Anonymous
Post 05/11/2026 22:54     Subject: May 2026 - What are you reading?
Anonymous wrote:Reading Yesteryear- 100 pages in and so far it's just ok. Hoping it gets better.

Listening to London Falling. It's a true story about a young man in London who assumes a fake identity and gets mixed up with a group of wealthy scammers and dies at the age of 19 after "falling" off a balcony into the Thames.


Just finished listening to London Falling. So good!
Anonymous
Post 05/11/2026 21:25     Subject: Re:May 2026 - What are you reading?
Anonymous wrote:I'm reading The Belly of Paris by 19th century French author Emile Zola. I love his books and have read about 12 of them so far.

What are your favorite titles by him?
Anonymous
Post 05/11/2026 21:18     Subject: May 2026 - What are you reading?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I just started “His Majesty’s dragon” by Naomi Novik. I am listening to the audiobook narrated by Simon Vance. It is a reimagining of the Napoleonic wars with both England and France having sort of a dragon Air Force. Really liking it so far. Has anyone read it? Did you like it? (No spoilers please). This is my first Naomi Novik read.


Just started this and LOVING it so far. The baby dragon who likes stories of naval battles at bedtime?? Love


I know right? So frickin cute. Laurence even reads him math and physics and Temeraire laps it all up.
Anonymous
Post 05/11/2026 16:59     Subject: May 2026 - What are you reading?
Anonymous wrote:I just started “His Majesty’s dragon” by Naomi Novik. I am listening to the audiobook narrated by Simon Vance. It is a reimagining of the Napoleonic wars with both England and France having sort of a dragon Air Force. Really liking it so far. Has anyone read it? Did you like it? (No spoilers please). This is my first Naomi Novik read.


Just started this and LOVING it so far. The baby dragon who likes stories of naval battles at bedtime?? Love
Anonymous
Post 05/11/2026 14:42     Subject: May 2026 - What are you reading?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Cold Comfort Farm. I was expecting to love it, but it’s slow going so far.


Different poster / I was also expecting to love it but I found it too slow and gave up.


I persisted, only to find it twee and unsatisfying, with its attempts at parody being more cruel than clever. It would not be a shame for this one to be lost to time.


NP, there were little pieces/ sketches in the book that were very clever/funny, but I agree that the book as a whole did not really work. I was more interested in the history of the book: it was a satire of the overwrought country gothic novels of the time--and then it apparently got cross-satirized by one of the novelists it mocked. Really, I think I would have enjoyed a meta-novel about Cold Comfort Farm more than the book itself!
Anonymous
Post 05/11/2026 13:52     Subject: May 2026 - What are you reading?
Brawler. It’s the new short story collection from one of my favorite contemporary writers—Lauren Groff. The stories are masterful and moving. Flawed people in tough but very recognizable circumstances fighting their way through.
Anonymous
Post 05/11/2026 12:59     Subject: May 2026 - What are you reading?
Anonymous wrote:I’ve just started Margo’s Got Money Troubles (reading before watching), about an intelligent yet naive 20yo single mom who starts an Only Fans to make ends meet (aided by her former pro-wrestler dad, newly back in her life). Enjoying it so far, and am curious to see how the narrative structure develops.

On the other end of the spectrum, I also just started listening to Raising Hare (memoir about a woman’s attachment to a leveret, recommended here several times). Also enjoying it—lovely writing that matches the environment (so far).

I just finished Vigil; it’s about an oil man who, on his death bed, is completely unrepentant about his role in climate change—beings from the after life try to convince him he should atone. It was fine (continued to be heavy-handed), might be a good book club read for adventurous readers or Saunders fans, but wouldn’t actively recommend.


Finished Margo—really enjoyed it for a lighter read, with compelling characters, plot, and interesting take on narrative structure.

I also read Yann Martel’s Son of Nobody, about a newly found companion to Homer’s the Iliad, but from the commoner’s view (vs the elites). It is heavily influenced by Pale Fire, with key action happening in the footnotes. It was good (Martel has several excellent lines, especially early on), but not as good as Pale Fire.

I finally finished the Marriage Portrait, historical fiction about a young Medici daughter who marries into a precariously held dukedom. Great descriptions of the Florentine court, though I stalled out a bit when she was in Ferrara; it was worth picking back up.

Just starting “This is Where the Serpent Lives,” featuring several linked stories set in Pakistan starting in the 1950s. I’m only a few pages in, and like the writing so far.
Anonymous
Post 05/11/2026 11:01     Subject: May 2026 - What are you reading?
The Ten Year Affair by Erin Somers. This is total trash. There is no real storyline, really stupid unlikable characters, it's very confusing as to what's happening and what's she imagining. How do books like this get rave reviews? "Best book of the year!" Ok, I'm not longer trusting them anymore!
Anonymous
Post 05/11/2026 10:09     Subject: Re:May 2026 - What are you reading?
Anonymous wrote:Just finished Ian McEwan’s What We Can Know, and not sure what I think of it.

Set 100 years into the future after climate disaster has struck, but really about the lives of an imaginary poet and his wife from our times. The first half of the book focuses on the two academics of the future who are researching the poet/wife. Although the story should have hit all my buttons (speculative fiction, literary puzzle, check, check), the characters were all fantastically boring—left me wondering if this was intentional? The second half went back to focus on the wife and I guess served as a bit of a twist—certainly more interesting—but left me wondering what the point of her story was. Altogether I am not sure I “got” the book, and the whole thing read sort of like a rough draft.*

*Sort of an echo/draft of Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go, which, however, succeeded in compellingly depicting the banal everyday surface of a horrifying future, was that the point here too?


+1 - I was left thinking well I guess it's OK boring academics can survive climate change and make a living at it? There were lots of interesting parts but overall pretty dull reading for a book taking place in the climate apocalypse.
Anonymous
Post 05/11/2026 09:59     Subject: May 2026 - What are you reading?
Anonymous wrote:"Mastering the Art of Soviet Cooking" recommended on here!

It is "a memoir of food and longing" written by a russian cookbook author who emigrated to the US with her mother when she was a child.

I love it. It is everything I like in a book. History, food and Russia (and why it is the way it is)


+1 - my book club read this book and everyone enjoyed it. It's also interesting to learn about Russian/Soviet history and what family life was like.
Anonymous
Post 05/11/2026 09:57     Subject: Re:May 2026 - What are you reading?
I just finished Wild Dark Shore, which I found simultaneously boring and overwritten, yet still intriguing enough to keep me anticipating what would happen next, sometimes within the same chapter.

I’m now reading Yesteryear and enjoying it, though the MFC is insufferable. I’m assuming that’s intentional.
Anonymous
Post 05/10/2026 18:45     Subject: May 2026 - What are you reading?
Very late to this but I just read The Secret History and loved it.
Anonymous
Post 05/10/2026 17:42     Subject: Re:May 2026 - What are you reading?
I just finished "Jackpot Summer" by Elyssa Friedland.
It is about four siblings, aged in their early 30's to early 40's. On a whim, 3 of the 4 siblings decide to go in together on buying a few lottery tickets. The fourth sibling declines and makes fun of them for buying the tickets. The 3 siblings end up winning six million each after taxes.
I liked the book. Thought it was fun.
Anonymous
Post 05/10/2026 16:54     Subject: May 2026 - What are you reading?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Cold Comfort Farm. I was expecting to love it, but it’s slow going so far.


Different poster / I was also expecting to love it but I found it too slow and gave up.


I persisted, only to find it twee and unsatisfying, with its attempts at parody being more cruel than clever. It would not be a shame for this one to be lost to time.
Anonymous
Post 05/10/2026 10:26     Subject: May 2026 - What are you reading?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Just finished there are rivers in the sky. Very good.
Who’s Heard of dungeon crawler Carl?


I love Dungoeon Crawler Carl! And I’m not an RPG person. The next book in the series is coming out this month.


DCC is on my TBR. Glad to hear that because I am not into gaming either (but everyone seem to love it!)