Books on the Nightstand discussion

Flora

Currently reading Did You Ever Have a Family. Flying to London tomorrow evening so hoping to finish the book tonight and take with me Let it Burn for the flight.

Once there I have about 20 books waiting for me including The Argonauts, Career of Evil, Nimona, The Year of the Runaways and All the Birds in the Sky.

Should be an exciting month.

Currently reading Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld (disappointed so far but plugging on) and Seven Black Diamonds by Melissa Marr (a YA fantasy from various viewpoints). Listening to Wolf by Wolf by Ryan Graudin (an alternate history of WWII and after) and To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf, both fantastic so far!

Hello summer GoodReaders! I am currently in the middle of two books, reserved from my public library (drat, I have to stop doing this!) . . polar opposite in tone and subject: (May We Be Forgiven) and (The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend). Really, they couldn't be any more different! Feel like I NEED to read alternately to get through each . . those who have read one or both will know what I mean!

I'm currently reading Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

I only read May We Be Forgiven, so don't know what you mean, but I loved it. I'm a big A.M. Homes fan.

Julie wrote: "Hello summer GoodReaders! I am currently in the middle of two books, reserved from my public library (drat, I have to stop doing this!) . . polar opposite in tone and subject: [bookcover:May We Be ..."

Finally reading A Little Life - loving it so far. She's a brilliant and heartbreaking author. Also on deck this month is Orphan Train.

Currently in the middle of a few! The Kind Worth Killing, The Argonauts, and Trigger Warning: Short Fictions and Disturbances.

Planning on maybe getting into Eligible, Pretty Little Liars, and Lost Girls: An Unsolved American Mystery.

I've got a week long vacation coming up so I am hoping to have some time to get reading done.

Currently reading The City of Mirrors which is the third and final book in Justin Cronin's Passage trilogy. Had to re-read both The Passage and The Twelve before I started this one. Perfect summer reading!

Started reading Shelter and listening to The Price of Salt otherwise known as Carol and now that I have my van back, I can resume listening to Girl Waits with Gun

I'm reading this years Pulitzer Prize winner

I just picked up "The Sympathizer" after hearing the author interviewed on NPR. Haven't started it yet. I'm eager to hear what you think of it. As the wife of a Vietnam veteran, I try to learn what I can about the country and the turmoil through novels.

I'm reading A Murder in Time, A Thousand Naked Strangers: A Paramedic’s Wild Ride to the Edge and Back and A Fearless Heart: How the Courage to Be Compassionate Can Transform Our Lives

Readnponder wrote: "I just picked up "The Sympathizer" after hearing the author interviewed on NPR. Haven't started it yet. I'm eager to hear what you think of it. As the wife of a Vietnam veteran, I try to learn what..."

I too listened to the author on NPR/Fresh Air. Another good podcast is the Free Library of Philadelphia, Viet Thanh Nguyen was a guest a couple of months ago-check it out. Have you read ?

I am reading for my bookclub: A Night in with Audrey Hepburn

And since I loved My Brilliant Friend I read last month, I'm listening to: The Story of a New Name
I'm really loving it.

I usually have about three books going at any given time, but I'm only reading one book right now. Hmmm. I'm about halfway through Circling the Sun by Paula McLain. I'm enjoying hanging out in Kenya for a while.

I'm listening to The Exorcist :0 (time will tell if I can handle it all the way through!) and I'm just finishing an ARC of The Stationmaster. Thinking my next read afterwards will be The Trouble with Goats and Sheep.

Karen wrote: "Readnponder wrote: "I just picked up "The Sympathizer" after hearing the author interviewed on NPR. Haven't started it yet. I'm eager to hear what you think of it. As the wife of a Vietnam veteran,..."
Karen -- yes, I have read "Matterhorn". It is one of my top 5 books of all time. I had the privilege of meeting Karl Marlantes at an author event several years ago. I told him how much his book helped me understand that chapter of my husband's life and served to open the conversation between us about his military service. (A sad, but humorous aside -- the veteran sitting next to me quipped "maybe if my wife had read the book, we would still be married.")

Finished by Joseph Heller- 3 Stars.

A sarcastic interpretation of war and how ridiculous it can be at times. Easy to read writing, with a hard to digest plot/message.

My Review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Finished two books today so I'm starting Where'd You Go, Bernadette and Glory and the Lightning. I also finished my iPad listen 2 days ago so I started listening to Once in a Great City: A Detroit Story

I just finished Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader which I loved.

I am now reading Medicine Walk.

Just downloaded and reading from the library

In between edits to books about business fraud and Latin American modern art, I'm dipping a few pages at a time into Arnold Bennett's delectable newspaper columns (Arnold Bennett: The Evening Standard Years: Books and Persons 1926-1931) and Beverly Nichols' rather catty gardening memoir Merry Hall. Next up: Katarina Bivald's best-selling novel The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend, the essay collection In Brief: Short Takes on the Personal, and a self-published memoir with a catchy title, Ouch, Now I Remember: Reflecting on an Earlier Time. My mother is plowing happily through two mystery series by Margaret Maron and recommends that I read Christmas Mourning once she finishes it.

Finished by Josh Malerman- 4 Stars.

Page-turning freaky goodness, that you can finish in one sitting. A freakish phenomenon overtakes the world where people "see" something and suddenly commit suicide- what do they see? Will our protagonist survive?

My Review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Finished by Oliver Sacks- 4 Stars.

Short and poignant take on an author's final words. Everyone should read this one.

My Review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Finished by Ann Hood- 3 Stars.

Two alternating storylines during two different periods in history. Enjoyable yet predictable, and starring weaker female leads.

My Review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Still reading by Justin Cronin, the third "vampire book" in the only "vampire" series I will ever read. His writing is very good but the timelines are always very tangled and complex.

Yesterday I started by Lily Brooks-Dalton. Can I read yet another post-apocalyptic novel? Why yes, yes I can. This one is set in the Arctic with a stubborn aging researcher and an astronaut who hasn't returned to earth... and they may be it. If anyone watches The Last Man on Earth I'm finding some weird similarities between the two but the tone is completely different.

Britany wrote: "Finished by Josh Malerman- 4 Stars.

Page-turning freaky goodness, that you can finish in one sitting. A freakish phenomenon overtakes the world where..."

Britany, I LOVED this book, it's now on my all time favourites list!

I'm reading A Little Life after multiple BOTNS podcast episodes raving about it. This is the best book ever! Bound to be a classic. It should be required reading for High School and College kids. I am about half way through but it grabbed my heart right from the beginning. I am thinking about the characters constantly through out the day. This book will stay with me a long time after I complete it. Everyone should read it.

So glad to hear it Robin- I also really enjoyed it!! My book club is reading it and it's getting such mixed reviews so far!

It is so unique, freaky and fascinating. Nail biter from beginning to end. Can't say enough about it! :)

I just finished The Secret History of Las Vegas: A Novel. Very violent and disturbing, this book is also incredibly compelling. I loved it. I am about a third of the way through In the Country: Stories So far, this is an excellent collection of stories. I am still working my way through Arthur & GeorgeI love this book, but the injustice that George is experiencing just makes me want to put it down.

Robin wrote: "It is so unique, freaky and fascinating. Nail biter from beginning to end. Can't say enough about it! :)"

Completely agree- I read it in two sittings, and could've been one had I not started at midnight! :)

I finished The Water Knife, on audio, and was not a big fan.

Just started Kitchens of the Great Midwest, also on audio, which I'm finding refreshingly charming and delightful.

I think it's safe to reveal my print book - the last in my current PBC round - which I am thoroughly enjoying: The Brief History of the Dead.

I'm very excited about recent galley acquisitions:

The Red Car,
The Trouble with Goats and Sheep
&
The Glorious Heresies

When will I get to The Mirror Thief???

I've got way too many books waiting for me from the library and am currently reading Modern Lovers. It's an interesting story but not as entertaining a read as The Vacationers.

I'm reading The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet I'm a little more than half way through and it is delightful - so many fascinating 'sapients'! It's interesting to hear the other species describe humans, although the humans sound pretty westernized. Sad to think that would be the only human culture left in that distant future. Minor quibble that doesn't take away from the pleasure of the book.

I'm currently reading Children of Earth and Sky by Guy Gavriel Kay. It is my 1st Kay novel and after 120 pages it's quite enjoyable. It seems to be his take on the Italian Renaissance. Pretty good so far.

Nadine wrote: "I'm reading The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet I'm a little more than half way through and it is delightful - so many fascinating 'sapients'! It's interesting to hear the other s..."
I really enjoyed this one!

I started Terrible Virtue.

Elizabeth wrote: "I started Terrible Virtue."

I liked that when I read it. But later on, I read more about the connection between racially charged eugenics research that she seemed to be connected to and had a hard time knowing what to think. It doesn't seem to ALL be part of a smear campaign against Planned Parenthood (but surely some of it is used that way.....)

I am never sure how to take revelations about subjects for novels or even the authors themselves. I am hoping to glean some understanding of Sanger's mission. This is much more interesting than non-fiction.

Elizabeth wrote: "I am never sure how to take revelations about subjects for novels or even the authors themselves. I am hoping to glean some understanding of Sanger's mission. This is much more interesting than non..."

Another historical novel along this lines that I really liked is My Notorious Life. Inspired by a real woman doctor in NYC in the 19th century who got caught up in the Comstock Laws.

Thanks Nadine. I added it to my TBR.

Annie Freeman's Fabulous Traveling Funeral

Barbara wrote: "Matterhorn was amazing! I'm reading & enjoying The One-In-A Million Boy by Monica Wood, for the What Should I Read Next summer book club."

I just picked up One in A million Boy for a vacation read next month. Glad to hear you are enjoying it!

Finished by Chris Bohjalian- 3 Stars.

Bike accident gone horribly wrong, a homeless man that leaves behind incredible pictures, and the Great Gatsby!! Too much? I think so.

My Review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Linda wrote: " Annie Freeman's Fabulous Traveling Funeral"

I am interested to know how you like this, Linda. It quite divided my book group. People either loved it or hated it.

Melissa wrote: "Linda wrote: " Annie Freeman's Fabulous Traveling Funeral"

I am interested to know how you like this, Linda. It quite div..."

It's hitting some nerves with me (meaning I'm taking it to heart, feeling it because of friends I've "lost.")

I have three books going right now. I am just finishing Untamed by Harlan. What an amazing story. On audio I'm listening to Light Between Oceans. So sad. In our local paper we have the serial Stone Lake that began in June and will finish in August. When I finish Untamed I will move on to Saving Amelie that I reserved at the library. Love summer reading time!

I live in Georgia and I've never heard of the Harlan book! Thanks!