@doschicos I like Patchett’s books, it is hard to pick the best, imho, I really like Bel Canto and State of Wonder. patron saint of liars left me the most anguished, for better or worse.
I’ve read all the Patchetts books (on hold for Dutch House), but decided to reread Patron Saint as a I can’t remember it all that well.
Another shout out here for The Schrödinger Girl. In addition to a page turning story line, and references to art history, mythology, and physics, the setting in the late '60s for some of us brings back some long forgotten memories of what that time and the societal changes felt like.
I always like Patchett until the end, when I tend to feel like…huh? What did you just do to those characters? That’s not what they’d do! particularly aftermath of Bel Canto, and a couple choices at end of State of Wonder. They just didn’t ring right to me.
I haven’t read her earlier books in many years, but I do remember really liking Patron Saint of Liars and Magician’s Assistant, but not too much about them. And I just realized I never read Commonwealth. When I get a chance, I will have to backtrack to that.
@garland I’ve read Commonwealth, State of Wonder and The Dutch House. I can’t remember the ending of State of Wonder, and Run I read so long ago I can’t even remember the plot. I loved The Dutch House but was disappointed with the ending. I don’t want to say why in detail here, without giving away spoilers but just thought it was a bit far fetched/neatly wrapped up. I’ve had Bel Canto on my list forever but for some reason, just haven’t gotten around to that one.
I just finished Carnegie Hill by Jonathan Vatner. It started out seeming to be fairly thin, and I wasn’t sure about any of the characters, but the writing was generally very good, and about halfway through, especially when other characters besides the initial ones were introduced, it really deepened, and the last third or so was engrossing. Really astute observations about people, and marriage. And I thought it hit all the right notes as it ended. Definitely recommend, though again, gets better as it goes on.
I really liked Truth and Beauty by Patchett. I thought about for months afterward, I’ve enjoyed most of her books but haven’t read them in a long time. On the waitlist for the most recent one.
I just finished The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley. It was a great book. Well written with twelve individual stories wrapped into one. I felt like I was there. She’s an excellent writer.
@Happytimes2001 the CC Bookclub read The Twelve Lives - as I recall we had an excellent discussion and it was an interesting book for sure. http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/2086026-the-twelve-lives-of-samuel-hawley-august-cc-book-club-selection-p1.html
@mathmom Thanks for the link. It was a good one. I’ll check out what others thought.
@Happytimes2001, I loved it!
I just read Nia Vardalos’s book, Instant Mom. I had no idea she had fertility issues and adopted through the foster system. It was very interesting and I learned so much about adoption that I never knew.
I just finished The Warmth of Other Suns. Thank you to everyone who recommended it. I’ve committed to understanding more about white privilege and the experiences of persons of color, and this book was very educational. It took me a long time to get through because it was very factually dense but I found it to be an important and enlightening read.
@calla1 I’m in the middle of it myself and couldn’t agree more.
Just finished Lab Girl and loved it. Enjoyed the story of Hope Jahren’s life, the description of life as a lab scientist and her findings about trees and their importance to our environment.
The being said, of the 6 of us that attended the book group discussing this book, the three that finished really liked it (including one member who dislikes most books). However, the other three did not finish finding the science stuff too boring!
I did not like Bel Canto, unlike most readers. I found it very unbelievable and was not able to let go of that and just enjoy the story. I felt the same way about A Gentleman in Moscow who seemed oblivious to the horrors going on around him and found that implausible.
Daisy Jones and the Six. It was great! Totally like nothing I’ve ever read before. It’s about a rock band in the 1960’s-70’s (supposedly based on Stevie Nicks) and is written like an interview with all of the band members. SO good!
Just finished Kiley Reid’s SUCH A FUN AGE. It kept my interest and had a lot to think about in terms of race and privilege and stereotypes. It was a pretty fast read but not all fluff.
The Majesties, tiffany tsao
Ugh. It did have promise, it has a great cover, the narration (other than the weird pseudo Australian Sandra voice) was OK, it had some great geopolitical notes, but WTH happened at the end, I have no idea. It was like the author has 15 minutes to write the ending or she was going to lost her advance.
TLDR? Don’t bother.
I will be traveling to Egypt and Petra soon. Can anyone recommend a good book or two of the history of these areas? Thx
Beautiful writing: Lab Girl.