I’m rereading, and recommend again, The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver. So much history interwoven with the fictional life of an ordinary/extraordinary man.
I finished French Braid by Anne Tyler. Loved it just like I love all of her books. My literary comfort food.
I finished listening to Nine Lives by Peter Swanson. It was okay, I didn’t like it as much as his Eight Perfect Murders (recommended by Gromit).
I just started reading the Kidd series by John Sandford. I love his detective crapola.
On amiga's recommendation I have been listening to The Lacuna, and so far I love everything about it: the beautiful writing/language, the fascinating story line and the history. I also like that the author, Barbara Kingsolver, is the narrator and differentiates voices and accents. Just a warning: it starts out slow, but keep reading, as it gets more interesting.
I'm reading Writers & Lovers by Lily King about a struggling writer. I really like it so far.
I liked it. I was afraid it would be over my head or something like that since people either loved it or hated it. I thought it had a good storyline and I liked seeing how he wove the stories together.
Also..I’m in Ireland and we’ve heard a cuckoo bird. The person we stayed with said it’s the female that calls and the males fly to her and she picks the male…as it should be he joked.
I just finished The Match a few days ago. I thought it was good, except the ending that explained how Wilde ended up in the woods when he was young. It felt very contrived and rushed like Coben had to quickly come up with a reason. He is one of my favorite authors, but the two Wilde books were not my favorites.
Here are the books I read in May…
My favorite one was The Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Post. I had no knowledge of this woman’s accomplishments at a time when women were not expected to be leaders in business.
Booth was a lengthy historical fiction novel about the family of John Wilkes Booth. He definitely descended from a line of twisted people. The book focused on his parents and siblings more than on John, but you do see the progression of his hatred for Lincoln and those who thought like him.
For Those Who Are Lost is a historical fiction novel of WW II. Parents living on the Channel Islands had to decide whether to send their children to the mainland on the eve of the German invasion. This one follows the lives of two children and the families they are placed with. I read it on NetGalley, so it might not be out for a couple of weeks.
The rest were good “beach reads”, perfect for summer.
This past weekend I read The Lost Summers of Newport by the "Team W" group. Historical fiction with 3 narratives woven together. I liked the main historical setting and the pverall plot though did figure out the "twist" pretty easily and early on. It wasn't as good as some of their past efforts, but it was a decent read. Glad I got it from the library instead of buying it, though, since I probably won't reread it the way I've done their others.
I always look forward to their books, whether the ones they write individually or together.
Honestly, one silver lining of the last year or so was that so many authors' book talks/tours were done virtually, so I got a chance to participate in several of their book talks over Zoom
And I love the "what are you reading" posts on Lauren's blog. She updates every week or so, and I've gotten so many good recommendations from her (as well as from commenters on her posts). She tends to recommend historical fiction as well golden age type mystery cozies (both of which are right up my alley).
I am listening to The 1619 Project: A New Origins Story by Nikole Hannah-Jones. A riveting and thought provoking anthology of the history of the United States from 1619 on, specifically the Black American Experience.
I just finished French Braid by Anne Tyler. I liked it very much.
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On amiga's recommendation I have been listening to The Lacuna, and so far I love everything about it: the beautiful writing/language, the fascinating story line and the history. I also like that the author, Barbara Kingsolver, is the narrator and differentiates voices and accents. Just a warning: it starts out slow, but keep reading, as it gets more interesting.
Barbara Kingsolver is my all time favorite author. I've read everything she's written many times, but I just put a hold on the audiobook of The Lacuna, so thanks for the idea, cvt and amiga! Also, her next book is out this December! Can't wait!
I just finished I'll Have What She's Having. It's the story of how Nora Ephron saved romantic comedies. I also just finished Heiresses.It's also nonfiction. It tells the story of women throughout history who have inherited huge fortunes. Spoiler alert: inheriting huge amounts of money rarely ends well.
Wordgirl, I was listening to the 1619 Project too, but had to return it through Libby because there's a waitlist.
I read, and kind of wish I hadn't, Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke The BookTube reviewers I follow all read it and recommended it, not because they loved it, but because it was so unique and was a short, horror read. I don't read much horror, but... wowza. It is about a woman who advertises an antique apple peeler for sale on-line, and the person who inquired about purchasing it develops a relationship her that ends very, very badly. I don't want to spoil it, but let's just say you'll never see how it ends badly coming, even if you had a crystal ball.
I read The Night She Disappeared by Lisa Jewell, an author I really enjoy. It was good, but not my favorite of hers. I'm not sure if it fits the thriller genre, but if you like contemporary murder/suspense mysteries this one was pretty good.
I just finished The Book of Cold Cases by Simone St. James. I wasn't expecting this to be a paranormal thriller, as those aren't my jam, but this book was really creepy and I enjoyed it a lot. From Goodreads:
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In 1977, Claire Lake, Oregon, was shaken by the Lady Killer Murders: Two men, seemingly randomly, were murdered with the same gun, with strange notes left behind. Beth Greer was the perfect suspect--a rich, eccentric twenty-three-year-old woman, seen fleeing one of the crimes. But she was acquitted, and she retreated to the isolation of her mansion.
I finished The Lincoln Highway for the second time to be ready for my book club discussion.
My other bookclub read Hamnet. I had been avoiding starting that one, but I'm so glad several of you encouraged me to get into it. It is a bit dark, but showed how we all grieve a loss differently. It was a good read.
I also reread The Grapes of Wrath since reading The Lincoln Highway.
I have gone back to The House in the Cerulean Sea. This is not a genre that I usually read. I am finding it quite a delightful read.
One of my book clubs is reading Harlem Shuffle next.
I just finished A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki. It's the story of a Japanese girl that was born in CA but is living in Japan. A woman finds her diary and the two stories are kind of interwoven. It was an enjoyable read, but not noteworthy for me.
We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver was interesting, and I read it right before the Uvalde shooting. This was fiction, and I actually preferred reading the book that was by one of the moms of a Columbine shooter (I can't remember the title). So sad - I can't imagine being the parent of a violent offender.
I really enjoyed West With Giraffes, the based on a true story book about two giraffes that were shipped to America and then driven across the country to the San Diego Zoo.
The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Us and How We Can Prosper Together was very eye opening. What I liked was that it didn't feel super preachy or guilt inducing, but it laid out very clearly how racism negatively affects our whole society, not just those on the receiving end.
I started an Anne Tyler book, The Accidental Tourist, a couple of days ago and I'm not loving the writing style. Has anyone read it? Is the story worth sticking with? I've never read any of her books.
I just finished Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin. It was a good story about Lincoln and his cabinet. Lots of background info at the beginning on all these men that got kind of confusing for awhile. Then you get into the meat of the story and it was a lot better.
I read Apples never Fallwhich was good, but I thought the ending could have been better.
Also read The Invisible Life of Addie Larue. It's a twist on a time traveler story and I like it.
Now I'm starting The Personal Librarian which many of you recommended.
Five Little Indians by Michelle Good. I may have put that in last month's reading roundup because I read most of it in April. It's the story of 5 people who were in residential schools in Canada and how they lived after. I can see why it won the 2022 Canada Reads competition.
A Killer in King's Cove by Iona Wishaw. A friend recommended this series to me. Louise Penny goes to small town, post WW2 BC. The writing is good so I'll read the next one in the series.
All the Flowers in Paris by Sarah Jio. A Now and Then book where, yet again, the Now story is pretty lame.
Next Year in Havana by Chantel Cleeton. Another Now and Then book where the Now is pretty lame. the historical details of Cuba are interesting though.
Daisy Jones & the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid. This has had so much hype around it that I was surprised I didn't like it more. I found the documentary writing style tedious.
The Postscript Murders by Elly Griffiths. I love Elly Griffith's series starring Ruth Galloway. This series might get better; I'll have to see.
The House in the Cerulean Sea by T. J. Klune. I like the message of this book but found it was lacking in depth.
Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid. I needed something light to read and this was it.
The Lincoln Highway is a book I waited for over 5 weeks from the library. It did not disappoint and was worth the wait. One part of the ending did surprise me.
Memory Wall was another good book. It was filled with stories about memories.
I listened to Plum Lucky on a road trip. Easy listening about the adventures of Stephanie.
I started an Anne Tyler book, The Accidental Tourist, a couple of days ago and I'm not loving the writing style. Has anyone read it? Is the story worth sticking with? I've never read any of her books.
I read this so many years ago for a college class when it first came out. All I remember is that I liked it. Tyler was the professor's favorite author and that may have influenced my opinion about it back then. I should probably reread it.
I finally read the book I got in my book club's Christmas book exchange. It was a mystery set at the beginning of covid lockdowns, so that was a little weird! It was 56 days by Catherine Ryan Howard. Slow start, but kept my attention after that.
I just started this month's book club pick, Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows by Baill Kaur Jaswal.
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06-01-2022, 11:04 AM
The BookTube reviewers I follow all read it and recommended it, not because they loved it, but because it was so unique and was a short, horror read. I don't read much horror, but... wowza. It is about a woman who advertises an antique apple peeler for sale on-line, and the person who inquired about purchasing it develops a relationship her that ends very, very badly. I don't want to spoil it, but let's just say you'll never see how it ends badly coming, even if you had a crystal ball.
