WHAT ARE YOU READING? - Part 2

As usual, we are very chatty at the start of the year :)

One month down (what? when?!?!). How is your reading year going? :)

Stop by to tell us what you are reading and catch up with what everyone else is reading.

I've started River of the Gods about the explorers looking for the source of the Nile.

I've got two books going at the moment: my recent ER win, Psalms of My People, which I'm finding fascinating, and Master Slave Husband Wife, for our community book club. Neither is really a bedtime book, so having just finished a very satisfying reread of The Folk of the Air, I'm hunting another. This darn real life is interfering at times, though.

I have a reading schedule I assign myself so I read both fiction, non-fiction and short stories, as well as at least some of the magazines I subscribe to and mostly throw away without reading. And I like to throw in poetry every now and then. I read whatever non-fiction book I have going on M-W, fiction on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. On Fridays I read either short stories, magazines, journals, or poetry. I listen to audio books whenever I go anywhere in my car or for a walk. So with that explanation, here's what I'm reading now:
- Fiction: Duty and Desire by Pamela Aidan - a little over half-way through
- Non-fiction: just started The Warburgs by Ron Chernow - just begun - The Song of Roland which started as a short story/poetry Friday read turned into non-fiction so I'd finish it, so now I'm back to a real non-fiction book.
- Nothing right now.
- Audio - Eversion by Alastair Reynolds. I have about five hours left.

just reread one day all this will be yours for my rl sci fi book group. Expecting a very interesting discussion. continuing my name is barbra for the Non Fiction February Theme:women at work Its gonna take me more than a month but Ill get it done. and starting the vaster wilds hopening it will be as good as her other books, and I really need to finish covenant of water

I just picked up my ILL copy of Where The Wild Winds Are, which was a book bullet from someone on LT (possibly in the last thread, I don't remember). So I'll be starting that soon. Also reading The Song by Jean Johnson - really good romance fantasy (fluff, but _good_ fluff. Great, complex characters and events). I just finished The House in the Cerulean Sea; not terrible, but not great either. Looking for another book on my phone, not sure what I'll pick up there.

Last night I finished The Island at the Center of the World, Russell Shorto's excellent and enjoyable history of Dutch Manhattan and New Amersterdam. My review is up on my Club Read thread.

Next up for me will be The Ploughmen by Kim Zupan, a crime novel set in Montana.

>7 rocketjk: I read that book a very long time ago and enjoyed it as much as you did, did I suggest city of dreams to you? huge HF about the same subject. Its a tome but a page turner as well

just edited to fix touchstone

>8 cindydavid4: I was not aware of City of Dreams until you mentioned it. At this point I feel like I have a pretty good handle on the topic without needing a fictionalized account, but maybe one of these days I'll feel like cracking that book, too!

Just started Other Side of Midnight by Simone St. James - paranormal mystery. Now on the third of the Sandman Slims - still enjoying the cranky, campy rompy noirness of the series.

Anyone else also have a comfort read always on the go? I've found it helps me sleep to read old low-stakes favourites as I fall asleep.

I just finished Peter Duck of the Swallows and Amazons series. >10 leamos: It was a nice change of pace from some of my more depressing reading, although not exactly a comfort read as I typically think of it. Very fun though.

I opened February partially through William Faulkner’s second novel, Mosquitoes, and partially through the Wife of Bath’s Prologue (this morning I finished her tale.) And on Feb 1 i began White Teeth by Zadie Smith on audio.

>2 labfs39: I'm in the middle of reading this one right now, and it's fascinating. I really like how Candice Millard writes and structures things. I'm also very certain I would not make it as a 19th century explorer (from reading this and also other things).

I had some time to kill before an appointment so I wandered into a nearby bookshop and picked up Random in Death which I have already finished.

>13 shadrach_anki: I got waylaid by a new e-book, and am now halfway through Days at the Morisaki Bookshop.

>14 rhian_of_oz: Oh, what did you think? I used to enjoy the J. D. Robb books but lately I feel they've jumped the shark.

>16 rv1988: I still like them as they are an easy read, but I can see why you would abandon the series. There's not much new in terms of character development but I am still enjoying them.

review of vaster wilds here https://www.librarything.com/topic/356174#n8401352

beautifully written but rather disappointing.

now off to read covenant of water

>15 labfs39: That also happens to be waiting for me on my Kindle; I picked it up on a really good sale last month! How are you enjoying it so far?

Now reading:
Zero-Sum: Stories by Joyce Carol Oates, 2024

Le Guin Collected Poems (The Library of America), by Ursula K. LeGuin, 2016

>19 shadrach_anki: Sadly, I found it disappointing. Not bad, just not much of anything.

I've declared 2024 the YOBB (Year of Big Books) and have so far completed a 731 page biography of Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow; a 615 page biography of Elon Musk by Walter Isaacson and a 814 page novel, A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara, as well as four shorter books for book clubs or library due dates.

Next up, The Post-Birthday World by Lionel Shriver. It's just over 500 pages, which counts as a Big Book, as well as being a book club read.

thats my fav Shriver. Once you start, those pages will zip by!

Ive been wanting to read the Hamilton book, seen the musical several times. Not sure why I am putting it off, unless its the fact that Ill probably sing all the songs as I read!

>22 LynnB: I found Chernow’s Hamilton book inspiring. Loved it. Enjoy your YOBB

>23 cindydavid4: you might love it too. Be sure to get past Chernow’s underwhelming intro and onto Hamilton’s childhood before evaluating.

gotcha, thanks for the tip

Besides The Killer Inside Me I am also reading This Is the Honey: An Anthology of Contemporary Black Poets by Kwame Alexander. I’ll be posting some of the poems from the anthology in the poetry topic/thread. I also checked out this book on hoopla - 1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die: A Listener's Life List. I’ll be listening to a bunch of those on Spotify.

>4 janoorani24: I enjoyed Pamela Aidan's Pride and Prejudice spinoffs. Better than many of them.

>18 cindydavid4: I have The Vaster Wilds waiting in the wings. I have loved all of Lauren Groff's books, so I hope I'm not disappointed.

I recently started Prophet's Song. Not sure what I think yet.

>17 rhian_of_oz: I think what disturbed me the most about the last one I read was that Robb/Roberts seems to have completely given up the sort of moral core that her protagonist has. I remember how in early books, Dallas was extremely - almost excessively careful about letting Roarke's wealth and power influence her judgment, and now it's sort of taken for granted that the police will use illegal means to achieve their ends and that said billionaire will be their PA/butler while they do it. I was especially perturbed by one of the recent ones in which she just stands by after arresting a criminal and lets her billionaire husband beat him up while looking away. Granted, they had beef and the bad guy was a bad guy, but the early Eve Dallas would consider justice to be done by the arrest and the trial. . It feels like what set these books apart from the dozens of others in the genre has just completely fallen aside.

I've finished Aquitania by Eva García Sáenz which was a five stars. Now i'm reading Murder At Mallowan Hall.

>28 rv1988: Now that you've pointed it out, I can see what you mean. I'm going to look out for it from now on.

My hold on Wifedom came in so I started that today. I also picked up The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels which I'm hoping will continue to be as fun as it started.

>29 Ameise1: oh I love stories about Eleanor, and thats one of my fav time periods. Will have to take a look at it. Have you read any of Sharon Kay Penmans or Eliz Chadwicks take on her?

I am only finding Spanish editions; are there any translated into English?

Wifedom looks very intriguing Is this a bio or HF?

>32 cindydavid4: It looks like it has not yet been translated into English.

ok, thanks

>29 Ameise1: That sounds very interesting. I hope it will be translated into English!

I'm almost finished Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano for my book club. It's a very book club book, but also I found myself delighted by it. Napolitano knows how to strike emotional notes.

I've just started the "it" book of last year, The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride. It is excellent and I love that this author is getting the recognition (and hopefully the big bucks) that he deserves.

I'm continuing on with River of the Gods, but my interlibrary loan of Murderbot 3 Rogue Protocol came into today, so immediately started that as well.

>37 RidgewayGirl:
heaven and earth grocery store is one of the books Im currently reading and like you really enjoying it. However, that may be ursurped by the book I just got-how to build a boat This author appears to be very experienced with kids with special needs; suspect Ill be done soon

>38 labfs39: I'm currently listening to System Collapse and hoping that Wells manages to write another installment before I finish.

>39 cindydavid4: The eternal problem of wanting to read all the books.

I’m in Paris remembering the past, À la recherche du temps perdu, which is a particularly French thing to do. But it’s in the 80s and Annie Erneaux is remembering the changes in society and her life in Les Années. I can’t wait till she gets to the early 2000’s and the mobile phone is invented. Ernaux is so amusing, writing about the “Whatever generation” and Mitterrand and all things Francaise. .

It’s much like a French version of McEwan’s Lessons except it’s written by a woman and is French and is therefor is so much more fun.

>41 kjuliff: that’s one I’m hoping to read this year

>40 RidgewayGirl: yup I can usually juggle three, but it seems I have about 7 that I have started and put down but wanting to get back to; This book is one that I took to from the first. I hope to pick up the other books later....

>41 kjuliff: I read that; parts of it were slow and repetitive but I appreciated it very much and glad I read it

>42 dchaikin: You mean The Years? It’s pretty good, but more suitable in terms of content for those who turned 40 in the 1980s. Erneaux is about 6 years older than me but I remember most of the movements she writes about. I found it interesting that the motivating forces for socio-politically aware women were so similar to those of Australian women of my vintage.

>44 cindydavid4: I agree with you on the slow bits. Repetitive I think because the different movements were intrinsically repetitive . I am still reading it. Erneaux has a sharp eye. I like that she describes gen x as the “whatever generation”.

>45 kjuliff: yes, I have Erneaux' The Years on my plan.

>33 cindydavid4: That's a good question. The Financial Times included Wifedom in its list of "Best books of 2023 — Literary non-fiction". I'm only a few pages in but it seems that it is fictionalising Eileen O’Shaughnessy’s marriage to George Orwell based on her letters and other documents. At the same time Ms Funder is including details about her own life while undertaking the research on Eileen. I'm enjoying it so far.

>45 kjuliff: I really enjoyed The Years even though I was considerably younger than 40 in the 1980s and have no knowledge of recent French history. I can see that it would have more resonance if one lived through her era, but it is still an excellent read for those of us that did not.

>49 ELiz_M: Good to know. I wondered what the experience would be like for younger readers. Some of the very early parts were earlier than my own life-span and it didn’t really matter, but because most of it was within my own life I had thought it might not have resonated with those younger than me.

>49I can see that it would have more resonance if one lived through her era, but it is still an excellent read for those of us that did not.

I agree I was 23 in 1980, not sure being younger made a difference in how i related to her life since by the time I read it, I knew so much of that history of her earlier years from my parents (esp about the war years) and at school

I was born in 1978 and I'm planning to read The Years sometime soon. I'll be interested to see how it works for me!

Just finished Cursed Bread by Sophie Mackintosh. Can't recommend it. Am now reading The Marriage Question by Claire Carlisle, a biographical work on George Eliot. Proving readable and interesting so far.

>49 ELiz_M:
I really enjoyed The Years even though I was considerably younger than 40 in the 1980s and have no knowledge of recent French history. I can see that it would have more resonance if one lived through her era, but it is still an excellent read for those of us that did not.
Agree entirely. I did find it helpful though having mobile alongside and referring to Wikipedia on occasions! Will be rereading later this month as one of my book group reads.

>51 cindydavid4: I can’t agree. In the final pages we learn what Erneaux wanted to convey in the book and why she used “we” instead of “I”. She was trying to define herself and to synthesise her identity with the events she lived through. I understand anyone of any age can appreciate The Years,but the writers reactions and more easily understood by those who lived through those shared experiences.

For example there were parts of the book specific to France and I did not fully relate to those. I know about the colonization and decolonization of Algeria. But just as those not in NYC in September 2001 cannot experience what it was like there when the Towers were attacked, I did not feel as Erneaux did as she followed the war in Algiers.

ok, as always, ymmv

Just started The Princes in the Tower by Philippa Langley. I'll be reading this gradually (~14 p./day) through Feb.

While it took me no time to read the 950 page Dumas book, it took a week and a half to finish the 230 page John Wyndham book Trouble with Lichen. In fact, I'm not actually finished yet as I still have 20 pages left. But I refuse to go to bed tonight without finishing this book. I don't know why I struggled so hard with this book; I quite like Wyndham otherwise.

I finished Mosquitoes by William Faulkner. I can shred this book in many ways, so not quite sure why i seem to have warm feelings towards it. I guess it was entertaining in its own way. I’ve started The Mother’s Recompense by Edith Wharton. I had almost forgotten how lovely her prose is, or how nice it is to read such prose.

Last night I finished The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pio Williams for my college alumni book club. Another thought provoking read and one that will have many topics to discuss.

>59 Carrieida:
I read this just before Christmas, and absolutely loved it: as you say, plenty to discuss therein too. Looking forward to trying her latest The Bookbinder of Jericho. Followed Dictionary up with The Dictionary People by Sara Ogilvie, non-fiction about the real volunteers involved (including Edith Thompson, fictionalised as Aunt Ditte) - unusually enjoyed the fiction more, but it was still a very interesting read.

I’m halfway through Elizabeth and her German Garden the final of the three Elizabeth Von ArminsI wanted to read. It’s the earliest of the three. She had an interesting and privileged life and her low spot was her brief time with Bertrand Russell’s brother Frank. Her novel, Vera is descriptive of her marriage to Frank Russell. This Garden novel has her first husband figuring in it as an archetypal German, who she humorously refers to as “The Man of Wrath”. In between Russell and the German she had an affaire with H.G. Wells.

>59 Carrieida: loved that book! my book wasnt all that much for it, but I only had one beef the way she dies I have the bookbinder of jericho tried to read it a couple of times but it didn;t charm me the way the first one did. Ill try again later

reveiw for how to build a boatis here
https://www.librarything.com/topic/356174#n8408325

>60 Willoyd: I've been tempted to read The Dictionary People after reading Dictionary of Lost Words for my book club last year. Have you read The Professor and the Madman? If so, how does it compare with DP? I read and really enjoyed it many, many years ago.

was going to post this in SciFi, but think all readers need to know whats happening with the Hugo awards this year.

".With the help of fans from all over the world, including many fans here in China participating for the very first time, we identified a ballot of 114 deserving finalists,” McCarty said behind a podium, wearing a black tux over a white waistcoat and bow tie. “We then asked the community to rank those choices as they saw fit.”

But that’s not what happened. Something had gone horribly wrong.

Someone had stolen nominations from The Sandman legend Neil Gaiman, Babel author R. F. Kuang, Iron Widow novelist Xiran Jay Zhao, and fan writer Paul Weimer. All four of them earned enough votes to be finalists—and therefore eventually winners—but for unknown reasons, someone had secretly marked their works as “ineligible” after the first rounds of voting
Three months later, the truth came out when McCarty shared the Hugo nominating statistics on Facebook: Someone had stolen nominations from The Sandman legend Neil Gaiman, Babel author R. F. Kuang, Iron Widow novelist Xiran Jay Zhao, and fan writer Paul Weimer. All four of them earned enough votes to be finalists—and therefore eventually winners—but for unknown reasons, someone had secretly marked their works as “ineligible” after the first rounds of voting.

Among sci-fi and fantasy fans, the uproar was immediate and intense. Had government officials in the host country censored the finalists? Did the awards committee make a colossal mistake when tallying the votes, then try to cover it up? Or did something even stranger occur?

https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/books/a46612912/science-fiction-hugo-award...

>65 cindydavid4: Thats so interesting Cindy. Why not cross-post in “Interesting Articles”?

>64 labfs39: I had to look that one up! I realise I know it as The Surgeon of Crowthorne. It's a long time since I read it, but my recollection is that they are not dissimilar, although Surgeon makes a better story. DP is definitely worth a read if you find the subject interesting (which I do!); it's certainly well researched. I found it a little bit bitty and random but I still wanted to read it all. Perhaps better read in chapters as individual essays than one continuous book? Whatever, it certainly added to my enjoyment of DLW.

I finished The Killer Inside Me yesterday. The first Jim Thompson I’ve read and I’ll definitely be reading more. Now I am reading When we cease to Understand the World.

I finished Duty and Desire by Pamela Aidan a couple of days ago, and immediately began the last book in the trilogy, These Three Remain. Duty and Desire, while officially Jane Austen Pride and Prejudice fan fiction, only features Elizabeth Bennet as a day dream in Darcy's mind. He attempts to fulfill his duty by traveling to a country house gathering to find a wife suitable for his station. The novel contains gothic elements, and new characters outside the Jane Austen universe. I enjoyed it a lot and give if four stars.

>68 dianeham: I tried that on audio and couldn’t feel good about listening to it. Probably it’s better suited to print.

>70 kjuliff: probably.

>66 kjuliff: becoz I couldnt find it! Ill try again ETA It does not exist for this year, unless I accidently took it out of my list. If someone sees it could you send me the link? much appreciated

>67 Willoyd: It's so confusing when books get different titles in different countries. You know, it's been so many years since I read Professor and the Madman that maybe I'll reread it rather than Dictionary People.

In the meantime, I picked up Mãn today, another short novel by Kim Thúy, an author whom I love. I had been saving it for a special day, and that day was today. I was a bit down in the dumps and this appealed. I'm about half way through. Superbly written as always.

>73 labfs39: I think I’ll try Dictionary People

ETA: none of my library ebook sources have it.

>73 labfs39: oh that sounds like a lovely book thx for the rec

>72 cindydavid4: Here it is Interesting articles

>75 cindydavid4: If you haven't tried anything by Kim Thuy before, I highly recommend her. I loved Em and Ru. This will be my third book by her. She writes very short works, but they are so beautifully written. I would recommend you start with Ru, Cindy, as it is semi-autobiographical and includes some lovely passages about being the parent of an autistic child.

>76 kjuliff: thanks!

>73 labfs39: Why not both? They'd compliment each other well.

In the meantime, I'm not uncommonly reading a non-fiction (less rapidly) and fiction (more so):
The Marriage Question by Clare Carlisle, an examination of George Eliot's relationship with George Lewes and it's impact on her writing - an interesting follow-up to Daniel Deronda, and on my immediate 'Book Pile' list.
The Bone Readers by Jacob Ross, a lively and so far engrossing crime novel, the book for Grenada in my Reading The World project.

I posted a different article on the Hugo scandal in Interesting Articles a bit ago. It'll be interesting to see how that shakes out.

I bought my 14 year old son All Systems Red, the first book in the Murderbot series that is taking Club Read by storm. He wasn't a huge fan and wanted to talk about it, so I'm reading it now. I think I agree with him. I should finish it today.

I'm also reading a bio of 17th century scientist and artist, Maria Sibylla Merian, called Chrysalis. It's very interesting and I'm enjoying it.

I think next up will be Hunger by Knut Hamsun.

>81 japaul22: Sorry Murderbot is not your cuppa. I read Hunger several years ago and I still remember the atmosphere. Reminded me of Dostoevsky.

I finished William Boyd’s Any Human Heart, which I really liked and would recommend. Have just started Rumer Godden’s In this House of Brede.

>83 dianelouise100: I started In this House of Brede last year but life got in the way and I put it aside early on. I’d really like to get back to it.

I’ve been busy for some time (and will be for some time to come) with Armadale by Wilkie Collins. I hadn’t read such a long book for years, and I’m pleased I still can. I’m really enjoying it.

I finished The Ploughmen by Kim Zupan, a very good but dark psychological study of a novel about a psychopathic murderer sitting in a jail cell and the policeman who's been assigned to sit up with him every night to try to befriend him and learn about old crimes. The two characters are both well drawn and memorable. The books's Montana setting is very vividly rendered. I've got a (much) longer review up on my Club Read thread.

Next I'll be reading a novel of China and America, Lan Samantha Chang's Inheritance.

>84 rachbxl: I remember reading Armadale a couple years ago and really enjoying it. I think it’s right up there with The Woman in White as my favorite Collins novel. I’ve gotten about 100 pages into Brede and am liking it a lot. I find it a very intriguing topic.

Finished The Other Side of Midnight by Simone St. James - really enjoyed it! Interesting structure, kept me guessing until it was very obvious, and I appreciate when the romance doesn't overshadow the plot when I'm not reading within the genre - I felt this had a good balance. Will definitely be reading more by her.

Started Eternal Life by Dara Horn and am already fully drawn in. Really enjoying the way she's building the story.

Also continuing my Sandman Slim re-reads - #3 was much better than #2, getting much deeper into the mythology of the world. Getting started on #4 now.

oh dara horn is one of my favs. Loved her first two books world to come and in the image she also wrote people love dead jews really interesting work with concepts I really never thought of before. gosh I dont remember if I read eternal life, will have to look (gosh that synopsis really sounds familiar)

>32 cindydavid4: the german author Tanja Kinkel wrotte Die Löwin von Aquitanien. A magnificient book. It has been translated in english, but I don't find the title right now.

ok thanks, Ill see if I can track it down cant seem to; let me know if you happen to remember the title, much appreciated!

Starting walking the woods and water again, cause I got more curious about what happens when he gets to turkey. Still not thrilled with his lack of planning, but hes now in romania where paddy spent much of his time.I suspect I will finishe this

reading elizabeths german garden a journey Ive been wanting to read a biographer of this author, one of my favorites. Finding out a lot about the actua author, Mary Beaucamp, who writes under Eliz VA. The author here does a great job of linking her books with her life, and quite enjoying the bits Ive found that I had missed by reading them.

I finally finished my first interlibrary loan book, River of the Gods and started the second, The Day Lasts More than a Hundred Years, a fun read so far.

Finished The Bone Readers, and moved on to Olive Kitteridge, my book for Maine in Tour of the United States project.

>93 Willoyd: lots of people I know loved Olive Kitteridge but I just didn’t get it. I read to the end but couldn’t see what they saw in it,

I'm almost finished with Lessons in Chemistry and will start a Juvenile chapter book Bernard Pepperlin: The Dormouse's Journey from Wonderland to Manhattan. What can I say? The cute cover got me! 🤷

>93 Willoyd: I'll be curious as to your thoughts, Will. Like >94 kjuliff: Kate, I wanted to like it, especially as it is set in my home state, but I had a couple of issues with it and just didn't connect. Others on Club Read and elsewhere love it, so ymmv.

>88 cindydavid4: I'm really loving it so far - I don't know if it would be as enjoyable to someone who is completely unfamiliar with Jewish history especially as it pertains to the development and longevity of Talmudic thinking.

Some of the lines in the book are very resonant in this moment for me, and I needed to put them somewhere, so I started a collection in the review space. Is there a better spot for something like that on LT?

>93 Willoyd: I read Olive Kitteridge last year and remember enjoying it a great deal. There are certainly a variety of opinions about it, so I hope you’ll enjoy it too. It’s definitely a character driven novel with a very eccentric main character. (I just went back and added my review to the Work page.)

>92 labfs39: Oh I loved that book, read it two years ago for the Asia challenge (really two years, seems like just a few months) it is a fun book but there is a sadness about it that I remember staying with me. but enjoy!

>97 leamos: good question, not sure, but I think that might be an idea for a new thread. favorite quotes or something like that. so glad you are liking it.

>98 dianelouise100: I think I loved OK because I empathized so much with her; a little rough around the edges but someone who surprises you how much she really does care for others

I'm reading Diary of a Tuscan Bookshop by Alba Donati. So far it's OK - decidedly average.

>99 cindydavid4: I'm enjoying it so far, Cindy. It's very different from the other book by Aitmatov that I've read, Jamilia. A kind of poignant dark humor. I can't wait to see how he ties the two plotlines (going by camel to the cemetery and the missing cosmonauts).

>94 kjuliff: >96 labfs39: >98 dianelouise100:
I originally had Empire Falls down for Maine with Olive Kitteridge just as a possible alternative. This was partly because I'd read My Name is Lucy Barton for a book group a year or two ago and had been underwhelmed. However, last week I was at a book chat group I've just joined (only male!) and had a fascinating discussion about Strout where I was the only person there who wasn't wowed by her. Some discussion about male/female reading ensued as we also discussed Faulkner, where nobody else enjoyed his books (I've recently read and been blown away by As I Lay Dying), but various partners and male colleagues had! Anyway, upshot of all this is I decided to try Strout out again, and what better way than as part of US Tour with a Pulitzer winner?
Have to say that am 3 stories in and loving them as short stories. Have yet to see how or if they gel into a coherent novel (as Escoffier's If I Survive You definitely did!).
BTW I still firmly intend to read the Russo - have a copy on my shelves!

I find Russo really boring but I generally don’t like books about multi generations of a family. Also I didn’t like Olive but I did like Lucy.

So based on >104 Willoyd: can I assume you are male, Will?

>104 Willoyd: Which Strout are you reading now?

>100 cindydavid4: I decided to put the quotes under comments, to keep things tidier :)

>104 Willoyd: It's very much just short stories about the same person, but as I love that format and Strout's writing, I loved the book.

>106 kjuliff: Olive Kitteridge
>105 dianeham: male,, 65, white, middle class, British. Somebody has to be!
>108 RidgewayGirl: This time around I'm really struck by the writing. Read another 3 chapters tonight and feeling positively sucked in. Not sure yet where it's going though!

>1 AnnieMod: hello
so Have you decided what to read? :)

>109 Willoyd: Nice to meet you! I’m 9 years older than you and live in the Jersey on the other side of the Atlantic.

I'm about half way through Hunger by Knut Hamsun and really loving it. For nonfiction, I just finished and reviewed Chrysalis: Maria Sibylla Merian and the Secrets of Metamorphosis and now I've started Master Slave Husband Wife, the story of a couple that escaped enslavement in 1848.

>97 leamos: Some of the lines in the book are very resonant in this moment for me, and I needed to put them somewhere, so I started a collection in the review space. Is there a better spot for something like that on LT?

One options is in the common knowledge section of the works page for the book is a section for quotations (right under "first words"). You put in one quote and then if you have another you click the "add item" button. How this helps.

>113 labfs39: Thank you!!

I just finished Prophet Song by Paul Lynch. If you need a reminder of what it would be like to lose our democracy, this would be the one to read.

About to start Fourteen Days on audio and Seeking Fortune Elsewhere. I need some short stories after that ride.

>107 leamos: sounds good. I put mine under my reviews; what ever works best for you

>104 Willoyd: Lucy Barton was the book I read when I was in the hospital recovering from surgery. The part where she thinks her mom is in the hospital with her felt real to me (my mom had also passed, many years ago.. I ended up liking the book, but didn't care for the next two in that series

Interesting book group discussion, glad it moved you to try the book again, and maybe the others will read Faulkner!

>103 labfs39: I remember now what I thought of those two plotlines. Ill wait till you get there before I say anything more

my review of walking the woods and water is here https://www.librarything.com/topic/356174#

I've vaguely recently finished Human Matter: A Fiction which is a non-fictional treatment of fictionalized events; the short short-story collection Ice for Martians; The Pilgrim Hawk which is a perfectly crafted novella; and the utterly strange The Life of Insects.

>113 labfs39: >114 leamos: The one potential downside to using the Common Knowledge area for quotes from a work you want to remember is that other people do have the ability to edit/delete your entries.

Placing them in the review field or in one of the comments fields (public or private) guarantees that the information can't be modified in that way.

>121 shadrach_anki: Thanks!!

>121 shadrach_anki: Good point. I hadn't thought of that.

I read The Ploughmen and found it fascinating. I liked the contrast of people being lost in the wilderness in winter with the lives of the two main characters. Thanks for your review rocketjk

I’ve decided to dnf When We Cease to Understand the World. I thought it was a novel but it seems more like short (stories?) pieces about famous scientists - Fritz Haber, Alexander Grothendieck, Werner Heisenberg, Erwin Schrödinger. But I’m not completely sure I should dnf it. I read the Haber one which did nothing for me. But I’m still interested in Heisenberg and Schrodinger.

I started Pearl (the one from last year by Sian Hughes, not the medieval one it references)

>105 dianeham: me too, re Strout. I liked Lucy, not Olive. Strout is a splitter here in CR. 🙂

>126 dchaikin: I liked Pearl but did not think it was of the same quality as others on the Longlist. I’ll be very interested to see your opinion.

Am reading Volodymyr Zelensky's speeches in the collection, A Message from Ukraine 2019-2022

Also reading poetry, Wind, Trees by US poet John Freeman

As I near the end of In this House of Brede, which I’m loving, I’m starting to decide what to read next. I’ve a list of possibilities, but most likely I’ll reread Faulkner’s Light in August, which will fit in well with my recent exploration of nonfiction about race relations. I’ll plan on listening to the audio, maybe along with reading the text. (Many consider Light in August to be Faulkner’s masterpiece.)

Somewhere here we were talking about Arcadia, Ian Pears 'new' novel (it was first published on line) I ate up all of his earlier works, his art detective series, stones fall, instance of the fingerpost, the dream of scipio. and the portrait and was disappointed at the time that i couldnt read Arcadia because I had no way to do it at the time. So now that it is has been published, I am eagerly reading it. crossing my fingers it will be as good as the rest

I've made a good start on Master Slave Husband Wife - nonfiction about a couple that escapes slavery in 1848.

And as soon as I finished Hunger, while I was still trying to decide what to read next for fiction, Learned By Heart, Emma Donoghue's new novel was ready for me at the library. Yay!

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall made its way onto my wishlist after reading Agnes Grey two years ago, and made its way onto the TBR shelves in December. It almost feels like rushing to read it now 🙂.

>131 japaul22: a new novel by donogue is always good news! Hoping its a good one

>132 rhian_of_oz: The Tenant of Wildfell Hall is one of my favorite novels, and by far my favorite Brontë.

I just finished The American Daughters by Maurice Carlos Ruffin. I'm going to have to think through my feelings on this one, but as I'm already behind on reviews, I have the time.

Just about done with the audio version of The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store, which cam in to the library yesterday.

oh gosh, Id forgotten I set that aside to finish! need to do that today (too many shiney covers distracting me)

I finished The Wintringham Mystery by Anthony Berkeley - a Golden Age mystery that Agatha Christie couldn't solve (it was serialised in a newspaper, and they offered prizes for the solution before the conclusion was published. One of the entries was her's, apparently). It was fine enough plot-wise, but had too many issues otherwise for me.

I'm now reading Three Sisters of Sze by Tan Kok Seng as part of my Singapore/Malaysia reading list.

I tried to start Disappearance at Devil's Rock for my book club, but gave up within the first 20 pages because the writing was so bad (or particularly annoying to me at least).

Now I'm on The Affair of the Bloodstained Egg Cosy by James Anderson. It was on the shelf of my childhood homes and I always found the title absolutely hilarious so have always meant to read it.

I started The Beacon at Alexandria last night even though I have at least 6 or 7 books already going. I'm considering reading now Black Dogs, Yellow Butterflies just to knock off something short (90 p.) and it is a prequel to one of my "doors" titles - Behind Closed Doors. These are by a new to me Welsh author.

review for elizabeths german garden: a journey is here

https://www.librarything.com/topic/356174#n8426905

Currently, I’m reading Secrets Never Lie, by Vincent Ralph. I haven’t got very far into the book, and I’m looking forward to it!

(Sorry, I couldn’t get the touchstone to work. It showed a different book)

>130 cindydavid4: How are you liking Arcadia? It's in my TBR pile, and on my science fiction shelf. Interesting you mentioneed it was first published online. My paperback copy was published in 2017. When was the online version published?

Convenience Store Woman by Murata. A Japanese writer I only just heard of thanks to wandering_star . Seems v promising.

>142 janoorani24: not sure, think a few years before that. I didnt keep track of it so didn't know it came out in paperback, I just started it and so far so good.

>143 kjuliff: ill be curious what you think of the ending

wifedom has just showed up at the door. gonna see if a week is enough to read it for the non fiction challenge

I finished The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride and James Herriot's Cat Stories. I'm about to start a nonfiction book, Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom by Ilyon Woo.

how did you like the mcbride?

>143 kjuliff: I have that book but haven’t read it yet.

>149 dianeham: I just finished it. It’s a short read but good.

Today I got Hard Girls by J. Robert Lennon which I preordered in December.

Last night I started Women Talking by Miriam Toews. I finished This Is the Honey: An Anthology of Contemporary Black Poets. Some of the poems are posted in the Poetry thread https://www.librarything.com/topic/355952#n8428713

>146 cindydavid4: I've been reading Wifedom for the last two weeks and I'm just about finished. I've been interspersing it with three other books so I think a week for you should be plenty of time.

cool!

I’m reading some short stories, Kevin Barry’s That Old Country Music. I needed a bit of Irish to brighten my day.

I’ve finished In this House of Brede by Rumer Godden, a wonderful book which I recommend for those interested in what life is like in a large Roman Catholic monastery. Godden is able to create an atmosphere of overall peace, though there are a number of conflicts among characters, bound to occur when people live together.
I’m now about 100 pages into Faulkner’s Light in August. Really enjoying the narration of Scott Brick.

I am taking a break from the Clive Cussler novels; love the turn off the century backdrop of the US, especially New York City and the fledgling Motion Picture industry. Cussler is a genius from being a historical fiction author.
I and reading 'CUTTHROAT DOGS by Loren D. Estleman and looking other hard boiled detectives authors like Raymond Chandler, Mickey Spillane, Dashiell Hammett, etc.

>155 dianelouise100: Rumer Godden has a very distinct style that can make you care about pretty much any walk of life. Black Narcissus is also very very good (Brede was my first of hers). Her sister's style is very different but equally good (and now I am reminded to return to her - I really liked In Her Garden a few years ago and I was thinking on coming back to her.

>157 AnnieMod: Rumer Godden was a favorite author of mine back in the day... I didn't know she had a sister. I'll add that garden title to my garden theme books list!

>156 PhilCole: Cussler is one of my husbands favorite authors! I like historic fiction but Im not a fan of detective stories, even if I too like that time period!

I finished The Day Lasts More than a Hundred Years, great read, especially if you like camels. :-)

Today I started My Vietnam, Your Vietnam and am enjoying it so far.

I finished Our Missing Hearts. Underwhelming. Tomorrow I am starting Lovely War.

I have several Rumer Godden books I haven't gotten to. I absolutely adored The Diddakoi when I was a kid (and recently re-obtained it). I really should get to House of Brede and the others...

>161 WelshBookworm: oh i liked missing hearts, what didn't work for you?

>163 cindydavid4: My review is on my thread. I just felt it was underdeveloped. I liked it as far as it went. It had some good ideas - the network of librarians for example, but then they just seemed mainly passive. The whole explanation of what led up to PACT was unconvincing. The only characters with any depth were Bird and Sadie. I never could quite figure out what made Margaret tick. And no sense at the end that anything could or would change....

Taking up William E. Glassley's A Wilder Time: Notes
from a Geologist at the Edge of the Greenland Ice (2018)

>164 WelshBookworm: i do agree about the lack of background, and showing that change could happen. Or maybe shes being cynical and there wont be any...

btw I cant find your thread tho I thought I posted to it. Could you send me a link? thanks kindly

>166 cindydavid4: My thread is here: https://www.librarything.com/topic/356189#n8430509

I finished two books recently. I finished Wharton's 1925 novel, a later novel for her, The Mother's Recompense, a couple days ago. And today I finished Pearl by Siân Hughes, from the 2023 Book longlist. Pearl was a beautiful story, and nice to place to spend reading time.

I've started Havana Nocturne: How the Mob Owned Cuba and Then Lost it to the Revolution, which I think will be a decent little read.

I was looking up something about Margery Allingham last week, and got sucked into Black Plumes again (at least my 4th reading). I finished at 1:00am today. It's my favorite Allingham mystery because of her narrative style, not necessarily the plot. I love the way she weaves weather, especially wind, through the book. Back to These Three Remain and The Warburgs.

Having taken a recommendation from Dan (dchaikin), I'm really enjoying All the Little Bird-Hearts by Viktoria Lloyd-Barlow. I'm also reading Tommy Orange's new novel, Wandering Stars and I've just started Chain Gang All Stars by Nana Kwame Adjoin-Brenyah, which hyper violent, but it's interesting to see how some of the ideas he played with in Friday Black are being developed.

reading about little bird hearts and reading samplings of it, I think I could really love this book Adding to the list

Last night I finished Inheritance by Lan Samantha Chang. Inheritance is a novel that takes us through three generations of a Chinese family, from the beginning of the 20th century up through the late-1980s. You can find my longer review on my Club Read thread.

Next I'll be reading Death in the Making made up primarily of Robert Capa's and two other photographers' photos of the Spanish Civil War, with a pair of explanatory essays.

I am reading Homecoming set in Africa and the US from mud 18C to ?. Chapters alternate between continents with all major characters being Ghanaian. Mildly interesting. Reading because well-reviewed by other LT members am reading for Black History month.

>171 RidgewayGirl: fantastic. Enjoy All the Little Bird-Hearts. >172 cindydavid4: It's terrific.

As for myself, I find my sense of being scatter-brained has gotten worse since i finished my last two books. I keep switching books, reading for 20 minutes and stopping. I'm trying to read Hemingway and Faulkner in their Time, a collection and comments by their contemporaries, collected by two long-term City College of New York professors, both now deceased, Earl Rovit and Arthur Waldhorn. It's information overload and my brain feels full after about ten minutes. So, then, I think I've started Ammonites & Leaping Fish - Penelope Lively's 2013 memoir. But that, while lovely, doesn't overcome my brain state. So, goodness, I seem to be reading Paganism in the Roman Empire, a 1981 barely readable scholarly work that so far doesn't address its internal issues but has paragraph long lists for each endnote - unreadable lists because everything is abbreviated and the introduction to the notes explain that these abbreviations are easy to decipher. They're, well, Greek to me. But it's boring and steady, so I'm finding I can spend time with it. And there's Chaucer too, of course. Currently the easiest of them for me to read, and not boring.

>175 dchaikin: Yikes, Dan.

I whipped through the fourth Murderbot book and am continuing to enjoy both My Vietnam, Your Vietnam on paper and Wooden Overcoats on audio.

>175 dchaikin: Scatter-brained is it? If so, then I am in the same state. I keep putting off books I really need to finish - The Weaver and the Witch Queen which I started in Dec. - I'm about two weeks behind now on Moby Dick and Ahab's Wife - and I keep starting new books and then changing my mind on them. Still reading The Princes in the Tower. Listening to Lovely War (great fun!). I started The Beacon at Alexandria and set it aside, downloaded Black Dogs, Yellow Butterflies (freebie prequel from the author of the Beatrice Stubbs series, seems like there was something else in there too - oh yeah, A Vision of Light, then last night I started The Ice Swan.

>177 WelshBookworm: wish us both some control over our attention spans. :)

>178 dchaikin: I did take next week off from work, so that will help!

>179 WelshBookworm: nice!

While I wait for My Heavenly Favorite to hit Audible early March I’m reading Before the Fall by Noah Hawley. It’s not the type of book I normally read. It’s about a bunch of rich American who get a private plane from Martha’s Vineyard destination NY. I don’t even know why I had it as a tbr but it’s available at my library so will try it.

I am still plodding through The Warburgs (my current non-fiction, non-work-related book), making progress in These Three Remain, and actually finished one book and one short story this week -- Black Plumes and Obasute.

You can read my brief descriptions/reviews of Black Plumes and Obasute here.

I've just finished Master Slave Husband Wife, a nonfiction book about a couple that escapes enslavement in 1848. Very good.

I'm going to wait for Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 million years of evolution to come in at the library for my next nonfiction - it should be ready any day.

For fiction I'm reading Fidelity by Susan Glaspell, which is one of my Persephone books.

>181 kjuliff: I read that. Gave it 4 stars.

>184 dianeham: great. It’s quite good so far.v different than what I normally read but a pleasant break.

I recovered a bit today. I finished Hemingway and Faulkner in Their Time. It's messy, but I feel rewarded. A backhanded cross-section of the mid-century American literary world (1920's-1930's-1940's-1950's)

I started Tiamat's Wrath with the hope of finishing it by the end of the month. It's reasonably chunky so I'm not sure what my chances are, but I seem to be on track so far.

I've started The Birth of Classical Europe: A History from Troy to Augustine by Simon Price.

btw I have been using the wrong name of the book I am curently wifedom. I kept typing HG Wells. No, this book is about George Orwell. My apologies to anyone for your confusion!

review of wifedom is here https://www.librarything.com/topic/356174#n8440699

>184 dianeham: I haven’t finished it (Before the Fall) yet but I’m pretty impressed so far.

I finished White Teeth on audio. It kept me entertained throughout and has a terrific ending. I’m just really happy I finally checked it out. I decided to try something from the Women’s Nonfiction Prize longlist next. I chose How to Say Babylon based on a poetic sample read beautifully by the author. Safiya Sinclair has a beautiful clear voice and easily slides between an American and Jamaican accents. So I’m now learning about Ethiopian Haile Selassie’s visit to Jamaica in the 1960’s.

>192 dchaikin: Oh I’ll have to get that! I had it on hold for a while but the wait time was too long. I scared get it through the BARD app and the NYPL Talking Books diversion. I notice those there’s only a single narrator, cf Audible’s edition.

>192 dchaikin: I have The coronation of Haile Selassie by Evelyn Waugh. Haven’t read it.

I read through and viewed Death in the Making, a book of astounding and emotionally charged photographs, mostly by Robert Capa, of the Spanish Civil War. There are 111 images by Capa, 24 by Gerda Taro, Capa's collaborator and sometime romantic partner and 11 by a Polish photographer known as Chim (born Dawid Szymin). You can find my more in-depth comments on my Club Read thread.

Next up for me will be The Teammates: A Portrait of a Friendship, a baseball history about the Boston Red Sox by David Halberstam.

I’m reading Love in Summer. I need gentle before embarking on My Heavenly Favorite.

Not too long ago I picked up Sure, I'll be your black friend and Wild Seed. I'm kind of craving something different and unusual though and I'm hoping I find it once I finish these two books.

I've started Don't Tell Anybody the Secrets I Told You, a memoir by a musician I like, Lucinda Williams.

Reading The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot and liking it quite a lot. I dont care for twee and I can see how it quickly could become so in the hands of another writer. She makes these two stories work well.

>199 cindydavid4: I am glad you are liking it!

New month, new planned reading list and given it's chunkster I've started The Distant Hours on the first of the month to give myself the best chance of finishing it in March.

Last night I finished Ammonites and Leaping Fish by a then 80-yr-old Penelope Lively. It was written with intelligence but only ok content. But, it kept my on my plan, just barely, through February. Today I’ll begin Flags in the Dust, William Faulkner’s 3rd novel which was released in an abridged form in 1929 as Sartoris. (and in complete form in 1973).

>201 rhian_of_oz: I enjoyed that one years ago. I hope you like it too.

>154 kjuliff: I read That old Country Music awhile back but was a bit disappointed.

>204 Cariola: Yes I ended up putting it aside for later. Do you remember what disappointed you about it? I can’t remember why I put it aside other than I wasn’t interested enough and a book I was waiting for came off hold.