What are you reading for August?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Count of Monte Cristo cause a bunch of people on Reddit told me to. (The last time I followed their recs I ended up wasting my time with Shogun. Hope this time is not a repeat.)

I absolutely love the Count of Monte Cristo. Enjoy!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just finished Birnam Wood.

Now I need to pick among these:

Mad Honey
Lessons in Chemistry
The Heart’s Invisible Furies

Help me choose!

I just finished Lessons in Chemistry and really enjoyed it!

Yes, delightful!

[Anonymous]

Orhan Pamuk, Nights of Plague

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just finished Birnam Wood.

Now I need to pick among these:

Mad Honey
Lessons in Chemistry
The Heart’s Invisible Furies

Help me choose!

I just finished Lessons in Chemistry and really enjoyed it!

Thanks! I started it last night.

[Anonymous]

I too am reading Lessons in Chemistry b/c my "book club" is reading it. It's not a club. My neighbors and I all agree to read a book in Aug together and another at New Years. We actually discuss them!

Favorite character so far is 6:30.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I too am reading Lessons in Chemistry b/c my "book club" is reading it. It's not a club. My neighbors and I all agree to read a book in Aug together and another at New Years. We actually discuss them!

Favorite character so far is 6:30.

PP who started it last night. Love 6:30, even if he is much like the dog in The Art of Racing in the Rain

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just started This Tender Land.

I liked that book!

I "finally" just started American Dirt last night. Idk what I think of it yet.

I liked American Dirt - I had to read it after hearing about the controversy about how the publisher and film company that bought the rights favored the writer, who is not LatinX. I thought it was interesting and I learned a lot about immigration and drug wars.

Then I started Yellowface, because it tackles the issue of authority in publishing head on. It's also interesting and a bit satyrical which I love.

I loved American Dirt! I think the whole kerfuffle about the author was totally ridiculous. It's a good book. Who cares what race or ethnicity the author is.

Yellowface was ok. It's well written and humorous in parts. But overall it made me really anxious, and not in that fun excited way that thrillers typically do but in the way that you find yourself constantly cringing and covering your face on behalf of the characters and their bad choices. I realize this was the author's intention but it was very unpleasant to experience as the reader.

I think you've articulated really well what makes Yellowface so well done. The entire thing is so cringe-worthy. An unpleasant experience is exactly how I felt. But that's why I thought it was really well done. It's normally hard for me to get invested in books with unsympathetic, unlikable narrators yet I couldn't put this one down. It's such sharp commentary on our current PC/anti-PC/cancel culture/anti-cancel culture world without actually picking any sides and you as the reader are left a little unsure of right vs. wrong and of who the villains vs. good actors are.

(NP to the Yellowface discussion).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just finished Birnam Wood.

Now I need to pick among these:

Mad Honey
Lessons in Chemistry
The Heart’s Invisible Furies

Help me choose!

Heart's Invisible Furies!

I am an outlier who didn't love Lessons in Chemistry. But I really loved Heart's Invisible Furies!

[Anonymous]

Finished Demon Copperhead yesterday. Compelling and oh so depressing.

Heading on vacation and packing a few things, nothing super heavy.
Attachments by Rainbow Rowell
The Life Council by Laura Tremaine
Happy Place by Emily Henry
Love & Saffron by Kim Fay

There's also a fabulous local bookstore where we are going and I expect to grab a few light beach reads while I'm there.

[Anonymous]

On Earth We Are Briefly gorgeous

Driving With Dead People Memoir

[Anonymous]

Finished Being Elvis: A Lonely Life, an autobio by Ray Connolly. Overall, I liked it; Connolly's writing style is very approachable and readable. It focuses more on Elvis's personal life than his music, and devotes a good chunk of attention to his childhood in Tupelo, MS. That's not to say his music is ignored, but Connolly doesn't really get into the nitty-gritty of Elvis's songs, lyrics, musicianship, etc. as other rock-star bios do. It also doesn't sugarcoat his drug use... I felt like I was watching a slow-motion trainwreck midway through the book.

Connolly is clearly sympathetic towards Priscilla, who put up with a lot of BS from him. He's also dripping with contempt towards Tom Parker, but tbf I haven't read any Elvis bios that have anything good to say about his manager.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Finished Being Elvis: A Lonely Life, an autobio by Ray Connolly. Overall, I liked it; Connolly's writing style is very approachable and readable. It focuses more on Elvis's personal life than his music, and devotes a good chunk of attention to his childhood in Tupelo, MS. That's not to say his music is ignored, but Connolly doesn't really get into the nitty-gritty of Elvis's songs, lyrics, musicianship, etc. as other rock-star bios do. It also doesn't sugarcoat his drug use... I felt like I was watching a slow-motion trainwreck midway through the book.

Connolly is clearly sympathetic towards Priscilla, who put up with a lot of BS from him. He's also dripping with contempt towards Tom Parker, but tbf I haven't read any Elvis bios that have anything good to say about his manager.

sorry, that's a BIO by Ray Connolly, not an autobio.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Almost finished East of Eden by Steinbeck
--Fascinating

Did you love it? I have a tattoo of "timshel" on my wrist.

That's cool! It was definitely engrossing and interesting in many ways. I was kind of baffled by Steinbeck's portrayal of mothers starting with the mothers of Adam and Charles and then of course the mother of the twins. It made me wonder if his views of mothers depicted situations that were typical at that time or just in his mind.

Also, I watched the movie after reading the book and was very disappointed that the major character Lee was left out of the story completely. Hard to imagine why Steinbeck permitted that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just finished Birnam Wood.

Now I need to pick among these:

Mad Honey
Lessons in Chemistry
The Heart’s Invisible Furies

Help me choose!

Heart's Invisible Furies!

I am an outlier who didn't love Lessons in Chemistry. But I really loved Heart's Invisible Furies!

I’m the pp. just finished Lessons in Chemistry. I quite liked it, though parts of it felt like too much. I’d give it 4 stars. So I guess The Heart’s Invisible Furies will be next for me. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just started This Tender Land.

I liked that book!

I "finally" just started American Dirt last night. Idk what I think of it yet.

I am quoting myself here but I am in a kind of a funk! First, I guess I am actually reading a book - I am reading How to Get Rich by Ramit Sethi. But I started American Dirt and I don't know that I can continue with it right now. So many people love it but the beginning is just so depressing! I don't think feel like I don't want to read it. And, then I started Pineapple Street and it's kind of funny but I am also kind of bored, so I don't know that I want to read it either! I feel like I just read two easy summer books but so I should change it up but nothing is interesting me right now for some reason!