Yesterday it was too hot to do anything, so I stretched out on the couch with the cat and read Exit West from cover to cover. Great writing. Loved it. Today I’ve read the first 70 pages or so of Pachinko and am enjoying it so far.
I finally got around to listening to The Boys in the Boat. A few chapters in, I had to go back and start over from the beginning. Then, on the second try, with me on a long car trip and less distractable, the story fell into a nice rhythm.
It was very good. I’m always impressed with stories that can have you on the edge of your seat even though you know the ending already!
Almost done with Hillbilly Elegy. It is a great read. Inspiring in many ways and troubling in many ways as well.
It also hits close to home in a number of ways for me. In no where near the sense that it does for the author but there is certainly some things that resonate with me.
Beartown by Fredrik Backman (author of a A Man Called Ove). It is about a small town obsessed with hockey, and what happens when people prioritize athletic achievement over being a decent human.
@rosered55, I’m reading the last of Tana French’s books; they are great. I think there are six of them now; my library had #1 and #4, and I’ve requested all the others over the last few weeks. On the last one now. I’ll be watching for her new ones as they come out.
@GreatKid , I just read Hillbilly Elegy. I was disappointed in it on one level: he’s just not that good a writer. On the other hand, it is brutally honest, and shines a light on a part of American society that I really haven’t seen much of on a personal level. Definitely worth reading, but not quite the masterpiece I had been lead to expect.
I really enjoyed Hillbilly Elegy. Although I am a liberal, I came from a rural conservative blue collar family and much of it felt brutally true. Like the part where he talked about everyone thinking he had gotten too big for his britches. I got that. Definately worth reading if why the red parts of the country act the way they do is a mystery to you.
Re: Hillbilly Elegy. I heard the author interviewed on some podcast, and I went straight to Audible and put it in queue.
I should get to it this summer! I’ve got Trevor Noah’s memoir up next, and then some others.
Couple of good books on sale today only on Barnes & Noble.
Code Name Verity - $.99. Might be classified as YA, but my Ds in their 20s liked it, and I did as well.
Also The Bone Doll Twin - $1.99. A really original fantasy, I thought. Also one we all liked.
I think I liked Code Name Verity also…although off the top of my head I have no idea what it was about.
Big Little Lies. Apparently it was on HBO starring Nicole Kidman, but I don’t get HBO. It was an excellent book, as was “What Alice Forgot” by the same author.
Code Name Verity is about a young female spy in WWII.
Recently finished Big Little Lies on audiobook. It was entertaining.
After BLL, an easy listen was Bill Bryson’s* A Short History of Nearly Everything*, which convinced me that a)we are pretty insignificant in the big picture, and that b)my brain has trouble truly comprehending things like the universe folding in on itself, and the whole concept of a beginning or end of the Universe, and on and on.
Just started listening to James Patterson’s *The Black Book *. Some of the police dialogue is pretty cliche, but so far it’s keeping my interest.
Although it is in the young adult novel category I enjoyed “The Hate U Give” which is quite relevant to today’s issue pf police brutality. I recommend it to high school and college students. If anyone has read it, please share your impressions.
Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders.
Commonwealth by Ann Patchett
Still Here by Lara Vapnyar
I read Big Little Lies this week and liked it tremendously. In addition to being a quick/easy read and highly entertaining, it tackled the tough situation of domestic violence. The author did a good job presenting the issues.
I’m reading the two books for the upcoming CC Bookclub discussion. Finished *The Stranger/i and am part way through *The Meursault Investigation/i. I think they are going to make for a very interesting discussion and I love the Daoud which is told from the point of view of the brother of the man murdered in the original book. They are both very short and could easily be read in two weeks! Highly recommend!
Just started Universal Harvester. Have no idea what’s going on but enjoying the journey. The Audible version is excellent. The author, John Darnielle, is the narrator and does a great job.
@cartera45, does your family have a connection to adoption from China? It was interesting to read about the ethnic minority culture in China, and I laughed out loud reading the depiction of an adoptee therapy group. But the plot was much too contrived for me.
@cartera45 : Will be interested to see what you think. @scout59 and I were all … ?? …
Just finished American War. Whew.