I mentioned in our March thread that I was reading Open Book by Jessica Simpson. I was not riveted to it, but it did hold my interest and I completed it. I was torn between 2 and 3 stars but gave it 3 because hey - I did finish it. There were some pretty interesting parts, but mostly kind of what I expected. Honestly, a big turn off to me was how truly (imo) pampered that life is with house managers and non stop hired help who are also one's closest friends. Very different from my peeps.

Now on a very different note, I am reading Miss Benson's Beetle by Rachel Joyce. Rachel Joyce wrote 2 of my favorites- The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry and the Lovesong of Miss Queenie Hennessy. I just started it, but so far I am liking it.

Bunny, C.S. Lewis (of Narnia, etc. fame), is real, Joy Davidman is real, J.R.R. Tolkien is real, Joy's first husband, William Gresham, was a real writer, her sons are real, and there are a few others. I read that prologue as a broad disclosure, similar to many other novels of historical fiction. The people and events are true. The conversations, daily details, etc. are typically made-up, although I think there is frequently a strong effort by the author to make it credible, to get it right. Cane River was such a novel. The author wrote the manuscript after coming up with many holes and deadends despite years of research into her own family history. I remember listening to an interview with her, where she described staying true to the facts whenever she knew them, and to weave a credible narrative based on those facts, where she had holes.

Bestyears, thanks. I know C.S. Lewis and Tolkien are real, but had never heard of Davidman before. It's like Wolf Hall and the rest of Mantel's books about T. Cromwell. Essentially true but with made-up dialog and events that don't rock history too much.

I find the older I get, the quicker I am to abandon a book for whatever reason. This time it was The Widows, by Jess Montgomery. It wasn't badly written, and I rather liked the characters. But too many of them were dying, or suffering, or in peril, and 2/3 of the way through it I'd had enough.

So I made a complete switch to Connections in Death, from JD Robb's "In Death" series that I almost always enjoy. I also started Robin, by Dave Itzkoff. It's a biography of Robin Williams, and the author is a NY Times reporter. I'm not usually drawn to celebrity bios, but Robin Williams was such an interesting and unique person. The book is long--over 500 pages--so if it doesn't hold my interest I'll be back here defending yet another abandonment. :-)

PS: Bunny, I can't imagine why anyone would object to the use of the word Nazi in a post. Please, let's not forget them and what they did.

Sorry to go OT, but there's some weird posting anomalies on this thread. In the list I can see someone posted after me (based on avatar), but their post isn't here. I couldn't post a comment up a ways until I changed N*z* to Germans.

I liked Pied Piper for the same reasons I liked A Gentleman in Moscow. These are honorable men. I'd probably find them stiff, and all too honorable in real life, but it's comforting to read about people who do not waver from their own 'true North', whatever the moral challenges thrown up by life, for however long it takes (a lifetime). These are not 'momentary heroes', but heroes of the sort Rudyard Kipling commends to 'the man in the mirror'.

If you're looking for honorable people, I recommend AJ Cronin's Keys of the Kingdom. I so enjoyed it ... I read it when I was a teen....probably should read it again.

Chisue, good comparison. They were men (and could have been women) who did the right thing when the chips were down. Gentleman is one of my favorite books ever. We're shown more depth and insight with him, but they were written in different times.

The Plainsong series is wonderful. Be sure to read Benediction and Eventide too.

I just finished 2034. It's a speculative novel about WWIII between the U.S. and China over Taiwan's independence. It's not overly technical or political. The premise is completely rational and understandable to the average reader. The characters are well crafted and include US military and government employees, an Iranian Revolutionary Guard Brigadier, an Indian Admiral, and an up and coming Chinese military strategist. It flows quickly and was a great read (albeit scary). The authors are a White House Fellow and Marine plus a retired Navy Admiral and Ph.D.

Bestyears, Becoming Mrs Lewis is our April book club selection. I started it, skipped much and skimmed the last few chapters. It didn't appeal to me much. I will say I'd not categorize it as Christian fiction in any way, other than that religious doctrine, faith and Christianity was a primary connector in the book between Joy Davidman and CS Lewis.

I found the story pedantic, detested the character of Joy as written; I found her so obnoxiously convinced of her own intelligence and surprisingly ready to dump her kids on a husband/father she experienced as an abusive drunk so she could tra-la across the ocean to pursue her crush.

So as usually happens to me, when I don't admire the writing or the characters I can't quite get out of my own way to appreciate what might be worthwhile in a book.

A much better picture of their relationship is found in the movie Shadowlands, with Anthony Hopkins and Debra Winger. There's an earlier BBC version with Joss Ackland and Claire Bloom that's also very good.

Running -I’m sorry to hear that, but writing is of course art, and what appeals to one is abysmal to the next. I tried one of the authors other books but didn’t particularly like it.

I was better than halfway thru listening to The Last Letter From Your Lover (Jojo Moyes) on Hoopla yesterday. When I resumed listening last night all I got was "This title is no longer available." I still had 8 days left before it would be returned so it wasn't because my time ran out. Rebooting my device didn't help. I tried another hoopla book and all was well. I signed into the library on my PC and did a search for the book; this time the message was "Sorry, we couldn't find any results..."

The young man at the library commented that they (? hoopla or the library) periodically update the books available, removing some and adding others. Apparently the purge is a clean sweep - too bad if you're in the middle when they press the button.

I'm grateful for all the Hoopla books I have been able to access but it seems like the removal process could be a bit more accommodating to those with borrowing time left. Bad timing on my part.

juneroses, I took a look for your title and found it is available in audiobook form by Overdrive from many, many libraries in my area. So perhaps it is in your area too. Check to see.

reading "Between the waves" on kindle app, good so far

I decided not to continue with Becoming Mrs. Lewis and am now into A Town Like Alice.

I enjoyed Miss Benson's Beetle . It was a really nice escape. It's one of those where the story line kind of makes sense but only if you don't scrutinize it too much. The characters though are so well done. The author, Rachel Joyce, seems to take the kind of people you would probably overlook or avoid, and writes an endearing story about them. (Harold Fry and Queenie Hennessy in her other books, and now this book with Margery Benson and Enid Pretty. on and the guy). It's hard for me to rate this, as I am torn between a 3 and a 4 .

Next up will be Universe of Two for one of my book clubs. I hope to start it today.

Currently, Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead, by Olga Tokarczuk.

I just finished THE TOOL ROOM by Nevil Shute and really enjoyed it. Set in England, it is the story of the adventures a hobby miniaturist has as he tries to recoup his nieces inheritance after his sisters drowning from a shipwreck on a tropical coral reef

Just read Deadly Options by Terry Odell and enjoyed it. I hadn't read any in the series and this was book 10. Looked but my library doesn't have any other books by the author.

I finally picked up Louise Penny's 1st Gamache book Still Life and am enjoying it. I've heard her recommended many times on the What Should I Read Next podcast.

Salon - I'll be looking forward to reading what you have to say about Universe of Two. It's on my list.

sheilajoyce, I read Trustee from the Toolroom a few weeks ago and it's wonderful.

West With the Night by Beryl Markham.

Sister of My Heart: https://www.amazon.com/Sister-Heart-Chitra-Banerjee-Divakaruni/dp/038548951X.

Just finished The Darkest Evening by Ann Cleeves, a well written mystery with a satisfactory conclusion which I think deserves 4.5 stars. I enjoyed two previous books Mr. Nobody and The Murder of Harriet Monckton but felt that they fizzled out at the end.

Years ago I read Ken Follett’s The Pillars of Earth (one of the greatest books of all time) so decided to carry on with his Kingsbridge series. I just finished book two, World Without End. Excellent! Next up is Column of Fire.

Love love good historical fiction.

I finished A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute. I enjoyed it, but not nearly as much as Trustee From the Toolroom, which I loved, or even Pied Piper.

The first part of Alice, when Jean was a prisoner and forced to march endlessly with other women and children through Malaya, was a much more interesting read for me. The rest of the book, when she's in Australia, seemed long and tedious at times, lots of little details, esp. about getting from one point to another in the outback.

This book was originally published in 1950 and the casual and overt racism towards Aboriginal people was hard to read. There was no awareness, just a snapshot of life at the time.

This morning I finished reading Universe of Two by Stephen P. Kiernan. It's historical fiction, very well written and flows really well going between the 2 main characters. It was very well researched (apparently) and it was a great read, but I had to gloss over much of the science. I notice in lots of stories how the author really explains the intricacies but for me it's overdose of information. I still would give this book 4 stars and it's definitely worth reading. Maybe if you are a science lover (which I am NOT) you might appreciate all the explanations. I am more in the camp of less is more and i 'll take your word for it.

It was a beautiful love story with music and science (the science was the New Mexico part of the Manhattan Project).

I finished How to Raise an Adult and I found it ho-hum as I agree with the premise, having been raised a free-range child myself, and there was little I found new in the book....though I suspect someone younger might. The message is an important one though. I guess the only surprise was the extent to which some parents will helicopter...including that some will go so far as to book hotels in parallel with their child's class overnight trip...not to help chaperone the class...but to be nearby just in case Johnny should need me!! But for anyone who is in the child-rearing phase and at risk of helicoptering, this book lays out the ways that is actually harmful to both the child and the parent and gives specifics in how to do it better.

If anyone is interested and with graduation season upon us, Julie Lythcott-Haims's latest is for young adults instead of their parents: Your Turn How to be an Adult. I have not read it yet, but Julie is a pretty awesome advocate for young people.

Ocean Prey by John Sandford. A continuation/crossover of the Lucas Davenport and Virgil Flowers series. A little darker than some of those novels and the plot was thin. Still 3.5 of 5.0 as the book was well-written.

Home Sweet Anywhere by Lynne Martin. A non-fiction account of traveling without a fixed address starting as a 70-year-old, almost newlywed. Pretty frothy and light, but still of interest just because of the unusual choice to travel for months on end at an age when some are starting to slow down and stay home. I plan to explore her blog for more information.

Just finishing Anne Tyler's Back When We Were Grown-ups, and enjoying it as usual with her books.

The extraordinary life of Sam Hell. Good so far

I read The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell 2 years ago- very very good and not mentioned much.

I just started Call Your Daughter Home by Deb Spera. So far, very very good.

I just finished slogging through Miss Benson's Beetle by Rachel Joyce. She wrote Harold Fry (I didn't care for it) and Queenie Hennesey (loved it)...so, for me there was a 50/50 chance I'd like it. But I really didn't.
I like her style of writing; she's got a great sense of humor that comes through in her writing, but the story fell flat for me. She was trying too hard to inject too many elements; I didn't care about any of the characters and ended up skipping whole chapters about one of them who seemed especially superfluous. I'd skip this one. Wish I had.

Oly- I adored Queenie. I think I may re-read it.

I just finished Call Your Daughter Home and while it was pretty good, it also (like Miss Benson's Beetle) seems like it could have been a bit less drawn out. I would rate it 3.5 stars out of 5. I do think it would be a good book club book.

I finished A Thousand Acres. It was good and I recommended it for our book club. Very interesting in that it is essentially a spin on King Lear, reset on an Iowa farm and told from the point of view of Goneril.

I've just started Atomic Habits and so far so good, but it's early.

I liked The Hole We're In so much that I also read Margarettown. DH loved the former but will skip the latter. *I like it a lot*...4 stars. Her writing is like nothing else I've ever read.

Now starting Cleve's The Darkest Night. Trying to remember plot of her earlier The Long Call. (We read too many novels!)

The Scorpions Tail by Preston & Child. It is about the discovery of a 50 year old mummified corpse in a New Mexico ghost town. A murder mystery with twists and turns and the question of who to trust.

I am enjoying another Nevel Shute book, BEOND THE STUMP. It is set in a hard scrabble area of Australia where ranchers struggle to raise sheep in arid, unforgiving country. The owner of the mineral rights hires an American oil search to see if there are any commercially valuable oil deposits. Geology, cultures mixing, boy meets girl.

I just finished A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes and I loved it. 5 stars. (I tend to be an easy grader. If I really like a book I give it 5 stars.)

It's essentially what the inner flap says: "...puts the women, girls, and goddesses at the center of the Western world's greatest tale ever told." The Trojan War.

A couple of years ago I would have told you that I had zero interest in reading about the Trojan War or Olympians and their immortal lives. That was until I read Madeline Miller's A Song of Achilles and Circe. I was hooked. I've never read Homer or any of the other ancient classics, so my opinion is formed via 21st century women writers. Hahaha.

The stories are told from the women's POV. Some of them didn't fare as well in my heart and mind as they did with Miller's books. Haynes has a way with words and telling an old (ancient) tale. Apparently she started in stand-up.

I don't belong to a book group, but if I did, I would have them read this book. The afterward was important to me and I'm grateful she included it.

I don't know if someone here recommended this book, but I'm grateful for that too.

Just finishing The Upside of Hunger, an excellent true tale that has been hard to put down. Though part of it takes place during WWII, that is not the primary focus of the story.

From Amazon:

Book Overview

This description may be from another edition of this product. "Beautiful, shocking, at times painful... the magnificently told story of a man who triumphed over the limitations of history to become his greatest self."Fans of All the Light We Cannot See, The Nightingale, and Unbroken will enjoy this riveting true story of history, suspense, and beating the odds.The life he was born into was too small for Adam Baumann. But would escaping Hungary cost him everything?Based on a true story shared with the author over 400+ recorded interviews, this is the epic tale of a young man's survival as the world plunged into the darkest days of WW2.Growing up in an isolated village in eastern Hungary between the great wars, Adam couldn't remember a time he hadn't yearned for more excitement, more freedom, and often more food. Locked up for theft at age nine, Adam's life took one tumultuous turn after another as Hitler plunged Europe into war.From a 12-year-old runaway searching for food, to a 15-year-old shivering in the mud of a frozen foxhole on the Eastern Front, Adam's survival hung in the balance. When a Russian bullet found it's mark, Adam was catapulted into a series of captures and narrow escapes from enemy forces while Europe reeled from the final destruction and horror of WW2.Never standing still, Adam struggled through war-torn landscapes to find his family, and began to build a life from the ashes, until the results of a medical examination at an American Embassy in Germany changed the course of his future forever.

Finished The Last Picture Show and the sequel, Texasville by Larry McMurty. 4 stars.

The final book in the trilogy, Duane's Depressed, is next in line after I finish the current read, Wilderness at Dawn: The Settling of the North American Continent by Ted Morgan.

I have added A Thousand Ships and Circe to my "want to read" list on goodreads; thank you Bunny.

I decided to re-read The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy which is one of my favorite books. I read it several years ago. So, while I do know the overall story, I am appreciating the writing and description and brilliance all the more. I have been feeling very down, and I thought it might be helpful to get a good cry going. I am not sure if it's beneficial or not, but man oh man the tears and lump in my throat are my companions while reading this book. I continue to be blown away by it and I am just about halfway through it. Such a wonderful book.

Salonva, isn't it interesting what second (or even third) reads of a book will reveal that you missed earlier. Often a good cry helps loosen the log jam of emotions. I hope it works for you.

I missed Circe in A Thousand Ships, although she was mentioned describing Odysseus' 10-year trip home. Long-suffering Penelope wrote the best letters.

Started Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue, after listening to an interview with the author. She was very interesting. The book is about an immigrant family from Cameroon, working for a Wall Street investor around the time of the collapse of Lehman Brothers and others in 2008.

About hundred pages in. Like it very much thus far.

Based on the recommendation of Funkyart, I read The Salt Path by Raynor Winn. It is a remarkable book, partly because of the beautiful writing and partly because it shows the hidden world (to most of us) of homelessness. Winn and her husband (aged 50) become homeless due to unexpected events and have to leave their long time Wales home. Penniless, they decide to walk and camp out on the 630 mile South West Coast Path. The book describes the lovely scenery and also describes the many difficulties they encounter while homeless such as hunger, cold, wet and the occasional contempt of others more fortunate than they. They are dignified and try not to burden others with their plight. It is a very good read and a subsequent book entitled The Wild Silence : A Memoir has been published.

Just finished The Rock Orchard by Paula Wall. It's a short but funny and fun book and I recommend it...4+ stars. I can see where someone would have a good time making a movie of it.