After reading the rather long and involved Christy by Catherine Marshall last week which I detailed in the June thread, the library notified me that Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan was available. I'd give it 4.5 stars.

It was the perfect book to read next.... short, sweet, beautiful. It really was wonderful.

I had read Foster which was also really good- along with a book of short stories of hers. I think Small Things Like These is my favorite so far. Actually now that I think of it, I think I will re-read Foster.

I just started Mad Mabel, and am enjoying it a lot. It totally drew me in.

I am going to see a National Theatre Live film of a play based on Les Liasons Dangereuses, so I am reading the novel now. It's very dense, and very good, but maybe not for a summer read in 100 degree weather.

I loved ”The Correspondent” by Virginia Evans. Great story for book club discussion. The life of Sybil Van Antwerp is told through her letters to and from her family members and friends and acquaintances. A lovely read. I found this description on GoodReads - explains the story better than I could:

The Correspondent is an epistolary novel by American author Virginia Evans. It was published on April 29, 2025, by Crown Publishing Group. The novel follows the letters and emails of a retired lawyer sent between 2012 and 2022. It is Evans' first published novel, after having completed seven unpublished novels.

Finished London Falling by Patrci Radden Keefe. A true and finely etched account of the mysterious death of a teenager who, through his own deceptions driven by oversized dreams of power and wealth, falls prey to London’s glitzy but dangerous underworld. The clear yet taut exposition of Britain’s tacit acceptance of the criminality of Russian oligarchy that comes with Britain’s desire to attract wealthy investors, the captivating portrayal of various characters, and the grinding investigative journalism underlying the account all make for excellent nonfiction.

Nutsabout, did you read his other book, Say Nothing, about the Disappeared in Northern Ireland during the Troubles? I liked that even more than the new book. Highly recommend.

Faftris, yes, I read Say Nothing and liked it a lot. It was one of the books I read at the very beginning of Covid. For some reason, my reading experience from those months is misted with the haze of the shutdown. But I recall that I thought it was done very well.

Within Arm's Reach, by Ann Napolitano. Just awful. I don't even know why I borrowed it from the library. I hated Hello Beautiful. A momentary lapse on my part. Theo of Golden popped up on my Libby holds--just in time. We lost our power for 20 hours, and when it got dark, at least my Ipad was lit. Kudos to me for having charged it before the storm hit. It was just dumb luck. Theo is okay, maybe a little too uplifting.

Reading Cheating at Canesta, a short story collection by William Trevor. Trevor is the best short story writer of our times, imho. The quietness of his writing mirrors the surface of his stories, with menace and other volcanic forces roiling underneath. I wish I could understand how he arrived at that magnificent clash of technique and substance.

One more thing about Trevor -- his stories don't work well as audiobooks, at least for me. You can't get the essence and fullness of the stories without pondering the text, pausing between the words and what they signify below the surface. The written word is the only medium that allows you to get at what the words simultaneously reveal and hide. Again, just based on how I read him.

This collection has some stories I've read when they initially appeared in the New Yorker, and some that are new to me. The Hill Bachelors is a collection that I've reread several times. I wish there were a book club with the right readers to discuss each of his stories.

When Breath Becomes Air.

@favtris, love ”a little too uplifting” — glad to know I’m not the only cynic in the room.

Am reading Franzen’s The Corrections. I remember the kerfuffle but was determined not to partake at the time. He’s an excellent writer but goes deep into some rabbit warrens. Needlessly, I think.

Count me among those that Theo left unimpressed. Overly contrived structure. The big reveal at the end was staring at the reader from the first couple of chapters. I didn't want to be too critical of a feel good story as it felt like kicking a friendly puppy, but I'm sick of these overly sweet stories that do not feel real. The Correspondent was another one that I didn't much care for. I have given up on book clubs because books like these tend to be popular choices in most book clubs.

Eld, read Kalanithi's When Breath Becomes Air when it came out. Deep, sweetly sad, and well-written for a young (and first time?) author. Still remember a few lines, such as "If an unexamined life is not worth living, is an unlived life worth examining?"

I just finished "The Wilder Widows" by Katherine Hastings, it was fabulous and very funny. I Highly recommend it.

Just finished The Things We Never Say, Elizabeth Strout’s latest. It was very well written, which you kind of expect from a Pulitzer Prize winner. I really got caught up in it. However, dont read it when you are feeling a bit low.

She does an excellent job of moving the reader from one character to the next. Not just from one character to the next, but also from their outside presence to their inner lives.

I recommend it. Lots of fodder for book clubs but great for the non-clubbers, too.

Oh, and she does not hold back on her views of our current political situation, via Artie, the main character.

Just finished Patrick Ryan's Buckeye. It was five stars for me. I thought it was brilliantly written and the characters were well-crafted. Some of the character arcs I liked better than others, and perhaps the last third of the book felt less involved, but all was forgiven because Patrick Ryan has such an admirable way with words.

Jojo, I loved Buckeye. This was my comment on it: "Just finished Buckeye by Patrick Ryan. It was simply marvelous. Pathos without manipulation, characters that ring true, simple writing made powerful by its simplicity, and a plot without artifice. Loved it."

Garlic and Sapphires, by Ruth Reichel. It's next in her memoirs. I've read all these books before, and I don't remember any of it. So it's nice to read it again.

Yes, Buckeye was recommended here several months ago. I read it and raved about it too. So good.

I just read Mailman: My Wild Ride Delivering the Mail In Appalachia and Finally Finding Home ( Link on goodreads ) by Stephen Grant, which I thought I saw here but can't remember. Anyway, it was an interesting non fiction book about yes, a mailman. The author was laid off from a professional job, and during covid shutdown became a mail carrier in rural/suburban Virginia. It had lots to it, and I enjoyed it mostly but at timesI also wondered if it was worth continuing. So with that, I'd give it 3 stars. It was quite insightful but at times way too preachy and political. Without that added in, I think it would have been a lot better at least in my opinion. It had lots of reviews and is rated well on goodreads.

I just started Lonesome Dove. I've wanted to read it for a long time, but at over 900 pages I need to be in the right place and time. Hoping this is it. FWIW reading on kindle. When I first started it said 18 hours to read. I've been reading for several hours over the past few days, at all of 11% and now it tells me I have about 21 hours left. Anyway, it's quite good and way more humorous than I expected. This book comes up quite often when people mention their favorites so I figured I need to read it. I've never seen the movies or the tv shows or whatever so this is all new to me.

Currently reading No More Tears by Gardiner Harris about Johnson & Johnson and although I knew some of the 'story' it is truly eye opening. Eye popping, actually. Reminds me of a Patrick Radden Keefe book, Empire of Pain about the Sackler family, Purdue pharma and the opioid crisis, which was excellent and infuriating, the same feeling I'm getting with No More Tears.. London Falling is on my tbr list as is theo of Golden - hoping I'm in the camp that likes it.

For book group, I just finished Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism by Sarah Wynn-Williams. It's about her beginnings with Facebook up to becoming their global policy lead. It's about her approaching the company with such idealism only to have it trounced by a corp culture focused on making more money instead of combining money making with doing good in the world. News articles suggest the story isn't over as she is facing lawsuits over her NDA for which she was compensated handsomely upon her firing. As the title suggests, the evil that FB does is fundamentally because leadership simply isn't interested as opposed to being intentional. Not sure that matters in the end. It was an easy and interesting read. I'd give it 4 stars and am sure it will lead to good discussion.

Picking up Daniel Mason's Country People at the library tomorrow. I am excited, because I enjoyed North Woods and The Winter Soldier so much.

Just finished A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson. I read it many, many years ago and loved it. I was overjoyed to read that he updated and revisited it in 2025. I immediately bought it, and couidn't put it down, and now that I am done, will probably read it again soon. It's amazing!

In the middle of Solito, by Javier Zamora, a memoir of his experience as an unaccompanied 9 year-old from El Salvador to the US. No matter what your stance on immigration, this is just heartbreaking. At least I know he made it, and he has become a successful poet with many awards and accolades.

I've always enjoyed Bill Bryson but I think my favorite was A Walk in the Woods.

Just finished Death Dance by Linda Fairstein. Found it in a free library and it was just what I needed to read while traveling. Good enough to keep my interest up, easy to put down when interrupted, and requiring very little brain power. It's a police/lawyer murder investigation kind of thing. Not as good as Grisham, but along those lines. 3 star, not for book group, but good for a summer read.

I'm currently reading Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke - fiction book about the problematic practice of living your life in the public eye via social media, and exploiting your children. Jury is out. I'm about 75% done with it and it's getting tedious.

Also reading Birth Vibes by Jen Hamilton. I'm well past child-bearing years, but she is a wonderful story teller and advocate for women.

Solito was very interesting, but I wish I knew some Spanish, because a lot of the conversation was in that language. I realize that the author is recounting his experience the way he remembers it, so I was okay with it. Just a failure of ignorance on my part.

I am in the middle of Country People, by Daniel Mason. His earlier books were much more serious. This is about a family from California moving to Vermont, and it's kind of Green Acres meets The Bob Newhart Show. And I mean that in a good way. It's very entertaining, not going to live in my list of life-altering books.

I finished The Brothers McKay by Craig Johnson...the latest in the Longmire Series which I so enjoy. Not for book group but a good 4 star read, and he's clearly left the door open for the next one...

I wanted to read a mystery/thriller next so I just started The Girls in the Garden by Lisa Jewell.

Next up for book group is James by Percival Everett but I'll wait til closer to the meeting before I start it.

James was really a good one.

I am reading Lonesome Dove now.

I've been reading it for almost a week, thoroughly enjoying it. I can see why it's on so many lists of best books read.

On kindle it said roughly 17 hours to read at the beginning. .

I have easily been reading for a good 8 to 10 hours and now it says I have 15 hours left (!). I'm nearing the halfway point.

It really is a special book.

Re-read The Emperor of All Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee. Read it about 10 years ago and enjoyed it the second time as much as I did then. Lacking familiarity with natural science let alone molecular biology, I read most sections 6 or 7 times to digest the connections made.

Mukherjee’s ability to transform the most complex ideas and the historical evolution of scientific theories into a captivating narrative, wrapped in glorious prose, is enviable. I felt the same about his other book, The Gene. I didn’t finish The Song of the Cell, which I started a year ago, and that’s my next read.

Some books leave me regretful that I'm not a scientist. His are definitely that kind, because the beauty of the theories and concepts comes through clearly even to a lay person like me, and leave me wanting to understand more. Cormac McCarthy’s Stella Maris left me with a deep yearning for mathematics. (I have better familiarity with mathematical theories than natural science and that only made the yearning more pressing.)

I am reading Tata, by Valerie Perrin. The jury is still out. I thought that her Fresh Water for Flowers was just wonderful, but this novel seems to be all over the place. I am not sure where the book is headed, and there are so many storylines and narrators.

Wallace Stegner's Crossing to Safety. The story of two couples, long-term friends, over the course of their friendship. Not at all dull as it sounds! Really beautiful.

Tata did not improve. The ending was just as all over the place. It should have been a DNF, but I hate doing that.

Link to August 2026 Edition