Anonymous wrote:I don't remember finding The Goldfinch disturbing. I remember thinking it needed a good edit and to be shorter by about 200 pages, but disturbing? No.

Agree with all of this. I loved the first 2/3 of the book. The rest dragged for me.

Anonymous wrote:This Town. Not as compelling as I expected, but interesting enough.
Just received notice that I can download Goldfinch. But have heard it is very disturbing. I can't do disturbing anymore -- I lose sleep. But everyone seems to love it. Can I miss this one?

It's sad but it's a can't miss.

Anonymous wrote:This Town. Not as compelling as I expected, but interesting enough.
Just received notice that I can download Goldfinch. But have heard it is very disturbing. I can't do disturbing anymore -- I lose sleep. But everyone seems to love it. Can I miss this one?

I wouldn't call The Goldfinch disturbing. It's sad and I think most mothers who read it will want to gather up Theo in a big hug and make everything okay for him, but I didn't find it disturbing. I wouldn't miss this book. It just won the Pulitzer for fiction.

I don't remember finding The Goldfinch disturbing. I remember thinking it needed a good edit and to be shorter by about 200 pages, but disturbing? No.

"The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells". Not as good as I had hoped, but entertaining enough.

Anonymous wrote:This Town. Not as compelling as I expected, but interesting enough.
Just received notice that I can download Goldfinch. But have heard it is very disturbing. I can't do disturbing anymore -- I lose sleep. But everyone seems to love it. Can I miss this one?

I just read The Goldfinch and LOVED it. Best book I've read in ages. The circumstances of the main character's life are sad at times but I don't think they rise to the level of disturbing. I've frequently heard it described as a modern day Great Expectations.

Anonymous wrote:This Town. Not as compelling as I expected, but interesting enough.
Just received notice that I can download Goldfinch. But have heard it is very disturbing. I can't do disturbing anymore -- I lose sleep. But everyone seems to love it. Can I miss this one?

I agree - This Town is not as compelling as I thought also, but entertaining.

1) Crazy U (have a kid looking at colleges)
2) This Town - Mark Leibovich

This Town. Not as compelling as I expected, but interesting enough.
Just received notice that I can download Goldfinch. But have heard it is very disturbing. I can't do disturbing anymore -- I lose sleep. But everyone seems to love it. Can I miss this one?

Killer by Johnathon Kellerman
night road by Kristin Hannah
The book by Cameron Diaz, can't remember the title
And a couple travel books

The Kept by James Scott. Really enjoying it

I'm almost done "We Are Water" by Wally Lamb. It's good, but a lot of the female voices don't ring very true to me (which I find unusual for his writing) and it just isn't gripping me the way his previous works did. Still worth reading though!

Salvage the Bones, Jesmyn Ward

Pilgrim's Wilderness.

Very interesting nonfiction, recommend for those who liked "Into the Wild."

I'm reading the latest Jacqueline Windspear historical fiction and mystery about Maisie Dobbs, private detective. I think this one is called, "Leaving Everything Most Loved."

This is set in London after World War I and before World War II. I love these books because not only do I learn about this timeframe and place, but every book showcases some aspect of the culture (for example, this one is getting into the Indians that are in London; how they were treated and their experiences. Other books dealt with mapping/cartography, art, gypsies, etc.)

And it's fun to watch Maisie's character develop, when she's first introduced, WWI is over, she has been wounded and her fiancé has been wounded so he is brain damaged.

Anyways, this sounds crazy but the thing I like the best about these books are they are great bedtime reading--the author takes her time, but it's not boring at all. It's sort of like Downton Abbey…it takes it's time, so it annoys my DH who thinks nothing is happening, LOL. I don't recall other books that have this sort of style.