Now to read Shane so I can belatedly join the June Book club discussion. I don’t like spoilers so I’m waiting until I finish both books.
3 Likes
I am reading “The Greatest Beer Run Ever” which is the true story of a guy who went to Vietnam to bring beers to his buddies over there in the military. It’s a pretty quick read and I’m realizing how little I know about the Vietnam war. A good depiction of what it must have been like to be a young adult (or young man, more accurately) in the late 60s
How weird. It has never occurred to me that anyone would visit a loved one or friend in a combat zone. Is that even allowed??? I guess it was.
Beeswing by Richard Thompson. It is his memoir of the time between 1967 and 1975 when he founded English folk rock with his band Fairport Convention and went solo and then started recording with his wife Linda.
Great read about what it meant to be musician in that time period.
3 Likes
I don’t want to spoil the book, but these guys were crazy impulsive. It was a different time, with hitching rides and less security/paperwork for young men who could have passed for soldiers. The narrator did have some credentials that helped but still . . .
Just finished Hail Mary by Andy Weir. I’d love The Martian and was disappointed by his followup Artemis, but this one was a fun romp. At first the protagonist seemed like a rerun of Mark Watney without the potty mouth, but as you find out more about his back story (at the same pace he remembers it - the story begins with him waking up in a space ship with no idea why he is there,) and as the story morphs into a buddy story, it becomes more interesting. No question Weir is way more interested in Science than I am, and I’m not at all convinced that the world would handle a crisis as he posited, (Exhibit A: Pandemic) but despite the quibbles, I thoroughly enjoyed it.
2 Likes
Miss Benson’s Beetle by Rachel Joyce. It’s about two unlikely companions, each with a difficult past, who go on an expedition in search of a rare beetle. The story of their relationship is often funny but encompasses much more.
4 Likes
Her book “The Music Shop” was excellent, too.
1 Like
giving a thumbs up to both of these and another by Rachel Joyce - Harold Frye
2 Likes
I enjoyed The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry. I will have to look for the others.
3 Likes
Finished “Golden Girl” by Elin Hilderbrand last night ( loved it!) and will be picking up “That Summer” by Jennifer Weiner from the library.
Summer reading!
3 Likes
Thank you and to VaBluebird and Garland too. I look forward to reading these. I have some fairly heavy non fiction to read first so these will be very welcome.
Finished a fun & fluffy book Wednesday that was on several summer beach read lists (I think Modern Mrs. Darcy, WaPo, Southern Living) - People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry. It was something of a homage to When Harry Met Sally. Fast & enjoyable rom-com type book.
3 Likes
For folks who liked “Daisy Jones and the Six”, check out “Mary Jane” by Jessica Anya Blau. it’s a coming of age story of a sort (Mary Jane, the teen protagonist, is 14 I believe) set in Baltimore in the 70s over a summer. She comes from a cool/distant, uptight, country club family and gets a summer job as a nanny for the 5 yr old daughter of a doctor and his wife in the neighborhood. But her uptight parents don’t realize that he’s a hip and groovy psychiatrist treating a rock star for the summer. Hijinks ensue.
1 Like
i enjoyed “where the crawdad sings” recently on a trip. The writing is sort of eco-writing, like barbara kingsolver (poisonwood bible and others). I devoured the book in less than a day!
5 Likes
I talked to someone recently regarding world travel escapades and he stated that in his extensive traveling days he had visited two active wars, rather inadvertently.
When visiting my Peace Corps daughter a few years back, in eastern Ukraine, one of her fellow volunteers mentioned that it would be possible to drive to the war with Russia just 3 hours distant. Not that they would have, or would have been permitted to do so.
1 Like
“What you have heard is true” is a beautifully written book by a woman poet (Fourche) who witnessed what was happening in El Salvador. It’s a pretty riveting read - while technically a memoir, it’s also suspenseful. She was a bit confused about her role and what she was learning, and I was too!
1 Like
I just borrowed from the library:
- Les Miserables by Victor Hugo and…
- Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes
Going to start reading soon so I am very excited.
Recently finished “For Whom the Bell Tolls” by Ernest Hemmingway. Great book about the Spanish Civil War following an American soldier detached to a Spanish anti-fascist guerrilla band in the mountains of Segovia.
Another favorite is “David Copperfield” by Charles Dickens. This book follows the life of a young orphan as he struggles through life on the streets of London during the Victorian Era, a time period filled with just as much art, wealth, and prosperity as poverty, squalor, and cruelty. As he grows up, he finds fortune and misfortune at every corner. Will never forget the opening line: “Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show. To begin my life with the beginning of my life, I record that I was born…” (Dickens)
2 Likes
I’m happily on a roll over here! Homegoing, Olympus Texas, Sorrow and Bliss, Kitchens of the Great Midwest were the last four books I read and loved them all. Very different from each other but all were wonderful.
I had a rough 2020 reading year like many out there did. I was still reading but having a hard time finding anything I could focus on very well. Glad to be out of that slump.
@AllGoodNamesRGone I loved Les Miserables when I read it years ago!
5 Likes
I just read it as well. Perfect summer beach book. Plus, I read any fiction set on Nantucket.
2 Likes