What Are We Currently Reading?

[catlover79]

Starting tonight, I think I will be re-reading Beverly Cleary's books to pay tribute to her. 🙏😢❤

[Snow Apple]

1 hour ago, catlover79 said:

Starting tonight, I think I will be re-reading Beverly Cleary's books to pay tribute to her. 🙏😢❤

Emily's Runaway Imagination and Fifteen are two of my comfort reads so maybe I'll read them again. I also like her two memoirs. It's fun to see incidents in her life that made it into her books.

[catlover79]

5 minutes ago, Snow Apple said:

I also like her two memoirs. It's fun to see incidents in her life that made it into her books.

I got A Girl From Yamhill for Christmas years ago. I've never read her second autobiography, but I probably should.

[WinnieWinkle]

1 hour ago, Snow Apple said:

Emily's Runaway Imagination and Fifteen are two of my comfort reads so maybe I'll read them again. I also like her two memoirs. It's fun to see incidents in her life that made it into her books.

I remember vividly the first time I read Jean and Johnny. It was already dated by the time I came across it in our little local library but  it was so well written that it stayed with me for years and I was so happy to find it again as an adult - and then to find that she had written a few other "teen romance" books.  Which were also wonderful.  I love the idea of reading Cleary now in tribute to her and I think I'll start with Jean and Johnny 🙂 .

1 hour ago, catlover79 said:

I got A Girl From Yamhill for Christmas years ago. I've never read her second autobiography, but I probably should.

I've got both and read them years ago.  Definitely going to have to re-read them as well.  

[Haleth]

11 hours ago, catlover79 said:

Starting tonight, I think I will be re-reading Beverly Cleary's books to pay tribute to her. 🙏😢❤

Larry McMurtry died yesterday too.  Two icons.

[dubbel zout]

13 hours ago, Snow Apple said:

Fifteen

I bought that just last year! I read it as a tween and loved it, and I decided it needed to be a part of my permanent library. Ditto Mitch and Amy.

Both books hold up really well. Cleary really knew her audience.

[grommit2]

Help?
I recently read Kochland, the story of how Koch Industries funded various political initiatives designed to minimize their tax and regulatory burdens.  Now I am reading Dark Money, which expands on the political funding story by incorporating many more of the similar-minded funders. Each donor clearly wanted to minimize their tax and regulatory burdens. 
I understand that motive, but it raises the question: are there books that spell out how "the other side" contributes to political campaigns?

Note that, while these books are thoroughly researched and meticulously presented, they leave me with a sense of utter despair.  I really need to go back to something a bit lighter, such as Spencer Quinn or Sofie Ryan. 
 

[legaleagle53]

2 hours ago, dubbel zout said:

I bought that just last year! I read it as a tween and loved it, and I decided it needed to be a part of my permanent library. Ditto Mitch and Amy.

Both books hold up really well. Cleary really knew her audience.

Mitch and Amy is my favorite of the non-Henry Huggins franchise.  Not only does it hold up extremely well (since one of its major themes is how to deal with bullying at school), but it also introduced me to a bit of California culture -- I had no idea that the activity involving the recreation of the Spanish missions was an actual thing that was required of California schoolchildren, and that it was also a project that most of them hated!

[Spartan Girl]

Mom and I just read Grace and Steele: Dorothy, Barbara, Laura, and The Women the Bush Dynasty. It’s a fascinating history, regardless of whatever your political leanings are.

[Madding crowd]

I’m reading Hamnet by Maggie O’ Farrell. It’s about Shakespeare’s son who died of the plague. It’s fiction and good so far.

[kieyra]

Listening to the audiobook of The Queen's Gambit. Not sure I will make it through this--don't care for the narrator. And while it's interesting to compare and contrast with the show, the breakdown of chess moves is explained in a pretty blow-by-blow fashion, which causes me to drift off. It was handled a bit differently in the show.

[SmithW6079]

I've been reading some heavy-duty books lately, so I needed to take a break. I started on Jackie Collins's "Hollywood Wives" and "Hollywood Husbands." I know they're trash, but they're enjoyable and I like that there's no heavy thinking required on my part.

[BlackberryJam]

21 minutes ago, SmithW6079 said:

I've been reading some heavy-duty books lately, so I needed to take a break. I started on Jackie Collins's "Hollywood Wives" and "Hollywood Husbands." I know they're trash, but they're enjoyable and I like that there's no heavy thinking required on my part.

Uhm...Chances ...I loved that one so much.

I just finished Midnight in Chernobyl. A great read, but heavy. I have American Nations checked out, but I really need a bit of a fluffy break. 

[GaT]

Just started Not Dark Yet by Peter Robinson, the 27th book in the DCI Banks series.

[isalicat]

16 hours ago, GaT said:

Just started Not Dark Yet by Peter Robinson, the 27th book in the DCI Banks series.

Definitely going to be interested to hear what you think...I gave up at book 26 because of all the political commentary Peter Robinson kept inserting. It was getting really tiresome as that is definitely not why I read British murder mysteries.

[GaT]

2 hours ago, isalicat said:

Definitely going to be interested to hear what you think...I gave up at book 26 because of all the political commentary Peter Robinson kept inserting. It was getting really tiresome as that is definitely not why I read British murder mysteries.

I haven't gotten very far in, but It's definitely a continuation of the previous book, & I'm not sure if that's going to hold my interest.

[chocolatine]

I'm reading Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood. I loved both The Handmaid's Tale and Alias Grace, but this one moves *a lot* slower. It's character-driven to the point where, 100 pages in, I still can't tell what the plot is. I do enjoy Atwood's writing though, and it's a good bedtime read, so I'll finish it.

On 3/24/2021 at 3:49 PM, Danny Franks said:

So The Nickel Boys wasn't as harrowing as I thought - the abuse of the boys is a threat rather than a constant reality. But there's a twist at the end that genuinely took me aback, and gave the novel far more poignant power than I'd thought it had up to that point.

That's good to know. I've been struggling whether or not I should read it because I can't take anything too depressing these days, but I might give this one a go after all.

On 3/30/2021 at 6:08 PM, kieyra said:

Listening to the audiobook of The Queen's Gambit. Not sure I will make it through this--don't care for the narrator. And while it's interesting to compare and contrast with the show, the breakdown of chess moves is explained in a pretty blow-by-blow fashion, which causes me to drift off. It was handled a bit differently in the show.

I loved the text version, and it's pretty short at 250 pages, so you might want to give that a try. It's true there are a lot of chess technicalities, but when you're reading text you can skim them if they don't interest you.

Edited April 1, 2021 by chocolatine

[EtheltoTillie]

On 3/30/2021 at 8:30 PM, Madding crowd said:

I’m reading Hamnet by Maggie O’ Farrell. It’s about Shakespeare’s son who died of the plague. It’s fiction and good so far.

I’m supposed to be reading this for my very informal book club. Haven’t gotten into it yet. 

[EtheltoTillie]

On 3/27/2021 at 10:57 AM, dubbel zout said:

I bought that just last year! I read it as a tween and loved it, and I decided it needed to be a part of my permanent library. Ditto Mitch and Amy.

Both books hold up really well. Cleary really knew her audience.

I downloaded Fifteen and Jean and Johnny over the weekend. I remember details from Fifteen well from 55 years ago but didn’t remember Jean and Johnny as well until I reread it. Quite a brilliant work, as you really feel every moment of Jean’s dilemmas. It must have made a giant impression on me because at a very young age

Spoiler

I chose a Homer and we are still together .

 

Edited April 1, 2021 by GussieK

[Haleth]

On 3/30/2021 at 8:30 PM, Madding crowd said:

I’m reading Hamnet by Maggie O’ Farrell. It’s about Shakespeare’s son who died of the plague. It’s fiction and good so far.

I'm next in the queue at the library.  I've been waiting a long time for this.

[DearEvette]

Today's Audible Daily Deal for $5.95 is In Fury Born by David Weber.  I snapped it up and started it right away, thrilled that this book is in audio as I had read it when it was originally published around 2006.  It s a great blend of military sci-fi/Space Opera with a little bit of fantasy/mythology thrown in and it is one of my favorites of his.

[Luckylyn]

I just finished Forever Amber.  I found the ending abrupt and unsatisfying.  It’s almost like the author didn’t know what to do next so it just ended.  It’s one of those books where most of the characters are not likable but can be compelling.  I can respect Amber’s cynicism and ruthlessness.  A woman of her class in that time period had such limited options and so some choices I don’t judge her for.  But the whole fixation on Bruce is one that really diminishes her as a character because of how desperate she is.  I am firmly convinced his unattainability is his main attraction for her and that she’d grow bored if she ever felt she had him completely.  That’s a romance where both are terrible and you pity the people around them who love them. 

Now I am moving on to read Act Your Age, Eve Brown which is the third book in The Brown Sisters series by Talia Hibbert.  I really have enjoyed these books.  After finishing Forever Amber I need to read a book with likable engaging characters.  Plus, I there’s so much comfort in romance novels because of that guaranteed happy ending.  

[BlackberryJam]

Finished the latest Stewart Hoag book by David Handler. I really enjoy his writing but this one was a bit obvious.

[Mindthinkr]

I just finished Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield. It was a bit spooky, but it served the story well. I also enjoyed her other book The Thirteenth Tale. The author is very nice. I belong to a Twitter book club and she cheerfully joins us and is willing to discuss her books. 

[peacheslatour]

I just finished The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters. Question for those of you who have read it:

Spoiler

When Caroling calls out You! before she chucks herself over the balcony, do you think it was Farraday? After all he spent the night on the grounds and "dreamed" he went up to the house.

 

[Haleth]

6 hours ago, Mindthinkr said:

I just finished Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield. It was a bit spooky, but it served the story well. I also enjoyed her other book The Thirteenth Tale. The author is very nice. I belong to a Twitter book club and she cheerfully joins us and is willing to discuss her books. 

I loved OUAR.  Such a dreamy fairytale.  13th Tale was very creepy.

[MadyGirl1987]

I’m reading “Are We There Yet?” by Kathleen West. Ive just started it am enjoying it. The book flap summary is that this is about Alice, who thinks her life is perfect, but realizes her daughter is behind in school and her son is bullying another student. Then her mom comes clean about a deep family secret. She has to deal with all of this and what it means for her and her family while handling the social backlash for being “a mom who can’t control her kids.”

 

Edited April 4, 2021 by MadyGirl1987

[isalicat]

Just finished Faithful Place by Tana French (yes, I know I'm "late to the game" - saw "The Dublin Murders" on TV and wanted to see if I liked the writer directly) - Wow! Amazing good book. Not so much a murder mystery as an evocative portrait of Dublin life, both bad and good. I recommend entirely and will now seek out the next novel in the series.

[helenamonster]

Just finished: Every Last Fear by Alex Finlay, a pretty standard whodunnit. I wasn't bowled over by the ending. While I suspected early on that

Spoiler

the governor had something to do with both Charlotte's murder and the death of the Pines,

the rationale was a weird mixture of underwhelming and complicated. I think if certain things had been set up better (and if certain characters had been given more focus), I would have felt more satisfied by it. But it moved at a good clip and has a lot of characters, so makes for a fairly breezy read if you're into the genre.

Next up: Eternal by Lisa Scottoline.

[sugarbaker design]

19 hours ago, peacheslatour said:

I just finished The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters. Question for those of you who have read it:

  Hide contents

When Caroling calls out You! before she chucks herself over the balcony, do you think it was Farraday? After all he spent the night on the grounds and "dreamed" he went up to the house.

 

Spoiler

Yes, in a way.  I didn't understand it until the very last line when Farraday looks at a reflection of himself in the cracked mirror.  That's when I knew that Farraday split in two when he visited the house when he was a kid.  Farraday and the older doctor (I forget his name) had a conversation about such phenomena earlier in the novel.  Little Farraday left the house and lived his life, while his other half stayed in the house and never grew up.  I took it as Caroline being pushed over the balcony by the little stranger, Farraday's evil half.

 

[dubbel zout]

I picked up Ottessa Moshfegh's Death in Her Hands again, and it's going much better this time around. I have no idea where the story is going, which I'm enjoying.

[sugarbaker design]

18 hours ago, isalicat said:

Just finished Faithful Place by Tana French (yes, I know I'm "late to the game" - saw "The Dublin Murders" on TV and wanted to see if I liked the writer directly) - Wow! Amazing good book. Not so much a murder mystery as an evocative portrait of Dublin life, both bad and good. I recommend entirely and will now seek out the next novel in the series.

Faithful Place is one of my favorites of French's titles.  I believe it's followed by my absolute favorite French novel Broken Harbor.

[peacheslatour]

2 hours ago, sugarbaker design said:

  Hide contents

Yes, in a way.  I didn't understand it until the very last line when Farraday looks at a reflection of himself in the cracked mirror.  That's when I knew that Farraday split in two when he visited the house when he was a kid.  Farraday and the older doctor (I forget his name) had a conversation about such phenomena earlier in the novel.  Little Farraday left the house and lived his life, while his other half stayed in the house and never grew up.  I took it as Caroline being pushed over the balcony by the little stranger, Farraday's evil half.

 

I love your interpretation. It's perfect.

Spoiler

When Farraday stole that plaster acorn his spirit had  become corrupted by envy. The house had twisted him and when he returned when called out to see Betty, the house finally took the rest of him. I noticed at the end he talked about the way he takes care of the house, how he is getting concerned about the roof, how he kept his key and goes there in his spare time, completely unconscious that the house isn't his to be concerned about.

 

Edited April 5, 2021 by peacheslatour

[sugarbaker design]

11 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

I love this interpretation. It's perfect.

  Reveal spoiler

When Farraday stole that plaster acorn his spirit had  become corrupted by envy. The house had twisted him and when he returned when called out to see Betty, the house finally took the rest of him. I noticed at the end he talked about the way he takes care of the house, how he is getting concerned about the roof, how he kept his key and goes there in his spare time, completely unconscious that the house isn't his to be concerned about.

 

Wow, it really connects the dots.

[Darian]

On 4/4/2021 at 3:33 PM, Haleth said:

I loved OUAR.  Such a dreamy fairytale.  13th Tale was very creepy.

I agree on both. What I love about OUAR was that when I started it, I was afraid I was going to get sick of the particular fairy tale tone the author was using (I love fairy tale retellings, but there was something that just made me feel it was going to wear on me) but that book completely sneaked up on me and was one of the most enjoyable reads of the year for me. Just a delight. 



     

[EtheltoTillie]

I am going to try Jess Walter's new book, The Cold Millions.  Recommended by a friend.   I really liked Beautiful Ruins.

[dubbel zout]

Last night I finished A Death in Her Hands, and it was a bit unsatisfying. Ottessa Moshfegh is effective at eeriness and menace, but I feel like she didn't really know how to end the book.

[truthaboutluv]

I completed The Last Mrs. Parrish and found it mostly okay. A quick and easy enough read. That said, I've identified my issue with so many of these popular mystery/thriller books - it's overselling on the part of the publishers. Don't get me wrong, I work in Strategic Communications, so I get pushing your product and hype.

But so many of them promise all these twists and turns that you won't see coming and instead the twists and turns always end up being so glaringly obvious. Like it's been a long time since a mystery/thriller has truly surprised me. And the few times when the twist has been somewhat surprising, it ends up making no sense, so the book is still a fail. 

So yeah I didn't hate The Last Mrs. Parrish but really 

Spoiler

who didn't quickly figure out that the husband was an abusive dick and so the wife who clearly had figured out what the not at all subtle manipulative other lead character was doing, was essentially setting up for the two to get together so she could be free of said abusive husband. I mean really. 

I have to say it was also interesting that the author chose to give Amber virtually no redeeming quality. It's almost like she wrote it to say that she and Jackson truly were soulmates and deserved each other, as both were sociopaths in their own way. 

 

[isalicat]

1 hour ago, truthaboutluv said:

But so many of them promise all these twists and turns that you won't see coming and instead the twists and turns always end up being so glaringly obvious. Like it's been a long time since a mystery/thriller has truly surprised me. And the few times when the twist has been somewhat surprising, it ends up making no sense, so the book is still a fail. 

I tend to agree. Consequently I tend to choose my mystery/thriller authors by how well they write (ongoing) characters with PD James and Dorothy Sayers being at the top of the list in this category (IMO, clearly). So I like a good puzzle to solve but am willing to let the story unfold without guessing ahead too much (or even caring so much who dunnit at the end) if I am enjoying whats going on with my hero/heroine. Lately the books of Jane Casey featuring Maeve Kerrington are really hitting the sweet spot for me and now I'm just pissed off that there are only two more to go for me to read before she will have to write some more....or not 😞

[Haleth]

18 hours ago, GussieK said:

I am going to try Jess Walter's new book, The Cold Millions.  Recommended by a friend.   I really liked Beautiful Ruins.

It's good.  Interesting history.

[DearEvette]

Just finished The Songbook of Benny Lament by Amy Harmon.  I loved it.  Told from the POV of Benny Lament, the son of a mobster, but all he wants to do is write songs.  He meets Esther Mine an African American singer who has a complicated history entertwined with his own family's. The book takes place in the 60s and is a chock full of songs, mobsters, murder, mystery, road tours, radio and romance.  Also lots of real world name dropping from the sixties music scene.  The writing is lovely, the supporting characters are interesting and add a lot to the story, and the two main characters are charismatic and well drawn.

[Crs97]

Reading The Push by Ashley Audrain.  Very well written and highly disturbing.  I put it down at midnight; at 3:30 am I was still awake trying to shake the feeling it gave me.  Very tired today.  I don’t know if I can finish it, but I think I need to just to get some sort of closure.

[Rushmoras]

Finished reading Walter Scott's "The Bride of Lammermoor". Started somewhere a month ago or so. It's an alright book, if you like tragedies. Although, lost interest somewhere in the middle and for a couple of weeks 50 or so pages remained to be read.

Spoiler

The book is about the last heir of the family, who wants to seek revenge on another family that acquired the assets and fortune of his late father, but, as is in these cases, the daughter of the hated family stops him from seeking revenge. They both fall in love to the dismay of the daughter's family and, I suppose, the uncle of the heir; and everything is done so that the lovers would not be together. In the end, the daughter is forced to marry another man and on the wedding night goes insane, kills the groom and shortly dies thereafter from heart-ache. And the heir, who once upon a time sworn revenge, died a couple of weeks later in a quick-sand on the way to a duel with the girl's brother, who felt that he somehow insulted the honour of his family.

The book has some mysticism elements, for example, the main character of the book is visited by spirits or there are prophecies involved, but they serve more as an afterthought or as a foreshadowing of things to come, if you look at it from hindsight perspective after reading the whole book.

Did I like it? Well, it certainly was different from the books that I like to read (generally detective stories and/or S. King's books) and, while at first, it was really interesting, but as I've said before, I lost interest somewhere in the middle. Maybe too much time was spent on the character development, because there were a handful of them in the book, I don't know. On the other hand, it was much more interesting than the previous book I've read, which was Bram Stoker's "Dracula", so I'll give it that.

[peacheslatour]

26 minutes ago, Rushmoras said:

Finished reading Walter Scott's "The Bride of Lammermoor". Started somewhere a month ago or so. It's an alright book, if you like tragedies. Although, lost interest somewhere in the middle and for a couple of weeks 50 or so pages remained to be read.

  Reveal spoiler

The book is about the last heir of the family, who wants to seek revenge on another family that acquired the assets and fortune of his late father, but, as is in these cases, the daughter of the hated family stops him from seeking revenge. They both fall in love to the dismay of the daughter's family and, I suppose, the uncle of the heir; and everything is done so that the lovers would not be together. In the end, the daughter is forced to marry another man and on the wedding night goes insane, kills the groom and shortly dies thereafter from heart-ache. And the heir, who once upon a time sworn revenge, died a couple of weeks later in a quick-sand on the way to a duel with the girl's brother, who felt that he somehow insulted the honour of his family.

The book has some mysticism elements, for example, the main character of the book is visited by spirits or there are prophecies involved, but they serve more as an afterthought or as a foreshadowing of things to come, if you look at it from hindsight perspective after reading the whole book.

Did I like it? Well, it certainly was different from the books that I like to read (generally detective stories and/or S. King's books) and, while at first, it was really interesting, but as I've said before, I lost interest somewhere in the middle. Maybe too much time was spent on the character development, because there were a handful of them in the book, I don't know. On the other hand, it was much more interesting than the previous book I've read, which was Bram Stoker's "Dracula", so I'll give it that.

The problem I had with Dracula was that when the title character wasn't on the page (which is a lot) the book was as dull as dishwater.

[proserpina65]

On ‎04‎/‎04‎/‎2021 at 3:12 PM, peacheslatour said:

I just finished The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters. Question for those of you who have read it:

  Reveal spoiler

When Caroling calls out You! before she chucks herself over the balcony, do you think it was Farraday? After all he spent the night on the grounds and "dreamed" he went up to the house.

 

Absolutely.

Spoiler

I think all the allegedly supernatural things that happen are really him.  After all, he was treating the brother and then the mother, and could easily have drugged both of them.

 

[peacheslatour]

28 minutes ago, proserpina65 said:

Absolutely.

  Hide contents

I think all the allegedly supernatural things that happen are really him.  After all, he was treating the brother and then the mother, and could easily have drugged both of them.

 

He is a rather unreliable narrator, isn't he?

[bmasters9]

Unsafe at Any Speed, famed consumer advocate Ralph Nader's 1965 classic (this copy from 1966) about how automobiles of the time (like the Corvair, described in the first chapter) were designed to crash and fail and injure drivers and passengers, IIRC

 

[isalicat]

12 minutes ago, bmasters9 said:

Unsafe at Any Speed, famed consumer advocate Ralph Nader's 1965 classic (this copy from 1966) about how automobiles of the time (like the Corvair, described in the first chapter) were designed to crash and fail and injure drivers and passengers, IIRC

My mom had a Corvair and she had to put two 100 lb. bags of sand in the front (which was the "trunk" as the engine was in the rear) to keep the front of the car on the ground at speeds over 50. (It was so poorly designed you could feel the front trying to lift off once you hit the highway.)

 

 

[bmasters9]

15 minutes ago, isalicat said:

My mom had a Corvair and she had to put two 100 lb. bags of sand in the front (which was the "trunk" as the engine was in the rear) to keep the front of the car on the ground at speeds over 50. (It was so poorly designed you could feel the front trying to lift off once you hit the highway.)

 

 

 

I wouldn't want to be riding in that kind of car, unsafe as it was apparently!

[Starleigh]

Currently reading News of the World by Paulette Jiles after seeing (and loving) the movie. It's not the sort of genre I usually read (Western) but it's quite good, so far. I want to try some of her other books now.

Just got a copy of Joshilyn Jackson's newest, Mother May I. No idea of the plot, I read all her books regardless, but since her last one was more of novel of suspense rather than her usual Southern "grit lit" I am wondering if this is the same and if she's decided to branch out to a different genre now. Really looking forward to my weekend reading now😊