The Seven Daughters of Dupree and Burn Down Master’s House.

Just finished My Brilliant Friend. I really loved how throughout reading the whole book you are thinking that the “brilliant friend” is Lila, but then it turns out it’s Elena.

I did enjoy it. Reading it reminded me of another book I read recently that I loved, The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny, because of the psychological insight into the characters, the way that we see what people are thinking and how it’s just like we think including the things that are not even big deals but thatwe wouldn’t admit to anyway. It sets up a kind of forced empathy in which we are able to feel less alone in the world.

I read this book because it’s number one on the NYT list of books of the 21st-century so far. I will admit — that that placement puzzles me. It’s an excellent book. But ahead of The Road? Ahead of Wolf Hall? Etc.? I don’t know. That puzzles me.

Good enough that I am immediately turning to the next book in the series though.

Anonymous wrote:Just started Lessons in Chemistry. It's just okay, TBH. I know people love it, so I'm hoping it gets better. I have not seem the TV adaption, but I can see it making a better show than a book.

That book was pretty bad.

Suder by Percival Everett. It's really good so far.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Rest of Our Lives by Ben Markovits.

Does anyone else feel there are a ton of good books out right now?

I haven't read this yet, but I feel like he stole a book idea from my head. Ever since my kids were born, I've had this impulse when I see highway on-ramps to just get on and keep driving until I end up someplace, or not. It's the parental avoidance version of On the Road. Should I read it, or will it just end up making me abandon my children? The Amazon review says it is "devastating" which is probably not what I need in my midlife slow-burn crisis.

I’m halfway through and like it. It’s very readable, not crafty or artsy. It was short listed for the Booker. You probably will enjoy it & relate considering your own story.

Just started Lessons in Chemistry. It's just okay, TBH. I know people love it, so I'm hoping it gets better. I have not seem the TV adaption, but I can see it making a better show than a book.

My most recent is much lighter fare.
Who is Simon Warwick by Patricia Moyes

She was a British writer of detective e fiction featuring Henry Tibbett of Scotland Yard and his wife Emmy. Very fun to read and only 168 pages with lots of twists.

Example of her writing:
“Tom Hawthorne was a young man with a round, fresh complexioned face and an endearing air of perpetual eagerness, like a puppy straining at the leash.” Later he was described as “quivering with the desire to please”

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers, by Jesse Q. Sutanto. Enjoying it so far.

I just finished Anna Karenina, which was my first experience of the Russian classics, and absolutely loved it. I did some research on the most highly recommended readable translation of War and Peace and have that arriving this later this week. I can't wait to try it.

I was a Russian major. War and Peace is pretty different than AK. It's got a lot of long draggy pieces, and some truly terribly drawn female characters. The intro part is pretty slow in particular, so just be warned to steel yourself for a slow start. A different companion for AK is the Chekhov short story "Lady with a Dog" which he wrote basically as a response to Tolstoy.

I love this story.

Well, I am not a Russian major, though went through a long Russian lit phase, but have to pipe in to say that War and Peace suffers from some terrible PR because I was very surprised by how readable and engaging it was (esp. for its length).

If I was going to recommend a different "sleeper" hit as an alternative, it would be Turgenev's Fathers and Sons!

Just started Homeschooled: A Memoir by Stefan Merrill Block, and it’s making me question a lot of things…

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers, by Jesse Q. Sutanto. Enjoying it so far.

I just finished Anna Karenina, which was my first experience of the Russian classics, and absolutely loved it. I did some research on the most highly recommended readable translation of War and Peace and have that arriving this later this week. I can't wait to try it.

I was a Russian major. War and Peace is pretty different than AK. It's got a lot of long draggy pieces, and some truly terribly drawn female characters. The intro part is pretty slow in particular, so just be warned to steel yourself for a slow start. A different companion for AK is the Chekhov short story "Lady with a Dog" which he wrote basically as a response to Tolstoy.

I love this story.

Just finished We Are Green and Trembling, by Gabriela Cabezon Camara, for book group. Immersive and surreal.

Anonymous wrote:Theo of golden - so far, seems intentionally and manipulatively emotional. Keep reading?

It’s a short, quick read. I don’t love it or hate it. Mostly I don’t get the hype.

Theo of golden - so far, seems intentionally and manipulatively emotional. Keep reading?

Anonymous wrote:The Rest of Our Lives by Ben Markovits.

Does anyone else feel there are a ton of good books out right now?

I haven't read this yet, but I feel like he stole a book idea from my head. Ever since my kids were born, I've had this impulse when I see highway on-ramps to just get on and keep driving until I end up someplace, or not. It's the parental avoidance version of On the Road. Should I read it, or will it just end up making me abandon my children? The Amazon review says it is "devastating" which is probably not what I need in my midlife slow-burn crisis.

Anonymous wrote:Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers, by Jesse Q. Sutanto. Enjoying it so far.

I just finished Anna Karenina, which was my first experience of the Russian classics, and absolutely loved it. I did some research on the most highly recommended readable translation of War and Peace and have that arriving this later this week. I can't wait to try it.

I was a Russian major. War and Peace is pretty different than AK. It's got a lot of long draggy pieces, and some truly terribly drawn female characters. The intro part is pretty slow in particular, so just be warned to steel yourself for a slow start. A different companion for AK is the Chekhov short story "Lady with a Dog" which he wrote basically as a response to Tolstoy.