Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano. Excellent book.
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Just finished it. My favorite book this year.
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I have a copy here but havenāt started it yet. I keep hearing how good it is so I hope it doesnāt disappoint.
Just finished Ann Patchettās Tom Lake. While it didnāt rock my world like Bel Canto or State of Wonder, it was comforting. Like a friend regaling me with a fun story from her younger days. Iāve read nearly every book she has written and Iām glad I read this one too.
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Just tore through Small Mercies by Dennis Lehane and Iām giving it two thumbs up. You could read it as a thriller (of sorts) and be (mostly) satisfied, but itās an insightful look at much more. Set during the forced integration of the Boston schools in 1974, itās a bit of a deeper dive into a community and its group think. And of course, it remains relevant.
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Small Mercies is on my list. I think my H will like it, too.
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I recently read Lehaneās Small Mercies. Heās a great writer and this book kept me engaged throughout. That being said, I was depressed by the endāracism, poverty, and addiction are still issues in our country.
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I just read Beekeeper of Aleppo which is a few years old, about the decision to leave Syria and being a refugee. Also, The Measure about everyone receiving a string in a box denoting the length of their life. Do you look? And the fallout. I highly recommend both, although they are not beach reads.
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I just finished āThe Measureā this weekend.
Enjoyed it quite a bit!!!
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I just finished the most recent book, and it is, IMO, better than the last, in part because many of the supporting characters from earlier novels return.
But as much as I enjoy his novels, it seems most series get a bit too formulaic after a while.
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I just finished Kristen Hannahās The Great Alone. What a wonderful book. It is almost my favorite of hers. I canāt decide.
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This one was better! I agree. (The one before this was my least favorite.) Though itās interesting how many attractive (young) women are in love/obsessed with the main character (who happens to be the same age as the author).
Also, speaking of age, did you also feel Mikhail was aged up in this book? Like by about 10 years. Doesnāt make sense with prior descriptions and first description.
Honestly, I didnāt notice. My eyes glazed over at the description of Gabriel Allon as middle-aged; heās gotta be about 127 by now. 
In all seriousness, Daniel Silva is 62, born December 1960. Gabriel Allonās Mossad career began with the Munich Olympics in 1972, making him in his early 70ās.
Lmao 127. Yes, at youngest, 68? If he was 18 in 1972ā¦right? But every 40yo (and younger) woman wants him and canāt even live their lives happily with anyone else.
Minimum 21. In '72. He was a student at the Bezalel Academy of Art at that time, and had already completed his military service, which was 36 months back then.
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Love Ann Patchett!! Iāll have to check this one out!
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I donāt know if I got the recommendation from this thread or elsewhere, but I stayed up way too late last night reading The Woman In the Library by Sulari Gentill trying to figure out who done it.
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I read Hello, Beautiful based on recommendations here. A pleasant and easy enough read, but my head is aching from being hit over the head by the author who seemed worried I might not get the points she was making through her story-telling. Not subtle!
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Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow did not disappoint. I loved everything about it, from the literary references, to the descriptions of the process of making a game to the complicated relationship of the four main protagonists. I laughed out loud at these:
āOther peopleās parents are often a delight.ā
āBut for Marx, the world was like a breakfast at a five-star hotel in an Asian country ā the abundance of it was almost overwhelming. Who wouldnāt want a pineapple smoothie, a roast pork bun, an omelet, pickled vegetables, sushi and a green-tea-flavored croissant?ā
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Iām in the middle of Hello, Beautiful and was thinking the same think about subtlety! I donāt want to read one more time how one sister is this way and another is this way. That seems to be the premise for many shallow books.
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