The Dry was great; really a different feel than the standard detective/thriller novel.
Just finished reading Commonwealth by Ann Patchett, mentioned on here several times. I really enjoyed it. I like Patchettâs writing style - her turn of phrase, the way she captures dialogue, and her character development.
Recently finished Dave Eggersâ âHeroes of the Frontierâ and really liked it. Quirky, great writing.
I just finished Lucky Boy by Shanthi Sekaran and I really loved it.
Enjoyed The Dry - recommend it. Listening to Here Comes the Sun by Nicole Dennis-Benn. Plucked it off the Lariat List. Liking it a great deal so far.
Lincoln in the Bardo is getting a lot of press (much of it for the amazing cast for the audible version), and so far itâs quite enjoyable.
@jaylynn I think Lincoln in the Bardo sounds excellent. I have a request in for it at the library.
Itâs heartbreaking and hilarious in equal measure. And the audio book is fun (I donât usually âdoâ audio books, but this cast is too fabulous).
Just finished discussing Becoming Nicole: The Transformation of an American Family with one of my book clubs. You could tell the author was a newspaper reporter from her writing style. Lots of discussions in different areas but I found the biological science very fascinationg! I really learned so much from this book . This is a real life story that details the biological/emotional/educational battles and acceptances one family faces as they raise a transgender child.
Just finished Commonwealth by Ann Patchett. Enjoyable read but I paused often trying to remember whose kids belong to which set of parents. Sign of old age. This is my first Ann Patchett even though I have both Bel Canto and State of Wonder. Which of hers should I read next?
I am also reading Commonwealth and enjoying it⊠likely finish it over the weekend. I havenât caught up to State of Wonder yet but Bel Canto is one of my favorites. There was an opera adaptation of Bel Canto that appeared on PBS earlier this year, sure to be repeated at some point.
Another vote for Bel Canto, also a favorite of mine.
I liked both Bel Canto and Small Wonder up to the endsâthe first had one thing that bothered me some; the second had two that I really hated. And otherwise, I love her writingâŠ
^Bel Canto had one thing that bothered me a whole lot, and it wasnât the ending. It involved a young woman. So far-fetched.
Patchett does write very well, but I prefer her nonfiction to her fiction.
Commonwealth - Ann Pachett and H is for Hawk- Helen Macdonald
I also felt Bel Canto was far-fetched
Iâve been reading books from this yearâs Lariat List (thanks again @ignatius for the link!) They were all pretty decent, although some were more decent than others:
âTime of Departureâ - pretty good if you like that kind of supernatural-weird-mystery kind of book. I usually like the type, but this one did get on my nerves by the end. There was too much fainting and crying and wailingâŠ
âIâm Thinking of Ending Thingsâ - this one got a lot of buzz earlier in the year and I really wanted to like it. The suspense builds nicely and thereâs a lot of tension, but to me the ending was meh.
âI Let You Goâ - my favorite of the three. Good writing, lots of unexpected twists, and the main character really got under my skin. I didnât expect to like it as much as I did!
Still on the waiting list at my library for âThe Dryâ!!
I will agree about the coda for Bel Canto⊠but didnât want to offer any spoilers
Love Bel Canto. Just finished the remarkable âExit Westâ by Mohsin Hamid. A great book, I think. Itâs relatively short - under 250 pages â but I finished it and immediately started re-reading again. Itâs a novel that seems to capture reality in a way that has me both nodding my head with recognition and gasping with astonishment at the clarity and imagery that illustrates that reality. Best book Iâve read in a long while.
On a different, non-literary vein, I just finished the Daily Show book, and if youâre into that, itâs very entertaining and informative.