I am reading one of the books I borrowed from the DD1 Memorial Library. It is called Belonging, by Umi Sinha. I cannot find any other works written by her, and my library doesn't own it. It is an interesting narrative, of three members of succeeding generations in a British family writing letters and/or diary entries, and family secrets are revealed.. The action takes place in England and India, from the 1840's through World War I. A nice read for those who like historical novels.

The library just emailed me that my copy of the new Amor Towles is ready for pickup. Those magic words!

I havent checked in here for awhile. My latest reads are Absolution by Alice McDermott, abook club pick. We had a good discussion of what is was like for the wives of officers during the iet Viet Nam war. Such different times.

Next was Pineapple Street by Jenny Jackson . It was one step up from a beach read., about the travails of marrying into a very wealthy New York City family. I enjoyed it. Maybe not enough meat for a book club, but perhaps.

I discovered In The Time Of Our History by Suzanny Pari, in my Amazon Prime free books. It was excellent and would be great for a book club. Its the story of an Iranian family and the cultural differences between the parents and their daughters.

Just finished Finding Dorothy which was popular with many of you and i enjoyed it too. Especially timely because the play Wizard of Oz is being updated and revived. It wojld not be a good pick for my book club.

Just started The House of Doors by Tan Twan Eng. Gets great reviews and Im looking forward to it. Its my book club pick for May.

Nearly at the end of The Invisible Bridge by Julie Orringer, set in Paris and Hungary just before and during WW II. Also by her is The Flight Portfolio, based on true life American Varian Frye who helped Jewish artists get out of Marseilles just before the US entered the war. Both books are excellent--fine writing, great character development.

I just finished The Women, Kristin Hannah, a book about women nurses in the Viet Nam war. I was in high school during the war, and this book seems to have different views for different age groups. 4-5 stars .Would be an excellent book club book. The Women follows young nurses through the war and the homecoming and settling into society upon return to the US. Still brings up lots of moral views of the war and women's place in 60's and 70's. My 40 year old daughter read it and thought it was one of the best books she had read. Her view was of not knowing anything about the Viet Nam war.

I just finished listening to “How Lucky” by Will Leitch (and I feel lucky to have read it). I suspect it was recommended here. The protagonist (Daniel) is a 26 year old male with SMA (spinal muscular atrophy), who becomes involved in a kidnapping. SMA is a disease that affects the central nervous system and appears in infancy/early childhood. Enlightening for this disease, as well as individuals with other disabilities, is Daniel’s observations about how others view him versus how he’d prefer to be treated. Partway through, I looked up the author, sure that he was speaking from personal experience but, thankfully, no.

The chapters are short, so it’s easy to find a temporary stopping point (also easy to read “just one more chapter”).

Despite the grimness of SMA, positive points of view were woven into the story. I think a book club could find several topics to discuss.

Juneroses - I agree. How Lucky is a wonderful book, and my book club found it very interesting also. After finishing the book, I watched an interview with the author. I learned that the son of one of Will Leitch's friends has SMA, and the boy was a close playmate of Will's son. That's how he knew so much about the disease and its effects. Here is the interview, in case you're interested.

I was reading **Good Night Irene** by Luis Alberto Urrea when my Libby library shut down for some changes. Hope it meets its scheduled completion tomorrow.

Synopsis: Historical fiction novel that follows the experiences of Red Cross volunteers Irene Woodward and Dorothy Dunford, who operate a Clubmobile to provide coffee, doughnuts, and companionship to American troops on the front lines during World War II. The author is Luis Alberto Urrea.

Table for Two, by Amor Towles is absolutely delicious so far. The stories are charming without being maudlin, and show a wry humor. Put it on your list.

I’m on a long wait list for it.

So was I, but it's worth the wait!

I thought I posted a reply but anyway I just went on the wait list for it. My experience is it's always a lot shorter than they say, and I love the surprises of what is available.

I am # 56 on 3 copies. Not too bad. ( ebook)

I finished Prequel and it was ok. We'll probably discuss at my nonfiction book group. It was good, but I found listening to the podcast which I'd done first far easier to absorb all the information. It's still a stunning time in history with parallels to what's happening today...she doesn't draw them, but they are easy to draw if you follow what's going on at all.

Next up is North Woods which I look forward to reading.

National Library Day today. What would life be like without libraries? Our town shares its library with an adjoining town, and we have a special library tax built into our property taxes. Other libraries are not as fortunate. If you have a spare moment, email your town library to thank them!

I did.

After These Is My Words, which was a 5 star....

I went for another memoir. This one, A Little Thing Called Life was a very good balance to some of the heavier books I have read lately. The author is Linda Thompson, who was Elvis' 4 1/2 year girlfriend (after he and Priscilla split up), the ex-wife of Bruce Jenner and David Foster. I don't think I knew this was all one and the same person. It was a good read, a good escape, but not the best written. Still a good ride. It did leave me wanting to know more about Elvis and other than first being interested when I visited Graceland over 10 years ago, I really haven't read much. Anyway this book was a low 3 star ( but a good mind cleanser just the same lol)

Ladypat, I also just finished The Women for my bookclub. I am a bit of an outlier on this one, and would give it 3 1/2 stars. it was refreshing to read a book about the Viet Nam war as there are so many about WWII. I was also in high school during this time and remember the chaos of those times, and grew up in a liberal city with a university with ongoing protests. It was a good book for discussion but not my favorite book.

I read something that I should have read when I was in junior high. The Outsiders, by S. E. Hinton, a YA book that Hinton wrote when she was in high school. It's about the interactions of two groups of teens who are at opposite ends of the economic and social scales. It was really worth reading! It was a movie a while ago (did not see it), an off-Broadway musical, and it opened last night on Broadway to raves. I had no plans to see it, but I changed my mind after reading the book.

I'm halfway through A Visit From the Goon Squad, Jennifer Egan, and enjoying it very much. This and The Corrections are literature catch-ups for me, taken from a list of Great American Novels in The Atlantic. I can't argue about these being truthful portrayals of their times, but the overall feeling of a 'national shallowness' is discouraging. 4 Stars.

Steve Cavanaugh's Kill For Me, Kill For You is a mystery within mysteries. There are twists within twists. Neither DH nor I saw the ending coming. It's icky-good. We only caught one slip from this Dublin author who sets all his plots in NYC. (An elevator was a 'lift'.) 4 Stars if you're game.

I really enjoyed The Good Girl's Guide to Getting Lost (my March book. I limit myself), 3.5 out of 5. A delight and a unique view. I hoped she would delve more into her epiphanies is the only reason it's not a higher rating. Written well, and vivid imagery.

This month's book is from my friend who is a death doula. This book is written by a death doula The Collected Regrets of Clover. I'm two chapters in and I really appreciate their point of view, something that's not seen very often. I cried the entire second chapter. I think we are too afraid to talk about death, and I really appreciate what she's conveying. I can say this is going to be a lot of food for thought. Strange to think that death could be enjoyable, but she's written it in a relatable way.

My local library is going to miss me for a while -- my usual haul from visiting there ranges between 12 and 20 books at a time! But I have decided recently to plunder my own personal library here at home. I have literally hundreds of interesting or beloved books that I want to re-read (personal bucket list, and I ought to get going on it!).

Recently re-read Kathleen Norris (The American Flaggs), some Joyce Stranger (Lakeland Vet, Breed of Giants), Elizabeth Kolbert's The Sixth Extinction, Amy Stewart (The Earth Moved), Lady Audley's Secret (written in 1862, and a hoot to read)... Still ahead: Sir Terry Pratchett, Louisa May Alcott (my home-town author), Francis Hodgson Burnett, Gene Stratton Porter, and the list goes on... Then there are the myriad volumes of British architecture and gardens (!!!!), and many general and specific gardening books (just finished one about mosses), Mayhew's 4-volume set of London Labor and the London Poor (1840 onward), and the wonderful Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (the sort of book that one dips into for limited amounts of time in between other readings).

I am nothing if not eclectic in my reading choices! It keeps me off the streets and out of trouble with the police... My DH and rest of the family are pleased about that. lol.

I am reading the series written by Elle Gray and her FBI agent Blake Wilder. I like the books and was really happy that my library has 19 of them so I have reading for awhile.

Everything in moderation. Except reading?

ETA: came back to say it was a joke. Glad to see someone got it 😃

Yes, Lady Audley's Secret was a hoot! I

I am reading Becoming Nicole, which came up when my book club read Mad Honey. A few people said it was one of the best books about transgenderism,and one even said it was a life changing book.

I'm at about 60% and just not seeing it. It's a decent recounting, but I don't find it well written. I guess it's helpful explaining the matter, but at least at this point, more than halfway through, I am not impressed.

I am just going mention again, These Is My Words as being something not often mentioned ( for a change lol I have no idea where I came across it) but so worth reading.

I'm just starting This Is My Words. Three of the diarist's family have died. The girl's Quaker friend has been attacked by two white men and raped by one, and our diarist has shot and killed the rapist. One brother has lost a leg, and, unsurprisingly, her mother's mind has left her. A woman widowed during an Indian attack has left the wagon train and returned to Boston, still hauling three trunks of her clothes. Another woman has delivered a dead child after two days of labor in a covered wagon, then also died.

Better to read than to even imagine surviving -- much less as a seventeen-year-old.

Salonva and Chisue - You both have piqued my interest in These is My Words. However, I wonder if descriptions of truly terrible incidents continue throughout the entire novel. Would you describe the book as enjoyable reading? It sounds like it might be overwhelming.

The Devlins ...Lisa Scotoline

kathy_t -- I don't find it overwhelming. It's similar to the way Barry presented a 'warts and all' picture of the times in Days Without End. The first person recounting of tough times feels realistic, unlike the vast amount of romantic tales about the Old West.

Don't think that the tragedies are the whole story. Seeing our diarist accept them is just part of the You Are There experience.

Just finished North Woods and loved it. I've recommended it for book group for next year. Lots to discuss and such an interesting structure. The chapters are almost like individual short stories, but the common thread of the house in the woods plus the links between the characters tied to the house over centuries keep weaving their way into and out of the stories. So cleverly done, and well written to boot!

Next up, The Expendable Man. Part of my quest to suss out film noir novelists. This one by Dorothy B. Hughes.

Believe it or not, I did find These Is My Words to be an enjoyable read. It was eye opening for me as to describing what their daily lives were like but there were lots of sweet moments as well. I thought it was less brutal than Days Without End. I thought that was a good book as well but I was not as impressed with it.

Thanks for the info, Chisue and Salonva!

It is completely OT, but I thought we'd find this interesting. DD1 and I are thinking of taking a trip to Amsterdam. We always try to visit a library in our travels. It's one of our "things". We looked at the Amsterdam Library website and were amazed to learn that it isn't free. You have to pay an annual fee to join. There are levels of membership, ranging from a youth membership, to an e-book-only membership, where you aren't able to browse the shelves, to a limited membership, where you can take out only 20 books a year, to a full membership. Now, I realize that I pay for my library in my property taxes, but I found this fascinating. How lucky am I?

I finished Becoming Nicole, and thought while it was worth reading, I really didn't find it all that impactful. The "story" should have been or could have been gripping but I found the writing to be kind of blah- or detached.

I will miss the book club meeting for it but for me I give it a low 3 stars out of 5, maybe really a 2.75.

On with my memoire stroll that came out of nowhere but I'm enjoying, I just started Being Henry ( by Henry Winkler). It's got me interested .

I finished The Expendable Man. It was Dorothy Hughes' last book published in 1963. The themes were quite modern though, especially with what's happening now. A great snap shot into the past and how well our current events rhyme with it. I'd give it 4 stars and think it would be good for book group, though, the trouble may be in finding enough copies/sources for it....which is a problem with a lot of these old noir writers. They were really popular in their day, but have since fallen off the plate due to all the new stuff always coming out.

Next up for fun Dirty Thirty...another in the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich...they are always quick and fun.

I had to bail on Anna Quindlen's After Annie. It was about a young mother who dies of an aneurysm in the kitchen during dinner, and the effect on her family and friends. Too upsetting.

My latest read was William Kent Krueger'sThe River We Remember. Like his other stand alone books, this one is most excellent and would be good for book club reading. 5 stars

Now I'm depressed. I had to struggle to finish Charming Billy, Alice McDermott. Don't misunderstand, it's great writing, but I'm nearly drowned in Irish Catholic alcoholics. I did enjoy the descriptions of Long Island summers. It's really faultless, but, oh my! 4.5 Stars.

I just finished The Housemaid.

First book I've read in awhile. I couldn't put it down.

I am just about done with The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness by Jonathan Haidt. It's fascinating and I highly recommend it.

Finished Dirty Thirty by Janet Evanovich and it wasn't the best of the series by far...and it leaves a cliff hanger. The next one will be out this fall so I'll read it just to find out what happens next.

Up next is Exiles by Jane Harper which I thought was recommended here, but then I may have it confused with The Exiles by Christina Baker Kline which is also highly rated on goodreads...so I may end up reading both.

Michael Chabon's first novel was published in 1988: The Mysteries of Pittsburgh. Here I am in 2024 loving his tale ofa newly graduated young man, out to enjoy his freedom, staving off the adult world for just a little while longer...in Pittsburgh. I'm only third of the way in, but this is a winner. Highly recommended 4 Stars.

Chabon - one of my favorite writers! The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay is his masterpiece, IMO, but I've also loved many of his other books.

I am reading Kavalier and Clay right now. I am not sure how I missed it, but it is wonderful. I picked it because the Met Opera is doing a production based on it next season. I am not sure it lends itself to opera, but I am willing to give it a go.

Bookwoman -- No wonder reviewers stay miles away from these 'best sellers'. There's no audience. Romance fans don't care about 'settings', and the rest of us ignore these writers anyway. Although this example is indeed egregious, it's no different from the entertainment viewpoint on a 24 hour feed in the US.

faftris, was it you who recommended Stella Gibbons' Nightingale Wood? I started it a couple of days ago and am having such fun!

It was not I. I recommended Westwood. But guess what I am going to request from the library in 5 minutes?

OK, I'm not making this mistake again. Nightingale Wood... is that by Stella Gibbons? Or is it Nightingale Woods by Kathryn Brown? Or is it The Secret of Nightingale Wood by Lucy Strange? I like to add the recommended books here to my goodreads list but am finding I'm getting the wrong one with the same or similar title...

Stella Gibbons. For fans of Cold Comfort Farm.

Watch the movie of Cold Comfort Farm which comes up on Youtube . . . I can't get it to 'show' here. It is very funny, directed by John Schlesinger and a line-up of many UK 'names' . . .Rufus Sewell, Sir Ian McKellan, Stephen Fry. You can almost smell the manure in the farmyard and it would help my US friends who are unable to see the humour of the book!

Link to May 2024 Edition