What Are We Currently Reading?

[sugarbaker design]

On 5/1/2025 at 12:50 PM, grommit2 said:

Ok.  Finished Chronicles by Bob Dylan. Book is the Winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature. Oh?  

 

Books don't win the Literature Nobel Prize, authors (and songwriters) do.

[LBC Me]

On Monday, we’ll learn the winners of the 2025 Pulitzer Prizes. It looks like there are several categories/genres for books.  Many are predicting that Percival Everett, author most recently of James, will receive the award in one of those categories. That book really was exceptional, by an author with a long and notable backlist. 

JAMES WON in the Fiction category.  For the first time in a very long time, I've read a Pulitzer Prize-winning book.  Congrats to Percival Everett, a fantastic contemporary author, with many books I will now explore.  I'm over the moon.  Edited to say that, for this award, the books win, unlike the Literature Nobel Prizes.

Edited May 5 by LBC Me

[Bookish Jen]

I'm currently reading Randy Rainbow's latest, a collection of essays, called "Low-Hanging Fruit: Sparkling Whines, Champagne Problems, and Pressing Issues from My Gay Agenda." It's very funny and entertaining, and just what I need to read in these trying times.

[Browncoat]

1 minute ago, Bookish Jen said:

I'm currently reading Randy Rainbow's latest, a collection of essays, called "Low-Hanging Fruit: Sparkling Whines, Champagne Problems, and Pressing Issues from My Gay Agenda." It's very funny and entertaining, and just what I need to read in these trying times.

I love his parody songs.

[Mindthinkr]

I finished Climbing in Heels by Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas. 
The story is basically about women breaking into the talent management arena. Since it seems semi-autobiographical, it was an interesting read as well as some juicy bits…nothing graphic. 
 

A I would have written this a week ago, but for the life of me I couldn’t find this thread. That seems to be my problem. I read a lot and then when I’m done I have trouble finding all of you. 

Edited May 14 by Mindthinkr

[bmasters9]

From 1978: Nurse, by Peggy Anderson (the exploits of Mary Benjamin, R.N., over eight weeks in a huge metro hospital; because this was written by Peggy Anderson, and was what happened with Nurse Benjamin over those eight weeks, what I wonder is, did Nurse Benjamin write these exploits in a diary, and then provide them to Anderson to write and publish?).

[Schnickelfritz]

On 5/14/2025 at 5:47 AM, bmasters9 said:

From 1978: Nurse, by Peggy Anderson (the exploits of Mary Benjamin, R.N., over eight weeks in a huge metro hospital; because this was written by Peggy Anderson, and was what happened with Nurse Benjamin over those eight weeks, what I wonder is, did Nurse Benjamin write these exploits in a diary, and then provide them to Anderson to write and publish?).

Anderson interviewed a nurse (Mary Fisher) who didn't want her identity revealed. Mary Benjamin was a pseudonym

[bmasters9]

8 hours ago, Schnickelfritz said:

Anderson interviewed a nurse (Mary Fisher) who didn't want her identity revealed. Mary Benjamin was a pseudonym

Ah! Didn't understand it at first, but after seeing the author's note up top, now I understand; it's a pretty intriguing book so far.

BTW, this one I have is a 1979 paperback edition; the original hardcover was from 1978.

Edited May 15 by bmasters9

[LBC Me]

Ahoy everyone. I’m currently reading Nesting by Roisín O’Donnell. It was long-listed for the 2025 Women’s Prize for Fiction and I’m working through those books, the ones I find intriguing anyway.  This is the story of a woman who flees her controlling husband and their home with their two young children. Pregnant and scarily low on money, she is navigating Ireland’s housing system and her own self-doubts, as well as her manipulative husband’s “relentless campaign to get her to come back. Because leaving is one thing, but staying away is another.”

I’m about 1/3 through the book and it’s so very good. Propulsive, with a strong undercurrent of suspense and fear. 

My next book will probably be something on my Kindle. I often forget about those books and I have many great titles there. 

[bmasters9]

Recently purchased from EBay: Mother Love, Deadly Love: The Susan Smith Murders by New York Post columnist Andrea Peyser (1995 deep-dive into the story of one of America's most infamous murderers, Susan Smith, and what she did that for 9 days, held America in suspense about how a Black man had supposedly kidnapped and ransomed her children [3-year-old Michael and 14-month-old Alexander], only for America and the community of Union, SC to find out that Smith had done in her children by sending them down into the murky depths of John D. Long Lake in Union, and then pretended that that Black had done what she claimed; the police over time put the pieces together and figured it out); book ends before her 1995 trial, but so far, is a very readable account of Smith and what she did in 1994.

Edited May 19 by bmasters9

[Bookish Jen]

I'm currently reading Kyla Zhao's novel The Fraud Squad, and I'm liking it so far. I read and positively reviewed Ms. Zhao's book Valley Verified last summer, so I was happy to find The Fraud Squad (her first novel) while perusing my local library.

And something pretty amazing happened. Last week I posted my review of Milwaukee journalist Meg Kissinger's memoir While You Were Out: An Intimate Family Portrait of Mental Illness in an Era of Silence. I decided to email a link of my review to Ms. Kissinger, and she loved it! Awesome!

[Browncoat]

I just finished Mania by Lionel Shriver.  It is a hilarious and terrifying satire set in a dystopian alternate reality of the US.  A "mental parity" movement has begun, which states that everyone is equal in the brains department.  No one is smarter than anyone else, and no one is less smart, either, or so the doctrine says.  It was fascinating -- I couldn't put it down, I was so interested in where the author was taking me.  

[Rushmoras]

Towards the end of the Return of the King. 

Spoiler

All is left is to read the return to the Shire and the kicking ass of hobo Saruman and his lackey, and then how Frodo and co sail off to Valinor, IIRC.

Anyways, what I wanted to write was:a) Did not remember that there were any wildlings in this series,

Spoiler

but apparently, they helped deal with the orcs, and in the end Aragorn gave them their own domain to rule (some forest and meadows, and whatnot). Disclaimer, I'm just guessing they are called wildlings, I'm reading the books in my own native language;

b) it would have been cooler if the army of the dead would have been used for the assault on Mordor portion as well instead of being let go after liberating Gondor. You mean to tell me, that you release your ace in the hole and then go on a gamble that the Dark Lord will not crush you? Lucky for you that the Dark Lord virtually does nothing in the entire series, eh?

c) And speaking of Sauron... Damn, he's more lamer than Dracula, at least Dracula did something in Stoker's book. Sauron... everything done by proxy and then just go die after the Ring and Gollum jump of to a volcano... bummer...

 

Edited Saturday at 07:32 PM by Rushmoras

[DearEvette]

I just finished Archangel's Ascension by Nalini Singh.  it is the 17th book in her Guild Hunter series.

This one is a bit bittersweet because it feels like it portends the end of the series since the time period alternates between 'yesterday' (aka our present day) and 'today' (aka about 100 years into the future).  Since the book ends with events caught up in time to the future timeline, a lot of the human/mortal characters from the preceding books are long dead. Thank goodness it all happened off-screen as it were. I was very fond of a lot of those characters.

We got a glimpse of this in the preceding book where there was already a time jump and many of the human/mortal characters we met who had been in their prime 20s/30s in the first 15 books were in their 50s in the last book.

If it is indeed an ending then it feels like there needs to be at least one more book to wrap things up in this new time.  If not, then she'd mostly likely spin off with a whole new set of characters.  Which isn't unheard of for this author. 

[Anduin]

17 hours ago, Rushmoras said:

Towards the end of the Return of the King. 

  Hide contents

 

Anyways, what I wanted to write was:a) Did not remember that there were any wildlings in this series,

  Hide contents

but apparently, they helped deal with the orcs, and in the end Aragorn gave them their own domain to rule (some forest and meadows, and whatnot). Disclaimer, I'm just guessing they are called wildlings, I'm reading the books in my own native language;

b) it would have been cooler if the army of the dead would have been used for the assault on Mordor portion as well instead of being let go after liberating Gondor. You mean to tell me, that you release your ace in the hole and then go on a gamble that the Dark Lord will not crush you? Lucky for you that the Dark Lord virtually does nothing in the entire series, eh?

c) And speaking of Sauron... Damn, he's more lamer than Dracula, at least Dracula did something in Stoker's book. Sauron... everything done by proxy and then just go die after the Ring and Gollum jump of to a volcano... bummer...

 

The Druedain may be wildlings, but they're actually good guys. There are no villainous edain of any kinds, IIRC.

It's a funny thing about Sauron, how it's all just implication. But from what everyone says, they don't want to stir him up and actually test him. For all that Isildur discorporated him once, is Aragorn up to the challenge? Clearly Gandalf is doubtful, hence the whole 'sneaking the ring to the mountain' plan.