This is your annual notice that the Lariat List for 2019 is out:
https://txla.org/tools-resources/reading-lists/lariat/current-list/
For those of you who don’t know what this is, the Lariat Adult Fiction Reading List is chosen to highlight outstanding fiction that is simply “a pleasure to read.”
@ignatius - Beat you to it this year! :-*
You did! ^:)^
@scout59 (and anyone else) - I’ve only read two: *The Immortalists/i and Star of the North. How many have your read already?
Three here so far: THE BROKEN GIRLS, LESS, and THERE THERE.
Only two of them, @ignatius - “the last time I lied” (entertaining but kind of superficial) and “the broken girls.” Looking forward to reading some more of them!
In order of preference, I’ve read “Sing Unburied Sing,” “Anatomy of a Scandal,” and “The Immortalists.” I thought “The Immortalists” had a lot of flaws.
Only Beneath the Scarlet Sky. LOVED!
I can recommend two on this list that I have read and enjoyed - both charming stories
Dear Mrs. Bird by AJ Pearce (Scribner and Simon & Schuster)
Meet Me at the Museum by Anne Youngson
Thanks for the list!
I’ve read How to Stop Time, and Beneath a Scarlet Sky. I loved them both!
@scout59, thanks for posting the list! I have started both Less and Sing, Unburied, Sing and received Where the Crawdads Sing for Christmas. I will be adding several of the others to my reading list.
I just finished “The Spy and the Traitor: The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War” by Ben Macintyre. It lives up to the title, an amazing true story of the most important spy the West had during the Cold War, a KGB agent who spied for Britain (comparable to Kim Philby, but in the KGB) and then attempted a daring escape from Moscow when he was betrayed to the KGB by one of their agents here in the US. Very readable — I admit that I often find fiction in this area a bit mundane and sometimes hard to follow, but this is neither.
One book I read off that list was “The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle”, one of the weirdest books I’ve ever read or attempted. I couldn’t explain it if I tried. BUT…I also cannot forget it! Anyone else read this one?
Also in order of preference:
I read “sing unburied sing” - so sad yet so beautifully written. Love it
“The house of broken angels” - I like it but didn’t love it. There are moving moments here and there, but overall a bit lukewarm for me emotionally
“Immortalist” the premise was so intriguing, but the rest of the story so unimaginative and rather boring.
Thank you @NorthMinnesota for suggesting The Weight of Ink. I absolutely loved it, and the history lesson was fascinating.
The only book from the Lariat list that I’ve read is Sing Unburied Sing, and I think I raved about it here earlier. Marvelous book.
I just finished Westover’s “Educated” --I 'm sure it’s been mentioned above many times–and I am blown away. One of th best books I’ve read in years.
I haven’t checked out this thread since last summer. (The kid is now a happy freshman.) And I just went through several hundred posts making a list for this year. Thank you!
I have read & listened to a bunch of books in the past year. My tastes are an odd mix, for sure. Most memorable:
E.L. Doctorow – Ragtime
E.L. Doctorow – Andrew’s Brain (his last novel)
Elizabeth Berg – too many to name <3
B. Kingsolver – Flight Behavior
B. Kingsolver – La Lacuna
J. Shattuck – The Women in the Castle
E. Strout – Abide With Me
E. Strout – The Burgess Boys
Jane Smiley – A Private Life
Jane Smiley – Good Faith
Jane Smiley – Some Luck / Early Warning / Golden Age (trilogy)
Ann Patchett – Commonwealth
And then there’s my love of spy novels by Alex Berenson, John LeCarre, Stella Rimington, Daniel Silva.
Just a fun book- Kept: An American Househusband in India by Gregory Buford. I enjoyed his story of living in India.
I’ve been meaning to get around to reading The Heart’s Invisible Furies by John Boyne, as I’ve heard such good things about it. For anyone else feeling the same way, the Kindle version is only $1.99 today on Amazon (thank you BookBub).
For Pride and Prejudice fans–one more take on the classic is Unmarriageable by Soniah Kamal. It’s a retelling of Austen’s novel set in Pakistan in 2000. I really enjoyed it. I saw a production of P&P at the Trinity Rep (Providence) and that’s what set me off in search of novels based on Austen’s novel. Next up is Curtis Sittenfeld’s Eligible; it’s another modern-day telling of the story set in the US (Cincinnatti).
@Mary13 *The Heart’s Invisible Furies * was my favorite read last year. Last month, I finished reading Boyne’s latest novel *Ladder to the Sky *, another great book but not as good as THIF. I’ve recommended THIF to several people, including my mother who said it was one of the best books she has read in a long time. I hope you enjoy it too. Boyne is a talented writer.