WHAT ARE YOU READING? - Part 5

The older thread is getting long so time to reset and restart.

How is everyone's summer (winter if you are down under) coming along? How are your vacation plans this year?

Come over, grab a cold drink (or a warm one if you happen to be in a cold place) and tell us what you are reading (and what you had been reading) :)

Still reading The Murder of Mr. Wickham and still do not have a clue as to who did it. I keep changing my mind! While I like this book a lot, readers unfamiliar with the characters of Jane Austen's novels might struggle to keep the characters straight.

I gave up on Gaskell temporarily (not in the mood for a Victorian novel for some reason) and instead picked up the 31st (and latest so far) Brunetti novel: Give Unto Others.

I’m still reading The Name of the Rose and The Vicar of Bullhampton and am hoping to finish both this month. If I still have time for something else, and not my usual read, I may try The Black Dahlia by James Ellroy.

I finished a whole pile of things over the last few days; I’m now reading the “lost” novel Der Reisende (The Passenger) by the young exiled German Jewish writer Urlich Alexander Boschwitz, and I’ve started listening to Marieke Lucas Rijneveld’s second novel Mijn lieve gunsteling (My heavenly favourite).

been having trouble getting into reads lately; Im finding my recent ones depressing or frustrating or over my head. Started reading excellent women by Barbra Pym and think this is just what i needed (interesting, there is a new bio of her and this weeks new yorker obviously did not like the author or her works at all which makes me wonder why he was chosen to review the bio. So the new york times has a much better review of the actual bio, and appears to like her work. Making me think I really do want to read it!)

Finished Earth and Ashes, my third and last novella by Atiq Rahimi; abandoned Slow Horses, didn't grab me at the moment; and 50 pages into The Great Fire by Shirley Hazzard and liking it.

Recently finished Agnes Grey and In Search of Klingsor. I tried to read The Shape of the Ruins, but it is too similar to Klingsor so I've abandoned it in favor of The Adventures and Misadventures of Maqroll, which is much better than expected.

I just finished Mary McCarthy's The Group for my book club... well, that's going to make for some interesting conversation for sure. It was a slow burn of amusing, annoying, satirical and then appalling—kind of a rear-view-mirror dystopia, published the year I was born and all the more unsettling for that intersection into my own time line.

Not sure what's up next. I have two library holds about to burst forth, so maybe catch up (ha ha) on some New Yorkers...

>9 lisapeet: What a fantastic book that is! The scenes in the maternity ward alone are worth the price of admission.

I'm reading Elif Batuman's Either/Or and loving just as much as I did The Idiot. I'm also reading an overview of Ukrainian history and culture by Anna Reid called Borderland, which is interesting but necessarily shallow given its brevity.

And I'm reading Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus which is badly served by a terrible, terrible cover that makes it look shallow and trite and not a look at a woman trying to make her way as a brilliant chemist in the 1950s. It has a Frederick Backman kind of flavor to it, which I seem to be in the mood for.

>10 RidgewayGirl: I hope you like it. I could not get past the beginning of the book.No spoilers here.

I am reading Jeeves and the Leap of Faith which I had on my Kindle and clicked on it by mistake and decided to read it. Maybe I am in the mood for the silliness of Bertie and Jeeves. It took me a few pages to get back on track with the lingo.

Just finished packing my library and despite some of my misgivings find this an amazing piece of work about owning books, reading books, the purposes of libraries, banned books. and the importance of justice and empathy in our lives. Really loved his 10th digression that spoke of his charge as the directore of the national library of Argentina, and what he sees as his duties to a diverse community. I loved his quote by Richard Leakey,"We are humans becous our ancestors learned to share their food and their skills in an honored network of obligation" Out of our need to work together, to develope better skills in order to expore distant horizons, empathy became an incentive to our natural curiousity. If only all people felt that obligation. Thanks again Mark for recommending this. I am interested now to read his history of reading

>12 cindydavid4:
I liked Packing My Library when I read it during the lockdown in the first phase of the pandemic. It was very thought provoking about owning books and reading books. I am glad that another reader has read it and talked about it here on LT.

I finished reading the third book in a dystopian YA novel series. This one was Monsters of Men by Patrick Ness. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this book, but I also thought it had some very heavy thoughts and lessons about political systems. In particular it was a pre-Trump era book about tyrants and how they are made. The recorded version of the book was well done with different readers doing the different parts. It was worth the time to read this series.

I started listening to another dystopian YA series. An Ember in the Ashes is book 1 in a series by Sabaa Tahir.

I've just been on an overnight hike with a friend so I wanted a light book (both physically and metaphorically) and Not If I Save You First fit the bill on both counts.

I am just finishing The Women of Troy and the book has taken me out of my book reading slump

I picked up The Black Dahlia at the library yesterday. Not my usual, but I needed a change of pace, which this certainly provides. I have to admit that I’m finding the recurrent theological questionings of Benedictine novice Adso, the narrator of The Name of the Rose, becoming a bit tedious and I don’t have the patience of Brother William. A hundred pages in, The Black Dahlia is far from tedious. It is intense and vivid and definitely fast-paced! I’ll be returning to my two unfinished novels soon. Just a brief disruption in my reading plans.

>19 dianelouise100: A book that is heavily influenced by The Name of the Rose, but which I liked more is My Name is Red by Orhan Pamuk. You might try that sometime.

>19 dianelouise100: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/may/26/black-dahlia-murder-steve-hodel-...

really enjoying the far field which is good because I was having trouble getting into two other books for this months Asian Challenge. Perfect for reading at the beach

I started El Llano Estacado : exploration and imagination on the High Plains of Texas and New Mexico, 1536-1860, where the introduction tells me, “Indeed, imagination is often the bridge from landscape to language.” And I finished Shakespeare's King John.

Others ongoing: The Reef by Edith Wharton, Anniversaries, book 2, by Uwe Johnson, and, on audio, Origin: A Genetic History of the Americas by Jennifer Raff.

I am now starting the last book in the trilogy by Eden Robinson- Return of the Trickster

>12 cindydavid4: Just received my copy of Packing My Library and I am anxious to get into it since I just packed my library a year ago.

>15 Bamf102: I agree! There was no indication that the book would contain a scene like that. When I declined to review it, I told the publisher there should definitely be some kind of trigger warning for potential readers.

I seem to be on a Jane Austen binge lately since finishing The Murder of Mr. Wickham. I read a picture book about Jane Austen in the "Little People, Big Dreams" series, and also dug out my mini book of Jane Austen works "all in one sitting." I have a children's bio of her on my table too--Who Was Jane Austen? which is part of a series of nonfiction history and biog for kids.

Finished Far Field The writing was very good and I liked the first part much better than the lat.but I did not like the narrator/protanganist. I think maybe she was truly sorry for the trouble she caused, but not totally sure. Did find out about the conflict in Kashmir. For the writing alone Ill give it a 4.Not liking the protaganist is probably more my problem than the authors

I picked up One Italian Summer at the library last week so I thought it was timely to start it just before winter solstice.

I'm now reading Benjamin Franklin: An American Life by Walter Isaacson. I'm thinking it may not be quite as good the later bios of Isaacson's that I've read, but I'm only about 50 pages in, so it's hard to say. Still interesting, anyway.

Still reading Strange Beasts of China by Yan Ge. An intriguing read, not something I want to rush.

I'm about 75 pages from finishing 1000 Years of Joys and Sorrows, a memoir by Chinese conceptual artist and activist Weiwei Ai.

>31 bragan: sorry wrong book carry on

I'm making my way through books from my shelves in June. I've recently finished What's Mine and Yours (my last remaining Book of the Month book), Balzac and the Chinese Seamstress, and Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. I really liked all of these and hope to review them on my thread soon.

I've also started The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley for something light and I'm slowly reading a collection of Rebecca Solnit essays.

I finished Jeeves and the Leap of Faith by Ben Schott written in homage to Wodehouse, and a fine job he did with it. I appreciated the end notes that explained some of the obscure phrases used by Bertie and company, which were almost as much fun as the rest of the book.

I also read Who Was Jane Austen? which is a kids' bio of her and part of the Who Was? series.

The Crossing Places by Elly Griffiths

>38 Bamf102: have you read queen of hearts Probably my Fv of his.

My favorite bookstore in san diego is Bluestockings, selling new and used books since we bagan visiting there 30 years ago,. Found a couple of serendipitous books that couple with my recent reads. the magician's elephant ('i just loved the miraculous journey of edward tulaneand the meaning of everything the story of the oxford english dictionarywhich goes along with the dictionary of lost words Also landed this one is mine loved her Where'd you go bernadette Finally Alpha Better juice or the joy of text which should be tons of fun. not sure which I want to read next, but am set for the week!

I finished 1000 Years of Joy and Sorrows, a memoir by Chinese conceptual artist and political activist Ai Weiwei. I found it very interesting overall, though a bit flat in parts. Taking us through both his father's life and his own, Ai Weiwei walks us through Chinese history from the end of World War 2 through the present day. The author's father was a renowned poet who ran afoul, in a dramatic and tragic way, of Mao's Cultural Revolution, and the son continued in his father's footsteps as a cultural thorn in the side of the current Chinese regime. You'll find a more detailed review on my CR thread.

Next up for me will be Frederick Douglas' autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave.

>38 Bamf102:
I read Woman in White last year -- also my first Wilkie Collins -- and I was absolutely entranced the entire time. It was easily on the list of best books of the year.

I am reading Calamity Town by Ellery Queen and At the Captain's Table by Gervase Phinn.

>44 Bamf102: I recently dropped a book too--Back to the Prairie by Melissa Gilbert. It was another book about how famous celebrities got out of their fast lane life and went back to the land. Too much detail.

I didn't feel like reading any of the books I currently have on the go so I started Death in Daylesford.

it really is; ive been thinking its time for a rewatch, despite the last few seasons (tho really the acting is out of this world, the locations they used were marvelous and there were moments in each of those episodes that shined.) are you going to watch the new one?

Finished the Chinese novel, now moving on to There Once Lived a Woman Who Tried to Kill Her Neighbor's Baby; Scary Fairy Tales by Ludmilla Petrushevskaya.

>51 Bamf102: gotcha yeah i read the first three books in a summer and couldnt get enough. the next two were problematic but still something; thought with the show the author would continue writing for the it but no he just let it flail.. I'll try the new show which is sorta based on one of his other ones. We'll see how it goes

>52 avaland: read her memoir The Girl from the Metropol Hotel. but never her novels. That one looks very intriguing. Looked at reviews, look more like horror to me. Your thoughts?

I just finished Calamity Town by Ellery Queen, which was a BB from another LT reader. I did not know the author was actually two authors working together. I liked the story and the final unwinding of the mystery at the end. (I was on track with detecting the murderer, motive, and opportunity, but not all the details.)

Still have very little room in my head for reading, but I have been picking my way through English Animals by Laura Kaye (very good, but not the right time for me, so going slowly), and Secret Lives of Colour by Kassia St Clair (non-fiction, short bits, works better), and this weekend I'm focusing on Summerwater by Sarah Moss (a short novel, also told in bits, so better for my fractured attention span).

>53 cindydavid4: Dark but interesting….

I’m reading the Inishowen series by Andrea Carter. I’ve read the first 2 books and am now on the third. It’s a mystery series that takes place on the Inishowen peninsula in Donegal. My father was from Donegal and I still have family there. They are a little south of Inishowen but not far from the Atlantic ocean.

Just a week back from my choir trip to Prague and Vienna, so I'm reading The Prague Sonata. It's fun to hear mention of places that I just saw and can visualize. I also started The Summer Queen on the plane. Enjoying both of those.

Came back to more water in the furnace room - this time it is improper drainage of the AC. But the landlord did get my dryer replaced! The good news for now is that he is taking the house off the market. PLEASE let the rest of the summer be uneventful!

Also still reading slowly Ahab's Wife, Moby Dick (reread), Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, and ...And the Ladies of the Club. Oh yes, and Wolf Hall.

>61 Bamf102: Both of those are on my reread someday list, but I don't think it's going to be this year. Enjoy!

Finished The Great Fire and picked up Celestine by Kevin St. Jarre.

I’ve now finished The Name of the Rose, which I enjoyed despite its having the most tedious narrator I’ve ever read. I don’t rate it quite so highly after this second reading as I did years ago. Now I’m going back to The Vicar of Bullhampton. Soon I’m hoping to read a book I first learned of on this thread, Packing My Library, before getting back to my history TBR.

Ok. I put down the Ludmilla Petrushevskaya collection somewhere in the house and couldn't find it, so I started another book: Maggie Gee's black comedy Blood which is darn funny (in a black comedy sort of way). BUT, then I found the other book on the back of a couch and now what!? What a dilemma! (a book in each hand?) Both are so good.....

Finished At the Captain's Table by Gervase Phinn, which was mainly character studies of the people on a cruise ship. Based on my experience, the descriptions of the ship and activities were accurate, and the people were like caricatures of cruise ship passengers. Not much of a plot but fun to read all the same.

Just started Bloomsbury Girls which is about a bookstore in post-war London.

happy birthday and happy reading!

>72 cindydavid4: Just received a history of reading that I am looking forward to reading.Have several other books to choose from but I seem to be having trouble getting in to books right now. Hopefully this one does the trick

well into the authors description of learning to read and the books he read. At 16 he was reading to the blind Borges- wow! The preface has been marked by a previous reader, and Im not minding it; like some of the comments.

Day 1 of Covid and I thought something light was in order and so far The Lady With The Gun Asks The Questions is just what the doctor ordered.

>73 rhian_of_oz: Hope your affliction is not too severe!

I finished reading Ruin of Kings by Jenn Lyons. It was very good. It was just the thing for reading while waiting in airports and watching your flights get canceled one after the other.

Finished the Petrushevskaya collection, continuing with Maggie Gee's Blood (which is somewhat less funny than it was at start, but we'll see where it goes), and alternating that with a nonfiction, The Nature of Oaks

>74 avaland: Thanks Lois me too!

>75 benitastrnad: Oh no! I hope you got where you were going eventually.

Starting two books this morning for group reads. On Goodreads I’m reading Persuasion, a chapter a day. And on Litsy I’m reading Shakespeare’s Sonnets.

Going into the new quarter, I finished a couple of part-read books today, James Salter’s last novel All that is (a chance find, but probably a bad place to start with him: people who’ve read his other books all seem to dislike it) and Daniel Kehlmann’s theoretical physics romp, Mahlers Zeit (heat can’t go from the colder to the hotter — or can it?).

I’m still reading a chapter or two of Don Quijote per day.

And for a bit of non-fiction, I’ve just started Die Intelligenz der Bienen by the veteran German bee-neurologist Randolf Menzel.

>79 thorold: A postscript to that — I was just debating whether I should take the bee-paperback on a hike tomorrow, or save weight by taking my e-reader, and ended up weighing them to see what the difference really was: my Kobo in its case turns out to weigh 332g while the paperback weighs 340g. It’s almost as though the Kobo engineers saw that one coming…

The Harry Potter series is definitely a comfort read for me. Whenever I have a reading stump, I listen to the audiobooks by Jim Dale.

started the mother in law for this months RL book group, havent read anything by her so itsa new adventure

Recently read : Reynard The Fox by Anne Louise Avery which was just a delight from start to finish. Just finished Cane By Jean Toomer which was one of the best things i have read in years. Just a remarkable book.

It's been a week, and I can now officially say that reading 3 chunksters at a time is my limit. I haven't touched the fourth one, so I guess And Ladies of the Club is going to have to wait until September. I am keeping up with Moby Dick, Ahab's Wife, and Jonathan Strange. Also still listening to The Prague Sonata and reading The Summer Queen. I need to give that last one a nudge though....

I started and finished Black Widows and yesterday picked Theft By Finding out of Mt TBR.

I finished What the Ermine Saw The Extraordinary Journey of Leonardo Da Vinci's most Mysterious Portrait by Eden Collinsworth. This is a very good history of the owners of "Lady with an Ermine" and their times.

I finished Grandkids Gone Wild which was a very light and humorous mystery in the Garden Girls series. I also skimmed two for NetGalley: Donut Disturb and Ashton Hall.
I am currently reading His Amish Sweetheart by Jennifer Beckstrand.

Yesterday I finished an ER book, A Trillion Trees: Restoring Our Forests by Trusting in Nature by Fred Pearce, which was interesting. I also read all of Inside Out & Back Again by Thanhha Lai, which was terrific, and which I very much recommend for both adults and kids.

I've now started 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami. Wish me luck, 'cause I think this one is going to take a while!

I just finished Mold in Dr. Florey's Coat: The Story of the Penicillin Miracle by Eric Lax and have started reading Templar's Last Secret by Martin Walker. I went from mold to mystery.

>91 bragan:
I really liked 1Q84 and hope that you will too. It is long, but it is vintage Murakami.

I finished Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave by Frederick Douglass. I'd waited far too long to finally read this classic and powerful testimony of the evils of chattel slavery in America. The memoir is also a testament to the enduring possibilities of the human spirit. Anyone with a doubt as to the absolute evil of American slavery will be disabused of such doubts after reading these searing 126 pages.

Next up for me will be a reread of Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison. It's my turn to make the selection for my reading group this month, and I've been wanting to reread this novel for a long time.

>94 rocketjk: Im glad that you enjoyed the memoir. I appreciate the impact on civil rights he had early on but I wonder, did he mention Anna, his wife? Read about her in the book douglass's women and ever since he lost a lot of my repect. He not only traveled a lot, leaving Anna to take care of the children and home, but he brought a woman he'd met in his travels to their house, allowing hr to stay there, Just sayin....

Im reading A History of Reading and am finding out a lot about reading within a historical context. Before Luther arrived on the scene, readers read outloud. "Readers with others in the room implied shared reading, plus it allowed listeners to ask for clarification. " The rise in silent reading allowed the reader to ponder on their own. The church did not like this first because how did anyone know if the reader was really reading, perhaps he is just being idle. The other reason was that silent reading was troublesome "a book that can be read privately reflected upon as the eye unravels the words,is no longer subjec to immediate clarification, guidance or censorship by a listener' What? they were thinking on their own?! I am not far into this book but I am reading about things that never occured to me. More later

>95 cindydavid4: Douglass does describe how anxious he was to be joined by his wife (who was a free woman living in the South) as soon as he had escaped North and how worried he was about her until she was finally, safely, with him. The memoir is an extremely enlightening and powerful testament to the horrors of slavery. It ends, basically, with Douglass' attainment of freedom. My own feeling is that whether or not Douglass left his wife with the kids when he went on speaking tours once he became a public figure, or even had lovers, the reason for reading this memoir is to understand how evil slavery was.

I haven't done any research into Douglass' strengths or weaknesses as a human being, so I really don't know how much respect he does or doesn't deserve over and above his accomplishments as a writer bringing the horror of slavery to light, and as an abolitionist. Certainly, one's mileage may vary concerning who deserves respect and why.

Your comments got me curious, however, so I did a quick look at the Douglass page on wikipedia. On the subheading "Women's Rights," we read:

In 1848, Douglass was the only black person to attend the Seneca Falls Convention, the first women's rights convention, in upstate New York.8485 Elizabeth Cady Stanton asked the assembly to pass a resolution asking for women's suffrage.86 Many of those present opposed the idea, including influential Quakers James and Lucretia Mott.87 Douglass stood and spoke eloquently in favor of women's suffrage; he said that he could not accept the right to vote as a black man if women could also not claim that right. He suggested that the world would be a better place if women were involved in the political sphere.

"In this denial of the right to participate in government, not merely the degradation of woman and the perpetuation of a great injustice happens, but the maiming and repudiation of one-half of the moral and intellectual power of the government of the world."

After Douglass's powerful words, the attendees passed the resolution.

In the wake of the Seneca Falls Convention, Douglass used an editorial in The North Star to press the case for women's rights. He recalled the "marked ability and dignity" of the proceedings, and briefly conveyed several arguments of the convention and feminist thought at the time.

On the first count, Douglass acknowledged the "decorum" of the participants in the face of disagreement. In the remainder, he discussed the primary document that emerged from the conference, a Declaration of Sentiments, and the "infant" feminist cause. Strikingly, he expressed the belief that "a discussion of the rights of animals would be regarded with far more complacency...than would be a discussion of the rights of women," and Douglass noted the link between abolitionism and feminism, the overlap between the communities.

His opinion as the editor of a prominent newspaper carried weight, and he stated the position of the North Star explicitly: "We hold woman to be justly entitled to all we claim for man." This letter, written a week after the convention, reaffirmed the first part of the paper's slogan, "right is of no sex."

On the other hand, under "Family Life" we see:

Douglass and Anna Murray had five children: Rosetta Douglass, Lewis Henry Douglass, Frederick Douglass Jr., Charles Remond Douglass, and Annie Douglass (died at the age of ten). Charles and Rosetta helped produce his newspapers.

Anna Douglass remained a loyal supporter of her husband's public work. His relationships with Julia Griffiths and Ottilie Assing, two women with whom he was professionally involved, caused recurring speculation and scandals. Assing was a journalist recently immigrated from Germany, who first visited Douglass in 1856 seeking permission to translate My Bondage and My Freedom into German. Until 1872, she often stayed at his house "for several months at a time" as his "intellectual and emotional companion."

Assing held Anna Douglass "in utter contempt" and was vainly hoping that Douglass would separate from his wife. Douglass biographer David W. Blight concludes that Assing and Douglass "were probably lovers". Though Douglass and Assing are widely believed to have had an intimate relationship, the surviving correspondence contains no proof of such a relationship.

So, like most public figures, I guess, a mixed bag.

I have recently read two books:

Shusaku Endo : Silence
Jon Krakauer : Under the Banner of Heaven

Both excellent and I will need to sit down properly and right my thoughts on them. I actually even noted quite a few passages in the Krakauer which I haven't done in a while. My theory that I needed a proper nonfiction to revamp my reading motivation seems to have proven correct as I have already chosen my next book to read, another nonfiction.

>97 rocketjk: I do understand how much he suffured and how much he did for the cause, no question. Knew about his comments on womens rights, which took me aback when I read this book (it is historical fiction, but I read some background and the claims of mistress seem to be possible. Anyway we all have feet of clay; his clay seems to go up a bit more than feet.

>94 rocketjk: I just did a book purge, boxing up some 500 books (although only 30 were on my TBR). I came across my copy of Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass and thought about it, since it's a college book, and I'm unlikely to read it again. But I have such fond memories of it so many years later. I think a second reason to read it is because he wrote so elegantly. Anyway, it's still on a shelf here.

>95 cindydavid4:, >97 rocketjk:, >99 cindydavid4: - now you guys need to read Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom by David W. Blight (a mere 900 pages).

>100 dchaikin: The Blight book is excellent, all 900 pages of it. And I still think someone needs to write an Ottilie Assing novel.

>101 lisapeet: I agree, on both.

She plays a very big part in Douglass' Women

Hmm, I may have a case of reading restlessness, started The Last Painting of Sara de Vos.

Read two library holds in rapid succession—José Emilio Pacheco's Battles in the Desert, a short and bittersweet novella about first love and class and the dwindling confusion of childhood; and Dan Baum's Nine Lives: Death and Life in New Orleans, an oral history of nine New Orleans residents bracketed by hurricanes Betsy, in 1965, and Katrina, in 2005—a solidly entertaining, (big) easy read.

Now I'm reading Dan Chaon's newest, Sleepwalk, which sucked me in from page one (as his books do).

>95 cindydavid4: Just to clarify, The Douglass' Women is fiction

>107 labfs39: yes i know.i was responding to lisas request for a book about Ashling

I just finished The Promise by Damon Galgut. The story and language are excellent.

Another day, another new book - Velocity Weapon.

Just finished His Amish Sweetheart by Jennifer Beckstrand. Not sure yet what to pick up next . . .

>106 lisapeet: Sleepwalk is a wild ride of a novel. I passed it on to my husband who stayed up late to finish it.

I've just finished a short overview of Ukrainian history, Borderland: A Journey through the History of Ukraine by Anna Reid. It took months, but it was interesting and I now feel like I am somewhat oriented as to the basics. Embarrassing how little I know about that whole part of the world.

I've just started Olga Dies Dreaming by Xochitl Gonzalez, and if the first few pages were anything to go by, I will love this one. I'm also reading Complicit by Winnie M. Li. I'd read her previous novel, which was not great but I thought she was interesting enough for a second look and this one is much better. It's loosely based on Ronan Farrow's investigation of Harvey Weinstein, with a lot of details about how the film industry works.

And (because I am a polyamorous reader) I'm reading We Measure the Earth with Our Bodies by Tsering Yangzom Lama. I picked it up at the library because I'd never read anything by an author from Nepal.

I remember being very bothered by the book when it came out and I was far from being a teenager. I looked at some reviews to jog my memory; I do remember thinking the ending was unrealistic, and the author does too much telling rather than showing. and I honestly don't remember the plot at all, which really means I didn't like it.

Well I was reading three books, but history of reading and Monkey king will have to wait; the mother in law has me under its spell. Fabulous writing and pacing, plus hating a character one minute but then suddenly understanding her. None of us know what others are going through If this ends the way it started, Ill surely read more from this author

I lost interest in the Maggie Gee black comedy (and at this point in my life I don't make myself finish books) so I'm trying a new crime author, Brian McGilloway (Irish)...

Still reading The Nature of Oaks: The Rich Ecology of Our Most Essential Native Trees.

Well she landed the ending, looking for another book by hepwoth any suggestions?

I read a couple of shorter works for plane reading: Ms. Ice Sandwich (mentally I am unable to not automatically insert "cream" into this title) which was lovely and Interior Chinatown, which was clever and fun.

I am currently reading The Brighter the Light and liking it so far.

I’m reading Murder at Greysbridge.

After dithering I started Daughters of the Occupation, a novel about Latvian Jews during WWII and the occupation by first the Soviets and then the Germans. In alternating chapters it tells the stories of Miriam in 1940s Riga and her granddaughter Sarah in Chicago in 1975.

I started reading Templar's Last Secret by Martin Walker for one of the LT Mystery Challenges. I really like this series and find them to be great fun to read. They make me want to visit the Dordogne region of France.

I finished The Black Dahlia and Packing My Library awhile ago, still working on The Vicar of Bullhampton. And I’m reading The Iron Kingdom: the Rise and Downfall of Prussia, 1600 - 1947 by Christopher Clark. This last will be slow, but I like the information and the thoroughness with which he traces the development of Prussia into a very powerful state.

I just finished the very good Asphodel by 1920s author H.D.. It is in the vein of Virginia Woolf or Dorothy Richardson's stream of consciousness writing. I really enjoyed it.

Now I will read all light books - new releases by favorite authors, mysteries, historical fiction, etc. while I am traveling quite a bit over the next month.

Its been a while since I have read a book by Julia Alvarez loved her in the time of the butterfliesand how the garcia girls lost their accent. so I happened upon a new (to me) book afterlife Liking it so far

I’ve finished The Vicar of Bullhampton and can say I really enjoyed it. Trollope skillfully weaves several plots around the title character, which kept me turning the pages. His characters, including the Vicar, are flawed, but all are well drawn and ultimately sympathetic, with a satisfactory resolution to most of the various conflicts. I’m thinking of which novel to read next. I pulled Shadow of the Moon by M. M. Kaye from the shelf last night and liked the few pages I read. I do enjoy being able to move between fiction and nonfiction, especially dense works like The Iron Kingdom.

>131 Bamf102: haven’t read Meiville, but curious. (He comes up here every so often)

>135 Bamf102: if nothing else, you’re encountering one of the most perfect opening paragraphs ever. It deserves some revisits as you progress.

Finished The Brighter the Light and currently reading Mint Chocolate Murder and Full of Beans.

I'm so behind... reading I Saw a Man by Owen Sheers. Can't remember where I read recommendations for it, but it ended up part of a recent book purchase.

Finished Anthem by Noah Hawley. It’s a fantastic dystopian novel that is basically our present day world.

>118 cindydavid4: While I haven't read any Hepworth myself (yet; I have The Mother-in-Law on my shelves), I have seen lots of people recommending The Good Sister.

I finished the wonderful modern classic, Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison. You'll find my short review on my CR thread.

Next up for me will be a continuation of my gradual (two novels per year) read though the novels of Isaac B. Singer that I began in January. Singer's second novel was The Family Moskat, which I'll be starting soon.

>143 rocketjk: in hindsight my favorite book by Morrison.

Just joined this group.
My recent reads:
A Spark of Light, Jodi Picoult.
- Fictional story about the abortion issue, so topical right now. As usual, Picoult knows how to dramatize a volatile issue.
Fight Night, Miriam Toews.
- Fourth book I read by this author. In this story, I enjoyed how the author explored family relationships, mental health, aging, coming of age and parenting.

>144 dchaikin: Yes, of the books I read of hers about 25 years ago, Song of Solomon was the most memorable for me, and so the one I chose for my book group this month.

>145 ruthethompson: Welcome!

>87 WelshBookworm: Good luck with And the Ladies of the Club. I can remember grinding my way through the first couple hundred pages, back when it was THE hot book of the season ... and wondering "What in the world is all the excitement about?" I found it deadly dull, and eventually tossed it (which I seldom did in those days). Ditto Jonathan Strange.

Sometimes a chunkster is just what you want, but even in those times, I want something that holds my interest and propels me forward. (Wolf Hall, I'm lookin' at you!)

Just joined this group. Seeing a lot of cross-posters from "What Are You Rading Now?" but more & forth conversation, which is what I was looking for.

>145 ruthethompson: & >148 LyndaInOregon: welcome! Lynda - Wolf Hall does a lot of things right. Mantel is terrific.

>145 ruthethompson: welcome to your rabbit hole :)

>149 Bamf102: oh I loved that book! When I finished I immediately reread to see what clues I missed the first time! Enjoy

>148 LyndaInOregon: welcome!

A speaker at a conference I attended recommended Made By Humans which I picked up from the library the other day.

Welcome Ruth and Lynda! Please feel free to stop by our introductions thread and tell us a little about yourself and what you like to read. I hope you have fun here in Club Read.

Just finished The Greedy Bastard Tour by Eric Idle, and anjoyed it -- though I have to wonder who laid out the route of their cross-country tour and what they were smoking at the time.

Also polished off The Grownup, a stand-alone short story by Gillian Flynn, which was suitably twisty.

Am about to start The Wedding Dress, by Rachel Hauck, who is a new author to me. This was a Goodwill purchase, and I see from the reviews (now they tell me!) that it falls under the "Christian romance" genre, which I usually pass on. We shall see.

I finished Templar's Last Secret by Martin Walker and enjoyed it like I do all of the Bruno books. I do admit this one wasn't as good as the last one Fatal Pursuit but every series has its not so fantastic book in the line-up. Even though I wasn't sucked in by the plot of this one, I still enjoyed the reading. I started reading another mystery Havana Requiem by Paul Goldstein. This one was the Harper Lee Legal Fiction Award winner in 2013 and so far it is a good mystery. I do have to wonder why so many lawyers are alcoholics who fall in love at the drop of a hat and don't understand that the world can be a mean place? Oh well - it makes for a good story.

>154 Bamf102: I didn't think it a bleak book; certainly the deprivations that people suffered under during that time was bleak, leading to the main characters profession. Well talk more when you finish, eager to hear what you think (assasins apprentice is one i loved as a teen)

I am almost finished reading Pandora's JarWomen in the Greek Myths by Natalie Haynes. I like her commentary on the different interpretations of the stories that feature women.

>159 Bamf102: Not every author rings the bell with every reader. I happen to be a major Shirley Jackson fan, though I will admit to disappointment in some of her work. (Hangsaman, I'm lookin' at you.) At some point down the road, you might consider trying The Haunting of Hill House. If that one doesn't do it, then, no -- you're not a Jackson fan!

Part of it, I think, is that she was writing in an era when a lot of topics were taboo in the mainstream press, and so she had to encode or obfuscate so much. In Hangsaman, it would appear that a lot of the main character's instability is arising from some really unhealthy sexual situations in her background, which lead her to some self-destructive behavior as a college student. But it's all very vague, as it had to fly under the radar of the 50s mainstream publishing industry.

>159 Bamf102: >163 LyndaInOregon: No book is for everyone or every mood. I used audiobooks for Shirley Jackson, not sure how that influenced my response but I adored the books (they were We have always lived in the castle and Hill House). There is so much going on in her text.

I finished Daughters of the Occupation about Latvian Jews in WWII, and buzzed through the graphic novel, A Visit to Moscow, which is about an American rabbi who befriends a family of Jews in the Soviet Union in the 1960s. It is beautifully illustrated by an Ukrainian artist.

Reading Upgrade by Blake Crouch

did lots of antiquing and book browsing this week while staying in Tucson visiting friends. Didnt get much reading done despite bringing four books with me. Did find May this house be safe from tigers Never heard of Alexander King but sounds like my dad would have read him. Book happens to have the original cover which is quite fun. I suspect alot of this will be dated, but for 3 bucks, will give it a try

I am still reading my way through a history of reading I take many breaks from it because there is so much to take in at once. The section I am on discusses the layers of understanding of the text, including analogy, symbolism etc Talmud scholarship, reading layers upon layers of previous interpretation is how Kafka approached his reading "...he would often try, on stolen time, to pore over whatever book he had with him; searching for meanings, each meaning neither more or less valid than the next;;constructing a whole library of texts unfurled like ascroll on the open page in front of him, procedint like a Talmudic scholar from commentary to commentary; allowing himself to drift away fromand at the same time bore into the original text.

Also interesting Kafka was walking with the son of a friend ,who was looking at books in the window trying to see the titles. He tell Kafka"I dont think I could exist without books, theyer are the whole world" Kafka responds "this is a mistake a book cannot take the place of the world. Its impossible; In life everything has its own meaning and its own purpose. A man cannot master is own experie ne through another personality.That is how the world in relation to a book.One tries to imprison life in a book like a songbird in a cage. It is no good

I started the Roadside Geology of Colorado, as an upcoming travel companion. I have the initial edition, from1980, in paperback, but I upgraded to the 2014 3rd edition as an ebook and I'm reading that. (The 3rd edition is co-authored by the initial author and her daughter. Both passed away within a year of the edition's publication.)

I started Monastery by Eduardo Halfon, a Guatemalan author. Thank you, Lois, for the recommendation. I love his writing so far.

Finished The Wedding Dress, which would have been a much better book if Hauck had concentrated on the 1912 section of the story and on the Jim Crow laws in the Birmingham, Alabama setting. But she is a writer of Christian Romance, so what we have here is a grown-up version of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, with a magical wedding dress as the centerpiece.

Am about to start American Housewife, which I now see is short stories. (I gotta start reading the synopses more carefully.......)

Gobbled up American Housewife in less than 24 hours. These are sharp and sassy pieces, some with unexpected twists, and some with dark undertones.

Getting ready to start The Huntress, by Kate Quinn. Quinn is a new author to me, so I'm interested to see where she takes me.

>173 LyndaInOregon: Kate Quinn is an "auto-read" author for me so I hope you enjoy her as much as I do.

In advance of the movie being released here this week I finally started Where The Crawdads Sing. So far so excellent.

I also started The Good Sister which is also good but I can see bad stuff coming which makes it a little hard to read.

still do not understand why makes Crawdads on the bestseller list for so long. The writing was wonderful but there were just too many huh? moments for me. Im obviously in the minority so what do I know

>176 cindydavid4: You are definitely not alone in your puzzlement ovr Where the Crawdads Sing. Read the LT reviews (including mine) and you'll find a lot of us sharing those 'huh?' moments.

I’ve just started one of this quarter’s Victorian reads, Hester, which will be my first dip into Mrs Oliphant. Looks like fun so far.

The hot weather and consequent sitting around let me finish two books today, Fox by Dubravka Ugrešić, and Vom Aufstehen : Ein Leben in Geschichten, a lovely memoir by the veteran (East) German writer Helga Schubert. And yesterday I finished Heißer Sommer, Uwe Timm’s novel based on his experiences in the student protests of 1967-1968. Was there ever a better moment to read a book called Hot summer?

I read the reviews and most people seemed to love it. The ones that didn't echoed my issues with it.

I’m reading Changing Planes by Ursula K. Le Guin. It’s short stories about life on other planets.

I finished Havana Requiem by Paul Goldstein and mostly enjoyed it. It was a fairly typical legal thriller but it involved copyright law and the author managed to make the in's and out's of that set of arcane law very interesting. What was typical was the hero - alcoholic high priced brilliant lawyer who has created demons so he can drink coupled with man who has sex with a woman once and falls in love forever with her and then doesn't understand that she isn't in love with him, blah, blah. In-other-words, I liked the law part and didn't really care for the main character.

I started You Don't Belong Here: How Three Women Rewrote the Story of War by Elizabeth Becker. This one was a book bullet from a fellow LT'er a year ago, and so far it is very interesting. It is a biography of three women war correspondents during the Vietnam war.

I am well on the way to finishing Shadow of the Moon, but have not found myself able to make progress with The Iron Kingdom (maybe July in Alabama is not the season for dense nonfiction), so I’ve reshelved that for now, maybe forever. I’ve got two books on my TBR that I’m thinking of for next read, Guests on Earth by Lee Smith and The Moon and Sixpence by W. Somerset Maugham.

>183 dianelouise100: thats one of my fav of Maugham. One of these days I want to do a reread of his work; I have most of them; read them probably 15 years ago. Its probably time

Finished afterlife I love julia alverez's in the time of butterflies and how the garcia sisters lots their accents and loved this as well. a recent widow in vermont helps a young hispanic man to rescue his fiance from coyotes in mexico. Usually you find these stories closer to the boarder, but that far north, there is plenty of hate for immigrants. Really loved her characters; very satisfying ending

I am reading Wench by Dolan Perkins-Valdez for a book discussion group and just finished my first five star read of the Year!!! You Don't Belong Here: How Three Women Rewrote the Story of War was an amazing book about three women war correspondents who covered combat during the Vietnam war. It was so good I just simply buzzed through it.

I just started my first book for this month's Asian Book Challenge. Buying a Fishing Rod for My Grandfather by Gao Xingjian. It's a collection of short stories, by one of China's two Nobel Laureates in literature. I've wanted to try something by him, and it's much shorter than Soul Mountain, which I own but find intimidating.

Have added The Breakwater Book of Contemporary Newfoundland Poetry edited by Mark Callahan and James Lange, 2013 to the books I'm currently reading....

Currently reading Starboard Secrets by Hope Callaghan, first in a mystery series set on a cruise ship with a senior citizen protagonist. I needed something light and fun after the last two mysteries I read that seemed to drag on forever. Besides, we miss our cruise ship adventures! Maybe in 2023??

i have to share this. I found out about it in a history of reading and woud give a lot to see it!

Had to share this.Found out about it in a history of reading Id give a lot to have one!

https://www.thevintagenews.com/2017/09/13/the-book-wheel-a-rotating-reading-desk...

It wont come up as a link and don't know what Im doing wrong But google Agostino Ramelli book wheel

>190 cindydavid4: It does come up as a link in your second try. And thanks for sharing that. I want one, too! I wonder what colors they come in.

I recently finished Conversations with People Who Hate Me by Dylan Marron, about things he learned making a podcast in which he has genuinely productive conversations with people who've made nasty comments about him online. And I'm now reading Ruby Slippers, Golden Tears edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling, a collection of fairy tale-inspired stories from the 1990s.

>191 rocketjk: heh,ya know I bet a good carpenter could work this out, Unfortunately we'd have to get rid of some bookshelves to make it fit!

>192 bragan: oh! I love fractured fairytales and this looks like just the ticket. Lemme know if its worth seeking out (I know it has Neil Gaiman and Nancy Kress, two of my fav authors)

>194 cindydavid4: I read several of the other anthologies in this series a million years ago and I think I remember liking them. I'm having weirdly mixed feelings about this one, though. So far, it's full of mostly quite beautifully written stories that are leaving me a bit cold. Possibly I'm just not in the right mood for it or something? It does make it hard to know if I'd recommend it or not, though.

>195 bragan: well I want to try it anyway. What is the series called?

>196 cindydavid4: On the book page for the title mentioned, there is a link to the series page:
https://www.librarything.com/nseries/5811/The-Snow-White-Blood-Red-Series

oh perfect! I remember that title Back in the day (circa 2002) I was in an online book group called Readerville. The Young Adult crowed often mentioned them. Thanks for the link

Finished Starboard Secrets and started The Walker on the Cape.

>197 ELiz_M: Thanks for answering while I was off reading! :)

>198 cindydavid4: I'm nearly finished with Ruby Slippers, Golden Tears, and I've warmed up to it a fair bit. I don't remember about the other volumes in the series, but this one at least has some very dark stuff in it, so be aware of that if necessary. It's definitely not YA-ish.

>200 bragan: oh no worries; none of the fractured fairy tales Ive read over the years are YA. (except for Kelly Barnhill delightful stuff)

I started The Pull of the Stars last night. It's a little weird to be reading about the Spanish flu.

>203 rhian_of_oz: I have that one on my shelf. I've been waiting until I'm a little more desensitized before reading about an epidemic. Look forward to your thoughts.

>202 Bamf102: So glad you have discovered Sir Terry! I read through all the Discworld novels, let them get away from me, and am now rebuilding the collection. I wasn't as impressed by the "Guards!" series, but others loved them. Anyway, enjoy, and beware of the drive-by puns.

>202 Bamf102: Oh I loved that one, tho he gets much better as he goes along. My favs are the witches stories witches abroad, lords and ladies wyrd witches Not wild about the guards but lot of his stand along books small gods, soul music, going postal, truth and jingo. Love Vimes, Vitiari, and of course DEATH. enjoy!

Here are four ways you can read his books in order
https://www.discworldemporium.com/content/6-discworld-reading-order

>206 dianeham: oh that does look interesting. Does she hav any hope?

>208 cindydavid4: i’ll let you know.

yes I am still reading a history of reading, the book has a chart, a timeline of reading starting from 4000 BCE. One note made me pause: in 1000 CE. "to avoid parting with his collection of 117,ooo books, the avid reader and
grand Vizer of Persia Abdul Kassem Ismael, has them carried by a caravan of 400 camels trainted to walk in alphabetical order. " No way; have I been reading this been, soaking up information that might be dubious? so of course I had to google and find this on https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Page:Untangling_the_Web.pdf/9

One of the most famous stories about libraries tells of the tenth century Grand Vizier of Persia, Abdul Kassem Ismael who, "in order not to part with his collection of 117,000 volumes when traveling, had them carried by a caravan of 400 camels trained to walk in alphabetical order."1 However charming this tale may be, the actual event upon which it is based is subtly different. According to the original manuscript, now in the British Museum, the great scholar and literary patron Sahib Isma'i1 b. 'Abbad so loved his books that he excused himself from an invitation by King Nuh II to become his prime minister at least in part on the grounds that four hundred camels would be required for the transport of his library alone.2

footnote 1 leads directly to the book I am reading. Footnote 2 a reference to a book located in the Brtish museum Decline of the Calapate: A Literary History of Persia in 1902 by Edward G Brown, who studied Iran all of his life. I can believe the second part of the story is more accurate. But when I googled this, lots of websites are calling the origial paragraph a fact. And so a reminder to all readers: question everything!

Also finally reading the dragon empire sequel to the most excellent the poppy war for the Asian Challenge :China.

>210 Bamf102: Oh Death is wonderful, he appears in all of the books at some point actually, but Mort is a great place to start.

BTW you might be interested in a book he wrote with Neil Gaiman the good omens a book I reread frequently when the real world just gets to be too much

>211 cindydavid4: " carried by a caravan of 400 camels trainted to walk in alphabetical order"

That's such a charming line that I don't care whether it's true or not -- but I desperately need to know whether it was the camels or the books which were in alphabetical order.........

Just finished The Huntress, and was very impressed with it. Will have to chase down some more Kate Quinn. I did get a little impatient with the shifts back and forth in the timelines, but only because I was eager for the final confrontation. And I thought it was delightful that even though they were searching for "die Jägerin", the title "huntress" could have applied equally to Nina.

Meanwhile, I gave up on Ashes of Heaven after about 50 pages. I didn't realize it was the final book in a series about the final Plains Indian Wars, and picking up on 11 novels' worth of backstory was kind of like watching the very last episode of Game of Thrones and trying to comprehend what was going on.

Plan to begin Secondhand: Travels in the New Global Garage Sale today. We'll see where that one leads!

>214 LyndaInOregon: hee. well considering the collection was 117,000 book, Id assume it would be the camels! and yeah the author has lots of lines like that; fascinating book but taking time to go throug

11 novels' worth of backstory was kind of like watching the very last episode of Game of Thrones and trying to comprehend what was going on.

I watched the entire run of Game of Thrones and am still trying to comprehend what was going on!

I think I'm going to set aside The Last Crossing by Brian McGilloway, just not working for me. Still reading and enjoying The Nature of Oaks: The Rich Ecology of Our Most Essential Native Trees and picked up a poetry anthology yesterday which I'm enjoying: The Breakwater Book of Contemporary Newfoundland Poetry. And this afternoon I picked up The Sea Cloak & Other Stories by Nayrouz Qarmout and enjoyed the first story...

I'm now reading Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell, which so far is wonderful. Fun writing style, very real-feeling characters, and a depiction of high school in the 1980s that is so much like I remember it being that it's kind of painful.

I've started Born a Crime by Trevor Noah and didn't want to put it down last night. Being clueless about most pop culture, I had never heard of him before reading on LT. I'm so glad I found a copy at a library book sale.

>220 labfs39: Oh my, you have to stream his comedy routines. He was an internationally known comic before Jon Stewart picked him to host The Daily Showl He is a great host, funny and very intelligent. (oh I read the book too! loved how he talked about his family)

I read Dan Chaon's newest, Sleepwalk, which was an oddly sweet slightly dystopian noir, lots of fun. Also a collection of linked short stories, Pictures of the Shark, by Thomas McNeely—I reviewed his debut novel for Bloom. This was very good, but dark and kind of sad.