My hold at the library finally came in for Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow and I’m really enjoying it. I’ve loved all of Gabrielle Zevin’s books that I have read. She writes about so many disparate people and situations.
I’m just starting Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow. I loved The Storied Life of AJ Fikry. I didn’t care for Young Jane Young (which Fikry wrote in 2017).
“I loved The Storied Life of AJ Fikry” - Me too! Just last week I mentioned it to another reader, and she said it was also a favorite of her. I also like Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow.
I liked Young Jane Young. I haven’t read Gabrielle Zevin’s YA stuff, but I’ve read most of her adult novels.
I liked AJ Fikry better than Tomorrow. I learned a lot about gaming, but not my thing.
I really likes the Cartographers when I read it last year!
Just an fyi…there are some kindle books on sale today that have been mentioned here so I thought I’d give a heads up.
I just purchased The Latecomer that was the June CC book club selection and A World of Curiosities, the most recent Gamache book.
I also saw The Storied Life of AJ Fikry and The Nightingale on sale, which I recommend.
I know this straddles the line between “books” and “movies”, but I just saw that AJ Fikry was made into a movie and it’s available on Hulu. I watched it last night and it was okay but I was a little disappointed. I thought I remembered that the book wove several classic short stories into the narrative, but none of that was there in the movie. Has it been so long since I read it that I’m forgetting/confusing it with something else?
Nope the short stories added that extra something to it.
I agree with @ignatius it was the way the stories and the main plot of the novel played against each other that made that book special. I hadn’t read most of the stories (even though they are mostly classics), so I felt better educated afterwards to boot!
Right. It was interesting and touching and educational too.
I just finished “Big Little Lies” by Liane Moriarity. I know that it is an older book, but I really liked it.
@silverlady I think that was one of her best books.
I can’t remember the last time I posted, so I’ll just do a recap of the books I have read since May:
999: The Extraordinary Young Women of the First Official Jewish Transport to Auschwitz by Heather Dune Macadam and Caroline Moorehead - I would recommend.
The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides - Meh. I felt cheated by the “twist” at the end. It felt like the author just threw that in there. There weren’t really any clues that you could possibly have picked up on so it felt like a cop out.
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller - would recommend. Even though you know what is going to happen if you’ve read The Iliad, I still cried and felt so connected to the characters.
My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russel - I would recommend, but man, someone should have warned me not to read it right before my daughter goes off to boarding school in the fall!
Lie With Me by Philippe Besson - I didn’t dislike it, but it wasn’t anything to write home about. I’m not quite sure what all the fuss was about.
My Absolute Darling by Gabriel Tallent - Definitely recommend.
Nightcrawling by Leila Mottley - Recommend. It was a tough (emotionally difficult) read, especially with the afterword/note at the end, but worth it.
The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill - Recommend. I don’t read a lot of mysteries, but I was intrigued by this book within a book within a book. I liked the format and found it unique, but OMG did I despise Leo the letter writer!
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus - Highly recommend. This seems to be divisive on this thread, but I could not get enough of this book. The main character reminded me so much of my mother and I found it so inspiring to read.
Taste: My Life Through Food by Stanley Tucci (audiobook) - Narrated by Stanley Tucci himself, I really enjoyed this book. It was a fun insight into his childhood and family and just very soothing to listen to him talk about food as I did my cross-stitch (gosh do I sound older than my 46 years!!).
Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree - recommend. It was a fun, lighthearted, low stakes fantasy book. Easy read, especially nice when you just need something that’s not going to tear you apart emotionally or ask you to think too much.
Thanks for your post. We have similar tastes in reading, so I’m going to read the ones that I’ve not read yet that you included.
Finally finished Cartographers. Did not love it as I expected to–a lot of cliched writing, and a lot of unexplained plot holes. I loved finding out about the actual story it is based on, but I feel like a better book could have come out of it. Still, it improved as it went on, and I read the last couple hundred pages pretty quick. (Also, it was so, so obvious who the villain was from way earlier than it should have been). I’d give it 3/5 stars.
Roonil - also loved Song of Achilles (so beautiful and touching) and really enjoyed Lessons in Chemistry (more of a fun read with a few lessons in there!).
Recently finished The Covenant of Water. It was a slow read, but so beautifully written. I usually read plot-driven stuff, so this was a change. More like life unfolding the way a river flows. Highly recommend even if multi-generational, historical, and lyrical books aren’t your usual thing.
I have a few friends on FB who are avid readers and every month they post the books they read that month - a book cover photo - and rate it 1-5 stars under the photo. I look SO much forward to seeing these and because we have some similar tastes, I get lots of book suggestions this way.
I still admire people who can read like 8 books a month!
Did you read Circe? I think I liked it even better. Beautifully written is an apt description.