Constant Reader discussion

Time for a new thread! Please move your book discussions here for the next two months. The previous thread will be closed to new posts.

I'm reading Indestructible: The Unforgettable Memoir of a Marine Hero at the Battle of Iwo Jima. Not my usual type of book, but this is about someone who was in my family. My uncle Oliver Lucas (married to my mother's sister) was a Marine at Iwo Jima and his cousin, Jack Lucas wrote this book. I'm only a little way in, and I'm hoping it will put an end to my reading block that I've been experiencing since the beginning of Covid lockdown.

The Last Thing He Told Me – Laura Dave – 3.5***
A book-club friend once said that she dislikes thrillers because she dislikes being manipulated. I am beginning to feel that way about thrillers, too. However … This is a fast-paced, intriguing book. There are several twists and turns that kept me turning pages long after I should have stopped to do other necessary things. Yes, there were some things that bothered me. A few threads that were left hanging. A few inconsistencies that an editor should have caught. As thrillers go, this is pretty good.
LINK to my full review

Sherry wrote: "I'm reading Indestructible: The Unforgettable Memoir of a Marine Hero at the Battle of Iwo Jima. Not my usual type of book, but this is about someone who was in my family. My uncle ..."

Just read the book description. Wow!

Book Concierge wrote: "

The Last Thing He Told Me
– Laura Dave – 3.5***
A book-club friend once said that she dislikes thrillers because she dislikes being manipulated. ..."

I plowed through that one at record speed, too. But opted not to read any more of her books.

I just read The Gift of Rain again for another book club. This time it was much more meaningful. I love Eng's writing.

I read Ithaca by Claire North.
This is the first book in the upcoming trilogy. It is a delightful retelling of Penelope's Ithaca while she waits for Odysseus' return. North makes the unusual choice of having Hera narrate the story. Her snarky voice is the source of much of the humor. Familiarity with the Greek pantheon and mythology is necessary to appreciate Hera's quips and barbs. An original and enjoyable take on the myth.

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

Gina wrote: "I just read The Gift of Rain again for another book club. This time it was much more meaningful. I love Eng's writing."

I agree, Gina. He's a marvelous writer.

Mansfield Park – Jane Austen – 4****
Ah, but I love spending time with Austen. Fanny is perhaps the ideal heroine, and reportedly Austen’s own favorite among her heroines. She is intelligent and thoughtful, pretty and graceful, keeps her own counsel, is modest and principled, and still has a loving heart. There is a certain predictable pattern to Austen’s novels, and this one is no exception. Our heroine will remain true to herself, and love will triumph.
LINK to my full review

Book Concierge wrote: "

Mansfield Park
– Jane Austen – 4****
Ah, but I love spending time with Austen. Fanny is perhaps the ideal heroine, and reportedly Austen’s own favorite among ..."

Sounds like this isn't your first time through! Like most Austen fans, I've read all her novels at least a few times. Mansfield Park isn't my favorite, but there's no bad Jane Austen. An interesting thing is that the amateur theatricals that Austen paints here as being so naughty are something that the Austen family often enjoyed. Though perhaps they stayed away from such risque scripts as Lovers Vows!

I read Hotel Iris by Yōko Ogawa, translated from the Japanese by Stephen Snyder.
I loved Ogawa's The Housekeeper and the Professor. This couldn't be more different. It is full of really disturbing sexual violence, bondage, humiliation, etc. etc. I didn't get the point at all. This novel just wasn't for me. I suggest you stay clear of it if you have difficulty reading about this subject.

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

Thanks for the heads up, Tamara.

I have this on my list. The Japanese seem to have a very different attitude to violence in novels. I was happy reading Natsuo Kirino's Out. My TBR pile is very large at the moment so it will be some time before I get round to another Ogawa

Just read my first by Columbian writer Evelio Rosero, translated by one of my go to translators Anne Maclean. A good one to read at Halloween! Gothic satire with a touch of horror and the surreal. Check out my write up

Sheila wrote: "I have this on my list. The Japanese seem to have a very different attitude to violence in novels. I was happy reading Natsuo Kirino's Out. My TBR pile is very large at ..."

Sheila, I read some reviews of the novel after I posted mine just to see if others had the same reaction. Some people thought the novel was very well done. So it's probably just me. I'm not into reading that kind of stuff.

I used to volunteer at a shelter for battered women and also at a center that worked with victims of sexual assault. The graphic descriptions in the novel brought back to mind a lot of horrific stories I heard from women in both places. I would never have picked up the novel had I known what it would contain. My problem (one of many!) is I cannot abandon a novel once I start it. So I had to see it through to the end.

Tamara, I understand. Sometimes it is hard when fiction becomes too close for comfort to reality. Well done for volunteering for such a good cause.

Thank you for understanding, Sheila.

I too loved The Housekeeper and the Professor but was shocked by Hotel Iris , now i can't make up my mind to pick The Memory Police up.

Nidhi, I read The Memory Police a couple of years ago. Rest assured, it is nothing like Hotel Iris. I thought it was very well done. If it helps you decide, I wrote this about it in my review:

Told in simple, subdued, unemotional language, the narrative illustrates the vital role memory plays in fighting oppression, and the deleterious impact the collective erasure of a remembered past can have on freedom.

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

That sounds good Tamara, thanks. I follow your recommendations, I read Stoner and liked it, I read Hamnet and liked it very much, now i have got Samarkand on my list which you recommended somewhere. ( we have some common groups)

You're welcome, Nidhi. All best.

Tamara wrote: "Sheila wrote: "I have this on my list. The Japanese seem to have a very different attitude to violence in novels. I was happy reading Natsuo Kirino's Out. My TBR pile is..."

Tamara, I also volunteer at a women's shelter, and you are right, you never know when something you read will trigger a bad memory. When that happens, I search for something that I know won't give me any nasty surprises.

Tamara, thanks for the further information about The Memory Police too. It’s sometimes difficult to move on with an author when the first book of theirs you read makes such an overwhelmingly positive impact as The Housekeeper and the Professor did on me, and obviously on others. Especially when the other books are so different.

I just don't get how someone could write something as tender and gentle and beautiful as The Housekeeper and the Professor could come up with something like Hotel Iris. But I guess it's a testament to the author's range.

I've moved on and am currently reading Orwell's Roses. No nasty surprises here. I've enjoyed everything I've read so far by Rebecca Solnit. This is no exception.

An interesting counterpoint to We Have Always Lived in the Castle


Life Among the Savages – Shirley Jackson – 3***
This collection of essays / vignettes is about Jackson and her family’s 1953 move to a small town in Vermont, where she and her husband settled into a large house and proceeded to fill it with children and books, a dog, two cats, and “literally thousands of socks.” I’ve read two of Jackson’s classic “horror” tales previously, so, I knew she was a talented writer. But I had no idea she had such a wicked sense of humor!
LINK to my full review

On the subject of Yōko Ogawa I just listened to her story The Cafeteria in the Evening and a Pool in the Rain on the New Yorker Fiction Podcast Oct 1st 2022 . The story text is available in the New Yorker https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/20... .
The podcast audio is read by Madelaine Thien. For me here voice took a little getting used to, I found it too soft, airy, and had to grind my teeth a bit, but I persevered and acclimatized enough to enjoy the story. What was excellent was the discussion Thien and the podcast host Deborah Tressman had about the story afterwards. One to recommend I think.

I’m in rhe midst of The Hero of This Book and loving it. What a quirky, unique voice the unnamed narrator has. So far she seems to be writing a memoir of her mother, but to me it’s more a portrait of herself. And I like that self, which refuses to be anything but herself.

Ruth wrote: "I’m in rhe midst of The Hero of This Book and loving it. What a quirky, unique voice the unnamed narrator has. So far she seems to be writing a memoir of her mother, but to me it’s ..."

Ruth, i've put it on my TBR. It sounds really interesting. Thanks.

Ruth, I put it on hold since it has 57 people ahead of me. I should be ready for it by the time it’s ready for me. It does sound very interesting.

I just finished reading Claire Keegan’s Foster which has been republished this year in a revised edition. A wonderful long story or novella. Highly recommended.

Sue wrote: "I just finished reading Claire Keegan’s Foster which has been republished this year in a revised edition. A wonderful long story or novella. Highly recommended."

This was a great read. I felt so much emotion for the girl.

I've been reading reviews of The Hero of This Book and wondering if I'd like it. Your review makes up my mind, Ruth. It goes on the list.

Sue and Gina, how did you think Foster compared with the other things you've read by Keegan?

Hm, my library had 3 copies of The Hero of this Book available. Are we so different here?

I've just finished reading Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger, and really liked it. I gave it 4 ****.

Barbara, though Foster is quite short, it packs an emotional wallop and demonstrates all of Keegan’s strengths: evocative prose, fine sense of person and place, drawing out a sense of the hidden in people’s lives, and a sharp sensitivity to children.

Tony, I put myself on hold for the kindle copy of Hero, that’s why such a wait. I didn’t check for the physical book especially since I don’t have time for it right now.

I am so happy to have been introduced to Claire Keegan, thanks to this group. I just read Small Things Like These and thought it was lovely. Hoping to find more by her in my library.

Thanks, Sue. Foster goes on my list too.

Thank you, Ruth--I've put The Hero of This Book on hold, and also The Housekeeper and the Professor, which sounds like such an interesting premise...I think it was Tamara who enjoyed this one...good to have new novels on my list.

Mary Anne wrote: "I've just finished reading Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger, and really liked it. I gave it 4 ****."

Me too, Mary Anne. I really enjoyed it.

I, too, am thankful to the group for introducing me to the writing of Claire Keegan. I've read three of her books and loved them all. My favorite is Small Things Like These with Foster as a close second.

I finished Orwell's Roses by Rebecca Solnit a few days ago.
I've loved everything I've read by Rebecca Solnit, and this was no exception. Here she takes as her starting point Orwell's love of gardening and then explores a variety of subjects, including Orwell's life and writing, totalitarianism, climate change, social justice, and the degradation of the natural environment.

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

Thanks for leading me to Orwell’s Roses, Tamara. On my list now.

I just realized that the novel The Hero of this Book, which some of you have been discussing, is by Elizabeth McCracken. I immediately bought the ebook, though I won't be able to get to it for a bit. I loved The Giant's House and I loved even more her novel Niagara Falls All Over Again, which I think was less successful. She did something in that novel that just blew me away. I also had the pleasure of taking a creative writing seminar from her at a writing conference many years ago; she was as wonderful as her books are.

I’m currently reading:
1. Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman: https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/sho...
A third of the way through and enjoying it. It is making me laugh and giving me a paradigm shift. What’s not to love :]

2. The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...
This is my first slave narrative book. Quite grim so I can only take in a little at a time. Enjoying it nonetheless as the writing has a way of pulling you in.

Sue wrote: "Thanks for leading me to Orwell’s Roses, Tamara. On my list now."

You're welcome, Sue. I hope you enjoy.

Gowithme wrote: "I’m currently reading:
2. The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...
This is my first slave narrative book. Quite grim so I can only take in a little at a time. Enjoying it nonetheless as the writing has a way of pulling you in."

When you're done, you might want to check out our discussion of The Underground Railroad when it was a Reading List selection in 2017:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

The View From Penthouse B – Elinor Lipman – 3.5*** rounded up
Two sisters and a handsome, cupcake-baking young man share a Greenwich Village apartment and support one another’s efforts to get back into life. What a charming comedy of manners, reminiscent of Jane Austen, but updated to the 21st century. The scenarios and the characters are believable and relatable. Their dialogue sparkles. I love how they support and encourage one another through thick and thin, and many complications relationship wise. Just delightful fun.
LINK to my full review

Another book from my pile of second hand ones. This one by Angolan Portugese author José Eduardo Agualusa is a love story cum adventure story told in epistolary form which pays homage to Portugese 19th century realist writer Eça de Quieroz. You may read My Review

Add me to the ones that are thankful to the recommendations I get from reading the comments. I had never read Claire Keegan until this group led me to her. I have a question about the revised edition of Foster. I read the original edition and was wondering if anyone knows the differences between the two.

As always, I appreciate all of your comments.