I have to confess I will never read a 720 page work of non-fiction unless it’s my own autobiography.
^^^ Not even then.
I am voting for Where The Crawdads Sing. DH and I are currently on a Baltic cruise. When bringing a book down to the book exchange area I found that book and took it. It is a hardback too. While I had planned to read 3 paperback books and leave them, I couldn’t pass it up. I am going to take it home regardless and donate it to our library. (I was happy to see that the book that I took had been taken.).
I will read whatever, but that is my vote.
PS… The cruise is wonderful. Viking is a great way to go.
My only request is, No sci-fi/magic/supernatural. I can now say unequivocally that I don’t care for that genre.
The Heart’s Invisible Furies by John Boyne
The House of Broken Angels by Luis Alberto Urrea
Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
The Weight of Ink by Rachel Kadish
Educated by Tara Westover and Cheaper by the Dozen by Frank and Ernestine Gilbreth
Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann (non-fiction)
Bad Blood by John Carreyrou (non-fiction)
The 7 1/2 deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton
(@VeryHappy, I think the above list is sci-fi/magic/supernatural free – although there are some time loops in the mystery Evelyn Hardcastle – “Agatha Christie meets Groundhog Day…quite unlike anything I’ve ever read,” says one blurb.)
Additions, subtractions, comments, concerns, plugs?
@Mary13: If other CC-ers select one of that genre, I’ll probably read it, but – as with Once Upon a River – I won’t have much to say.
ETA: I’m fine with anything from the above list.
I am going to let everyone else vote on the next book. I know I will be out of town for most of the discussion. My internet access will only be on my phone, so posting responses will be a pain. I prefer typing on my pc for book club.
@silverlady was wondering where you were thanks for the update and endorsement for Viking. we get their brochures.
Sorry, I don’t have any books to suggest, and no insights about the selections, except “The Weight of Ink” I read about 20% and ebook was automatically removed. I intend to finish it. This is not an endorsement for or against. I will attempt any one chosen, if anyone has a strong preference.
I’ll refrain from voting as well. I don’t think I’ll be able to make the August discussion.
I read The Weight of Ink after it was mentioned last time as an option and loved it; could barely put it down. I borrowed the ebook indefinitely through Amazon Prime but would like to read it hard copy if it’s picked here. (The theme of the book lends itself to paper.) I would enjoy you smart posters giving me more insight. I appreciated it both as a gripping story, and as an intellectual challenge.
I don’t usually comment on the selection, but a quick look shows a long wait list for The Weight of Ink and Daisy Jones and Where the Crawdads Sing is 6 months!
I’m also intrigued by what I’ve heard of The Weight of Ink. That’s my #1 vote.
Looking at the list, I have read and would recommend The Heart’s Invisible Furies and Educated. Even if they never make it to our book club choice, I think many here would enjoy them.
Maybe it will help if people pick their top five choices. You can weed some titles out (for this time) and then we can pick our top three from what’s left.
Anyway my top five in no particular order:
The Heart’s Invisible Furies by John Boyne
The House of Broken Angels by Luis Alberto Urrea
The Heart’s Invisible Furies by John Boyne
The House of Broken Angels by Luis Alberto Urrea
Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
The Weight of Ink by Rachel Kadish
Educated by Tara Westover and Cheaper by the Dozen by Frank and Ernestine Gilbreth
Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann (non-fiction)
Bad Blood by John Carreyrou (non-fiction)
The 7 1/2 deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton
Never mind - I can’t do it.* I’ve read Where the Crawdads Sing and started to omit it. But, truthfully, I’m fine if it gets chosen. (There is a huge waitlist - 607 - here for it.) There are also lesser waitlists for Daisy Jones and the Six and Educated. Oddly no one seems to care about The Weight of Ink - plenty of copies available.
*If we’re going the nonfiction route, I’d prefer Killers of the Flower Moon.
Both The Heart’s Invisible Furies and The Weight of Ink match best our typical longer-because-it’s-summer-but-not-quite-a beach-book kind of summer choice.
Hope something in this post helps, Mary.
- The Weight of Ink gets described as "An intellectual and emotional jigsaw puzzle of a novel for readers of A. S. Byatt’s Possession" which sounds great to me.
- Where the Crawdads Sing has been a bestseller forever is on everyone's beach read list and is being made into a movie.
- The 7 1/2 deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle sounds intriguing to me, but it clearly has a huge fantasy element that I fear would turn off HappyMom.
- The House of the Broken Angels gives us a peek into Hispanic culture at a time when immigrants are being marginalized.
And I would read, but not my faves:
The Heart’s invisible Furies sounds like another depressing tale from Ireland.
Daisy Jones and the Six sounds too much like non-fiction and I would rather lose myself in a novel right now.
Sorry, I will opt out if the book chosen is depressing. I just can’t read depressing stuff—find it too heavy.
@mathmom inspired me:
- Either *The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle* or *The House of Broken Angels*
- *Killers of the Flower Moon* - nonfiction choice
- Any of the other choices
In my library, all three of those are available relatively quickly. One is even on the shelf right now.
Not useful to @Singersmom07, of course.
@VeryHappy - I meant to type your name, not “HappyMom”. Oops!
Thanks for all the feedback. @mathmom, I’ve read The Heart’s Invisible Furies. The book has its grim moments, but plenty of affirming ones, too, and lots of humor. I would read it again, so that’s not an issue, but I think it’s too soon after The Nix. Both novels have a male protagonist (with mother playing a key role), span decades, contain many characters (some dark, some hilarious), and rely on (as one reviewer put it), a few “gloriously convenient coincidences.”
I’ll eliminate Where the Crawdads Sing because of the difficulty in obtaining it at this particular juncture (1,256 on the waiting list in my library system). @silverlady got lucky.
That leaves either The Weight of Ink or The House of Broken Angels as the books that one or more of you have put high on their list. After reading summaries and dipping into the first few pages of each, I’m going to select The Weight of Ink by Rachel Kadish. Part of the reason is because the challenge of it scares me! So that means I need to read it with my support group.
Ultimately though, I was convinced by the author’s own words: https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2018/04/26/writing-the-lives-of-forgotten-women/
Thanks @Mary13! Sounds like a fascinating book and one I likely would not otherwise read.