Chisue, I read The Moon is Down decades ago, but never revisted it. Not one of my favorires among his work.

WRT Steinbeck, NorCal peeps, don't forget the Steinbeck house in Salinas. Open again in September. A wonderful exhibition, fabulous docents, my young children at the time fell in love with Steinbeck through that museum.

Have been to the museum on Main st as well as the rrestaurant and Monterey, Cannery Row … I’m a sucker for places of literary significance. My favorite thing to to do in any place is to find and see them.

I finished The Final Revival of Opal and Nev and enjoyed it a lot; turned out to be quite a bit meatier than Daisy Jones and the Six in terms of capturing the upheaval of the sixties/early seventies as far as racial and gender politics were concerned.

Then I finished what may or may not be the final entry in the Miss Julia series. Someone on Goodreads commented that the author says she is working on the next book for a different publisher...hmmm. I enjoyed this one although as with the last few Miss Julia outings, the author's politics makes for some occasionally skeevy moments of plot and comment by the eponymous dowager.

I just got the Kindle version of a book I've been eager to read, The Other Black Girl. Have seen it mentioned quite a few times on various summer reading lists, so looking forward to diving in.

i read Steinbeck’s Moon is Down about WWII German invasion of a small European community (supposedly in Norway). I read it as a follow-up to the TV show Atlantic Crossing. The story of the book’s history (in the preface) is as good as the book itself. It’s short.

@Olychick i read Four Winds too. i thought it was ok but hard to top Grapes of Wrrath

Thanks for the info on the book, nutsaboutplants and socks! Also glad for the reminder to put Atlantic Crossing on our 'watch' list.

Finished Sooley this afternoon. it started off very well, then bogged down in long detailed descriptions of college basketball games. The ending was both sad and uplifting but for me, mostly sad.

Next up is Swans of Fifth Avenue.

Ded, I read Swans of Fifth Avenue several years ago and I don't remember much but that I really enjoyed it.

Nuts, I am super glad you though Mary Coin was a wonderful book. (you are a tough grader though).

I am trying to remember if the Miss Julia series is the older British one?I think I read one and liked it but now I can't recall. ((EDITING TO ADD that I checked and Miss Julia looks awesome, but I confused it with Miss Buncle Series. I think I only read one but it was delightful))

I just read Clouds of Witness for book club. It was a very enjoyable old British mystery ( of a series) that I had never heard of. The writing was enjoyable and so many of the social comments were so time specific but interesting. I don't do well with mysteries ( I never figure them out) but this was more a romp and just a fun ride.

I am starting Circe which was very highly recommended here. I am just at the very beginning so I don't know what I will think of it.

salonva, I forget if you've read The Song of Achilles. It's not necessary to have read it before Circe, but it's another wonderful book.

Salon, yes it was a really great book.

Aldo, I second Bunny’s comments on The Song of Achilles

I recently finished Mary Jane, by Jessica Blau. If you enjoy stories set in the 70s, this may be for you. I thought it was terrific, and recommended it to a hard-to-please friend. She also loved it. I heard about it on the Sarah's Bookshelves podcast. I haven't hit 100% with recommendations I've collected there, but have found far more 4-star books than I'm accustomed to.

Dipped back to the classics to read Dracula by Bram Stoker. It was a slog. DS is reading it, too, so I want to hear what he has to say about it.

Just started A Dark Horse (Walt Longmire) by Craig Johnson. Ahhh...much more enjoyable read.

I just finished The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek, a wonderful book set in Kentucky in the depression 1930s. It is a sad story about the pack horse librarians who rode horses through the hills and delivered books to poor disadvantaged people. The heroine of the story Cussy Mary was one of the blue people (caused by a blood disorder) and the discrimination that she faced as well as the joy she dispensed with her book deliveries. A wonderful book--4.5 stars--with many issues that a book club could discuss.

I recently finished reading Nevil Shute available as ebooks, and now i am enjoying Faye Kellerman’s Peter Decker and Rina Lazarus series. Thank you to whoever suggested the Kellerman books.

I’m on a Steinbeck kick, re-reading things I like. After East of Eden (and with a short break to read the wonderful Mary Coin), I re-read To a God Unknown, and now on to Grapes of Wrath. I read a couple of my favorite shortstories of his between these, like Chrysanthemums.

Now I’m fully in a mode (and mood) to revisit old favorites. Some long-forgotten lines from Charles Lamb’s Essays of Elia crept into my head as I was drifting off to sleep the other day. May pick up that next.

Finished The Library Book and will be discussing it at book group this week. I'd give it 3.5 stars. It struck me as a very long New Yorker article, which I guess it was.

Next up is Thrive by Huffington. Will be an interesting counterpoint to Grit by Duckworth which that group just read.

I bailed on The Paris Library a quarter of the way through. Nothing about it grabbed me.

I gave Project Hail Mary a try, based on great reviews both here and on Goodreads. But I had to bail at the 15-20% mark. Science has never been my strong suit, esp not astrophysics or whatever field they were talking about. I'd hoped I could just hang with it and get by but it was too much of an effort. I mean, when I read a book, the point is not to skim over parts or why am I even reading it? I liked the guy and the way he talked and figured things out, but it was too exhausting for me.

Title: If I Had Your Face

Author: Frances Cha

Stars: 5 (I really like it so far--almost done)

Review from Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/beauty-at-what-price-if-i-had-your-face-explores-womens-lives-amid-unnatural-expectations/2020/04/19/3395af8e-799d-11ea-b6ff-597f170df8f8_story.html

I am reading The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson. Although it is hard to read at times (such a painful history of the way black people were treated in this country during Jim Crow), it is interesting and I am enjoying it. I have no recollection of learning about this part of our history during school. I grew up in the South, so maybe that is why.

Oh my...."East of Eden". (Abel and Cain all over again) I watched the movie again a year or so ago, and couldn't take

my mind off James Dean ( played Cal)....he was born for this part. I wondered what he would have done and how high he would have gone if not for the terrible accident that took him.

Almost done with Anxious People. Reading it only at work, and only some days. I picked it back up last night. If you want a good book to help you sleep, this is a good one. Finished The Last Year of the War, by Susan Meissner the other day. It was okay. Maybe 3 stars. Now am reading another of her books, mentioned here, A Fall of Marigolds.

I loved Anxious People!

Annegreit, I do like it some, but it just makes me sleepy. All the conversation and little action, I guess.

I listened to Anxious People as an audio and loved it. But ive often wondered if I would have enjoyed reading it as much. It is very dialogue heavy and the audio narrator was AMAZING! The book is almost more of a play than a novel.

Sprtphntc, Homer Hickam, author of Rocket Boys, is a friend if mine. We used to go to the same exercise class several years ago. He re-married, finished his book and a couple of others, and then seemed to go into hiding after Rocket Boys was made into the movie ’October Sky’. I still see him around town now and then but not much and I wonder if he is in poor health.

I have been reading some summer beach reads by Mary Kay Andrews and Mary Alice Monroe, and also finishing up the Craig Johnson Longmire series.

Bestyears, interesting observation, and I tend to agree, Anxious People could easily be viewed as more of a play.

Klara and the Sun, Ishiguro . Somewhat similarat in theme to his wonderfull ( tho moving and sad) Never Let Me Go. I found it interesting, head scratching, and also moving, but less so than the forner, and The remains of the Day, his ultimate best, IMO.

Im now loving The Overstory, by Powers. Won both the Booker and Pulitzer .Thought id not be able get through a lecture on Man killing trees…I love trees…but half way in and really liking it ….a page turner , too..

I was one who really didn't care for Anxious People at all. I finished it, but it was touch and go. I kept thinking it would get better or I would begin to care about the characters, but that didn't happen for me.

Finished Craig Johnson's A Night Horse (4.25) and am almost finished with Timothy Hallinan's Junior Bender Night Town.

On deck is another Longmire (Johnson) book, Junkyard Dogs.

I am reading Life, Part 2: Lydia's Story--The Second Chance (Life in Palmyrton Book 1) by S.W. Hubbard. Its very good so far, a story about a Widow an how she is getting her life back together

https://www.amazon.com/Life-Part-Lydias-Story-Palmyrton-ebook/dp/B07WX115L4

Why is the list showing a post on this thread after ci_lantro’s with a yellow face icon, but nothing shows up here?

ETA: Never mind, my post made it disappear. What power!

Bunny writes regarding Project Hail Mary:

I had to bail at the 15-20% mark. Science has never been my strong suit, esp not astrophysics or whatever field they were talking about. I'd hoped I could just hang with it and get by but it was too much of an effort.

I read it last week and like you I have not only no background but no interest whatsoever in physics/science concepts, especially arcane principles related to managing deep space exploration or McGyver-ish ways to fix international space station equipment.

But.

I LOVED the book! I skimmed/skipped all the jargon and found that the theme, characters and plot of the book easily pulled me in. I actually felt it was even better than The Martian which I enjoyed way more than I thought I would.

Not trying to be insistent about sticking with it Bunny, because once I am over it about something that bugs me as a reader, I'm done with that book too.

But for anyone else pondering whether or not to read this one, it might be worth your time even if you don't understand much of the science LOL.

I am the same way with science. A few months ago I read Universe of Two for book club which was actually quite good, but I did have to kind of gloss over the science. I am just not that interested in it and while I read those books, I want to tell the author, just let it go - I 'll take your word for it. I don't need the thorough explanation. I had the same thing even with Crawdads when they went through explaining the currents... I like the story line, I don't need the data.:)

So, I read Stray City for book club and it was a very good read and it really drew me in. I wouldn't rave about it, but it was a good book, good story and great descriptions.

I also just finished Circe, which I struggled with. I know so many of you loved it (and I usually agree with you). I don't know if it's because I am not that familiar with mythology. The writing was beautiful but I did get pretty confused with the characters and I think the fact that I didn't know much other than recognize a few names, I didn't have the background for it.

I am going to try East of Eden now. If it doesn't grab me, I will put it off but definitely still have it on my list .

runninginplace, I'm glad Hail Mary worked for you. I was sorry to call it quits. It was too much of an effort for me, because I don't skim if I'm serious about a book (I might miss something!!!).

salonva, have you read The Song of Achilles? It's the 10 years before Circe, but not necessary to have read first, or at all for that matter. When I first read both, I loved them both, but gave the edge to Circe. Earlier this year I read them again, in the same order, and now lean more toward Achilles. No idea why. I constantly had to check and recheck the cast of characters, gods and humans.

I had no background in mythology and wasn't at all interested until I read these. A Thousand Ships covers the Trojan War and after from the women's POV.

I too have very little knowledge of science and was apprehensive about getting Project Hail Mary as an audiobook. However, although lots of the science just went straight over my head, I very much enjoyed the book as a whole.

Other books I am reading are Full Dark House by Christopher Fowler (a Peculiar Crimes Unit novel) and Animal Farm by George Orwell. Orwell's book is so timeless - near the end of the novel after the animal have revolted against the abuses of their former owners, a new animal commandment appears, saying "All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others." My bedtime reading is Bill Bryson's Neither Here Nor There : Travels in Europe.

I just read The Cold Millions by Jess Walters, who wrote Beautiful Ruins. I really loved Beautiful Ruins, so was looking forward to this book. When I began reading, I was unsure if it was going to be a book for me right now; didn't seem to be a subject I was interested in - The Industrial Workers of the World (Wobblies) labor union movement at the turn of the century (the LAST century). But I stuck with it and ended up really enjoying it a lot. It takes place in Spokane, mostly. I have some familiarity with Spokane so found the history of the town very interesting.

I wasn't familiar with any of the names of the characters, but on reading the acknowledgements this morning, I found that the main labor organizing character, a very young woman named Elizabeth Gurley Flynn was a real person, as were a few other featured characters. It was a really great book!

From Wikipedia:

Elizabeth Gurley Flynn (August 7, 1890 – September 5, 1964) was a labor leader, activist, and feminist who played a leading role in the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). Flynn was a founding member of the American Civil Liberties Union and a visible proponent of women's rights, birth control, and women's suffrage. She joined the Communist Party USA in 1936 and late in life, in 1961, became its chairwoman. She died during a visit to the Soviet Union, where she was accorded a state funeral with processions in the Red Square attended by over 25,000 people.

Just checking back in that I am now absorbed in East of Eden. I do have a bunch of books to read for book club, but I decided that since this has been on my list for so long and it keeps being mentioned and raved about, the time is now. I am a bit intimidated by the size but one day at a time. The man could really write. Thanks for all the mentions on these threads over the past months ( years?) that wouldn't let me forget it.

Finished Hallinan's Night Town. Not my favorite in the series. A darker, more grown up Junior Bender. And we never got around to rescuing Ronnie's son from the evil ex. Maybe that happens in the next book? I get a sense from this book that Hallinan is getting ready to retire Junior, 3.0-3.5.

Well, I finished The Overstory, by Powers,……finally. I quite enjoyed the first half. It then went on …and on and on, with some continuing interest and causing eyes and brain to glaze over.

Martinca, the opening chapters of The Overstory were so beautiful. the rest of the story did get long, but i still liked it.

Yes, lisa , the writing WAS beautiful, and the charcter stories moved it along nicely….until just past midway. Unsure how I’d rate it . Must wonder if the author was stubborn, or the editor awol.

I finally finished Thrive by Huffington. Some interesting stuff, but a lot of it I knew about. Maybe she put a little flesh on some bones of a different way of defining being successful. I'd give it 3 stars.

Next up American Dirt. I hope I have the energy to go through that one. It's for book club.

Tears of Amber by Sofia Sergovia stuck in my head for a very long time after I finished it. About 2 families during the beginnings and through the end of WW2. Set in Europe.

On a much less serious note, I am reading Tales from the Loon Town Cafe by Dennis Frahmann. Set in lake country in Wisconsin, it is fairly light-hearted so far.

Annie, I loved reading American Dirt.

So, I’ve been buried in Steinbeck for more tham a month now. Sometimes, I look up from my bood and am jolted to see that I’m not in Salinas or Monterey or sme farm or barn. Finished Grapes of Wrath after various other shorter novels. Astounding, spellbinding, piercing.

Salon, I do hope you stay with East of Eden. But only you can decide if it keeps you engaged. Don’t let the length deter you. You’ll surely be reading that many pages whether it’s that book or another. In this age of mini bytes of fleeting, forgettable entertainment, the rewards of books like that are profound and permanent. Sorry if I sound preachy. I’ve been binginng on such forgettable entertainment myself, so it’s more applicable to myself than others.

I just finished The Things We Cannot Say by Kelly Rimmer. I found it to be a mixed bag of a compelling pre-WWII story, intense and beautiful, narrated in mediocre writing, juxtaposed with the challenges of current modern day descendant.

The latter parts about the current day granddaughter and her family were subpar, pat, flat. Both in writing and content. The parts about Alina, the young Polish woman were far superior in quality, even with the relatively unskilled writing.

Reminded me of Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate, in the way the older generation’s childhood and youth felt like they were from a different book than the parts about the descendamts — so starkly different in authenticity, intensity and writing.

2.5 or 3 stars. (Could be higher.)

I absolutely loved Before We Were Yours. I also highly recommend.

I've finished Marisa Silver's Mary Coin. Four stars. Similar to nutsaboutplants, I enjoyed the 'Mary" story much more than the fictional photographer's. 'Walker', the third character, was an interesting study of someone estranged from his own feelings, instead assigning emotions to the strangers whose ephemera he researched.

No worries, I am sticking with East of Eden.

I am glad you liked Mary Coin. I agree that Mary's story was so much more interesting than the photographer's. Just a really good

story, based on real occurrences.

I really liked The Things We Cannot Say as well. I think it was a very different take on the "usual" holocaust stories.