What are you reading the week of January 22, 2022?

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What are you reading the week of January 22, 2022?

1fredbacon
Gen 21, 2022, 11:07 pm

I've been reading Hippocrates I, the first volume in the collection of the Hippocratic writings in the Loeb Classics Library series. I was primarily interested in the works on Epidemics. It turns out the word meant something different in Hippocrates' day than it does now. It turns out the other works in the volume were more interesting.

2Shrike58
Gen 22, 2022, 9:35 am

Finishing up Cartoon County and starting You Sexy Thing. Looking over The Long Game.

3PaperbackPirate
Gen 22, 2022, 10:57 am

Last night I finished Why We Can't Wait by Martin Luther King, Jr. Still powerful and sadly relevant almost 60 years later.

I'm back to reading my Early Reviewer, Sisters in Art: The Biography of Margaret, Esther, and Helen Bruton by Wendy Van Wyck Good. I hope to finish it today.

Have a great weekend everyone.

4hemlokgang
Gen 22, 2022, 3:23 pm

Finished listening to How Beautiful We Were, an outstanding novel.

Next up for listening is a novella, Moonstone: The Boy Who Never Was by Icelandic author, Sjon.

5ahef1963
Modificato: Gen 22, 2022, 3:47 pm

I'm recovering from Omicron, which means lots of sleep and hours on the sofa, so I've had lots of time to read. Right now I'm reading The Last Maasai Warriors, written by two young Maasai men, which uses anecdotes to show the reader the typical life of a Maasai boy as he grows to maturity. I'm finding it fascinating.

My audiobook is excellent - I'm listening to How to be an Anti-Racist by Ibram X. Kendi. I'm learning more about race in this book than anything I've listened to before. I would heartily recommend this book. (No touchstone for the book.)

6seitherin
Gen 22, 2022, 3:53 pm

7Copperskye
Gen 22, 2022, 5:04 pm

>5 ahef1963: Hope you're feeling better!

I'm very much enjoying State of Terror.

8hemlokgang
Modificato: Gen 22, 2022, 5:31 pm

Quick listen to the interesting novella, Moonstone: The Boy Who Never Was.

Next up for listening is No One Is Talking About This by Patricia Lockwood.

10JulieLill
Gen 23, 2022, 9:48 am

The Child in Time
Ian McEwan
3/5 stars
A young couple’s daughter is kidnapped at a grocery store and the couple struggle to deal with the loss of their child and end up separating. Will they ever get over their grief and re-unite? Not my favorite of his books but never the less, it is compelling!

11BookConcierge
Gen 23, 2022, 12:38 pm


Mexican Gothic – Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Digital audiobook performed by Frankie Corzo
3***

1950s Mexico City. Noemi Taboada is a charming, witty, vivacious debutante occupied by parties and the latest fashions. Then her father receives a letter from her recently wed cousin, Catalina. It’s cryptic and odd and Catalina seems in danger or perhaps mentally unstable. So Noemi is dispatched to the mountainous area where Catalina lives with her English husband, Virgil Doyle, on his family’s estate, High Place.

This is not the kind of book I normally read, but I was fascinated by the story and gripped by the tension. The atmosphere is dark and chilling. It reminded me a bit of The Ruins by Scott Smith, and/or Stephen King’s The Shining. But it is entirely Moreno-Garcia’s own story. I did wonder why she incorporated an English family with their English-style mansion; perhaps she recognized the trope from so many gothic novels and felt her readers wouldn’t identify with malevolence in an adobe hacienda.

And can I just say that I absolutely LOVE the cover!

Frankie Corzo does a fine job of narrating the audio, though I was confused a few times by whether Francis or Virgil was speaking. Small quibble.

12hemlokgang
Modificato: Gen 23, 2022, 1:30 pm

After basically skimming the rather dull The Diary Of Samuel Pepys, I decided to move on quickly.

Next up for reading is Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr.

13LyndaInOregon
Gen 23, 2022, 3:09 pm

Just finished Lindy West's collection of essays, The Witches Are Coming, and I'm exhausted that she can remain so furious about so many things for so long....

The pieces are funny, revelatory, heartbreaking, profane, brutal, and seething with anger -- sometimes managing to hit all those notes at once.

Staying with nonfiction for my next read, but picking up something not quite so strident, with Mary Roach's latest, Fuzz.

14rocketjk
Modificato: Gen 23, 2022, 3:56 pm

Last night I finished the excellent American Republics: A Continental History of the United States, 1783-1850 by Alan Taylor. This is a very readable and detailed account of the growth U.S. and, to a lesser extent Canada and Mexico from just after the American Revolution to just before the American Civil War. I've read a lot of U.S. history over the years, but I derived a lot of new information, or at least new perspectives in Taylor's book.

The first, and one of Taylor's central themes, is that the idea of Manifest Destiny that all Americans learn in school--that is, the concept that Americans always believed (or at least said aloud as a rationalization for their actions) that it was America's God given "destiny" to eventually control the entire continent from the Atlantic to the Pacific, is a vast simplification of the attitudes, desires and fears of the country as it evolved after the Revolution.

The second is the importance of the War of 1812, not in and of itself, but as part of a series of conflicts within that decade, what Taylor calls the "War of the 1810s," that included Andrew Jackson's ruthless but successful incursions into Spanish held Florida, and that "shifted the geopolitics of North America."

Taylor goes into great detail showing the cruelty of slavery. The perceived Southern need to protect slavery winds through every political development and conflict throughout the country's history. But also, Taylor is clear that White supremacy was far from a Southern only concept. The cruelty to and treachery against Native Americans is described in detail as well.

I've posted a (much) longer review on my 50-Book Challenge thread. Next up for me will be Our Lady of the Flowers by Jean Genet.

15seitherin
Gen 23, 2022, 5:13 pm

Finished The Stonemason's Tale by Ann Swinfen. Liked it. Added The Hollow by Agatha Christie to my rotation.

16hemlokgang
Modificato: Gen 24, 2022, 1:25 am

Finished listening to No One Is Talking About This. Meh.
Next up for listening is The Mission House by Carys Davies.

17lilisin
Gen 24, 2022, 3:17 am

>3 PaperbackPirate:
I read Why We Can't Wait last year and found it engrossing reading. I could have easily highlighted every sentence of the book as it was all so noteworthy. And unfortunately, still incredibly relevant to current times.

18BookConcierge
Gen 25, 2022, 12:13 pm


Ordeal By Innocence – Agatha Christie
Book on CD read by Robin Bailey
3***

From the book jacket: According to the courts, Jacko Argyle bludgeoned his mother to death with a poker. The sentence was life imprisonment. But when Dr Arthur Calgary arrives with the proof that confirms Jacko’s innocence, it is too late – Jacko died behind bars following a bout of pneumonia. Worse still, the doctor’s revelations reopen old wounds in the family, increasing the likelihood that the real murderer will strike again.

My reactions:
I really enjoy Agatha Christie’s mysteries; there’s a good reason she’s often called “the Queen of Crime.” But this one didn’t really capture my attention. Of course, I was listening to the audio and the many characters were sometimes hard to differentiate. It also seemed somewhat melodramatic and “overacted” … but perhaps that is the fault of the narrator and not Christie’s writing.

The mystery itself is satisfyingly complex, with many suspects, just as many (or more) motives, and a determined amateur sleuth in Dr Calgary. Other reviewers give it high marks, so it may just not have been the right book at the right time for me.

Robin Bailey sets a good pace on the audiobook and his diction is clear.

19JulieLill
Gen 25, 2022, 12:44 pm

The Halloween Tree
By Ray Bradbury
4/5 stars
It is Halloween and Carapace Clavicle Moundshroud, a sinister man appears to a group of friends who are about to go trick or treating but their friend Pip is missing. Moundshroud takes them on a journey which transcends time and place to find their friend. I enjoyed this Bradbury tale.

20nrmay
Gen 25, 2022, 12:46 pm

I'm reading Go Tell the Bees that I am Gone, latest in the Outlander series.
My audio book is The Sentinel, latest Jack Reacher adventure/thriller by Lee Child.

Finished 2 others this week that I loved -
Secrets of a Charmed Life, Meissner. historical fiction, WWII in Britain
The Exiles by Hilary McKay. Beloved children's book, winner of Guardian Children's Fiction Prize.
4 sisters love books; innocents, yet they get themselves into hilarious situations and trouble.
Very funny for all ages.

21Copperskye
Gen 25, 2022, 4:24 pm

I finished Maigret Enjoys Himself and it's probably my favorite Maigret, so far!

And now, I think I started Anxious People by Fredrik Backman.

22cindydavid4
Gen 25, 2022, 5:31 pm

>12 hemlokgang: Ill be curious to hear your thoughts

23princessgarnet
Modificato: Gen 25, 2022, 10:09 pm

From the library: A Dangerous Collaboration by Deanna Raybourn
#5 entry in the Veronica Speedwell Mystery series. I'm binge reading this series from the library; it's new to me. I'd seen the author's name for the recommendation blurb she did for the "Lady Darby Mystery" series.
The new and #7 entry An Impossible Imposter releases next month.

24Erick_Tubil
Gen 26, 2022, 4:58 am


Finished reading the novel THE POWER OF THE DOG by author THOMAS SAVAGE

.

25Molly3028
Modificato: Gen 26, 2022, 11:59 am

enjoying this fiction audiobook via hoopla ~

The Second Mrs. Astor
by Shana Abe

26LyndaInOregon
Gen 26, 2022, 1:07 pm

Just finished Fuzz, Mary Roach's latest. It's interesting and, in places, mildly amusing, but doesn't approach the glorious wackiness of Stiff, Bonk, and some of her earlier work.

27seitherin
Gen 26, 2022, 3:32 pm

Finished The Hollow by Agatha Christie. Knew who done it even before it got done. Added Chrisitie's Taken at the Flood to my rotation.

28Aussi11
Gen 26, 2022, 3:42 pm

>24 Erick_Tubil:

The Power of the Dog is one of my favorites, a movie has just been released December. I googled it
very interesting casting!

29BookConcierge
Gen 26, 2022, 5:54 pm


When Life Gives You Lululemons – Lauren Weiberger
Digital audiobook performed by Laura Benanti
3***

Book three in the Devil Wears Prada trilogy focuses on Emily, the first assistant to Amanda Priestly in the original book. Emily has left publishing for a career in public relations, and an enviable Hollywood A-list client roster. But her refusal to adopt social media is losing her clients to a younger, trendier social-media “influencer.” That is, until a US Senator’s wife is arrested for DUI while ferrying her son and his friends home from a New Year’s Eve kids’ party.

This is not quite so snarky as the original, which I found to be great fun to read, but it’s very entertaining. The suburbs take a beating with Weisberger making fun of the “moms who lunch” (or, more often, fast and do Pilates). Amanda Priestly makes an appearance, though I could have done without her involvement, it seemed to diminish Emily’s own abilities.

A fun, fast beach read of a novel.

Laura Benanti does a fine job of narrating the audiobook. She sets a good pace and does a great job of differentiating the many female characters, giving each of the three main women distinct voices to avoid any confusion for the listener.

30mnleona
Gen 26, 2022, 5:54 pm

Read a few pages of Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie when I was actually on the Nile River this past week.

31Aussi11
Gen 26, 2022, 6:59 pm

My latest is Ava's Man by Rick Bragg.

32BookConcierge
Gen 26, 2022, 7:52 pm


The Virgin Suicides – Jeffrey Eugenides
3.5***

Eugenides’ debut work focuses on one family in a Detroit suburb. The five Lisbon sisters chafe against their mother’s strict rules and attract the attention of the neighborbood boys. Cecilia, Lux, Bonnie, Mary and Therese are beautiful and eccentric, and off limits. And then one commits suicide, and the four remaining sisters struggle to find their way out of grief – both their own and their parents’.

The novel is narrated by a group of thirty-something men, looking back on their own early high-school years, and the way they were obsessed with the Lisbon girls. Watching – or more accurately, spying on – them, looking for clues as to what they were thinking and what they might do. They applaud the efforts of one jock to take the object of his affections, fourteen-year-old Lux, to the homecoming dance. And they watch as a missed curfew results in Mrs Lisbon’s ever restrictive rules. The boys are certain they will somehow rescue the girls. They cannot see that the troubles the girls face are much deeper than just being grounded.

I read Middlesex first and loved it. Eugenides can write characters that fairly jump off the page, they are so real and so passionate about their feelings. But this book is somewhat different. There is an ethereal quality to this novel. We never really know what happens inside the Lisbon home, we have only the memories of men who, some twenty years later, cannot let go of the events of that year. What they remember most clearly is how they felt – their hopes, dreams, passions, fears. And although the boys witnessed the girls’ final acts, they are haunted by what they did not – and never will – know.

33framboise
Modificato: Gen 26, 2022, 10:20 pm

Started Detransition, Baby a few days ago. Good so far.

34seitherin
Gen 27, 2022, 9:58 am

Finished Taken at the Flood by Agatha Christie. Liked it. Added Claws for Alarm by Rita Mae Brown and Sneaky Pie Brown to my rotation.

Also finished Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir. Really liked this one. Added Gemini Cell by Myke Cole to my rotation.

35hemlokgang
Modificato: Gen 27, 2022, 10:42 am

Finished listening to The Mission House. Meh.

Next up for listening is Fight Night by Miriam Toews.

36LyndaInOregon
Gen 27, 2022, 1:11 pm

>31 Aussi11: Ava's Man is probably the best-written and most touching of Bragg's family trilogy, IMO. It answers a lot of questions the reader has while reading All Over But the Shoutin', and is certainly has more approachable characters than The Prince of Frogtown.

All three are definitely worth reading, however! (I managed to read them from the middle outward -- starting with Shoutin', then Ava's Man, and ending with Frogtown. Not sure that's actually a better order than chronologically!)

37LyndaInOregon
Gen 27, 2022, 1:25 pm

Just finished The Same Sky, which was predictable from the get-go, but which did shed some light on why so many unaccompanied minors attempt the perilous journey to our southern border.

Next up is Holy Sh*t, recommended to me after I pondered on another forum why it is that we have multiple words for the same objects, acts, or concepts, but some of them are acceptable in "polite society" but others are "dirty". (Incidentally, you'd be astonished at the number of Touchstones that come up when you just type Holy Sh*t -- apparently it's a popular title!

38Aussi11
Modificato: Gen 27, 2022, 3:11 pm

>36 LyndaInOregon:

I started with Redbirds Memories from the South
Maybe you should try this one.

39snash
Gen 27, 2022, 5:46 pm

I finally did it! I finished Swann's Way. It was all at once both spectacular and a slog which I suppose would make perfect sense to Proust. A sensuous florid exploration of memory, love, jealousy, desire, melancholy and the gyrations of the mind. There were descriptions of scenes that almost took your breath away, they were so novel and correct.

40rocketjk
Gen 27, 2022, 6:22 pm

>39 snash: "It was all at once both spectacular and a slog . . . "

I read Swann's Way this past November and would describe it in exactly the same way.

41fredbacon
Gen 28, 2022, 10:11 pm

The new thread is up over here.

42PaperbackPirate
Gen 29, 2022, 10:46 am

>17 lilisin: My book is full of page flags!

43LyndaInOregon
Gen 29, 2022, 4:15 pm

>38 Aussi11: That Touchstone leads me back to All Over But the Shoutin'! Isn't that odd?

44lesmel
Gen 29, 2022, 5:15 pm

>43 LyndaInOregon: There's a combination problem with the two titles.

45lesmel
Gen 29, 2022, 5:27 pm

>44 lesmel: The titles are split; but the touchstones might need to be edited.