March 2025 - What are you reading?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just got Show Don’t Tell from Curtis Sittenfeld, which is her new short story collection. I love her writing so it’s very good and I forgot how much I enjoyed short stories - it’s nice to read one when I have a little bit of a break instead of scrolling on my phone. There’s a story that follows up with Lee from her first book Prep too which I am looking forward to.

Waiting for this from the library. I love short stories and I'm listening to Joyce Carol.Oates' latest collection, Flint Kill Creek. They are all macabre; think Shirley Jackson. I like her short stories better than her novels. I am.enjoying these.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Now 3/4 through "The Berry Pickers." The nicest thing I can say about it thus far is that the cover is pretty. It takes a heavy subject, places it in an interesting and cross-cultural setting, and somehow manages to be boring and lackluster.

I need to read this for book club next week. I've been putting it off because it sounds boring.

I read enjoyed the Berry Pickers (finished earlier this month when I got it from Libby with a "I'm Feeling Lucky" search- thought it was a good, quick read. My only complaint was that the author doesn't put year in so it was hard to tell what the time period was that each chapter was (and there was some skipping of years)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Now 3/4 through "The Berry Pickers." The nicest thing I can say about it thus far is that the cover is pretty. It takes a heavy subject, places it in an interesting and cross-cultural setting, and somehow manages to be boring and lackluster.

I need to read this for book club next week. I've been putting it off because it sounds boring.

I read enjoyed the Berry Pickers (finished earlier this month when I got it from Libby with a "I'm Feeling Lucky" search- thought it was a good, quick read. My only complaint was that the author doesn't put year in so it was hard to tell what the time period was that each chapter was (and there was some skipping of years)

NP. I liked Berry Pickers. Not amazing, but decent.

[Anonymous]

Alice McDermott's "Absolution." It's an epistolary novel that retrospectively tells the story of the wives of American intelligence officers during the early years of the Vietnam War---their myopic altruism and ability to compartmentalize their presence in Saigon from the genocide taking place in the jungles just beyond. A quiet read thus far, but also a good one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Alice McDermott's "Absolution." It's an epistolary novel that retrospectively tells the story of the wives of American intelligence officers during the early years of the Vietnam War---their myopic altruism and ability to compartmentalize their presence in Saigon from the genocide taking place in the jungles just beyond. A quiet read thus far, but also a good one.

I just finished this last night. Come back and tell me what you thought about it!

[Anonymous]

I'm rereading To Rise Again at a Decent Hour by Joshua Ferris. I don't know why I love this book so much. I've read it probably 5 times in the past three years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Alice McDermott's "Absolution." It's an epistolary novel that retrospectively tells the story of the wives of American intelligence officers during the early years of the Vietnam War---their myopic altruism and ability to compartmentalize their presence in Saigon from the genocide taking place in the jungles just beyond. A quiet read thus far, but also a good one.

I just finished this last night. Come back and tell me what you thought about it!

DP- PP do you recommend? I’m considering whether to start it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm rereading To Rise Again at a Decent Hour by Joshua Ferris. I don't know why I love this book so much. I've read it probably 5 times in the past three years.

I always want to love Joshua Ferris more than I do. His premises are usually so sharp and he has good insights on real life. But somehow it doesn’t ever come together for me. I’m kind of jealous that there is a book you love so much you read it 5 times.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm rereading To Rise Again at a Decent Hour by Joshua Ferris. I don't know why I love this book so much. I've read it probably 5 times in the past three years.

I always want to love Joshua Ferris more than I do. His premises are usually so sharp and he has good insights on real life. But somehow it doesn’t ever come together for me. I’m kind of jealous that there is a book you love so much you read it 5 times.

PP here. I don't know why it hits so hard for me. The dentist makes me laugh, and I'm impressed by all the Biblical history that went into writing it. I think it's Ferris's best book by far.

There are some books that I've probably read 10+ times. But I should spend that time finding something new.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Now 3/4 through "The Berry Pickers." The nicest thing I can say about it thus far is that the cover is pretty. It takes a heavy subject, places it in an interesting and cross-cultural setting, and somehow manages to be boring and lackluster.

I need to read this for book club next week. I've been putting it off because it sounds boring.

I like this book. Yes it's a heavy subject but well written and nuanced..

Im listening to Catalina and reading Shy Creatures and enjoying both of them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Alice McDermott's "Absolution." It's an epistolary novel that retrospectively tells the story of the wives of American intelligence officers during the early years of the Vietnam War---their myopic altruism and ability to compartmentalize their presence in Saigon from the genocide taking place in the jungles just beyond. A quiet read thus far, but also a good one.

I just finished this last night. Come back and tell me what you thought about it!

It didn’t go where I was expecting it to, but that’s not a bad thing. It’s really introspective, complex, and written beautifully.

[Anonymous]

I just finished I Cheerfully Refuse by Leif Enger. I loved it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm rereading To Rise Again at a Decent Hour by Joshua Ferris. I don't know why I love this book so much. I've read it probably 5 times in the past three years.

I always want to love Joshua Ferris more than I do. His premises are usually so sharp and he has good insights on real life. But somehow it doesn’t ever come together for me. I’m kind of jealous that there is a book you love so much you read it 5 times.

PP here. I don't know why it hits so hard for me. The dentist makes me laugh, and I'm impressed by all the Biblical history that went into writing it. I think it's Ferris's best book by far.

There are some books that I've probably read 10+ times. But I should spend that time finding something new.

Oh wow, what have you read 10+ times?

[Anonymous]

The Exchange by John Grisham. I wanted something that moved and wasn’t too dense. I am into but man this guy needs an editor. Inconsistent pov. Repetitions. And just copy editing errors, too. But it’s a good story.

[Anonymous]

I'm loving The Briar Club.