Book Lovers Club
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With tropical storm Imelda pummeling us with rain, I curled up trying to catch up on series books I'd missed. Read one of my favorite authors - John Lescroart. Fatal was written as a stand alone book in 2017 w/o Dismas Hardy. As usual, I admire his writing and look for a twisting plot.
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One of my neighbors who died last year left a couple of us small monetary gifts - token of her friendship. We traded books regularly. I donated most of what she left me to our Public Library in her name, but spent a bit filling in old series books that I'd missed and she would have loved to borrow.
Catching up on Lee Child's books that I missed. Read Without Fail (2002) last week and recently finished Die Trying (1998). VR - what's your DH's favorite Reacher book?
Now reading a Michael Connelly Bosch & Ballard book - Dark Sacred Night. Still think Lescroart is best.
I was supposed to go hear Nevada Barr speak and read at one of our indie bookstores tonight, but it was cancelled due to Houston's tropical storm Imelda. Just as well since water is still high around the city.
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I have recently read Where The Crawdads Sing and Queen Bee. Both are page turners....irritated when I had to put them down to eat😂. If you like mysteries, If You Knew My Sister is a good one.
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The Silent Child by Sarah Denzil
J.D. Robb In Death Series
Anything by Marie Force - the Fatal Series, Gansett Island series, Butler Vermont series or any of the rest are awesome. You will get hooked on her books- a great writer.
Sharon Sala - Blessing series is a great hometown read.
Whistling Past The Graveyard by Susan Crandall
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Minus...When the DH finishes a book by Silva, Child, Flynn or Lescroat, I will often ask how was it and how it compared to previous books by each author and he will often give me the same canned answer, “I like the one I just finished the best because I remember it.” Last week, we visited our eye doctor. I often see him in the non fiction section of the library. We often recommend books to one another. Not to be left out of the love fest, the DH is starting to read a little more non fiction and now participates in my conversations with our eye doctor as we get our eyes checked. Last week we discussed Victory City. From the discussion, I actually think the DH enjoyed reading that book more than anything else that he has read during the last year...
On a fiction note...I have a reserve on the Elizabeth Strout new book, Olive Again. Can’t wait for the mid October release of the book
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Agree, Ocean Huang is a beautifully powerful writer. I'm now going to read his 2016 book of poetry Night sky with exit wounds. Will post when I've finished it.
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How the Brain Lost its Mind
https://www.amazon.com/How-Brain-Lost-Its-Mind/dp/0735214557
As a lover of books about the mind, this one gives a great historical perspective of neurology and psychiatry. Not too deep, but nonetheless, gives a great summary. Since studying psychology in college, it is so interesting to see the marked changes in the study of the brain. I often say that Space isn’t the final frontier. No doubt in my mind that the final and most fascinating frontier is the brain
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VR - adding the brain book to my list.
I'm just finishing Alice Hoffman's The Marriage of Opposites. (2015)
Good heavens where is my brain. It took me until 3/4 of the way through until I realized this is the story of Camille Pissarro (in the book called Pizzarro). I immediately stopped and went to Wiki (no encyclopedias on the shelf anymore) to read about him. I thought I was fairly knowledgable about artists, but was totally surprised at his relationship with Corot & Courbet before his maturity and after he was acknowledged - Van Gough, Monet, Cesanne & Gauguin, etc. . Apparently he was considered the father of impressionism. While this is a novel, it appears that much of the detail is true life. Fascinating.
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http://www.arthistoryarchive.com/arthistory/impressionism/French-Impressionism.html
Minus...above a great primer of Impressionism...manet’s Sunrise is among my favorite paintings...
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here is another terrific book...Impressionism birthed modern art....The 1913 Armory Show brought forth the modern art that was being exhibited in Europe 100 years ago...
https://www.amazon.com/Modern-Art-Invasion-Picasso-Scandalized/dp/1493000624
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btw... I love the Impressionist artists. They had Chutzpah! They turned their backs on the Academy that would have lead to their bread and butter. They were passionate about their work. Some, as we know, starved. I wonder if Sargent would have succeeded had the other Impressionists not have been so passionate and hungry. And speaking of Sargent....Recently, I read a book about him, arguably the best modern portraitist....I learned that he lost interest in painting the hoity-toity blue bloods. They gave him nothing but grief. Eventually he turned his back on them and spent the rest of his life painting landscapes. I would love to see a Hollywood movie of his life
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VR - thanks for the links. Gorgeous paintings. I too love the Impressionists.
Let me know what you think about the new Elizabeth Strout book. I understand it's written in a style like Olive - various separate stories tied by place &/or time.
Out of the frying pan into the fire. Starting an old Ursula le Guin book when I get in bed tonight. I'm nothing if not eclectic.
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Just finished Gillian Flynn's DARK PLACES. I much admire the narrative technique, some chapters in the point of view of the dead mother and the imprisoned son in time past and some chapters in present time in the point of view of the one surviving daughter of the dreadful family massacre twenty-four years prior. This is a different kind of mystery. The problem was that it was such compelling reading that I had trouble forcing myself to mark my page and turn off my night light and then I had trouble turning off my mind. It was a relief to finish the book and learn the identity of the murderer/s.
Today I downloaded another Flynn book from our public library. SHARP OBJECTS, I believe is the title.
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Carole - I agree that it's a relief to finish some books because I CAN'T stop and turn off the light. It's crazy to be reading to 3am & 4am. Good & bad news - there are some books you just can't put down I've been trying to read only magazines in the evening so I don't get sucked in.0 -
Erik Larson’s next book is scheduled for release in March...The Splendid and the Vile...Churchill and the Blitz!
i am drooling! Love Churchill books....looks like I am going to have to “blackout” a few days come March...0 -
Be still my beating heart!!!!!!! I have been so waiting for another erik Larson!
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Reading Ready Player One by Erenest Cline
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https://www.amazon.com/Worried-Science-investigates-common-concerns/dp/0393712893
Worried? Science Investigates Some of Life’s Common Concerns...
pretty good FAST, LIGHT reading book about heavy concerns...book has lots of footnotes following two or three page synopses...Newsworthy, controversial topics are discussed. Reading this book will spare you from reading books that are 300 pages long about individual topics.0 -
I just started Dean Koontz's latest Jane Hawk novel, The Night Window. It appears to be the series finale, so I am anticipating many late nights! Has anyone here read it?
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Anybody read Colson Whitehead's newest - Nickel Boys? I thought we'd talked about it here but seems not. I'm still not sure I can read these horrific things, but somehow feel like I should make myself engage.
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Just finished The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry. 1893 - young widow - of a controlling sadistic husband (no details/only hints at what she endured), her possibly autistic son and his nanny - move from London to Essex where she hopes to pursue her interest in fossils. Wonderful characters, vivid descriptions of the countryside. The small village they settle in is terrorized by rumors of the reappearance of a sea serpent first reported in the 1600's. The young minister has to deal with his congregants who are at turns frightened and thrilled by "the terror". Rationality/spirituality/social justice/medical advances/gender identity. Just loved it!!
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jelson! Wow! So many topics! No wonder you liked it
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MinusTwo, I read Nickel Boys. It is a well written, thoughtful book. I would highly recommend it. The topic can be upsetting, but it ends with hope.
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Just ran across this on reddit.com of all places Helen Fagin reading her letter from the book, Velocity of Being by Maria Popov which is a compilation of anecdotes on the meaning of books intended for young people. https://www.brainpickings.org/2018/12/18/a-velocity-of-being-helen-fagin/ Professor Fagin, at the time of her reading, 101 years of age, speaks about telling Gone with the Wind to her students in a secret school in the Warsaw Ghetto.
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Jelson - Hmmm - an hour later...what a great article AND a neat newsletter site that I hadn't seen before. Lots of interesting articles. Thanks for posting.
I read an article in Bookmarks Magazine about Margaret Atwood yesterday along with some short summaries & reviews of a number of her books. http://www.bookmarksmagazine.com/ This is really a delicious magazine for readers.
Anyway, since I won't be buying Testament until there's a paperback, I went back to my shelves and re-read The Robber Bride. (1993) Some truly interesting observations about women's aspirations & friendships along with a "fairy tale" spider-like villain who spins unbelievable webs of deceit.
Have a Deborah Crombie on tap.
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my book loving bff told me about brainpickings about three or four years ago! This past year, Popov started posting twice a week! I could barely keep up with her website weekly! She is BRILLIANT. And, Minus....as you see, she can become addictive. I try to avoid reading her website because, once I do, I am hooked!
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I have just finished reading The Testament by Margaret Atwood. I was so very disappointed. The book is not at all as well written as Handmaids Tale. It is very simplistic in tone and generally lacking in character development. There are echoes of the themes in the previous title, but they are not well written. I have never read an Atwood title I did not like. First time for everything! Cannot believe she was given the Booker Prize for this title.
I did read a well written book on the subject of migration. A Good Provider is One Who Leaves by Jason DeParle. The book follows a woman from the Ghetto of Manila and her family over 20 years.Several generations spent over half of the year working as domestics in foreign countries. Their money mainly came back to support their families and attempt to raise their level of living. The author also discusses the history of immigration in the US and how it has affected our current situations. Well written and informative book. I would highly recommend it.
On to the next good book!
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Great post. Have you read the “Outlander" Series? It's an awesome love story that includes Time Travel, History and the Scottish Rebellion and the American Revolution.
It's a beautifully written 8 book saga of the survival of a strong woman and the man who loves her. It's currently a STARZ Series, but the Author is amazing.
Each of the Books covers about 10 - 20 years of their lives. They became my escape during Chemotherapy
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I'm reading my Dad's 1909 copy of the original version of Pinocchio. Lovely engravings & color plates. Certainly different than Disney.
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