What are you reading for September?

[Anonymous]

I am reading The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese. It's good but as I'm reading it as an ebook, I was shocked to see that I'm only a quarter through and so much has happened already. I didn't realize it was such a long book!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I recently finished I will teach you to be rich by Ramit Sethi - I liked it for what it's worth.

I'm slowly plugging away at Pineapple Street. I am almost done with it, and will likely give it 3 stars.

I’m reading Pineapple Street, too. So far, the characters just aren’t that interesting to me and I’m about 1/3 through. I keep waiting for something interesting to happen.

It never does! Did you not see all the Pinepple Street blasting in the other thread? Lol!

I listened to Pineapple Street because my favorite narrator read it and I loved it but I think it’s because her voice makes me like characters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have literally never heard of any of these books, other than the one I mentioned. I don't know how or why that is the case. Any ideas?

I often have this experience. I still list mine in hopes I someone with like taste will be reading these threads too and we can exchange recommendations. 😆

Are they all certain genre I'm unaware of? like Chick Lit or Romance?

PP who has also never heard of most of these books. I thought they were NYT best sellers or something? I mostly read genre fiction (mysteries, sci fi, romance, etc) and nonfiction and get my recs from friends or stuff I randomly pick up at the library so when everyone’s talking about books I’ve never heard of I assume they’re mainstream.

Have you read Wool, Shift, and Dust? Based on your tastes you might like them. I’m not a sci-fi/fantasy person but I loved them. Also Project Hail Mary (listen to that one if you can). And The Apollo Murders was a fun historical fiction/sci-fi crossover.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just finished The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd. It includes several major themes but somehow still felt like nothing was happening during much of the book. I read this in book form.

For audiobooks I've been listening to Cassandra in Reverse by Holly Smale and Anxious People by Fredrik Backman. I've gotten the farthest with Cassandra but it's been a bit of a slog. I haven't been able to get into Anxious People and my Libby loan time is probably going to expire before I finish it, which rarely happens.

This morning I started Saturday Night at the Lakeside Club by J. Ryan Stradal.

I haven’t read that one but I read The Invention of Wings years ago and absolutely loved it if you’ve never read it.

[Anonymous]

Yellowface - I’d give it 3.5/5 but I’d also suggest it to people so I don’t know if that’s contradictory. It was quick and easy and the story was interesting but at times felt uneven, for lack of a better word. The main character was both unlikeable but also I felt like I barely knew her. Other than what she was currently thinking there was no character development. The book lagged in spots and then sped up in others. All in all I’d say read it because it was good, it just wasn’t great.

The Winners - 4.75/5. This is the third and final book of the Beartown trilogy and while Beartown was my favorite of the three (hence the less than 5 stars for The Winners), I loved them all. I am not remotely into hockey, but much like The Sopranos wasn’t really about the mafia, the Beartown books aren’t about hockey. I have read Anxious People and A Man Called Ove and liked them both fine but the Beartown trilogy is far better than those books in my opinion. I was actually surprised they were written by the same author because Beartown was much deeper and more nuanced.

Holly by Stephen King - 5/5. I read everything by Stephen King so I’m already inclined to like his work, for what that’s worth. This was a true horror and not fantasy/supernatural, which he hadn’t done in awhile. It was a great development of the character of Holly. I would suggest reading the other books she’s in first (Mr. Mercedes trilogy, the Outsider, If It Bleeds) but honestly you might like this as a stand-alone book because there’s a lot of character development, you just won’t get some of the references.

Black Cake - 4.5/5. Really great multi-generational story with complex characters. It does the time jumping thing so there’s back and forth but it was easy to follow and I thought the character development was excellent.

The Other Einstein - 4/5. I thought The Paris Wife was better, but this book was a very interesting look at Einstein’s wife told from her perspective. I like historical fiction because I feel like I learn something while enjoying a novel and this one hit just right.

Killers of the Flower Moon - DNF. I want to see the movie and the story is amazing (and something I knew nothing about) but the book reads like a boring history textbook. There’s very little dialogue and it’s just not gripping at all. I wish Erik Larsen had done this subject.

Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine - DNF. I don’t usually give up on books so I’m shocked I’ve had two recently but I found the Eleanor to be completely awful and not redeeming in any way and I didn’t feel like learning any more about her. I like unlikeable characters (I enjoyed The Storied Life of AJ Fikry and A Man Called Ove), but I thought Eleanor was just despicable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yellowface - I’d give it 3.5/5 but I’d also suggest it to people so I don’t know if that’s contradictory. It was quick and easy and the story was interesting but at times felt uneven, for lack of a better word. The main character was both unlikeable but also I felt like I barely knew her. Other than what she was currently thinking there was no character development. The book lagged in spots and then sped up in others. All in all I’d say read it because it was good, it just wasn’t great.

The Winners - 4.75/5. This is the third and final book of the Beartown trilogy and while Beartown was my favorite of the three (hence the less than 5 stars for The Winners), I loved them all. I am not remotely into hockey, but much like The Sopranos wasn’t really about the mafia, the Beartown books aren’t about hockey. I have read Anxious People and A Man Called Ove and liked them both fine but the Beartown trilogy is far better than those books in my opinion. I was actually surprised they were written by the same author because Beartown was much deeper and more nuanced.

Holly by Stephen King - 5/5. I read everything by Stephen King so I’m already inclined to like his work, for what that’s worth. This was a true horror and not fantasy/supernatural, which he hadn’t done in awhile. It was a great development of the character of Holly. I would suggest reading the other books she’s in first (Mr. Mercedes trilogy, the Outsider, If It Bleeds) but honestly you might like this as a stand-alone book because there’s a lot of character development, you just won’t get some of the references.

Black Cake - 4.5/5. Really great multi-generational story with complex characters. It does the time jumping thing so there’s back and forth but it was easy to follow and I thought the character development was excellent.

The Other Einstein - 4/5. I thought The Paris Wife was better, but this book was a very interesting look at Einstein’s wife told from her perspective. I like historical fiction because I feel like I learn something while enjoying a novel and this one hit just right.

Killers of the Flower Moon - DNF. I want to see the movie and the story is amazing (and something I knew nothing about) but the book reads like a boring history textbook. There’s very little dialogue and it’s just not gripping at all. I wish Erik Larsen had done this subject.

Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine - DNF. I don’t usually give up on books so I’m shocked I’ve had two recently but I found the Eleanor to be completely awful and not redeeming in any way and I didn’t feel like learning any more about her. I like unlikeable characters (I enjoyed The Storied Life of AJ Fikry and A Man Called Ove), but I thought Eleanor was just despicable.

Oh I LOVED Eleanor Oliphant - and now I am really enjoying Yellowface. I might have a higher tolerance for oblique women main characters!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am reading The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese. It's good but as I'm reading it as an ebook, I was shocked to see that I'm only a quarter through and so much has happened already. I didn't realize it was such a long book!

I am also reading this and just hit 25 percent. I’m loving it so far.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So far this month I’ve read Trust, Tom Lake, and Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow.


Each one better than the next. I’m on a roll. What should I read next?

Demon Copperhead

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just finished Lady Tan’s Circle of Women and started The Lost Man by Jane Harper

Have listened to all of Jane Harper's books on Libby-loved them all! Narrator is fab!

I can’t find the latest one (Falk #3) on Libby yet and it’s hard to be patient! The narrator is such a bonus.

[Anonymous]

I just read The Great Believers in a bit over 48 hours. What a great read and beautiful book. I really really enjoyed it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just read The Great Believers in a bit over 48 hours. What a great read and beautiful book. I really really enjoyed it.

I loved that book so much!

I just finished Trust and liked it.

[Anonymous]

For the person who liked Eleanor Oliphant, I just finished Strange Sally Diamond and liked it very much. This one doesn't have a twist, but it has similar themes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just read The Great Believers in a bit over 48 hours. What a great read and beautiful book. I really really enjoyed it.

One of my favorite books.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just read The Great Believers in a bit over 48 hours. What a great read and beautiful book. I really really enjoyed it.

I loved that book so much!

I just finished Trust and liked it.

Ha. I am PP and read Trust last month. (I liked it as well, but it is a harder book to love.)

[Anonymous]

The Daevabad Trilogy - LOVED this. The third book could have used some editing, but in general I thought all three books were fantastic.

Ink Blood Sister Scribe - Happy to read a good magical story that's all tied up in one novel. I believe this is a debut novel, and it's a strong one. Maybe 3.5/5 - Not sure this will be memorable in a few months.

Listening to Shadow Cabinet (HMRC #2) - The narrator is fantastic, which I'm grateful for because I've been in an audiobook slump. So far, so good.

Reading - Homecoming, by Kate Morton. I haven't picked up anything from her since The Forgotten Garden, which was a favorite. I'm enjoying this one, even though I feel like i know exactly where the story is going.

I'd definitely recommend any of the above!!