I've only read Normal People by Sally Rooney. I was not at all a fan and though I did finish it, decided its one and done for me. I don't know why she is well regarded. I hated the book.

I read Clover last year I think and although a bit predictable, I thought it was very good.

Just finished The Academy by Elin Hilderbrand. She had daughter/ co-writer on this one and it wasnt her usual Nantucket novel. It was about kids at a stay away high school somewhere in the northern US. The usual high school drama. Not worth a read.

The person I read with wanted to read banned books. Which could be a noble goal. They picked It Ends with Us and It Starts with Us. I'm reading It Ends with Us, right now. And it is good to bring certain topics out into the light for discussion. But there is a fine line between glamorizing and bringing awareness. We haven't talked about the book yet, but this is a pretty big point to discuss. And second will be, why is the book banned? before we might choose another. Abuse should be talked about, not stigmatized, but I'm only a quarter way through the book and it's not really making me think about the topic is any way less than fluff at this point. Is she treading lightly? Or is it that she is indeed glamorizing the topic. We'll see.

It must be my idiotic brain, but I am not thrilled with Kiran Desai's new novel The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny. It has gotten raves everywhere. I picked up her Booker-winning The Inheritance of Loss, and I couldn't get through it either. I will keep on it, but it's not looking good.

rob, aren't those Colleen Hoover books? Fluff by their very nature, no? I picked up one of her books in a bookshop a while ago, read a couple of pages, and backed away slowly. ;-)

Love Amor Towles 😘

Hate Sally Rooney 👎🏻

I believe that type of stream of consciousness writing is despicable self- indulgence.

Bookwoman,

Yep! It was someone else's turn to pick the books. If Hoover's going to tackle the subject matter, maybe she should have handled it differently; given it the gravity it deserved. I think that's the side I'm on 😉

I enjoyed Jonathan Coe's The Proof of My Innocence. 4 Stars -- up to the ovely clever ending. The British think tank right wingers were unfortunately all too familiar to home-grown.

People read Hoover, as I know from my volunteer position at our local library. The weirdest thing this week was that I shelved every single JoJo Moyes book owned by the library. One person must have taken out all of them--too much of a coincidence for it to be several borrowers. Now, don't get me going on shelving James Patterson...I hate that man.

Today I finished Clare Leslie Hall's Broken Country. It is a heartbreaker and was a great read when I could keep the tears out of my eyes. 4.5 stars. Several themes that a book club might discuss.

I read My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante (translator Ann Goldstein).

There was somthing about the writing that was very cumbersome to me, and I wondered if it was the translation. I suspect that it was not, because it seemed very deliberate . I've read many other translated books and often have marveled at how special a job translating is. I thought so many of the sentences were very awkward and I had to re-read them more than once.

Anyway, it had lots of ups and downs. For the most part I did enjoy the story and was curious to see how things would unfold, but at several points I thought about just stopping because it felt like work to read. I know the book gets lots of acclaim, but I don't think I agree.

It's a case of it coulda shoulda .

The story was very good, but....

I gave it 3.5 stars. I'm curious if anyone else has read it and what you thought.

I'll also mention ((again)) that I really recommend The Spoon Stealer.

Just starting Theo of Golden, recommended by our priest.

I read My Brilliant Friend and did not enjoy it at all. It has gotten near-universal love, so I felt I was really missing the boat in some way, but so be it. I found her prose style (or the translation) very difficult to get into. On the other hand, I absolutely loved the HBO series they made from those novels; it was indeed brilliant!

I read Broken Country awhile back and gave it 4Stars.

I tried to read My Brilliant Friend quite a few years ago and I couldn't get into it. I too ,think it was something about the translation that was the problem

Finished The Collected Regrets of Clover by Mikki Brammer and it was a wonderful book. Clover is a death doula but the book is not just about being open and dealing with death, but also about what death informs us about how to live. It's the story of Clover coming out of her own shell of grief and the people who affect our lives along the way. 4+ stars and good for book group as there's lots to discuss. There were a few good takeaway lines in there, but one I especially liked: "Grief is just love looking for a place to settle." Another: "The secret to a beautiful death is living a beautiful life."

Next up: What She Left Behind by Ellen Marie Wiseman.

Finished What She Left Behind by Ellen Marie Wiseman. Another real page turner, compelling read. It is written with two interweaving story lines...one from the past and one from the present. Not usually my favorite, but in this book it was handled well and did add to the suspense as each chapter flipped from one narrator to the other. I'd give it 4+ stars and recommend it for book group, provided members have a stomach for a story line that takes you through the treatment of patients in mental hospitals back then as well as bullying in the present day...pretty intense stuff.

Next up, Burial Rites by Hannah Kent.

This certainly won't be for everyone, but I'm reading and very much appreciating (you can't really 'enjoy' a book like this) The Last Million: Europe's Displaced Persons from World War to Cold War by David Nasaw. The immediate postwar period is of particular fascination to me: what happened when the fighting stopped? What happened was the mass migration of thousands and the setting up of displaced person (DP) camps all over Europe, some of which weren't closed until the late '50s. It's by turns an uplifting and horrifying story, and a history that's unfamiliar to a lot of Americans.

Last night I sat in bed silently crying as I finished When the Cranes Fly South by Swedish author Lisa Ridzen. What a beautiful, heartbreaking story! I gave it 4.5 stars. It would definitely be great for a book club discussion. It is not very long. Below is a short description I copied from Goodreads:

BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD WINNER (Sweden) • A profoundly moving debut novel that follows an elderly man’s struggle to maintain autonomy over his own life. An emotional story of love, friendship, fatherhood, and atonement that is already an international sensation.

Heart the Lover, by Lily King. It's a story of the relationships among a group of college friends and their reconnection years later. Sad and lovely.

I started reading, "The Let Them Theory" by Mel Robbins. The first 20 pages were "cute", as to how saying 5-4-3-2-1 would motivate someone to get up out of their chair and take action....as in...go do a project...or go get a job. :0) Really! That was enough.

Next: "When The Stones Speak" by Doron Spielman.

Nicole, I read and strongly recommended that book- When the Stones Speak just a few months ago. My daughter is reading it now. I wish I could better remember some of the discoveries but regardless, the book was amazing and a very good read. I found it written so well that I inhaled it.

I have had All The King's Men by Robert Penn Warren on my to read list for a longggg time so I am finally trying it. I think I have to get into the zone for it as there are sentences that go a page long and everything is described in such detail, but beautifully. I hope I can do this.

@nicole

I had two friends, independently from each other, say the Let Them book should have been a pamphlet. 😆

salon, All the King's Men is a meditation on the human condition. One of my two most favorite books in English (along with East of Eden). Philosophy wrapped in the most gorgeous writing. Hope it resonates with you.

Edited to add: the narration of All the King's Men by Michael Emerson is a work of art in its own right. Highly recommend the audiobook narrated by Emerson.

@hhireno...I told my husband what the "Let them theory" book was about...now he's teasing me. I get up to go to the gym, like 7am...and he starts doing the 5-4-3-2-1 count down! Teasing me! 🤣 Shakes his head....says, "I can't believe that works for someone!"

@salonva....I didn't see your recommendation...so glad you liked "When The Stones Speak". I'm next in line @ the library to get it....I've been waiting about 2 months now.

You Have to Be Prepared to Die Before You Can Begin to Live, by Paul Kix. It's the story of the Birmingham (AL) civil rights demonstrations in 1963, one of the 1000 cuts of death produced by the many actions of the 1960s CIvil RIghts movement. As well as describing the horrors of the ultimate events and the lawless conduct of the Birmingham Police, it chronicles from the inside the strategies, the planning, the problems, the turmoil, political calculations and challenges of the Black leaders involved . This is not prose, it's a well researched account written by a fellow who presents his findings in the style of a journalist. I recommend this book highly.

Maybe it's changed but the Civil Rights events took place during my childhood years but little to nothing about them filtered into the classes I took. I was not living in a state that had overt Jim Crow policies. Learning about such events are eye-openers that bring on feelings of disgust that the decades of segregation and discrimination, much of it in the South but elsewhere in pockets too but less institutionalized, could ever have existed.

While on this general topic, for those with a stomach to learn about just how awful and corrupt institutionalized and widespread Southern bigotry could be, I recommend Devil in the Grove, by Gilbert King, which describes a horrid and fallacious, race-based legal persecution of a group of black men in Florida just after WW2. It won a Pulitzer Prize.

Devil in the Grove was brilliant. Will look for Paul Kix's book.

I've praised this author before, but it seems appropriate to repeat that here. Shirley Ann Grau's characters showed me the convoluted beliefs required to support the inequality of non-white people. The Keepers of the House in particular illustrates the economic reasons whites needed to believe in an underclass to exploit -- while also believing in Christianity.

I began Devil in the Grove as an audiobook and found it too disturbing to continue. In a university English Literature course, we studied a very moving and sad poem about the bombing of a church in Birmingham in 1963 where several Black children died. Here is the poem - Ballad of Birmingham by Dudley Randall.

It is disturbing but reality is reality. What I find at least equally disturbing is despite all the demonstrations, federal civil rights legislation, the time that has passed since the turmoil and the resulting hope for better relations among neighbors, that hasn't happened in many places. In many (especially Southern ) cities, white flight was the reaction to the end of segregation and integration of schools, public places and services. Many cities, like Birmingham, today have black population majorities as the bigoted whites who didn't want to face the new realities simply picked up and moved to outside the city limits where they could live in new and mostly white majority communities in the suburbs.

An audiobook that I loved is Warriors Don't Cry : A Searing Memoir of the Battle to Integrate Little Rock's Central High by Melba Pattillo Beals. Difficult reading, but the young Black people involved were enormously brave and courageous given the daunting challenges they faced.

I am not a huge nonfiction reader, but I am reading Dark Renaissance, by Stephen Greenblatt. It's about Christopher Marlowe. No original data of him is extant; he was murdered in an alley at age 29, so the biographical details about him are speculation. And yes, I realize that he lived a long time ago and nothing lasts so long. What I find fascinating are the passages about the dichotomy of life in Elizabethan England. All the shifts among Catholicism, Anglicanism and Puritanism. How the universities taught the ancient writers and poets in Latin and Greek, even though their world view was so different from their contemporary one. How everyone had to be so careful not to upset the applecart, because it meant certain torture and death. The myth of Marlowe's life is interesting, to say the least. It makes me want to revisit all the plays I read in college.

Just finished Burial Rites by Hannah Kent. Solid 4 star. I can see it could be good for book group, especially if they like historical fiction. It's the story of the last person -- woman -- to be executed in Iceland in 1830. Interesting look into life back then and in that location. She is required to live with a farming family until her execution. The story of the events leading up to her conviction unfolded gradually as she opened up more to tell her story.

Next up, Sgt. Reckless by Robin Hutton which someone recommended here.

ONE Star for ridiculous The Mystery Bakery on the Rue de Paris, Evie Woods. I don't know where I saw this recommended, and I blame myself for ignoring the cutsie title -- and then going forward after reading that the author, who lives on the west coast of Ireland "...escapes the inclement weather by writing stories..." Gag me.

3,5 Stars for Marrying the Ketchups. Jennifer Close. I might like it more because it's set in Chicago suburbs familiar to me.

Oh Chisue, so sorry you didn't enjoy The Mystery Bakery... I thought it was sweet and fun. A quick read like a palette cleanser, which I needed after the 2 thrillers I read. Well, each to their own!

Annie -- I gave up after about 30 pages, so maybe it improved. I, too, thought I was getting a sweet story. I just couldn't buy it, and oh, the foreshadowing!

Finished Sgt. Reckless by Robin Hutton about a war horse during the Korean war who became a full-fledged marine because of the bravery and devotion she showed in battle. I believe it was recommended here. I gave it 3 stars though. While the horse's story is fascinating, I thought the writing was not so good and could've been helped by tighter editing and better story telling. It was redundant in parts and lacked crispness.

I found myself a copy of Complete Works of Christopher Marlowe. Not an easy thing to locate.

Just finished The Mysterious Baker on Rue de Paris, and I really enjoyed it! Of course, I'm a Happy Reads girl. I downloaded it for the plane, and it didn't disappoint, I love it when Happy Reads pops up in my forum inbox—thanks Annie.

I get it Chisue, it's a time and place kind of book, like a beach or calm-before-bed read where you don't need to keep track of characters. Not really a deep think.

@chisue my book club read The Mysterious Bakery on Rue de Paris. I appeared to be the odd one out as I didn't like it at all either - and yes, I finished it! Perhaps someone else was keeping thoughts to herself like I was, but I'm a newer member to the group so I didn't say much.

i just started two different books, listening to an audiobook version of a novel called The Secret Book Society by Madeline Martin - a small group of women trapped in oppressive marriages in 1890s London form a secret book club. I've never read anything by this author, but so far it's good. Then I'm reading The Ghostwriter by Julie Clark. I don't read a lot of mystery/thrillers but this one has been easy to get into and probably will be a quick read for me.

The Book of Guilt, by Catherine Chidgey. I am not sure where I heard about this, possibly the NYT. World War II has ended without a winner. Identical twins, triplets and quads are in some kind of institution, where they are cared for by Mother Morning, Mother Afternoon and Mother Night. Their dreams are recorded. Little wonder that I bailed after about 20 pages?

The Book of Guilt? And it’s not about diets, lol.

I'm 100 pages into Michael Connelly's Lincoln Lawyer book focusing on exploitation of AI, The Proving Ground. He is always timely in his choice of subjects, and both DH and I enjoy his writing style. 4 Stars so far.

faftris -- Where on earth did you find that awful 'Mengele memoir'?

4kids4us -- That 19th Century tale sounds interesting! Women today have never known such repression. (Well, *most* of us.)

I look forward to all new Connelly books, chisue. I keep an unread backlog so that when I get a urge to read a Connelly book, there's usually one that's new to me I can turn to. I've re-read all of his books several times.

Here's a non-fiction book with a Connelly connection that I just read.

Black Tunnel White Magic, by Rick Jackson. Jackson is a retired LAPD Robbery Homicide detective and a long time friend and Connelly subject matter collaborator/technical consultant. And somewhat of a inspiration for personality traits of Connelly's Bosch character.

The book is about a real investigation Jackson was involved with, one that took over 2 years to finish. And over 25 years to conclude.

For those of you who read Connelly's works, if you'll recall that some books back, the Bosch character retired from the LAPD and looking for something to do, started doing volunteer cold case work for other police departments? Guess where that idea came from? That's what Jackson decided to do upon his retirement. He's apparently solved several dozen cases.

Here's a "book tour" interview video about the book:

It was a "Book We Are Looking Forward to Reading" in the NYT a while ago, which gave it a good reviewlater on.. And it has 4.32 stars on Goodreads. It's just me, I guess. Reality is tough enough...

After being on my to be read list for years, the time was right for me to read All The King's Men. The writing was absolutely beautiful, and yes the story was very captivating and well done. I can understand why so many people say it's one of their favorites.

I have to say that at times I was confused as there were so many characters, and over such a long time period. I think I would benefit from reading it again in a while.

In my mind, I compare it to East of Eden , which I thoroughly enjoyed.

I would give ATKM 4 stars and I do think it would be a good one for book club.

I've just started Frozen River. I think that when it was mentioned quite a bit maybe last year, that for no reason it did not appeal to me. Well now that I'm reading it, I think it's a great book. I'm about halfway through and finding it to be a very good read.

Salon, we must be the same person. East of Eden and All the King’s Men are my two most beloved books in English. Each so different from the other, but each a deep meditation on life, faith, and free will.

Elmer -- Thanks for the book recommendation. I'll tell DH.

salonva -- I loved Frozen River. I think I came up empty, looking for anything else by the author.

If you get a chance, show him my description and ask if he'd be interested in seeing the video.

Gave up on My Friends. Too many dysfunctional characters and a strange story line. Just got God of The Woods through Libby, so Ill give that a go. I feel like I haven’t read a really compelling fiction story in a while.

Link to November 2025 Edition