Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:reading Less about a gay man who plans an around the world trip to avoid his ex-boyfriend's wedding. It's good so far but I'm not sure I understand the pulitzer win...

I remember being puzzled about that as well.

I finished Less and am underwhelmed. Probably should look up the other contenders that year for context.

Now reading The Forbidden Notebook about a woman in 1950s Rome who starts a journal and it leads her to examining her life. It was written in the 50s and I’m shocked at how modern the issues feel.

The Forbidden Notebook is on my shelf - I'd love to know what you think when you finish.

I've finished it and - as a 43 year old mother of two, the same as the main character - I found so much to relate to and also examine in this book. I'd note it is absolutely a character study and there is hardly any plot but it gave me a lot to think about regarding how far women have (and in may cases have not) advanced with regard to family and personal life. She's a working woman but that barely changes the expectations of her at home, her husband's disappointments are treated, even by her, as more valid, and she struggles with her desires versus her duty. It's a relatively quick read as well - I'd recommend it.

THanks - this sounds like something I would like.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m about to start “Vigil” by George Saunders. It’s supposed to be weird and whimsical, which is what I’d expect from him.

Perhaps I'm in the wrong mood but I'm finding this book tiresome. It's so much like "Lincoln in the Bardo," plot-wise, thematically, and tonally! I liked "Lincoln in the Bardo" because it was strange and surprising. With this book, I feel as though I've already read the prequel. It's not clear to me yet if the books do indeed exist in the same universe but it certainly seems like they might.

I just got "A Marriage at Sea" and "On the Calculation of Volume" and really want to turn to either of those instead.

Curious to hear your thoughts on “A Marriage”—it sounds intense!

I’m reading “Four Thousand Weeks” and “10 Rules for Raising Kids in a High-Tech World” (after reading “The Anxious Generation”). All touch upon the distraction and challenges that tech amplifies/creates. “10 Rules” is very action-oriented re: tweens/teens and tech, especially about how to implement parental controls (which aren’t super intuitive). If you’ve read Anxious Generation, 10 Rules has some similarity; it is an easy skim.

As a counterpoint, I’m also listening to the 7th Outlander book (An Echo in the Bone)—lots of late 1700s and early 1980s tech-free time!

Anonymous wrote:I’m about to start “Vigil” by George Saunders. It’s supposed to be weird and whimsical, which is what I’d expect from him.

Perhaps I'm in the wrong mood but I'm finding this book tiresome. It's so much like "Lincoln in the Bardo," plot-wise, thematically, and tonally! I liked "Lincoln in the Bardo" because it was strange and surprising. With this book, I feel as though I've already read the prequel. It's not clear to me yet if the books do indeed exist in the same universe but it certainly seems like they might.

I just got "A Marriage at Sea" and "On the Calculation of Volume" and really want to turn to either of those instead.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:reading Less about a gay man who plans an around the world trip to avoid his ex-boyfriend's wedding. It's good so far but I'm not sure I understand the pulitzer win...

I remember being puzzled about that as well.

I finished Less and am underwhelmed. Probably should look up the other contenders that year for context.

Now reading The Forbidden Notebook about a woman in 1950s Rome who starts a journal and it leads her to examining her life. It was written in the 50s and I’m shocked at how modern the issues feel.

The Forbidden Notebook is on my shelf - I'd love to know what you think when you finish.

I've finished it and - as a 43 year old mother of two, the same as the main character - I found so much to relate to and also examine in this book. I'd note it is absolutely a character study and there is hardly any plot but it gave me a lot to think about regarding how far women have (and in may cases have not) advanced with regard to family and personal life. She's a working woman but that barely changes the expectations of her at home, her husband's disappointments are treated, even by her, as more valid, and she struggles with her desires versus her duty. It's a relatively quick read as well - I'd recommend it.

I’m about to start “Vigil” by George Saunders. It’s supposed to be weird and whimsical, which is what I’d expect from him.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:con’t...

Now I’m on Possession by AS Byatt (another 90s-00s author I haven’t read), about a relationship between two academics today as they delve into a relationship between two poets in the Victorian era. My overwhelming, albeit somewhat embarrassing, first impression is that this book may be too hard for me. Call me a DCUM elitist, but I don’t usually worry about books being challenging to comprehend (perhaps I’ve rotted my brain on book 2 & 3 of the Fourth Wing series*, which I was also listening to throughout the month?). But I have already had to look up several words to even make it through a passage. So a humbling read. A good one? Remains to be seen.

*I am a sci-fi/fantasy fan and would defend many books in the genre to the death... but maybe not these two lol..

It’s worth it— it’s a magnificent work.

OP the book was too hard for me too. And I consider myself a pretty good reader. I couldn't force myself to read all the extra embedded materials... the letters, the stories etc. I know this is supposed to be an incredible book but it just didn't pull me in.

OP here. I feel like I am getting my second wind now that I'm beyond the introductory chapters, where we read a lot of convoluted poetry from the imaginary Victorian poets and then even more dense commentary from a number of imaginary scholars about the imaginary poets. Here's one imaginary scholarly comment on one of the imaginary poets: "[Randolph Ash] convolutes and wreathes his melodies with such a forcing of rhyme and such a thicket of peculiar and ill-founded analogies, that his meaning is hard to discern." Which about sums up (at least the beginning of) the book itself!

That said, I'm sort of liking it now.

Anonymous wrote:I'm currently reading "This Other Eden" by Paul Harding. It's a small, carefully written story about the actual island of Malaga off the coast of Maine in 1912. There is a mix of mixed race and likely inbred family members and what happens when a teacher starts a small school that triggers state and social workers to explore what's been going on there.

PP from the other comment and this was another book that I was really looking forward to that I just didn't end up enjoying very much at all.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:con’t...

Now I’m on Possession by AS Byatt (another 90s-00s author I haven’t read), about a relationship between two academics today as they delve into a relationship between two poets in the Victorian era. My overwhelming, albeit somewhat embarrassing, first impression is that this book may be too hard for me. Call me a DCUM elitist, but I don’t usually worry about books being challenging to comprehend (perhaps I’ve rotted my brain on book 2 & 3 of the Fourth Wing series*, which I was also listening to throughout the month?). But I have already had to look up several words to even make it through a passage. So a humbling read. A good one? Remains to be seen.

*I am a sci-fi/fantasy fan and would defend many books in the genre to the death... but maybe not these two lol..

It’s worth it— it’s a magnificent work.

OP the book was too hard for me too. And I consider myself a pretty good reader. I couldn't force myself to read all the extra embedded materials... the letters, the stories etc. I know this is supposed to be an incredible book but it just didn't pull me in.

I'm currently reading "This Other Eden" by Paul Harding. It's a small, carefully written story about the actual island of Malaga off the coast of Maine in 1912. There is a mix of mixed race and likely inbred family members and what happens when a teacher starts a small school that triggers state and social workers to explore what's been going on there.

Anonymous wrote:con’t...

Now I’m on Possession by AS Byatt (another 90s-00s author I haven’t read), about a relationship between two academics today as they delve into a relationship between two poets in the Victorian era. My overwhelming, albeit somewhat embarrassing, first impression is that this book may be too hard for me. Call me a DCUM elitist, but I don’t usually worry about books being challenging to comprehend (perhaps I’ve rotted my brain on book 2 & 3 of the Fourth Wing series*, which I was also listening to throughout the month?). But I have already had to look up several words to even make it through a passage. So a humbling read. A good one? Remains to be seen.

*I am a sci-fi/fantasy fan and would defend many books in the genre to the death... but maybe not these two lol..

It’s worth it— it’s a magnificent work.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:reading Less about a gay man who plans an around the world trip to avoid his ex-boyfriend's wedding. It's good so far but I'm not sure I understand the pulitzer win...

I remember being puzzled about that as well.

I finished Less and am underwhelmed. Probably should look up the other contenders that year for context.

Now reading The Forbidden Notebook about a woman in 1950s Rome who starts a journal and it leads her to examining her life. It was written in the 50s and I’m shocked at how modern the issues feel.

The Forbidden Notebook is on my shelf - I'd love to know what you think when you finish.

Anonymous wrote:con’t...

Now I’m on Possession by AS Byatt (another 90s-00s author I haven’t read), about a relationship between two academics today as they delve into a relationship between two poets in the Victorian era. My overwhelming, albeit somewhat embarrassing, first impression is that this book may be too hard for me. Call me a DCUM elitist, but I don’t usually worry about books being challenging to comprehend (perhaps I’ve rotted my brain on book 2 & 3 of the Fourth Wing series*, which I was also listening to throughout the month?). But I have already had to look up several words to even make it through a passage. So a humbling read. A good one? Remains to be seen.

*I am a sci-fi/fantasy fan and would defend many books in the genre to the death... but maybe not these two lol..

Possession is one of my favorites, but yes, it takes some concentration. Her book, The Children's Book, is also fantastic, but a little more straight ahead. Still dense, but a more familiar story/trajectory/etc.

con’t...

Now I’m on Possession by AS Byatt (another 90s-00s author I haven’t read), about a relationship between two academics today as they delve into a relationship between two poets in the Victorian era. My overwhelming, albeit somewhat embarrassing, first impression is that this book may be too hard for me. Call me a DCUM elitist, but I don’t usually worry about books being challenging to comprehend (perhaps I’ve rotted my brain on book 2 & 3 of the Fourth Wing series*, which I was also listening to throughout the month?). But I have already had to look up several words to even make it through a passage. So a humbling read. A good one? Remains to be seen.

*I am a sci-fi/fantasy fan and would defend many books in the genre to the death... but maybe not these two lol..

I was the poster in Oct that was struggling with Geraldine Brooks’ The Secret Chord, who then turned to Brooks’ March. I ended up DNF the first and really enjoying the second. It is Little Women from the father’s perspective, focusing on his experience with abolitionism & in the Civil War.

At first I thought it a little too on the nose that the novel depicted the March family as just happening to have close ties with Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau but then learned that Louisa May Alcott herself grew up in the milieu and so was both influenced by transcendentalism and somewhat skeptical of its excesses. I found this aspect of the book fascinating and really I should turn to a biography of Alcott next.

But instead I next read the Ninth Hour, by Alice McDermott, another author I associate with the 90’s and aughts and have never read. About a small order of nuns in early 20th century Irish-American Brooklyn. Somehow a quite visceral, almost gripping story about very everyday life. I liked it a lot though it may not be everyone’s cup of tea.