February 2025 - What are you reading?

[Anonymous]

Just finished Here One Moment, Liane Moriarty’s newest. I enjoyed it.

An older woman stands up on a plane one day and points to each passenger, stating what age she expects they will each die along with a cause of death. The book then follows the woman (her life leading up to this point) and the passengers (how they deal with these apparent predictions).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just finished Midnight in Chernobyl, by Adam Higginbotham. It's a gripping read that must have been exhausting to research. I have his newest book, Challenger, queued up next.

Both books were amazing. They are written in a way that makes you feel like you are there as the events are unfolding. I also recommend the Chernobyl mini-series.

[Anonymous]

The Marriage Portrait by O’Farrell. Fantastic.

[Anonymous]

I've finished a few recently, all "meh".

Sandwich by Catherine Newman - appreciated the focus on a menopausal woman, but thought she was too over the top.

The Queen of Dirt Island by Donal Ryan - 4 generations of women in Ireland - the typical dark, Irish vibe but some nice writing.

Lullaby by Leila Slimani - a French "thriller" that wasn't much of a thriller. More of a psychological study. You find out on page one that a nanny has killed both of the children in her charge. Then the book goes back to look at the married couple's relationship, the relationship with the nanny, the nanny's life, and how she got to this dramatic act. I loved the whole thing til the end, which felt rushed.

[Anonymous]

Finally reading All Fours, about halfway through, and I have a lot of conflicted feelings. I will read the thread about this book when I’m done.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Finally reading All Fours, about halfway through, and I have a lot of conflicted feelings. I will read the thread about this book when I’m done.

I just finished it and posted on that thread…curious to get your thoughts when you’re done!

[Anonymous]

Started Memorial Days from Geraldine Brooks which is about her husband’s passing and grieving. Different than her usual style but still good. He was in Chevy Chase and also was pronounced dead at GW, and it seems the doctors were not the most sympathetic to Geraldine when telling her the news.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just started Gary Shteyngart's "The Russian Debutante's Handbook." I read an essay of his in The Atlantic (funny piece about taking a cruise) and had to look him up...not sure why I'd never encountered his stuff before.

OH, what do you think??? I read this back when it first came out, so very curious to know whether it aged well. I liked it a lot back then (especially as a Soviet Jewish child immigrant myself), though some parts were very harsh even for me.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I'm reading to The North Woods by Daniel Mason, a booker finalist for other works. It's the story of a cabin/house in rural western Mass and the stories of the inhabitants over 300 years. Really wonderful, especially since I grew up in a similar house in Vermont.

Unlike the PPs who disliked it, I think North Woods is a masterful, magical book. I liked it a lot on the first read and loved it on the second. The creativity in this novel is just unmatched and so clever. It's packed with quiet, subtle gems. It's like Daniel Mason trusted his readers to be intelligent, thoughtful readers instead of spelling everything out and hitting us over the head.

Love the underlying diss to the previous PPs lol

yup, basically you have to have a superior IQ to like a book...uhhm..ok

It's not about having a superior IQ. The magic in North Woods is in the Easter eggs, the through lines between all the vignettes that are often only connected by a single line or cursory reference. I said I read it twice; I myself missed half of the special moments on first read. I think you have to be in a certain reading mood to appreciate North Woods. If you're in the mood for something plot or character-driven that is more straight-forward entertainment, it's not going to be the book for you at that moment. Not to say it's not entertaining, it's a very funny book.

What's the point of book discussion if we can't say more than "I liked" or "I didn't like" a book?

I’m in the camp of loving North Woods, but I agree that you probably have to be in the right frame of mind or maybe just the right place in your life to “feel” it rather than appreciate it on a purely intellectual level. I will probably get jumped all over, but I never “got” Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell. I was glad other people found it so engaging and brilliant, but I wasn’t in the right place to see that for myself.

Totally agree about Dr. Strange. I feel like I should have enjoyed that more.

Considering North Woods next but I might go easier, I am recovering from surgery.

I am a DNF with Dr. Strange. Probably won't consider North Woods.

[Anonymous]

I'm reading "Crying in H Mart" for a book club. So far, hits too close to home (lost my mom to cancer too).

[Anonymous]

I just finished "The Wake-up Call" by Beth O'Leary.
It is a romance about a young man and a young woman who both work at a hotel in England.
I listened to it on audio. The male lead was supposedly from Brazil. So I assume the weird way the male narrator spoke was supposed to sound like a combination of both a British and a Brazilian accent. I thought there was not much of a plot to the story and it kind of plodded along. Downloaded it from Libby.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've finished a few recently, all "meh".

Sandwich by Catherine Newman - appreciated the focus on a menopausal woman, but thought she was too over the top.

The Queen of Dirt Island by Donal Ryan - 4 generations of women in Ireland - the typical dark, Irish vibe but some nice writing.

Lullaby by Leila Slimani - a French "thriller" that wasn't much of a thriller. More of a psychological study. You find out on page one that a nanny has killed both of the children in her charge. Then the book goes back to look at the married couple's relationship, the relationship with the nanny, the nanny's life, and how she got to this dramatic act. I loved the whole thing til the end, which felt rushed.

I read Sandwich last year and although the main character is technically in the "sandwich" phase of life, she wasn't caring for either the children or the parents so it seemed misnamed.

[Anonymous]

We Do Not Part - Han Kang
Society of Lies - Lauren Ling Brown

We Do Not Part was a stunning novel about the Jeju massacre. Lots of imagery and a bit confusing.

Society of Lies is a quick mystery thriller taking place at Princeton U in the early 2010s and early 2020s. It's told from the perspective of two sisters who are 10 years apart.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We Do Not Part - Han Kang
Society of Lies - Lauren Ling Brown

We Do Not Part was a stunning novel about the Jeju massacre. Lots of imagery and a bit confusing.

Society of Lies is a quick mystery thriller taking place at Princeton U in the early 2010s and early 2020s. It's told from the perspective of two sisters who are 10 years apart.

I didn't care for We Do Not Part at all, probably because of the "bit confusing" part. I don't want novels to read like poetry. I like a challenging read but I didn't feel connected enough to the characters or the story to invest in it sufficiently to enjoy the read.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm reading to The North Woods by Daniel Mason, a booker finalist for other works. It's the story of a cabin/house in rural western Mass and the stories of the inhabitants over 300 years. Really wonderful, especially since I grew up in a similar house in Vermont.

I read it a few weeks ago and agree, absolutely loved it. The beauty of New England and the span of time just opened up before me. My favorite book I've read this year.