Anonymous wrote:Just finished Heaven and Earth Grocery Store. I give it 4 out of 5 stars. I admit I was expecting to like it more based on reviews. To me it seemed like a tamer version of Deacon King Kong (his previous book).

I got it out of the library for my husband. He thought it was just ok. I think he's read almost all of James Baldwin's books.

Finished The Nest.

Currently 1/5 through Middlesex.

Bought The Mists of Avalon and was really looking forward to reading it. Then happened upon the information that the author was a horrific child sex abuser and also that she supported her partner abusing and molesting many children including things like tryimg to adopt kids he wanted to abuse. Will return the book. I'm feeling completely disturbed by this.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just finished Heaven and Earth Grocery Store. I give it 4 out of 5 stars. I admit I was expecting to like it more based on reviews. To me it seemed like a tamer version of Deacon King Kong (his previous book).

Yeah, just because it’s on Oprah’s book club picks, does not make it a good read.

While I agree with your sentiment that just because a book is on Oprah’s (or Jenna’s or Reece’s) list, it doesn’t mean a book is a good read or that everyone will love it, I was going by the NYT, WaPo, NPR etc. reviews. WaPo had it as one of the top 10 books of the year. It was good/fine, but not great in my opinion. I don’t regret reading it. It just didn’t live up to my expectations.

Going Infinite by Michael Lewis
Sam Bankman-Fried is interesting among other things.

Anonymous wrote:Just finished Heaven and Earth Grocery Store. I give it 4 out of 5 stars. I admit I was expecting to like it more based on reviews. To me it seemed like a tamer version of Deacon King Kong (his previous book).

Yeah, just because it’s on Oprah’s book club picks, does not make it a good read.

Currently reading These Burning Stars by Bethany Jacobs- very good space opera - first in a series

Just finished Heaven and Earth Grocery Store. I give it 4 out of 5 stars. I admit I was expecting to like it more based on reviews. To me it seemed like a tamer version of Deacon King Kong (his previous book).

I'm working on An Elderly Lady is Up to No Good but I'm not enjoying it as much as I hoped. The first section was really good, and I think I would have enjoyed that story continuing, but the book is more like five short stories.

Also reading Peg and Rose Stir Up Trouble by Laurien Berenson. I'm only a few chapters in but it's good so far.

Next up is The Spare Room by Andrea Bartz.

Just finished The Gravedigger's Daughter and started Tom Lake.

The Boys: A Memoir of Hollywood and Family, by Ron Howard and Clint Howard.
It was not as dull as I had expected.

Anonymous wrote:I just finished The Sentence by Louise Erdrich. I loved it and want to read more from her, if anyone has specific recommendations. I'll probably start with The Night Watchman.

I too read The Sentence a couple months ago and enjoyed it. And vowed to read more Erdrich... but then have failed to do so. Please let us know if there is a good "next book"...

Now reading Wellness (Nathan Hill) for book club, which I was primed to hate, because anything billed as a "portrait of a marriage" is basically my least favorite genre. It is much much better than I expected. Except that its skewering of (my?) modern day parenting is so spot on that it is causing me to almost physically twitch in embarrassment. Whether that is a pro or con I leave up to you, dear readers.

I am also doing the audiobook for The House by the Cerulean Sea, which is far more hackneyed and saccharine than I expected. It is still a fairly pleasant listen on my tedious metro commute, so for that limited purpose, I give it a qualified recommendation.

Just started How To Survive A Plague, which is about the patient led research during the AIDS crisis. Not new but new to me.

Anonymous wrote:I just finished The Sentence by Louise Erdrich. I loved it and want to read more from her, if anyone has specific recommendations. I'll probably start with The Night Watchman.

The Roundhouse

Anonymous wrote:Just finished My Murder, which I liked till the very last part.

In the middle of Yellowface (available without a wait on Hoopla) and Happiness Falls by local author Angie Kim.

One of my fave authors (Gary Shteyngart) pushed Happiness Falls very heavily, so I am looking forward to my turn on Libby. I thought Kim's first book (Miracle Creek) was a little rough but had good bones. I am hopeful about seeing Kim develop as a writer.

Anonymous wrote:I’m about to DNF “How can I help you” by Laura Sims. I typically like weird books by and about women, and thought this would be another one, but the main characters are just unredeemingly bad.

I’ve been on a roll with books I really enjoyed this fall (Big Swiss, Mother daughter murder night, bandit queens, my murder, our share of night, drunk on all your strange new words, people collide, the office of historical corrections, true biz, being mortal)…

And I don’t want to finish it off spending time with an unpleasant and somewhat boring serial killer nurse.

I'm enjoying "How Can I Help You"! I am almost halfway through. I enjoy complicated characters and unreliable narrators (which I suspect the nurse may be!). It's certainly not a cozy book, very dark. I like the pacing.