What are you reading for October?

[Anonymous]

Trying to get through Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow but 2/3 thru and I fear I can’t go on.

It’s about children of Asian immigrants who find success creating video games and have intricate relationships. There’s a lot of technical stuff about video games and the creative process or maybe I’m just so ignorant that it seems technical to me.

It’s boring - like an even more boring vapid version of The Secret History maybe? I feel many young writers want to be Donna Tartt.

Just like “Lessons in chemistry” I keep waiting for something interesting to happen- but nothing does. Not even a talking dog in this one!

Really need a good book rn.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Trying to get through Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow but 2/3 thru and I fear I can’t go on.

It’s about children of Asian immigrants who find success creating video games and have intricate relationships. There’s a lot of technical stuff about video games and the creative process or maybe I’m just so ignorant that it seems technical to me.

It’s boring - like an even more boring vapid version of The Secret History maybe? I feel many young writers want to be Donna Tartt.

Just like “Lessons in chemistry” I keep waiting for something interesting to happen- but nothing does. Not even a talking dog in this one!

Really need a good book rn.

Meanwhile I could not put Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow down. I devoured it. And I hate The Secret History. Reading tastes are very subjective.

Did you happen to listen to Lessons in Chemistry vs. reading it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Trying to get through Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow but 2/3 thru and I fear I can’t go on.

It’s about children of Asian immigrants who find success creating video games and have intricate relationships. There’s a lot of technical stuff about video games and the creative process or maybe I’m just so ignorant that it seems technical to me.

It’s boring - like an even more boring vapid version of The Secret History maybe? I feel many young writers want to be Donna Tartt.

Just like “Lessons in chemistry” I keep waiting for something interesting to happen- but nothing does. Not even a talking dog in this one!

Really need a good book rn.

This is an interesting take. I've no desire to read it, but my DH devoured it and then bought all her other books. BTW he has a degree in English lit from Oxford university, so he's no dummy / reading slacker. I think it's about personal taste more than anything.

[Anonymous]

Thank you to whoever recommended Bad Summer People - I started reading it on a plane yesterday and it’s so engrossing! I hate the characters, don’t relate to them at all - and am still finding it a terrifically engaging read.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:my sister the serial killer

I found this to be disappointing. Very short though, so you won't waste much time.

I loved this book!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:History of Rome Michael Grant

Lost Apothecary Sarah Penner

Pleasantly surprised with LA!

I didn’t like Lost APothecary - found it really really repetitive and also super unbelievable (the modern day parts). I wanted to like it - I know the author - but since it was a huge hit I guess who cares what I think!

[Anonymous]

Reading Michael Pollan's The Botany of Desire. It's great. Anyone have writer recommendations for a quirky pop-science type writer like Pollan or Mary Roach?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Trying to get through Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow but 2/3 thru and I fear I can’t go on.

It’s about children of Asian immigrants who find success creating video games and have intricate relationships. There’s a lot of technical stuff about video games and the creative process or maybe I’m just so ignorant that it seems technical to me.

It’s boring - like an even more boring vapid version of The Secret History maybe? I feel many young writers want to be Donna Tartt.

Just like “Lessons in chemistry” I keep waiting for something interesting to happen- but nothing does. Not even a talking dog in this one!

Really need a good book rn.

I quit Lessons on Chemistry. So cheesy!

[Anonymous]

I’m reading a DC-based book: Lost in the City by Edward P Jones, a collection of stories about black families living and working in Washington. It’s a beautiful collection.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m reading a DC-based book: Lost in the City by Edward P Jones, a collection of stories about black families living and working in Washington. It’s a beautiful collection.

I should add it’s fiction.

[Anonymous]

I'm reading King of Torts by John Grisham and learning a lot about tort law. I'm looking forward to The Rosie Project next.

I am listening to a Louis L'Amour book, Down the Long Hills, and it's fascinating. Not an author or genre I ever thought I would be reading but I got it cheap on Chirp and the description sounded interesting. Here it is:

Everyone was dead. Indian raiders massacred the entire wagon train. Only seven-year-old Hardy Collins and three-year-old Betty Sue Powell managed to survive. With a knife, a horse, and the survival lessons his father taught him, Hardy must face the challenges of the open prairie. Using ingenuity and common sense, he builds shelters, searches out water, and forages for food. But as he struggles to keep them alive, he realizes that their survival will depend on his ability to go beyond what his father was able to teach him.

[Anonymous]

Trying to get through Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow but 2/3 thru and I fear I can’t go on.

It’s about children of Asian immigrants who find success creating video games and have intricate relationships. There’s a lot of technical stuff about video games and the creative process or maybe I’m just so ignorant that it seems technical to me.

It’s boring - like an even more boring vapid version of The Secret History maybe? I feel many young writers want to be Donna Tartt.

Just like “Lessons in chemistry” I keep waiting for something interesting to happen- but nothing does. Not even a talking dog in this one!

Really need a good book rn.

this is interesting because after I finished The Secret History I picked up Tomorrow x3 and could not get through the first chapter. it just had the same vibe for me. I did end up going back to it but really didn't love it.

Also thought Lessons in Chem was cheesy

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Trying to get through Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow but 2/3 thru and I fear I can’t go on.

It’s about children of Asian immigrants who find success creating video games and have intricate relationships. There’s a lot of technical stuff about video games and the creative process or maybe I’m just so ignorant that it seems technical to me.

It’s boring - like an even more boring vapid version of The Secret History maybe? I feel many young writers want to be Donna Tartt.

Just like “Lessons in chemistry” I keep waiting for something interesting to happen- but nothing does. Not even a talking dog in this one!

Really need a good book rn.

Meanwhile I could not put Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow down. I devoured it. And I hate The Secret History. Reading tastes are very subjective.

Did you happen to listen to Lessons in Chemistry vs. reading it?

Same here! Loved Tomorrow and Tomorrow and could not finish Secret History (and The Goldfinch is one of my favorite books).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m reading a DC-based book: Lost in the City by Edward P Jones, a collection of stories about black families living and working in Washington. It’s a beautiful collection.

I just looked this up. It was published in 1992.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Two books by Anne Tyler -- "French Braid" and "Redhead by the Side of the Road".
They were both the usual Anne Tyler fare, about families that are disconnected from each other and interconnected with each other.
French Braid spanned five generations. Redhead mostly focused on one year in a man's life.
I liked them both, but I liked Redhead a little more.

I am a huge Tyler fan. I've read everything she's written, even the patchy early novels. I thought Redhead was good but the Braid book, I literally couldn't get through it. Awful.

I am the person who recently read the two Anne Tyler books. I liked French braid, but there were a lot of characters. After a while I gave up on trying to figure out which grandkids and great grandkids belonged with which parents.

It seems to me that the books I have read that are obvious the author wrote during the pandemic seem to go on and on and on. Like, since we were all stuck at home, the author didn't know what to do with herself so she went back to manuscripts she was almost done with and added more details. Details about their pets and their neighbors and their dishes and their porch, etc. This one felt that way, and the Liane Moriarity book about the family that played tennis felt that way also.