WHAT ARE YOU READING? - Part 3

Last day of March and the old thread is getting long so let's start anew (and I do not like to start things on April 1 so jumping into it a day early) :)

1/4th into the year, how is your reading year going? If you started the year with a plan, had it already derailed completely? And are you enjoying the spring/autumn weather (cold spells and all in some parts of the world)?

Pull up a chair, get your beverage of choice and come tell us what you are reading :)

To kick it off, I am on a SF kick at the moment (blink and that will change as usual): my main book is Alien Clay by Adrian Tchaikovsky and my "a story (or more) per day" comes from Convergence Problems by Wole Talabi.

Overall, I have read a lot (for me) so far this year. I fell off the short story bandwagon, par for the course, although I try anew every year. I did start and complete an audio trip through the six Austen novels. I'm currently listening to The Mighty Red and reading Do Not Say We Have Nothing.

No reading plans for me. I'm in the 75 Books Challenge again this year, mainly because I like the group, but I doubt I will meet the challenge.

I got hooked on S. G. MacLean's Damian Seeker series this month (March) and just started the third installment, Destroying Angel, last night. I'm not normally a mystery fan, but this one is set in the Cromwell Protectorate, the writing is very good, and the characters, especially The Seeker, are unique and complex.

I'm reading the latest book from Archipelago Books, The Harmattan Winds by Sylvain Trudel and On a Woman's Madness by Astrid Roemer.

My plan was to read more mindfully, ie read books I’m truly interested in rather than being distracted by library holds coming through, and possibly challenge myself a bit more. War and Peace wasn’t on my radar when I decided that, but was a direct result of it (and an idle comment from Dan about how he likes to move between eras - I stopped to think about that, and was shocked to realise just how contemporary my reading had become). Right now I’m trying to read from my own shelves with a view to giving finished books away before moving, but still with the guiding principle of reading what I’m interested in (and no longer avoiding the older books on my TBR shelves).

Still deep into the Liaden Universe, I just finished number 19, Alliance of Equals. And against all expectations I am actually reading the biography of François 1er by Didier Le Fur (can’t find the correct touchstone). Plus a side helping of The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place, volume 4.

(Finally found the touchstone!)

>7 FlorenceArt: This one François Ier? Reading in French I suspect... :)

>8 AnnieMod: Yes, that one!

>8 AnnieMod: I edited my message. I found the touchstone after switching back to the English language version of LT. Funny, that! And yes, I’m reading it in French.

At the moment, I'm reading a ton of books, but I do have a book that I won on here, that I'm reading called Rainbow Meadows by Howard Gelmich. Its a middle grade, but I enjoy reading them, so that's all good. I am also reading four arcs which are very interesting in their own ways - Ancient Civilisations by Oscar Johnson, Pushing Daisy by Christopher O'Halloran, Roses Are Red by Miranda Rijks, and The Surrogate by Iain Maitland. Three are thrillers, and the first one is non fiction. I have read two of Oscar Johnson's books before, and really enjoyed them.

I finished rereading Adventures of Huckleberry Finn a couple of days ago. My comments, for anyone who might be interested, are on my Club Read thread.

I've now returned to Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945 by Tony Judt to read the third of the book's four sections, "Recessional: 1971-1989."

This year I wanted to decide spontaneusly what to read, but two months ago I found a great link to found or to be part of a book clubs: www.leemos.de And there are so interesting groups, that I joined three and opened two 🙈😅 Adieu spontanity!

So now I'm reading:
Las intermitencias de la muerte by José Saramago I just love this book and Saramagos fine irony.

Die Macht der Geographie by Tim Marshall, which is opening my eyes to understand the actual political situation in the World.

Nichts weniger als ein Wunder by Markus Zusak, one of my favorite authors.

Das Osmanische Reich by Reinhard Pohanka. Incredible the long Story of türkisch people!

As you see, I don't have time to get bored 😅

The best of it is of course is getting to know interesting people of all ages and Backgrounds 😍

I've started Year of the Rabbit by Tian Veasna. Thanks for the recommendation, Rasdhar.

>13 BuecherDrache: how fun. I’m curious!

>14 labfs39: so, 2023? The year of the rabbit

>14 labfs39: A different year of the rabbit, 1975, when the Khmer Rouge took over in Cambodia.

>13 BuecherDrache: I loved Death with Interruptions!

I finished up Gingerbread and The Twilight Garden. I'm heading home tomorrow and will be listening to The Whole Cat and Caboodle. It's always nice to read something light and cozy after a visit to my mom.

>17 kidzdoc: Isn't it fantastic? The more I read, the more I am impressed by all the facets that Saramago considered, to expand on the subject of the lack of death and the human reactions to the phenomenon. And then about the reverse process! Death returns! The chaos is perfect! What a wealth of imagination from this fabulous Portuguese!

>15 dchaikin: Yeah! I'm having a great time, reading and talking intensely with lovely people about the books. The different perceptions of the readers about the book, the main figure, the story, etc make the conversation really exciting and enriching 😍

>19 BuecherDrache:

I haven't read Saramago in aaaaaaages! I loved Blindness so much that I never picked up another book by him again, or rather, I bought some of his books but just never read them. I need to do a revisit soon!

>20 lilisin: I haven't read Saramago in aaaaaaages! I loved Blindness so much that I never picked up another book by him again, or rather, I bought some of his books but just never read them. I need to do a revisit soon!


I too haven't read Saramago in ages. And like you, I've only read Blindness, which I utterly loathed. And like you, I own other books by him (but have never thought to pick them up after Blindness). However, I plan to read The History of the Siege of Lisbon in the next few months, as I have a trip to Portugal booked for a month early this summer. I have hopes that I won't loathe it.

In other reading, I just finished a re-read of the wonderful Kiss of the Fur Queen, by Tomson Highway - a humorous and heartbreaking novel with some of the best magical realism I've ever read, and a fun mix up of Cree and Catholic mythologies.

Now I'm reading Uninvited Guests, by Sadie Jones, which is a novel I've wanted to read for years but for some reason, never got around to. Loving it so far. But then I love a country house novel, and I love those clueless Edwardians.

On audio, I've started Where You Once Belonged by Kent Haruf.

>21 Nickelini: I loved Blindness lol, but I can see how it wouldn't be for everyone. I've tried two or three times to read the sequel, Seeing, but could never get through it. I would recommend The elephant's journey, it's a historical fiction work about an elephant that travelled from Portugal to Vienna in 1551. Very different from Blindness. I've also read The Double and The Cave but didn't like those as well.

>20 lilisin: >21 Nickelini: Recently a friend of mine recommended me to read Blindness. As you guys are so enthusiastic about it, I'll put it on top of my soon TBR 🙂

Years ago I read The history of the siege of Lisbon with the same expectations as you have and I was very dissapointed. It was a very though reading, it took me over six months to finish it 🙈 in the meantime I read at least ten other books... And I can't remember anything important about Lisbons history itself.
Maybe you better take a look at his lovely book The portuguese journey 😉

>23 labfs39: I loved The Elephant's journey!

The Elephant keeper by Christopher Nicholson is also a beautiful book about the Close relationship and care between man and elephant. 🐘😍

>21 Nickelini:, >24 BuecherDrache: - check out Queen of the Sea by Barry Hatton. It's a history of Lisbon, lots of interesting details I hadn't known (did you know the Spanish Armada sailed from Lisboa?). I kind of stalled in the middle but not for any particular reason (that I can remember) - I should get back to it.

I'm starting the last volume of poetry by Refaat Alareer, If I Must Die: Poetry and Prose. (Gaza)

Yesterday I started Leo Africanus by the Lebanese author Amin Maalouf, a fictionalized account of the Renaissance Era author, diplomat and traveler, told as a memoir.

>27 jjmcgaffey: Just read the review, it sounds impressive! Thanks a lot for the great book recommendation!

I didn't review it, but I gave 4½ stars to Queen of the Sea, which I read just before my trip to Lisbon. I own Journey to Portugal by José Saramago but I haven't read it yet.

Started Towards Zero this morning - the next Agatha Christie on the list - which I think I can finish before my library book comes in.

I so want to try Saramago. He’s been on the edge of my mind for a long time but I am pretty sure I’ve been avoiding him because of the fear of him being ‘difficult’. Think I will buy rather than get a copy from the library as I have a bad habit of reading too many books at the same time.

>24 BuecherDrache: Recently a friend of mine recommended me to read Blindness. As you guys are so enthusiastic about it, I'll put it on top of my soon TBR 🙂

Oh, be careful. Yes, I was enthusiastic, but my enthusiasm was hatred and loathing of Blindness. Do not mistake my enthusiasm for a recommendation. I think the author told on himself here, but I will give him perhaps one more chance with The History of the Siege of Lisbon.

I tried to read a Saramago once, that I had found in a little free library. I didn’t finish it and gave it two stars. I remember I disliked it but not why. It was Baltazar and Blimunda. I’m not very tempted to try another 😊

I'm currently reading My Name Is Red. At first it took me a moment to immerse myself in the story, now it's easy to read.

Just finished Liaden Universe 20 The Gathering Edge, and ready to plunge into Neogenesis, number 21. Every time I feel that this series may be starting to fall back on comfortable tropes and losing some of its originality, they surprise me in the next volume. I really love how they tell the larger history through individual stories.

Also reading Les défricheurs du Monde, a book of short biographies of the men (so far anyway, maybe there will be women later?) who made the history of geography.

And I’m in danger of forgetting about Francois 1er. Hopefully I can get reacquainted with him on my commute to work tomorrow.

Next up I'm my physical reading pile is Edith's Diary by Patricia Highsmith. I'm ready for some good old fiction - I seem to have picked some dense bedtime reading lately, so hoping this is a change in direction.

>32 Fourpawz2: Saramagos style isn't always easy. I noticed it in the siege of Lissabon.
His style gives me the impression that he writes without semicolons. And that he has several thoughts at once, which he has the talent to express and weave brilliant into the text of his storys.

His style in the intermittencies of death is very pleasant, because he has a fine irony and very good humor. I love it! But still, because of his style, I read his books more slowly than it happens with other authors.

Personally I find, Saramago is always worth a read. 😊

I'm currently making my way through Fleur-de-lys, a self-published novel written by my dad's cousin.

My dad really liked the book. I... am not loving it as much.

>38 BuecherDrache: - Thanks for your words re: Saramago. Guess I will look upon reading him as a challenge and try to remember that reading him is something not to be done in a rush if I want to do it properly. Now all I need is to decide which book to try...

>38 BuecherDrache: I agree. My first book by Saramago was Blindness, and I found his excessively long sentences and paragraphs difficult at first, but once I became accustomed to his style I greatly enjoyed that novel.

Two books that may be best for those new to Saramago are The Stone Raft, a delightfully playful novel in which the Iberian Peninsula becomes dislodged from continental Europe and floats freely in the Atlantic Ocean, and The Elephant's Journey; in both cases animals play prominent roles and are arguably the wisest characters. Death with Interruptions is also a humor filled and clever read.

>29 kidzdoc: i have that and really should read this

ahead of the game by two months Im reading hat full of sky that is just so much fun. Sir T gives us some great quotes

I have to finish up Gilead today before it gets returned on Libby. 3 hours left. My two ILL books are now two weeks overdue (library doesn't charge fines fortunately, but I want to get them back tomorrow. I think I can finish Ciao, Carpaccio which is small, but I'm only halfway through Color: A Natural History. I've put a hold on the ebook (Libby) but it's telling me 8 weeks. Oh well. I don't want to re-request the ILL so I guess I'll just wait for it.

>41 kidzdoc: I completely agree with your recommendations, except by the Stone raft, since I haven't read it yet. But your description make me very curious about it, so I know what I'll read next from Saramago, beside Blindness😉

>40 Fourpawz2: Wish you a very enjoyable Saramago reading! 😍 Let us know which book you finally choose 🙃

I just finished Lady in the Lake by Laura Lippman a fun novel set in 1960s Baltimore. It was great til the nonsense ending that tried to tie up the mystery.

Still slowly reading What an Owl Knows. I really like it, but it's a slow read and I have to be in the right mood to pick it up.

For fiction, I'll read the short Red at the Bone by Jacqueline Woodson next. Then we are off to Hilton Head for a spring break trip and I'll probably pick some books already on my kindle.

I’m reading a horsey Western - a book I’d never normally pick up. But my daughter, whose horse is called “Horse with no Name” insisted that I’d like it. And so far she’s right. It’s The Sisters Brothers . It’s very funny, in a Percival Everett sorta way. I’ll likely recommend it.

>46 kjuliff: I read The Sisters Brothers and quite enjoyed it. It's a kind of dark, Western comedy - it reminded me of Fargo, although that isn't a Western at all. I have his latest novel, The Librarianist on my shelves too, but who knows when I'll get around to it.....

As part of my bid to finish books I'd put aside partway through, I've gone back to Jesmyn Ward's Let Us Descend, abandoned a few months ago just over halfway through, for no good reason. It's not my favourite Jesmyn Ward and I actively dislike the magical element, but when it's good it's very, very good.

I'm also enjoying a rare foray into the world of audiobooks with Jane Austen's Emma, read by the wonderful Juliet Stevenson.

I'm still engulfed in S. G. MacLean's Damian Seeker series. I finished the third book, Destroying Angel, and moved right on to the next, The Bear Pit.

I've started The Art Thief by Michael Finkel, nonfiction about a man who stole hundred of works of art from museums around the world.

And I'm reading Claire of the Sea Light by Edwidge Danticat and remembering how much I love her writing.

I just reread In a Lonely Place by Dorothy B. Hughes, one of the greatest classic American Noirs written. I'm also reading Fireweed by Lauren Haddad, which is set in Prince George, BC and I couldn't figure out what was off about it until I discovered that the author isn't Canadian--it's written as though Canadian things and customs are exotic and need explanation and I'm not sure how I feel about that. The story itself is interesting and I do like the setting, so I am reserving judgement for now.

The new thing I’m reading just now is First Person Rural by Noel Perrin. Almost done with it which is not surprising as it is so short.

>50 japaul22: I really enjoyed Claire of the Sea Light. It was a random audiobook choice for me, and my only Danticat.

Just finished Live, Love, Level by MCA Hogarth. Fantastic! A teenager and his mother join an online fantasy game beta, and...there's fighting, there's (a lot more) building, there's odd friendships formed. And the game, and the story of the game, start making major changes in the real world (through/because of the players) - connections and understanding and...It's an amazing story and I love it.

>47 rasdhar: I gave up on The Sisters Brothers . I fell asleep and couldn’t find where I left off. I was finding the escapades boring. Maybe I’ll give it a go later when I’m more venture.

I’m now reading The Painted Bird. I’m only 60% through but know I’m going to recommend it.

I've started Memed, My Hawk in paper and David Copperfield on audio.

I was reading The Colour as my evening book, but my subway book, Dance on the Volcano, was more compelling so I ended up finishing that one first. DotV is set in pre-revolution Haiti, as told by a young mixed-race woman with an extraordinary voice. The writing is uneven, but when it is good it is completely engrossing. TC is more uniformly good, set in gold-rush New Zealand. I'm now onto the restrained Billiards at Half-Past Nine and Valerie, or, The Faculty of Dreams.

I'm a little lost in long books, but I finished a poetry book this past week, and started another. I finished Harping On: Poems, 1985-1995 by Carolyn Kizer, which was quite pleasantly readable and meaningful. Now reading Postscripts by Daryl Hine (from 1991). Hine is all about form, and maybe restraint. He wrote a long poem on being gay 1974. It wasn't published until 1989. (The book is In and Out.)

Well it didn't take me long (just a couple of days) to finish James, Percival Everett's excellent, compelling and thought-provoking re-imagining of Mark Twain's classic Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from the point of view of Jim, the runaway slave who accompanies Huck on his trip down the Mississippi and plays such a major role in the story. My longer review can be found on my Club Read thread.

Next I'll be finishing up Tony Judt's spectacular history, Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945, which I've been reading a quarter at a time due to its length (800+ pages). Remaining for me is Part Four: After the Fall--1989-2005.

I've jumped into a bunch of books at once. My hold on Woodworking by Emily St. James came in at the library, so I've started that one right away. And I started Long Island Compromise by Taffy Brodesser-Akner and The Red House by Mary Morris yesterday.

I'm almost finished with The Harmattan Winds by Sylvain Trudel and I'm still stuck in the middle of Identity: Unknown by Suzanne Brockmann.

Ideally, I'd like to take a few reading days, but life is very busy right now.

I haven't had a lot of time to revel in a good book. I've been stuck on set for much to long. I finally set down for the night. My screen writer suggested a book by a fond lady of mine Laura Steven. The writing is named Our Infinite Fates. Quite an extravagant read.

>43 WelshBookworm: I like the title ciao carpaccio. Will have to check that out! Hope you finish Gilead in time, one of my favorites and if you like it 3 books follow but you probably know that. Happy reading!

>62 stefepaul: Yes, I do, and I've just purchased the set today. Looking forward to reading the whole quartet. Gilead was a reread, but I haven't read the others. They've been on my TBR a long time!

I am behind on reviews on my thread and don't feel like catching up! I've finished and not reviewed What an Owl Knows, Claire of the Sea Light, and The Art Thief, all of which were very good.

Now I'm reading Isola by Allegra Goodman which I can tell is going to be fun.

I finished a terrific audiobook - The Eagle and the Hart: The Tragedy of Richard II and Henry IV by Helen Castor, and read by Castor. I'm following up with Private Revolutions: Four Women Face China's New Social Order by Yuan Yang, read by a cast. I'm interested in that I was in China briefly when, and near where, some of these women grew up. Both books are on the Women's Prize for Nonfiction longlist.

>65 dchaikin: I've got my eye on that Helen Castor book, too.

>66 WelshBookworm: hope you get to it. And it’s great on audio, if that interests you.

I finished three books today

Solenoid - took me 34.5 hours over 29 days

Piers Plowman Norton edition - took me 62 hours spread over 5.5 months

Postscripts by Daryl Hine - a 48-page book of poetry. Took me less than 2 hours - spread across ten-minute intervals over eleven days

I’m ready for a fresh start on something new!

>52 Fourpawz2: oh I know that author for readers delight which I think is the first book of book lists that Ive read. really enjoyed the books , many of them were out of print at the time and I had great fun looking for them pre internet. I dont know about the book you are reading, will be interested in your comment

I got the latest Liaden book (Diviner's Bow, #27). Last time, when I read Ribbon Dance, I was extremely confused for the first several chapters (and slightly throughout) as, for the characters, it was the next day and they continued the relationships and discussions they'd been having...but for me it was something between a year and four years since that "last day". So this time I'm trying to track back - not from the beginning (26 books to read the new one would be a bit much!) but from the beginning of Padi's story. It's rather difficult, though, to make sure I'm starting in the right place - finally found a wiki that says that Padi's secret started in Alliance of Equals, #19. I _think_ there are three books in there that cover a different period so I don't need to reread them...I think. Meta-confusion...I had been avoiding reading Diviner's Bow because I knew this was going to happen. But I finally convinced myself to start rereading Alliance of Equals, and of course I am immediately immersed in the story. I love the Liadens but it isn't an easy series.

>70 jjmcgaffey: I sympathize. I will never not be confused myself, as I tend to forget what I’m reading within minutes of reading it, but it does help to read all the books back to back, as I’ve been doing. I just finished Accepting the Lance, and I’m pretty sure that in the three books I’ve read since Alliance of Equals, Padi is only mentioned in passing, so you can probably skip them.

just finished Wintersmith and think this is the best book of the Tiffany Aching books Id read these before and enjoyed them but Im really loving them now (not sure if getting older has anything to do with it, maybe because Im relating more to granny weatherwax and her balance of teaching and protecting.)

this review speaks to my thoughts but expresses them much better than I can

"I'm always impressed with how much Terry Pratchett can pack into a seemingly simple tale. Wintersmith is about the power of stories and how humans shape the world with the stories we tell ourselves. It is such a deeply profound idea with so many layers to it that I think it's right up there with Small Gods as one of my favorites. As Wee Billy Bigchin says, "A metaphor is a kind o' lie to help people understand what's true." I highly recommend this book, though you'd likely want to read the previous two Tiffany Aching books first."

looking forward to 'I shall wear midnight' which I dont remember at all. Like reading a new book!

>72 cindydavid4: You’re making me want to reread those!

I didnt realize how much I needed to read them, but they not only good books but a salve to the problems of the world. So reread away!

>71 FlorenceArt: In my review of Trader's Leap, I say that it immediately follows Alliance of Equals. So yeah. AE, TL, RD, and then Diviner's Bow (with the intervening books covering other aspects of the family...). If I'd reviewed Ribbon Dance or Salvage Right when I read them, I'd likely have had much less trouble figuring out the sequence. So I'll review RD this time, and read the other aspect another time and review SR.

>75 jjmcgaffey: I’ve been thinking I should write at least a few words on each book as I finish it, but then I’m much too busy reading the next one!

>76 FlorenceArt: Exactly! I write my reviews for me, mostly, so I know what's in them...but yeah, for a series like that, I dive in and don't surface until several books later (I've got a few reviews, not Liaden books, that mostly consist of "this happens in this book", because it's one story in many volumes).

I'm _trying_ to get everything reviewed, that makes it better all around. I've got a new system (based on a new phone app for accessing my calibre ebooks) that makes it far more likely that I'll review right away - the app has a place for persistent notes, so I can review as I finish and then extract the review later. Likely, not certain, but I'm trying - and this makes it easier. Calibre Sync (which is amazingly difficult to google) instead of the abandonware Calibre Companion. But that only helps if a) you read primarily or entirely ebooks, b) you read on phone or Android tablet (I don't think it works on ereaders), and c) you use calibre to hold and track your books. I do, so it works for me.

Today i read Hunchback by Saou Ichikawa. Took two hours. And i bought an ebook copy of On A Woman’s Madness by Astrid Roemer. I’ll start that next. Both are from the International Booker longlist

I finished Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep over the weekend which took me in a direction I wasn't expecting and I'm not sure how I felt about it towards the end. Need to think about it more.

>79 lilisin: isn’t there a movie based on this book?

I read it as a young adult and loved it, but have completely forgotten what it’s about.

>80 kjuliff: Blade Runner!

>80 kjuliff: Blade Runner. But it is just loosely based on the original text.

A classical literary mystery which has me totally 'captured'.

The Meaning of Night: A confession by Michael Cox

The LT Description:

A cold October night, 1854. In a dark passageway, an innocent man is stabbed to death. So begins the extraordinary story of Edward Glyver, book lover, scholar and murderer. As a young boy, Glyver always believed he was destined for greatness. This seems the stuff of dreams, until a chance discovery convinces Glyver that he was right: greatness does await him, along with immense wealth and influence. And he will stop at nothing to win back a prize that he now knows is rightfully his. Glyver's path leads him from the depths of Victorian London, with its foggy streets, brothels and opium dens, to Evenwood, one of England's most enchanting country houses. His is a story of betrayal and treachery, of death and delusion, of ruthless obsession and ambition. And at every turn, driving Glyver irresistibly onwards, is his deadly rival: the poet-criminal Phoebus Rainsford Daunt. Thirty years in the writing, THE MEANING OF NIGHT is a stunning achievement. Full of drama and passion, it is an enthralling novel that will captivate readers right up to its final thrilling revelation.

Another Members Description:

@RalphLagana 156 reviews

I'm VERY stingy when it comes to doling out the stars. I certainly do not give a book 5 stars easily. Cox's book is magnificent. Written with all the best elements of good Victorian Literature, it hooks you from the start and then methodically twists and turns your feelings for the lead character all the way to it's unexpected end. The detail in the book is stunning and it's clear that Mr. Cox was born into the wrong age -or, possibly he's a time-traveler who came from the 1800's to our present to share his book.

Highest recommendation for those who appreciate fine writing and, most importantly, a good story. Jan 23, 2016

The book I'm reading now was published in 1985 - Black Robe by Brian Moore which was recommended by Paul Cranswick about a million years ago. Really liking it.

>44 BuecherDrache: - The Jose Saramago book that I finally bought is The Elephant's Journey which I picked because it seems to have an animal as a main character. I'm a sucker for books about animals - be they fiction or non-fiction - so this one seemed like a good one to try for my first - and hopefully not my last - Saramago.

>81 FlorenceArt: Aha! How could I have forgotten? Thanks.

I finished Leo Africanus by Amin Maalouf this morning, and I've just started reading Harsh Times by Mario Vargas Llosa, a novel set in Guatemala City in advance of the United States sponsored coup d'état in the 1950s and overthrow of the country's democratically elected president, which ultimately led to a decades long bloody civil war that claimed hundreds of thousands of lives.

>84 Fourpawz2: Black Robe is an intense read! I'm looking forward to finding out what you think of it.

>63 WelshBookworm: I just loved them all. Gilead is definitely a reread book. It is so fundamental to the others and yet they can stand on their own as well. I am in love with Lila. What a dynamic nuanced character.

>88 stefepaul: did you read Jack? I had some believability problems with it, tho it was beautifully written. oh and ive decided to buy the set with the new covers, they are just lovely! may have to reread them

>50 japaul22: I have that one waiting on my kindle. Hope it's a good one!

>55 kjuliff: Oh, my, I read The Painted Bird back when I was in college. It really moved me and has stuck with me all through the years.

>59 rocketjk: Loved James. I want to read more by this author.

>64 japaul22: I hope you enjoy Isola as much as I did. It is so much better than the blurb description led me to believe. I had put it off for some time.

I just finished The Bear Pit, the third installment of S. G. MacLean's Damian Seeker series. I'm not much of a series fan, but this one has really grabbed my interest. I just downloaded a library loan, The King's Messenger by Susan Kearsley, which I may or may not finish. The topic sounded interesting: an investigation into the possible murder of Henry, heir apparent to King James I. But it is drifting into a romance, and I don't care for the structure. I keep remembering that I have two more Damian Seeker novels on my kindle!

>89 cindydavid4: I did read Jack. It was rather dense but I liked it. I’d love to see what the set looks like. Such a fabulous addition to my life!

>91 stefepaul: i loved both of them; but I didnt get how she could make that choice (sorry cant remember her name) but it was very well written and got me thinking a lot

>84 Fourpawz2: I enjoyed The Elephant's Journey, and it's based on an historical event.

I finished Memed, My Hawk and need to start The Women for Monday's book club meeting.

>92 cindydavid4: maybe Rose? Not sure either. I loved their talk in the cemetery!

I've started and will finish Prisoners of Geography first, but after that I'm starting Sylvia's Lovers by Elizabeth Gaskell which has FINALLY gotten it's first audio edition!

It employs a lot of dialect and is just harder to read in print for that reason (even with me being familiar with the modern dialects and slang of the region). I'm not hugely confident in the reader for it, Clare Wille (for this particular book I mean, not generally), but we'll see. It does feel like this happening is a lovely birthday/moving present for me from the universe and was a boost I desperately needed.

>87 RidgewayGirl: - It was most definitely intense. And it was stunningly good. If it is representative of Brian Moore's writings in general, I must read more of his books.

>93 labfs39: - Just the idea of an elephant walking all the way from Portugal to Austria is amazing and I am really looking forward to seeing what happens along the way.

Started The Shape of Water by Andrea Camilleri this morning. I've only read a chapter so far, but I really liked it. Don't like the cover art at all though. Oh well - in the end it's the inside that really matters.

Am getting close to the end of Cheyenne Autumn and I am also reading Gilead for the fourth time in about 5 years as I want to move on to Home this year.

Still reading The Decline and Fall and Ruth as well.

Finally got around to reading Half a Soul by Olivia Atwater - shame on me for waiting so long, it's _great_. Regency romance with all the appropriate trappings, with the addition of faerie meddling - but also in-depth consideration of the foul way poor people were treated in that era (workhouses, in particular). In-depth as to the treatment and how people felt about it - one of the major characters uses "well-mannered" as a swear word a lot.

>94 stefepaul: yes

Finished reading A Drop of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennett which is a very satisfying fantasy/mystery novel and second in a series.

Did not finish T Kingfisher's What Moves the Dead which is meant to be a retelling of The fall of the House of Usher. The writing feels very laboured and forced, and I wasn't enjoying it. Perhaps I'll go back to it later.

Now reading Revolusi which is a history of modern Indonesia. I actually began this last year, but didn't finish it, so getting around to it now.

I just started Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury. I was worried it would be one of those books that's weird just for the sake of being weird (some influencer reviews influenced me). But I'm actually liking it a lot so far!

>101 b.ray: cant loose with a Bradbury read and thats one of his greats. Been ages since I read it, hope you enjoy

I finished Blindness and Vanishing World - both good reads. So far have only reviewed Vanishing World No in not sure whether to read The Lazarus Project or Death With Interuptions

I started The Women for Monday's book club meeting.

>103 kjuliff: I really liked the Lazarus Project and because of it, I'll never forget that that the capitol of Moldova is Chisinau.

I'm still reading Identity Unknown by Suzanne Brockmann, and as I'm only halfway through, it's reasonable to assume I'll be at it for a few more months. I'm also halfway through Long Island Compromise by Taffy Brodesser-Akner, which takes a real kidnapping and turns it into a fictional account of the aftermath of that event as it plays out in the lives of the now adult children of the kidnapped man.

I've started Curtis Sittenfeld's new book of short stories, Show Don't Tell and Simone de Beauvoir's A Very Easy Death, and I'm continuing with The Red House by Mary Morris.

Happy Friday guys. I finished On a Woman’s Madness by Astrid Roemer today. It originally published in Dutch in 1982 and just translated to English. It’s not perfect, but the sensory, the intellect and affect of negative capability - leaving things undefined, but oh so tangible - is lush. I’m grateful i read it.

Next up is Disgrace by J. M. Coetzee

(I hope it's OK to post even though I don't have a thread this year).
I finished La joie de vivre (The Joy of Live) by Émile Zola. This is one of his lesser known Rougon-Macquart books (at least I had never heard of it) and it was quite good. There was a birthgiving scene that was incredibly well written and intense and will probably stay in my mind for a long time. Of course, with this being Zola the title felt like a provocation and I was in dread throughout the book of what would happen to Pauline, the main character.

I'm currently reading Glacé (The Frozen Dead) by Bernard Minier. I want to like mysteries but have a really hard time finding ones that I actually enjoy. So far (a hundred or so pages in) this one holds my interest, which is a good thing.

>107 chlorine: Of course. Having your own thread had never been a requirement to be part of the Club. :)

>108 AnnieMod: Thanks for confirming that! :) I've been enjoying catching up on what y'all are reading!

>107 chlorine: nice to “see” you here. Glad you enjoyed the Zola.

>110 dchaikin: Nice reading you here as well! :)

I decided on The Lazarus Project (see >103 kjuliff:) and am very pleased with my decision.

I requested 23 books on the library, seven editions of Morte de Author, because I’m trying to decide if i want to read it and what edition. And 16 books on Romantic poetry. I’m looking for an introduction. I took 13 books home. And i’ve been reading from two of them: Romanticism: A Very Short Introduction by Michael Ferber - which has been dull. And Romanticism by Aidan Day, which has been fascinating. Day begins with the radical thinkers that led to the Romantics - and they are anti-slavery, anti-marriage, and pro-America Revolution. Thomas Paine (who was anti-monarchy and anti-religion), William Blake and Mary Wollstonecraft. He quotes heavily, including from 20th-century critics.

>107 chlorine: I dont have a thread either. felt it took time from my reading, and I can generally post on other threads or on this thread I its all good

>113 dchaikin: I love how you make something that I would never read sound so interesting. :)

>114 cindydavid4: Thanks! :) I don't have a thread because I had very little time to read but I should be getting more time soon and I am very happy about that.

>116 chlorine: Hi Chlorine, nice to hear from you! I’m glad you dropped by, thread or no thread 🙂

>115 chlorine: ☺️ yay. It’s my obsession/distraction of the weekend.

I started Miss Kim Knows by Cho Nam-Joo last night.

>119 labfs39: This goes on my TBR!

Started Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club yesterday. Loving it so far. Another of Stradal's humorous culinary slice of life tales of Minnesota.

>117 FlorenceArt: Hi Florence! :) It was nice to follow your reading while catching up with this thread! :)

Hi all. I finished two books yesterday and started two today - one to read and one on audio.

I finished Disgrace by J. M. Coetzee, a terrific novel that i’ve been meaning to read since i bought a copy in 2006. And I started Reservoir Bitches by Dahlia de la Cerda - a short story collection on the International Booker Award longlist

On audio i finished Private Revolutions: Coming of Age in a New China by Yuan Yang, from the Women’s Prize for Nonfiction longlist, which was ok. It focuses on those in the author’s generation, born around 1990. And i’ve started William Blake vs the World by John Higgs (2021)

I loved Disgrace and Coetzee was one of my favorite writers. But since he moved to Adelaide Australia from South Africa his writing has lost its punch. Australian suburbia seems to have sapped his creativity into its over-manicured lawns.

finished kissing the witch very creative fairy tales where the characters connect in unusual ways. Also finished pure wit which was not as good and the NYer made it out to be, but an interesting read of a 17th century woman writer who should be better known

Now reading Im Afraid You've Got Dragons
an excellent fantasy written in Beagles usual style. touchstone isnt coming up not sure what Im doing wrong

>124 kjuliff: Disgrace is a fantastic novel. I'm still working through it. I enjoyed and am I lot bothered by it, in a good way.

I finished Reservoir Bitches by Mexican author Dahlia de la Cerda today. It was OK. Easy reading, with some looks into the all the women murdered in Mexico (one every 2 hours and 45 minutes). I've started Heart Lamp by Banu Mushtaq, an Muslim Indian writer who writes in Kannadan. Both these books are on the International Booker longlist, and both are story collections.

>126 dchaikin: Have you read his Waiting for the Barbarians? It’s also fantastic and think it would be bother you in the same way, perhaps more.

It’s pretty hard when you’ve read three good books in a row, to pick your next read. I’ve decided to read Death with Interruptions, having so enjoyed Saramago’ Blindness.

I've paired two books, nonfiction The Life and Times of Hannah Crafts and fiction The Bondwoman's Narrative by Hannah Crafts. The novel is a semi-autobiographical novel written by an enslaved woman in the 1850s. The nonfiction is the research behind how the author's true name was discovered in the 2000s and what is known about her life. It's really interesting and I'm enjoying the novel as well.

>128 kjuliff: glad you enjoyed Blindness so much

>127 kjuliff: I own Waiting for the Barbarians. I definitely want to get it on my schedule somewhere

>130 dchaikin: Waiting for the Barbarians is well worth the read. There's a Cavafy poem by the same name, I'll post it on the poetry thread.

I finished Revolusi: Indonesia and the Birth of the Modern World by David van Reybrouck which was originally written in Dutch, and it got me thinking about how little nonfiction in translation I read. Translated fiction - sure, plenty, but translated nonfiction is rare for me.

>131 rasdhar: ooh! Thanks

>133 rasdhar: i will read your post later. I’m very curious about the book

I was quite involved in Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, but then my chance to borrow this month's book club selection (Daughters of the Flower Fragrant Garden) came up so I had to put BNW aside. Then I went on a short holiday and A Brave New World was not suitable reading for this event. Instead I picked up The Enigma in Room 622 by Joel Dicker, which was perfectly suitable. But it's very long, so who knows when I'll get back to A Brave New World

>135 Nickelini: Story of my life! Ha ha....

found gracie in one of the local free libraries. Used to watch the Burns and Gracie radio shows when they were in reruns, and his solo show laber.. Knew little about their lives so this was a timely fine. For you young uns check out their radio programs on Youtube lots of good laughs

I have given up on The Snow Ball - I just can’t get into that part of the book where you know you are going to enjoy or get anything from it. But I know there’s something I’m missing.

I’m now reading Signal Fires for a light read. I am not recommending it but will be finishing it and reviewing it.

james won the pulitzer! wasnt sure where to post this. suggestions anyone)

I've started The Other Name and I think (I hope) I'm going to love it it. It has that inner monologue flow, reminiscent of Ducks, Newburyport and My Struggle, and it lays down hints so that the reader wonders "Is this happening or is the narrator projecting a memory" and then a paragraph later the narrator question whether the event he is narrating is actually happening... And you feel so clever.

I’ve got about seven books open at the moment. I couldn’t get into any of them - largely because I’ve just recently completed three really good books. Hard acts to follow.

Then I came across Service by Sarah Gilmartin - an Irish writer. It’s MeToo book - quite refreshing really given in the current circumstances in the United States.

my sci fi/fan reading group will be reading The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle next month. It sounds interesting but reading some reviews make me wonder if I should skip it Comments?

I'm halfway through The Year of Lear: Shakespeare in 1606, which I'm enjoying despite being dead from moving.

>144 mabith: Sounds wonderful. I grabbed a fre copy on Audible(US) and I’m really looking forward to it. Thank you.

>143 cindydavid4: This sounds interesting. Although the reviews that say that the character building is not well done are a bit off-putting, I agree. Do let us know what you think if you decide to read it!

>143 cindydavid4: I read this and liked it!

oh good thanks for that. Im not a big fan of mysteries but this sounds interesting enough to try. Its for a sci fi/fan group so I can see how it might fit the theme. Ill report back.

Glacé (The frozen Dead) by Bernard Minier was an OK mystery. The cast of characters was interesting, including strong women characters. The main character was interesting as well though he could have been better. What irked me is that the plot relies on a device that I hate in mystery/thriller books: a character receives a phone call and we don't know what his correspondant said. This was only done once so it was not that irritating but still. Otherwise the whole atmosphere of a small town in the mountains in winter was well made and the overall story interesting.
I want to like thriller books and am always disappointed. In this case I can't say that I loved it but it kept me reading and the plot device that I disliked did not spoil too much my enjoyment so all in all I'm rather pleased.

>144 mabith: zombie reading?

>150 dchaikin: Ha, that's definitely what it feels like!

>143 cindydavid4: 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle - my book club read this a couple of years ago. I think it got a somewhat "meh" reception, and I didn't like it. However, it is unique, and has a unique structure . . . and many people love it. I recommend you give it a solid try. I'm currently 1/3 into The Enigma in Room 622, which has been compared to Evelyn Hardcastle, and so far I'm loving it. If you're on the fence, I encourage you to try it.

I read Virginia Feito's Victorian Psycho which was really very gory (as expected from the reviews) but very twisty. I haven't been that surprised by an ending since I read Sarah Waters's Fingersmith.

We Do Not Part came off hold so I I’ve suspended Service by Sarah Gilmartin fir the time being.

I haven't been reading any Japanese fiction lately so last night I started Mieko Kawakami's All the Lovers in the Night in the English translation. I'm also currently reading my next Zola read, Pot-bouille which is actually a reread for me.

>152 Nickelini: already have the book winging my way!

>153 rasdhar: oh one of my favorite books! not big on gory tho so dont know

>155 lilisin: Oooh enjoy Pot-bouille! I read it several (many) years ago but I remember it fondly. :)

I finished Finding Fibonacci: The Quest to Rediscover the Forgotten Mathematical Genius Who Changed the World by Keith Devlin yesterday. It's Devlin's memoir about the search he undertook to rediscover the mysterious Leonardo of Pisa (dubbed Fibonacci much later in history) and the background of the mathematics book Leonardo wrote in 1202, which revolutionized the way European merchants understood math and essentially led to modern commerce and the way math is taught today. It's my first five star book of the year (that wasn't a re-read). My next non-fiction book is Voluntary Simplicity: An Ecological Lifestyle That Promotes Personal and Social Renewal by Duane Elgin -- the non-revised edition I've been meaning to read since the early 1980s.

>159 janoorani24: I never new Fibonacci was not his official name!

>159 janoorani24: Finding Fibonacci sounds fascinating

>159 janoorani24: Agree with Dan that this sounds fascinating!

I've finally gotten a decent start on Sylvia's Lovers by Elizabeth Gaskell, and finding the audio version pretty good.

I've cracked open Midnight's Children, often considered the best Booker winner. It won in 1981. Feels like a big deal to be finally reading it.

incredible book,Booker well deserved

>164 dchaikin: I've never read this - I'll be interested to hear how it works for you.

I'm finally reading Lost Children Archive, loved by many in Club Read. I'm also reading How the Word is Passed, a nonfiction book about how the era of slavery is remembered in the U.S. It is pairing very well with The Bondwoman's Narrative and The Life and Times of Hannah Crafts, which I just finished and reviewed.

Just finished colored television I read it because I was curious about the author who is married to Percival Everette I found it well written, and very readable..

This review by nivramkoorb says pretty much what I was thinking, and decided to borrow it

"I wanted to read this book because Senna is the wife of Percival Everett whose books I really love. This book had good reviews and overall I thought it was very entertaining and kept my interest throughout the reading. After all we should enjoy the book we are reading. On the other hand I had to discount a lot of the plot flaws that existed and focus on the characters that Senna was presenting to the reader. The book is about mix racial and choices of high art versus commercial. Also lifestyle choices and how much our history and upbringing influence our life decisions. The book takes place mostly in Los Angeles and dwells on the movie/tv industry and the difference between a novel versus a tv script.Senna touches on a lot of different issues and is a wonderful writer overall I enjoyed the book but didn't like the characters and how they made their decisions. A lot of self centered people running around the story but a fun read and a satirical view on racial and money versus art issues. I will probably try another book by her. " Id give it a 4

Am concentrating on Cider with Rosie by Laurie Lee right now as it is the Book Club pick for this month. I'm reading a whole bunch of other stuff of course - some of which have been ongoing for a few months now. The only other thing that is new is The Life and Times of Cotton Mather by Kenneth Silverman. Oh my word what a pill Mather seems to be! I am very grateful that I was not alive in 17th century Boston; I don't think I would have been able to stand sharing the same air with that man. Yikes!

>168 Fourpawz2: the book on Cotton Mather sounds fascinating, if thoroughly disturbing

>168 Fourpawz2: oh cider with rosie is so good, as are the other books by Laurie Lee. his books are autobiographies from toddler hood to WWI.
gentle reads that make you smile, without being overly twee

>84 Fourpawz2: Great choice! I wish you enjoy it a lot!

>128 kjuliff: Recently discussed Death with interruptions in our bookclub. It wasn't really the hit for some people, but the reflections about the dead were quite interesting. I read the spanish translation and must say, it was a double pleasure: Saramagos style and the ironical phrases in my own language 😍

I'm going soon for Blindness also in spanisch 😁, but before that I'm enjoying Samantha Harveys poetical Orbital.

>172 BuecherDrache: wrong touchstone to dead with interruptions fyi tho that book is appealing

>172 BuecherDrache: I’ve started with Death with Interruptions, but have a few books on the go so I’ve finished it. It’s good, though Blindness is even better.

Yes I too enjoy by José Saramago’s irony. Also his play with how different people cope when confronted with the absurd.

I’m sure both books would be even better in Spanish.

>173 cindydavid4: 👍

At last I’m reading Stone Yard Devotional, which I’ve had on hold for weeks. I had decided to read it solely because it was on the 2025 Booker longlist. I didn’t think it was my kind of book, but now I’ve read a few pages I’m really impressed with it.

Somehow, it manages to hold me. I’m not interested in any of the subjects and I’m tired of books about the Outback. But it’s got a sort of je me ne sais quoi, and is as far from as my last good read (We Do Not Part as a book can be.

>176 kjuliff: a book that can take you far away from whereever reality is. Enjoy!

During my vacation I read The Towers of Trebizond by Rose Macaulay, which I found delightful. The book is about trio of privileged Englanders traveling around Turkey in the mid-1950s (the book was published in 1956). The narrator is a relatively young woman (early 30s perhaps) named Laurie traveling essentially in support of her aunt Dot. Also on the journey is their friend a High Anglican priest named Father Hugh Chantry-Pigg. Father Hugh's goal is to proselytize for the Anglican Church among the Moslems of Turkey. Aunt Dot is alarmed at the social condition of the women of the Turkish countryside, who are still weighed by the rules governing Moslem women despite Kemal Ataturk's secularization efforts in the 1920s and 30s, and imagines she can wage an educational campaign to encourage oppressed Turkish women to demand their rights. The first half of the book in particular is a satire on both these upper class English folks rolling around Turkey expecting to impress the locals with their sincerity on matters both social and religious. The Turks come in for some satirizing, as well. Since these are upper class English people, they are classically educated, and their interest in, and over-romanticizing of, the ancient artifacts and remains of churches, mosques, castles and cities they search out, and the civilizations that produced them, are described as essentially a matter of course. The characters' preoccupations and prejudices are there to chuckle at, and yet the romance of those histories and ancient empires is often described quite movingly. The second half of the book becomes a bit weightier, though it never loses its satiric edge, considering questions of church belief, morality and love. I loved it all in all.

My backup vacation book was The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel, which I'm enjoying and now very close to finishing.

>157 cindydavid4: I loved Fingersmith too, but if you don't care for gore and violence, then definitely avoid Victorian Pyscho. It's very visceral (and descriptive).

I read Han Kang's Greek Lessons which I enjoyed. I'm now reading The Librarianist by Patrick De Witt which has been very dull going so far.

And now I've finished reading The Glass Hotel, which I liked a lot after a dubious start. My review is posted on my Club Read thread.

Next up I'll finally be finishing Tony Judt's voluminous but excellent history Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945, which I left with only about 45 pages to go when I left on vacation in April.

>178 rocketjk: - I am glad to hear that you liked The Towers of Trebizond so well. I tried to read it back in the Two Thousand Teens somewhere and did not get far with it, but have not jettisoned it. I mean to give it another chance, so it is good to know that the problem with it was probably that it was just not the right time for me to be reading it. That doesn't happen a lot, but it certainly has happened more than once.

Except for a new audiobook hold that came in - Murder Past Due - I am focusing on finishing up a number of things that I've been reading for too long:
Color: A Natural History... - ebook with holds due back in 6 days
Wanderland - book club meets in 6 days
First Knight - started in January! but paused...
Watership Down: The Graphic Novel - won't take long, just need to get to it!
Braids of Song - paused for Wanderland...
Her Majesty's Mischief - paused for everything else...

>181 Fourpawz2: I hope you try it again. I'd love to know how you like it on the second try.

Finished gracie George Burns bio about his wife and their work from vaudevill, radio, tv and film. He was so in love with his wife, and I loved how he made it a point to present her as a very intelligent woman despite how she sounded on the radio. Used to watch a show with Geoge Burns but I cant fine it. Loved his movie Oh God.there were some slow parts in the book and way too many parties, but I thought it was a very good book about the time period, and their lives

I read The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah on the recommendation of my daughter, and Elena Knows by Claudia Pineiro on the recommendation of Kate/kjuliff and others. Next up: Cold Crematorium.

I was reading Stone Yard Devotional and like it, but a book that sounded interesting came off hold, and I decided to stop Stone Yard for a while and to read this short book called Service.

It’s a short MeToo book with alternate sections- POVs from the points of view of the victim, the abuser and wife of the abuser. The abuser is a very wealthy and powerful celebrity figure who has denied the charge of sexual abuse..

Chapters alternate between the three characters. I thought it was an interesting idea for a book and I hope to get something from it.

I just caught up with reviews of the last 3 books I finished (Lost Children Archive, Great Gatsby, The Dream).

Now I'm reading How the Word is Passed, a fascinating look at how different historical sites in the U.S. address slavery and the Civil War. It's synthesizing a lot of reading that I've done in the past few years.

And Eowyn Ivey's new book just became available from my library waitlist, so I'm starting Black Woods, Blue Sky tonight. I loved her first two novels, so I'm looking forward to this.

I finished two books. I finished Heart Lamp by Banu Mushtaq, which is excellent. And, on audio, I finished William Blake vs the World by John Higgs, which is entertaining.

I'm still focusing on Midnight's Children, stumbling along at about 4 minutes a page. But today I started Small Boat by Vincent Delecroix, a novel based on a real event, a refugee boat that sank in the English Channel without rescue, despted calls for help to the French rescue services. And, on audio, I've started A Man on the Moon, a somewhat classic 1993 book by Andrew Chaikin on the NASA space program. I'm reading it because Betty (Bragan) posted about the concept of basing a book club around this book.... :) ... and because the author has my last name.

I have ditched The Shape of Water because it wasn't working for me. And because I usually like to have a mystery/crime book in the mix, I've replaced it with The Marx Sisters by Barry Maitland. Too early to know how I feel about that one yet. I ought to be done with Cider with Rosie in a day or two.

As for Cotton Mather - I am at the point in his bio where Massachusetts is about to lose its mind over witches and I believe this is also the point where Mather goes positively bonkers over the danger of witchcraft spreading over the land.

>187 japaul22: Eowyn Ivey's new book just became available

Ooh! I loved Ivey's first two books too. Must get this!

>188 dchaikin: When Bragan inspired me to read Chaikin's book, I accidently got the three-volume set (A Man on the Moon. Volume 1: One Giant Leap, A Man on the Moon. Volume 2: The Odyssey Continues, and A Man on the Moon. Volume 3: Lunar Explorers), rather than the one volume (A Man on the Moon: The Voyages of the Apollo Astronauts). I'm still not sure if there is a difference, but the three volume set are large, coffee table size books with lots of photos.

>189 Fourpawz2: The Shape of Water didn't work for me either, but I'm not much of a mystery writer, so I think the fault is mine.

...........................................The Greatest Story I Have Ever Listened To ........................................

This story starts in the book The Meaning of Night and it was continued in the sequel The Glass of Time. Both written by Michael Cox



I haven't any intention of writing a review of these two books. Such reviews exist elsewhere, and I have come to believe that they are a fool's errand anyhow. The true impact of a story must be somewhat unique to each listener to the story. Instead, I tried to describe my personal reaction to this story, which lasts 40 hours on audio.

More of my reactions and some background of Michael Cox can be found at:
https://www.librarything.com/topic/368155#8860601

After a short read -Service I am back to Stone Yard Devotional and really enjoying this thoughtful and beautifully written book.

Service was worth a read though - I revised it on my thread and it may of interest to those feminists amongst us. It’s not a polemic but an interesting piece of fiction told from the points of view of the abuser, his wife, and his victim.

I'm reading the third novel in Olivia Manning's Balkan Trilogy and was happy to return to Harriet and Guy's story. I'm also reading The Comfort of Crows which is a sort of weekly diary about the author's backyard nature observations. Relaxing.

>193 japaul22: I just finished the first book in the Levant Trilogy, The Danger Tree. I find I'm torn between tearing through the trilogy and reading as slowly as possible to make it last longer.

I also just finished Catherine Lacey's The Möbius Book, and will have to think a bit before writing a review.

I'm currently reading One-Shot Harry by Gary Phillips for a book group and am finding the setting interesting (Los Angeles in 1963) but the research sits so heavily on the novel. I'm also reading The Book of Not by Tsitsi Dangarembga, the middle book in her trilogy.

Upon returning from my vacation in Albania, I finished up the last 45 pages of Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945 by Tony Judt. The book is an astonishingly comprehensive and extremely well-written history of 60 years of European history, from 1945 through 2005, when the book was published. I was turned on to this book by a friend who is a history professor at Colgate University. Judt was a very well known historian and essayist (well known to everyone interested in history but me, evidently) who died a very difficult death in 2010 from ALS. The book opens with a comprehensive and fascinating exploration of the ways in which Europe had become a total shambles by World War Two's close. He looks into both the Western Europeans' decisions that led to the relatively quick rebuilding of what became West Germany's economy and also the rearming of the country, over the strong objections of some of the allies. Rather than just treating the countries that would become the Soviet Bloc as, well, a block, Judt examines the conditions and events of each of them separately, and frequently returns to the area to report on the various countries' attempts to loosen the restrictive nature of their Communist governments. He also describes in detail the complicated political economic considerations of the Western countries--looking at them one country at a time--that eventually coalesced into NATO, the European Common Market, the European Court of Human Rights and finally, the European Union. At any rate, Judt shined his light on what seems like more or less every historical moment in every country in Europe across those 60 years. Since he left off in 2005, we can see the ways in which his examinations turned out to be right and sometimes missed the mark. For example, in 2005 he didn't expect Putin to be able to gather the economic or political strength to allow him to pose a threat to the peace of Europe. Of course I touched only on a slim minimum of the events and individuals Judt describes here. This is an extremely readable history that I recommend highly. If its length is daunting, it is easily broken up, as Judt organized the book into four separate sections, and I read these one at a time with another book in between each.

My somewhat longer review is up on my Club Read thread.

I've moved on to The Sleep of the Just a novel published in 1956 by Algerian author Mouloud Mammeri. In fact I'm already around 2/3 through this very interesting book.

Donal Ryan’s Heart be at Peace.

I’ve read several of his books, and they really vary in quality. Some seem a little hurried. He’s not in the same class as Roddy Doyle who writes on similar themes, but I always enjoy his books.

>195 rocketjk: congrats on finishing Judt

>196 kjuliff: interesting. Ryan comes up a lot in the Booker fb group

I finished Small Boat by French author Vincent Delecroix yesterday - a philosophical look at a rescue radio operator who failed to get a rescue a sinking boat with 29 refugees in the English Channel in 2021. But i think i didn’t read it carefully enough. I finished confused.

And I’ve started Perfection by Italian author Vincenzo Latronico - which is so far about an uncluttered carefully decorated apartment that is often sublet to tourists to Berlin.

Wish everyone a good Friday

Last night I started Scaffolding by Lauren Elkin - I only read a few pages but it was enough to leave me looking good forward to getting into it properly today.

I've just finished an interesting and enjoyable novel first published in 1956 by Algerian/Kabyle writer Mouloud Mammeri, The Sleep of the Just, about a Berber village, and especially two sons of that village, living under French colonial rule. The book begins in 1940 and takes us into the post-WW2 years in Algeria. You can find my longer review on the book's work page and on my Club Read thread.

Next up for me will be Charlie's Good Tonight, a biography of Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts by Paul Sexton.

I’m reading Colum McCann’s Everything in This Country Must. I had several books I really want to read next. But after reading Irish writer Donal Ryan’s Heart be at Peace and being very disappointed in it, I decided I need some first-class Irish reading to even things out. So piqued by Rasdha’s review I’ve chosen Colum McCann’s Everything in This Country Must.

I've just finished A Brief History of Timekeeping which I enjoyed.

Now I'm alternating between the final Swallows and Amazons book, Great Northern, and Chasing the Last Laugh: Mark Twain's Raucous and Redemptive Round-the-World Comedy Tour.

people eswhere were talking about the lost words probably going to read it, but wondered if the dictionary put those words back?

I finished Cold Crematorium and David Copperfield and have started Tell Me Everything for my book club.

I’ve had to take a break from Everything in this Country Must because it’s just too brilliant. So I’m reading a very short book about a art thief - The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession by Michael Finkel and am really enjoying it.

>204 kjuliff: I also loved Everything in this Country Must.

>205 rasdhar: I had Everything in this Country Must on my wish list, and then when I read your review, I decided to get it straight away. I’m already over halfway through. Mccann’s writing is so very special.

I’m wondering what his most recent book Twist is like. It was only released on audio today and I’ve had look at the cover description. I noticed that the subject matter is quite different than his other books. I have deliberately not read any reviews.

>203 labfs39: oh Lisa I can’t wait to read your review of Tell me Everything

Just started the world in books 52 works of non fictionIve read several of these but most will be new to me, looking forward to learning from them!

>202 cindydavid4: Good question. I have no idea. But I'm guessing not.

I've been pretty hopeless at finishing old things lately. Only finished one book >182 WelshBookworm: . Well I read a friend over for a couple days to help with yard work and moving some furniture around. Then my sister and I drove out to Rapid City, picked up a Uhaul truck and brought back some of my mom's furniture. It was surprisingly emotional. I'm still weepy at the drop of a hat. But I'm very happy to have my mom's dining hutch. Anyway, I needed something definitely fluffy for the drive home. So I listened to Court of Swans. It was just the thing. Based on the fairy tale "The Wild Swans" by Hans Christian Andersen, but set at the time of Richard II. She takes the elements of the story and translates it into straight historical fiction - no fairies, no witches. But there is an evil step-mother... It's definitely aimed at teens, perhaps even middle grades. Strong heroine, clean romance, and it has a strong inspirational message but not preachy. There was a fair amount of adventure, too. I thought it was rather well done for what it is. Don't expect historical accuracy. And since that is about the level my head is at these days, I jumped into the next one Castle of Refuge (based on The Ugly Duckling) which hopefully will give a needed HEA to her brother. With the crazy going on in Washington these days, we all NEED HEA!

Finally catching up on this thread again and ducking in to say that I'm currently reading Don't Believe Everything You Think: The 6 Basic Mistakes We Make in Thinking by Thomas Kida. Not much in it that's new to me, but it's a decent enough guide to critical thinking and the cognitive biases we all share by virtue of being human.

>211 bragan: That book sounds interesting. Critical thinking is an underrated skill, especially in these times.

I’m reading Hostage by Clare Mackintosh. It’s airport fiction about a hostage. What else can I say? It’s reasonably entertaining, but the grammar leaves something to be desired.

I’m still thinking about Everything in this Country Must which was so good that I don’t want to read anything serious until I’ve completely absorbed the McCann novella.
Moshi Moshi he just came off hold, so I will probably read that next.

>212 kidzdoc: Yeah, and a desperately needed one.

I started The Brontës Went to Woolworths last night.

I've just finished First Person Singular a wonderful short story collection by Haruki Murakami. The stories all entail a narrator looking back at a particular memory in his life, almost all of which have some sort of slight (or not so slight) surreal twist. You can find my longer review on my Club Read thread.

Next up for me will be Soul Mountain by Xingjian Gao.

I decided to read Mohamed Mbougar Sarr’s The Silence of the Choir, about 75 African migrants arriving in Sicily where they are taken to a small town where there’s an organization to help them. The story is told from the viewpoints of a cast of characters, locals and immigrants.

I’m also reading some stories by Australian writer Henry Lawson . More yarns than stories The Loaded Dog takes the reader back to a simpler life in Australia, when it was more isolated from the chaos in Europe.

>217 kjuliff: I look forward to your thoughts about The Silence of the Choir, Kate. I was very impressed with his earlier novel Brotherhood.

I was struggling with The Brontës Went to Woolworths, so I switched to Demon Copperhead and James on audio. Both are very good so far.

just received two books that were bbs chasing the last laugh and the mezzanine it will be a bit before i get to them

>216 rocketjk:

Soul Mountain. Now that's a title I haven't seen in ages; I had totally forgotten about this book. I'll look forward to your review to see if I should grab it from my parent's house next time.

>216 rocketjk: I'm looking forward to your review as well. I've owned Soul Mountain forever, but after reading Buying a Fishing Rod for My Grandfather, I've been in no hurry to get to it.

>221 lilisin: & >222 labfs39: Soul Mountain was a recent Goodwill thrift store purchase. It looking intriguing, and of course I've seen it on bookstore shelves for years, so I decided to give it a try. I'm about 85 pages in (of a 500-page total) and so far finding it a bit puzzling but interesting. I'm intrigued to see where the author is going to take the duel narratives. I think having the reader in the dark is part of the strategy of creating the same unsure footing for the reader that the narrators are experiencing. But the writing is very good, so I'm satisfied just floating along with the tide and waiting to see where I come up on shore.

I'm reading What Kind of Paradise by Janelle Brown, based solely on the description and it's certainly holding my interest. I've also started Women, Seated by Zhang Yueran, which I picked up because I really like the translator, Jeremy Tiang's work. And I'm continuing with The Levant Trilogy by Olivia Manning. And because I like J. Robert Lennon's new crime series, I'm reading Buzz Kill.

I finished Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie last night. Ambitious, but slow-going. Took me 32 hours of reading. I’ve now started The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton

I've started Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945, finished the first part and now taking a break for The Dawnhounds by Sascha Stronach, an SFF novel, before it has to go back to the library.

>226 mabith: Jerry’s wanderings are contagious…

>227 dchaikin: Ha, well, great big histories are always on my to-read list anyway, but he definitely gave this one a push.

>228 mabith: Looks like my work is done, here! :)

I hope you're finding it as interesting and well written as I did.

I just started Tidelands. I've got 5 days left on the audiobook loan, so I guess I'll be listening at a higher speed. I've cranked it up to 1.25. Seems okay so far.

>216 rocketjk: I loved Soul Mountain when I read it - many years ago. I was a college student travelling a long distance by train and picked this up on a whim at a second hand bookstore. Since much of the book also involves travelling by train, it felt very seredipitous. I'm looking forward to your thoughts on the book.

>231 rasdhar: Thanks for your comment. I can certainly see how reading Soul Mountain while on a long journey would add to one's pleasure. I'm just past a third of the way through the novel and enjoying it, though it's not always fast reading.

The Crash, Frieda McFadden

>218 kidzdoc: i’m having a bit of trouble completing The Silence of the Choir. There are some great chapters, but there are large sections that do not hold my interest. The other problem I’m having is with the book’s structure where time and place move back-and-forth. This is quite common in books now, but the sheer diversity of places, of time and the huge cast of characters can make the book difficult to follow.

The characters have many different African and European languages and dialects, so I found myself wondering which character was speaking when and where.

I am reluctant to stop reading it because the good parts are really good, but I am having trouble getting back to where I left off if I stop reading for a few hours.

It could be me as I’ve been feeling poorly lately, and I certainly would not want to put anyone off reading The Silence of the Choir, as the parts that are brilliant are really worth the effort.

thanks to whoever recommended
Tuchmans first salute over the years picking up the history of nwether lands in the rev war. This book is adding layered upon layered upon that; still reading it, I expect it will continue 5* though the read

I just finished an interesting novel written by a South African author in the 1980s - Ancestral Voices by Etienne van Heerden.

Now I'm reading a book a found at a library sale, Pictures from an Expedition by Diane Smith. Historical fiction about a woman who goes west in the 1870s to help with an archaeologist's dig. Seems like it will be entertaining enough. It's rare for me to pick up a book that I haven't heard of somewhere on LT, from a friend, or in a book review.

Also reading The Library Book by Susan Orlean about a fire in the L.A. public library a few decades ago.

>234 kjuliff: Thanks for the update about The Silence of the Choir, Kate.

I'm continuing to struggle through Harsh Times by Mario Vargas Llosa, an author whose work I normally enjoy. It describes the bad actors behind the efforts of the CIA, the United Fruit Company, and Generalísimo Trujillo, the dictator of the Dominican Republic, to overthrow the new government's efforts to transform the country from one governed by moneyed interests which keeps the campesinos in a state of utter degradation into a truly equal society in which all citizens can benefit from the country's riches. The novel is based on actual events, and should be more interesting to me than it's been so far, but hopefully it will eventually pique my interest. I have plenty of novels that are waiting in the wings, so hopefully I'll finish it this weekend.

On the other hand The Code Breaker by Walter Isaacson continues to be a compelling read, and I suspect that it will be even more interesting in its second half.

I read, in a few days, Hunchback when my library hold was suddenly available interrupting The Unconsoled. My Friends is my at-home reading.

>238 ELiz_M: what did you think of Hunchback?

>237 kidzdoc: Your post reminded my of Pablo Neruda’s poem The United Fruit Company. It really had an effect on me when I was young.

>240 kjuliff: Thanks, Kate. I just found Neruda's poem on allpoetry.com:

The United Fruit Co.

When the trumpet sounded, it was
all prepared on the earth,
the Jehovah parcelled out the earth
to Coca Cola, Inc., Anaconda,
Ford Motors, and other entities:
The Fruit Company, Inc.
reserved for itself the most succulent,
the central coast of my own land,
the delicate waist of America.
It rechristened its territories
as the ’Banana Republics’
and over the sleeping dead,
over the restless heroes
who brought about the greatness, the liberty and the flags,
it established the comic opera:
abolished the independencies,
presented crowns of Caesar,
unsheathed envy, attracted
the dictatorship of the flies,
Trujillo flies, Tacho flies,
Carias flies, Martines flies,
Ubico flies, damp flies
of modest blood and marmalade,
drunken flies who zoom
over the ordinary graves,
circus flies, wise flies
well trained in tyranny.

Among the blood-thirsty flies
the Fruit Company lands its ships,
taking off the coffee and the fruit;
the treasure of our submerged
territories flow as though
on plates into the ships.

Meanwhile Indians are falling
into the sugared chasms
of the harbours, wrapped
for burials in the mist of the dawn:
a body rolls, a thing
that has no name, a fallen cipher,
a cluster of the dead fruit
thrown down on the dump.

https://allpoetry.com/The-United-Fruit-Co.

I hope to learn much more about The United Fruit Company and its government funded efforts to disrupt equality in Central America when I read America, América: A New History of the New World this summer.

I am reading The Book of Doors by Gareth Brown. This book contains a fantasy about the power of books, for good and evil.

I am not typically drawn to fantasy, but one of the most memorable books I ever road was The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow which left me with a lot to ponder, as does this book.

In essence, the premise of the book is captured by this sentence: "If you could open a door to anywhere, where would you go?" I refer you to the LT member reviews of this book, which in their own way illuminate the story far better than I can.

I read Children of the Resistance volume 5, not realizing it was a series. I want to read the rest now.

>237 kidzdoc: Since my last post on The Silence of the Choir things have really picked up. I think the main problem I was having with the book was the sheer number of characters with unfamiliar names. It’s hard to remember the names because most of them are either African or Italian names I’m not familiar with. Once I gave up trying to remember, it became much easier to engage in the flow of the book and I started to really enjoy it. I’ve now read about 90% and it’s turning into a really good read. I know I will be highly recommending The Silence of the Choir.

Unlike any other book I’ve read it puts you into the minds of the refugees/migrants/immigrants* and we see the mass migration of Africans to Europe from their perspective.

*I refer to them as migrants, but I could also call them immigrants, emigrants, displaced or exiled persons, refugees. Like all of us. I find it hard to name them and I think moreover that this is one of the reasons why there has been such controversy about them. When you have difficulty giving a precise name to a human being that’s when misfortune begins. -Mohamed Mbougar Sarr

>229 rocketjk: I'm definitely enjoying Postwar though in some ways it's a downside that I've already some books that go more in depth on certain topics it covers (such as Beyond the Wall: East Germany, 1949-1990). Of course a single book covering that long period has to simplify, but far better to read the broad book first and then go deeper into smaller issues (for me at least).

>245 mabith: Sure, I can see what you mean.

>244 kjuliff: Great! I'm glad that you're now enjoying The Silence of the Choir, Kate. I look forward to your review.

Likewise I'm now completely engrossed in Harsh Times by Mario Vargas Llosa. In this case I familiarized myself with the main characters of the novel by reading about the fall of the October Revolution in Guatemala and the turbulent period that followed, and by doing so, combined with Llosa’s still skillful writing, a clear narrative began to emerge about halfway through, even though the narrative jumped back and forth in time. I should have no problem finishing it today.

Another interesting one about the history of the "banana republics" is Banana by Dan Koeppel. It's mostly about diseases of bananas, including the blight that killed the Gros Michel and made us switch to Cavendish (which is the standard type exported to the US and most of the world, currently) - and the newer blights affecting the Cavendish. But politics and US fruit companies play a large part in the way things have shaken out. Also attitudes towards GMO plants. I read it years ago (looking at LT - yeah, 8 years ago!) and still remember it.

Since finishing The Silence of the Choir I’ve taken a break and am reading The Peepshow: The Murders at Rillington Place a crisply written piece by Kate Summerscale . I like books set in the mid 20th century England, and am interested in this murder case where the wrong man was hanged.

Along with the crime novel I’ve started Charles Dickens David Copperfield. I forgotten how good Charles Dickens writing was. I read a few of his other books a while back. The timeless quality of his characters still impresses, and I’m really enjoying the few chapters. I’ve already read. Thanks to Lisa for the inspiration.

>250 kjuliff: it’s a special one. But I’ve only read two by Dickens. Enjoy!

I finished the fantastic Demon Copperhead and the first volume in the Children of the Resistance series. Now I'm whipping through The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry.

I'm currently reading Absolution by Jeff VanderMeer, and it seems like it's taking me forever to get through it. I don't know if it's just been too long since I've read the Southern Reach trilogy (to which this is a prequel) or what, but it's not doing a whole lot for me by comparison.

Just started Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange. For book club on Tuesday...

finished what might be my top non fiction the world in books 52 works of great short nonfiction

from the description ""From ancient times to the present day, The World in Books offers a wide-ranging historical education through pleasure reading-and a fantastic introduction to some of the most thought-provoking, profound, and interesting nonfiction works of all time. From Sun Tzu's The Art of War to bell hooks's All About Love, as well as such recent classics as Barbara Ehrenreich's Nickel and Dimed and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's We Should All Be Feminists, Davis's guide suggests a world of nonfiction books and explains just why they're so historically meaningful and culturally relevant today"--"

I loved how this book was organized; each essay starts with the books first lines, then a summary of the book, info about the author, suggestions of why we should read the book, and suggestions to what to read next. some books I knew about but I always find something new about it that I didnt know. One I did not know anything about was Voltaire Treatise on toleration I found him to be very modern and interesting and plan to read the book but first i will read candide which Ive heard about but never read

what I didn't like was that the books were very Euro centric. Yet for what it is, it served its purpose

rating 4.5

>255 cindydavid4: Sounds interesting !

I'm reading Finding Margaret Fuller, a historical fiction novel that I'm really enjoying. Also continuing with The Library Book, which is nonfiction ostensibly about a fire in the L.A. public library in the 1980s but which has morphed into a book about libraries and books in general. It's entertaining, but I'm a little annoyed at the lack of focus.

I started History of the Siege of Lisbon by Jose Saramago since I'm going to Lisbon in a week.

Does Saramago hate his readers? Would using paragraphs kill him? I just look at page after page of text blocks with no breaks and I wonder WHY

>258 Nickelini: - Well - with him being dead and all - maybe that was what got him in the end. He indented and......splat!

I'm still trying to read The Life and Times of Cotton Mather. I'm past the part about the witches (I hope). This means I've gotten past the furthest point I reached the first time around. And I'm reading The Witch Elm by Tana French for July's RL Book Club and a bunch of other things that have been in the works for a while. Also New England Indian Summer by Van Wyck Brooks - attempt number two. It wasn't that I wasn't liking it the first time around; it just kind of got lost in the shuffle.

But will not be reading the George Sand bio. That puppy is gonzo.

>259 Fourpawz2: the danger of punctuation!

I have now DNF'd History of the Siege of Lisbon. The fact that Saramago doesn't know about paragraphs was one thing, but then I realized that he also doesn't know about periods. The first chapter is 5 pages long and is one paragraph with one period at the very end. At this stage of my life, I don't have energy for that level of pretension. I will soft DNF this for now and perhaps try it again when I'm retired and have more room in my brain for this.

Then I started The Trouble With Sheep and Goats by Joanna Cannon, which I was really enjoying, but I've put that one aside for later in the summer because I'm too busy this week to read it.

Back to the stacks to find something to read for my holidays . . .

>262 Nickelini: Since Siege of Lisbon didn't work out for you, you might try Queen of the Sea if you can find a copy. It's a slightly hagiographic history of the city, with a lot of fascinating angles - I didn't know the Spanish Armada sailed from Lisbon (well, Lisbon's port), for instance. There's a lot of discussion of the various neighborhoods and why they are the way they are; should be interesting for traveling around town. Non-fiction, not too dry, and the guy does understand punctuation. Admittedly, I haven't finished it - got drawn away in the middle (a book I was waiting for showed up) and haven't yet gone back, but I intend to.

>263 jjmcgaffey: That sounds interesting! Thanks

>264 Nickelini: Ive had that on my tbr shelves for ages, need to finially read it

>262 Nickelini: I ran into the same problem with his travelogue on Portugal, that I couldnt finish. However I did love the gospel according to Jesus Christ and the elephants journey and blindness perhaps theres a difference betweenn his non fiction style and his novels

>266 cindydavid4: History of the Siege of Lisbon is a novel. It was very different in style from Blindness. But since I despised Blindness, I wasn't that willing to give him much of a break here

Just finished Unseen Universe by Caroline Harper, about the James Webb space telescope and the science it's been doing, featuring lots of beautiful images. Next up is Mrs, Presumed Dead by Simon Brett, the second book in a mystery series. I enjoyed the first one, and the friend who gave me both books says he thinks this one is better.

I started reading the delightful children's novel, The Village Beyond the Mist by Sachiko Kashiwaba. Supposedly it's the inspiration for the movie Spirited Away, but so far I fail to see the connection. The Kashiwaba is very lighthearted (no pigs, no spirits). Last night I started Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson. I'm almost halfway through and have yet to be fully charmed.

I was not a fan of houskeeping, tho loved the Gilead series. also found her reading genesiswhich should be interesting

I’m not reading anything now. I read a few books and wrote a few reviews, but I don’t think anybody read them. I can’t get motivated on anything I tried Dickens David Copperfield. But I couldn’t get enthused,

Club Read it been pretty quiet lately and some of my LT friends don’t seem to be posting much. I guess it’s because everyone’s fed up with world politics.

I’l post when I find a book to read. The only news I have is that I can no longer see the colour blue. This doesn’t affect me too much except a lot of links are black on blue and I can’t find them.

>271 kjuliff: For what it's worth I've read all the reviews you've posted on your thread. I just don't comment on reviews that often.

I'm having a quick fun read after finishing James by moving onto A Short History of Drunkenness.

>272 rocketjk: That’s good Jerry. Thanks. It’s it’s probably just me but it looks like CR is not so busy this year. Not surprising given what’s going on here?

>271 kjuliff: I’ve been catching up on your thread. It has been quiet.

I'm reading and really enjoying King Solomon's Mines what with its great sense of adventure and surprising bits of humor. I don't know if I would recommend it to anyone who can't get past their modern sensibilities however.

I decided to finish Cold Crematorium: Reporting from the Land of Auschwitz by József Debreczeni, which I’d found to be hard-going, but it really is a book I should read.

>274 kjuliff: It's hard for me to assess month to month differences between Club Read 2025 and CR 2024, but our stats may be down a little from last year, especially if you consider that January/February are our chattiest months, historically.

2025 (to date): 11,086 messages from 149 members on 112 topics
2024 (year end): 24,706 messages from 193 members on 173 topics

I know my own thread is quieter this year due to my preoccupation with other things, like the state of the world, etc. I do still read all the posts in Club Read, I'm just not feeling as talkative.

45% - for about 45% of the year?

I've just finished, and enjoyed (with a few reservations), Soul Mountain by Gao Xingjian. Readers looking for anything like a standard plot, or even standard character development, should look elsewhere than this long (506 pages in my Perennial paperback edition), often intriguingly written, reverie on memory, history, and the mysteries, beauty, cruelty and absurdities of human nature. As the description on my copy's back cover tells us, Soul Mountain is semi-autobiographical. In 1983, Gao Xingjiam was diagnosed with lung cancer and given only months to live. Six weeks later he found out the diagnosis had been wrong. He had no cancer. In the meantime, the prolific playwright, novelist, painter and critic was under scrutiny from the Chinese regime. Says the book's description, "Faced with a repressive cultural environment and the threat of a spell in a prison farm, Gao fled Beijing and began a journey of 15,000 kilometers into the remote mountains and ancient forests of Sichuan in southeast China." Soul Mountain is the result of that journey, but this is much more than a fictionalized travelogue. The stories the fictional Gao relates have to do with his searches for remnants of the many layers of Chinese history, giving him a several thousand year deep territory to explore. He tells tales ranging from ancient history right up through the Cultural Revolution. He runs into very old Daoist priests and young archeologists, all of whom have stories to tell him and places to show him, or at least to point him towards. He tells tales of wars and famines, but also of love, friendship, devotion and courage. He adds in stories about his own life and family history as well, all the while exploring the importance of the natural world (as well as the environmental degradation he finds, mostly portrayed by the clearcutting of ancient forests). As one would expect from the book's title, mountains, and the climbing of mountains, fuel a recurring theme, as does the beauty of music, and especially singing and chanting, heard indistinctly and from a distance.

I've posted a longer review on my Club Read thread.

Next up for me will be Charlie's Good Tonight, a biography of Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts by Paul Sexton.

>279 dchaikin: That would be true if all months were equally busy, but in my experience, January and February see a lot more traffic than the summer months.

>281 labfs39: ok. Good point!

I'm really enjoying (I'll say it quietly in the hope of averting the pile-on that happens whenever this author gets mentioned) Olive, Again, by Elizabeth Strout. With that I'll have read all the Lucy Barton books and both Olive Kitteridges, and will be ready for Tell Me Everything when my library hold comes through.