Constant Reader discussion

It's already time for a new thread and I'm feeling good about the approach of spring! I'll close the old thread, so please continue your discussions here.

I'm in the middle of Washington: A Life - 930 pages. But it's bringing the usually flat and cold Washington to life.

I just had to know what all the fuss was about ...


The Duke and I – Julia Quinn – 3.5***
Book one in the Bridgertons series. This was everything a regency romance should be. There is a young marriageable lady in need of a husband, an aloof, dashingly handsome but rakish duke, and enough sexual tension and plot twists to keep things interesting and the pages turning.
My full review HERE

I read an early Bridgeton years ago, after getting the whole series on Kindle on sale. It was good, but it cemented for me that I am a very rare "romance reader" for a reason. I may dip back in at some point, though. Have you seen any of the series? I've been tempted to see if it's any good.

The Murder Rule by Dervla McTiernan is a departure from her Irish detective series. This finds a US group trying to rescue wrongly convicted people from Death Row. But were they wrongly convicted?
4★ My review of The Murder Rule

It was such a delight to meet the fantastic Amanda Gorman in the bright children's book by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara. So young (only 24 on the 7th!), so talented, so inspiring. America's first Youth Poet Laureate.
4.5~5★ My review of Amanda Gorman with some illustrations and a photo

I'm reading by Robert Bailey, which is southern gothic legal thriller mystery in the same vein as Greg Iles' books. I love Iles' books, so for me, this author was a welcome find. This series is an offshoot from Bailey's earlier series about a related character, and I've read all those and liked them as well.

Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit – Jeanette Winterson – 3***
Winterson’s semi-autobiographical debut novel has a protagonist who is also named Jeanette. It is a glimpse at one teenager’s path out of childhood and into adulthood. Oh, the angst of teen years! The confusion and questions that adults don’t seem to want to answer (heck, they don’t want you to even ask), the emotional roller coaster of attraction vs guilt. First published in 1985, I can see why it became so popular. But I’m long past this stage of life and I’ve read many books treating coming-of-age, including those featuring LGBTQ characters. I thought it was fine for its genre, but not particularly memorable to me.
My full review HERE

Jennifer wrote: "I read an early Bridgeton years ago, after getting the whole series on Kindle on sale. It was good, but it cemented for me that I am a very rare "romance reader" for a reason. I may dip back in at ..."

Have not seen the TV series at all.

Hurray! Aussie author Adrian Hyland finally gave us a new book! Constable Jesse Redpath is another smart, tough female character from the Northern Territory. She's stepping on the toes of the local Victorian cops, investigating a death at Canticle Creek. Excellent!
4.5~5★ My review of Canticle Creek

I just couldn't do it. I could not finish The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz by Erik Larson. I've read other books by Larson, but this just didn't grab me.
On to my next endeavor Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo which is the reading choice for my in person book group.

I just finished re-reading Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne.
I think I enjoyed it this time around more than I did decades ago when I first read it.
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Tamara wrote: "I just finished re-reading Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne.
I think I enjoyed it this time around more than I did decades ago when I first read it.
My ..."

Did you watch the recent PBS production? Took a lot of liberties, but it was a hoot.

Mary Anne wrote: "I just couldn't do it. I could not finish The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz by Erik Larson. I've read other books by Larson, but ..."

I've been listening to The Splendid and the Vile during some recent long drives, but it's sooooo long (18 hours) that I don't think I'll be driving enough to finish before it's due back at the library. I doubt I'd read it in ebook or hardcopy.

Ruth wrote: "Did you watch the recent PBS production? Took a lot of liberties, but it was a hoot..."

Yes, I did. I loved it! It's what inspired me to re-read the novel. Even though the PBS production deviated considerably from the novel, I still loved it. I think both were an absolute riot and served as a much needed escape from our current global turmoil.

Ruth and Tamara, I agree with you both. I was sorry to see it end.

Flight Behavior, reread for a local book club, is a decent read.

I am still not even a third of the way through Obama's A Promised Land but enjoy reading it for a bit at a time.

Everyday Magic is hardly everyday, but there's plenty of magic. Jess Kidd has written a delightful book for youngsters, which is fun for grown-ups, too. Orphan, witches, potions, it's all here!
4★ My review of Everyday Magic

I read James Baldwin's If Beale Street Could Talk for my story to movie adaptation class. It was only my second Baldwin, I'd previously read Go Tell It on the Mountain. No big write up of the book as I suspect it is very familiar to those of you who live in the US , but I thoroughly enjoyed his female narrator Tish as she recants her life with Fonny, first as children, later as friends, then lovers, and immerses us in the life and times of their two African American families. I prefer it to Go Tell it on the Mountain, less drench in religion, more personal, intimate. He writes her well, the sex scences are tender and real. All confirming him in my opinion as a great writer - I should read more.
However I also watched the movie, with great expectations as I loved Barry Jenkins direction of Moonlight. I do not normally read the story and watch the movie at such close proximity and I think it suffers from that becuase the characters are mcuh more fully rounded in the book. I did not like the film version, I found it superficial, missing out on too many , in my opinion important aspects of the book, and most of all in its treatment of the ending. I'm usually quite willing to accept changes be they made for Hollywood ends or better still changes which enable a filmic portrayal of a point of view, but this one just sucked, in fact I hated the way he made the film end (Others may of course find it better). I know I have an affinitty for open ending, and for me the success of the books inconclusive ending is a reflection of power of Baldwin's masterly writing.
As a footnote I am coincidently watching on Netflix Seven Seconds a detective thriller which as Regina King playing the mother of a murdered boy. She is brilliant there. As she is in the movie of If Beale Street Could Talk. It made may go and check on her and I found quite rightly that she won an Oscar for Best Supporting actor in that movie. Without her presence, the movie would have been even more lightweight.

I was very moved by the story in If Beale Street Could Talk and thought it was beautifully written. I haven’t seen the movie but based on your experience, Sheila, I think I’ll skip it.

Donna wrote: "I was very moved by the story in If Beale Street Could Talk and thought it was beautifully written. I haven’t seen the movie but based on your experience, Sheila, I think I’ll skip it."

Donna, I got the DVD of it for 0.99GBP for my class, so I don't think it was wasted money, just not a patch on the book. A few folks in the class had more appreciation for it than I did.

Aussie author Candice Fox has really established herself as a thriller writer, with the new TV series Troppo, set in the North Queensland tropics, based on her first book, Crimson Lake. Her latest, The Chase, finds 600+ prisoners turned loose in the Nevada desert, including those on Death Row. Why? You may well ask. I can see another film prospect here!
4★ My review of The Chase

Canadian author Alice Munro is one of the world's best-loved storytellers. In 2013, she was awarded the Nobel Prize for her work as "master of the contemporary short story". I've enjoyed several, and I just read her 1968 debut, Dance of the Happy Shades. So good.
4.5★ My review of Dance of the Happy Shades with a link to some stories you can read online

I read Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard.
It won the 1975 Pulitzer for non-fiction. I enjoyed it although I think she went a little overboard with excessive detail and frequent intrusions of personal reflections.

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

I started reading Excellent Women by Barbara Pym for our discussion that starts here on April 1 in Classics Corner. I've wanted to read something by Pym for a long time and this is supposed to be one of her best. So far, I love her humor.

Tamara, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek is one of my all time favorite books. It makes me happy just to remember it. Surprisingly, the detail and the personal stuff didn't bother me but I did read it a long time ago. I'm not sure what I would think now.

Barbara wrote: "Tamara, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek is one of my all time favorite books. It makes me happy just to remember it.."

Barbara, I did enjoy it, but I think she went a little overboard at times by piling on the detail. I also had a bit of an issue with her inserting her thoughts/reactions into every scene. I would have preferred it if she let nature speak for itself.
Having said that, I did enjoy the anecdotes, her keen eye for observation, and her exuberance at the diversity and complexity of nature.

Barbara, thanks for the reminder about Excellent Women. I just borrowed it from the library.

I listened to Excellent Women on audiobook last month and really enjoyed it. Pym did a great job of evoking the era and the lifestyle of a certain class of women in that time frame.

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets Of the Universe – Benjamin Alire Sáenz – 4****
This is a coming-of-age story featuring two Mexican-American teens trying to figure out their place in the world. I enjoyed this book and felt connected to these boys and their struggles. I’m way past that stage of life, but I remember the pain of not feeling like I fit in, the joy of finally having a good friend, the fumblings and push/pull of early romantic encounters. And I loved Ari and Dante, their reliance on one another and their growing relationship.
My full review HERE

I just finished Excellent Women and thoroughly enjoyed it. I'm looking forward to the discussion.

Really glad to see that, Ann.

I just finished the first of Robert Dugoni's Tracy Crosswhite series, My Sister's Grave. Twenty years after her sister disappeared, detective Tracy Crosswhite is told they've found her bones. Mixed feelings about this one.
3.5★ My review of My Sister's Grave

I finally started the Brother Cadfael historical mystery series by Ellis Peters ( aka Edith Pargeter ), and I grew quite fond of this canny, medieval monk in Book 1, A Morbid Taste for Bones. I will be reading more!
3.5★ My review of Morbid Taste for Bones

Patty, I read the entire Brother Cadfael series a few years ago, mostly because a fellow reader enjoyed them so much. Although I appreciated all of the books in the series, I thought the final one was probably the best.

Lyn wrote: "Flight Behavior, reread for a local book club, is a decent read.

I am still not even a third of the way through Obama's A Promised Land but enjoy reading it for a ..."

I really loved Flight Behavior. It was so sad and heartbreaking about its subject, climate change.

My copy of Excellent Women just arrived at the library so I must go pick it up. I requested it early in February, so I'll hurry to finish it.

I'm glad to hear that, Gina! Excellent Women is a really fast read. I had to slow down so I wouldn't be finished too soon. I wanted these characters to be fresh in my head for the discussion.

I started it last night and I understand what you mean, Barbara. It’s really an enjoyable read.

Mary wrote: "Patty, I read the entire Brother Cadfael series a few years ago, mostly because a fellow reader enjoyed them so much. Although I appreciated all of the books in the series, I thought the final one was probably the best..."

Oh boy - Looks like I've got a few to get through before the final one, Mary. 😊

I really enjoyed The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro, about a super-professional butler who knows how to inspect the silver polishing but, sadly, knows nothing at all about people. Very touching. 1989 Booker Prize Winner.
5★ My review of The Remains of the Day

Happy 88th birthday on March 25 to Gloria Steinem, whose story of becoming a feminist activist and icon is told by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara. These "Little People BIG DREAMS" picture books are for children, but I am meeting so many interesting people myself!
4★ My review of Gloria Steinem

Sometimes we just need a pleasant diversion ...


Lizzie & Dante – Mary Bly – 3***
This romance features a tragically ill heroine who is a Shakespeare scholar vacationing on the island of Elba, an understanding handsome Italian chef and his precocious 12-year-old daughter, plus a supporting cast of movie stars, gay friends, and no-nonsense acquaintances. There are some twists and turns, because the path to happiness is never a straight one, and I thought the author was trying a bit too hard to force the reader to tears, but I still enjoyed the book. And I LOVED all the food references.
My full review HERE

Stephen wrote: "I am now reading The Gospel According to Billy the Kid by Dennis McCarthy. It is a fictional first person narrative by Billy the Kid that corrects and fills in what little is "known..."

You can always write out the web address with some spaces so it's not a link and then remind us to remove the spaces. I seem to be able to add it here from my laptop.

https://agencypodcast.podbean.com/e/b...

I've just read a new debut that's a 20th century story by Aussie author Emily Brugman. A group of Finns migrated to the heat of Western Australia and became seasonal cray fishers on The Islands. First generation is traditional - second is in hotpants at beach BBQs.
4.5~5★ My review of The Islands

I imagine all readers are aware of who Nelson Mandela is, but for the future generations of children, this is a welcome addition to the Little People BIG DREAMS series by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara. This boy moved from a traditional childhood in an old culture to become a champion for freedom and a world leader.
4.5★ My review of Nelson Mandela

Stephen wrote: "PattyMacDotComma wrote: "You can always write out the web address with some spaces so it's not a link ..."

Thank you, Patty. Why didn't I think of that?"

Ah . . . you're not quite sneaky enough!

I'm currently struggling with a Goldilocks situation with my non-fiction reading.

I recently finished Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism, which I enjoyed but it was too pop-oriented, like the author is gunning for a podcast or editor-position at Cosmopolitan.

Then I start reading In Gods We Trust: The Evolutionary Landscape of Religion, and it's so dry, academic--like reading a really detailed footnote for 200 pages. There's humor, but I need a dictionary and five years of graduate studies in evolutionary theory to really appreciate it.

I want substance, not gossip and bubbly banter, in my non-fiction. I want to learn something, but I don't want enervating lectures.

I know what you mean, Dan. That's what stops me on many of my forays into non-fiction.

Readable, informative nonfiction is golden for me too, Dan. I normally think that I am not a nonfiction reader. But, then I happen on someone who can really write and I’m a convert.

So Barb and Lynn (and anyone lurking): What is an example of great non-fiction you would recommend which, for the most part, avoids these two extremes?

I've always loved The Sea Around Us, Rachel Carson waxing poetic about our biological relationship with the ocean. Probably not universally appealing, yet...