[How Will Capitalism End?](Adam Tooze · A General Logic of Crisis · LRB 5 January 2017) - Wolfgang Streeck
Another vote for Bel Canto. For me, the book was about relationships and humanity in extreme situations - those little sparks of understanding between individuals even when they have opposing belief systems. The ending didn’t really matter.
“For me, the book was about relationships and humanity in extreme situations.”
This comment by jmek15 made me think of a great novel: Blindness, by Jose Saramago.
I also loved Bel Canto (and Commonwealth). Another one (memoir) that I loved was “Don’t Let’s go to the Dogs Tonight” by Alexandra Fuller.
Just finished Commonwealth and would definitely recommend it. I’m a fan of Ann Patchett and have read all of her books. One of my favorites was Truth and Beauty, which was about Patchett’s tumultuous friendship with Lucy Greeley (they were roommates at the University of Iowa Writer’s Workshop).
The Divide by Matt Taibbi. The focus of the book is about the inequitable administration of justice in our country. It is fascinating and extremely disturbing,
Just read “The Mandibles” by Lionel Shriver. Outstanding. One of the very few books I literally did not want to stop reading.
@exlibris97 I read it back in January. Kind of heavy in the current political context given some corollaries. 
Preferred the first 2/3rds and thought the last part was a bit rushed/short changed but an interesting read nonetheless. Can definitely see it as a movie. Very original.
It is heavy. The author said that was the point. In the words of the Financial Times, the book is eerily prescient. That’s something we do not like to face in today’s climate.
One thing that bothered me in terms of the premise of the book, @exlibris97 was zero to little discussion of a barter economy. I won’t go into any details to avoid spoilers for others but it seemed a bit unrealistic to me. Were you having the same thoughts as you read it?
My book club just did A Gentleman in Moscow, and every last one of us loved it. I don’t think that’s ever happened before! I had read it a few months ago and had to flip through it for an hour or so to bring it sufficiently back to mind to be able to discuss it properly. Usually I don’t like having to re-visit a book, but in this case it was a pleasure to stop flipping here and there and re-read a few paragraphs, because the writing is so delightful. I highly recommend the book to one and all. (The author, Amor Towles, also wrote Rules of Civility, which I liked but didn’t love.)
^ Same with our bookclub!
I did not (do not) want to read A Gentleman in Moscow because I have suspected it of being a fantasy that contravenes the realities of Russian history… Reader reviews that I have found online support this.
I just finished Louise Erdrich’s Love Medicine. Her writing style is mesmerizing. The book is in some respects more of a collection of linked short stories, like Monica Woods’ Ernie’s Ark, and that, I think, is its only real weakness. The chapters of the version I read were apparently reordered, and additional material added. It seems that her interest and involvement with her characters evolved, and some are summarily dropped that I would have liked to read more about. Although he structure also enabled me to stop periodically when things became too intense, doing so led to losing track of some of the complicated family relationships. I don’t know if i would have traded this book for a more conventional novel, though. A remarkable book.
This NY Times review really nailed what I loved about A Gentleman in Moscow. https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/25/books/review/amor-towles-gentleman-in-moscow.html
@NJTheatreMOM, I love history and don’t like to see anyone mess with it for the sake of plot, but I don’t think it’s fair to say A Gentleman in Moscow contravenes the realities of Russian history. It’s more that the events of the period, 1928 through the Fifties, are a backdrop to the story and are often elided over. The book’s protagonist, the Count, is under house arrest, living in a tiny maid’s room in the luxury hotel where he once had an elegant apartment. Sure, he’s a fictional character and that never actually happened, but beyond that premise, there’s no distortion of history. It’s just that the Count’s limited perspective on the world is also the reader’s. He does experience the seismic changes of the period, but in a unique way. For example, the ballroom where he once attended lavish soirees becomes the site of endless meetings of apparatchiks. The chef of the hotel’s elegant gourmet restaurant contends with shortages of ingredients for his signature dishes. A key character comes into the Count’s life when her parents disappear into the Gulag. And there are significant time jumps that mean much of the history is simply not a part of the story. Btw, the hotel is a real one that stayed in business during all those years and is still open today.
Yes, I was acutely aware of what was happening outside the hotel during the years in question, but that knowledge didn’t spoil the book for me at all. I say give it a chance.
@jedwards70 - I just finished “Sleeping Giants” this weekend. It’s not the type of book I usually read, but it was very entertaining and remarkably engrossing. I can’t believe it’s his debut novel! I understand it’s the first in a series, and I appreciate that the “hook” at the end of the book seems organic, seamless, and doesn’t scream “there’s another installment coming soon!”
Speaking of series, I also finished Tana French’s “The Trespasser.” I really liked that one, too; I especially liked the voice of Antoinette Conway, the lead detective on the case, and how her insecurities color her perceptions (sometimes nearly disastrously). Tana French has a knack for twisting your expectations – it seems like whatever I initially assume is eventually proven incorrect.
I finally got my copy of “The Dry” from the library – so far, so good.
^Thanks for sharing your point of view, MommaJ.
I liked “The Dry” but honestly am not sure why all the press. It’s a deftly-written mystery, though not overly complex, with interesting peeks into what a killing drought in Australia is like.
I liked “Lincoln in the Bardo” and agree with critics. It’s very intriguing and affecting.
Enjoying “Universal Harvester” and read a tempting (and creepy) sample for Dan Chaon’s newest, “Ill Will”.
^^ Ooh - I’ve heard good things about “Universal Harvester”! It was already on my list.