Saptember 2025 -- What are you reading?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just finished a slim novel by the Australian author Helen Garner called The Spare Room. Nicola has advanced cancer and comes to stay with her friend Helen to receive experimental treatment. It sounds grim, but was actually funny and real and I loved it.

I love Helen Garner! So pleased to see her back in print in the US. I’ll check this one out! Read and really enjoyed both Monkey Grip and This House of Grief.

I’m reading Lies and Sorcery by Elsa Morante. I see the Elena Ferrante inspiration and there are charming moments but it’s a bit of a slog at times.

[Anonymous]

“The Land in Winter” by Andrew Miller. Longlisted for Booker last year. It’s about two couples in post-war/1950s Britain. Enjoying it so far. It was “Revolutionary Road” similarities to me.

[Anonymous]

The Griffen Sisters’ Greatest Hits, by Jennifer Weiner.

Ok so far. I loved her early books, back in the early 2000s. Less so recently. Some I DNF, but this one seems good enough to continue. We’ll see.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I read Sandwich, by Catherine Newman. It is an easy, often funny read but I don’t really recommend it. Her anger at her husband is a major theme but her husband is portrayed as sort of perfect, so that is confusing. And though I have gone through menopause I guess I don’t really recognize/identify with the portrayal of menopause as provoking rage. (Plus the main character is 54; wouldn’t she have gone through all that a few years earlier? I don’t know, I had chemo induced menopause at 40, so maybe I am just clueless.) And as someone struggling with the pain and fear of aging parents—her parents were so spry and fit overall that her fear about them seemed out of proportion, pre reveal. So, fine to read but in the end it didn’t land for me.

I’m 51 and was so eager to read a book about where I am in life. Couldn’t identity with any of it.

Same. I just didn’t get it.

But I absolutely loved “Same As it Ever Was,” by Claire Lombardo. I don’t share the life experiences of the main character, yet I was super interested in her inner life and cared deeply about the story. Good middle age novel.

[Anonymous]

The Life Impossible by Matt Haig, picked up because it was the only thing the airport newsstand that looked worth the time. It's not really holding my interest, but I'm not that far into it yet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am a third of the way through The Tiger's Wife and so far its good but doesn't seem in line with the over the top praise when it came out. Anyone else read it and have thoughts?

I read it shortly after it came out and remember liking it but not really finding it life changing. It’s been a while though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just finished "Half a Life" by Darrin Strauss, a memoir from an author about an accident when he was a teenager where he struck and killed a cyclist who suddenly swerved out in front of his car.

I feel awful saying this but while I felt sorry for him, the book was poorly written and boring.

I agree. I read this for a book group I was in. Another member chose it. I think it got a lot of press at the time. I couldn't believe it was published. It was even too short, just a nothing book.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a third of the way through The Tiger's Wife and so far its good but doesn't seem in line with the over the top praise when it came out. Anyone else read it and have thoughts?

I read it shortly after it came out and remember liking it but not really finding it life changing. It’s been a while though.

Please list you life-changing ones.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"Dear Miss Lake", which is the fourth and final book in a series about people working at a magazine in London during WW II. The first book in the series is called "Dear Mrs. Bird". Loved it. I loved every book in the series.

I'm on the list for this one and can't wait!

I just read The Academy by Elin Hilderbrand and Shelby Cunningham. It was terrible. I hated the characters, the plot, everything. It set in a fictional New England boarding school that mysteriously rockets up the rankings one year. It is books like this that give boarding school a bad name. (I went to one, so I'm slightly defensive.)

I enjoyed my book before that, The Brilliant Life of Eudora Honeysett. It's about a grumpy old spinster who is befriended by a few people on her street. Enjoyable and worth a read.

Currently reading Intermezzo. If someone can tell me that it gets more compelling, that would make me happy. I'm about 1/4 of the way through right now.

[Anonymous]

Recently finished the Poisonwood Bible for book club…loved it! I also ended up reading Heart of Darkness (the horror!). I tried but could not get into Tram 83 (contemporary Congolese author).

I loved Demon Copperhead, but hated the Bean Trees in 9th grade. Worth a re-read?

I’m contemplating either Audition or the Loneliness of Sonia and Suni as my next read. Thoughts?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Recently finished the Poisonwood Bible for book club…loved it! I also ended up reading Heart of Darkness (the horror!). I tried but could not get into Tram 83 (contemporary Congolese author).

I loved Demon Copperhead, but hated the Bean Trees in 9th grade. Worth a re-read?

I’m contemplating either Audition or the Loneliness of Sonia and Suni as my next read. Thoughts?

Do you want a short or long book? I read Audition a bit ago and it’s a puzzle of a book in a good way. I’m only about a quarter into Sonia and Sunny and liking it so far.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Names by Florence Knapp - the story of an abused woman, Cora, and the three different paths her life takes based on what she names her second child. Her abusive husband insists that he be named Gordan (his name, and the name of his father). Their 9 year old daughter suggests another name, and Cora likes a third name. It seems like an innocent premise, but it's a very powerful book, and really shows how abuse permeates generations.

It's not sappy enough for SAPtember, but is a September read nonetheless.

This book annoyed me because it wasn't really about 3 different names influencing the track of someone's life. I was about three different abuse patterns/outcomes prompted for one moment by a name. I was hoping for more of an exploration of how different names could actually affect both how others see you and how you see yourself.

Same here! I even bought the book because I was interested in the premise that it was marketed about names and life path. Blech.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I read Sandwich, by Catherine Newman. It is an easy, often funny read but I don’t really recommend it. Her anger at her husband is a major theme but her husband is portrayed as sort of perfect, so that is confusing. And though I have gone through menopause I guess I don’t really recognize/identify with the portrayal of menopause as provoking rage. (Plus the main character is 54; wouldn’t she have gone through all that a few years earlier? I don’t know, I had chemo induced menopause at 40, so maybe I am just clueless.) And as someone struggling with the pain and fear of aging parents—her parents were so spry and fit overall that her fear about them seemed out of proportion, pre reveal. So, fine to read but in the end it didn’t land for me.

Me again. After this I read Less Is Lost, which I preferred as a middle-age novel though it is less “relatable” to my own life—a gay man in his fifties having a wander through the US after his former lover dies. It is a sequel to Less, which I read a few years ago and also enjoyed. I found Less Is Lost funnier and more interesting than Sandwich.

[Anonymous]

I see I am not the only one taking the Booker short list seriously! I am about 150 pages into Flashlight by Susan Choi and really enjoying it so far. It is about a Korean man married to an American woman who dies in an accident/is maybe kidnapped by North Korea in the 1970s. But it is also a family drama. So far very well written and interesting and compelling. I also enjoyed her previous novel, Trust Exerciss, quite a bit though wanted a book club afterward to unpack it!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am re-reading Barbara Pym’s “Excellent Women,” because I just read “Lucky Loser” about Trump and thought my soul needed cleansing.

Love Barbara Pym. I've read all of her novels and often reread one in November - they just seem to fit that month.

I just discovered her after a NYT Books mention and I loved Excellent Women. I can’t find her other books yet.