What are you reading for July?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just started The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi because I adore Shannon (S.A) Chakraborty. So far so good!

To the poster who didn’t enjoy The Nine Taylor’s I was the culprit recommending it. For something much closer to Christie, read “Strong Poison” if you’re willing to give Sayers another try.

Ha! I was the Nine Tailors reader AND the Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi recommender. I will look for Strong Poison. Next might get City of Brass though.

Oh enjoy City of Brass!! I’m jealous you have an amazing series in front of you.

But THEN try Strong Poison

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve read The Girls by Emma Cline (felt very meh about it but finished it)
The Guardians by John Grisham (a good quick beach read while keeping an eye on kids)
Am now reading Homegoing which has been on my list for a while. It is probably the best book so far that I’ve read in 10 years. So engrossing but so devastating as well. I’ll do another John Grisham after this one!

I did not like The Boys from Biloxi or Sparring Partners very much. The Judge’s List was fine.

I loved The Reckoning. Also A Time for Mercy.

Thank you for the suggestions! The guy at the bookstore recommended a time for mercy so I got that. I’m currently reading the partner which is interesting thus far. I’ll add the reckoning to the list!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Started Pineapple Street, by Jenny Jackson, a few days ago. So far, meh. I'm not finding any of the characters really engaging and overall the narrative reads like a contest to see how many ultra-rich WASP cliches the author can throw into a single paragraph. I'll stick with it though, because so many raved about this book, and it's a fast read so I don't have to slog through it before DNF at 50%.

Finished Thunderstruck, by Erik Larson. Not a new book, but another solid read from him.

Pineapple Street doesn’t get better. The hype around this book is completely an artifact of the publishing industry’s love for itself and its culture of rainmakers and suck ups. (The author is a well-connected editor. So nobody will say anything negative about her book even though the emperor has no clothes.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Started Pineapple Street, by Jenny Jackson, a few days ago. So far, meh. I'm not finding any of the characters really engaging and overall the narrative reads like a contest to see how many ultra-rich WASP cliches the author can throw into a single paragraph. I'll stick with it though, because so many raved about this book, and it's a fast read so I don't have to slog through it before DNF at 50%.

Finished Thunderstruck, by Erik Larson. Not a new book, but another solid read from him.

Pineapple Street doesn’t get better. The hype around this book is completely an artifact of the publishing industry’s love for itself and its culture of rainmakers and suck ups. (The author is a well-connected editor. So nobody will say anything negative about her book even though the emperor has no clothes.)

+1 A mediocre book puffed up by the author’s social capital.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Started Pineapple Street, by Jenny Jackson, a few days ago. So far, meh. I'm not finding any of the characters really engaging and overall the narrative reads like a contest to see how many ultra-rich WASP cliches the author can throw into a single paragraph. I'll stick with it though, because so many raved about this book, and it's a fast read so I don't have to slog through it before DNF at 50%.

Finished Thunderstruck, by Erik Larson. Not a new book, but another solid read from him.

Pineapple Street doesn’t get better. The hype around this book is completely an artifact of the publishing industry’s love for itself and its culture of rainmakers and suck ups. (The author is a well-connected editor. So nobody will say anything negative about her book even though the emperor has no clothes.)

+1 A mediocre book puffed up by the author’s social capital.

oof. No kidding, PPs. I am the PP who posted about Pineapple Street... I finished it, but it was pretty disappointing and I am baffled at the good press this book has gotten, especially from the NYT and NPR. None of the characters were remotely likeable or relatable, and there was no character development to speak of so none of them underwent any improvement as the book progressed. Even the SIL, who I suppose is supposed to be the sympathetic character because she wasn't born into the rich 1% family, is irritating. Ultimately the only character I liked was the snooty mother, who was entertaining in the same way as Frances Fisher's character in the Titanic movie ("Will the lifeboats be seated according to class?")... just over the top rich and ridiculous and unapologetic about it.

[Anonymous]

I'm reading Closed Casket by Sophie Hannah.

It's actually a Hercule Poirot mystery - Sophie Hannah is the only author authorized by the Agatha Christie estate to use his character in new mysteries. It's the second book I've read by her and I think she does a great job staying true to the spirit of AC and HP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve read The Girls by Emma Cline (felt very meh about it but finished it)
The Guardians by John Grisham (a good quick beach read while keeping an eye on kids)
Am now reading Homegoing which has been on my list for a while. It is probably the best book so far that I’ve read in 10 years. So engrossing but so devastating as well. I’ll do another John Grisham after this one!

I did not like The Boys from Biloxi or Sparring Partners very much. The Judge’s List was fine.

I loved The Reckoning. Also A Time for Mercy.

Thank you for the suggestions! The guy at the bookstore recommended a time for mercy so I got that. I’m currently reading the partner which is interesting thus far. I’ll add the reckoning to the list!

The Partner is good, and if you go back to any of his old stuff that you missed, A Time to Kill is a phenomenal book. Really I like all the Jack Brigance ones. The Firm is also very engaging.

[Anonymous]

Covenant of Water

Amazing book!

[Anonymous]

Another one reading tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow.

I'm a little on the fence at the half-way point. Very readable, but find some of the characters a little twee, and Sadie's first relationship fell into such an annoying trope (can't one just have a "normal" bad relationship?). So we'll see...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Someone in the "upbeat books" thread recommended "Mary Jane" and I just finished that. Loved it! A great summer story.

This was so good!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Another one reading tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow.

I'm a little on the fence at the half-way point. Very readable, but find some of the characters a little twee, and Sadie's first relationship fell into such an annoying trope (can't one just have a "normal" bad relationship?). So we'll see...

I couldn't connect with the characters either. I'm not a gamer and this was so much about gaming and all that goes with it. I finished it but, meh.

[Anonymous]

Maame. I’m totally engrossed in it now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Another one reading tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow.

I'm a little on the fence at the half-way point. Very readable, but find some of the characters a little twee, and Sadie's first relationship fell into such an annoying trope (can't one just have a "normal" bad relationship?). So we'll see...

You might not end up a happy camper. The last half of that book was so cutesy and contrived that it soured me on the whole thing.

[Anonymous]

My turn for Yellowface on Libby came up today. So far it’s better than I expected. But I have yet to get into the racial politics, which reviewers have said is the ham-handed part.

[Anonymous]

I just finished I Have Some Questions for You. I was really really looking forward to this one, and it let me down a bit - but I'm not ready to say I didn't like it.

I think part of the issue is that there isn't a lot of originality in the storyline - in fact, the author makes the point over and over again that this (the murder of a woman, with certain societal acceptences) happens all the time.

So that's intentional, I assume, but all that coupled with a protaganist I couldn't get behind made it unsastifying given my high expectations.

There's an Amazon review that states it's a really well-written book that could have used a better tour guide, and I think that sums it up well.