I didn’t like the ending of An American Marriage.
^^^I’ve been trying to like An American Marriage but I just cannot get into it. I’m listening on Audible and keep switching books. I’ll finish (because I started) but feel like I’m in a distinct minority (the “meh” club!)!
I wasn’t a fan of An American Marriage either.
I liked “An American Marriage” but I wondered (which I usually don’t, when reading fiction) how this story would have been told by a man.
I loved An American Marriage. Gut-wrenching is how I described it to my sister.
The Great Alone
Before We Were Yours
I really enjoyed When in French: Love in a Second Language by Lauren Collins. I spent a gap year in France, spent five years in Munich and am just about to leave Hong Kong after being here for two and a half months, so like Collins, I’ve had experience in being surrounded by foreign language with more or less degrees of understanding. It’s part memoir, but also a lot of fascinating talk about linguistic theory and some of the idiosyncrasies of French in particular.
Michelle Obama’s “Becoming” is a good read! Very nicely written, sometimes very funny, always thoughtful.
I really enjoyed this - Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield - elements of folktales - well written - nice characters and neat plot.
“The Great Believers” Rebecca Makkai -
“The Lake House”, Kate Morton
If you like mysteries/thrillers/noir fiction…
If you like well-written novels with pitch-perfect dialogue and unforgettable characters…
If you like books that you think about long after you’ve finished reading them…
…then you need to read “November Road” by Lou Berney. It’s received high praise from critics and it deserves ALL of it.
“Good and Mad” by Rebecca Traister
A discussion of women’s anger and its relation to 20th/21st century feminism. A great read!
Also agree with the recommendation of Michelle Obama’s “Becoming”. So enjoyed reading about her childhood.
Also agree with recommendation of “The Great Believers” by Rebecca Makkai. It jogged my memory of how horrifying the AIDS crisis was in the 80s.
“Bad Blood” is a very compelling thriller. It’s sad to hear how many many lives were affected by Theranos, Holmes and Sunny et al. Just borrowed it from our local library today and have had trouble putting it down. I’m 1/2 way through!
It is on my TBR list, @HImom! I’m going to get in the hold list at the library now.
Finished Bad Blood—excellent book and scary to read how easily big names are duped. Fear of missing out is real and causes bad consequences!
I just got an email from library that The Nix awaits me! I also borrowed a few more books because I didn’t expect The Nix to be available yet! One is a memoir by Amy Tan, “Where the Past Begins.”
Just finished Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty. I do like her books, and this one was no exception. Fun, warm, psychologically astute, with plenty of twists and turns to keep things interesting, and a very quick read.
So many sites list best books of the year, I figure it’s our turn: List the best books you read this year. Note the word “read” - not necessarily published in 2018.
I read 85 books. My favorites:
Classics
The Plague - Albert Camus
Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
Nonfiction
And the Band Played On: Politics, People and the AIDS Epidemic - Randy Shilts
Lab Girl - Hope Jahren
March - John Lewis. Graphic novel. Can be read as three separate novels or in one combined volume.
Off the beaten path
Galveston - Sean Stewart. World Fantasy Award for Best Novel (2001)
Heart-Shaped Box - Joe Hill. Horror
College Confidential Book Club
The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley - Hannah Tinti
The Immortalists - Chloe Benjamin
(and Pride and Prejudice. Already mentioned in classics)
Beartown - Fredrik Backman
Authors
Dorothy Dunnett. Series - The Lymond Chronicles
Megan Whalen Series - The Queen’s Thief
Anyone else want to share favorites?
I read 100 books in 2018 - I keep track in good reads - here are the ones I gave 5 stars this year :
Once upon a river - Diane Settenfeld
The Library Book - Susan Orlenan
Meet me at the Museum - Anne Youngson
Dear Mrs. Bird - AJ Pearce
The Shakespeare Requirement - Julie Schumacher
The Lido - Libby Page
The Prisoner in the Castle - Susan Ella MacNeal
The Awkward Squad - Sopie Henaff
The Lost for Words Bookshop - Stephanie Butland
The Cactus - Sarah Haywood
The word is murder - Anthony Horowitz
The last equation of Isaac Severy - Nora Jacobs
One of us is lying - Karen McManus
Alternate Side - Anna Quindlen
I read 79 books in 2018, and I also keep track on GoodReads. Here are some of my favorites:
– Shutter Island, by Dennis Lehane (novel)
– Cat’s Eye, by Margaret Atwood (novel)
– Grant, by Ron Chernow (biography)
–The Folded Clock: A Diary, by Heidi Julavits (nonfiction)
– The Recovering: Intoxication and Its Aftermath, by Leslie Jamison (nonfiction)
– When Watched, by Leopoldine Core (short stories)
– Florida, by Lauren Groff (short stories)
– The Great Believers, by Rebecca Makkai (novel)
– Black Water, by Louise Doughty (novel)