Beautiful Country: A Memoir of An Undocumented Childhood by Qian Julie Wang was good. Very interesting story, but since she was relying on childhood memories, something felt a little...I don't know. Unfinished? And then her teenage years and beyond felt rushed. Hard to explain, but I appreciated her story a lot.
I just started Talk To Me by T. Coraghessan Boyle and already I'm just not feeling it. I wish I could identify what is different about writing that draws me in and writing that doesn't. I can't ever put my finger on it. I know I've mentioned this before and someone talked about showing vs. telling. I don't know if it's that or what. But it should be a book I'm into, psychology and communicating with animals. But something really isn't clicking and I'm only 20 or so pages in.
I have Velvet Was The Night by Silvia Moreno-Garcia and Rock Paper Scissors by Alice Feeney also checked out so I think I'll just switch over to one of those. And I have Colson Whitehead's newest book, Harlem Shuffle, ready to be picked up. No time for books that I can't get into!
The Personal Librarian - historical fiction about Belle da Costa Greene who was the librarian for JP Morgan as a young black woman passing as white. 4*, made me want to visit museums!
Little Secrets - typical thriller, kidnapping, cheating etc. nothing new 3*
It Ends with Us - love story with a bit of mystery, Trigger Warning: domestic violence, not enough development of one of the main characters for me 3*
Reborn in the USA: An Englishman's Love Letter to His Chosen Home - autobiography by Roger Bennett of Men in Blazers fame. I just love him, laughed out loud many times 5*
I just read a new John Grisham book - a time for Mercy and it was a quick read, I really enjoyed it. I feel like John Grisham books can be a bit samey if you read a lot close together but then having not read one in years I picked this up at the airport bookshop and it was a real page turner for me.
Still slogging through that Steven King though lol wise_rita
The Rest Falls Away by Colleen Gleason. She is my neighbor! She has a new book and her H was posting pictures of her release party at the local indie book shop. I don't know her personally (her H and I are in the same political groups) but I wanted to support so I picked up one of her books. I think it may be her first book, because I am type A and MUST start from the beginning. I'm only 1 chapter into it but I think its a Regency era romance/vampire hunter situation and it seems fun so far.
She seems to have a few series going from a quick flip through goodreads.
I'll be starting A Discovery of Witches today. Just finished A Court of Silver Flames (the latest in the A Court of Thorns and Roses series) - it was the perfect smutty distraction.
Post by sandandsea on Oct 27, 2021 11:14:33 GMT -5
I am reading Island of the Blue Dolphins and anything Else my 4th grader is reading. It seems to be encouraging him to read and enjoy it more so that’s my goal
I’ve been on a WW2 kick lately. I just finished Forest of the Vanishing Stars. It’s the 10th WW2 historical fiction I’ve read since June. I’ve been trying to figure out why I am so drawn to the subject, and I think it’s the hope and resilience in the darkest times, because we are in dark times now.
And then I took a break to read Nomandland for a book club I just joined. That was a whole other type of depressing, without much hope at the end.
I’m just finishing up All the Light We Cannot See. It is so good and I like that it tells less commonly told stories of WWII. I tend to like historical books with a strong connection to place. Throughout the last Presidency I thought a lot about how WWII came to be and during the pandemic I felt like were were so lucky with technology and resources, in comparison with what so many Europeans went through during the wars.
I’ve also listened to some recs from a recent audio book thread. The Dutch House and Daisy Jones and the Six were good!
I am reading Island of the Blue Dolphins and anything Else my 4th grader is reading. It seems to be encouraging him to read and enjoy it more so that’s my goal
I absolutely loved this book! I might have to reread it now 😀
I am now reading Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty and I'm really enjoying it. I have no idea if I'll enjoy the resolution, but I forgot how much I like her writing style. She does a good job with characters. I think the last book of hers I read was 9 Perfect Strangers, which I did NOT like (though I loved the show!) so I think a part of me is waiting for this one to go off the rails, lol.
I just finished reading Ground Zero: A Novel of 9/11. I found it helping with my daughter's scholastic book fair at her school. It's aimed at young adults, but was a really interesting read. It has the perspective of a boy in the towers on 9/11/01 and then an Afghani girl of the same age on 9/11/2019.
I’ve been on a WW2 kick lately. I just finished Forest of the Vanishing Stars. It’s the 10th WW2 historical fiction I’ve read since June. I’ve been trying to figure out why I am so drawn to the subject, and I think it’s the hope and resilience in the darkest times, because we are in dark times now.
And then I took a break to read Nomandland for a book club I just joined. That was a whole other type of depressing, without much hope at the end.
I’m just finishing up All the Light We Cannot See. It is so good and I like that it tells less commonly told stories of WWII. I tend to like historical books with a strong connection to place. Throughout the last Presidency I thought a lot about how WWII came to be and during the pandemic I felt like were were so lucky with technology and resources, in comparison with what so many Europeans went through during the wars.
I’ve also listened to some recs from a recent audio book thread. The Dutch House and Daisy Jones and the Six were good!
My hold on All the Light We Cannot See just came up today!
I also just finished “All the Light We Cannot See” and just loved it.
I recently read City of Girls and really liked it, which I was surprised by because I don’t like Elizabeth Gilbert at all.
I’m obsessed with Elizabeth Acevedo right now. I’ve read three of her books in the last couple of weeks and they were so lovely. “With the Fire on High”, “The Poet X” and “Clap When You Land”. All amazing.
I also read “Tomorrow Will Be Different” by Sarah McBride, which is a stunning memoir of a trans woman. So so beautiful.
"Hello babies. Welcome to Earth. It's hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It's round and wet and crowded. On the outside, babies, you've got a hundred years here. There's only one rule that I know of, babies-"God damn it, you've got to be kind.”
I read Mary Jane and The Startup Wife, and now I’m reading Abundance which I wasn’t sure I was going to read after it came up on my hold list because it seemed too heavy, but it’s really good and very readable. It’s about a man who is homeless with his son and over the course of a day counts down the money he has, it also has a parallel plot of the man at another point of his life.