I'm listening to Maame by Jessica George. And just started reading Surivalists by Kashana Cauley and both are good so far.
My favorite book from January was an Immense World by Ed Yong. It's a very readable nonfiction book about animal senses and it blew my mind. It's winning lots of prizes, and is well deserved!
I also liked Shrines of Gaiety by Kate Atkinson, but not as much as I loved Life After Life, which is one of my favorite books of all time. This one was less serious, but entertaining.
Sam by Allegra Goodman was great - a very believable character study of a girl/young woman.
Villa by Rachel Hawkins was better than I thought it would, and kept me entertained on audio. Same with City Under One Roof by Iris Yamashita - cool premise - based on a town in Alaska where everyone lives in one building.
Just OK - Really Good Actually by Monica Heisley, You're Invited by Amanda Jayatissa. and Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson.
Someone needs to explain the Remarkably Bright Creatures + GBCN connection right now. And get me a signed copy.
I did not know this until tonight either. I just googled the author and recognized her because I used to read her blog. She was a runner and her blog was something like eat pray run (eat drink run?). She was on H&F. I think her screen name was just her first name?
My sister and my niece (she's 27) wanted to start a little book club between the three of us. Cool. The book my niece picked, which I don't think she realized at the time, was SO sexually graphic, like in a really vulgar way. And the writing was so bad and cheesy, which made the horrible vulgar sex parts even worse. I was laughing so hard in bed reading some of these lines. I have never read something so terrible in my life. I can't believe Goodreads rated it so high, like over 4* with like 200,000 reviews.
Anyway, when we finished the book, it was an awkward "um.... so what did you guys think of the book...." lolol
oh no is this mother daughter (your sister and niece)? Or also an aunt? I would prob feign illness on bookclub night if I recommend a sex book to my mom lol
So I started the year with the goal to read a book a week. But my the middle of the month I realized I was averaging a book a day. So here is my January list and my own rating system (out of 3 stars) which has nothing to do with anything besides how it made me feel at the end.
1. The Identicals ⭐️ 2. The Lifeguards ⭐️⭐️ 3. Reminders of Him ⭐️⭐️ 4. Barefoot ⭐️⭐️ 5. The Summer Place❌ 6. Confess ⭐️⭐️ 7. All Your Perfects ⭐️⭐️⭐️ 8. Spare ⭐️⭐️ 9. Bluebird ⭐️⭐️ 10. Nov 9th ⭐️⭐️⭐️ 11. To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before ⭐️ 12. People We Meet on Vacation ⭐️ 13. Other Birds ⭐️⭐️ 14. The German Wife ⭐️⭐️⭐️ 15. One Italian Summer ⭐️ 16. Maybe Someday ⭐️⭐️ 17. Maybe Not ⭐️ 18. Maybe Now ⭐️ 19. The Spanish Love Deception ❌ 20. Home Front ⭐️⭐️⭐️ 21. Meant to Be ⭐️⭐️⭐️ 22. The Vanishing Half ⭐️⭐️ 23. Firefly Lane ⭐️⭐️⭐️ 24. Fly Away ⭐️⭐️⭐️ 25. The Flatshare ⭐️⭐️ 26. A Man Called Ove ⭐️⭐️⭐️ 27. Twenties Girl ⭐️⭐️⭐️ 28. Sometimes I Lie ⭐️⭐️⭐️ 29. Without Mrrerit ⭐️⭐️ 30. The Four Winds ⭐️ 31. In Five Years ⭐️⭐️⭐️
I think the poster's name was shelbyann. I don't want to tag her and be creepy lol. I enjoyed her running blog back in the day too and want to read her book!
Basically the reviewers all agree that what Harry and Meghan is doing is not so radical, it’s been done before, and they don’t want to change the monarchy in any meaningful way, they just want to change their place in it.
Right now I’m reading Feral by Emily Pennington, which was an Amazon First Read. It’s about her quest to visit all the National Parks in one year. It’s somewhat interesting, but she includes some passages about sex with her boyfriend (whom she breaks up with) which doesn’t fit and is weird.
Post by basilosaurus on Feb 5, 2023 0:09:05 GMT -5
I finally finished cloud cuckoo land. It took forever because it took months to come available, and then I didn't finish it in the 3 weeks so had to wait months for it to be available again. It was enjoyable but definitely not worth that amount of time waiting.
Just finished honor which I think was a first read. It was good. Predictable packaged with a bow ending, but I appreciated tackling such difficult subject matter.
New Jim Crow is now on unlimited, so that's in my library now, but I don't know if I'll tackle it any time soon.
Just started Her Hidden Genius which is historical fiction about Rosalind Franklin. I've read many books by this author, Marie Benedict, so I have high hopes. Her subject matter is usually historical fiction about a woman whose story is rarely told as they're overshadowed by the more prominent men. One was about Einstein's wife, another Jacob Astor's wife who survived the titanic. You get the picture.
I read nine books in January, with a heavy emphasis on non-fiction:
Rocket Men The Anomaly The Coddling of the American Mind Lessons in Chemistry Ejaculate Responsibly Red Notice Dopesick The Radium Girls The Fifth Risk
In Feb so far: Billion Dollar Whale Seven Days in June
I’m starting Dreams from my Father and am currently reading The Body Keeps The Score.
mcppalmbeach, I just finished The Candy House. It was really well written, but I didn't like it--it was one of those books I figured out I didn't like too far in to stop reading. I felt like the vignettes were too loosely related and I wish it got more into the meat of the collective unconscious. I felt like Lincoln's chapter would have been more effective (and interesting) later on in the book.
I started Cloud Cuckoo Land last night. It seems interesting so far and I liked All the Light We Cannot See, but I was emotionally spent after reading that book. Wondering if this one will do the same.
I just finished a re-read of two books in the Oxford Time Travel Series, Blackout and All Clear by Connie Willis. The book centers around historians who time travele to WW2 England on assignment and get stranded in the Blitz. I think this was my third read and every time I read more details reveal themselves to me.
bears I feel you on The Candy House. It’s one of those books that I wish someone I knew who was really good with analysis would have read with me. I think there’s something really interesting there about human connections and our collective need to know “everything” in the age of social media and some other really good topics, but I need a leader to help me flesh them out. My brain is kaput.
Cloud Cuckoo Land was one of my favorite books last year. It is amazing. However, it’s one of the hardest books I’ve read in a while. Another one that needs some really detailed unraveling. Did you stick with it or move on?
I finished The House In The Cerulean Sea. Good Lord. When I started it I wasn’t sure I was going to like it bc fantasy/Harry Potter shit isn’t my jam but I am SO glad I kept going.
This book is so beautiful it hurts. A little heavy-handed? Yes. But do pure and good. I want to read it again. I actually feel lighter having that book be part of my brain now.
omg. I see a few people here read On A Quiet Street and I was really annoyed that at one point early on, Cora said she went onto her deck and looked into Georgia’s backyard and then in the next page, it was stated that Cora lives across the street from Georgia and Georgia’s house backs up to a park.