What is everyone reading for June?

[Anonymous]

I am reading "End of Watch" by Stephen King. It's the third in a series, largely in the psychological thriller / crime genre. I've enjoyed all 3 so far though there are definitely aspects that are less than perfect from a storytelling perspective.

[Anonymous]

I'm reading Truths I Never Told You by Kelly Rimmer. So far it's been super depressing with themes like being trapped in a marriage with an alcoholic spouse, abusive parents, a parent with dementia, post partum depression, abortion, death of a loved one, etc. Really grim. I'm hoping the ending is heartwarming, as it gets good reviews, but so far it's been a hard read emotionally.

I don't need total fluff, but I'd really rather be reading something less depressing.

[Anonymous]

I am reading The Night Watchmen by Louise Erdrich

Takes place in 1953 and it's the story of different native American members of the Chippewa nation. The main character worked as a night watchmen and was instrumental in saving the Federal recognition of their tribe.

The story is not biographical, but based on the grandfather of the author. I have a friend who is native American and when I mentioned but I am reading the book and one of the main plot lines is the bill that was presented to Congress for emancipation of the Indians in 1953, she immediately knew about it and called the termination act. Which kind reinforces that this is based on a true story.

last month I read There There by Tommy Orange. Reading books by Native American authors was not intentional, but it just happens to be what I've been picking up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am reading The Night Watchmen by Louise Erdrich

Takes place in 1953 and it's the story of different native American members of the Chippewa nation. The main character worked as a night watchmen and was instrumental in saving the Federal recognition of their tribe.

The story is not biographical, but based on the grandfather of the author. I have a friend who is native American and when I mentioned but I am reading the book and one of the main plot lines is the bill that was presented to Congress for emancipation of the Indians in 1953, she immediately knew about it and called the termination act. Which kind reinforces that this is based on a true story.

last month I read There There by Tommy Orange. Reading books by Native American authors was not intentional, but it just happens to be what I've been picking up.

Would be curious about your review when you’re done! I really enjoyed my first Erdrich novel—“The Sentence”—a couple months ago. Been meaning to read more of hers but she has quite a catalogue and I wasn’t quite sure where next to go…

[Anonymous]

I will definitely follow up. So far, I am enjoying the book and about 50% through with it. I downloaded it off the Libby app, and there was no wait.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am reading "End of Watch" by Stephen King. It's the third in a series, largely in the psychological thriller / crime genre. I've enjoyed all 3 so far though there are definitely aspects that are less than perfect from a storytelling perspective.

My son recommended that trilogy to me so I read Mr. Mercedes but found aspects of it too cringey and disgusting which affected my enjoyment of the book so now I've decided not to read the rest. I do sometimes like SK for instance I loved Billy Summers but sometimes he goes too far for me.

[Anonymous]

Just finished The Magnolia Palace by Fiona Davis. It has two parallel story lines but the main one is about a woman who was a popular muse for NYC sculptors in the early 20th century but then after running away because the police want to question her about a murder in her building finds herself accidentally mistaken for a job candidate and ends up as the private secretary for Henry Clay Frick's daughter Helen. It details her interactions with the Frick family along with some personal growth and a couple of mysteries along the way. The modern day storyline involves another model and a museum intern who are stuck in the museum due to bad weather and help solve the mysteries.

Recommend it if you like historical fiction (I do).

I think it was recommended as a pick on the Montgomery Library website? Borrowed it via Libby.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I will definitely follow up. So far, I am enjoying the book and about 50% through with it. I downloaded it off the Libby app, and there was no wait.

I read "The Night Watchman" last fall. It was better than most books, but not a fast pace. I think it would make the basis of a good tv series as she really spends a lot of time with her characters.

[Anonymous]

I'm reading Americana by Don DeLillo. It takes place in the early 70s, and is about a guy in his late 20s working as a TV exec.

I picked it up at a used book sale because I've read other stuff by him that I've liked. But wow, this book is hard to read.

It feels like a screen play for Mad Men but without any interesting women characters (yet).

Next on my list is the Emily Henry one which a friend loaned me, and I will definitely need something light after this!

[Anonymous]

Just read Stoner by John Williams and I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Hartman and really enjoyed both. Currently reading book about the IRA during the Troubles called Say Nothing and just ordered Beautyland by Marie-Helene Bertino. I think it’s about an alien who comes to earth to observe human nature but it’s highly recommended on many book lists for the year already.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just finished The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd, the intertwined narratives of Sarah Grimke (of the Grimke sisters) and "Handful" one of the Grimke family slaves. I hadn't read the author before was surprised by how good it was--both compelling subject matter and well-written. I am not sure why I had such minimal expectations, perhaps because the little I heard of the Secret Life of Bees movie seemed a little "Hallmark"-ish? Anyway, I def recommend, and will probably go off to read other Kidd books in the next months.

I LOVED this book. I also loved The Secret Life of Bees. I’ve never seen the movie. I am having a hard time getting into The Book of Longings for some reason.

[Anonymous]

Reading The Demon of Unrest by Erik Larson
I picked it b/c i know this author AND b/c it got a bad review on NYT* which made me curious
It's about the wealthy white slave owners and politicians (usually the same people) in South Carolina in the lead-up to the civil war - non fiction

*One of the comments is that there are no Black voices and only rare mentions of Black people. This is not completely true, and the book is about the blundering white idiots who "owned" them and wasted so many lives for their "right" to do so. the author tends to use a lot of language of the day to describe slaves and their situations, which sounds terrible to us.
However, Larson always calls them "enslaved people"

There is too much detail but Larson is trying to make a point, comparing the ignorance and hubris of those idiots who ran over Ft Sumpter to the ignorance and hubris of the idiots who ran over the Capitol on Jan 6. Similar mind-sets it seems.

Either way it's making me very angry.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am reading The Night Watchmen by Louise Erdrich

Takes place in 1953 and it's the story of different native American members of the Chippewa nation. The main character worked as a night watchmen and was instrumental in saving the Federal recognition of their tribe.

The story is not biographical, but based on the grandfather of the author. I have a friend who is native American and when I mentioned but I am reading the book and one of the main plot lines is the bill that was presented to Congress for emancipation of the Indians in 1953, she immediately knew about it and called the termination act. Which kind reinforces that this is based on a true story.

last month I read There There by Tommy Orange. Reading books by Native American authors was not intentional, but it just happens to be what I've been picking up.

Well this is strange because I read “There There” a couple of months ago and then found “The Night Watchman” in a little library almost immediately after, and so read that next! I quite enjoyed it (Erdrich is amazing) and learned so much from it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Trying to listen to "The Measure," as recommended by last month's "What are you reading" thread. I'm finding it a bit of a slog (now 39% through per Libby). The premise is interesting (as are some of the broader societal ramifications of the "longevity threads"). But the characters (thus far?) are such a dull set of stereotypes. It's getting so I just don't care what happens: die/ don't die, short thread/ long thread, whatever! Does it get better? I could imagine that the author might start to subvert some of these types, and perhaps I am just not there yet?

I think the issue is that you’re listening to it. I know people like Julia Whelan but I can’t stand her. She is so boring and monotonous and she makes me hate all the characters in every book she reads. Once I discovered that I stopped listening to anything she does and I read it instead, which is what I did with The Measure. It’s not great literature by any stretch but it’s an easy and quick and interesting read and my two cents is that the reason you don’t like it is because of the narrator.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just finished The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd, the intertwined narratives of Sarah Grimke (of the Grimke sisters) and "Handful" one of the Grimke family slaves. I hadn't read the author before was surprised by how good it was--both compelling subject matter and well-written. I am not sure why I had such minimal expectations, perhaps because the little I heard of the Secret Life of Bees movie seemed a little "Hallmark"-ish? Anyway, I def recommend, and will probably go off to read other Kidd books in the next months.

This is my favorite book ever. The Four Winds was a good follow up

I'm reading What Alice Forgot now. Alice hits her head and forgets 10 years of her life. The story is good, now that I'm 75% done with it. I felt very lost the first few chapters (I hate those kinds of books where you learn more about characters after reading for an hour.) I also don't like how long the chapters are. It's much easier to read 2-3 five minute chapters than a 15 minute long one. I got the book through the Libby/Kindle.

That’s my favorite Liane Moriarty book! I’ve read them all and some I didn’t like much but that one was the best.