Boy in Blue, an American Civil War novel published in 1937, written by Royce Brier, a journalist who had recently won the Pulitzer Prize for reporting.

now reading territory of light about a young mother dealing with her husband leaving, and raising her young daughter by herself.

Felt like something different last night so read Small Things Like These. Somber, lyrical and showing how bad humanity can get (while also showing that people can be good despite everything).

Now reading Five Uneasy Pieces by Debbi Mack (crime stories, the original edition has 5 (thus the title), the reissued one (which I am reading) has 6...).

Currently re-reading Divergent which I read years ago in a book group with my middle school students. I forgot how violent it is, but that is probably part of the reason the kids enjoyed it. I have not seen the film.
Also reading In Too Steep which is a cozy mystery about a tea room and also includes some romance.

>71 LadyoftheLodge: Chiming in to say how sorry I am. We had some really hard pet losses close together just before Covid hit and it was—and some days still is, 2-1/2 years later—so difficult. The really good ones are such good friends.

I finished reading Snow Country by Kawabata, and am pondering what to pick up next. I watched the newest film adaptation of Persuasion, and now I am tempted to read the book. I think it's the only Austen I haven't read.

I finished Difficult People, which I thought was very good, and now I'm reading Hotbed: Bohemian Greenwich Village and the Secret Club that Sparked Modern Feminism. Because of course I am.

Right now, I'm immensely enjoying Empire Falls by Richard Russo and Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr, a book I was determined to dislike (long story), but happen to love so far. And from what I hear, the latter part is even better than the first one.

Inspired by a message from SassyLassy, I searched out an easier read. I found The No. 1 Ladies' Detection Agency by Alexander McCall Smith on my shelf (then not entered into by LT library, but I fixed that). I'm trying it out.

I’m reading oh William! and I like the writing.

I happened upon some books that a friend had lent me and found three by Japanese authors that look good. So Persuasion will have to wait. I decided to read The Crazy Iris and Other Stories of the Atomic Aftermath edited by Kenzaburō Ōe first. In the introduction, Ōe includes a paragraph on each author, whether they experienced the bombing directly, and why the story was chosen. Very interesting. The first eponymous story was by Masuji Ibuse author of Black Rain, a novel about the bombing of Hiroshima, which I read and admire very much.

Currently working through When Ghosts Come Home, which is our F2F group read this month. Cash is an interesting writer, but I'm having trouble just plowing thru because I seem to have come down with the dreaded Covid and am spending a lot of time asleep.

Needless to say, I won't be going to the meeting (it will fall on my last day of self-isolation if everything goes as scheduled), so I would feel no compulsion to read it at all if I didn't find it interesting.

nothing to see here, never mind :)

>103 LyndaInOregon: I'm sorry you have covid. I hope you feel better soon and have no lasting effects.

>103 LyndaInOregon: so sorry Linda. Wish you well.

Yikes, linda, so sorry! hope you get well soon!

now reading klara and the sun

New week, new book - I'm finally getting around to The Vanishing Half. Yesterday I finished my book on my bus trip out to lunch so I had to buy a new book (The Lincoln Highway) for the trip home.

I'm reading On Juneteenth by Annette Gordon-Reed, which is superb so far.

I finished reading Clementine: The Life of Mrs. Winston Churchill by Sonia Purnell. This was a standard biography, but I have been trying to read more biographies of women and this one fit right into that plan. I liked the book, and it provided me a good picture of the relationship between Winston and Clementine. It turns out that Clementine was very important to the life and career of Winston Churchill. She was a very interesting woman and I am glad I read this book.

>93 lisapeet: Thank you. I still keep churning over the thoughts of "Did I do the right thing? Should I have waited longer or tried harder to help the little fellows?" Those kinds of thoughts do no good.

Happy International Kitty Day!

I am currently re-reading Divergent and also reading The Messy Lives of Book People. The description in the touchstone is correct but the title is different.

>112 LadyoftheLodge: Lost a cat six years ago, and I still have those feelings. Three cats later still think about her

>93 lisapeet: "We had some really hard pet losses close together just before Covid hit and it was—and some days still is, 2-1/2 years later—so difficult. . . .

>112 LadyoftheLodge: "I still keep churning over the thoughts of "Did I do the right thing? Should I have waited longer or tried harder to help the little fellows?"

When it became clear a couple of years ago that we going to have to put our yellow lab, Yossarian, to sleep, I cried so hard, and for days, that I thought I might break a rib. But we had someone we trusted about these things tell us, "If you wait until you're absolutely positive he's never going to have another good day, you've waited too long."

I finished Boy in Blue a novel about the American Civil War published in 1937, written by Royce Brier, who three years previously had won a Pulitzer Prize for Journalism. My review is now on the book's work page and on my CR thread. Next up will be this month's book group selection, Dead Dead Girls a mystery by Nekesa Afia.

I am in the middle of three books: Lonesome Dove, which is on hold until I finish Either/Or for a Litsy read and Our Wives Under the Sea which is overdue at the library.

Finished When Ghosts Come Home, which had some good moments and one very interesting unanswered question, but was marred by a clunky "twist" that requires the reader to believe a 40-year veteran of law enforcement would accept without question some very unorthodox behavior by the character who later turns out (SURPRISE!!!) to be a bad guy. You didn't see that coming, Sheriff? The rest of us did, from the get-go.

Will probably start one of the LTER books I just won, assuming I continue to feel better. Covid is no fun, but my case seems to have gotten most of its nastiness done in the first three days.

>114 rocketjk: Our veterinarian told us, "It is better to make the decision a week too soon than a day too late." He was very compassionate and supportive.

I stayed up late to finish The Messy Lives of Book People. I liked the story and the premise of transforming one's life and using one's talents. My problem with this book is that it went on too long. There were several points at which the author could have ended the story on an upbeat note, but then it went on and on.

I am still reading Divergent and just started The Nantucket Beachfront Inn.

I’m reading Thunderbird by Jack McDevitt. I felt I need some science fiction.

>118 LadyoftheLodge: "He was very compassionate and supportive."

I'm glad you had someone like that. In a situation like that, it's super important to have that sort of emotional support and also the objective knowledge of someone experienced whom you trust.

>120 rocketjk: It's so important, especially because you literally have the power of life and death over animals and it's so necessary to have kind guidance. We were (and I'm sure will be again) very lucky to have a fantastic hospice vet who has come to our house to help our pets go when it was time—she's been gentle and loving with both the animals and us, and I can't say enough good things about her.

What you said, Jerry—better a week too soon than a day too late—is something I've repeated to myself more times than I care to think about, but it's a good compass.

I just started Mouth to Mouth.

Still reading Dictator by Robert Harris

I finished The Fell by Sarah Moss late last night, and earlier this morning I began reading Picasso's War: How Modern Art Came to America by Hugh Eakin. I'll also start reading Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison today.

I finished The Siege of Krishnapur by J.G. Farrell last week and loved it. It’s a satiric view of the British empire, set in India during the 1857-58 uprising. I am still laughing at some of the darkly comic scenes and Farrell’s ironic wit throughout is priceless, reminiscent to me of Jonathan Swift. Overall, the view of British ineptitude at governing its empire presented here is devastating. This novel is part of Farrell’s Empire trilogy (books not interdependent), and I’ll definitely be reading the other two, one set in Ireland, the other in Singapore.

I'm starting my next book by a Japanese author: A Riot of Goldfish by Kanoko Okamoto.

Just finished The Unlocked Path for LTER, and found it quite well-done. It's based largely on the author's family history and traces the life and career of a young woman who chooses to study medicine at the end of the 19th century.

Have also started The Other Mother, which is shaping up to be suspense, I think.

Need to be fever-free today & tomorrow and then get a negative test result on Sunday, and they will let me out of Covid Jail. Fingers crossed that hubby's current throat scratchiness is a plain vanilla cold and not him catching this thing.

Hoping you get better soon!

Finished Klara and the Sun and honestly I am left cold by it. I j ust couldnt connect to the story, not sure why. And my expectations didnt help. Read this for the Asian Challenge this month books from Japanese authors. Was expecting to learn about the country; this wasn't it.

Felt the same way with Never Let Me Go. perhaps this author is just not for me

Will start reading Ali Smiths companion piece Read a selection from it in the New Yorker awhile back and was hoping to readthis.

>129 cindydavid4: Well, Kazuo Ishiguro is not a good source on Japan. He left Japan with is family at age 6 and grew up in England. : )

I'm currently listening to The Unseen by Roy Jacobsen and almost finished reading The Anomaly by Hervé Le Tellier.

>57 Bamf102: I'm also wanting to reread this series. I've read through at least book 6 I think, maybe 7, and all the Lord John books, but then she took so long coming out with each book, that I wanted to reread first, so I haven't read the last couple of books. The second book Dragonfly in Amber was my least favorite, but there's a lot there that is important to the rest of the series. So do persevere, because Voyager is wonderful!

>132 WelshBookworm: The second book Dragonfly in Amber was my least favorite, but there's a lot there that is important to the rest of the series. So do persevere, because Voyager is wonderful!

If you don't enjoy the history, DiA can get long. But, yes, Voyager is wonderful! I have started rereading Outlander in a unconcerted way right before bed. I've read it so many times, yet it's still compelling. I have not read her most recent book, and am wondering if I should reread only the last book, or more, before starting on it. My least favorite was number five: A Breath of Snow and Ashes.

>121 lisapeet: I agree whole-heartedly on the hospice vet. I did that with my Lily in May, and it spared her the trauma of having to be taken to the vet. It's a wonderful service that they do. I almost waited too long. And with a regular vet they might not be able to squeeze them in on short notice, and the emergency vet route is way more expensive.

>134 WelshBookworm: I had no idea they did that, what a great idea! will have to check and see if they are out this way

I've been traveling a lot this past month and I've been reading but am behind on reviews for my thread.

I've recently completed In the Shadow of the Empress, a biography of Maria Theresa and her children, The Farm in the Green Mountains, a memoir of a German immigrant's observations about life in Vermont, and The Story of Mount Desert Island, a short bio of the island in Maine we just visited that I picked up in a gift shop.

I'm also about to finish The Country of the Pointed Firs by Sarah Orne Jewett and just started Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz.

Just finished The Other Mother, which was less suspense than Mommy Wars. There were some moments of luminous writing, and her descriptions of that punch-drunk, sleep-deprived state common to all new moms, as well as of the relentless attention-suck of an energetic toddler, are right on. But most of the conflict was petty and neither of the main characters came off particularly well.

Next up is the other LTER for August, a Handful of Pearls.

Love that cover!

About halfway through and enjoying Booth, probably my 6 or 7th Karen Joy Fowler book.

>140 avaland: I’m struggling with Booth on audio. 🙁

>141 dchaikin: ...there is a lot going on. Interesting approach to write it about the family.

I've started reading Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage by Haruki Murakami. What a soothing writing style after the overwrought style of the last book I read.

>142 avaland: I think I’m having trouble with the bright light the Booker longlist shines on it. It’s ok. But under that light, I’m seeing problems I might not normally have worried about.

I’m reading Subdivision.

Im not sure what to think about companion piece Ive only read short stories from this author, so this my first novel. First of all the writing is stunning. As one of her characters says, you have a way with words. I have several pages marked with interesting quotes, Lots of the story concerns communication and language, as well as connection with stories I love her referencing the pandemic and how it was affecting her characters lives. And I absolutly loved the narrator. A pragmatic no nonsence professor who doesn't suffer fools gladly, and yet the kindness and compassion even for others who were trying to hurt her was rather moving

that being said, the first part, which Id read in the new yorker, was really good but it was just ignored. Then at the very end, quite a long story about a woman blacksmith, living in a village where they think she is a witch. I wasn't sure how this connected to the rest of the book, unless it was a way to tell the narrator's story which now that i think about it might be the answer. In the end I really liked it and want to read my by Ali Smith

I agreed to be a judge for the Science Fiction Fantasy section of the Kansas Author's Club Annual prize. I only have to read 5 books, but I have to get them done by September 18. Two of the books are 500 pagers, 1 is 450 pages and the other two are more reasonable in length. It is going to be hard to get them read with school starting this week, but I am going to try. I am started Into the Door of Winter and Arch Emulator and the Seven Keys. It should be an interesting month of reading.

goo to the sci fi group here and ask for suggestions. Sci fi/fan didn't used to be door stoppers !I can look on my shelves for you ;do they need to be modern? like in the last 10 years?

I am slowly working through Hidden (the 5th Alex Verus novel - urban fantasy, set in London, not a good idea to start with book 5 - you need the back story to fully appreciate the story here). Slowly because my mind had been wandering last week for some reason... I suspect I will be done with it tonight and we shall see what's next.

Meanwhile, Harvard's "The Ancient Greek Hero" https://www.edx.org/course/the-ancient-greek-hero-2 is just starting. It includes access to the textbook AND all the texts (even if the audit/free version) so if someone wants to come read some Greek works, that may be a good time :) I plan to read based on the course schedule, possibly switching translations or adding more along the way so... there will be some Greek literature coming up in the next few months.

>144 dchaikin: Here's what the judges said, if you missed their bit after longlisting the title. I have read KSF's previous works so...the designation is probably lost on me. However, there were a few others on the list I might like, now that I've seen it...

What shapes us? And who gets to choose the stories we tell about our place in the world? With an eagle eye and a bone-dry wit, Fowler introduces the Booths, a 19th-century family forged by theatrical ambition and agonising grief within a household steeped in the racism and myth-making of the disunited States. As the novel unfolds, we know - and they don’t - that one day the ninth child, John Wilkes, will step forward with a gun in his hand to bring the narratives of dynasty and country decisively together.

>144 dchaikin: All told, I tend to be underwhelmed by most Booker nominees. Po-tay-to / po-tah-to, but by and large, the Booker imprimatur does not lead me to rush down to the bookstore, credit card in hand. (Your mileage may vary!)

Finished up the last LTER for the month, A Handful of Pearls, and remain largely unimpressed. It's difficult to get deeply involved in a two-narrator book when one of them is so whiny and self-centered you just want to smack her upside the head.

Started Nurse, Come You Here, which is kind of an All Creatures Great and Small but with people instead of animals, and Scotland's Hebridean Islands subbing for Yorkshire.

Not sure where I'm going after that.

>154 LyndaInOregon: i find the list Booker longlist interesting, even if the individual books are hit and miss. I loved 2019, hated 2020, was happy with 2021. So i’ll probably hang in there.

>153 avaland: “bone-dry wit”? I think they read a different book. Anyway, i see what Fowler is doing, I’m just not buying in very deeply. (I have lots of complaints too, but i’ll keep them to myself for now.)

The Sandman Vol. 1: Preludes & Nocturnes - I'm a huge fan of Gaiman and I know this is his greatest work, and that's exactly why I meant to read it last (out of all his works published in my country) however I didn't resist the hype of the Netflix series and watched it on the day it dropped and finished it the next day. Let's say... I loved what I saw.

Also started the Cultish audiobook because I heard good things about it.

>155 LyndaInOregon: Nurse, Come You Here sounds interesting. Did you read the first one? I'm in the mood for something gentle and humorous.

>158 labfs39: I haven't read the first one, Call the Nurse -- it wasn't available, so I decided to pick this second one up. I think the first one explains how & why they moved to the village. It's "gentle". Not laugh-out-loud funny, but amusing and a non-demanding read if that's what you're looking for at the moment.

>156 dchaikin: It doesn't strike me as a kind of book you would like....so kudos for even trying it, no guilt if you want to set it aside and move on (life is short).

>160 avaland: yeah, fair enough. I will finish it. I’m about 2/3 through on audio.

Thanks to bragan, I started Conversations with People Who Hate Me, a book I would not have picked up on my own, but that's message of sincere dialogue with those with different political and religious views is an important one.

I read Subdivision by J. Robert Lennon. It’s the story of a woman who finds herself in some kind of in-between world, staying in a b&b that could be limbo. Delightful would be the wrong word for this but I liked it very much. So much in fact that I am now reading Pieces for the Left Hand by the same author.

Finished Hidden which was more of a repositioning/setting things for later book than I expected but still worked and ordered the next one from the series from the library.

Needed a bit of fun so read Grandville Bete Noire and Talbot did not disappoint. Now reading Precursor - the 4th Foreigner novel by Cherryh - a beginning of a new trilogy so there is a jump in time (which so far works really well).

started readingbefore the coffee gets cold for the Asian Challenge: Japan. Looks like this wil be fun!

>166 cindydavid4: I love that book.

I'm reading Max and the Midknights which tells you exactly what my brain is capable of at the moment...

I finished Anniversaries book 2 (December 1967 - April 1968). I'm half way through, so behind the year plan but getting there. I haven't started book 3 yet.

Also I started The File on H. by Ismail Kadare. I haven't read anything by him before.

>169 dchaikin: Interesting, I had never heard of that Kadare book before, but then again, he's extremely prolific. How did you choose that one as your first?

I started reading an ebook on my laptop, a new thing for me. It's called The Easy Life in Kamusari by Shion Miura.

>170 labfs39: i was interested in the Homeric aspect and the Albanian saga singers. I’m actually reading it as a group read on Litsy as I stumbled across someone with a similar interest.

Meanwhile, so far it’s mainly satire on Albanian politics and culture under king Zog. (Yes, that was his name)

I've been neglecting this thread once again, but since I'm finally kinda-sorta caught up on LT, I am popping in to say that I'm currently reading On the Clock: What Low-Wage Work Did to Me and How It Drives America Insane by Emily Guendelsberger, which is very readable and very depressing.

Finished Precursor (different from the first three but still good) and started Slow Horses last night. So far, not bad.

I may even get around to my thread this weekend eventually...

I finished Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison this morning (4.5 stars), and immediately started reading The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie, mainly in support of the great author in the face of the savage and near fatal attack on him by an Islamic fundamentalist in upstate New York last Friday.

May be the only reader around not in love with before the coffee gets cold but there is it. I like the premise and the rules, and like the lesson that we cant change the past but we can make the future. But the writing is so full of repetition, and the characters rathr leave me cold. I'll finish it because I want to know what happens, but disappointed coz I wanted to love it. oh well

I am however loving setting the kites free. Cant remember who recommended this one but oh my its wonderful; spent the day reading it, about half way done and may spend the night finishing it. I suspect this will not be the last book I read by this author. Thanks again for the rec!

>173 AnnieMod: Loved Slow Horses. I need to get back to that series.

Currently reading Max and the Midknights for a bit of light-hearted, juvenile fun. AND, since I think I might be feeling SO much better about my future living situation with a new house, I thought I should maybe try and see if I can start reading again. (Max doesn't really count...) My "themed" book club meets next week, and we're doing books set in a location that starts with a G. So I got The Evening Chorus on Libby and will start that this evening. It's set in both Germany and Great Britain.

>174 kidzdoc: kudos on reading Rushdie. I would like to read some of his novels as well. Although I have enough ongoing for the moment.

>174 kidzdoc: I highly recommend the following website for SV annotations:
https://brians.wsu.edu/2017/02/08/cover-satanic-verses/

I finished The Unseen by Roy Jacobsen and The Anomaly by Hervé Le Tellier. I'm currently listening to something completely different: The Rosie Result by Graeme Simsion and reading How to Make a Plant Love You: Cultivate Green Space in Your Home and Heart by Summer Rayne Oakes.

>174 kidzdoc: Those are some heavy hitters, Darryl. Let us know how you think The Satanic Verses has aged over the past quarter century, if it has at all.

And wow, that Toni Morrison... what a range she had! I had no idea:
Texas school district pulls Toni Morrison classic, the Bible from library shelves
(Sorry, had to put that somewhere. Professional editorial courtesy means I'm decent to everyone I work with, and let off steam by making fun of others' editorial gaffes.)

>180 lisapeet: Ha! That Toni Morrison was always up to something!

I saw a sentence in an online article recently about somebody who'd been "turned into the FBI."

>180 lisapeet: that explains some aspects of the Bible. I’m thoroughly entertained by the headline. The article itself is a depressing commentary on human minds and active political derangement. At least the 40 books get a mini publicity boost.

Just started Brother Mambo: Finding Africa in the Amazon.

I'm reading Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz for something fun and Old Masters by Thomas Bernhard when I'm in the mood for something a little more challenging.

Finished The First Book of Calamity Leek ... which was certainly odd. Lichtarowicz does an amazing job in creating the "voice" of the eponymous narrator, but this is not a book everyone will relish.

Also finished Nurse, Come You Here! this afternoon. If I happen to come across the prequel, I'll probably pick it up, but won't particularly look for it. That probably tells you I found it mildly amusing.

Next up is Partner in Crime, a J.A. Jance book that mixes the Joanna Brady series with the J.P. Beaumont series. Hmmmmm. I enjoy the Brady books but have not been a big fan of her other series. We shall see how they mingle.

Finished setting free the kites, really loved this book, I did have some trouble towards the end of the story, one of the characters does something that is so out of character that is impossible to believe. but it still works. I sorta wish there was no epilogue, didn't think itwas needed, but it did bring the story full circle. very well written, great charactres, great story. Plan to read more by him.

I finished Joanna Scutts's Hotbed: Bohemian Greenwich Village and the Secret Club that Sparked Modern Feminism, which was a really interesting overview of women's (and others') social movements in the 1910s and '20s. Lots of information about the issues in play at the time woven together skillfully, and plenty to be learned even if you know your history of the period. Not a quick read, but very rewarding.

Now reading Ali Smith's Companion Piece, which sucked me in right away—that spiky voice!

I finished Shakespeare's Sonnets. Well, sort of. I have two editions, and one has extra stuff I want to read. So I have read all 154 Sonnets and finished one of two books.

Also I finished The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency, Alexander McCall Smith's first in his series. As a non-mystery reader, I found this slower than I anticipated, but also a nice break whenever I picked it up. It's well done for what it is.

I’ve just finished The Custom of the Country by Edith Wharton, so am down one more book that’s been on the shelf for too long. I liked it better than The Age of Innocence, finding its bitingly satiric view of Gilded Age morals and values a pleasure to read. I also enjoyed its characters, including “heroine” Undine Spragg, though I can’t say I found many of them sympathetic. Now I’m starting Kate Atkinson’s Case Studies, my first mystery in awhile—really looking forward to it.

>191 dianelouise100: I'm reading Custom of the Country now, at a pace of a book a week. So this week I will read book 4 (of 5).

I've just completed Patrick Radden Keefe's excellent though disturbing history of the Troubles, Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland. My review is up on the book's work page and on my own CR thread.

Wanting something a bit lighter between Say Nothing and my upcoming reading of Isabel Wilkerson's Caste, I'll be turning my attention next to The Constant Rabbit, one of the few Jasper Fforde novels I've yet to read.

>192 dchaikin: Will look forward to your thoughts when you finish Custom.

>191 dianelouise100: do you mean case histories ? I was at first disappointed that Atkinson was writing a mystery;loved her books, but don't really care for this genre all that much But I gave it a chance and oh my, I was hooked. Ended up reading all the other Brodie books. Amazing writer.

I do mean Case Histories, thanks for catching that! I’m already into the book, after just the first few chapters, so I know I’ll agree with you. And glad to hear there are others, I do love mysteries.

Just finished Lonesome Dove, a bit faster than expected. I've started Quo Vadis, but might need to pause long enough to get an overview of the time period and the characters.

>197 ELiz_M: I liked Quo Vadis a lot. It's been years, but I read it twice, despite its heft.

>197 ELiz_M: oh Quo Vadis was one of those books I picked off big sisters shelves when I was in HS and must have reread it a dozen times. Its been a while - but hope you like it as much as I did.

Finished Partner in Crime -- quick read, as most of her books are. Jance keeps three series on the go -- Joanna Brady, Ali Reynolds, and J.P. Beaumont are all out there solving mysteries in their own ways.

This one mixes Brady and Beaumont, and I'm wondering if it was a stunt, an experiment, or just what. Beaumont is dispatched from Seattle when a murder victim in Brady's jurisdiction has ties to Washington state, so he's coming into her turf, and there's some tree-peeing as they establish territorial boundaries. Not sure the addition of Beaumont's character added much to the story, and there's a fleeting moment at the very end when there's a brief moment of sexual attraction between the two. It comes out of nowhere and disappears just as quickly, and really was mostly just a distraction.

Anyway ... discussion topic if anyone has thoughts ... if an author has created two separate, different, successful series, what kind of dynamics are going to be at play in trying to create a crossover piece?

>200 LyndaInOregon: Getting readers of one of the series interested in the other one. If you don’t want to read the other series, you can just ignore it - the “guest” is essentially another one-off character. But if you like what you see, you would check the other series. It is like a spin-off in reverse in some ways.

I’ve seen it often enough when both series are in the same genre (or can coexist). Sometimes it is a one off, sometimes it leads to the characters starting to jump between series here and there and sometimes the two original series just get merged going forward.

And it is not just a single author series phenomena - 2 authors with series which can coexist will occasionally do a crossover.

I finished reading the first of my five books for the Kansas Authors Club science fiction/fantasy contest. It was Door Into Winter by Rob Howell. It was a fairly standard fantasy based in Norse mythology. The writing wasn't bad and I did finish the book, so that means I didn't run screaming from it or Pearl Rule the book. It is awfully hard to judge a book that is the first in a trilogy because the story just sort of ends. I was always critical of the Newbery committees that picked the final book in a series (books like High King by Lloyd ALexander and Grey King by Susan Cooper come to mind) and now I find myself in that position.

I have started book 2 for this contest, Arch Emulator and the Seven Keys by Michael Stewart and have read enough of it that I think it is a DaVinci Code type of book - but at this point I don't know that for sure.

I am also listening to Swans of Fifth Avenue by Melanie Benjamin and am enjoying this work of historical fiction. The readers for this one are quite good and that makes it more enjoyable than it probably would have been if I had just read it. I do have to say that this book has the most gorgeous and intriguing cover I have seen in ages! It certainly adds to the book.

Finished Booth, which I found excellent overall. Now I am starting Olaf Olafsson's latest novel, Touch. My first book that is SET in the Covid Era!

Earlier this morning I finished The South: Jim Crow and its Afterlives by Adolph L. Reed, Jr., who is a professor of political science at the University of Pennsylvania. He spent most of his youth in New Orleans in the 1950s and early 1960s, and he provided a very interesting insight into his life as a child of middle class African American professionals during and after segregation both in New Orleans and in Pine Bluff and other towns in eastern Arkansas, where he had relatives, which he used to broadly discuss the institution of Jim Crow and its effects on Black and White Southerners. I found the vignettes set in New Orleans to be especially compelling, as I moved to New Orleans in 1978 to begin my freshman year at Tulane University, only 15 years after it was integrated, and 14 years after legal segregation practices ended in the city with the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

>180 lisapeet: Will do, Lisa. I haven't read more than a few pages of The Satanic Verses, but I'll get to it in earnest this week.

I did see the headline about the school district in Texas which banned the Bible and several other books, but I didn't read the article until just now. I also didn't know until this weekend that Song of Solomon was amongst the long list of banned books; I knew that Beloved was.

I wonder if those same conservatives would ban books such as The Clansman: A Historical Romance of the Ku Klux Klan, which was the basis of D.W. Griffith's notorious and despicable movie The Birth of a Nation.

>204 kidzdoc: The Reed book looks like something I would find very interesting. I'll have to look out for that. Thanks, Darryl. Will you be posting a review of Song of Solomon? Or have you done so already and I just haven't noticed it?

>205 rocketjk: You're welcome, Jerry. It's just under 150 pages, so it's a quick read. I ordered it directly from Jacobin Books a few weeks ago.

I've fallen badly behind on reviews again, and I haven't reviewed Song of Solomon yet, nor any of the other 16 books that I've read since July 1st. I plan to start catching up today, though, starting with the superb LT Early Reviewers book I won from the July batch, Alzheimer's Canyon: One Couple's Reflections on Living with Dementia.

>201 AnnieMod: I've seen the crossover/merge phenomenon in fanfic, but hadn't come across it in pro stuff.

FWIW, I still remain generally unimpressed with J.P. Beaumont, so I guess I'll stick with the Joanna Brady series when I want to read Jance!

As a (largely unpblished) writer, I just found it interesting. I mean, here are two characters from your own mind that have been separate, with their own (fictional) lives, and now you're putting them together to see what happens. Would you find yourself favoring one over the other? Would you begin to see things within their characters that you hadn't consciously placed there? (That happens all the time, of course, but would it happen **differently** when you drop both of them into a new environment?) Would they really get along -- that, presumably, having been your intention -- or would they end up clashing wildly, and at what point would you (the writer, supposedly in control) realize this was NOT what you had in mind at all?

>207 LyndaInOregon: A few examples off the top of my head:
Twospot - Bill Pronzini and Collin Wilcox putting their 2 detectives together.
Genesis/Undone by Karin Slaughter - it was the third Will Trent novel and the 7th Sara Linton one (had to look up the number - I know it was deep into the series) and technically it started a new merged series, combining the two earlier series completely.
Ian Rankin's Even Dogs in the Wild did something similar although we had known that the two series co-exist from the beginning (and yet, it essentially pulled them together).

I am at a point where I expect series from the same author to meet and even merge at some point... :)

>188 Bamf102: Never read Robin Hobb, but you’ve really piqued my interest. Could I start with the Ship series, or would it be better to begin with a different one?

read a short story by a chilean poet Alijandro Zambra called skyscrapers, in this weeks NYer. loved this: "you gave me a copy of "the subterraneans", a Jack Kerouac novella I never heard of, I read it soon after,still reread it every two or three years, eager to experience, once again, the warm earthquake of that ending, one of the best I ever read" Ok, I now must find this novella and read it. Also interested in reading one of his novels. If the story is anything to go by, I really like his writing.. perhaps the private lives of trees

>210 cindydavid4: I've read three of Zambra's books, and I can recommend all of them: Bonsai, The Private Lives of Trees, and Ways of Going Home.

>208 AnnieMod: There's a new Rebus coming out in October, I have a pre-order for it. Just sayin'

>212 Bamf102: Thanks! I think the Farseer books seem to be more readily available at my library, too.

>211 kidzdoc: excellent! thx

Finished Booth, started Glory by NoViolet Bulawayo (yes, a pen-name). Booth was 13 hours - I really liked the last two, the first 11 not as much. Glory is 16 hours, and I have really liked the first one so far. Heavy satirical rant using Animal Farm like approach. (So lines like, “White gloves on their paws”)

ETA - both are audiobooks

I'm really struggling with A Woman of No Importance, and may set it aside for a while.

This should be my meat -- a young woman from a genteel Baltimore family who kicks over expectations that she marry and devote herself to family & society ... loses a leg in a hunting accident ... batters without success at the doors to a diplomatic career ... ends up in Europe during WWII and is instrumental in the creation of the French underground...

So why is reading it like trying to run through molasses? It's very highly rated by LT reviewers. The subject matter of Women Who Dared is right in my wheelhouse. But I Just. Can't. Get. Into. It. I've spent three days with it and am on page 103.

It may be that spy novels (and, apparently, spy non-fiction) just aren't my thing. It may be that the book is chock-full of names and places and dates and that Virginia Hall is a constant presence in the background but I still don't "know" her.

Any words of encouragement, or do I just cut my losses and go on to something else at this point?

Id put it aside, read something else and come back to it. If you feel the same way, into the trade pile it goes!

So cleaning out the beach bag from two months ago and found a book Id been reading along those lines Peter is a long time reading buddy from back when I was just getting going. need to get back into it now

Currently reading Carnivalesque by Neil Jordan. I'm more than halfway through and still not at all sure how I feel about it. The writing sort of feels like an interesting, sometimes beautiful experiment that's still maybe only half successful.

>213 avaland: Shhhhh :) I know. I am a. Few books behind because I had been contemplating rereading the whole thing from scratch. :) May decide to just get the new ones and then reread if I want to (what I am doing with Brunetti for example - although there I had never read some of the early and middle books unlike Rebus).

heh looks like another unread find. Awake at 2 in the morning, decided to look at my shelves. Found an unread copy of wizard of lonliness
(loved his beanfield war back in the day.) started reading and now juggling three books. done this before, but its been awhile

I finished Ali Smith's Companion Piece in a few big gulps and really loved it—if this is her Covid-era indulgence, it's a wonderful one, super cerebral and full of puzzles and threads to tease out, the kind of book you can think about for a while after finishing.

Now reading Curtis LeBlanc's Sunsetter for an upcoming book panel this fall.

>222 lisapeet: Oh good, I'm just starting Companion Piece today!

>222 lisapeet: Sounds good. Companion Piece is available in my local library, so I'll borrow it later this year.

dance for emilia Peter Beagle is one of my fav fantasy writers. Not alot happens in his stories, but they tell an intereting tale. This story of two life long close friends. When one of them passes they experience unusual events, Sweet story, well written as usual. Would have liked it to have continued but I guess it was just fine in the end 4*

I just finished a few reviews, ending up just before I went in for my surgery earlier this month (skipping 3 June books - will get back to them later). If anyone is interested: 8 early novels (4 through 11) in the Brunetti series, Gallic Noir: Volume 1 by Pascal Garnier, books 3 and 4 in the Ordinary Magic series and Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan are now reviewed on my thread. More reviews later this week (she said and hoped not to jinx it)

Just now working on the 5th Ordinary Magic book and The Iliad (see >152 AnnieMod: about the timing of this).

>226 cindydavid4: Peter Beagle was in the news recently.
Peter S. Beagle Has Finally Regained the Rights to His Body of Work
https://www.tor.com/2021/03/25/peter-s-beagle-last-unicorn-lawsuit-resolved-ip/

>228 dianeham: heh yeah I posted that in the RT HARVEST MOON theme, goes here too. How sad it took so long, but how good it is now

I am reading Heather O'Neill's latest book. I think that I liked her short stories better although she is a great storyteller.

I’m reading Trust and Orville: Sympathy for the Devil.

Am reading the most recent Olaf Olafsson novel, Touch.

Although I enjoyed the first half of Conversations with People Who Hate Me, I found it to get a bit repetitive. Glad I picked it up, but when it was due back at the library, I didn't feel too sad. Have picked up an Early Reviewer book that has been waiting patiently as I focused on books from Japan. It's by a Cambodian refugee who settled in Maine and is called Moon in Full.

I'm now reading Roving Mars: Spirit, Opportunity, and the Exploration of the Red Planet by Steve Squyres. I was startled to realize just how long this book had been sitting on my TBR shelves, and then immediately even more startled to realize what that meant about how long it had been since the rovers in question landed on Mars. If NASA could investigate where all that time disappears to next, I would appreciate it.

>232 Bamf102: I found it easier after reading circe, you get a background for reference. It was written first and some people didn't care for it. I did!_

I did soldier on (see what I did there) with A Woman of No Importance, but it really never grabbed me. Looking at the reviews, I see I'm not alone.

I picked up Keeping the House, by Ellen Baker and read a few chapters between 1 and 2 a.m. My judgment may have been somewhat fuzzy, given the insomnia, but it looks like it's going to be interesting.

>239 LyndaInOregon: I think I'll pass on A Woman of No Importance, although it's a topic that usually interests me.

So I am at big sisters house, helping take care 0f her for a few days Yesterday she fell and broke her humerus. She's in a sling, taking pain meds and frustratred because she cant do things. I brought wizard of lonelinesss to read but instead I saw Paul McCartney the life that I bought for her birthday. She had not read it yet but let me start it. A much better choice enjoying it so far

I've recently finished Magpie Murders (an ok mystery homage to Agatha Christie), and Companion Piece by Ali Smith which is strange and wonderful.

Now I'm finishing up Old Masters by Thomas Bernnhard and starting Bitter Orange by Claire Fuller. I love her recent novel, Unsettled Ground, so I'm delving into her backlist.

Onto A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers. Such a great title - I hope the writing lives up to it.

>246 Bamf102: I’ve read it 3 times because I hated it and kept wanting to see if I missed something. And I always loved Atwood.

>244 Bamf102: Lord of the Butterflies sounds great. I'll borrow it from my local library next month.

I finished The Constant Rabbit, Jasper Fforde's fun but thought-provoking satire about anti-immigrant fears and repression. My review is up on my own CR thread.

Next up, I'll finally be reading Caste: The Original of Our Discontent by Isabel Wilkerson.

Has anyone else read Trust yet? I liked the first quarter of the book but after that? Not so much. I was very confused at the end. I think it was nominated for the Booker because of its form not for the writing or the story. I wasn’t impressed.

>252 dianeham: Maybe it's just me, but I often find Booker award nominees and recipients to be less than satisfying reads. I always wonder if I'm just not smart enough to "get it", or if the Emperor really has no clothes.

>253 LyndaInOregon: sometimes I find gems in the booker and sometimes not so much.

I finished the rather amazing memoir of a gay Cambodian boy growing up in rural Maine called Moon in Full. Review in progress. Next up? Probably one of the Korean graphic novels by Keum Suk Gendry-Kim that I've borrowed from the library. I know it's not yet September and Korean book month, but I don't have time to squeeze in another Japanese book, and these were interlibrary loaned and are due back soon.

>253 LyndaInOregon: any award is a toss up. It has nothing to do with intelligence, alot to do with our own interests and tastes. Ofte tho the emperor indeed has not clothes

I have Trust on my Kindle, but I haven't read it yet. The shortlist for this year's Booker Prize will be announced on September 6th, and if this novel makes the cut I'll probably read it next month.

Just finished the wizard of loneliness a coming of age novel of an entire family seeming needing the same lessons. Gave 4* Loved his milagro beanfield war from decades ago. would like to read something else by him. Any suggestions where to start?

Reading Bonnie Jo Campbell's small novel, Q Road. I've loved her short fiction collections so I'm hoping I will enjoy this book....

years ago I read A.S. Byatt novella “The Djinn in the Nightingale’s Eye it was wonderful and just found out that the story is being told through "three thousand years of longing" I plan to see this but want to reread the novella first,

Just finished re-reading two wonderful summer books -- My Losing Season by Pat Conroy (enjoyable read from an author who kept revisiting the same topics in refreshing ways) and To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee (my first audiobook -- hadn't read the book in years -- realized I like reading far more than listening).

>253 LyndaInOregon: >254 dianeham: >256 cindydavid4: we should have a question on Booker logic. My sense is that the Booker award is a handful of people who are judging hundreds of novels. They aren’t all professors, professional critics or authors. Maybe one of each, who brings in all their own biases. So they drift towards individual judges preferences. Sometimes originality takes precedence over overall success of a book. Sometimes there is one aspect they really like that biases their opinion. A lot of annoying books make the list. Of course they capture some hidden gems too.

In 2020 I felt they seemed drawn to long slow complicated unpleasant-to-read books. : ) The 2021 list I felt was more about storytelling, but seemed to forgive other aspects, so mixed. I’m on only my second for 2022. Booth and Glory both have long dull sections developing what was original only in the 1st 50 pages, and beating it to death. So maybe originality is a bias this year. And maybe the 1st 50 pages are a bias??

I’m between books. Can’t decide what to read next.

tryig to finish the great passagea book for the Japan Theme before tomorrow . the story is about about a solitary man who is tasked with creating a new Japanese dictionary. Liking it so far, and hoping this guy gets a clue eventually

I have read all of Fredrick Backman's books this year. Great entertainment. Found Beartown and A Man Called Ove to be the best.