What are the last 3 books you read (or listened to) and what did you think?
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Anonymous
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Milkman by Anna Burns - loved it. Hilarious and sad. What a voice. I was sad to finish.
The Cartographers by peng Shepherd- interesting concept but fell flat. Did not love. The Disappearance of Adele Badeau by Graeme Greene - i tire of overly neurotic main characters. Too much granularity. I agree w PP about the Glass Hotel. Not nearly as good as Station 11 |
Anonymous
Maybe I need to read the book but why is Will Wheaton angry at the entertainment industry for not making him more successful? |
Anonymous
What do you like? Maybe "book club" can help. Did you know that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar writes Sherlock Holmes novels? Not the greatest literature ever but a good read and an excellent listen (great narrator) |
Anonymous
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Part of your world- hooked from the beginning!
Carrie soto is back- great as an audiobook. These impossible things- got this off Jenna’s book club list with low expectations but after a few chapters I was sucked in. Really enjoyed it! |
Anonymous
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Currently listening to Remarkably Bright Creatures- I love it
Shrines of Gaiety by Kate Atkinson - good but I struggled to find the plot Finished #12 of the Louise Penny's Armand Gamache series. Series never disappoints. |
Anonymous
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Laziness Does Not Exist by Devon Price - transformative, well-written, etc.
This Is How Your Marriage Ends - much less scary than the title sounds. It was good but felt repetitive. I'd say 3.5 stars, but I guess it saves a lot of marriages so maybe it would be 5 stars for them. Normal People by Sally Rooney - I never planned on reading this but it was highly recommended by somebody whose opinions I value, and I'm so glad I did. I loved it. |
Anonymous
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The Colony by Audrey Magee - fabulous book set on a remote Irish island during the Troubles. Explores what happens when an artist and a linguist bring the outside to the island. Beautifully written. Like a PP, I was sad this didn't make the Booker short list.
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin - maybe I'm just not into video games enough. I thought it was good enough, but the tone of the writing didn't click for me. The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O'Farrell - So I actually really enjoyed reading this, but it isn't up to O'Farrell standards, really. Once I accepted it as a domestic thriller set in the 1600s, I was into it. |
Anonymous
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Two Nights in Lisbon, by Chris Pavone - This one I gave 3 stars. It kept me interested through the whole thing, but I just wasn't invested in the characters at all. I liked the twists and turns the story took, though. How the Word is Passed, by Clint Smith - 5 stars. The author examines the legacy of slavery in America by visiting various places, like a prison in Louisiana, several southern plantations (including Monticello), even places people don't normally associate with slavery, like lower Manhattan. It was compelling, welll-written, heartbreaking, and I learned a lot. Mary Jane, by Jessica Anya Blau - 4 stars. Such a cute coming-of-age story set in the 70's, about a teenager who is a summer nanny for a family that's very different from hers. It's so good! And I agree with the PP's assessment of the Cartographers! |
Anonymous
Black Cake - I loved! One Second After - I read after it was recommended on DCUM - TERRIBLE The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo - So good! |
Anonymous
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Remarkably Bright Creatures - very enjoyable
Lessons in Chemistry- loved this book Dictionary of Lost Words - currently in the middle of this one and its okay but doesn't have me hooked as much as the other two did. |
Anonymous
Yes, there were at least 2 out close together. |
Anonymous
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I'm Glad My Mom Died - Jennette McCurdy's memoir. Pretty good. I liked how honest she was. I wish she would have had a section specifically explaining the title, but that's nitpicky because the contents of the book/her life pretty much explain it. Still, it's a jarring title.
The Unfolding - A.M. Homes. I heard about this book on NPR - was not familiar with the author, who has the Women's Prize for fiction. I knew what the plot was - stalwart Republican family reacts to the election of Barack Obama. If I had been reading this book I doubt I would have finished it. I hate to describe anything this way, but it's a caricature of a book written by exactly who this author is - raised in Chevy Chase, lives in New York. It would have been a great short story or novella though. Twilight of Democracy by Anne Applebaum - excellent. If you want to understand something of what is happening worldwide in this political moment I think this is a great book and great insight. |
Anonymous
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The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot: A Novel - Marianne Cronin.
Absolutely lovely story of intergenerational friendship. Lessons in Chemistry - Bonnie Garmus A fictional account of what is was like to be a female scientist in the 60s and an engaging story. Very good. The Lost Girls of Willowbrook - Ellen Marie Wiseman Suspenseful fictional story based at a real infamous institution. I got too angry reading to love it but they may be the author's intention. |
Anonymous
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More Than You'll Ever Know by Katie Gutierrez - absolutely loved it. Very poignant descriptions of motherhood.
Into the Water by Paula Hawkins - meh. Not a single likable character in the entire book. I'm not sure why I kept reading. The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson - heard about from DCUM, loved. Sci-fi but not tediously so, very engaging characters and beautiful writing. |
Anonymous
DP, but Glass Hotel is by far the worst of Emily St. John Mandel's books. I actually liked her most recent one, Sea of Tranquility, the best of the three, with Station Eleven a close second. I liked The Cartographers but preferred Peng Shepherd's first one, The Book of M, even better! |