WHAT ARE YOU READING? - Part 7

Time for another thread before I disappear for 2 weeks (not that I had been very active this year...)

How is everyone's reading going? 2/3rd of the year are almost gone - did you manage to read what you planned to?

Nice to hear from you, Annie. Hope all is well.

I am having a good reading year, despite not having the structure of a formal challenge. At the start of the year I was wondering if I would read less without an external challenge to provide a focus, but I am currently 5 books ahead of where I was last year. I am enjoying my year without a plan, although I ended up creating a self-directed theme in March, reading about Chinese history. I have read eight memoirs and/or history books so far. Otherwise, I am reading as my whims lead me.

So far I have read one five star book, which was a reread, but several 4.5 star books, and only a couple of duds.

I just finished rereading The Bean Trees for my book club, and am now wondering what to pick up next. I am also making my way through The Cultural Revolution, although that has been paused while dealing with this cold and some dog stress. And I have The Covenant of Water going on audio. It's fantastic.

I've just finished Tell My Horse: Voodoo and Life in Haiti and Jamaica by Zora Neale Hurston. The book is her anthropological memoir of her time in the two countries of the title in the late 1930s, traveling those countries and learning about the people and their lifestyles, customs and religious beliefs. As per the title, there is a lot of effort spent on describing Voodoo practices in great detail. Much of the book is very interesting indeed. You can read my longer review on my Club Read thread.

Next up for me will be The Fortune of the Rougons, the first book in Emile Zola's 20-book Les Rougon-Macquart series.

I am trying hard to get through Enlightenmentwhich will be the final of the Booker long-list that I will read this year. Then I hope to get back to Isaac B Singer’s The Slave.

I’m almost finished with Singer’s The Manor and am also reading Baldwin’s essays in Nobody Knows my Name. After the Manor, I plan to read/listen to James and then read The Estate, which is a sequel to The Manor.

I'm reading my fourth book from this year's Booker Prize longlist, My Friends by Hisham Matar, which is very enjoyable so far. I'm also continuing with the Other Essays section in the Library of America volume of Baldwin: Collected Essays by James Baldwin, as he was born 100 years ago at the beginning of this month. I picked up a copy of Orwell's Ghosts: Wisdom and Warnings for the Twenty-First Century by Laura Beers from my local library yesterday, after I listened to part of a Politics & Prose interview of the author on the bookshop's YouTube channel, and I finished the Preface yesterday while I was there.

I just finished The Other Bennett Sister - a spin off of Pride and Prejudice that centers on Mary Bennett. I enjoyed it.

Now I'm reading James, my first book by Percival Everett. I was going back and forth and all around about whether I should read a different Everett novel first since I haven't read Huck Finn in ages (and didn't like it at all), but in the end I decided to just give it a try and I was sucked in immediately. Looking forward to spending some time with it the next few days.

I'm halfway through and really enjoyung Demon Copperhead.

>3 rocketjk: I'm planning on reading The Fortune if the Rougons after Demon Copperhead, so look forward to comparing notes.

About 2/3 through Adichie's Americanah to be followed by Lawrence's Seven Pillars of Wisdom

>9 AlisonY: Cool. Evidently there's a group read as well, though I'm not taking part. Anyway, about 50 pages in I'm enjoying it.

Tonight I started The Little Red Chairs.

Right and Left: The Legend of the Holy Drinker Two novellas set in pre WWII Europe by Joseph Roth

>12 labfs39: I'm curious on your take!

I started War and Peace as my at work PDF book and I'm surprised by how quickly I'm flying through it. I'm almost nearly a third of the way through already. It's so.... easy to read, even easier than Anna Karenina. It truly reads like a television drama and it's actually quite humurous.

Once again, it's been quite a while since I've checked in on one of these threads. Well, currently I'm reading The Space Between Worlds by Michaiah Johnson, an SF novel with an interesting premise. I'm not very far into it yet, but I'm liking it well enough so far.

Sept reads

september monthly authorStories of Jane Gardam

sept RTT theme royals Four Reigns Kukrit Pramoj

sept Maskerade disc world witches

Danube RG theme June-Sept

Sept non fiction challenge Essays tremor

Sept october countryRay Bradbury reading group https://www.librarything.com/topic/362383#n8606346

I’ve finished Singer’s The Manor, which I found very readable, and its sequel, The Estate, now waits for me at the public library. I’m eager to get to The Estate, but want to finish James first, and I’d like to read Headshot, a debut novel by Rita Bullwinkel before Sept. 16 when the Booker Shortlist is announced. I expect the order of reading will depend a lot on how appealing the first few pages of Headshot are.

I just finished James which was as good as everyone said. I'm almost done with Nansen: Explorer as Hero which has been so interesting.

For fiction, I'm starting The Fortunes of the Rougons with the Zola group read. I'm excited about this because I was planning to start this cycle anyway and it has coincided perfectly with the group read. Having read and loved about 6 of the books from this series, I'm ready to start at the beginning to get the whole picture.

Not sure yet what will be next for nonfiction, but maybe Mary Chestnut's Diary because I've been interested in Civil War reading lately and also diary writing.

I’ve been reading junk but it keeps me busy.

I just finished James too, and yes—it was a good story and thought-provoking as well. Everett has a really sure touch. I'm definitely going to read more of him... there are a few titles on my shelves that are getting bumped up the towering TBR pile.

Now reading Ursula Parrott's Ex-Wife for my book club. Written in 1929! And nothing dusty about it. Also, extremely pretty McNally edition—I've been reading so many ebooks, it's nice to hold print again. James was also a physical book, so I'm on a run.

Nothing

>22 kjuliff: :(

I just finished Enlightenment. For me it was only ok. Next will be Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood. Both are on the Booker longlist.

I’ve finished James which I found very readable, but not did not like as well as The Trees. Of the 5 Booker Longlisted books I’ve read, My Friends and Held have impressed me most. And now I’ll wait for the Shortlist to be announced, and in the meantime return to the story Isaac Bashevis Singer began with The Manor and continues in The Estate.

>23 dchaikin: I’m so glad that I was not alone in finding Enlightenment just OK. I really liked the style when I started it, but the part of the plot around a rather obscure reformed church and the story of the astrologer mystery were beyond dull.

The quirky bits about the young girl in home-made clothes coming to pieces at the seams just didn’t grab me. It was like Kate Atkinson gone wrong.

I’m finished with my Booker reading and waiting for a couple of books to come of hold. Meanwhile I was reading some Joseph Roth but needed a break from Germany.

>24 dianelouise100: I totally agree. The Trees was a great achievement. James was good but limited in its appeal. I leave the 2024 Booker long list with Held being my choice for the prize.

I'm on a fun times read with one of the Amelia Peabody series, Guardian of the Horizon by Elizabeth Peters.

Catching up with a few recent reads. I loved The History of Sound: Stories by Ben Shattuck. It's a collection of 12 interconnected stories set in New England from about 1700 to the present. Lots of focus on the landscape and on love, loss, memories, music, artifacts and how they connect us.

I don't listen to audiobooks too often these days but find that I can listen to history or bios while working on the computer without getting lost. I just finished The Lost King of France: How DNA Solved the Mystery of the Murdered Son of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette by Deborah Cadbury. It's not a new release, but I learned a lot about what happened to the royal family post Revolution (besides the beheadings).

Finishing up The Secret Book of Flora Lea by Patti Callahan Henry, a library loan story about two sisters who were evacuated in 1940. The younger disappeared, and although she was assumed to have drowned, her older sister believes she is still alive. The narrative alternates between 1940 and 1960.

I finished up the very enjoyable The Fortune of the Rougons, the first book in Emile Zola's 20-book Les Rougon-Macquart series about life in France during the Second Empire. I've posted a review on my Club Read thread.

I've decided to stick with my classic French series, moving back into Marcel Proust's In Search of Lost Time with the third book in the series, The Guermantes Way. This is another doorstop, of course, checking in a 595 pages in my 2005 Penguin Classics edition (with a modern translation by Mark Treharne). The book is comprised of Part I, Part II: Chapter 1 and Part II: Chapter 2. Given that Proust's prose is does not always provide the swiftest reading, and given how long it took me to read through the series' second entry, I think I'm going to break this book up and read it one of those three sections at a time. So I'll start with the 300 pages of Part I and then break things up with something else, and so on. I knew you'd all find this fascinating. :)

I'm onto Killers of the King: The Men Who Dared to Execute Charles I, which has been very interesting. As usual however, anything in that period is making me want to reread Rebels and Traitors, Lindsey Davis' incredible epic novel of the English Civil War.

>29 rocketjk:

Someday I wll want to read Proust so it's actually nice to get suggestions about that kind of reading breakdown.

A few things finished and started. I finished an old poetry collection, The Blue Swallows by Howard Nemerov. And I've picked up The Collected Poems of Wilfred Owen. This morning I finished the unexpectedly quick Stone Yard Devotional by Australian author Charlotte Wood. It's everything the title promises. I enjoyed it. And I have started Creation Lake by Rachel Kuchner, which was released yesterday. These last two are from the Booker longlist. And I keep meaning to pick up Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold. I think tomorrow morning I finally will.

I read The Aosawa Murders which is a modern take on the Japanese puzzle mystery (honkaku) novel, which was fun! Now reading Tara Isabella Burton's Here in Avalon/

Chiming in before I get to horribly behind on keeping up with threads here again to say that I'm now reading Happy-Go-Lucky by David Sedaris.

just finished maskerade 3rd time read, still a 4* rating.

Reading October Country with some of his earlier stories

so much bluewhich I am enjoying very much,.

I started reading Fortune of the Rougons by Zola.

I finished The Secret Book of Flora Lea last night and started The Instrumentalist by Harriet Constable.

I am reading The Collected Stories of Joseph Roth. His short stories are leaving me feel slightly unhinged. But believing the writer to be a dormant genius, and knowing his alcoholism impeded his later works, and aware of the times under which he lived, nothing could put me off reading these stories.

Michael Hofmann’s extensive introduction to the stories explains the sometimes abrupt endings, but they still manage to surprise. Nevertheless I’m so glad to discover this writer and will forgive him anything. All his works are a joy to read.

My copy of wizard of earthsea finally arrived, and since my sci fi/fan is discussing it this Thursday, Id best get started on it So everything else will need to wait a bit

I finished Headshot by Rita Bullwinkel, my 6th of the Booker Longlist. I thought it was a very fine novel, well crafted and beautifully written. Its joins my other two favorites of the nominees: My Friends and Held.

I’m currently still reading The Estate by Singer and have started The Radetzky March by Joseph Roth.

Here’s a link to my review of Headshot:

https://www.librarything.com/topic/357075#8619320

I'm embarking on another Big Book - Mary Chestnut's Civil War - which is the diary of a southern woman's experience of the Civil War. The intro was fascinating - she kept a journal throughout the war, but this version was something she worked on 20 years later, using her journal and her writing skills to create a portrait of her daily life through the war years. She was connected to many "high up" confederate leaders. She considered herself an abolitionist and feminist (skeptical of any follow-through on these ideas - we'll see), and her diary is considered the great civil war novel in many ways. It is LONG - like a 1000 pages. I'm going to start it and see if I like it. I will freely allow myself to abandon it, but I've been interested in the time period, especially because it's the 160th anniversary of the end of the war next year, and because I really think that our country has sadly still not recovered from a lot of the rhetoric and ideas that developed around the Civil War and Reconstruction. Might be interesting to read some of the source material for those ideas.

I'm on covid round 3. I was able to read a lot yesterday, and finished Creation Lake by Rachel Kushner. I was a little mixed on it. Ambitious, maybe. This morning I started The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden. Both are on the Booker longlist. The shortlist comes out Monday.

I’ve finished The Estate, by Isaac Bashevis Singer, which, when read consecutively with The Manor, makes a very satisfying novel of about 800 pages. And I’m now into The Radetzky March by Joseph Roth. I’m just at the beginning, but am already enjoying the characters and the writing style. I’m looking forward to the Booker’s announcement of the Shortlist on Monday, which will surely influence my reading choices for the weeks after.

Back to reading so much blue very different from James but very well written

>44 cindydavid4: Percival Everett is such a great writer. Have put So Much Blue on my list. I preferred The Trees to James.

I'm reading The Rachel Incident, which is maybe a bit too modern for me - I'm annoyed with the main character. But I also am curious what will happen to her. I know a lot of people who loved this, so I'm sticking with it.

I've gotten a good 200 pages into Mary Chestnut's Civil War and I think I'm going to stick with it for now. I'm a little on the fence, though. Diary writing is sometimes unsatisfying because while it's fun to read about events in the moment, it loses the arc and development of a story.

And I'm on an audiobook kick as well. I don't consistently listen to these, but they've been working for me lately, and I checked out The King's General by Daphne DuMaurier from the library. I chose it by searching for books read by Juliet Stevenson, because she is my favorite reader. I'm really enjoying it.

>46 japaul22: I’m glad you’re finding Mary Chestnut readable. That tome has been on my shelf forever and I do want to get to it. Like you, though, I’m not too enthused about reading diaries.

>47 dianelouise100: it's definitely readable, but it's hard to predict how much I'll get out of it and it's a lot of pages/reading time when I'm not sure of the payoff! But for now I'm still interested enough.

I heard so much about Parable of the Sower, love Butler, and love the preface by N.K. Jemisin, that I decided Id read it this evening. I read quite a bit of of it, Till I couldnt. Dont think this is the book for me right now. in fact if I can avoid any future dystopian book it would make me very happy

I'm onto Milkman by Anna Burns for my bookclub on Monday.

Another Booker book done. I finished The Safekeep (I thought it was ok), and I have started James by Percival Everett

Just finished reading Aednan since it was available when I went to add it to my library wishlist. I missed that it was a novel in verse. It was a lovely break from what I've been working on all month -- The Art of the Story edited by Daniel Halpern and Women in Love.

>50 mabith: Good luck with Milkman. I thought it was excellent but very much not an easy read. I'll be interested to learn what you think of it and how your book club reacts.

>53 rocketjk: I slightly predict a lot of people won't finish it, but I think September is a lower finish month generally for people with kids (which is a good bit of the group). It was my pick, after finally getting enough people to choose lighter books that I didn't have to provide a comic relief pick for balance. I remember opinion was somewhat divided on LT when it came out, but I'm liking it so far.

Reading a volume of Serhiy Zhadan's poetry (Ukraine). A New Orthography

Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut

Disappointed with so much blue I was hooked in the beginning, he is such a good writer. The book is divided into three parts: House about the characters family and painting;1979 about his trip to San Salvador to help a friend find his brother; and Paris where he is showing some of his work and meets up with a young woman I really liked the House chapters., bored with the 1979 and frankly tired of his angst over his affair The stories come together sort of; His writing kept me reading, but I was just disatisfied at the end Im glad to have read it, and plan to read more of his books (trees next) I just wish I liked this more.

>56 dianeham: oh gosh I read that so long ago, I probably didnt appreciate it. Lemme know what you think might be a reread

>58 cindydavid4: will do Cindy.

>58 cindydavid4: i read 40% but I’m bored. There is no sympathetic character at all.

glad im not the only one

Back when I read the four reigns for the RTT Royal theme, Miss Brangwens mentioned sightseeing a group of short stories about Thailand.I put in on my Kindle; it came up again and I was ready to buy it when I had a message that I already own it. yup indeed I do, reading now and liking them. Im not the only person who does this, right?

I finished For Life on Friday and liked it so much I sent the author a message on IG. Beautifully written (the book, not my message 🙂).

I'm slowly working my way through The Dictionary People, am close to finishing The Ferryman, and will start The Mountain In The Sea tomorrow to make sure I can finish it before bookclub.

I finished two books today. The Instrumentalist by Harriet Constable was wonderful. It's historical fiction based on what little is known about Anna Maria della Piéta, an orphaned girl who was taught by Antonio Vivaldi and rose to become the most celebrated violinist of the day. There's a review on my thread. I was very disappointed in The Assassination of Margaret Thatcher: Stories by Hilary Mantel. I love her historical novels, but I found this collection dark, dry and depressing. I listened to it on audio, which may have had something to do with my low rating. I'm enjoying the format less and less these days.

I'm about to start Whale Fall by Elizabeth O'Connor.

I finally finished The Fortune of the Rougons and started The Fountains of Silence, set during the Spanish Civil War.

I've picked up Moby Dick and Ahab's Wife again after a pause of several months. I suppose I needed the break and summer is a busy time with gardening and all, but really I wasn't that far from finishing it. 11 days to go now.

I finished The Art of the English Murder (UK title, A Very British Murder) by Lucy Worsley, and now I'm going on to The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.

I've decided to read Proust's The Guermantes Way in quarters. It's enjoyable, but mostly slow reading. Having just reached the 1/4 mark, I'm about to start Dear Mrs. Bird by A.J. Pearce. It's a breezy, light-hearted somewhat comedic novel set in London. During the blitz. In a blurb on the back cover, The Guardian calls the book "a wartime romp." This is the first of a 3-book series, and BookConcierge, posting over in Club Read, is enjoying the set, so that's a good sign!

I loved life of pi so when I found the facts behind the helsinki roccomatios I decided to read it; The first two stories were fantastic; a student helps his younger friend who is dying of AIDS by inventing a family making up stories to go with the events from 1900. The second was about a woman visiting DC and discovers an unknown composer and his first compostion.

The next two were odd: sort of time traveling letter about a young mans excecution by hanging, to his mother Each time period made some changed, but by the end I didnt really get the point The third about a magical mirror went on to long

this was written before his famous work, and you can see the budding talent in these earlier works. I know he has other shorts that i might try a well

James was pretty quick read. Fantastic, provocative. It made Booker shortlist while I was reading it. Next I'll start Orbital by Samatha Harvey, another Booker shortlist book.

>69 dchaikin: I just had the latest Covid vaccine shot on Tuesday morning. It’s different than the previous ones. I slept till Wednesday evening. So I’m still on The Radetzky March which is getting better and better. Then I’ll read Creation Lake.

The Radetzky March now finished. It’ll be a hard act to follow. I don’t feel like stepping out of 20th C war-torn Europe but guess I’ll read Creation Lake as planned.

I finally got a copy of this month's book club book, Notes on an Execution. Very different from our usual fare. We'll see what Monday's discussion is like.

I’m hoping to finish The Radetzky March tonight. After starting Part II I found it harder and harder to put down. After this book, I’m hoping The Family Moskat by I. B. Singer will have come in for me at the library. There are 3 Booker shortlisted books I’ve not read, but I’m not planning to read them.

>72 labfs39: I read Notes on an Execution in 2022 and see I gave it 4 stars, but I didn’t review it and can’t remember it. I’m curious now as I don’t think I’ve ever forgotten what a four star book was about.

>73 dianelouise100: it would be good for us to read The Family Moskat together like we did with The Radetsky March. Let me know when you start it.

Flipping audiobooks. I finished Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent - a series of interviews of Judi Dench by Brendan O'Hea. I can't recommend it high enough to Shakespeare lovers. It's fantastic. Now I've begun The Saddest Words: William Faulkner's Civil War by Michael Gorra.

A while ago, I was reading Histories of Nations: How Their Identities Were Forged, but lately I've been reading about Nothing: From Absolute Zero to Cosmic Oblivion, Amazing Insights into Nothingness with more interest. I also have Hip Hop Stylography: Street Style and Culture on the table, so I might get myself better acquainted with the genre before moving on to Know What I Mean?: Reflections on Hip-Hop by so-called hip hop intellectual, Michael Eric Dyson.

>74 kjuliff: It's a novel about a serial killer on death row. In alternating chapters we hear from him in the 24 hours before his execution and various women in his life (his mother, the female detective who caught him, etc).

>75 kjuliff: oh yes Im in!

I started reading the trees yesterday and before I knew it, I was half way through. What an extraordinary read! and rather perfect for a lead up to October .

>79 cindydavid4: OK. Just let me know when you start and I’ll start too.

>80 cindydavid4: It’s brilliant, isn’t it. That scene about the warehouse of dead bodies. Only Everett could make up such a weirdness and make it funny at the same time.

>78 labfs39: Thanks, I can only faintly remember it now, but I still can’t remember why I liked it.

>80 cindydavid4: glad you’re into The Trees. Great stuff

>75 kjuliff: that’s a great idea. It will probably be by Wednesday, I’ve got a project for a class I must complete this weekend, but I do have the book. Have you been able to find it on audio?

I ended up calling it quits with Mary Chestnut's Civil War. I read about 100 pages of the diary and it just doesn't get enough of a story arc to keep my interest.

I'm reading a nonfiction book called A World on Fire by Amanda Foreman which is about Britain's role in the American Civil War.

And, since I've been on this Civil War kick, I decided to finally read Uncle Tom's Cabin.

>85 dianelouise100: >79 cindydavid4: Yes I have it on audio, sitting there ready. Wednesday-ish sounds perfect. I just started Creation Lake as a palate-cleanser between courses.

I’m unexpectedly really enjoying Creation Lake. Like an excellent theatrical production, it has some great lines.

I’m reading The Pole by J.M. Coetzee

>87 kjuliff: not sure when my book is coming in, but Ill still join you; dont mind spoilers

The Trees is excellent, but one part shook me to the core. In a list of people who have been lynched:"David Walker, his wife,his four children"

>88 dianeham: I’ll be interested in your views on The Pole. I was very excited to read that a new Coetzee was coming out when it was announced, but I was turned off by the synopsis. I’m always hesitant to read books by old men about old men having younger women lusting after them. Wishful thinking n’est ce pas?

I’m really annoyed with myself that I didn’t read Creation Lake before looking at the other Booker longlists that I ended up reading.

I’m a little over halfway through Creation Lake. Yes it came late to the publishing table, but I hadn’t really intended reading it until I needed something light and 21st century to rest before reading my remaining tbr J Roth and I Singer novels.

Sharp. witty, inventive, intelligent, creative, insightful, I’m so glad to be reading it. I really think it has a chance of winning. Surely only James has a chance.

it is 4am here and I just finished the trees wide awake, in awe of what this book showed me. Its rare that I have read a book with like this, the bits of humor, the satire, the horror, the characters, that keeps me up all morning, Im rating this a 5+* and will be reading more from this author.

I do hope James wins

Creation Lake looks like my next BB

>76 dchaikin: The Judi Dench book sounds fascinating. Thanks for mentioning it, I've added it to my queue.

>91 kjuliff: the woman is 50 so not that young and she isn’t lusting after him. He’s after her and so far, she’s pretty bored. A bit of a role reversal. And it’s in her voice which I’m enjoying. Men writing as women is usually a thumbs down for me. According to kindle I’m at 46%. It’s a short book.

>95 dianeham: I see. I must have misinterpreted the synopsis. So it’s worth a read?

>96 kjuliff: So far. I’ll keep you posted.

I'm currently reading Lost On Me by Veronica Raimo, an odd and funny book about an Italian girl with an odd family. I'm also reading The Queen City Detective Agency by Snowden Wright, which is overwritten, but the story is good and the author is painting quite a picture of what life was like in Mississippi in the mid-1980s.

I'm also reading Identity Unknown: Rediscovering Seven American Women Artists by Donna Seaman, which is both fascinating and enraging. The first artist listed is Louise Nevelson and the Art Institute of Chicago (the closest major art museum to me) owns over 30 works, none of which are on display.

And, lastly, I'm reading The Coast Road by Alan Murrin, which is kind of quiet and melancholy and very Irish.

this weeks NYer has an article about Katherine Rundel. she apparently writes fantasy books for kids, and Im intrigued,and wonder if impossible creatures is the book that has been mentioned hear abouts? The movie looks really cool, would love to read the book

>96 kjuliff: Worth a read. Not fabulous. It’s a quiet novel that is basically about language and translation.

Yesterday I finished A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold (1949) and today I finished Orbital by Samantha Harvey, from the 2024 Booker shortlist. I have one more on the shortlist to read, but I'm going to return to Faulkner first and begin Pylon (1935)

I finished Uncle Tom's Cabin which I appreciated but didn't enjoy. I picked Let the Great World Spin off my shelf for my next fiction book. I've never read anything by Colum McCann and, if I remember correctly, many of you loved this book. The beginning grabbed me right away.

I finished Fountains of Silence and decided to stay in Spain with a graphic memoir: Paracuellos : children of the defeated in Franco's fascist Spain . At the age of six the author/illustrator was placed in one of the infamous Auxilio Social homes for the children of Republican "enemies" and children orphaned in the war. He spent 8 years in the system, and the Paracuellos series of graphic works is an amalgam of his experience and those of other children he knew or interviewed as an adult. The books couldn't be published until after Franco's death, and even then faced censorship and condemnation. Each 2-page spread is devastating, and the simple ink drawings heartrending. Not a book I can read straight through, but must take breaks from.

I’m reading Mina's Matchbox by Yoko Ogawa -she also wrote The Memory Police.

>103 labfs39: I feel like I should read that, to be a witness to them. We'll see

Picked up visitation again after several months. Liking it better now, not sure what the problem at first

>86 japaul22: How was A World on Fire (or how is it if you are still working on it)? I've read a few books some time ago related to other wars (like The Great Halifax Explosion by John Bacon), but I don't think I've covered anything from the Civil War yet.

>106 kaylinb-GT: I’m reading it slowly so I’m only about 160 pages in. It’s good. She is setting up the issues/decisions that Britain needs to make between staying neutral or picking a side very well. And thereby giving a lot of insight into the start of the war. My only complaint is that there are A LOT of political figures - no one person is the focus - so it’s a little hard for me to stay focused and remember everyone.
The best books I’ve read that include a lot about the civil war are Doris Kearns Goodwin’s Team of Rivals and Grant by Ron Chernow. I’m not really in to the battle logistics, so these books focused on the politics of the time are of greater interest to me.

reading IB Singer for Oct Monthy Author challenge I have a collection of his essays old truths and new cliches also will be reading the family Moskat.

I put Let the Great World Spin on hold because though I love the writing, I just was finding the situations too dreary for my current mood. Instead I picked up my next Persephone - Brook Evans by Susan Glaspell. Read it in a couple days and loved it. I'll review it soon, maybe later this morning if I have time.

Then I consulted my libby wish list, amazon wish list, and kindle TBR and picked The Mothers by Brit Bennett from libby. I read the first quarter of the book in one go and I'm really enjoying it.

I'm carrying on with the very interesting but dense World on Fire - nonfiction about Britain's role in the American Civil War.

>73 dianelouise100: >79 cindydavid4: I agree that we put it off till October. I can’t find where this was suggested so I’ve gone back to the original post. Diane you were right I’ve been sick and virtually off line. Sorry about disrupting the schedule.

I did start FM but a couple of days ago when I visited LT after a period of about 5 days of being offline, I realized you had worked out I was ill. So I put it aside till October and am now reading James.

>108 cindydavid4: I've started gradually reading through that essay collection as well. I always enjoy "hearing" Singer's voice.

>110 kjuliff: Will leave the starting time for the FM up to you, Kate. So glad to hear from you.

I’m reading Enon by Paul Harding just now, a gift from my friend in the local book store. What a beautiful surprise—she knows how I loved This Other Eden and picked up this signed copy of Enon for me. I’ve read about a third and am really enjoying it. I’ll probably be reading Tinkers eventually. I do like his writing.

I finished the The Rise and Fall of Alexandria, which I really enjoyed, and now I'm starting The Woman in White.

I’m reading Tell Me Everything

oh Im so looking forward to that!

I finished a little while ago a pretty simple premise of a thriller book, 暗黒女子 by Rikako Akiyoshi. No need for this to get translated especially since I like the other book I read by her much better. Otherwise I won't be finishing any book any time soon as I started a much more difficult to read book in Japanese, and I'm still reading War and Peace, and Romance of the Three Kingdoms which I had actually put on pause to finish the thriller so I wouldn't get stuck on it as I started to lose interest.

>112 dianelouise100: so glad you’re reading and enjoying Enon.

I started James last night and finished it this evening. I didn’t enjoy it as much as The Trees , but that’s probably because I haven’t Huckleberry Finn, though I have a very very vague idea as to what it’s about.

I enjoyed the story and the two languages idea, but I didn’t see the humor and irony that I found in The Trees. I. also suspect that the idea of the slaves putting on simple English in front of whites probably did actually happen, and Percival Everett’s conceit is probably not that, but an exaggeration of what actually was the way the slaves had two “languages”. Why wouldn’t they?

>102 japaul22: I loved this book by McCann but loved TransAtlantic even more. Apeirogon is also worth your time, especially in light of the rising hostilities in Israel, Gaza, and Lebanon.

>112 dianelouise100: I also loved This Other Eden and will look into Enon.

From various comments on this thread, it sound like I need to add The Trees to my TBR list.

I seem to be on a run of books about people living by the sea and the natural world around them. Maybe it's the after effect of loving Clear by Crays Davies so much!

I just finished Whale Fall, a wonderful coming-of-age book by Elizabeth O'Connor that is set on a remote Welsh Island in 1938. There's a review on my thread. I just started Wild and Distant Seas by Tara Karr Roberts. This one is more pure historical fiction, about a woman innkeeper and her daughter in late-18th/early 19th century Nantucket. I'm very much enjoying it so far.

>119 Cariola: Thanks!

>118 kjuliff: I think that Everett deliberately exaggerates the slaves’ dialect in James, but in actuality I’m pretty sure that uneducated whites and slaves of the 19th century would have spoken much more of a common dialect, as in Huck Finn. And as uneducated people from uneducated families, black and white, often still do, in rural areas of Alabama, at least. Neither whites nor blacks who lacked education would have spoken as correctly as James does, which adds another dimension,I think, to his super hero character in the novel.

>119 Cariola: I’m almost finished with Enon—it’s a very different sort of story, but beautifully written. I think I’ll soon be reading Harding’s other novel, Tinkers.

And thank you for the nudge to get back to Apeirogon

Just finished Held by Anne Michaels today. I'm still reading Pylon.

Just started Hester and really liking it

Devoured Brit Bennett's The Mothers and now I'm in the right mood for something slower that I have to dig in to. So I'm finally trying Cloudsplitter by Russell Banks. I've read about 120 pages and I'm really liking it.

I finished the graphic work Paracuellos and have started Broken April, which so far is wonderfully atmospheric but also a fascinating look at the Kanun, the Albanian code that structured behavior for generations. I'm wondering at all the things we do in our lives because it's the way it's always been done.

Oh by Kadare! I often wonder that; like the Indian bride following her dead husband into the flames WTF? I wonder if the Albanian code was created to keep people from killing? Doesnt look like it tho

>125 labfs39: Broken April appeals! I’m not familiar with it

>126 cindydavid4: It's actually making me think about the things I do, not about things in other cultures that I don't understand. The way Kadare writes about the code and family expectations is turning my gaze inward. Not what I was expecting.

>127 dchaikin: I've read two other books by Kadare, and this is the first one that is really wowing me.

Hi, all! I just found LibraryThing and so haven't got any progress on any challenges to report on. I have had a bit of a reading slump over the summer months but I'm getting back into it :D Currently just started reading Yours from the Tower by Sally Nicholls and so far I'm really enjoying it!

>129 shimmermarie: welcome to your new addicton um I mean hobby This place can be a bit hard to navigate. Feel free to ask questiions. you do not have to participate in challenges; you can just pick threads you are intereted till you get your feet wet!

I've just finished Dear Mrs. Bird, an historical novel about a young woman trying to make her way professionally and romantically in London during the blitz. My longer review is up on my Club Read thread.

I've now returned to The Guermantes Way by Proust, which I'm reading in quarters. I'm about a third of the way through the second (150-page) quarter.

I enjoyed Sherlock Is A Girl's Name which is an anthology based on the premise of Sherlock Holmes being female. I'm currently reading The Lantern's Dance and About Time which are the 18th and 4th of their respective series.

>104 dianeham: How are you finding Mina's Matchbox? Is it as beautifully written as The Memory Police?

>133 rhian_of_oz: I was 1/4 of the way in and set it aside for a while. I do plan on getting back to it.

I read two very good books: Rachel Heng's The Great Reclamation and Anne Michaels' Held. Held is from the Booker longlist: a very poetic, slow, but powerful book. The Great Reclamation is a historical novel, beginning with the Japanese occupation of Singapore in WWII, and going on to independent Singapore. Both worth a look!

Finally finished Ahab's Wife. It's either 5 stars or 1 star, so I shall probably give it 3. Hard to review, and I'm at my mom's right now for a few days. Fair bit of angst around that, as she is 94. I listened to most of The Truths We Hold on the way out, and will finish it going back. Not sure what else I will start. Well, I have two more days to decide... Still listening to A Game of Lies but I wanted something else for the trip. Perhaps I'll go back to The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie which my friend didn't appreciate on the trip to Pennsylvania last month.

I read Ahabs wife in college and liked it, except for a glaring inconsistency that in that day age she would not have left. But like so much from that time period, Im probably wrong.

I’m having a change in tone, place and genre. I’m reading The Drowned by John Banville. He seems to have absorbed his Benjamin Black into himself. He reads a bit like a parody of itself to date, but the true Banville still shines through.

I read more periodicals (NYer, NYRB) than actual books last month. I did like Ursula Parrott's Ex-Wife—oddly au courant for a book published in 1929, at least on the surface—attitudes toward women at the time were still very much in evidence—and it dragged a bit toward the end, but all in all a very worthwhile book to read and talk about in my book club.

I've also been looking at some books on the creative process. France Belleville-Van Stone's Sketch!: The Non-Artist's Guide to Inspiration, Technique, and Drawing Daily Life was a short read, and nicely done—not a lot I didn't know, but I like her style and thoughts on drawing as a practice.

Currently reading The Work of Art: How Something Comes from Nothing, where editor Adam Moss talks to different contemporary artists, playwrights, photographers, writers, etc. about their process. Hit and miss—some are really fascinating, others a bit ore navel-gazing, but altogether it's a neat idea.

I finished Enon by Paul Harding a few days ago and really loved this novel, so totally different from This Other Eden, but a compelling story just as beautifully told. Recommended ****1/2; review here: https://www.librarything.com/topic/357075#8637645

I’m now getting started with Miklós Bánffy’s They Were Counted, Volume 1 of The Transylvanian Trilogy. I bought this ages ago because I was intrigued by the title. Looking at it finally just now, I realize that the setting is very similar to The Radetsky March, Austria Hungary leading up to first World War. I think I’m going down a rabbit hole into that era from the point of view of Eastern European writers.

reading between two kingdoms and it reads like a novel but you know its true Think this was hard for her to write, but she pulled it off

>140 lisapeet: Wishlisted both books about art. I would have to work on my mindset before reading the second one though, because I have strong opinions myself on the creative process, and they can get in the way of appreciating other people’s approach. Which is stupid, I know.

I'm currently reading A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor by Hank Green, the sequel to An Absolutely Remarkable Thing.

I finished Pylon last night. I've begun reading The Gods Arrive, a late novel by Edith Wharton. And today I started Playground by Richard Powers, from the Booker longlist.

>145 dchaikin: I’ve never read Pylon, hope you’ll be reviewing it.

>146 dianelouise100: i should this weekend. 🙂 It’s a rushed book with a lot of drunk people in New Orleans, some flying planes competitively. It’s messy, but entertaining - partially because it’s so messy.

cant remember who suggested between two kingdoms for me, but whoever it was,thank you. Its just what I needed to read now

I'm reading Proust's The Guermantes Way in 150-page quarters, and I've just finished the second quarter. After a while spent with my "between books," I'll be starting the short World War 2 novel, A Walk in the Sun by Harry Brown. The book, about the Allied invasion of Salerno, was published in 1944 and made into a movie the next year.

>111 rocketjk: Is it just me? Im really bothered by his strident voice criricizing any new development or change. I was interested in the Childrens Literature essay, but was just totally turned off.. He sounds like he knows children so well; maybe the children from his time, but I dont think he knew about more modern children,,and yet I really enjoy his childrens short stories. not sure what to make of him in this collection

I'm still reading Identity Unknown: Rediscovering Seven American Women Artists by Donna Seaman, partially because it is so dense with information and I keep looking things up and partially because I'm not a great non-fiction reader. I have no trouble remembering the details of an intricate plotted novel, but somehow it's harder to remember all the details of non-fiction as I read. So much going back and forth, and looking things up on-line.

I'm really enjoying Lost on Me by Veronica Raimo, the story of an odd girl growing up in an odder household. It's very funny.

I'm reading Held by Anne Michaels, which is beautifully written and has a lovely, melancholic air to it, as well as Bear by Julia Phillips, which is fantastic so far.

I finished Broken April and think I'm now in the mood to return to The Cultural Revolution.

>150 cindydavid4: I've only read the first few essays so far, so I don't know yet if I'd agree that he was criticizing any new development. He was definitely opinionated, but then I was expecting that. Who ever heard of an alte kaker without opinions? And if he was set in his ways by the time he wrote these, that wouldn't surprise me, either. What's the matter with kids these days, anyway? :)

We each have our own motivations for whatever we read. Speaking only for myself, I'm reading the essays to find out how a writer I admire thought about literature, writing and culture. It would be more enjoyable if I agreed with all the ideas he expressed, or if what he had to say in the 1960s still rang true for me today, 60 years later (certainly there probably are a lot of artists of his era for whom this would be case for me). As I said, though, I'm only a couple of essays in, so I'm not sure how much of that applies in this case. But those elements aren't strictly necessary for me to find the essays of interest.

But I can see how essay after essay of the sort of thing you're talking about would wear on a person. That's one of the reasons I read essay collections and anthologies gradually instead of straight through.

>151 RidgewayGirl: glad you're enjoyed Held and Lost on Me... but especially Held.

I finished The Collected Poems of Wilfred Owen, and started a small edition of Selected Poems of Emily Dickinson.

>153 rocketjk: "Who ever heard of an alte kaker without opinions?" yep! like you I read them to find out more about the writer and the subject, but in this case Ill read them gradually. Also thinking to give him a break; culturally it was probably a shock to his system when he arrived to the US and I can see him shaking his cane at all that is different. But I dont get that from his short stories. Looking forward to reading FM, and compare his work with his brother;

>155 cindydavid4: Well, but we should remember that Singer wasn't "shaking his cane" when he came to the U.S. He was all of 31 years old. But by the time he wrote most of these essays, I think he was in his 60s. Coincidentally, today I read the collection's title essay, "Old Truths and New Cliches," an essay that I found to be marvelous. In it, Singer is calling on fiction writers, and artists in general, to concentrate on telling stories, and not try to be over-analytic or to use their fiction as a way to project their political opinions. Or to hold "originality" to be an end in and of itself. What is the context in which he was writing these things? This essay was written in 1967, when originality, political expression and experimentation were considered the gold standard among many (obviously not all!) artists, over narrative and character. I was particularly struck by these two passages (edited by me for length and emphasis):

"We live, now, in a time when many artists are beginning to turn, more and more, to themselves alone, to their own spirit, their own dreams and moods. . . . The great admiration and imitation of Kafka, the enthusiasm that modern critics show for Joyce, the way that modern poetry increasingly becomes a language only poets can understand (or not understand), . . . All this shows that art is tired of the outside world

There are many reasons for these phenomena--social, psychological, perhaps even political. Many artists feel that the outside world does not have anything left to teach them. What will come from describing yet another environment, or from painting more portraits or landscapes? . . . .

It is characteristic for art that is involved in its own self to become intellectual, oversensitive to form, self-conscious about style. Originality stops being that which it must be--a natural attribute of the creator--and becomes, instead, a method, a challenge, a product of conscious effort. Many modern creations have nothing but the kind of originality that is a result of a trick, a distortion, or sometimes a joke. At no time did the true masters try to be original. Originality was a product of their personality.

True artists are never against experimenting with form and construction. But history shows that where originality becomes the creator's aim, it loses its power. It is an irony of art history that those who place the most emphasis on originality soon become the epigones. Those who try only to look inward cease to see themselves, and those who wish to teach the public do not teach and do not entertain."

And:

"Literature must be informative, but no one reads novels to gain information. Literature deals with particulars, from which one cannot learn about the general. In addition, literature is a force that has no direction. True literature always gives the thesis and the antithesis, the hope and the disappointment. It is often pessimistic and fatalistic. It awakens and puts to sleep. All of German literature could not withstand the propaganda of a single Goebbels."

Again, we remember that Singer was writing in the 60s, when the elements that Singer is decrying here were particularly in ascendence. Of course the best of it has stood the test of time in ways that Singer didn't foresee, but there was a lot of banal stuff that has not. We don't have to agree with Singer about Kafka's imitators and Joyce's attributes to appreciate the ideas he is expressing.

Personally, I find a lot of power in the points that Singer is making, even when I don't strictly speaking agree. I try to construct my opinions and world views not on a single point of view, but on a compendium of well thought out ideas. Reading such an essay, in which I find so much to agree with as a whole even if I disagree (or think time has passed Singer by) on some of the particulars, can help inform my overall world view. So I can have sympathy and take the point (or at least find the point worthy of consideration) without actually agreeing when Singer writes:

"The greatest tragedy of modern literature is that so many writers have lost their faith in higher powers. They speak of God, but they do not believe in God. Neither do they believe in the devil. Virtually all of them are skeptics, or not even that. Writers in the nineteenth century regarded the world from the point of view of good and evil, virtue and sin, God and Satan. Contemporary writers have no ideological foundation, or else their ideologies are built on social theories. It is impossible to write truthfully about human beings without having faith in something higher than human beings. Present-day writers see humanity as the highest authority. Humanity is virtually their idol, though they also despise it. This is the paradox of faithlessness."

I myself am a skeptic at best (or not even that) when it comes to believing in God. But I will be pondering the point that Singer is making here, about the different challenges inherent in writing about humanity for writers who believe in God and writers who don't, for a while, even while feeling that Singer goes too far in his declaration what is or isn't "impossible" along these lines.

Sorry for the long post. It's just that I was struck by so much in this particular essay, as well as the coincidence of happening to read it just after seeing your posts on the subject. Also, I'm aware of the fact that this is just the fifth essay in a collection of nineteen. I may well be tired of the whole affair by the time I'm done.

>156 rocketjk: this excellent post needs some time for me to consider,; its been a very busy day so Im going to sleep on it and give it my attention tomorrow stay tuned!

>151 RidgewayGirl: I loved Held and >154 dchaikin: has a beautiful review of it. Looking forward to your thoughts!

I’ve just started The Empusium by Olga Tokarczuk - a riff of sorts on The Magic Mountain.

oh a new Dana Sobel book the elements of marie curie

oh a new Dava Sobel book the elements of marie curie one of my fav science writers

Really surprised to get my hold on Libby for Covenant of Water. Was expecting 7 more weeks, but this was a "skip the line" copy. I didn't even know they had such a thing. The catch is, I can only have it for 7 days. Since the book club meets in 7 days, that works, however it is 31 hours of listening, so that means 4.5 hours a day! I've cranked up the speed to 1.5 so that means about 3 hours/day... We'll see!

I finished off a couple of my "between books," The World's Greatest Romances edited by Walter J. Black and The Third Ghost Book edited by Lady Cynthia Asquith, and also ripped through the compelling war novel, A Walk in the Sun by Harry Brown. I've got reviews of all three up on my Club Read thread.

Now it's back to Proust, and the third of four 150-pages chunks of The Guermantes Way.

On audio, I finished one book on William Faulkner, and started another. I finished The Saddest Words: William Faulkner's Civil War by Michale Gorra, which I found well written and interesting, if a little hard to follow structurally. I've started The Life of William Faulkner: The Past Is Never Dead, 1897-1934 by Carl Rollyson - a first of two volumes. The writing is terrible, but the information seems good, and thick - like an info dump. (Unfortunately, Blotner's biography is not on audible.)

>164 dchaikin: Oh, I’m so sorry—you’d enjoy the literary quality of Blotner’s biography as well as the information. I wouldn’t have been able to take it all in on an AB. I read The Saddest Words a few years back and remember it very positively.

I've just started reading Empireland: How Imperialism Shaped Modern Britain by Sathnam Sanghera, a British born author of Indian descent, which is fascinating so far. He traces—or attempts to trace—the beginning of the British Empire, a daunting task, describes the Empire's seemingly impossible reach over most of the work, given its small size, demonstrates the cruel treatment towards its subjects and the wealth that the "Motherland" stole from it colonies, and begins the process of exploring the views of contemporary White Britons, politicians and companies toward its BAME (Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic) compatriots, and played a significant role in the grevious vote in 2016 to leave the European Union. So far it's absolutely fascinating and educational, especially for me as an African American who until the pandemic visited London and Edinburgh to see British friends several times a year for over a decade.

Sometime this week I'll start Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood, the fourth book I'll read from this year's Booker Prize shortlist.

I needed something light. Am reading Muriel Sparks ‘s The Driver’s Seat about a murder. A bit of light relief in this electoral season.

I checked out Han Kang’s four English-translated novels from my library yesterday. Then saw 28 people were waiting for The Vegetarian. Phew! No wait when I requested it. Reading it now.

Enjoying poetry:
Apricots of Donbas , Lykuba Yakrimchuk. ( Ukraine)
A New Orthography, Serhiy Zhadan. ( Ukraine)
All Morning the Crows, Meg Kearney(US, New Hampshire/and DC
Unmentionables , Beth Ann Fennelly, US, Mississippi

I just finished a fun mystery - God of the Woods by Liz Moore. I was ready for something a little heavier, so I picked up Tar Baby by Toni Morrison. I haven't read this one yet and it's been on my shelves for a few years after picking it up at a library sale.

I finished The Vegetarian last night. Still puzzling over it. It’s more elusive, and less judgmental than i anticipated. Today I started The White Book, also by Han Kang.

I am enjoying Momento Mori 🎧 by Muriel Spark and am into the Britishness of it all. I get the humor, the upstairs/downstairs class system, and the gentle politeness of the privileged with their suppressed sexuality and emotions

However I’m sure I would have enjoyed it more in times gone by. I’ve ben somewhat jaded by many of this century’s books - desensitized to the subtly of Spark’s wit. But in true British fashion I will keep calm and carry on.

>172 kjuliff: bummer. They all charmed me. Especially the wife.

thanks to kate I have two tomes to read the family moskat and demon copperhead which many people have given praise too. Also from her right and left by joseph roth; I can see why she likes this and I think I will have to read more after this one.

oh and stil with october county

>173 dchaikin: Charmian? I agree. I am probably turning into a Mrs Pettigrew. 😘

I'm reading The Sunset Years of Agnes Sharp and enjoying it a lot.

>175 kjuliff: 🙂

I actually managed to finish The Covenant of Water with about 5 minutes left on my Libby loan. Today I stated listening to West With Giraffes.

>174 cindydavid4: I finished Momento Mori but I was sick and a bit down so I didn’t enjoy it as I should have.
I’m now reading 🎧 the sequel to The Radetzky March, The Emperor’s Tomb by Joseph Roth.I think I just up to that light English humor. Sparks books were not fitting in with my mood.

Am now reading The Collected Stories of Joseph Roth. This collection contains all of Roth’s short works (17), Perfect for reading when not up to a novel. Beautifully and intelligent writing on a variety of themes. Early 20th C. 🎧

Moving through Han Kang's four translated books. I finished The White Book, and started Human Acts.

>181 dchaikin: Are you going to to review them?

Finished The Sunset Years of Agnes Sharp. I enjoyed it a lot. Review probably tomorrow. Now on to The Village Library Demon-Hunting Society by C.M. Waggoner.

>182 kjuliff: definitely. But they’re tricky works. I have sketches written for The Vegetarian and The White Book. Just need time to focus on them.

>184 dchaikin: Thanks. Looking forward to reading them.

I feel like I'm very late coming to this one, but I'm currently reading The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman, which I'm enjoying pretty well.

>186 bragan: Have fun. I only started this series after the summer holidays, but I will definitely read the other books as well.

>180 kjuliff: Im glad you enjoy these so much but so far am not a fan Reading right and left the writing is good really really do not like paul, maybe Im not supposed to, Can you give me a pep talk?

>188 cindydavid4: I can’t give a pep talk as I’ve forgotten the book and didn’t write a review so can’t refresh my memory. It’s prob just not for you. Strange though as we have similar tastes.

>188 cindydavid4: There’s a review - Joseph Roth: Grieving for a Lost Empire that explains Joseph Roth’s mindset. May help in understanding Right and Left.

>187 Ameise1: Haven't finished the first book yet, but I'm already thinking I'll probably go on to the rest of the series at some point.

>191 bragan: 😃 I've read the first two. The others have to wait. Too many other books on my pile.

I finally finished A World on Fire, Amanda Foreman's exhaustive account of Britain's role in the American Civil War. I think it could have been tightened up a bit, but overall I found it very interesting and readable. It put a slightly different point of view on a time period I'm fairly familiar with.

Now I'm starting Edwidge Danticat's latest collection of essays, We're Alone and Tar Baby by Toni Morrison.

>190 kjuliff: thanks Ill read that in a bit, lots of reunion thing going on the last few weeks

I found a Tim Winton - In the Winter Dark 🎧 that I’m hoping will take me out of the Austria Hungarian Empire that’s had me in its clutches.

It’s Australian, so I’ll probably get homesick and grumpy.

More Han Kang. I finished Human Acts today and stared Greek Lessons. That will it until her next book is released (in February?). She doesn't have anything else translated to English.

Tim Winton’s In the Winter Dark 🎧
Snuggle up in the Australian bush and listen to the night who hooo.👻 👻👻

My review of The Sunset Years of Agnes Sharp is up on my thread.

hester took a bit for me to get into; there was a lot of necessary set up which at first i didnt appreciate. Im at the point now its very welcomed. dont care for the earlier story probably coz we did the crucible in HS and felt for me this didn't give me any new information, But liking this upcoming ending

Having finally finished the third quarter of The Guermantes Way by Marcel Proust, I have now begun Shattered Tablets: The End of an American Jewish Century and the Future of Jewish Life by Joshua Leifer. This is a very recently published book about which I've read two positive reviews. I'll be interested to see how closely Leifer's observations agree with my own, and what new insights on the topic I'll gain from Leifer's writing.

>200 rocketjk: heh sorry I didnt respond to your post, way too much going on the last few weeks. I do think you make some good points about Singer in that time and place but after reading a few more essays I just gave up. Ill stick with his stories; and I do have Family Muskat now to read. Ill keep you posted

Although I am enjoying The Cultural Revolution, I have been too distracted to do much reading lately. That said, I want to read Heaven and Earth Grocery Store for Monday's book club meeting, so I'll start that today and hope to have some good reading hours this weekend. I only have 2-3 hours left listening to The Covenant of Water. I'll be sad to leave these characters.

I'm lightening things up with The Husbands by Holly Gramazio. It's a book with an interesting premise - a young woman comes home from a late night of partying with her friends to find she has a husband that she doesn't remember. And then realizes that any time said husband goes fully in to the attic, he comes down as a different husband. Cute so far.

And in a completely different vein, I'm reading The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery by Eric Foner. It's excellent, but dense and scholarly.

I finished Han Kang’s Greek Lessons yesterday and just returned her books to the library. That’s everything available until her upcoming release. One two-week library check out. Now I’m returning to Playground by Richard Powers - Booker longlist

so... I also started Keats: A Brief Life in Nine Poems and One Epitaph by Lucasta Miller. :)

finishes tales of the heartby Maryse Conte and day of pleasure both story collections about the authors childhood , one from Haiti one from warsaw

also still reading october country

november is coming so Ill be readiing pure wit,for RTT November theme Biographies; carpe jungulum for Disc World Witches, . I want to read Demon Copperhead just co so many here have loved it. and Well be having a group read of the family muskcat for the Monthly Author group IB Singer

I’ve just finished Thomas Hardy’s The Return of the Native, which I appreciated much more than when I read it in high school. A beautiful and enjoyable read, well deserving its classic status.
Now I again have some decisions to make, but know for sure that I’ll be joining the group read for The Family Moskat as soon as my copy from the library is ready. The decisions are whether or not to read The Mayor of Casterbridge or Tinkers by Paul Harding before October ends. I’m thinking I’d be more likely to finish the shorter book, Tinkers.

Finished West With Giraffes and have too many choices for what to listen to next, but I have settled on Lady Macbeth
which fits the RTT 4th Quarter theme, and is also an S location (Scotland) for my A Good Yarn book club, and is sort of Halloweeny...

>208 WelshBookworm: what did you think of
Giraffes?

>207 dianelouise100: diana we'll have it in the Monthly Authors thread Just need a day and time

>207 dianelouise100: I enjoyed Tinkers when I read it last year, but not as much as This Other Eden.

>211 labfs39: Fine by me to start the thread now. I can soon be reading it.

ok I can set it up tomorrow; maybe set reading goals?

>213 cindydavid4: when do we start The Family Moskat?

>209 cindydavid4: My review is here: https://www.librarything.com/topic/356189#n8656002
4 stars. I enjoyed it, but it had some shortcomings.

>213 cindydavid4: >214 kjuliff: I’m picking my book up from the library this afternoon. Could we aim to discuss about 122 pages (or about 20% of book) a week? Although I don’t mind spoilers and if we just want to react as we read, I’d be fine with that. I’ll have a couplle others going, but can be happy with however anyone wants to set it up. When you and I read The Radetzky March, Kate, I think we just sort of shared our reactions as they happened—which I liked a lot. This should be a good read, and at least we’ll be starting in Oct for MAR

>216 dianelouise100: Diane, see https://www.librarything.com/topic/365362#8656994. Though I am quite happy to do what res I’d with The Radetzky March. But I think Cindy’s idea that I agree with would be a good base. We could do that without hard and fast rules.

see message on the thread https://www.librarything.com/topic/365362#n8657144

Starting Nov 1 we will start reading the family moskatIf you are interested, please come and join us here. https://www.librarything.com/topic/365362#n8657144

Finished Playground yesterday and The Gods Arrive (Edith Wharton) today. I'm eyeing Molokai by O. A. Bushnell next. It's been on my TBR shelves a while.

I've read quite a few books since my last update.

Aki Shimazaki : Mitsuba: Au coeur du Yamato
Aki Shamazaki : Zakuro: Au coeur de Yamato
Leo Tolstoy : War and Peace
乙一 : 死にぞこないの青
志駕 晃 : スマホを落としただけなのに

Two books from the Au coeur du Yamato pentalogy. I really enjoy the easy peaceful nature of Shimazaki's books. Great for the train.
Just finished W&P yesterday which I had a nice time with. Very easy read that ends with some interesting points on free will vs. inevitability, and how history is recorded. Also read two easy books in Japanese, one a horror (that was more thriller), and the other a fun suspence that definitely kept me turning the page.

I have now started Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson as my next classic I read as a PDF, and then I brought the Pearl Harbor nonfiction At Dawn We Slept to work to try and read it during lunch since I'm strugllying to read it at home.

I'm also currently reading an Akutagawa Prizer winning book as my Japanese language book. Lots of development!

>221 lilisin: Congrats on War and Peace! It's on my bucket list.

>221 lilisin: congrats on W&P from me too. I haven’t read it. I don’t even have a copy 🙁

>221 lilisin: Congrats on War and Peace. I've read it 40 years ago and enjoyed it very much.

>221 lilisin: will you be joining us next month for the Monthly Author reads? he is our author!Im reading travels with a donkey and loving it! come on over

c

>225 cindydavid4: Travels with a Donkey? :)

I am reading The Family Moskat along with other Isaac Singer readers. Please join us at our GROUP READ. We are a fun group. Action packed, witty, easy going etc etc.

>226 AnnieMod: yup, thats what I get for typing when the source is in the bedroom Ill fix it

Just got caught up on my October reviews. I finished three terrific books, Wild and Distant Seas by Tara Karr Roberts, Who Could Ever Love You? by Mary L. Trump, and Real Americans by Rachel Khong. The two works of fiction are both multigenerational novels but very different from each other.

Currently reading Intermezzo by Sally Rooney and about to start the audio version of Patriot by Alexei Navalny.

>222 labfs39:, >223 dchaikin:, >224 Ameise1:

Thanks everyone! Funny enough W&P was the one book I didn't buy at the major summer English book sale as I figured I wouldn't be reading it anytime soon! I even texted wanderingstar about it while I was at the sale!

>225 cindydavid4:

Yes, I picked up the book so that I could participate in the author theme read!

Since I only read two books in October, I thought I would try something different and read two short stories on my e-reader yesterday: The Answer is No by one of my favorite authors, Fredrik Backman, and The Best Girls by Min Jin Lee of Pachinko fame.

>231 labfs39: you read them or will read them? I’m curious how they are.

> 232 I read them both yesterday. I gave the Backman 3.5 stars, despite a hilarious beginning, and Lee's 4 stars for impact. I posted reviews on my thread. Today I read another, Cut and Thirst by Atwood. Funny with an edge, 3.5 stars.

>233 labfs39: ❤️ Kudos. Next I hope gets more stars 🙂

I finished a little selection of Emily Dickinson poems yesterday. It took me a little time to adapt, but I closed it completely smitten and bummed i only have such a small selection. I’m actually running low on poetry books to read in the house (although i was given a couple decades of Poetry Magazine. So there is always that). Anyway, I’ve finally cracked open my Norton edition of Piers Plowman. (I’m still musing over the Table of Contents.)

I just finished Elif Shafak's new book, There are Rivers in the Sky. It's very good, but there were elements that didn't quite work for me. Or maybe my expectations were too high?

Now I'm reading If We Were Villains, which is a book that caught my eye as I was browsing a local Barnes and Noble. I like to buy books in bookstores that I've never heard of.

I finished Shattered Tablets: The End of an American Jewish Century and the Future of Jewish Life by Joshua Leifer. My rather mixed review of this very recently published book can be found on my Club Read thread. Now it's back to Proust's The Guermantes Way, which I've been reading in 150-page segments (in other words, a quarter of the book at a time). I'm now reading the final quarter.

I have extreme election anxiety and can’t read fiction at all right now. It’s partly due to the fact that um unable to return to Australia should Trump wins or Harris doesn’t win with a huge majority.

I will not be reading, watching or listening to the news until evening. I just cant be wound up like that. thats my plan anyway