June 2025 - What are you reading?

[Anonymous]

Night Watch by Jayne Anne Phillips
Writing is amazing.

Wahala: A Novel
Nikki May

[Anonymous]

Those are two really interesting books to read back to back! (I had the same feeling about Martyr.) Bulgakov is a wonder.

What do you like about Bulgakov? (Curious about whether to add to my TBR list.)

I'm the poster you're responding to here. I was a Russian language major in the early 90s and read a his books in the original (talk about confusing!) and translation. He was a political and social satirist at a time when he could get into a lot of trouble with the censors. He threw in enough fantasy to excuse the inappropriate commentary, which was really impressive. He definitely ran afoul of the censors at times. Read his play Ivan Vasilievich for a great commentary on Soviet life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Those are two really interesting books to read back to back! (I had the same feeling about Martyr.) Bulgakov is a wonder.

What do you like about Bulgakov? (Curious about whether to add to my TBR list.)

I'm the poster you're responding to here. I was a Russian language major in the early 90s and read a his books in the original (talk about confusing!) and translation. He was a political and social satirist at a time when he could get into a lot of trouble with the censors. He threw in enough fantasy to excuse the inappropriate commentary, which was really impressive. He definitely ran afoul of the censors at times. Read his play Ivan Vasilievich for a great commentary on Soviet life.

NP. I’ve been meaning to read The Master and Margarita since I lived in Eastern Europe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I stayed up late to finish The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah. I couldn't put it down, started it Saturday and finished yesterday. I enjoyed it more than The Nightingale.

That is my favorite of her books.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Finished Kaveh Akbar’s Martyr! It was an uneven read. There were some parts that were really beautifully written; the chapter from the perspective of Cyrus’s uncle, riding a horse on a battlefield, is stunning. I enjoyed the poems that began each chapter. I was not familiar with Akbar as a poet before this, but I will definitely check out his works in that genre.

However, I couldn’t relate to the main character (Cyrus) at all. His chapters felt like reading a bored and spoiled young adult from Brooklyn’s LiveJournal. The twist at the end I found to be farfetched and rather silly. Akbar’s touches on a lot of themes (love, loss, grief, American-Iranian relations and politics, martyrdom, among others). Yet none of them are really explored in depth, and so the narrative feels incomplete. Overall 3/5 stars for the book but 5+/5 stars for the poetry.

Now reading The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov. Someone on here recommended it. It’s terrific so far.

Ha! LiveJournal! Thanks for that visual, PP!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Finished Kaveh Akbar’s Martyr! It was an uneven read. There were some parts that were really beautifully written; the chapter from the perspective of Cyrus’s uncle, riding a horse on a battlefield, is stunning. I enjoyed the poems that began each chapter. I was not familiar with Akbar as a poet before this, but I will definitely check out his works in that genre.

However, I couldn’t relate to the main character (Cyrus) at all. His chapters felt like reading a bored and spoiled young adult from Brooklyn’s LiveJournal. The twist at the end I found to be farfetched and rather silly. Akbar’s touches on a lot of themes (love, loss, grief, American-Iranian relations and politics, martyrdom, among others). Yet none of them are really explored in depth, and so the narrative feels incomplete. Overall 3/5 stars for the book but 5+/5 stars for the poetry.

Now reading The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov. Someone on here recommended it. It’s terrific so far.

The M and M is one of my favorite books. Native Russian speaker here, so I don’t know if it translates well (both literally and figuratively). It’s a great commentary on the Soviet life of the 1930s.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just finished "Remarkably Bright Creatures".
It is about a friendship between and octopus and an old woman. Tova is a 70 year old woman who works as a night janitor at an aquarium in Puget Sound. Marcellus is the name of the octopus at the aquarium.
I loved it.

Loved this one too - so endearing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I stayed up late to finish The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah. I couldn't put it down, started it Saturday and finished yesterday. I enjoyed it more than The Nightingale.

That is my favorite of her books.

Just finished this as well. Great story and couldn’t put it down. Any other recs for those that enjoyed this book?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The Doorman. It’s about residents of a building on Central Park West in NYC, and their doorman. So far I am really liking it. The writing is great.

This is on my Libby shelf, but I haven't started it yet. I enjoyed Pavone's other books, but this one has a few Goodreads reviews that mention politics, so I hope it doesn't detract from the book.

[Anonymous]

The turn of the Key by Ruth Ware.

[Anonymous]

First Frost by Sarah Addison Allen.

It is about female family members who all have a small magical talent. One adds specific spices to food and then the person who eats the food has a certain mood afterward. Another knows where things, and people, belong. Another is a hairdresser who makes people's hair beautiful. Another knows that someone is going to need some random item, like a spatula, soon and delivers the item to the person who will need it.

I just finished it. It was a book that was sitting around at home for a couple years. I thought it was pleasant. A little dull. .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just finished Lessons in Chemistry, which was kind of a letdown after the hype. Now reading Wild Dark Shores. Just started, good so far.

It was fluff, but I enjoyed it! But more interestingly, it got my mom talking about her own experience in a lab around the same time. I learned that a handsy "mentor" was a big part of her leaving before completing her graduate degree. I'd always thought she left because she got married, but her original plan was to finish her degree and then get married. Getting cornered by the lab director made her decide to get married sooner.

[Anonymous]

I'm really enjoying The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store. I don't know much about marginalized communities in the 1930s so it's like adding pieces to a puzzle of US history.

And the writing is very good; any recommendations for which James McBride I should add to my list? He's prolific!

[Anonymous]

I just finished O Caledonia and the writing blew me away.

Probably starting The Hunter (tana french) next but have several staring at me from my shelf and not sure what will compare.

[Anonymous]

in reading PAUL its such a good book and this is the main character