Just returned from a nice little luncheon where Lisa See was the speaker…Snow Flower and the Secret Fan is one of my absolute favorite books- I brought my original copy for her to sign and her new book The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane sounds like a winner!
All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely is a great novel that is a must-read for all those who think police brutality doesn’t exist. It opened my eyes.
The President’s Gardens by Muhsin Al-Ramli. We read it this year in class. Amazing first-person narrative of those who lived through the Iran-Iraq War. One of the most genuine and moving books I have read.
Just finished A Gentleman in Moscow for one of my book clubs.Really enjoyed it.Loved the writing. Now to decide what Russian appetizers to make!
D was assigned Bel Canto for her AP English class. I read it many years ago so picked it up and read it again. It’s a great story. I highly recommend it!
I just started on All the Light We Cannot See, and have also thus far avoided the spoilers. 
Since I have a child about to enter high school I’ve decided to read (or re-read) some high school classics. Lately, this have been: Flowers for Algernon, The Outsiders, Fahrenheit 451, Animal Farm and To Kill a Mockingbird. Revisiting some of these as an adult has been enlightening.
Just finished The Long Way To A Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers. A debut space opera/sci fi novel. Pretty sunny and upbeat for that genre. I enjoyed it, put her 2nd book on my hold list at the library.
@Muad_dib: The Outsiders is 50 years old this year (yikes). There’s a little article in Entertainment Weekly this week about SE Hinton, who was 15-16 yrs old when she wrote it (unbelievable!). She’s a pretty cool lady and still good friends with the actors who were all future stars when Coppola made the movie version.
About to start the alternate history book that’s getting a lot of press, American War.
Hinton was also on “CBS Sunday Morning” yesterday to talk about The Outsiders - the movie and the book.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-outsiders-se-hinton-a-teen-classic-turns-50/
Finished Zadie Smith’s Swing Time. Very good–she’s such a great writer–does so many subtle things with characters.
I just finished Pat Barker’s Noonday. Really an extraordinary book, Barker at the top of her form.
I don’t know if others here have read her WWI trilogy, beginning with Regeneration. If not, you should.
This book is the third in what has turned out to be another trilogy, Life Class, Toby’s Room–both set in the WWI era–and now Noonday, set during the Blitz of 1940. Although I pretty much love everything she writes, the first two were a bit slight in comparison. Noonday is as full and strong a novel as Regeneration.
I highly recommend it. Although it can be a stand alone, I think it would be advisable to read the first two beforehand.
I’m almost finished with A Gentleman in Moscow.
I’m listening to it on audio.
I was in a coffee shop the other day and a couple was telling another couple “You just don’t want it to end!” Then, “What was the name of the book?”
Of course it was AGIM. I feel the same way. I don’t want the story to end!
@Midwest67 Everyone at book club loved AGIM. I tried to create a faux Russian atmosphere so I served Moscow Mules. 
Made Blinis with creme fraiche, smoked salmon and dill. Took a poll beforehand to see if I should get caviar for the blinis and smoked paprika deviled eggs but everyone passed. Picked up a few Russian cheeses and crackers from the Minsk Market and also some blueberry Blintzes for dessert. Great discussion of book.
Uh…I want to be in your book club! That sounds so fun!
I just finished The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison. Wow. That is a powerful book. I am trying to imagine what it would have been like to read it in the 60s.
I just finally caught up on my reading list and read Celeste Ng’s “Something I Never Told You” which I recommend. Very absorbing story and really well written. It a great example of dealing with the “what if” questions in life… and the choices/paths one takes.
Just reread Lois McMasters Bujold’s Paladin of Souls her followup (not really a sequel) to The Curse of Challion. What a great book. She creates a fascinating world where gods are godlike, but not all powerful. The characters are just fun to spend time with.
I can’t keep up. I’d beg one and all to stop posting … just stop, except I don’t want that to happen. I guess I just need to grab a handful of these suggestions, get off my computer, lock myself away and read.
By the way, for those who like a really good Sherlock Holmes pastiche, I just read The Whole Art of Detection: Lost Mysteries of Sherlock Holmes by Lyndsay Faye and thoroughly enjoyed it.
I am reading The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane and really enjoying it.
I just read “The Likeness” by Tana French. If you read "The Secret History (by Donna Tartt) and liked it, you’ll like this, too.