I just finished The Moment of Lift by Melinda Gates. An interesting read about the investments that the Gates Foundation is making around the world on issues related to women. I liked it both in terms of reading about some of the research and logic behind their investments, and the stories about women she met and her own family sprinkled through the book.
@rutgersmamma I got Woman in the Window at my library last week and started it yesterday. Itâs really good so far.
Just finished âFirstâ by Evan Thomas about Sandra Day OâConnor and enjoyed it very much
I finally read Where the Crawdads Sing and enjoyed it. Read it after spending a month on the Outer Banks of NC so it was particularly good timing.
We had Where the Crawdads Sing in book club recently, and DD and her GF are doing a âbook clubâ from across the miles with this book.
Thanks to whomever recommended the book âHeavy, an American memoirâ by Kiese Laymon! What a read! It is written like an long âopen letterâ to Laymonâs mom, his experience of growing up âheavyâ, in both the literal and figurative meaning! As a black boy, young man in Mississippi and a tenured professor in Vassar. You have to read it to feel its rawness. I canât stop thinking about it.
Have You Seen Luis Velez by Catherine Ryan Hyde.
The Stars Are Fire by Anita Shreve.
I gave them both 5 stars on Goodreads.
If you liked Elinor Oliphaunt, I have a recommendation: Richard Roper âHow Not to Die Aloneâ â hits the same sweetspot of funny, clever writing, strong characters, and big heart without being treacly. Totally charming. I loved it!
For something light and fun, Iâm reading The Greatest Love Story Ever Told by Megan Mullally and Nick Offerman. They are so darn cute!
Elinor Oliphant was the book for our library bookclub tonight. Was she on the spectrum? The language and long sentences? Better than Ove? While I didnât love the book, it did lead to a great discussion
The Heartâs invisible Furies by John Boyne was an amazing read. Disappointed when I completed the book and said good bye to the characters. The book was so wonderful on so many levels it is hard to put into words.
Loved Heartâs Invisible Furies, Stars of Fire, and Elinor Oliphant. Read Stars of Fire in one day.
Trying to work through Less. For those that liked it, how far do I need to go to get more engaged? 60 pages in and not getting it.
I donât remember, but I remember enjoying it a lot. I do think it took some time to get into the rhythm of it.
I canât remember how much time I gave it, but I abandoned Less.
I just started Heartâs Invisible Furies.
I recently read Everything I Never Told You, Celeste Ngâs first book. Itâs at least as good as Little Fires. And in my experience of novels dealing with its various topics, very much an original voice. I highly recommend it.
@Consolation
I enjoy âlittle firesâ more than âeverythingâ, maybe because the story of âeverythingâ is so much darker.
I just finished John McPheeâs âcontrol of natureâ, it was written more than 30 years ago, (I think from three New Yorker articles, found two of them and linked them here.)
About our human ingenuity against nature: in Mississippiâs flood control (https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1987/02/23/atchafalaya)
Icelandâs brave (insane?) attempts of using water hoses to cooling lava, and LAâs constant fights against its fire/storm/debris flows
(https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1988/09/26/los-angeles-against-the-mountains-i)
McPheeâs writing is so great, and even though he wrote about them many years ago, I wonder whether our chances of âdefeatingâ natural disasters have gotten any better.
I only know of Southern Californiaâs constant struggles with wild fires/draughts and of course the worries of quakes, how come I have rarely heard of the debris flows: San. Gabriel is literally eroding into LA in the forms of boulders/mountain slides. Wow.
Good lord, I remember reading all three of those articles!
I LOVE Control of Nature. It is one of my favorite books ever - not just a best book of the last six months, but a best book of the last 30 years for me. I was just telling someone about it last week. I thought it was really interesting how he told varied stories - one about successful control of nature, one that was temporararily successful but likely wouldnât be long term, and one where humans just came across as idiots ?
Have I missed anyone raving about âWhere the Crawdads Singâ? I think it has to go on one of the best books ever list for me. The writing about all the nature was beautiful. The story was imaginative and sad and beautiful. I just really loved it. Many say itâs a âfairy taleâ. If so, then thatâs fine. I still love it.
Spoiler of sorts:
My one and only complaint was her obsession with Asheville! Asheville??? Thatâs about as far from the NC marshes as you can go. Itâs in the mountains! Does this author or her editors seriously not know that? Any small city of any size would have made so much more sense. The prosecutor probably got his tie at Sears and Roebuck in ASHEVILLE??? LOL. He would drive 300-400 miles to a Sears in Asheville to shop? I donât think so. It just bugs me.
2 Likes
100 pages into Less, and Iâm done.