I have been enjoying Fortnight in September which I thought was just mentioned but I searched it out and it looks like it was mentioned in the July thread. Anyway, it's so nice and sweet but still pretty meaningful. A very nice change for me.

I loved Fortnight in September. I thought it was a touching and beautifully written character study. If you like reading plays, Sheriff's Journey's End is very moving. It's about British soldiers in the trenches during WWI. I read it prior to seeing a production of it on Broadway a couple of years ago. Wow, I just looked, and it was in 2007!

faftris, on your recommendation I read both. Fortnight was lovely, and Journey's End was indeed very moving. My husband is a WWI buff, so I've given it to him to read next. Thank you for introducing me to Sheriff's work.

Annie, did you already submit your suggestions? Are there any requirements/constraints.

The library had an author visit, and I had not heard of him so I looked him up. When i did, I found his Ted talk. We then went to hear him. He was great and so we bought his book. I'm only 2 chapters in but so far i like it. Sigh, Gone by Phuc Tran.

Last night I finished The Dictionary of Lost Words. Liked it, didn't love it. 3.5 stars.

It was very slow for me. With the exception of an event in Esme's life, not a lot happened until war broke out. Things happened off-stage and the feeling was of life going on with some sense of detachment.

I'd read from some of you about the use of "slips" so I was somewhat ready for it. I had to mentally change it to "index card" and it didn't bother me as much. Still, I imagined all these little pieces of paper floating around. No wonder a word, or several, could go missing.

I loved Lizzie and Ditte the most. I always hoped that Lizzie could go back to that cottage in Shropshire and spend time with the woman she met there.

Bookwoman's Daughter (Richardson)

I usually don't bother with sequels, but this one is ok. I'd give it 4 stars.

I don't usually like sequels either. I might read that, but it's not calling me.

This morning I finished Fortnight in September and I gave it 5 stars. It was just a delight. It starts out seeming like it might just be fluff, but it's most definitely not. The writing is perfection. I just think it was so well done. It goes back to the time when life was so much slower and it totally captured it beautifully. The characters were also extremely well done. IMO.

Not sure what will be next but I loved it!

Sorry if it has been mentioned, but I am going to read this next. It is just out Tuesday I think!

Lucy by the Sea by Elizabeth Strout
4.24 stars (by others)
From Pulitzer Prize-winning, #1 New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth Strout comes a poignant, pitch-perfect novel about a divorced couple stuck together during lockdown--and the love, loss, despair, and hope that animate us even as the world seems to be falling apart.

I've been waiting for Lucy by the Sea -I read everything by Elizabeth Strout. I'm reading “The Latecomer,” Jean Hanff Korelitz. She also wrote, "The Plot," which I think I abandoned, but I'm enjoying this one, so may go back to that one.

I didn't realize it is essentially a continuation of "Oh William". I got a little bored with that.

Oh William is our next book club pick and I am not an Elizabeth Strout fan. For club, I just finished The Seedkeeper, by Diane Wilson, which I liked and would give a 3. Its heroine is Dakhota, (author's spelling) and I realized I was interested in the tragic 1862 settler/Dakhota war. So I'm following up with a non-fiction account that I really like so far, 38 Nooses by Scott Berg.

I didn't realize it is essentially a continuation of "Oh William". I got a little bored with that.

So did I, sadly. I loved Olive Kittredge and My Name is Lucy Barton, but Oh William! fell a little flat for me, so I think I'll skip her latest, at least for now.

Farewell to the Clifton Chronicles, Jeffrey Archer. The seventh novel, This Was A Man, felt a bit weak as their world ran down, but the ending was quite moving.

We picked up Blood Relations, Jonathan Moore, because we just read and enjoyed the author's Five Decembers, written under the nom-de-plume Falconer. This is good, but I doubt I'll rate it as highly -- more a hard boiled who done it than Decembers, with its history and love story.

Brene Brown, I Thought It Was Just Me (but it isn't): Making the Journey from "What Will People Think?" to "I Am Enough"

It's about shame resilience. She's a phenomenal author.

https://www.amazon.com/Thought-Was-Just-but-isnt-ebook/dp/B000SEHDGM

chisue - I stopped reading The Clifton Chronicles when, in book five, Harry "developed" a photographic memory, after he's been reading and writing for decades. The character/story just lost credibility for me.

Remember how in "the olden days" we were taught to use index cards to set up and write our research papers? I still have PTSD from that! I picked up People Person today. It seems kind of dumb so far, but they can't all be Anna Karenina. I have a number of holds waiting to hit , all at the same time. Stressful.

I gave up on People Person after 35 pages. A complete waste of my eyesight. The reviews called it "madcap" and "witty and insightful". It was drivel at best. Now I have to use my gasoline to bring it back to the library!

I liked An Italian Summer, but feel I should reread or skim several parts to pick up some clues of the plot that I think I misssed. The Wedding Dress Sewing Circle is an enjoyable read set in England during WWII and details how adversity alters character that a person would never have considered in more tranquil times. I am about to begin Hour of the Witch. I do not know what to expect, but I have enjoyed other books by this author, Chris Bohjalian. Comments about Fortnight in September intrigued me to have the book sent to my local library.

CLOUD CUCKOO LAND, anyone? I have begun this hefty over-over 600 pager by Anthony Doer( ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE), and unsure if I want to stick with it. Im at the point where a boy may enlist, leaving his poor dog behind. and then there’s a sad child with a deformed face. Just how sad will this book make me? Did you find it worthy of its length?

I made it through, but really didn't care for it. Disappointing because I like the author's other book so much!

RIP Hilary Mantel. I enjoyed her books so much.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/23/books/hilary-mantel-dead.html

Aw, and I still have yet to read one of her books. I keep meaning to.

In addition to her wonderful novels, I highly recommend her memoir, Giving Up the Ghost.

I'm sorry to hear of Hilary Mantel's passing. Wolf Hall is in my top 5 books ever. I love it so much.

I got the news about Hilary Mantel's death on a NYT alert early this morning--I'm still in shock. I had attended an interview with her hosted by the 92nd Street Y, not so long ago. I've been a fan for years. What a loss--apparently she was working on a novel when she died. So sad.

Time to re-read Wolf Hall. I have had a string of so-so books and I need something really good.

Oh no! a huge literary loss.

Just saw the news about Hilary Mantel, what a shame and what a loss! The Cromwell trilogy is some of the finest writing I've ever experienced.

Martinca I didn't care for Cloud Cuckoo Land at all. As I commented in that month's discussion I felt as if this was a book that only got published as it did because of the author's previous huge success (All the Light We Cannot See).

I don't mind an experimental novel nor one with numerous subplots but this thing was a big sprawling mess IMO.

An editor should have gently told Mr Doerr to trim out most of the rambling storylines and focus on one or maybe two.

I am in the minority of folks who liked Cloud Cuckoo Land. I enjoy books that have a lot of subplots that all connect, and I sometimes think of all the lost works of literature that never made it down to us. There was an exhibit at the Morgan a few years ago that was on loan from the British Library. There were a few shreds of papyrus with a line or two of a poem by Sappho. Think about the journey that it took to get to me. I agree that All the Light We Cannot See is a far, far superior work. I am looking forward to Doerr's next. May it come soon!

I just finished Cities Of The Plain by Cormac McCarthy after reading the book before this in the series, All The Pretty Horses.

Whew, Cities On The Plain's ending knocked me down, ran me over and then beat me with a bat. Heavy, sad and haunting to say the least. I just wasn't prepared for that. I just wanted to keep moseying along down the plain on my horse. I was so upset that I needed to read a mindless babbling of a book to ease the burden of my thoughts that were working overtime while trying to get to sleep. I just started Magical Midlife Madness by K.F. Breene. Not sure if this is my thing but I'll give it a shot.

Just_terrilyn, try The Santa Suit for a sweet light read

Happy2b, that book does sound sweet. If the one I'm reading now turns out not to be something I'm interested in I'll give your recommendation a try. Thank you!

Faftris, running and Oly, Thank you for your replies.. i came to a screeching halt as the dog was soon to be left alone. Good warning, maybe.

Annie, and others , two of my group's favs were:

THE ELEGENCE OF THE HEDGEHOG ( author?. first third a bit tiring, but wonderful!)

THE INHEIRITANCE OF LOSS ( Kiran Desai)

Not new. Both excellent.

Happy, let us know what you think of Bohjalian's "Hour of the Witch." I have liked other works by this author and have ordered this from my library.

I think I mentioned that several ( well maybe more than 5 or 6) years ago I read Maus for a book club. Somehow the brilliance of it escaped me. I think maybe in general I still don't "get" graphic novels.

Anyway I started reading Her Hidden Genius ( a new Marie Benedict book), not having a clue what the subject was, only knowing that it's historical fiction. I've since done a bit of googling only because I wasn't sure if the main character was a real person ( and she was ).

It's very interesting and takes place after WW2 in Paris and London ( at least so far) and is about a female scientist working on understanding the structure of DNA. Her name was Rosalind Franklin. It has a bit more science than I would care for, but is well done and has lots of historical and geographic references. A very interesting story. I'm not quite halfway through but it's a good one.

Ah yes, Rosalind Franklin, whose contributions to finding the structure of DNA were ignored for years by the scientific establishment in favor of Watson & Crick. They got the Nobel Prize; she didn't.

"Rosalind Franklin, whose contributions to finding the structure of DNA were ignored for years by the scientific establishment in favor of Watson & Crick. They got the Nobel Prize; she didn't."

Bookwoman, look into a bit more. I think your description of what happened and her being slighted is a bit misleading. I just looked at the Wikipedia entries and found info consistent with what I remember having read some time ago.

Look in particular at the piece on Photo 51. This photo (shown in the piece) is an x-ray image taken by a grad student working for Franklin. Raymond Gosling, the grad student, is cited as follows:

"According to Raymond Gosling's later account, although photo 51 was an exceptionally clear diffraction pattern of the "B" form of DNA, Franklin was more interested in solving the diffraction pattern of the "A" form of DNA, so she put Gosling's photo 51 to the side. When it had been decided that Franklin would leave King's College, she suggested that Gosling show the photograph to Maurice Wilkins (who would become Gosling's advisor after Franklin left).

Gosling also wasn't cited for the award, he was the one who did the work and thought the image significant.

There's no question that Franklin's contribution was important and that for years it wasn't prominently credited. But it's not like she had an Ah-ha moment when she saw the image or acted on it, more the opposite. She saw it and wasn't interested - she went no further. with it.

Major scientific findings are usually (though not always) the result of the work of teams of people and only the major principals get public credit.

I have been an Amazon Prime member for years and only buy products with free shipping. I use Amazon Prime to watch tv shows. The other night, I was bored and in Amazons website on my phone and got into the Amazon Reading portion. I saw a book called Master Your Emotions and didn't want to buy it but was curious as to what it was about. I had a bad week last week emotionally and thought "hey! I need that!" I clicked on "Read now" and it opened up! It's in my Kindle app library! I'm on page 54. LOL I did not know I had access to that! So now I'll be reading more.

I just finishedSigh, Gone by Phuc Tran

I can't recall the last time I enjoyed a book so much. Great story-telling, so open, honest and vulnerable. Funny and smart. Profound in parts, profane in parts.

I give it 5 stars. Amazon 4.6 , Goodreads, 4.3.

I finally finished The Overstory. It was a strange book. I thought the structure of the plot, how it mirrored a tree was clever. But for the rest of it? Not so much. A very slow slog that I wouldn't have finished had it not been for a book group. I give it 2 stars. I'll be interested to see if the others shared my experience.

See: Rosalindfranklin.edu for a private university turning out today's doctors.

Today we'll pick up Atkinson's latest novel, Shrines of Gaiety, at the library. Also Mercury Pictures Presents. DH hasn't finished This Was A Man, and I have a quarter of Kane & Abel left to polish off -- ending our spree of Jeffrey Archer novels.

Last week I read The Reading List by Sara Adams--a book that will resonate with people who like to read. It was a heartwarming story about several people who developed deep connections by reading books that they each found on the reading list. 4 stars with topics that a book club could explore.

I just picked up the new Ian McEwan book, Lessons, from the library. I am anticipating a good read, although I had to start Atonement four or five times before really getting into it. I persevered.

Thoughts to any of our group affected by the hurricane. The pictures have been horrific.

I love Atonement.

I just finished Fox Creek (Cork O'Connor) by William Kent Krueger, 3 stars. It was basically bad guys chasing good guys through the forest. There was initially some mystery and tension to it, but it just got long and drawn out. Where has tight, edge-of-the-seat storytelling gone? Yesterday, at about the 2/3 point, I went searching online for the ending, because I was tired of the narrative. I couldn't find it anywhere! No spoilers. So I buckled down and finished the darn thing. The character development doesn't amount to much. There's a strong Native American element that runs through it. And the force/thing driving the bad guys, some made up thing that I stopped caring about.

I need to go back and read Ordinary Grace to remember why I love this guy's writing.

I loved Atonement too. In retrospect, it was probably not the best choice to take with me to jury duty!

faftris, I get that. Atonement is one of the few movies that I liked as much as the book.

OK, I just finished The Marriage Portrait by Maggie Farrell and loved it. It was a 4 star read for me. (I haven't read Hamnet). I loved, loved the heroine, which is a little unusual for me. I didn't feel she was an object of violent abuse, as faftris did, although a driving plot device is whether/when her husband will murder her. (Not a spoiler.) The writing was so lush I felt surrounded by 1560s Italy. I just recommended it to a friend who took up watercolor painting during the pandemic for its gorgeous depiction of the artistic process and soul of an artist.

Link to October 2022