What I'm reading . . . What about you?

I love to read. That has always been the case. When I was a child I really thought I could read every book in the library,of course an impossibility. I usually have 2 books going. Anyway,I just finished The Burning  Girl by Claire Messud and I am ready to read more of her work. It really made me think and her writing is great. Sometimes I read old classics that I missed. Mila 18 By Leon Uris is so well written.  You feel like you are right there experiencing it all. On to another oldie I have never read,Excellent Women by Barbara Pym.

had you seen this article on Barbara Pym?

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/24/books/barbara-pym-enthusiast.html

Joanne-I had read that article  which reminded me about Barbara Pym.

aha!

I've caught up with Ursula LeGuin's blog, through an article I read in Arts & Literature Daily. 

http://www.ursulakleguin.com/Blog2017.html#New

About 5 months ago I read a newly published book and today it is #1 on the NY Times list.  Where the Crawdads Sing is the best novel I have read in a long time. It's wonderful from beginning to end.

I loved the Where The Crawdads Sing.  It sent me running for my copy of A Sand County Almanac.  The two books wonderfully complement each other.

galileo said:
I love to read. That has always been the case. When I was a child I really thought I could read every book in the library,of course an impossibility. I usually have 2 books going. Anyway,I just finished The Burning  Girl by Claire Messud and I am ready to read more of her work. It really made me think and her writing is great. Sometimes I read old classics that I missed. Mila 18 By Leon Uris is so well written.  You feel like you are right there experiencing it all. On to another oldie I have never read,Excellent Women by Barbara Pym.

 Read John Hershey's   THE WALL.   "Nu, what is the plan tomorrow"?

Galileo, your opening post reminded me of a childhood memory of my husband:

He grew up within walking distance of the library which was then housed on the second floor of the Maplewood fire house on Boyden Ave (might have been Springfield). He said it was up a long flight of stairs.

One day, he approached the librarian to ask if he could be allowed go to the other library. 

The librarian asked him why?

He said because he had read all the books here!

This book enabled me to understand more clearly the dynamics and complexities of "The Troubles" of Northern Ireland -- and its whereabouts* -- more than anything I've ever read.  

Say Nothing -- A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland

Patrick Radden Keefe

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/22/books/review/say-nothing-patrick-radden-keefe.html

Warning:  some graphic pics

Related:  *nytimes.com:  50 Years Later, 'Troubles' Still Cast Huge Shadow Over Northern Ireland

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/04/world/europe/northern-ireland-troubles.html

DottyParker- Read review in the Times and did jot title for further reference. Sounds interesting and am always intrigued by books pertaining to Irish history. Trying to remember the title of the book about the troubles written probably 25 plus years ago. It was made into a movie. The author was a teacher from the NY area who grew up in Ireland.

Angela's Ashes?

Thank you,Jamie!!!

Have read so many books since I last wrote. Here is a special one. I just completed The Nickel Boys written by Colson Whitehead .What a great book,so well done. It’s fiction but partially based on a true story.. The setting is a boy’s reformatory in Florida in the 1960’s. A book of only 210 pages but you don’t want to skim the pages. There are some surprises.  If you remember Whitehead also wrote The Underground Railroad.         

Second the recommendation for The Nickel Boys. Well worth the read.

I read The Underground Railroad by a Whitehead.  Thought I was going to love it.  Gave it a B.  

I finally read The Golden Compass, the first of the His Dark Materials trilogy, after letting it sit on my mental to-read list for many years.   I liked it a lot and am mentioning it now because in early November, HBO is launching a series based on the books (there was a poorly received movie of TGC with Nicole Kidman some years back).  Th HBO trailer looks good.

I read Dan Brown's Origin.  I liked it - an easy read.  The subject was interesting.  I really like the beginning and the end.  The whole middle section felt one big "Made for Movie" chase scene.

Here's the basic plot:

Edmond Kirsch, a billionaire philanthropist, computer scientist and futurist, as well as a strident atheist, attends a meeting in Catalonia with Roman Catholic Bishop Antonio Valdespino, Jewish Rabbi Yehuda Köves, and Muslim Imam Syed al-Fadl, three members of the Parliament of the World's Religions. He informs them that he has made a revolutionary discovery that he plans to release to the public in a month. He has chosen to inform them before the masses out of supposed respect, despite his well-known hatred of organized religion which he blames for his mother's death. Horrified, the three learn that he is presenting it in three days' time, prompting Valdespino to send him a voicemail demanding that he stop or risk being discredited.

In the past month I read two memoirs by very funny women. Carrie Fisher's Wishful Drinking and Tina Fey's Bossypants. Loved them both. Listening to them both read by the authors was a real treat. 

jamie said:

I read Dan Brown's Origin.  I liked it - an easy read.  The subject was interesting.  I really like the beginning and the end.  The whole middle section felt one big "Made for Movie" chase scene.

Here's the basic plot:

Edmond Kirsch, a billionaire philanthropist, computer scientist and futurist, as well as a strident atheist, attends a meeting in Catalonia with Roman Catholic Bishop Antonio Valdespino, Jewish Rabbi Yehuda Köves, and Muslim Imam Syed al-Fadl, three members of the Parliament of the World's Religions. He informs them that he has made a revolutionary discovery that he plans to release to the public in a month. He has chosen to inform them before the masses out of supposed respect, despite his well-known hatred of organized religion which he blames for his mother's death. Horrified, the three learn that he is presenting it in three days' time, prompting Valdespino to send him a voicemail demanding that he stop or risk being discredited.

 This one sounds like something I want to read. 

“Barnum: An American Life” by Robert Wilson. I’ve just begun it, but already find it more interesting than I might have thought.
And “50 Foods: The Essentials of Good Taste” by Edward Behr. An alphabetical look at 50 foods including asparagus and oysters and pears, a little on their history, what can be done with them and good anecdotes by the author. Really easy to read at a time like now, when our attention spans aren’t what they usually are. 

jeffl said:

I read The Underground Railroad by a Whitehead.  Thought I was going to love it.  Gave it a B.  

 Nickel Boys is much better IMO.

Finally got around to The Warmth of Other Suns.  Took me a really long time to get into it, and I never loved all the writing, but the stories are gripping, the people are memorable and lovable.  Highly recommended, since many of us have a lot of time these days.

For something completely different, The Coldest Night by Robert Olmstead, a shortish novel set in and around the Korean War.  whoosh.

 

Just finished Kindred by Octavia Butler. Was an interesting perspective -- not exactly historical fiction, but I think the time travel aspect allowed a more incisive perspective in some ways than a straight historical fiction would have. Also interesting to read it now in the context of #metoo.

BTW, if you have an e-reader, ebccls is a great resource -- I've been doing a lot of reading thanks to it.

ebccls works on a lap top or desk top too.  You can read in your browser.

William Trevor

Listening to [Audible] Lonesome Dove.   It won a Pulitzer in the 80's.  Slow in the beginning but an excellent tale overall.  Greatly detailed story about life in the western US in the late 19th century.

Thought it would be too weird and I wouldn’t like it. I was wrong. Twice. 

Smiling to see two big favorites here, William Trevor (pretty much any book) and Lonesome Dove.  Enjoy!!  Wish i could read them again for the first time.

Valentine by Elizabeth Wetmore is a tremendous novel. 

Heynj said:

Thought it would be too weird and I wouldn’t like it. I was wrong. Twice. 

 I read that for my book club recently and we all thought it was a bit weird but liked it very much in the end. It got rapturous reviews, as I recall. It's different, that's for sure.