What are you reading for October?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Oh and I forgot I finished The Measure - it wasn't the most well written book I've ever read but the premise is interesting and thought-provoking, so I'd recommend it

Your assessment of The Measure is pretty much exactly how I felt about it. It's not a beautifully written book, but the concept is so unique and every time you think the topic is exhausted the author thinks of another "what if" situation. It somehow manages to be simultaneously ordinary and fascinating.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just finished Bel Canto (Ann Patchett) and thought it was a good, solid read. I have loved her essays over the years, but this was the first time I'd gotten to one of her novels. I am inspired to get the audiobook of Tom Lake next, both due to the afterglow of this read & all the recs on DCUM.

Also just finished listening to Fourth Wing (plucky youngest daughter of general trains to be a dragon rider + romance), chosen also in part because of DCUM recs. I was... disappointed? Not because it was all bad, but because the concept was actually engaging and fun, but dragged down by terrible writing and cliche and repetition. I don't think I'm really a book snob and have always loved fantasy/sci-fi, but perhaps I am just not used to the pace and tropes of a romance novel? I don't know, on the fence with whether to recommend and/or get the next in the series. Perhaps I should just unearth the Anne McCaffrey dragonrider books of my youth!

I'm a huge romance and fantasy reader and I think Fourth Wing was a very strange read. I still, oddly, want to know what happens next, but it's a five book series and I'm not sure I can deal with garbage writing for four more books.

I think one of the first issues was just basic world building info dumps, plot holes, and my inability to suspend disbelief that a young woman poised to be a scribe would merge seamlessly into the role of being a dragon rider. She was scholarly and bookish before, but then suddenly swears like a sailor and is on board with violence? It just doesn't make sense. Also, a war college that is fine with losing the majority of recruits to training accidents and encourages recruits to murder each other is just ridiculous.

But damn, those dragons got me.

Yes, everything dragon and dragon-adjacent was great... the rest, not so much! Given there is apparently going to be 5 books (!), I think I may pass on the rest. Or at least wait--for the TV adaption that is probably sure to come. (And actually think the book(s), put in the hands of competent screenwriters, could be much improved. And, given that there is a lot of action and little depth, this may just be a story better suited for a visual medium to begin with.)

[Anonymous]

Currently reading People Collide by Isle McElroy. It’s about a man who suddenly inhabits his wife’s body and can’t find her. Enjoying it a lot, and hoping it doesn’t bite it at the end (always seems to be a risk with high concept novels).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just finished Bel Canto (Ann Patchett) and thought it was a good, solid read. I have loved her essays over the years, but this was the first time I'd gotten to one of her novels. I am inspired to get the audiobook of Tom Lake next, both due to the afterglow of this read & all the recs on DCUM.

Also just finished listening to Fourth Wing (plucky youngest daughter of general trains to be a dragon rider + romance), chosen also in part because of DCUM recs. I was... disappointed? Not because it was all bad, but because the concept was actually engaging and fun, but dragged down by terrible writing and cliche and repetition. I don't think I'm really a book snob and have always loved fantasy/sci-fi, but perhaps I am just not used to the pace and tropes of a romance novel? I don't know, on the fence with whether to recommend and/or get the next in the series. Perhaps I should just unearth the Anne McCaffrey dragonrider books of my youth!

I'm a huge romance and fantasy reader and I think Fourth Wing was a very strange read. I still, oddly, want to know what happens next, but it's a five book series and I'm not sure I can deal with garbage writing for four more books.

I think one of the first issues was just basic world building info dumps, plot holes, and my inability to suspend disbelief that a young woman poised to be a scribe would merge seamlessly into the role of being a dragon rider. She was scholarly and bookish before, but then suddenly swears like a sailor and is on board with violence? It just doesn't make sense. Also, a war college that is fine with losing the majority of recruits to training accidents and encourages recruits to murder each other is just ridiculous.

But damn, those dragons got me.

Yes, everything dragon and dragon-adjacent was great... the rest, not so much! Given there is apparently going to be 5 books (!), I think I may pass on the rest. Or at least wait--for the TV adaption that is probably sure to come. (And actually think the book(s), put in the hands of competent screenwriters, could be much improved. And, given that there is a lot of action and little depth, this may just be a story better suited for a visual medium to begin with.)

I'll read about those dragons for a few more books, but I agree with you.

Plus, with five books, you know the author is going to throw such curve balls with the characters to keep this thin plot alive.

I'm seeing posts on social media that the editor of this book and Assistant to the Villain from the same publisher is...the CEO of the imprint. It explains so much that a professional editor wasn't involved.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can anyone recommend some spooky Halloween reads? I’ve already read pretty much every Stephen King and Shirley Jackson and I reread the classics (Frankenstein, Dracula) every year. Enjoyed Mexican Gothic recently.

The Elementals by Michael McDowell

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova.

[Anonymous]

I'm about to start The Ex Hex which is supposed to be a fun chick lit book appropriate for the season.

Life is so serious, reading is my escape so I rarely read serious literature.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Reading a novel called End of Drum-Time about Sami culture in the 19th century. Recommended by a bookshop clerk. I love historical fiction. Also on tap is a history of Ravenna and The Poison Machine, which is in a series of mysteries set in Restoration London with Robert Hooke as a character.

Update: finished The End of Drum-Time. Highly recommend. Lovely, tragic story about the loss of Sami customs because of Scandinavian settlers, with some tragic romances to boot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm about to start The Ex Hex which is supposed to be a fun chick lit book appropriate for the season.

Life is so serious, reading is my escape so I rarely read serious literature.

Ugh sorry to say I really did not care for it with the poor writing and cliche/weird romance.

[Anonymous]

I’m reading Colson Whitehead’s Crook Manifesto (the second in that series), The Idiot by Elif Batuman, and Faithful Place by Tana French.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
It is one of best books I read this year. It’s a hard-to-put-down kind of book. Set in 1960s, it vividly portrays the 1960s, capturing the mood, attitudes, and challenges experienced by women from that era. I’ve heard about the inherent sexism and inequality of that time but I did not really KNOW this until reading the book. The protagonist, Elizabeth is a brilliant chemist and a way ahead of her time. She refuses to conform to societal norms. She wants a career. It’s a funny and entertaining book that celebrates the power of knowledge.

Great book! Looking forward to the Apple TV show now. 😀

[Anonymous]

Finished Remarkably Bright Creatures - great listen on Libby. Next was The Book of Lost Names, a Holocaust-era book about a document forgery ring that smuggled Jewish children into Switzerland. So intense and so many sad parts (along with happy ones too, but still) that I seriously have to recover from it. Earlier this fall I read my first Emily Henry novel (Book Lovers) so I’m going to read Happy Place next. Should be a lighter read!

[Anonymous]

2/3rds of the way through Braiding Sweetgrass. I'm finding the content is getting a bit heavier, I cry more and take more time to read each chapter/story.

I took a break to read Wavewalker: A Memoir of Breaking Free by Suzanne Heywood. I liked it, found it relatable, the story was compelling and I read the first 360 pages in less than a day. But still need to finish the ending (20 pages or so left) but I'm feeling it won't resolve as comprehensively as I would like. There was a big skip in time and I put it down. But still recommend!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The Bird Hotel by Joyce Maynard

It's about a girl/woman dealing with loss and grief who ends up at a hotel in Central America and the variety of people she meets and the experiences she has.

It was recommended to me at the book discussion group I go to and further investigation revealed it's very highly reviewed.

I'm enjoying it more than I thought I would, it's good.

Thank you for this recommendation. I read it in two days. I traveled to Lake Atitlan in my twenties and I almost forgot how much I loved it there until this book. It was beautifully written, and I’m longing to go back now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Finished Remarkably Bright Creatures - great listen on Libby. Next was The Book of Lost Names, a Holocaust-era book about a document forgery ring that smuggled Jewish children into Switzerland. So intense and so many sad parts (along with happy ones too, but still) that I seriously have to recover from it. Earlier this fall I read my first Emily Henry novel (Book Lovers) so I’m going to read Happy Place next. Should be a lighter read!

Ooh, loved this! This was my book last month. Right now I am in the middle of Black Cake. I honestly don't know why I put it on my queue at the library, I tend to put things on my Libby list when I read a good review or somebody recommends it, but it took awhile to become available so I have forgotten when/why I put it on.

So far I love it - I am probably 60% through. It starts in present day (well 2018) with two grown siblings who have been estranged for 8 years, and are brought together by their family attorney when their mother passes away. He tells them that part of the mother's wishes was to listen to an eight hour recording, while the attorney is present. She had wanted to tell them in person together, but since the siblings were not on good terms, had not had a chance before she passed away.

The rest of the book is a back and forth between present day and the mother's youth and young adulthood, and her children learn that there was much to their mother's life that they did not know. You also go back a few years and learn about what happened to cause the rift between siblings. Not sure how it ends yet, but it has been really good.

The title references a cake that is a family recipe from when her mom grew up in the West Indies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Bird Hotel by Joyce Maynard

It's about a girl/woman dealing with loss and grief who ends up at a hotel in Central America and the variety of people she meets and the experiences she has.

It was recommended to me at the book discussion group I go to and further investigation revealed it's very highly reviewed.

I'm enjoying it more than I thought I would, it's good.

Thank you for this recommendation. I read it in two days. I traveled to Lake Atitlan in my twenties and I almost forgot how much I loved it there until this book. It was beautifully written, and I’m longing to go back now.

It is a kindle daily deal today.