Anxious People by Fredrick Bachman - story about a botched bank robbery and hostage situation. Really about the things we carry as humans that shape our lives and reactions and the emotional burdens we shoulder alone. 4.5 - this really punched me in the gut and I loved it. There’s just something about his work that resonates with me. I cried at the end. Ove is my high bar for him and this was similar to that (more so than the Beartown books) and I liked this messaging more - though it was a little tedious and repetitive in the beginning, deducting half a star for that. But overall a recent favorite.
When No One Was Watching by a Allyson Cole - story about neighborhood gentrification with a sinister twist. 3.5 I was really loving this book until the end. While I thought the antagonists were a little heavy handed, the theme of the dark side of gentrification really had me thinking. I loved the main character and her original neighbors and I thought the author did an excellent job painting the picture of the neighborhood and it’s history. I hated the ending though. It just seemed so out of nowhere.
The Children’s Blizzard - David Laskin - actual historical narrative of the tragic plains blizzard of 1888. 4.5 I read the historical fiction new release of this event last month which piqued my interest. I enjoyed the novel but this was so much better. If you read the novel def. follow up with this.
Something In The Water - Catherine Steadman - thriller about a couple who stumbles upon something valuable on their honeymoon and their decisions about what to do. 3 This was pretty good and held my attention but I thought the couple, particularly the wife, were so incredibly stupid. So it was frustrating to read. It held my attention though. A good fluff book.
American Dirt -Jeanine Cummings - story of a mother and son fleeing violence experience on their migration to the US. 4 I know this book is problematic. I did a lot of reading why before I decided to read it. I’m glad I decided to. I really had no idea about the journey - the trains, the camps, the people who support the migrants on their way, the atrocities they experience etc. I did like the story, especially up until they get to the border (found the rest a little over dramatic), but I’m really excited to find more books about this from more appropriate authors.
DNF The Murmur of Bees -Sofia Segovia I had too many books at one time and had to return this. Sad bc it was beautifully written from what I did get a chance to read. Going back on the request list.
Trust Exercise - Susan Choi I tried. Got about 1/3 through or so. I even renewed it. Just didn’t click with me
Currently reading: Heavy - Laymon Kiese - a memoir of growing up Black and his relationship with his mother and his struggles with with addiction and body image. He is such a good writer. It’s not a long read but so far I’m captivated.
Picking up tomorrow: Transcendent Kingdom Behind Her Eyes
The House in the Cerulean Sea - 4 Stars - Just a wholesome fantasy tale with great messaging that everyone deserves to belong no matter who they are. I am looking forward to reading this to DS1 in a couple of years.
The Whisper Man - 2 Stars - Do not recommend. Supposed to be a thriller, but it was so poorly constructed and devoid of the development it needed. I was really unimpressed.
Night Road - 3 Stars - Literally couldn’t tell you what this was about if that tells you anything. Lol
A Walk Across the Sun - 4 Stars - The writing isn’t brilliant, but it’s an interesting, compelling story about sex trafficking.
The Prettiest Star - currently reading - I’m really enjoying this. Not quite as much as The Great Believers or Heart’s Invisible Furies, but it’s very good. Will be at least a 4 Star book for me. Similar subject matter to the two books I mentioned; deals with discrimination related to the AIDS epidemic.
I don’t have any current holds. Need to get on that today and figure out what I’m reading next.
Although it’s just a fluff book, I’m currently in Revenge Wears Prada. And I’m struggling, which I don’t like for fluff. Maybe I liked the movie better or something, but this is just not a believable next step for Andy. I keep think I want to talk about to with someone, but who? Oh... maybe I should hop over to goodreads and at least see if I’m alone.
edit: wow. Why didn’t I do that a couple days ago. First review nails it. She shelved it on a shored called “why do I hate myself.” Nailed it. Sadly, I have an obsessive need for closure and will likely keep at it.
I’ve been on a huge rom-com kick. So far this month I’ve read The Worst Best Man, Much Ado About You, and Life’s Too Short. Much Ado About You was the best of the bunch but they were all good.
I just finished The Push and while it was good and I'm glad I read it, it was the hardest book I've ever read. It was just an emotional beat down again and again. It definitely brings up a lot of feelings about motherhood, being a mom, thinking of my own mother. I almost put it down and stopped reading it at about 30% because it was so dark but I did end up finishing it. It's a really quick read.
I'm now reading You Love Me, which is book#3 in the You series.
eta: @@@@@@ The Push has major TW, including suicide and child death
I just finished The Push and while it was good and I'm glad I read it, it was the hardest book I've ever read. It was just an emotional beat down again and again. It definitely brings up a lot of feelings about motherhood, being a mom, thinking of my own mother. I almost put it down and stopped reading it at about 30% because it was so dark but I did end up finishing it. It's a really quick read.
I'm now reading You Love Me, which is book#3 in the You series.
eta: @@@@@@ The Push has major TW, including suicide and child death
I just finished The Push and while it was good and I'm glad I read it, it was the hardest book I've ever read. It was just an emotional beat down again and again. It definitely brings up a lot of feelings about motherhood, being a mom, thinking of my own mother. I almost put it down and stopped reading it at about 30% because it was so dark but I did end up finishing it. It's a really quick read.
I'm now reading You Love Me, which is book#3 in the You series.
eta: @@@@@@ The Push has major TW, including suicide and child death
lol I DISAGREE!!!! (see above)
I didn't even see your post yet, lol. But I can totally see your point. It was a really hard book to get through. What a mind fuck.
Post by Jalapeñomel on Apr 11, 2021 10:20:24 GMT -5
I’m reading Pretty Little Things by Janelle Brown. I don’t know how to summarize, so here’s the Amazon blurb:
“Nina once bought into the idea that her fancy liberal arts degree would lead to a fulfilling career. When that dream crashed, she turned to stealing from rich kids in L.A. alongside her wily Irish boyfriend, Lachlan. Nina learned from the best: Her mother was the original con artist, hustling to give her daughter a decent childhood despite their wayward life. But when her mom gets sick, Nina puts everything on the line to help her, even if it means running her most audacious, dangerous scam yet.
Vanessa is a privileged young heiress who wanted to make her mark in the world. Instead she becomes an Instagram influencer—traveling the globe, receiving free clothes and products, and posing for pictures in exotic locales. But behind the covetable façade is a life marked by tragedy. After a broken engagement, Vanessa retreats to her family’s sprawling mountain estate, Stonehaven: a mansion of dark secrets not just from Vanessa’s past, but from that of a lost and troubled girl named Nina.
Nina’s, Vanessa’s, and Lachlan’s paths collide here, on the cold shores of Lake Tahoe, where their intertwined lives give way to a winter of aspiration and desire, duplicity and revenge.”
I just finished The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue: 5 stars. A little long but I enjoyed the journey. About a young woman that makes a deal with a dark god and the consequences it has for her life.
Every Vow You Break by Peter Swanson: 4.5 stars. I love him. It’s not as good as The Kind Worth Killing but much better than some of his latest books. A thriller about a young couple and their honeymoon.
A Very Punchable Face by Colin Jost. I listen to the audiobook and it was great. A memoir of fun stories that you can listen to a little at a time.
The Wrong Family: 3 stars. Thriller that had potential but had one too many twist.
I have The Family Upstairs up next but I’m so over thrillers so I’m not sure I’ll read it.
Post by donutsmakemegonuts on Apr 11, 2021 10:45:12 GMT -5
I finished The Sanatorium by Sarah Pearse earlier this month. I didn't really like it. I was expecting more from it and it was kinda boring. I recently finished The Push by Ashley Audrain. I liked it, definitely more entertaining than The Sanatorium, but not as "disturbing" as some people I know described it. It didn't keep me up at night, but I found myself wanting to keep reading. I finished it in a week.
Recent reads: Faye, Faraway - Helen Fisher (5/5) - lovely, TW for anyone who has lost their mother recently
The Four Winds - Kristin Hannah (3.5/5) - loved most of it except the ending
Finley Donovan is Killing It - Elle Cosimano (4/5) - interesting and different and the romance was kept to a minimum lol
Something In The Water - Catherine Steadman (3/5) - ditto what PO said, good fluff read, but nothing special
All Girls - Emily Lauren (4/5) - I saw a review that said fans of Prep will enjoy this one and I believe that to be true. It’s nowhere near as good as Prep IMO, but Curtis Sittenfeld is one of my favorite authors so that’s not entirely fair comparison, but I really enjoyed it.
Currently reading We Ride Upon Sticks and really liking it so far.
This Tender Land, William Kent Kruger. Boys run away from an Indian School where they suffered terrifying abuse, set during the depression. Very good, definitely recommend.
Squeeze Me, Carl Hiaasen. Fiction loosely based on Trump and Mar a Lago. Hilarious. Must read.
Nothing to See Here, Kevin Wilson. A woman nannies for kids with a supernatural medical condition, and she falls in love with them. Okay, weird premise, rather predictable.
Sorry I Missed You, Suzy Krause. Wanted to quit reading, but didn’t. Wish I had quit.
Reading Now:
Migrations, Charlotte McConaghy. Set a few decades in the future when many species of bird and fish are extinct, a scientist rides on board a shipping vessel to study the migration of one of the few species of bird left. About half-way through but I like it so far.
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, Gail Heneyman. A woman has been a loner her whole life, and starts to finally form relationships with friends and coworkers, through which she starts to come to terms with childhood trauma. Maybe 2/3 of the way through, the childhood trauma has been strongly hinted at, so it’s either very predictable or there’s a giant twist at the end. I’m enjoying it so far.
Post by goldengirlz on Apr 11, 2021 11:12:26 GMT -5
I appreciate all the synopses!
I just finished On the Clock, a non-fiction book about how dehumanizing hourly work has become in this country. A journalist goes undercover at an Amazon warehouse, a call center for AT&T and a McDonald’s. Really, really good.
I’m currently reading Transitions, which was first published in like 1980, but my therapist recommended it. It’s about learning to deal with life changes large and small. It’s a quick read and eye-opening. This book gets me.
On deck for my next book: Maid by Stephanie Land. A memoir with the same themes as On the Clock because now I’m in the rabbit hole. I picked it up on a whim in a bookstore last week.
I also didn’t find The Push as disturbing, but maybe that’s because I don’t have kids? We Need to Talk About Kevin fucked me up way more.
I think I expected SOMETHING redeeming out of it? Anything?! lol
I also probably saw a little more of myself than I’d like in Blythe in terms of her complicated feelings and insecurities as a mom (none of the dark stuff, more generally).
ETA like eb I almost didn’t finish on multiple occasions (kept coming back in hopes of something redeeming lol).
So, I just realized that The Guest List and The Hunting Party are by the same author. I admit I rarely pay attention to authors unless they are a favorite. I was telling H that I could not believe that two books were THAT similar and I went on and on detailing all of the similarities, lol. For GG- both books are about a group of old thirty-something friends (with a loaded history) reconnecting on an isolated island where one of them is murdered. dun dun dunnnnn. I still think it's weird that she wrote two books so similar, but I did enjoy both.
From my previous thread on mystery/ thrillers, I’ve been reading all the books by author Simone St. James. Historical fiction, ghost stories, murder mystery and romance, and they kept my attention.
Her writing is good but I like her modern books slightly better. She has maybe 4 books right after WWI which are all very similar in formula, but the ghost stories are different. I keep reading them though because I don’t have to hugely struggle to get into them. It probably only takes a chapter or two.
I never seek out ghost stories so that is new and unique for me. I don’t really think of myself as a ghost story person. So I think that is a credit to her writing that she attracts people who aren’t really into ghost stories.
I generally prefer fiction, but I'm taking a short break right now and reading Dying of Whiteness by Jonathan Metzl. It's an examination of "how the politics of racial resentment is killing America's heartland." It's dense and kind of hard to read, but good. goldengirlz, On The Clock is on my shelf-glad to hear it's good. The fiction I've recently read is: Big Summer by Jennifer Weiner, it's kind of a murder mystery (which I find silly), but basically about two women who are old friends and one is getting married. The Comeback (don't remember the author) about a former childstar struggling with overcoming addiction and getting her life sorted out Monogamy by Sue Miller (one of my favorite authors)about a marriage from the perspective of before and after the husband died unexpectedly.
I have been kind of flying through books lately, but half of these are audiobooks.
The Book of Lost Friends: 4 stars. There are two narrators, one is a young freed slave after the civil war, and one is a woman in present day (or actually I think it was the 1980s or 1990s so not THAT present) who is a teacher and lives in the same place where the former slave was born.
How Much of these Hills is Gold: probably about 3.5-4 stars. Takes place during/after the gold rush and is about two Chinese American sisters and their journey after their father's death. Coincidentally was very topical for current events since it deals with some of the racism they faced in the 1800s, though I did not know that when I picked it up!
Something in the Water - this has been covered, I thought it was a page turner but didn't end up being as good as I thought it would be as I got further into it. Probably 3.5 starts for the fact that I enjoyed it, not that it was an objectively great book.
The Family Upstairs - Maybe 3.5 stars? It had 3 main narrators which I found a little confusing at first. It's about siblings whose parents were in a (small) cult and died when they were young, and the baby sibling was adopted by another family and is just learning of her history.
The Whisper Man: 2.5 stars. It was quick and listenable via audiobook but it didn't do as much as I wanted it to.
Homegoing - 4.5 stars. I actually loved the concept and the writing and the end, but would probably rate it as 5 stars, except I found it a little hard to follow at times. It is basically a series of short stories about several generations of 2 related families in the Gold Coast of Africa. One family ends up being brought to America as a slave and one stays in Africa for the whole story. Because there were so many characters, my ADHD brain had a hard time remembering details of earlier generations by the time I reached the later ones. I would definitely recommend this one!
Before the Coffee Gets Cold - 3.5 stars. Cool concept, but I thought the writing was clunky and the story itself didn't do much for me. I was surprised because my sister and mom both loved it and gave it 5 stars, so your mileage may vary.
Currently reading The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue (audiobook) and The Four Winds (Kindle). I am really enjoying the former, but so far I'm finding the latter kind of slow. This surprises me because I generally like Kristen Hannah books and find them very readable, but this one hasn't really grabbed me yet. I'm only around 15% of the way in though.
Unfinished - Priyanka Chopra Jonas 1*. The title is accurate. It really is unfinished. She has had an interesting life - moving all around India and the US, becoming Ms. World, her acting career, and marriage to a pop star 10 years younger than her — but she glosses over everything. It’s just so surface level and boring.
Vanishing Half - Brit Bennet 4*. Really great book about twins who ran away and lived separate lives as different races.
American Dirt - Jeanine Cummins 4*. I also really liked this a lot more than I was expecting. I had no interest in it for awhile due to a lot of bad publicity, but it was one of the better books I’ve read in awhile.
Currently reading Group - Christie Tate. Too early to tell. A book about group therapy.
Post by sapphireblue on Apr 11, 2021 15:39:45 GMT -5
I am currently reading The Rose Code by Kate Quinn. I'm not very far in but I expect it to be good. I loved her other books that I have read (The Alice Network and The Huntress).
I have recently read:
Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane--5 stars I loved it. Hard to describe it all but I thought it was very engrossing.
The Night Portrait by Laura Morelli 5/5 stars Also really enjoyed this book. Clearly I love historical fiction and lately have been reading a lot of WWII fiction. This one goes back and forth between two times. First the time of Leonardo Da Vinci and a painting he did then, second a woman who is an art conservationist in WWII in Germany. The painting is taken by the Nazis, and she works to protect it.
The Book of Lost Names by Kristen Harmel Also really loved this one. Also WWII fiction about a woman working with the French Resistance.
I read this last fall, but I highly recommend Grown Ups by Marian Keyes, I love her novels.
Currently reading Group - Christie Tate. Too early to tell. A book about group therapy.
I’ll be interested to hear what you think when you’re finished. I wasn’t sure how I felt about it. I appreciate any memoir about therapy and bettering yourself, but some of the stuff her doctor recommended and some of the relationships she developed in group were odd. But then again, I’m not a mental health professional nor have I ever been to group therapy so it’s very likely just me not understanding.
Post by NewGirlNic on Apr 11, 2021 16:02:10 GMT -5
I just started Ask Again, Yes. I'm only a couple chapters in... no real opinion yet.
I finished 28 Summers last week and it was a light, non-conventional love story. I really enjoyed it and read it in about 2 days.
Prior to that I read The Vanishing Half and The Mothers, both by Brit Bennett
Next up I have The Chain checked out of the library.
I need to give Anxious People another try. I started the audio book and I couldn't stand the narrator (she did weird voices for the characters that I couldn't get past) and then I got the book from the library, but it was at the same time as a couple other books and I never got to it before it was due back.
When No One Was Watching by a Allyson Cole - story about neighborhood gentrification with a sinister twist. 3.5 I was really loving this book until the end. While I thought the antagonists were a little heavy handed, the theme of the dark side of gentrification really had me thinking. I loved the main character and her original neighbors and I thought the author did an excellent job painting the picture of the neighborhood and it’s history. I hated the ending though. It just seemed so out of nowhere.
I felt the same way about When No One Was Watching. The gentrification and history was so interesting, and the characters were so vivid. And then, Bam, a whole lot of wtf. Have you read anything else by her?