I really enjoyed Heart’s Invisible Furies, but not Less.
Being Mortal is a fabulous book. I read it shortly after it came out; it confirmed my perspective on end of life care.
Beartown. Once I got all of the characters straight (that was about 70 pages of writing names down! haha), I went through a myriad of emotions while reading it. It was really a great book. I’ll add Where the Crawdads Sing, as well. The descriptive nature of the book made you feel as if you were there. I had such a visual in my mind that I think is etched there forever. Also, my friend’s sister-in-law does the audio book reading. Who knew! Anyway, two of my favorites as of late.
Just finished Eleanor Oliphant. Fabulous read, clever writing, hilarious, heartbreaking and heartwarming. A real treasure.
I Miss You When I Blink by Mary Laura Philpott
Related to lots and lots of what she wrote and LOL’ed many times. Insightful, tender, relatable and very funny.
@doschicos --I mentioned it upthread, but Richard Roper’s “How Not to Die Alone” has the same humor, charm, and heart of Elinor Oliphant. Much recommend!
Thanks, @garland. I’ve just added your suggestion to my list of books to read.
I recommend a relatively new novel, Lost and Wanted, by Nell Freudenberger. It’s about love, friendship, death – and astrophysics! Written by a non-scientist and meant for non-scientist readers, it’s a fascinating blend of fiction, physics and just good story telling. The novel has some flaws, but overall it was refreshingly different - for me, at least - and it’s made me think about abstract physics ideas this humanist usually doesn’t broach.
I haven’t finished it yet but I’ve been enjoying One Word Kill by Mark Lawrence. It’s the first book in a series called Impossible Times. Some describe it as a cross between Stranger Things and Ready Player One.
I have the Tattooist of Auschwitz as an audiobook and I am not sure I am going to be able to continue listening, the reading is dreadful. I just had to look up if there were multiple readers, but it is just a lot of horrible editing. Save this one to read vs listen.
.@sybylla I tried to listen to Tattooist of Auschwitz and found the narration to be absolutely horrible. IIRC he sounded like a breathless 1930s actress trying to seduce someone. Even despite that, I just thought the story itself was terribly written. I know it’s based on a true story, but it’s a shame it wasn’t written by a more talented author. She should’ve stuck with screenplays. I don’t often give 1* ratings, especially to novels with wide acclaim, but this one was just that bad IMO. I honestly do not think I would have felt any differently had I read the book vs. listened to it.
I’m going to reread Scruples in memory of Judith Krantz.
honestly do not think I would have felt any differently had I read the book vs. listened to it.<<<<<<<
You might be right, it cannot just get a pass based on subject, is it a book aimed at young readers? That is how the narration is striking me. I just returned it, could not persist.
Just finished The Most Fun We Ever Had, a first novel by Claire Lombardo that’s garnering a lot of well-deserved buzz. It’s a multi-generational story of the Sorenson family, parents David and Marilyn and their four daughters: Wendy, Violet, Liza, and Grace. Introduce Joanah, the son Violet gave up for adoption 15 years ago, and the plot takes off. Plenty of drama, sorrows, sibling rivalry, and all the messy stuff of life. Despite being 544 pages long, the story moves quickly, spanning some 30+ years. The writing is brilliant and spiked with humor.
Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes. Intense account (fictional but filled with fact) of Vietnam War.
4kids4us and Sybylla, perhaps I’m not as discerning (or critical) of the writer’s technique but the story of The Tatooist of Auschwitz is one that will stay with me for a long time. It’s a tale of hope and kindness in the midst of true horror. It’s the story of unexpected love and how two people survive the horror of concentration camps because of their love. I’m glad I read it.
Try the Bookshop of the broken Hearted then, that is a lovely book, similar genre possibly, the audio version was terrific.
Finished reading “Flights” by Olga Tokarczuk, I think again someone on this thread recommended it. Very unique book, almost every chapter is a stand alone piece, some are connected stories, most are just author’s musings/observations/or just a short short story. I am holding the book and will start at random chapters to read it again.
Just finished Diary of a Bookseller by Shaun Bythell. He runs an old bookshop in Wigtown Scotland and he’s one cranky “the customer is not always right” bookseller but very funny, in that dry British/Scottish way. He’s anti-Amazon (for obvious reasons) and I was reading it on my kindle! When I got to the chapter where he shot the kindle and nailed it to the wall of his bookshop, I had to run out to buy his memoir to make atonement. There is a daily till count and I am amazed at how anyone can make a living selling books, used ones at that. Go out and support your local bookstores!
@ccreader
Thank you for the recommendation. My library does not own “diary of a bookseller”, I am going to make a recommendation so that they will buy the book. He has another book coming out late August, “confessions of a bookseller”.
Just finished Heavy and found it very discouraging