Anonymous wrote:Milkman by Anna Burns - loved it. Hilarious and sad. What a voice. I was sad to finish.

The Cartographers by peng Shepherd- interesting concept but fell flat. Did not love.

The Disappearance of Adele Badeau by Graeme Greene - i tire of overly neurotic main characters. Too much granularity.

I agree w PP about the Glass Hotel. Not nearly as good as Station 11

DP, but Glass Hotel is by far the worst of Emily St. John Mandel's books. I actually liked her most recent one, Sea of Tranquility, the best of the three, with Station Eleven a close second.

I liked The Cartographers but preferred Peng Shepherd's first one, The Book of M, even better!

More Than You'll Ever Know by Katie Gutierrez - absolutely loved it. Very poignant descriptions of motherhood.

Into the Water by Paula Hawkins - meh. Not a single likable character in the entire book. I'm not sure why I kept reading.

The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson - heard about from DCUM, loved. Sci-fi but not tediously so, very engaging characters and beautiful writing.

The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot: A Novel - Marianne Cronin.
Absolutely lovely story of intergenerational friendship.

Lessons in Chemistry - Bonnie Garmus
A fictional account of what is was like to be a female scientist in the 60s and an engaging story. Very good.

The Lost Girls of Willowbrook - Ellen Marie Wiseman
Suspenseful fictional story based at a real infamous institution. I got too angry reading to love it but they may be the author's intention.

I'm Glad My Mom Died - Jennette McCurdy's memoir. Pretty good. I liked how honest she was. I wish she would have had a section specifically explaining the title, but that's nitpicky because the contents of the book/her life pretty much explain it. Still, it's a jarring title.

The Unfolding - A.M. Homes. I heard about this book on NPR - was not familiar with the author, who has the Women's Prize for fiction. I knew what the plot was - stalwart Republican family reacts to the election of Barack Obama. If I had been reading this book I doubt I would have finished it. I hate to describe anything this way, but it's a caricature of a book written by exactly who this author is - raised in Chevy Chase, lives in New York. It would have been a great short story or novella though.

Twilight of Democracy by Anne Applebaum - excellent. If you want to understand something of what is happening worldwide in this political moment I think this is a great book and great insight.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wil Wheaton's new book where he annotates his old book he wrote about himself - kind of boring with all the Star Trek stuff and he's still not finished working through all his anger at his parents and anger at the entertainment industry for not making him more successful. Also kind of hard to keep reading with all the footnotes.

The Christie Affair - SO GOOD! The head of HR at my law firm suggested it to me. It's not exactly my style, but turned out I loved it. It's the author's IDEA of what MIGHT have happened when Agatha Christie disappeared for a couple of weeks (that part is true and really DID happen).

I thought you misremembered the title of this book, but I guess there are multiple recent novels about Agatha Christie’s brief disappearance?

Yes, there were at least 2 out close together.

Remarkably Bright Creatures - very enjoyable

Lessons in Chemistry- loved this book

Dictionary of Lost Words - currently in the middle of this one and its okay but doesn't have me hooked as much as the other two did.

Anonymous wrote:Black Cake

Alice, I have been

Daisy Jones & the six

Black Cake - I loved!

One Second After - I read after it was recommended on DCUM - TERRIBLE

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo - So good!

Two Nights in Lisbon, by Chris Pavone - This one I gave 3 stars. It kept me interested through the whole thing, but I just wasn't invested in the characters at all. I liked the twists and turns the story took, though.


How the Word is Passed, by Clint Smith - 5 stars. The author examines the legacy of slavery in America by visiting various places, like a prison in Louisiana, several southern plantations (including Monticello), even places people don't normally associate with slavery, like lower Manhattan. It was compelling, welll-written, heartbreaking, and I learned a lot.


Mary Jane, by Jessica Anya Blau - 4 stars. Such a cute coming-of-age story set in the 70's, about a teenager who is a summer nanny for a family that's very different from hers. It's so good!

And I agree with the PP's assessment of the Cartographers!

The Colony by Audrey Magee - fabulous book set on a remote Irish island during the Troubles. Explores what happens when an artist and a linguist bring the outside to the island. Beautifully written. Like a PP, I was sad this didn't make the Booker short list.

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin - maybe I'm just not into video games enough. I thought it was good enough, but the tone of the writing didn't click for me.

The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O'Farrell - So I actually really enjoyed reading this, but it isn't up to O'Farrell standards, really. Once I accepted it as a domestic thriller set in the 1600s, I was into it.

Laziness Does Not Exist by Devon Price - transformative, well-written, etc.

This Is How Your Marriage Ends - much less scary than the title sounds. It was good but felt repetitive. I'd say 3.5 stars, but I guess it saves a lot of marriages so maybe it would be 5 stars for them.

Normal People by Sally Rooney - I never planned on reading this but it was highly recommended by somebody whose opinions I value, and I'm so glad I did. I loved it.

Currently listening to Remarkably Bright Creatures- I love it

Shrines of Gaiety by Kate Atkinson - good but I struggled to find the plot

Finished #12 of the Louise Penny's Armand Gamache series. Series never disappoints.

Part of your world- hooked from the beginning!

Carrie soto is back- great as an audiobook.

These impossible things- got this off Jenna’s book club list with low expectations but after a few chapters I was sucked in. Really enjoyed it!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Remarkably Bright Creatures....LOVED!!

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow...Really enjoyed it!

Lessons in Chemistry...Currently reading but the jury is still out. So far I think it's fine but not sure I see the hype yet.

Interesting. I have started Remarkably, but am sort of bogged down right now. I need to restart.

I tried Lessons but was pretty bored.

I keep trying the sample of Tomorrow, but I really loathe long, meandering sentences. It feels like the author trying to sound literary.

I think it must be my mood. I just can't get into much of anything. I'm hoping the book club will help!

What do you like? Maybe "book club" can help.

Did you know that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar writes Sherlock Holmes novels? Not the greatest literature ever but a good read and an excellent listen (great narrator)

Anonymous wrote:Wil Wheaton's new book where he annotates his old book he wrote about himself - kind of boring with all the Star Trek stuff and he's still not finished working through all his anger at his parents and anger at the entertainment industry for not making him more successful. Also kind of hard to keep reading with all the footnotes.

The Christie Affair - SO GOOD! The head of HR at my law firm suggested it to me. It's not exactly my style, but turned out I loved it. It's the author's IDEA of what MIGHT have happened when Agatha Christie disappeared for a couple of weeks (that part is true and really DID happen).

Maybe I need to read the book but why is Will Wheaton angry at the entertainment industry for not making him more successful?

Milkman by Anna Burns - loved it. Hilarious and sad. What a voice. I was sad to finish.

The Cartographers by peng Shepherd- interesting concept but fell flat. Did not love.

The Disappearance of Adele Badeau by Graeme Greene - i tire of overly neurotic main characters. Too much granularity.

I agree w PP about the Glass Hotel. Not nearly as good as Station 11