I read the novel but didnt know it was made into a tv series. Who is broadcasting it?
@4kids4us, itās on Hulu. I havenāt seen the show, but it got good reviews.
I want to watch Normal People, but we donāt have Hulu. Thereās a few things on there Iām interested in so might break down and get it this summer.
Another historical fiction that prominently features the plague is Pillars of the Earth. I read it soooo long ago but still remember enjoying it. Itās very long!
Another somewhat similar vein book that stuck with me is The Greenlanders by Jane Smiley. Itās tracks what happens to several families in Greenland in the 1600s when the plague prevents ships from re-stocking the island. (Fiction but this did evidently happen.) Not a light read but explores how to maintain (or not) humanity in difficult times.
I read Greenlanders a couple decades ago. It was a good read, though i donāt think I will tackle it again. A more recent, not plague but people persevering for better or worse during difficult history, is Annie Proulxās Barkskins.
I liked Barkskins a lot, but it requires investment. Itās not a weekend read.
The point I took from it is that nature always wins. We think we can control it, but we canāt. Humans can do a lot of damage, but nature is always reshuffling the cards.
So Iāve figured out how to check books out electronically, having them delivered to my Kindle via my township library. Obviously the most current stuff has a waiting list. However, I was able to get Louise Erdrichās The Round House a couple of days ago and just finished it. It is a combo of To Kill a Mockingbird and Stand By Me, set on a fictional Ojibwe reservation in North Dakota in 1988, told from the POV of a thirteen-year-old boy. I think it was the subject of a CC book discussion. Anyway, I highly recommend.
A Gentleman in Moscow - Amor Towles
What Alice Forgot - Liane Moriarty
A Gentleman in Moscow is the perfect Shelter in Place read!
I loved A Gentleman in Moscow. Possibly my favorite book in the last five years or so. And yes, itās perfect for the current moment where we are all trapped in place and have to make the best of it. A small universe can be very expansive for a large soul.
Hah! Coincidentally I just put a pickup order for A Gentleman in Moscow at my local bookstore! 
Also our CC book club discussion on A Gentleman in Moscow http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1997887-a-gentleman-in-moscow-august-cc-book-club-selection.html
I loved both Gentleman in Moscow and What Alice Forgot. The former is a bit more serious but very sweet. Learned a bit about Russian history too!
The latter is prolly my fav by the author ā and sheās written a lot of good ones!
Note: I mostly read popular and genre fiction. Very little highbrow or āCapital Lā Literature these days. As a very fast reader, I can get through the average novel in less than a day. I think Iāve read most of whatās been mentioned, except the āGentlemanā book.
Since I canāt wander through bookstores right now ? Iāve been looking at Kirkus Reviews on line, starting with their starred reviews or their quick ābuy/borrow/skipā recs.
Beach/summer/fun reads:
I read Big Summer, the latest by Jennifer Weiner, on Saturday.
Jill Mansell - British romance-y
Jenny Colgan - ditto
Beach Read by Emily Henry - I havenāt read it, but itās supposed to be good.
Pretty much everything by Karen White. She has a series about Trapp Street, or something like that, in Charleston that has a woo-woo factor to it.
Love Lettering by Kate Clayborn
Others:
Three Hours in Paris by Cara Black. I bought this in HC & have it on my shelf to read. Not one of her Aimee Leduc mysteries. WWII, female American sniper. Very good reviews.
The Lady Sherlock series by Sherry Thomas
The Rockton series by Kelley Armstrong, closed off town in the Canadian wilderness
The Veronica Speedwell series by Deanna Raybourn- they take place in Victorian England.
The VIP series by Kristen Callihan. Rock group. Definitely hot romance with something more. The first one is ok, the second and the third are definitely worth it.
Quirky as all get out - The Rivers of London series by Ben Aaronovitch
Just read The Missing by Tim gautreaux. Itās about a Cajun manās experience after a young girl goes missing on his watch as a dept store security guard in 1920ās New Orleans.
@NJSue, The Round House: http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1677197-the-round-house-october-cc-book-club-selection-p1.html
Right now Iām reading Erdrichās LaRose on the strength of The Round House. Itās a really heartbreaking story about a family who gives up a beloved child to another family for atonement purposes. Iām not finished yet but it is a really moving story about the nature of parental love.
@garland āConvenience Store Womanā by Sayaka Murata is interesting, quirky and pretty light. I read it after āElanor Oliphant is Completely Fine.ā It was interesting to consider the similarities/differences between the characters and their journey towards self-discovery.
Thanks, @HMom16 !
Coincidentally, I sent A Gentleman in Moscow to my mother for Motherās Day. I am a big fan his other book, The Rules of Civility. Really like the female protagonist.
After the library closed, I made myself attack the pile of New Yorkers in which I had just one or two more things I might want to read before recycling them. I then rebelled against that and the fact that I have lots of unread or partially read books at home and ordered some from the independent bookstore I usually patronize in Portland (Maine). The Glass Hotel (excellent), The River by Peter Heller (really superb natural setting thriller/novel, very different), and Say Nothing (excellent read, really well reported, really well written).
After I gulped all of those down I attacked more New Yorkers. But after days of that I broke down and bought some more. My excuse is that I am supporting a local business. And in fact, they have a fine web site for looking up books, and pack and ship them very rapidly, so why make Jeff Bezos richer? I encourage everyone to do it!
The second group included all of Emily St. John Mandelās books that I hadnāt read yet 
(Last Night in Montreal, The Singerās Gun, The Lola Quartet), the last in the Wolf Hall trilogy (TBR), and Lily Kingās Euphoria. I read the first two Mandels in a gulp because I just find her riveting, and made myself take a break with Euphoria, which is equally marvelous. (Iām in the middle of it.) Once I read The Lola Quartet Iāll have to wait until Mandel writes something new, and that could be a long wait given that The Glass Hotel just came out.
Iām amazed to have had such a run of great reads.
@Consolation and any one else, if you love the New Yorker and its writers, let me know if you want a link to a fabulous virtual event I just attended that Casey Cep (FURIOUS HOURS) and Kathryn Schulz (Pulitzer Prize and more) just did.
They discussed biography and I felt my IQ go up a few points just listening to them. Sublime.