WHAT ARE YOU READING? - Part 8

And probably for the last time this year (or maybe not - we tend to get a bit chatty around the holidays some years), time for a new thread.

Come and tell us what you had been reading and what you are reading now. How are your plans for the year going - do you have any books you really really want to finish this year? Or did you give up any planning months ago and now just follow your heart? Or maybe you are somewhere in between?

Pull up a chair, get a beverage of your choice (and at whatever temperature you need just now and come tell us about your reading :)

Finished Stop Them Dead last night, onto Death at the Sanatorium now. In the middle of an (attempted) catch-up spree through my series and authors.

I have not been reading a lot, but yesterday I picked up Thursday Murder Club from the library, and have whizzed through the first half. Definitely the light distracting read I need at the moment. Not as funny as Killers of a Certain Age, but I'm enjoying it enough, even when I wake up at 3 am stressing.

>3 labfs39: I need to get to that series (she said eyeing the pile of series she is supposedly working on...) :)

Finished Death at the Sanatorium last night (review in the usual places), next is Unexploded Remnants which called to me from the new shelf in the library last time I was there.

The ongoing stuff:
Molokai a 1963 novel but Hawaiian native A. O. Bushnell. So far it’s ok
Keats: A Brief Life in Nine Poems and One Epitaph by Lucasta Miller - which I’m finding very inspirational.
On audio: Code Dependent: Living in the Shadow of AI by Madhumita Murgia. It’s so far only ok.
And I cracked open Pier Plowman. I have a Norton edition and so far I plowed through the table of contents. That’s actually work, and fascinating. I’ve also read the short Preface, which was quite interesting.

I dragged myself through Happiness Falls by Angie Kim for my book club in a few weeks. Glad to be finished with it.

I'm reading V13 by Emmanuel Carrière, an account of the trial of those suspected of participating in the Bataclan terrorist attack in Paris, as well as two other attacks at the same time.

>5 dchaikin: I meant to that I finished an 89-page selection of poems by Emily Dickinson, which tipped me over the edge for the most pages I've ever read in a single year. (16,683 pages so far). Also, I'm now in love with Emily Dickinson and her poetry.

I've recently started The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese, an epic multigenerational novel set in the southern Indian state of Kerala during the years 1900 to 1977, in which a key character in each generation dies from a drowning accident. It's very good so far, and it's a great way to escape from the doldrums I felt reading books from the Booker Prize shortlist.

I am reading nothing and would really like to page turner as now I have many many worries and can’t think. I’m also tired all the time, I’ve had blood tests and have seen abnormal results but am waiting on my specialist to get back to me.

Jennifer recommended The Husbands recently. Something good quality like that maybe, perhaps a murder mystery.

I thought it was Trump making me sick but there’s a physical cause. 🙃

I've made the mistake of trying to read three books at once that are too similar. One about Lady Macbeth, one about Cecily Neville (mother of Edward IV and Richard III), and one about Anne Boleyn. My books are usually all quite different. Oh well. Also have restarted ...And Ladies of the Club but I'm afraid with my mother in the hospital and thinking about what the next 4 years is going to be like it is difficult to read. Of course, my ancestors had to have survived the times of MacBeth and Richard III and Henry VIII, so.....that is some comfort!

I'm currently reading The Kamogawa Food Detectives. I'm pretty sure I snagged this book from someone as a BB, but unfortunately I can't remember who.

I've about 50 pages to go in The Guermantes Way, the third book in Marcel Proust's In Search of Lost Time opus. That still seems like a long way to go! I'm enjoying the reading, more or less, but one doesn't (or at least I can't) flash through Proust. I may still be two or three days finishing. I've already selected my next book, Timbucktu by Paul Auster. It's relatively short, which will be a nice change of pace. The book is already sitting on my bedroom end table. It beckons to me. Oh, how it calls me!

I am totally hooked on the Liaden series, and now getting close to the end of number 7, I Dare. Also getting close to the end of On Tyranny after finishing Manuel de résistance à l'extrême droite (no touchstone for that one, I’ll have to go add it), but I'm taking those in small doses because they stress me out, go figure.

I've been doing a lot of comfort (re)reading - just finished Mel Todd's Twisted Luck series, lots of fun - and disaster and crisis and not knowing how to handle things, but the protagonist is firmly focused on helping and lures/inspires others into feeling the same. Very comforting.

Currently reading an ER book, Dragon Class - I've already requested the sequel (this month's batch) so I need to make sure I want it. I've barely started, don't know what the story is going to be like but the writing so far is _excellent_. Great description and dialog.

The next one may be another reread (>13 FlorenceArt: mentioned I Dare!) but I've got a lot of good, rich, light(ish) books waiting for me, that I haven't read before. I may try one of those instead.

Oh, I just finished three more Velveteen Vs stories - Seanan is putting them out on her Patreon and it's worth it to me. True Love's Kiss, The Parlimentarian, and Tag Vs Being Alive (if you've read the books so far, the titles are something of a spoiler but not much to my mind).

And the one I read before that was The Price of Redemption by Shawn Carpenter - if you like sea stories ala Hornblower or Aubrey and Maturin, plus magic, you _want_ this. The only problem is that it's his first book and it only came out in July, it's going to be a wait for the next one and no backlog to catch up on (wahh!).

I'm still unable to read anything depressing at the moment, so several things are tagged "bookmark stuck". I did start Swallowdale, the third book in the Swallows and Amazons series.

>14 jjmcgaffey: The Price of Redemption sounds nice! I still haven’t read any Aubrey book though they are in the back of my mind with a "should try some day" label.

I’m in my Elizabeth Strout period. I finished The Burgess Boys this morning and then started My Name is Lucy Barton.

>16 FlorenceArt: I've tried a lot of the sea stories and bounced off most of them - read a few Aubrey & Maturins, a few Alexander Kents, a few Hornblowers...But this one, with magic and a female protagonist, works for me.

I may have found a book that I’ve managed to get a few pages in to.
Clear by Carys Davies. Short, another country, another century - giving it a go.

>17 rachbxl: That's my favorite Strout, My Name is Lucy Barton. :)

>20 dchaikin: I don’t understand what people see in Strout.

Well, im mixed - hated some, adored Lucy. Lucy is full of energy on those things we can’t reach or evaluate in regular logical ways. She has that literary energy. And Strout sneaks in apt literary analysis. I just found it absolutely wonderful.

>22 dchaikin: I read the My Name is Lucy Barton one and I think I enjoyed it in an average sort of way, but wasn’t enamored enough to read more.

>23 kjuliff: That’s how I felt about Olive Kitteridge years ago, and on that basis I hadn’t bothered with Strout since. Then last week I found myself with a copy of Oh William! in my hands - it was in a pile of books passed on by a friend, and I picked it out to put it to one side; I mean, I wasn’t going to read it because it was Strout so it may as well make its way to the giveaway box. But I opened it and read the first page, and when I looked up I was halfway through.

>24 rachbxl: Huh, that's interesting. I actively disliked Olive Kitteridge too and have written off Strout since. Perhaps she deserves another go? I don't know, life is short and the TBR is long.

I'm also not a Strout fan. I really disliked both Olive Kitteridge and My Name is Lucy Barton. Too many other books out there for me to keep at it.

I've just finished a truly excellent book about Abraham Lincoln and his evolving personal and political views on slavery by Eric Foner. It gave me a lot to think about - comparing the political challenges of the era to today and observing how Lincoln handled it. I'm not supposed to talk publicly about my political views because of my job at the White House, but this election really does feel like moving back in time in so many ways. Wrapping my head around what my next four years of work is going to look like.

For fiction, I'm reading If We Were Villians, which is a "dark academia" mystery that I'm really enjoying for an escape.

I think I will pick up my next Zola next.

I've finally finished The Guermantes Way, the third novel in Marcel Proust's famous In Search of Lost Time opus. I found it slow going, of course (as it's intended to be, I think) but enjoyable, though not as memorable as the series' second entry, In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flower. But enjoyable or not, the feeling upon completing the book is that I've been set free! Anyway, anyone interested can find my review on my Club Read thread.

I've now started Timbuktu by Paul Auster. I love his writing and, gloriously, this novel is only 180 pages!

>24 rachbxl: I really enjoyed Oh William! too. Didn’t like Olive (years ago)

>27 rocketjk: congrats!

>24 rachbxl: That’s interesting. I might try it out. If a book gets you on the first page you’re generally a winner

I got tired of Molokai. So I've started Wild Houses by Coline Barrett, my 12th from the Booker longlist. I like the 1st 20 pages.

Having (hopefully) broken my reading freeze I’m thinking of starting Hilary Mantel’s A Change of Climate. I’ve loved her other expat stories and feel the need of a female writer with wit and sly humor. Still recommending The Husbands for anyone looking for some acerbic wit.

>26 japaul22: I hope you'll review If We Were Villains. I'm very curious about the dark academia trend!

>30 dchaikin: I'm reading it too!

I have finished Kidnapped and will now try to read its sequel Catriona. I'm also currently reading, and entranced by La planete des singes (Planet of the Apes) which is really proving a fun read.

My Pearl Harbor nonfiction At Dawn we Slept is progressing now that it is is my lunch read although I can only read about 10 pages in 40 minutes due to the density.

>32 rv1988: I just reviewed If We Were Villains - I really loved it!

I'm seeking comfort in ancient history, so started The History of the Ancient World by Susan Wise Bauer. Though I've made the mistake of trusting the audiobook, read by Michael Page, who I largely like, and currently being very annoyed that no one told him the correct vowel sound for Zhou (there's a Zhou dynasty, so it comes up a lot). Plus he's now changed his pronunciation for Qian so it's more incorrect than previously. Grumble grumble grumble.

>35 mabith: oh - you're going to hate it. Sorry. My notes: https://www.librarything.com/topic/90167#2013301

I finished Keats: A Brief Life in Nine Poems and One Epitaph by Lucasta Miller. A fantastic introduction. Now, for the Booker Award announcement. (it will be streamed on the Booker Prize YouTube channel.)

I recently read my first Elif Shafak, The Island of Missing Trees, and was captivated by it. Worried that I’d been missing out on Shafak all this time, I’m now reading The Bastard of Istanbul. 100 pages in, I’m enjoying it much less than the first.

I finished and reviewed to fabulous books - The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery by Eric Foner and If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio. Really enjoyed them both (very different, of course).

Now I'm on to the second book in Zola's Rougon-Macquart series, His Excellency Eugene Rougon. For nonfiction I'm reading American Wolf, and the first few pages already have me completely hooked.

On the shelf waiting for me is a reread of Brideshead Revisited, Orbital - this year's Booker winner - should be available any day from the library, and I just got Dava Sobel's new book about Marie Curie.

So many books, so little time!

finished carpe jugulum a reread with I didnt realize was rather scary. but i didnt worry I know this author!

picked up some books at my indies pre holiday sale the angel of history, the cemetery of untold stories, sapling cageand you made a fool of death with your beauty reading this last one right now and rather like it

Just to change the polarizing author from Elizabeth Strout to Sally Rooney -- I finished Intermezzo on Monday and, boy, it get me through a terrible week (my father was in the hospital as well as the obvious reason). It was fantastic.

I've just started The Sequel, the *ahem* sequel to The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz and it looks like it will be just as fun. I'm continuing my progress through Identity Unknown by Donna Seaman, about forgotten American women artists, and through Shanghailanders by Juli Min, which is surprisingly readable despite not containing a single character worth caring about.

>39 japaul22: oh Ive been wondering the new Sobel was coming out! come thanks for the info

>42 cindydavid4: I think I will start it in a few days. My current nonfiction is reading really fast. I'm excited! I loved Longitude.

I'm almost finished with Intermezzo by Sally Rooney. It's mostly told in alternating points of view by two brothers. I prefer the sections focused on the younger brother, Ivan, a recent college grad and chess champion who is falling for an older woman who is separated from her husband. The older brother, Peter, is kind of a mess, in love with two women and distanced from Ivan. The voice in his sections is more irritating in style, choppy, like he's always rushing two sentences ahead of himself.

>44 Cariola: Thanks. Another book for me to avoid. I was close to getting it, and hovered over its titles several times. Now one less to not worry about not reading.

I'm currently reading Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line as a hardcover library book, so only a bit in the evenings. My on-the-go book is one with a title that I can't seem to remember -- Evening is the Whole Day.

I've started Mama Leone by Croatian author Miljenko Jergović. So far I'm enjoying it although I have had to look up some names and their historical import.

>46 ELiz_M: oddly i’ve read both of these. Enjoy. Evening is the Whole Day has a funny take on the seriously deadly Malaysian riots.

>36 dchaikin: Yeah, The History of the Ancient World is definitely not a good one, though I can somewhat see her point that BCE is still measured from a religious date so it feels disingenuous to act like We've Solved a Problem by switching from BC/AD (not that you can easily do much else). I mostly just needed to having something long and historical and being mildly grumpy about the issues is a good distraction from current events. I got half way, and I might go back at some point to critique properly (the second half should be more stuff that I actually know quite well).

I picked up The Banished Immortal: A Life of Li Bai instead by Ha Jin which has been very enjoyable.

the angel of history loving as much As an unnecessary woman tho I think the wrong end of the telescope is my fav

I’m reading 🎧 This House of Grief by Helen Garner. It’s a good listen of a book I read in print form about 7 years ago. I really should get back into Australian books. I feel out of touch.

Just got my hold on The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time for Tuesday's book club. Talk about cutting it close. Fortunately it seems to be a fairly short book. First though, I have to finish Remarkably Bright Creatures which is due tomorrow morning. I have about 3 hours left. It's going to be one of my top ten this year. Enjoying it very much!

Just finished : Palestine through the Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear Poems from Gaza and also his latest: Forest of Noise: Poems
Both by Mosab Abu Toha

Excellent....

Yesterday I finished Wild Houses, a compassionate thriller? Anyway, interesting stuff on Western Ireland, where the author mainly grew up. Tomorrow I begin Innocence by Penelope Fitzgerald. It’s a buddy-read and follow up to my falling in with her novel The Blue Flower back in June. Today…i might finally crack open Absalom, Absalom!, which some biographers consider Faulkner’s best novel, which he claimed to his publisher on submission was the greatest American novel ever written. A lot of readers don’t like it.

Also, on audio, Friday I finished Code Dependent, which has a terrific final 2 hours on AI. And today I purchased Native Nations by Kathleen Duval.

Ok, a group of us was planning a group read ofbound to please I have my copy and eager to join in but I forgot who suggested this. can someone tell me who it was so I can make contact? thanks

>55 dchaikin: Very curious now as to what a compassionate thriller might be! Looking forward to your review.

Yesterday I finished Elif Shafak's The Bastard of Istanbul, about which I have mixed feelings but which I ultimately enjoyed. Then (at the risk of opening up another love-hate Elizabeth Strout debate) I dived straight back into the world of Lucy Barton with Anything is Possible.

>58 rachbxl: Anything is Possible is my favorite Strout. I hope you enjoy it.

I'm starting Orbital by Samantha Harvey. I checked it out of the library the day before it won the Booker Prize and now there's a long hold list.

I'm still reading Shanghailanders by Juli Min and while the writing is good, I think I've stumbled into a genre I truly do not like -- the lives of the immensely wealthy and beautiful and their small problems. I don't care about a single one of them.

I'm also reading a novel about a Berlin party girl who is the daughter of refugees from Afghanistan called Good Girl: A Novel by Aria Aber.

>59 RidgewayGirl: hope you enjoy Orbital. Take your time.

>58 rachbxl: >59 RidgewayGirl: i didn’t like Anything is Possible 🙊🙈 Sorry

Im reading nothing. I think I’ve run out of audio books that are to my taste. I need a new form of entertainment.

I will be reading Lynn Cullen's book The Woman with the Cure in the near future. Has anyone read this?

I'm reading They Can't Kill Us Until They Kill Us (though perhaps a bit too quickly). My brother sent me this book for my birthday and it seems to have been discussed in this group before. Abdurraqib is certainly a gifted writer. I'm not so sure, but I think my brother sent me a copy because we both grew up suburban, with similar exposure as Abdurraqib to the cultures of hip hop, emo, and alternative rock.

I've started I Let You Go which is another thriller by Clare Mackintosh. I really was kind of disappointed by The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. I thought it played into too many stereotypes about autism. Maybe it's just dated? My book club discusses it on Tuesday.

A couple of days ago I finished Timbuktu by Paul Auster. I normally stay very far away from novels that have dogs as their protagonists, but this is Paul Auster, and I've admired the few books of his I've read. Without going into detail, then, I can say that I found this a very affecting book about love, acceptance in the face of eccentricity, perseverance and mortality. It's not really a very deep book, but I found it quite nice for what it was. You can find my somewhat longer review on my Club Read thread.

I left on a 5-day family visit almost immediately upon finishing Timbuktu, and brought along Antony Beevor's military history, Stalingrad: The Fateful Siege. I'm already well past the halfway point (the book checks in at 431 pages), thanks to the 5-hour flight each way on my trip. However, I think I'm going to set it down for a bit and circle back to complete my post-Timbuktu "Between Book" reading.

>65 WelshBookworm: well speaking as teacher I found the child very well drawn, but this book was written in 2003 so much has changed in terms of medical knowledge of the brain, as well as treatment options. You might try how to build a boat a much more recent book that ended up on my ttop 10 list of reads last year.

just realized I responded to you on another thread, sorry for the lecture!

>66 rocketjk: I also am not usually a fan of books with animals as protagonists, but Timbuktu is a sentimental favorite by Auster of mine.

I'm now reading Hollow Kingdom by Kira Jane Buxton, which is a sort of... philosophical-ish fantasy/comedy/horror novel? It's a zombie apocalypse told from the POV of a pet crow. More or less. Very odd, and I may never quite feel like I have a handle on it, but I am enjoying it.

Thought I’d post here, as more people visit this than visit my thread.

I’d like to thank all those members of CR who have recommended books and commented on my thread.

I’ve enjoyed being a member of CR, but it’s become too difficult for me to find in audio books you mention in your posts, and as I’ve given up reading due to the progression of my my disease, and consequences of the frustration of finding books I want to read, I’m unable to participate anymore.

Thanks all.

>70 kjuliff: Kate, that's a shame to hear that you 'don't' want to be there anymore. I understand that your reading restrictions make it difficult. Regarding audio books: do you generally no longer have access to audios or is it only about recommended audio books? If you have access to audio books, I'm curious to know what you listen to.

I'm sorry, Kate.

>70 kjuliff: oh, kate, I’m so sorry. Take care. We’re here if you’re able to come back

>67 cindydavid4: Totally okay. I appreciate your thoughts. I agree, the character was well-drawn. I just caution against taking this character as representative of autism in general. And I sincerely hope that treatment options have improved in the last 20 years.

>71 Ameise1: Kate, that's a shame to hear that you 'don't' want to be there anymore
Its not that I don’t want. It’s that I’m blind and cannot get audio versions of about 50% of the books discussed in the CR threads. Blindness is not something that one “wants”. Until my vision started in to fail in 2017 I did not read audiobooks.

>70 kjuliff: oh dear, so sorry its come to that. I hope you can pop in now and then and tell us how you are doing, and hope you can find another activity to participate in and feel welcomed Wishing you all the best my friend

>69 bragan: Hollow Kingdom is a lot of fun. I heard Kira Jane Buxton speak at a book festival and she was great.

>70 kjuliff: I'm so sorry, Kate. I'll miss your comments about books. If you want to stay in the conversation, your voice is welcome even if you aren't reading. I will miss you and you're a valuable member of this group.

>75 kjuliff: Dear Kate, I didn't mean to be rude. I can very well understand that you don't receive many books that are reviewed on LT as audio. I've been doing that for 14 years now. As a Swiss, I have access to countless books/authors from all over the world and in all languages, but very often not to those that are discussed here. But that doesn't stop me from reading a lot or listening to audios and writing about them. I just enjoy reading here about what others read, think and experience.

>78 Ameise1: I think you may have misunderstood my post. Details on my thread.

>70 kjuliff: I'm so sorry to hear this. I've enjoyed our interactions, and reading your reviews.

>45 kjuliff: Oh, please don't avoid Intermezzo! It took a while for me to get into it, but in the end, I really loved it. 4.5 stars. Review posted on my thread here. At first I found the different voices annoying, but once I got used to them and figured out the patterns Rooney was sketching out, it all made sense. It is available on audio, and the Irish reader is very good. I saw below that you may leave the group, for understandable reasons. There are so many great books available as audio versions. This has really been a stellar reading year for me, and most of the gems are available in that format.

I'm about to start Enon by Paul Harding.

i(s there a place to list awards?) the rooster tournament has released their long list and has a lot of interesting selections, many of them Ive not heard discussed here, the tournament starts Marcn 21

https://www.tournamentofbooks.com/the-year-in-fiction-2024

I am pleasantly surprised to see so much SF/fantasy on that list. Depending on where you draw your genre lines, about 20% of those books might be considered genre fiction.

>83 cindydavid4: thanks! There is always the Just Lists thread

Very slowly working through Indigenous Pacific Islander eco-literatures -- it's a lot of poetry and some short stories. I've also recently started The Rider on the White Horse.

I read The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters for tomorrow's book club meeting, picked away at Mama Leone a bit more, then started Night Soldiers, the first in the series of the same name by Alan Furst.

>85 dchaikin: whats the link for that?

>88 cindydavid4: https://www.librarything.com/topic/362339

Just an update. I'm deep into Innocence by Penelope Fitzgerald. And also reading a lot of Piers Plowman (slowly), and listening to Native Nations.

It's been a while since I've updated. I did indeed finish Robert Louis Stevenson's Kidnapped and I'm 50 pages away from finishing it's sequel Catriona which I haven't really enjoyed. I've also read a Molière play, Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme (The Bourgeois Gentleman), and a tiny little three story collection あひる (The Duck), by Natsuko Imamura, the author of The Woman in the Purple Skirt.

this has been an odd few weeks, where I read a few pages then go do something else. . Still enjoying angel of history Nothing seems to stick But lo, my first Cadfael has come in so that might break the reading block. Perhaps a civil war some 800 years ago will distract me and since there will be 21 of these, I can hide from the news lots better (I watched the series on PBS but I dont think I actally read the books. Good a time as any)

I'm now reading Preventing the Next Pandemic: Vaccine Diplomacy in a Time of Anti-science by Peter J Hotez, MD, PhD, a noted international vaccine scientist and tropical disease expert, who identifies the forces that have led to urges of neglected tropical diseases such as malaria and measles, along with the emergence of new pathogens such as MERS and COVID-19, and emphasizes the importance of international public health diplomacy and other successful campaigns to prevent or minimize the spread of further pandemics.

>92 cindydavid4: The books are wonderful! I’m jealous that you have them all ahead of you. Under her real name Edith Pargeter, Ellis Peters has some more historical fiction set in medieval England and Wales.

I finished You Are Here by David Nicholls which is a silly, sweet, romance novel, and I'm now reading Claire Messud's This Strange Eventful History from the Booker longlist, as well as Nandini Das' Courting India: Seventeenth-Century England, Mughal India, and the Origins of Empire which is about the British arriving in India in the 17th century. It's really good - she's drawing on biography, news reports, and popular culture at the time to tell a very vivid story, filled with songs and court gossip and literature.

I finished Innocence tonight. So now I hope to actually get going on Absalom, Absalom!.

I've now started reading Legacy: A Black Physician Reckons with Racism in Medicine by Uché Blackstock, MD. She and her twin sister Oni both graduated from Harvard University and Harvard Medical School, and the women were the first Black mother and daughters to graduate from Harvard Medical School. Dr Blackstock describes the barriers to equal lives that Blacks have experienced in this country for centuries, including unequal health care, lack of access to quality and environmentally safe neighborhoods, good schools, local supermarkets that offer fresh and reasonably priced produce, and other factors that cause Black men to die at far younger ages, Black women of childbearing age to die from pregnancy related complications far more often, and the infant mortality rate of Black babies to be more than twice that of White babies. I'll put the other books I'm reading aside for the time being, and devour this book over the next couple of days.

I'm savouring Held by Anne Michaels, and on the side I'm enjoying a random library find, The Land of Short Sentences by Stine Pilgaard about life in a small community in West Jutland, Denmark (where the locals are sparing with their words, hence the title).

I finished Catriona and now I've started Tonbo and I've gone back to my Jpn read which I don't remember why I had put it down other than the intense desire to kill the main character's husband.

I just finished Zola's His Excellency Eugene Rougon, which was fine, but my least favorite Zola so far.

I think for fiction, I will pick some sort of thriller or fast read off my library list - I feel the need for something easy and entertaining. And then I'm tentatively planning a reread of Brideshead Revisited.

I'm also continuing with Dava Sobel's The Elements of Marie Curie which I'm finding very interesting and readable.

>98 rachbxl: I’m happy you’re enjoying Held!
>100 japaul22: that Sobel title sounds promising

I finished Stalingrad: The Fateful Siege - 1942-1943, military historian Antony Beevor's well-written, lucid, extremely detailed and horrifying history of arguably the most pivotal battle of World War 2, at least in the European theater. Having had access to new troves of information, including soldiers' diaries and letters home, Beevor is able to give us insight into the planning, execution and errors on both sides of the battle, and focus all the way down to moment-by-moment experiences of individual soldiers. A very grim read, but very much recommended for anyone with an interest in the Second World War itself and also the lengths to which human beings are willing to endure hardship, pain, misery and exhaustion in service to a cause or what they see as their duty. My longer review is up on my Club Read thread.

Next up for me will be Into China, by Eileen Bigland, who traveled the Burma Highway during the Japanese invasion of China with an ammunition convoy and wrote about it in this memoir. Hmmm, didn't realize it but I guess I have a mini-WW2 theme going.

>102 rocketjk:

Into China sounds interesting. I'll have to keep track and come back to hear your thoughts upon reading it.

>98 rachbxl: Held is a great read, and savouring sounds about right!

>101 dchaikin:, >104 rv1988: Normally I'd race through a book I'm enjoying, but with Held I'm doing the opposite and I've slowed right down. I only pick it up if I really feel like it, and even then I only read small chunks at a time.

>97 kidzdoc: You might like Gifted Hands by Dr. Ben Carson. I watched the movie on BET TV and then read the book. I also bought a book for a family member who works in neurology. When I searched I found: https://www.scribd.com/document/155873615/Gifted-Hands on the internet. I did not download so not sure if it works.

>106 mnleona: Thanks, Leona. I gave a copy of Gifted Hands to my mother several years ago, and she enjoyed it. Due to her dementia the paperback book is now missing many of its pages, so I'll probably borrow it from my local library when I decide to read it.

Last night I finished Legacy: A Black Physician Reckons with Racism in Medicine by Uché Blackstock, MD, which was a compelling and honest memoir, along with a call to action for various sectors to address the societal inequities that afflict the Black community.

Just before I fell asleep I started reading The People's Hospital: Hope and Peril in American Medicine by Ricardo Nuila, MD, who is a hospitalist at Ben Taub Hospital, the public hospital in Harris County which is located in Houston. It provides care to everyone who walks through its doors, whether they have health insurance or not and regardless of their citizenship status, and Dr Nuila tells the stories of five patients who received care at Ben Taub who would otherwise have been turned away from other hospitals.

I’ve just finished Mrs. Dalloway and am continuing Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying. Recently I picked these two short novels to hopefully jump start my reading again after a difficult month for concentrating on much of anything. I started and put down a huge number of books in Nov., and am relieved to have finally finished one. As I Lay Dying should not take too much longer.

I’ve finished Held. A raid on the library yesterday resulted in a copy of Lucy by the Sea by Elizabeth Strout in time for the weekend, just what I wanted (thanks to the librarian who turned a blind eye to the fact that I had already exceeded my borrowing limit!) I read the first hundred pages in bed last night, happy to be back in the world of Lucy Barton.

I'm having a hard time finishing things, but I did manage to wrap up Mama Leone before the end of the month. I'm also nearing the end of Heaven and Earth Grocery Store, mainly listening to the audio on Spotify rather than reading.

>111 labfs39: I am the same Lisa but days go by when I can’t even try. I’m about to read The Plot 🎧 and hopefully will get through it. Hope things improve for you. x

>110 rachbxl: I’ve been hesitant with Lucy By the Sea - i loved LB, enjoyed OW! a lot. Hated Anything Can Happen.

>111 labfs39: I’m struggling with my main book, Absalom, Absalom! But - it’s really difficult to read. So I’m trying to forgive myself.

>112 kjuliff: happy to see you reading

Have started the new month with Muriel Spark's Symposium. Generally love her books, but for some reason this has been TBR for a while now, put off a bit by the blurb (bought as part of a bulk deal). Shouldn't have been - even more intriguing than usual!

>109 dianelouise100:
Two of my favourite books! Slim but very meaty. If you're in need of short novels to help sustain interest, and haven't tried her, I can thoroughly recommend Muriel Spark. Nobody quite like her - her slimmest books are generally her best.

On the more general front of where I'm at as the year draws to a close, it's been a curate's egg of a year: aims to read some more bigger stuff after a long book hiatus prompted by lockdown, and to move my round the world project on, have all gone well. Progression on other projects has gone rather less so, one or two grinding to a complete halt. Had a bit of a life-changing medical experience this autumn (hopefully positive now) which has got me rethinking a few things, including my reading, so will see about what to plan for next year.....!

>114 Willoyd: Will look forward to checking out your 2025 plans! I’m still working on December, thanks so much for the Spark rec. I’ve only read one of hers, A Far Cry from Kensington, which I remember liking.

Driving to see my mom today, so 8 hours of listening time. I'm currently listening to Behind Closed Doors by JJ Marsh. Uncertain how many hours are left, because it is a three-book set and I only intend to finish the first book for now. I'm guessing about 3 hours left. Then I have The Temple of Fortuna. Coming back I may start Lessons in Chemistry for my book club at the end of the month.

Been AWOL, as I seem to be more and more often. Anyway, I've been in a very slow reading phase—eyes (and myself) are really tired at the end of the day lately.

I read Rachel Kushner's Creation Lake, which I found to be very cool to the touch, populated by a bunch of unlikeable characters, yet it was so unpredictable that it kept me entertained and reading, and I don't regret it.

Then it took me nearly a month to read Sylvia Townsend Warner's Summer Will Show—I loved two others of hers that I've read (Lolly Willowes and The Corner That Held Them) but never really warmed to this one.

Now even though I thought a good shortish popular novel would be a good palate cleanser, my library hold on David Abram's The Spell of the Sensuous: Perception and Language in a More-Than-Human World came up so I'm reading that. It feels like something that could devolve into woo-woo pretty easily but is so far not, though I'm still in the early stages.

>117 lisapeet: sounds fun. And interesting response to Creation Lake.

>117 lisapeet:
I read Rachel Kushner's Creation Lake, which I found to be very cool to the touch, populated by a bunch of unlikeable characters, yet it was so unpredictable that it kept me entertained and reading, and I don't regret it.
I don't regret it, but I found it a bit of a damp squib, and the one Booker shortlister which left me wondering why. Agree about the cool, self-consciously so, and the unlikeable characters! Went straight to the charity shop on completion. (I've just bought The Corner That Held Them too!; now, with Lolly Willowes we are really talking unpredictable - that ending came from nowhere!)

>113 dchaikin: I've finished Lucy by the Sea - really enjoyed it. Much more like the other Lucy books than Anything is Possible, which unlike you I did like, but which is my least favourite so far.

>117 lisapeet: Good to know about Creation Lake - I picked it up from the library the other day just because it was available (it wasn't really on my wishlist). Though your comments are balanced out by >119 Willoyd:, which kind of leaves me back where I started ;-) I'll just try it for myself and report back.

I'm reading Gabriel Garcia Marquez's En agosto nos vemos (Until August), again because it was available at the library and I'm curious about it, Stine Pilgaard's The Land of Short Sentences, which I'm not getting through very fast but will persevere as I'm halfway through, and How I Became a North Korean by Krys Lee. Not really grabbed by any of them.

>120 rachbxl: i want to read Until August! Glad you enjoyed Lucy by the Sea. I’m tempted now.

Still fighting against the reading doldrums, but last night I started North of Normal: A Memoir of My Wilderness Childhood, My Unusual Family, and How I Survived Both by Cea Sunrise Person, a Kindle freebie. One of those memoirs about a family that went off the grid and lived so bizarrely that you can't look away.

>120 rachbxl:
I'll just try it for myself and report back.
Always the best way, especially if a library book! I didn't not enjoy it (sorry for the double negative!), just that for me it didn't live up to the hype.

I’ve finished Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying, which I loved. I had forgotten many of the details, so there were many surprises. My next “read” is a Naxos audio book of Chaucer’s The General Prologue and the Merchant’s Tale, read in Middle English. I was so delighted to find these recordings that I bought the 3 that were available in ME (all 3 are presently on sale).

>125 dianelouise100: such a special Faulkner novel. And love that you’re listening to Chaucer. I’m tempted.

decided o read the cadfael series, which was on ages ago staring Derek Jacobi. Its been long enough that reading them is like I was first introduced to the characters. Anyway read a morbid taste for bones and just finished One corpse too many which I really liked,even the trial by combat

This series takes place during the English civil war 1388 between King Stephen and Empress Maud The story starts with th White Ship, the boat carrying many of the young people during Herny the first reign sank, taking down the heir to the thrown, Henry decided that his daughter would be heir, but when he died his nephew took the throne . Known as "when Christ and his saints slept"this conflict went on for 20 years. I liked how well the historical background melds with the stories

>126 dchaikin: I think you’d enjoy listening to the General Prologue…unfortunately it’s paired with the Physician’s Tale, not the Merchant’s Tale, which I like better.

I finished Into China, British author Eileen Bigland's memoir of her journey over the mountains via the famed Burma Road with an ammunitions convoy bringing weapons to Chiang Kai-Shek's army during the Japanese invasion of China of the late 1930s. It's fascinating and maddening in turns, the former due to Bigland's skill as a writer with a sharp eye and the latter due to her European condescension to Asian people, that fades as the narrative progresses but never disappears. Nevertheless, a mostly fascinating account. I posted a longer review on my Club Read thread.

Next up for me will be Omar Appears in Jerusalem, an intriguing-looking novel by Egyptian writer Najeeb Al-Kelani (1931-1995). (I've found several spellings of his name. His Wikipedia page refers to him as both Najib Kilani and Naguib al-Kilani.)

I’m reading when not sleeping as I hover on the edge of pneumonia. I feel it would be so easy to just sink quietly into this illness. But fortunately I’d bought Scaffolding 🎧 after reading a reading a review by Simone2. It’s a very intelligent, perceptive and readable debut novel by ex-pat New Yorker Lauren Elkin writer and translator who moved to Paris 10 years ago.

After a few pages I was hooked and checked a few newspaper reviews - reviews which surely must have ben written by, or with the aid of AI. Described by the Guardian as an erudite first novel with horny energy, words fail. Yes there are a few references to sexual intercourse - after all it’s a book about relationships - but in no way is it a sex romp.

If you are interested in linguistics, psychology, friendship, womanhood, good literature and an a work by an author who has some new things to say, an author who doesn’t just put a clever new spin on old themes, then read this book.

For those of us finding it hard to get back into reading Scaffolding might do the trick.

The title is apt, metaphorically and physically. Both NYC and Paris have laws requiring periodic resurfacing of their buildings.

>130 kjuliff: I’m definitely interested in all those things. I’m happy you found a book to dig into

I finally finished Enon. Not sure why I put myself through that, except that I loved Paul Harding's last one, This Other Eden. This one was sheer torture for me. It was so bad that I stopped 2/3 of the way in and reread Small Things Like These. So glad I'm now done with it!

I started Time of the Child by Niall Williams, which sometimes drops into those endless sentences that wearied me in Enon. But at least there's a better story in there. I'll stick with it a while.

I'm in Australia for work, and I'm reading Peter Carey's Oscar and Lucinda while I'm here.

>133 rv1988: I do hope you get to see some of Australia while you are there working. I think Oscar and Lucinda was the last Peter Carey I read, though many praised it. If you get to Melbourne please say hello to it for me.

Just finished The Wrecker, Robert Louis Stevenson's tale of the evils of Pacific commerce in the late nineteenth century.

>132 Cariola: sorry about Enon, especially if i was among those who encouraged you. I liked those sentences.

I finished Absalom, Absalom!. Took me 20 hours to read what is a 12:31 audiobook. And I’m exhausted thinking about it. I found it difficult to read because of the style. Paragraphs run several pages, make several and turns, many vague and all needs to be clearly connected. But it kept my interest. So there’s that. I’ve started Headshot by Rita Bullwinkel, which reaffirms my sense of reader capacity that Faulkner had left me questioning. Intense and fast … and easy. Yay!

Reading To Live by Yu Hua as the book for China in my Reading The World project. As with so many eastern Asian books, I find it a bit distant, even stilted, and not easy to engage with the characters. A bit like the telling of myths. I am enjoying it, but there's something missing, as there so often is. I'm wondering if it's because they primarily tell rather than show?? Whatever, I am definitely finding the eastern Asian books harder to get through than, say, Latin America or Africa.

I’ve finished listening to Richard Bebb’s fine narration in Middle English of Chaucer’s General Prologue and The Physician’s Tale from The Canterbury Tales. Listening to the Middle English was a great treat (I wish a different tale had been chosen.) The Middle English version is followed by a version in modern English.

I continue to read R. W. Southern’s Western Society and the Church in the Middle Ages, which is vol. 2 of the Penguin History of the Church. I’m happy to be reading about the Middle Ages for the quarterly theme of “Reading through Time,” and am searching my shelves to pull out more works on medieval history, some read, some partly read, and some unopened.

>138 dchaikin: Please don’t feel discouraged by AA. I doubt any reader “gets” it on the first read, certainly not me! The only harder piece of Faulkner writing I’m familiar with is the novella “The Bear,” best read in the context of all the stories in Go Down Moses.

>140 dianelouise100: I'm feeling discouraged in my ability to follow the train of thought. :) But not in Faulkner. That's helpful to know. My next Faulkner will be The Unvanquished. But I'll will read a couple other things first.

I'm finishing up a reread of Brideshead Revisited and then I think I'll do a reread of Small Things Like These. I also just got The Plot off my library waitlist, so that will probably be left.

I'm about halfway through the Marie Curie biography by Dava Sobel. It's good, but it's a pretty straight-ahead biography and I was expecting something a little more creative from Sobel.

I finished The Temple of Fortuna which ends the trilogy. Was going to start my book club book, but I realized I missed something in all the challenges I'm trying to finish before the end of December. I realized I haven't read anything for the RTT 1st Quarter focus on prehistory. So I'm squeezing in People of the Wolf.

I took a break from the things i’m ‘really’ reading (which are exactly the same as last time I posted here, En agosto nos vemos, The Land of Short Sentences and How I Became a North Korean) to read the wonderful You Are Here by David Nicholls, as recommended recently by someone in CR (I need a better system for keeping track of where my recommendations come from). It was the perfect weekend pick-me-up after a tiring week.

>130 kjuliff: I like the sound of Scaffolding. I’ve just put a library hold on it.

>144 rachbxl: check your touchstone - it’s Scaffolding

I can't believe it's the last month of the year, currently I'm reading:

aeineid --- a translation by David West, 2nd read this year to get more nuances from this epic. I kind of wish I started with this trranslation, just feels easier or maybe I'm finding old works like this easier than it was.
tale of genji --- I'm listening to the abridged ed, that had a v long waiting list on Libby and I'm roughly a half-way through.

lined up to also finish this year (hopefully) :

lifted veil --- I'm new to George Eliot and starting with this short.
cambridge companion to sylvia plath --- second read, this year the author I have been focusing on is Sylvia Plath.
middle east: cradle of civilization --- One of the books I've lined up to get a little more familiar with Mesopotamia.

>142 japaul22: I've been seeing the mentions of Sobel's Curie biography. I wonder how it compares to the biography Curie's daughter wrote of her, which was published in 1943 (and which I read back in 2016).

After finishing the memoir North of Normal, I started an Archipelago Edition book from the rebeccanyc tribute page: Journal of an Ordinary Grief by Israeli Palestinian Mahmoud Darwish. Then this morning, needing a break from the poetic imagery that requires close attention, I picked up a book that I had requested from the library, Strangers in their own land : anger and mourning on the American right by sociologist Arlie Russell Hochschild. I learned about this book from a review by icepatton. It's highly readable, and I hope to step outside my bubble and try to understand the Great Paradox and the perspective of 75 million fellow Americans who voted Trump back into office. Because right now I don't. The book is a little dated, in that it was published in 2016 and the worst bugaboo for liberals was the Tea Party.

Just read in one sitting: August Blue by Deborah Levy. My first of her work, but definitely not the last! Focusing now on finishing Germania by Simon Winder, a very readable if not always crystal clear 'personal history ' of Germany.

>1 AnnieMod: Well, I am currently reading "the Man who invented Christmas," about career of Charles Dickens. He had to really WORK to keep his success as a writer, even toured the U. S. at one point. I like biographies and nonfiction in the sciency realm, like the book about climate change, " The Weight of Nature," about how climate change is (seemingly) slowly frying our brains/thinking. I have MORE optimistic stuff to write about than that in my own little book, "Nature vs. Technology -- Who's Winning?" We are WINNING in a few areas, like trying to get kids off technology and engaging more with outer space and electric cars...

>150 djwriter700: please keep to LT and group norms. No self promotions. The Dickens book sounds terrific

>3 labfs39: I couldn't get into the Thursday Murder Club but I know that a lot of people really like it! What am I missing?

I'm reading The Teller of Small Fortunes by Julie Leong right now and it's not as fast paced as what I usually read but its really charming. Would recommend to anyone who likes D and D. The Husbands is next in my TBR pile.

>153 bustellogirl: It's on my "maybe soon" pile...you may have pushed me over the edge on it (good, I don't have a next book lined up).

>149 Willoyd: Ooh, thanks for reminding me about Deborah Levy. I was really impressed by both Hot Milk and Swimming Home and intended to read more but she fell off my radar. I’ve just had an Elizabeth Strout binge which may or may not be over - maybe Deborah Levy would be good to explore next. Anyway, I just managed to get my hands on August Blue as a library e-book and i’m looking forward to it.

finished The Tale of Genji, hald way through Aeneid and have reached my goal but am trying to finish another 3 books

I have a pile of started unfinished boks o- all promising but various factors have led me to discarding them for now.

Then today I managed to borrow an 🎧 copy of Our Evenings by Alan Hollinghurst. It’s rather long and I wasn’t really looking for a book about gays, the theatre and UK politics BUT it’s so exquisitely as all Hollinghurst’s books are that I just might have a chance of reading it to the end.

Surely I owe it to the writer. And UK politics might take my mind of use ones.

Hollinghurst writing is so exquisite it feels almost an insult not to keep on keeping on.

>156 AnishaInkspill:
Congratulations on finishing Genji! That's one I need to reread someday as I really like it.

I on the other hand haven't read anything since November. I think I read too much this year and so December I think I'm just not going to read at all and just enjoy the end of year festivities.

>156 AnishaInkspill: what great stuff! I haven’t read the Genji. But i read an Aeneid translation. I really took to books IV and VI - the more famous ones.

I just finished the new Marie Curie biography by Dava Sobel. I thought it was ok. Review on my thread.

Now I'm starting a beautiful book The Backyard Bird Chronicles, in which Amy Tan journals about the birds in her backyard and does beautiful and really impressive sketches of the birds. December is a really stressful month for me at work, and this book is so calming.

>160 japaul22: bummer about the Sobel. Have you read Held? Curie makes an unusual appearance

>161 dchaikin: No, I haven't gotten to that one. It's on my list though, and that comment bumped it up a bit!

>162 japaul22: 🙂

>155 rachbxl:
Just taken The Man Who Saw Everything out of the library. What with her and my other recent 'discovery' (at least for me!), Patrick Modiano, I could be set for months. Just some other TBRs (including a fistful for my tour of the US) in the way (positively so)!

Currently looking to finish off Simon Winder's Germania off in the next few days - entertainingly interesting if a bit confusing at times. Partnered with some regular dipping into Why We Read, a collection of mini-essays on the attractions to non-fiction reading by a wide range of writers.

>164 Willoyd: The Man Who Everything is terrific. Enjoy. If you miss the gimmick (i did) you may want to read it twice 🙂 (i did this - and it was great both ways, clueless and having caught on)

I'm on Fire in the Valley: The Birth and Death of the Personal Computer, the 2014 update. It's very interesting and definitely just what I needed at the minute.

>164 Willoyd: I’ve finished August Blue - I read it, if not in one sitting like you, then in one day. I really enjoyed it. I’m going to the library tomorrow so I’m going to see if they have any Levy. (Patrick Modiano? I keep thinking I should give him a try).

Even though I am reading Journal of an Ordinary Grief and Stranger in Their Own Land, my library request for The Husbands came in, and I couldn't resist.

>154 jjmcgaffey: I'm so glad! If you want to escape to a classic village hop campaign in which everyone brought a fully fleshed out character and no schedule conflicts get in the way of playing, The Teller of Small Fortunes is for you!

I just finished a Caedfeld mystery Momks Hood and it was soooo good! the characters were believable the plot was complex but just right, the dialogue while not medival, contained no anachronism suited the time and place This is the third Ive read, and so far its my fav (Im sure I saw in on the PBS series but remember nothing about it, so I had many surprises to look forward to. Im going to try and find out how I can watch it. should be fun

>169 bustellogirl: Yes! I read it and _loved_ it. The (many) happy endings are so lovely (and reasonable, not contrived). The only problem is that it's her first, and so far only, book. So it'll be a while before I get to read her again...

>170 cindydavid4: I've read all the Caedfals, and seen a few of the episodes. The show is better than the Father Brown equivalent at keeping to the written stories (the Father Brown show mashes together bits from half a dozen stories each episode!), but I think it still wanders a little - and I think the books are better. But the shows are still enjoyable.

>165 dchaikin:
Bumped up!

>167 rachbxl:
What I particulary enjoyed was his sense of atmosphere - almost Simenon (Maigret)-like. But he's more thoughtful.

>172 Willoyd: good 🙂

Last night I finished Headshot, an unusual novel by California writer Rita Bullwinkel. Then I started Fasting, Feasting by Anita Desai - who I have never read before. The book was on the 1999 Booker shortlist, and specifically identified by the judges as coming in second (to Disgrace).

Headshot finished the 2024 Booker longlist for me.

>173 dchaikin: I enjoyed Headshot very much, it don’t remember if it was her first, but will look for more of her work.

Struggling with Hollinghurst’s Our Evenings. I don’t like to double post, but if you are interested you can read my thoughts on it and other stuff here.

>174 dianelouise100: it's her debut novel.

Continuing my Elizabeth Strout run, a trip to the library yesterday yielded Olive Kitteridge, which I have read before and disliked intensely. Only 25 pages in I can already see that my reaction to Olive herself this time around is quite different - last time I had no time for her at all, whereas now I’m nodding along in recognition, sometimes wincing at the secret thought that I can see myself in her. I’m much closer to her in age now, which I suspect is relevant.

the castle the humour is a surprise

>177 rachbxl: how interesting! Fantastic that you’re trying again

Monthly Author Reads group is focussing on George Eliot this month. The only one of her novels I have not read is Felix Holt the Radical, which I’ve just laid aside at the end of Chapter 6–too much 1832 era politics for me. Last night I finished The Lifted Veil, a short novella, very different in style from Eliot’s novels, but a very good story. I’ll read Scenes of Clerical Life, which appears to be a collection of novellas, next.

I've apparently abandoned December reading plans and the attempt to complete my yearly reading goals. So I've been reading whatever library ebook that catches my eye, such as Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent, Split Tooth, Abigail, and The Argonauts. Up next is probably The Sympathizer.

I just started The Hitchcock Hotel by Stephanie Wrobel. So far it's fast paced and has multiple perspectives, which I like. One character is pretty...intense so far, so I'm glad I'm not just stuck with his side of the story!

>181 ELiz_M: Judi Dench’s take on Shakespeare is worth abandoning all plans

>173 dchaikin: Looking forward to your review. Anita Desai is on the high school curriculum in many Indian schools, and her new book Rosarita is on my list.

I’m reading How to Speak Whale: The Power and Wonder of Listening to Animals by Tom Mustill.

>185 dianeham: I'm happy to see this

I finished Omar Appears in Jerusalem by Najeeb Al-Kelani. This novel, originally published in 1970 and translated to English in 1986, is a fable-like tale about the return of Omar Ben Al-Khattab, an extremely important 7th Century Caliph, to Jerusalem soon after the Israeli occupation of the Arab part of the city during the 1967 war. My full review is posted on my Club Read thread.

Reading-wise,this has been the Year of the Doorstop for me. Two 450-page Isaac Singer novels, Antony Beevor's 640-page history of the Battle of Stalingrad, and, the real reading-goal killers, the second and third books in Marcel Proust's "In Search of Lost Time" series (not only long, but sloooooow), and, well, let's just say I'm not going to reach either my overall 50-book goal or my Books of the Shelf goal either. The move from California to New York didn't help either. So, figuring I might as well just steer into the chunkster skid, I've decided to finish up the year by finally delving into Look Homeward, Angel by Thomas Wolfe. Cheers, all!

I am currently reading The Wartime Book Club by Kate Thompson and for my historical fiction book club In the Midst of Winter by Isabel Allende

I've started A Midwife's Tale by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, which I'm enjoying greatly so far.

>189 mabith: Oh I'm so glad you're reading it! My favorite nonfiction book. Hope you enjoy!

>190 japaul22: It's been on my list for so long, not sure why it's taken this much time for me to get to it. I'm sure I'll be very happy with it.

Just a quick house-keeping note - we are close to when I would usually roll this thread into a new one but with only 2 weeks left in this year (what happened?!?!?!?), I will just leave this one stay till the end of the year.

Happy holidays to everyone!

An ARC arrived in the mail yesterday causing me to lay aside current reading to try to review it before its release on Jan.5. It’s The First and Last King of Haiti: the Rise and Fall of Henry Christophe, by Marlene Daut. I’m excited to read this, and the first 50 pages have been interesting and confusing because of the lack of documentation of the early life of a possibly enslaved African child, most likely born in the French colony of Grenada.

I finished Fasting, Feasting by Anita Desai - I loved the 1st half. It fades a bit, but well worth it for me. Next I'll begin The Unvanquished by William Faulkner, an important short story collection within his Yoknapatawpha world.

With thanks to Lola, who has often championed this series of graphic novels over the years in CR, yesterday I started (and almost finished the first volume of) L’Arabe du futur by Riad Sattouff (The Arab of the Future: A Childhood in the Middle East). (Thanks too to the librarian, who said there was no point borrowing just the first volume as I’d want more as soon as I finished it and insisted I take more). Marvellous stuff - the personal details of a childhood mixed with the recent history of the Middle East.

I am continuing to progress slowly through Journal of an Ordinary Grief. My first ever quibble with Archipelago Press: they didn't include the footnotes which the translator talks about in his introduction. Frustrating.

In quick succession, finished Germania, then Pearl and now on to Nella Larsen's Passing: 20 pages in, and loving it. Also continuing to read Why We Read in short bursts in the background.

>197 Willoyd: hoping you enjoyed Pearl. I would like to read Passing

>198 dchaikin: Certainly did. Review on my thread.

I've finished Among the Janeites and A Faraway Island. Have started Unpleasantness at the Battle of Thornford and restarted The Ice Swan. Fours hours to go on People of the Wolf and the next audiobook will be Lessons in Chemistry for next weeks book club.

I’ve almost finished volume 2 of The Arab of the Future, covering the author’s early childhood in Syria. I’ll be going back to the library at lunchtime to borrow the remaining volumes before they close for Christmas tomorrow (exactly as predicted by the librarian!)

Woo hoo! I've reached the quarter mark (157 pages) of Look Homeward, Angel! Hoping to finish during calendar year 2024. So far it's as expected. Padded in places, but mostly enjoyable.

finished the second Omnibus of Cadfael with the virgin in ice I like how some earlier characters appear in her novels, so I get to know them and love the history along the way

I abandoned everything else I'm reading for Robert Jackson Bennett's The Tainted Cup which is great fun.

I'm reading Jean de Florette and Manon of the Springs by Marcel Pagnol. It's a beautiful, simply written book about a community in Provencal in the early 1900s. Written in the 1960s, it was an ode to a simpler time. It's lovely.

I'm also continuing, slowly, with Amy Tan's Backyard Bird Chronicles. This is basically a nature journal complete with her beautiful bird drawings. I'm loving it and finding it calm and reflective during this very busy season.

>205 japaul22: Funnily enough I was thinking wistfully of Jean de Florette just this week. I was captivated by both books when I read them aged 20 or so. There are 2 lovely films, too, from the mid-1980s.

Currently reading Caroline Lucas's Another England, examining the history and idea of the national identity at a time when being hijacked by populists. Very interesting and lucid so far.

Stopping in here at last, before the year goes and ends on me. I've just finished The Nutmeg of Consolation, book 14 in Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin series and definitely one of my favorites so far. Now reading Monstress Volume 9 the most recent installment in the dark fantasy graphic novel series by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda.

I'm about halfway through The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year and I have really mixed opinions. I am loving the who dunnit Agatha Christie angle. But the MCs are a bit flat to me. Even though the will they won't they will almost certainly end in they will, I'll finish it because it's definitely entertaining.

I want to be more active at Club Read so I thought I'd start now rather than waiting until 1 January.

I am actively reading A History of What Comes Next, Signs of Life To The Ends of the Earth with a Doctor, and The Warehouse. I got about halfway through Perhaps The Stars before putting it aside (it's a bit of a struggle) but I think I should pick it up again before I forget what's happened and need to start over.

I just finished The People's Hospital: Hope and Peril in American Medicine by Ricardo Nuila, MD, a fascinating look into a safety net public hospital in Houston that provides excellent and cost effective care to county residents who would have otherwise fallen through the cracks of the fragmented health care "system," including the stories of five Houstonians whose lives are documented throughout the book.

I suspect that will be the last book I finish this year, as I have just over 300 pages to go in The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese, which I'm savoring in the manner of a great feast. My next non-fiction book will be South to a Very Old Place by Albert Murray, which is one of the six books contained in the Library of America edition Albert Murray: Collected Essays and Memoirs that I intend to finish next year.

I've passed the halfway point of Look Homeward, Angel. By this point the novel has become a nice amiable companion for the holiday season. Hoping to finish before the end of the year.

I’ve finished Western Society and the Church in the Middle Ages by R. W. Southern, Part 2 of the Penguin History of the Church, for the quarterly prompt (the Middle Ages) of Reading through Time. I’m now reading and hoping to finish before year end Alison Weir’s Queens of the Conquest, the first volume of her series “England’s Medieval Queens.”

Last night I finished Lazy City by Rachel Connolly and went straight on, from one debut novel to another, to The Mothers by Brit Bennett, which I’m whizzing through and really enjoying. I may well finish it tonight, and I expect to finish Olive Kitteridge by the end of the year too, as well as another volume or two of L’Arabe du futur.

I'm on The Lost King of France by Deborah Cadbury. Not necessarily my favorite subject but I loved one of Cadbury's other books and it was handy.

listening to Emma abridged, interesting to revisit, I read it a few years ago

finished the sanctuary sparrow the first book in the 3rd Cadfael series. disappointed in the one; really turned into a soap opera, tho perhaps that due to the women characters in the household and their fights with each other. But the story does come together. Just not my favorite Im gonna try to finish the other two before the new year, so that will make 9 books read for the RTT prompt this month

I just finished Isola: A Novel by Allegra Goodman, which was excellent, and am trying to settle back into other books, including Teddy Wayne's The Winner and Banal Nightmare by Halle Butler.

Reading Charles Dickens's (and others') Mugby Junction as my Christmas book this year.

>1 AnnieMod: Currently I am reading Jack Reacher's One Shot!! I haven't been consistent with just reading one book at a time. Usually, I'll get into one book and it'll get good but then hit a dead end ( I always end up finishing it anyway) so then I would start on other books. My goal these last couple of days before 2025 is to finish up the rest of the few chapters I have left in my current read.

I just finished How Things Work by Theodore Gray, and am about to start The Wishing Game by Meg Shaffer.

I have three books to wrap up - Jean de Florette and Manon of the Springs, The Backyard Bird Chronicles, and a Maisie Dobbs mystery - A Dangerous Place.

I had a set of books I meant to read this month, but the beginning of the month was rough, so instead I read a completely different set of books.

I just finished The Sympathizer, which I think might be a good book. Especially for fans of Dickens/Victorian novels. At times, it just felt like there were so. many. words. and endless descriptions of extraneous details. But there is a compelling story in there and I enjoyed the exploration of the ability to see both sides/being of two cultures.

Rattled through Mugby Junction quicker than expected - ok, but not vintage Dickens, too sentimental - so on to Patrick Modiano's Missing Person.

I finished The Unvanquished, which is easily the easiest book I've read by William Faulkner, and maybe a decent place to start, for those interested. Today I started Loitering with Intent by Muriel Spark, with sass is consistent with that title, and also The Children's Book by AS Byatt - a chunkster of a book.

>225 dchaikin: I loved The Children's Book. In any other year it would have won the Booker Prize IMO, but 2009 was the year that Wolf Hall won.

>226 kidzdoc: I’m really looking forward to it. We have a group read of it on the Booker fb group

I've had The Children's Book on my shelf for so long... maybe that will kick me into gear on it, though I'm notoriously flaky on group reads.

I sent The Spell of the Sensuous back to the library. It was well-written, but just not the right book at the right time for me—more philosophical abstraction than my work-whipped brain wanted to grapple with. I'll come back to it someday, maybe, since the concept interests me.

Instead, I read this year's Booker winner, Samantha Harvey's Orbital, which I liked—a little love letter to planet earth seen through the eyes of six cosmonauts. There was a LOT of physical description of the planet, in what felt like an avoidance of any real global politics, but I'm someone who loves looking at maps and enjoyed giving myself over to the imagery. If you're not a maphead, your mileage may vary on this one, but it was also short and digestible, very agreeable.

Now reading Yael van der Wouden's The Safekeep—so far so good. Nice to be reading a physical book after so much e (thank you, Lauren!), and the luscious pears on the cover are synced up with the many pears and pear-infused items in my kitchen this week.

After reading a couple of debut novels which whilst good could have done with some more savage editing, I was craving something with fewer words. I knew that’s what I would get with Sarah Moss, whose memoir My Good Bright Wolf I can’t put down.

140 pages to go in Look Homeward, Angel. I'm hoping to finish by the end of the calendar year so I can start 2025 immediately with my two year-starting traditions: my next Isaac B. Singer, Enemies, a Love Story, and then my wife's selection for me from her 2024 reading, The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida. My selection for her from my 2024 is The Prophets by Robert Jones, Jr.

>230 rocketjk: I loved The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida. I own a copy of The Prophets but I haven't read it yet.

I may be able to finish The Covenant of Water before the end of the year, but I still have 300+ pages to go with six days left in 2024.

>231 kidzdoc: I hope you manage to get to The Prophets, this year, Darryl. I would love to know your reaction. I found it to be very, very strong for a first novel.

>230 rocketjk: your wife picked a great one. Maali is rough up front. Give him a little time. He evolves

Flipping audiobooks. I finished Native Nations by Kathleen DuVal - it's fine, but I have some issues with the wording. Tomorrow I will begin Our Evenings by Alan Hollinghurst.

I also like listening to audio dramas, currently listening to an adapation of Emma, https://www.librarything.com/work/33346473/ Emma: A BBC Radio 4 Full-Cast Dramatisation, borrowed from Libby.

>230 rocketjk: I saw the movie Genius and have since been wanting to read some works by Wolfe.

I just finished a Maisie Dobbs mystery. Now I'm rereading The Frozen Thames which is a lovely small hardcover with 40 vignettes about the times the Thames has frozen between the 1100s and 1800s. It's one of the books I pack with my Christmas decorations and display/read in December each year.

It's short, so after that I will read Old God's Time which just came in at the library and start some sort of nonfiction. Probably Versailles: A Biography of a Palace.

>235 AnishaInkspill: a great way to read Emma.

>237 japaul22: enjoy Old God’s Time!

Moving from the excellent Modiano to Deborah Levy's Things I Don't Want to Know.
Christmas presents, book tokens and Waterstones half price sale has also seen a substantial addition to the non-fiction library!

>236 AnishaInkspill: Wow! I'd never heard of that movie, but just looked it up upon seeing your post. It looks very interesting. I'll have to check it out. Thanks! Here's an interesting movie review by a reviewer named Glen Kenny (whom I'd also never heard of!) on rogerebert.com: https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/genius-2016

>237 japaul22: I loved The Frozen Thames and liked most of Humphreys' books that I've read. Good reminder for me to get to some her newer work.

finished my 9th Cadfael devils novice which I think is my favorite so far. youd think after so many books, theyd get old. But Peters firmly puts together the skeleton of the books with the characters, the landscape of the town and the history. Those dont change. what changes is the flow of the story, the character development, and the play of the plot. so far I havent found any two stories the same. that might change after 21 books, well see. so far Im enjoying them

>242 cindydavid4: I found the Cadfael books remarkably solid. Peters does a great job, and Cadfael is just such a great character. Plus when I need a niche English king for a quiz, Stephen is always in the brain thanks to those book. Glad you're enjoying them!

I'm currently on The Mysterious Case of Rudolf Diesel but I think I'll be putting it on hold to read something more fun as it's been a tough month.

Reading two books, as can't read a book of essays as one continuous read. So, rereading one of my favourite essayists (and writer in general), the late, great Lisa Jardine: A Point of View, scripts from the BBC Radio Four eponymous programme (their replacement for another of my favourites, Alastair Cooke's Letter from America). The programme isn't the same without her. Alongside that, Claudio Pineiro's Elena Knows, one of a pile of Chacos Press books that I grabbed with much delight in their recent sale. First few pages promise much.

finished Emma: A BBC Radio 4 Full-Cast Dramatisation and getting my 2025s together, or trying to

>244 Willoyd: My library doesn't have A Point of View (or much else by Jardine), but I did get one Alistair Cooke. Sideways BB?

I bought Bunny by Mona Awad a while ago with a few other books and I just now started it. So far so good.