January 2026! What are you reading??

[Anonymous]

Mother Mary Comes to Me - a memoir by writer Arundhati Roy (God of Small Things)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Heart the Lover by Lily King. Only about 50 pages in.

How is it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Heart the Lover by Lily King. Only about 50 pages in.

How is it?

Enjoying it so far .. a book club pick. Starting to get absorbed -- will report back if I end up loving it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just finished The Tattooist of Auschwitz.

Of course it’s an interesting true story but I found the writing very bland and felt like a YA book. The author did a lot of telling, not showing and in a superficial way. I had to skim read paragraphs to get through. The book did improve at about the 75% mark.

I know it has great reviews on Goodreads and was a best seller, but just meh, IMO.

Thanks for this review, I had the same reaction to that book. I personally find that a lot of Goodreads faves can be described similarly. For me, the most recent example is The Bookclub for Troublesome Women. So much telling, very little showing.

I wish you could sort Goodreads reviews by selecting criteria about the reviewer. I think a lot of "popular" books are terrible (and I'm not a reading snob, I just can't stand the books that make me literally my eyes, I'm talking to you, Frieda McFadden), but I imagine that's due to the general US population. As George Carlin said, "Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that."

Same but admit I’m a snob. Kristen Hannah, for one..just awful.

Maybe I'm a snob, but I also just think about literature/reading different from many people. I do have standards for what I think is "good" literature. (I was tempted to say that I have "high" standards, but I dunno--what makes my standards "high" and others' "low"?) I also recognize when writing meets my standards but is not my cup of tea. That is, I can acknowledge something as being what I think of as "good" literature even if I don't like it. And I can even be glad that I read something "good" even if I didn't like it or found it hard to get through, because e.g., I appreciate what the author is trying to do or trying to say. I also differentiate between what I think of as "good" literature (whether or not I like it) and "not good literature but I liked it anyway" (this is what makes me think I'm not entirely a snob). And then there's stuff that's just plain "bad" to me--"not good" literature that I also didn't enjoy reading.

I think many readers take a different approach in their online reviews. If they like something, it's good, if they don't, it's bad, and that's that. Those reviews aren't very helpful to a reader like me.

[Anonymous]

I just finished The Rest of Our Lives, by Ben Markovits, about a dad who promised himself that he would/could leave his wife, who had an affair, once the kids were out of the house and who twelve years later keeps driving after dropping their youngest daughter off at college. It was okay. I think it reminded me of why I usually prefer books by women; I sort of wanted to read the book from the wife’s perspective instead. Definitely not my favorite of the Booker Prize shortlist books that I have read so far (that is, all of the ones by women). But not bad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just finished The Rest of Our Lives, by Ben Markovits, about a dad who promised himself that he would/could leave his wife, who had an affair, once the kids were out of the house and who twelve years later keeps driving after dropping their youngest daughter off at college. It was okay. I think it reminded me of why I usually prefer books by women; I sort of wanted to read the book from the wife’s perspective instead. Definitely not my favorite of the Booker Prize shortlist books that I have read so far (that is, all of the ones by women). But not bad.

Oh I remember hearing about this! It had me intrigued. Thanks for the report.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This snowy weekend seems like a good time to start 1929 by Andrew Ross Sorkin. I enjoyed his Too Big To Fail.

It's great. I'm about 2/3 of the way through it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Heart the Lover by Lily King. Only about 50 pages in.

I read this. Intriguing. Sad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Heart the Lover by Lily King. Only about 50 pages in.

I read this. Intriguing. Sad.

I thought it was really good. I re-read Writers and Lovers half way through (HtL is both a prequel and sequel to it).

[Anonymous]

The drowning of paper flowers

Suspenseful.
Good so far.

[Anonymous]

Re-reading "Fight Club" after 30 years. It resonates even more tragically after 9/11 and given our current state of political affairs . . . young men without roots or a purpose in life are dangers to much more than just themselves. I first read the book before I saw the movie and thought the movie was better. I doubt this re-reading will change my mind.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Mother Mary Comes to Me - a memoir by writer Arundhati Roy (God of Small Things)

So keen to hear what you think of this? I'm hearing mixed reviews but many are glowing.

I got a Kobo for a holiday gift and have been Libby-ing it up all January. So far have read Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont (Elizabeth Taylor), A Far Cry From Kensington (Muriel Spark), The Go-Between (L.P. Hartley), and Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead (Olga Tokarczuk). Honestly all good but the Muriel Spark has been my favorite.

Now reading Wish Her Safe at Home by Stephen Benatar which is both hilarious and extremely uncomfortable (and I have a feeling it's going to get worse...).

[Anonymous]

The Comfort Crisis, Michael Easter

I guess I am pretty easily convinced / impressionable. Just bought a weighted vest!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just finished Buckeye and I really liked it! I just started The Sequel, having read The Plot a few years ago. I wasn’t going to read it but couldn’t resist once it was in paperback.

I really enjoyed the plot and the sequel. But I started the latecomer by the same author and I’m about halfway through and I don’t think I’m going to finish. Most of the characters are pretty unlikable and I just don’t care what happens to any of them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just finished The Tattooist of Auschwitz.

Of course it’s an interesting true story but I found the writing very bland and felt like a YA book. The author did a lot of telling, not showing and in a superficial way. I had to skim read paragraphs to get through. The book did improve at about the 75% mark.

I know it has great reviews on Goodreads and was a best seller, but just meh, IMO.

Thanks for this review, I had the same reaction to that book. I personally find that a lot of Goodreads faves can be described similarly. For me, the most recent example is The Bookclub for Troublesome Women. So much telling, very little showing.

I wish you could sort Goodreads reviews by selecting criteria about the reviewer. I think a lot of "popular" books are terrible (and I'm not a reading snob, I just can't stand the books that make me literally my eyes, I'm talking to you, Frieda McFadden), but I imagine that's due to the general US population. As George Carlin said, "Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that."

Same but admit I’m a snob. Kristen Hannah, for one..just awful.

100% agreen on Kristen Hannah and I'm not a snob.