what are you reading for july?

[Anonymous]

Oh, I love And the Band Played On. So heartbreaking. Felt like the sky darkened for 400 pages.

I’m so excited to read All Fours. I adored the first bad man. Weird, gross, poignant, and about the best kind of love. I’ve only known one other person who felt the same way about it. It’s quite polarizing!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I didn't post in the June thread, so I'm sharing my recent reads.

Victim by Andrew Boryga
Terrible. A one-note plot that's explained in full on the dust jacket. No insight, one dimensional everything (characters, plot, message).

Sacred Hearts by Sarah Dunant
This came up in a search for "available now." I had never heard of the author though she seems to have a small following. What a lucky find! The writing was fantastic, beautiful sentences throughout. That more than anything kept me reading early on, but the complex characters and vividly drawn setting (medieval Italian convent) also held my attention. The plot is gentle, a few twists and some suspense, but this is mostly a character driven book. This is the ultimate Bechdel Rule book- it's all about the interior lives of women without the usual fluff about dating or "having it all". I will read more from this author.

Get the Picture by Bianca Bosker
Disappointing. I liked her first book about wine, but this one was muddled and didn't deliver on its promises. She spends a lot of time railing against the pretension and exclusivity of the art world, which seems like tilting at windmills.

My Murder
A light quick read. Entertaining enough. I guessed the plot twist, but it still felt like a decent payoff.

Listen for the Lie
if you want a novel with commentary on true crime and the cultural phenomenon of women victims, My Murder is better. The romantic subplot in this one was tedious (will they or won't they? of course they will). The protagonist narrator has a strong, sarcastic voice that I loved on the first page, then it became grating very fast. Will probably DNF.

Such a Bad Influence
Will DNF. Trite observations about influencer culture grafted on to a thin plot. This would have been fascinating if it gave a peek in to how the influencer market works, but it's clearly written from the outside.

Fat Leonard
I've followed this case since it first broke, so I'm in the target audience for this book. Yet so far I can't get into it. The author's tone is moralistic and condemning of all involved. It would be more interesting to learn about them as complex people, not just "bad guys."

Too bad about the new Bianca Bosker. I liked Cork Dork for what it was but found her pretentious and privileged without acknowledgement, so I doubt I’ll like this one despite my interest in art.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I didn't post in the June thread, so I'm sharing my recent reads.

Victim by Andrew Boryga
Terrible. A one-note plot that's explained in full on the dust jacket. No insight, one dimensional everything (characters, plot, message).

Sacred Hearts by Sarah Dunant
This came up in a search for "available now." I had never heard of the author though she seems to have a small following. What a lucky find! The writing was fantastic, beautiful sentences throughout. That more than anything kept me reading early on, but the complex characters and vividly drawn setting (medieval Italian convent) also held my attention. The plot is gentle, a few twists and some suspense, but this is mostly a character driven book. This is the ultimate Bechdel Rule book- it's all about the interior lives of women without the usual fluff about dating or "having it all". I will read more from this author.

Get the Picture by Bianca Bosker
Disappointing. I liked her first book about wine, but this one was muddled and didn't deliver on its promises. She spends a lot of time railing against the pretension and exclusivity of the art world, which seems like tilting at windmills.

My Murder
A light quick read. Entertaining enough. I guessed the plot twist, but it still felt like a decent payoff.

Listen for the Lie
if you want a novel with commentary on true crime and the cultural phenomenon of women victims, My Murder is better. The romantic subplot in this one was tedious (will they or won't they? of course they will). The protagonist narrator has a strong, sarcastic voice that I loved on the first page, then it became grating very fast. Will probably DNF.

Such a Bad Influence
Will DNF. Trite observations about influencer culture grafted on to a thin plot. This would have been fascinating if it gave a peek in to how the influencer market works, but it's clearly written from the outside.

Fat Leonard
I've followed this case since it first broke, so I'm in the target audience for this book. Yet so far I can't get into it. The author's tone is moralistic and condemning of all involved. It would be more interesting to learn about them as complex people, not just "bad guys."

Too bad about the new Bianca Bosker. I liked Cork Dork for what it was but found her pretentious and privileged without acknowledgement, so I doubt I’ll like this one despite my interest in art.

Bosker’s unacknowledged pretension and lack of self awareness is much worse in the new book!

[Anonymous]

Hoping to read "The Cliffs" by J. Courtney Sullivan and "God of the Woods" by Liz Moore.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I didn't post in the June thread, so I'm sharing my recent reads.

Victim by Andrew Boryga
Terrible. A one-note plot that's explained in full on the dust jacket. No insight, one dimensional everything (characters, plot, message).

Sacred Hearts by Sarah Dunant
This came up in a search for "available now." I had never heard of the author though she seems to have a small following. What a lucky find! The writing was fantastic, beautiful sentences throughout. That more than anything kept me reading early on, but the complex characters and vividly drawn setting (medieval Italian convent) also held my attention. The plot is gentle, a few twists and some suspense, but this is mostly a character driven book. This is the ultimate Bechdel Rule book- it's all about the interior lives of women without the usual fluff about dating or "having it all". I will read more from this author.

Get the Picture by Bianca Bosker
Disappointing. I liked her first book about wine, but this one was muddled and didn't deliver on its promises. She spends a lot of time railing against the pretension and exclusivity of the art world, which seems like tilting at windmills.

My Murder
A light quick read. Entertaining enough. I guessed the plot twist, but it still felt like a decent payoff.

Listen for the Lie
if you want a novel with commentary on true crime and the cultural phenomenon of women victims, My Murder is better. The romantic subplot in this one was tedious (will they or won't they? of course they will). The protagonist narrator has a strong, sarcastic voice that I loved on the first page, then it became grating very fast. Will probably DNF.

Such a Bad Influence
Will DNF. Trite observations about influencer culture grafted on to a thin plot. This would have been fascinating if it gave a peek in to how the influencer market works, but it's clearly written from the outside.

Fat Leonard
I've followed this case since it first broke, so I'm in the target audience for this book. Yet so far I can't get into it. The author's tone is moralistic and condemning of all involved. It would be more interesting to learn about them as complex people, not just "bad guys."

Too bad about the new Bianca Bosker. I liked Cork Dork for what it was but found her pretentious and privileged without acknowledgement, so I doubt I’ll like this one despite my interest in art.

Bosker’s unacknowledged pretension and lack of self awareness is much worse in the new book!

DP. As a wine rube who lives in world of wine snobs, I appreciated learning the basics in a fun way in Cork Dork. I feel the same about art. Maybe I am her target audience?

[Anonymous]

I just finished Lion Women of Tehran. so good. i think i'll start all the colors of the dark next.

[Anonymous]

Trying to decide what to read next, I haven't loved the last few books I read:

The Hunter / Tana French (I love her books but this one was slow and mostly on the topic of small town culture and politics)

None of this is True / Lisa Jewell (overall good but the ending was weird and some things didn't add up for me)

The Alice Network / Kate Quinn (I liked parts of the story but parts were cheesy romcom and many, many plot points were just unbelievable)

The Glass Hotel / Emily St. John Mandel (Beautiful writing but I couldn't get into any of the characters and there was essentially no plot)

I have The Berry Pickers from the library but can't decide if I'm interested.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just finished Lion Women of Tehran. so good. i think i'll start all the colors of the dark next.

Thank you for rec! I had not heard of this and I am very interested in Iran.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Listened to a podcast the other day about a woman in 1990 who claimed she got AIDS from her dentist and basically the CDC and NIH researched it and the claim was credible though nobody to this day knows how he infected her. Anyway, that made me interested in the AIDS crisis broadly so I’m reading And the Band Played On right now. Also bought Solario which is a memoir of a man who emigrated to the U.S. from El Salvador at age 9.

Check out the movie And The Band Played On as well. We watched it every year in HS health class and I still remember it - very moving and I cried. Not easy to give HS students the feels like that!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Listened to a podcast the other day about a woman in 1990 who claimed she got AIDS from her dentist and basically the CDC and NIH researched it and the claim was credible though nobody to this day knows how he infected her. Anyway, that made me interested in the AIDS crisis broadly so I’m reading And the Band Played On right now. Also bought Solario which is a memoir of a man who emigrated to the U.S. from El Salvador at age 9.

Check out the movie And The Band Played On as well. We watched it every year in HS health class and I still remember it - very moving and I cried. Not easy to give HS students the feels like that!

To clarify, the woman’s claim was not credible as she lied about her sexual history and the CDC genotyping was likely done incorrectly.

[Anonymous]

I just picked up a copy of “The Housemaid Is Watching” by Freida McFadden the other day + am enjoying reading 📖 it immensely.

I have read her previous Housemaid novels & really liked them both.

I was introduced to this fantastic author’s work from a previous book club.

Her books can be a little cheesy to read - but her writing style is easy to read and I am a sucker for a good, suspense / thriller novel!

[Anonymous]

Started the new Elin Hildebrand and the plot feels a bit tired even though I’m not even halfway through it. I do love the recurring characters and places though.

[Anonymous]

I just finished North Woods.

It’s about a house in Massachusetts and its inhabitants over many centuries. Each story builds on the lives of the people, animals and plants who lived on the land.

I like the beginning about the early settlers against the backdrop of the Revolutionary War. Loved the bit about the Major who becomes obsessed with apples.. a condition called the pomomania. But as the book progresses, the stories and the characters become less interesting. I also did not like the paranormal stuff in the latter chapters.

[Anonymous]

The Ones We Choose, by Julie Clark. This is the last of her books I haven't read, and I need her to crank out a new one, pronto.

[Anonymous]

I just read All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker & I am dying to talk about why people rated this book almost 5 stars on Goodreads! I don’t get it & at almost 600 pages, I think it could have been so much shorter. I was really into it in the beginning & then just had to finish it out of spite.

But I loved the book One’s Company & highly recommend it!! Especially if you watched Three’s Company growing up!