I don’t usually hang out here, but visit from time to time for book ideas. I bought The Warmth of Other Suns a few years ago based on the recommendation of a very good friend who is a voracious reader. I started to read it, but couldn’t get into it. I told him so and he wasn’t surprised. Because he’s black and I’m not, he shared that he had grown up hearing the stories in his family of people moving north for jobs and a better life and then encountering racism and prejudice the same as in the south. Hearing sueb20 talk about the book, has reminded me to attempt to read it again. Thanks!

debra

If anyone would like to see the complete list of the challenge and books I read, I'll be happy to post it. I didn't attach ratings though.

@Annie Deighnaugh - I’d like to see the list of the challenge & also your picks to meet the challenge. It would be fun for me to compare my recent reads to the challenge list to know if I’d have a chance at meeting it.

Yes indeed - please post it!

I’m reading Dream State by Eric Puchner. It’s so well-written. I’m halfway through it and don’t want it to end.

My book club gave The Elegance of the Hedgehog 4+stars(bit too much philosophy prof. in first 1/4.) Anyone love another by her? Muriel Barbery

I’m revisiting Jane Austen. I am listening to Pride and Prejudice now. I am loving it even more than when I read it as a young person.

Annie - the list for your reading challenge is great - nice categories to create variety. I’ve read a few on your list.

First to comment on other posts above--

I read Still Life with Breadcrumbs a few months ago and really enjoyed it too. I thought it was a very sweet read.

The Plot Against America, was a book club read a few years ago and I thought that was interesting, but I had to push myself to read it. It was not a page turner for me. IT took work.

The Warmth of Other Suns I thought was very well done, but maybe went on a bit too long. I thought the basic point of following the railroad lines really resonated and it was definitely a worthwhile read.

Annie- your reading accomplishment is dazzling.

After reading James, which I thoroughly enjoyed, I tried to read The Da Vinci Code.

I may try again at some point, as I 'm not sure if it was just not catching me, or because we were on a busy vacation , but I could not get into it at all. I really expected to be swept up in it.

I read Faculty Lounge -Jennifer Mathieu-which was a nice and entertaining read. I suppose for anyone who is or was a teacher, it would probably be more enjoyed. I guess it's borderline fluff .. I 'd give it 3 stars.

I just finished Husbands and Lovers,-- Beatriz Williams for book club. It took me a while to get into it, and then I found it an easy read. It did keep going back in time, and differing characters , so it was a bit trying at times to keep it all straight. Towards the middle I really got into it.

The story was interesting but maybe a bit too woven together and was a bit heavy on requiring some leaps of faith to find believable. I did enjoy the read, but found too many flaws so I'd give it 3 to 3.5 stars.

Re: The DaVinci Code, you probably couldn't get into it because it's poorly written and historically a load of bunk. :-)

Book club read Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout and we enjoyed it . I really like her writing and her characters so I decided to go back and read her first novel. Amy and Isabelle.Once again she creates her cahracters so well. I really feel their emotions . Anyone who has dealt with a teen and their emotional turmoil would understand. I plan to read more of Strouts books. I wish I had read the Olive Kittridge books in order but that isnt a requirement to enjoy them.

I was crazy about Shirley Ann Grau's Pullitzer winner, The Keepers of the House, so I wasn't too disappointed by the immediate predecessor, The House on Coliseum Street.

I see it as a warm-up to Keepers. Is there a name for a style of writing where an unlovely character is central to telling an unlovely story about unlovely mores? Don't expect to be entertained by Grau.

I'm reading Population: 485 -- Meeting Your Neighbors One Siren at a Time by Michael Perry. The blurb on the front cover says: "Part portrait of a place, part rumination on life and death. A beautiful meditation on the things that matter." The author is a volunteer fireman/paramedic as are his mother and brothers. He's written several books including Truck which is sort of about his old, non-running truck and the process of working with his brother to get it going again. I love the way he writes. 4+ stars out of 5. Book club material? Maybe. I chose Truck as my book a year ago and everyone enjoyed it.

What I ate in one year (and related thoughts) by Stanley Tucci. This is a very charming book describing the delicious sounding meals and activities of Tucci over the period of one year. I found it extraordinary that he cooks so often, although in his opinion all this trouble is worth it when the option for food is substandard (in his opinion). A seriously drool-worthy read!

@ LynnMN - I was intrigued by your description of Cecilia Blomdahl's Life on Svalbard. I found it at my library. It is indeed full of wonderful photography and descriptions of her life on an island near the North Pole. So interesting! Thank you very much for bringing it to our attention.

Just finished ”The Queens of Crime” by Marie Benedict. Good read so I’ll give it a 4 & good for a book club. Not as good as 7 of the other books by Benedict that I read. All of those were also historical fiction about actual women who were connected to men who made history - Churchill, Einstein etc.Those books were all a 5. This book is ”…a work of fiction, inspired by real events and actual people from the past.” The Queens are 5 female mystery authors of the past & Agatha Christie is the most well known of them to me.

Recently read Patricia Highsmith's Strangers on a Train (3.5 stars). It is lurid and the characters are almost all despicable and repulsive. Hitchcock saved the story with his retelling of it. As a palette cleanser, I re-read Pride and Prejudice and the world (or my inner world, anyway) was restored to good manners, order, and reason (infinity stars). Now reading The Ministry of Time, and finding it quite entertaining indeed.

norar -- I've just retrieved Perry's Population: 485 from the library. I bet my DH would enjoy this if it's available as audio.

I'm enjoying Shirley Ann Grau's Nine Women. All three of this Pulitzer winner's existing books are falling apart. Wouldn't you think teriffic writing like this would be reprinted -- and a library would buy them?

The City We Became, by N.K. Jemisen. I've only read the prologue, but it's different. In a good way. I think I like it. We won't do the club until next week though. So, I'm not sure if it's good for a club, or not, but I think so

I just finished a very interesting historical fiction The Invincible Miss Cust - -> Link to Goodreads for book.

As often happens, I don't know where I heard of it and did not know what it was about.

The very beginning of it had me thinking that it might be a DNF( did not finish) because it was heavily about horses , probably the first 5 pages or so. I'm glad I stuck with it because it got very interesting. The story was very well written, and it told an incredilble ( mostly true) story based in England, Ireland, in the mid to late 1800's through the early 1900's.

I don't want to give away too much but it was just a good book. It does have lots to discuss, but I'm not sure I would like it as a book cub pick.

I gave it 3.75 stars.

I've been catching up on a stack of back issues of Smithsonian Magazine that a neighbor passed on to me. I had forgotten how much I enjoy the varied topics, photos, and generally well-written articles! I was particularly taken with the tale of Teddy Roosevelt's expedition to explore and map a 1000mile long river in Brazil, by canoe -- he nearly died in the course of the journey, and several of the other men were lost..

Not a book, sorry, but I find it difficult to start a book (although not to finish if it catches my interest) these days.

The Heirs, Susan Reiger. 4.5 Stars. Jacket blurbs comapare it to Edith Wharton, decades later. I loved it. Every character is real, completely whole and distinct -- no paging back to remember who is who -- and there are a lot of them. It's better than Wharton for being more closely relatable.

I'm dipping in and out of Population. It's that kind of book. 3 Stars.

Sylvia’s Second Act / Hillary Yablon Just finished this fun read. Sylvia is 63 years old, hates her new retirement in Boca Raton & catches her husband & new best friend en flagrante in her home. She leaves him and reinvents herself. There are actually some life lessons in the story but it is a fun read with a surprise end. I found book club discussion notes on line so it would work for a fun book club read - and discussion. I picked it up from my library on the new books shelf.

I'm revising my take on Population: 485, Michael Perry. 4 Stars. I'd like it better with tighter editing -- less 'setup'. I also don't really care to know if the author is 14:1 to blame for his serial breakups, even if he intends foreshadowing. The St. Paul Pioneer Press calls this somewhere between Garrion Keillor's "sweet" Lake Woebegon and Sinclair Lewis' "narrow-minded" Main Street.

I cribbed this from norar's post. Thank you.

I finished listening to Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese. I liked it. His writing is so descriptive-the smells, the colors, the people, the tastes...I did like Covenant of Water better.

I just started The God of the Woods by Liz Moore. It is engrossing so far.

I'm about 1/4 of the way through Arrowsmith, and it's just as wonderful as I remember, only now I get a lot more of the context and references than I did 50 years ago!

I just finished We Begin at the End by Chris Whitaker. I think I had the author confused with someone else, but either way, he's pretty popular.

I found it very trying. There were parts that were beautifully written, and many sentences that I had to re-read because they seemed so awkward. I think it just was not a match for me.

It's a thriller, a mystery, which I will admit is not my usual or preferred genre. I was intrigued and interested enough to stick with it and see how it played out but it just was too twisted and convoluted and not realistic in my humble opinion. Also, it was just so bleak.

The book gets great ratings (4.2 on goodreads with over 137K ratings).

I gave it 3 stars.

I found The Heirs was available , recommended above by Chisue - so that will be next.

I am reading Twilight Sleep by Edith Wharton, and I never thought I'd use the word "funny" when speaking of her work , this book is truly that. Rich people "worries" to the max.

salonva -- Hope I didn't over-praise Heirs. How can an author go wrong with Wharton's formula involving wealthy families in NYC? Add an orphan (DIckens), some racism, and boom, bring on the bon-bons.

I liked Susan Rieger enough to request The Divorce Papers -- just delivered from the library by my patient DH.

I take it back about Twilight Sleep. Sad ending.

The more I am reading The City We Became, the more I am realizing that this book is probably a pushback against what is currently going on in the US. It was written in 2020 and published in 2022 if that tells you anything. It's cleverly written, and I do like it. Just giving fair warning.

"But these people [financers of an art gallery] are always gonna tell themselves that a little fascism is okay as long as they can still get unlimited drinks with brunch"

I finished Arrowsmith by Sinclair Lewis. Sorry I was not so enamoured as others have been. I struggle with his flawed character and found some parts really distasteful. Maybe I'm biased having seen the movie where he was more heroic. Also maybe for the times the way he treated his wives was more in keeping, but I also found that distasteful. It was also a struggle for me to read as it was long and in very fine print which was a strain on my eyes. Maybe it was also because I'm coming off the 42 book marathon and was tired of reading for awhile.

Up next is The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon for book group.

I just finished The Heirs, recommended above . I thought it was beautifully written and really did evoke a sense of modern day Wharton. I really enjoyed it and the story line was well done. There were a few things I found puzzling but it kept together very well. I;m not sure that I totally "get" the ending but I did enjoy and give it 4 stars.

My book club met and we discussed Husbands and Lovers. It seemed most people really liked it giving it 4 or 5 stars. I had given it 3 to 3.5 stars as I did find it a very nice read, great for vacation and all but just a lot too contrived . After we discussed it, several people lowered their ratings and we laughed about so many of the plot twists and details. So much seemed superfluous and just left me wondering why.

I liked Susan Reiger's The Divorce Papers as much as The Heirs. 4 Stars.

The story is told in a sequence of papers related to the separation settlement and correspondence between the attorneys and parties to the process. Rieger widens the frame to include not only the personal lives of the divorcing couple and their 11 year old daughter, but the impact of earlier divorces (and good and bad marriages) on peripheral parties.

Please excuse the flowery lauguage. I've been overly exposed to lawyer speak.

I just finished The Wildes by Bayard. I thought it convincing and very much enjoyed the dialogue. And particularly liked the final Act Five, a wistful reimagining of the outcome of the ruined family, letting them live on happily. At the same time finished the beautiful, thoughtful Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood. It was short-listed for the Booker Prize in 2024. I give it 5 stars and am urging all my friends (and my two book groups) to read it.

Just finished The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon for book group. What a wonderful book. 4 stars. It will lead to great discussion I'm sure. I read it in 2 days. Captured me from the get go. About a midwife in Maine in the late 1700s. Not sure how she did it, but the way she wrote, without in depth or elaborate descriptions, made you feel if you were there with Martha as she made her way through the town, dealing with all the people and events. Definitely recommend it.

Annie - I just ordered that book from my library! I’m #57 in the hold line for it! My sister just read it & loved it. She assured me the violence in story isn’t stressful or depressing. She read it in 2 afternoons. I think it’s historical fiction? Or, it’s based on the actual diaries of the real Martha the midwife.

KW, it is historical fiction but based on a real person and her diaries which she left behind.

My sister who read this just told me our aunt in Phoenix is 159!!! on the wait list for The Frozen River at her library! Popular book!📚

Just finished & enjoyed this read ”The Dark Wives” Anne Cleeves. This is a Vera Stanhope novel from the series. It’s the basis for the PBS series ”Vera”. She is a frumpy looking & clever woman Detective Inspector in UK. I picked up this book because I enjoy the TV series. I enjoyed the book because the actor who plays Vera represents the book version of Vera extremely well & I used her as a visual while reading. I wasn’t any more successful at figuring out ’whodunnit’ before the end of the book than I ever am while watching the TV show.

Frozen River is a knockout. I thought it was pretty raw, just not hyped.

I read this little book bit by bit: The Uncollected Short Stories of John Cheever. So interesting to see early works. He started being published in magazines at age 19! Nice introduction here. Cheever says he knew he wanted to be a writer at age eleven and that his parents OK'd it, "...as long as you don't want to be rich or famous."

Just finished This Is Going To Hurt by Adam Kay. Based on his diaries as -- I guess what would be the US equivalent of residencies -- in the UK with the NHS. He specialized in ob-gyn and he recounts his entries with humor and wicked insight, but also heart break. 4 star but probably too graphic for book group sensibilities. But for me, it was an interesting offset having recently read Arrowsmith by Sinclair Lewis.

Next up The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by VE Schwab.

Link to April 2025 Edition

Hmm...I get a notice requiring cookie acceptance when I click the April link. Something new?

No matter. I was just going to blast Niall Williams' Four Letters of Love.

After forcing myself to finish this, I read the author's 'Afterword', where he says he began the novel having no idea what he was going to write. THAT was the moment he should have stopped, saving us all from drowning again. No Stars.

I just tried the link and didn't get that.

Here's the link: https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/6490020/what-are-you-reading-april-2025-edition#n=0

I'm with chisue. I get a popup about cookies. I tried your first and second link).

Help please. Im trying to find comments here on Daniel Masons North Woods. There’s no search for particular books I suppose.

Check this thread: https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/6431586/what-are-you-reading-march-2024-edition#n=64

Annie! Got it . Thank you so much… and Sooo fast!!!