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Post by Liiisa on Jan 5, 2019 20:52:03 GMT -5
I'm glad you asked. I'll make sure to include a mention things like that in future descriptions.
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Post by shilgia on Jan 5, 2019 22:54:44 GMT -5
3. Negin Farsad - How to Make White People Laugh. Annoying; not recommended. The author calls herself a "social justice comedian" and this is intended as a funny book. And it times it actually is. And she comes across as smart, too. But most of the time the humor is just too basic and juvenile to enjoy. The kind of humor you might see in a Buzzfeed article. She seems to assume that her audience has never read another book. (And has never opened the newspaper. And has never met a Muslim. There's a lot of explaining of jokes in the footnotes.) It's OK, but the tone wears thin very quickly. I persisted through the end because at times she does have interesting things to say about her life as an Iranian-American, but I'm glad to be done with this.
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Post by ozziegiraffe on Jan 6, 2019 6:42:03 GMT -5
3. Murder of a Cranky Catnapper, Denise Swanson. I love this series. Back in Scumble River, Skye and Wally are awaiting the birth of their first baby. Skye’s experiences as a school psychologist in a small town ring true, and a rather sleazy character is murdered. Love the introduction of animal therapy.
My only disappointment is that the book finished before the arrival of the baby.
The publishers were going to discontinue this series following this book, according to Goodreads. However, I am pleased that it has been picked up and a continuation has started, so I already have the next two books. How can they suspend a series when the main characters are about to have a baby?
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Post by mei on Jan 9, 2019 7:44:07 GMT -5
3. Kom hier dat ik u kus by Griet op de Beeck. A Dutch-language book, for once, by a Belgian writer (which makes the language quite interesting and different!). Very good. It follows a woman at 11, 24 and 35 years old. Somehow the writing is quite detached and unemotional, yet there is a lot of emotion in the book. There's a lot left unsaid in the book, in a way that really works.
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Post by ozziegiraffe on Jan 9, 2019 8:42:52 GMT -5
I’ve finished two audio books on the first part of my holiday road trip, but have been socialising to much to post yet!
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Post by Oweena on Jan 9, 2019 9:39:55 GMT -5
Looking for Lorraine: The Radiant and Radical Life of Lorraine Hansberry by Imani Perry.
I knew pretty much nothing about Lorraine Hansberry before reading this. It wasn't so much a biography as the author's look at Hansberry's writings in relationship to her life and the causes she was involved in. Some of it was a bit too scholarly for me, and I admittedly skipped a paragraph here and there. She was obviously a complicated and talented playwright who died too soon, yet this book might not have been the best one for me to learn about her. There are apparently other more conventional biographies out there about her.
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Post by ozziegiraffe on Jan 9, 2019 17:47:31 GMT -5
4. Death Comes to the Village, Catherine Lloyd. The only reason I didn’t give this book 4 stars was that I picked both culprits well before the end.
Otherwise, it was a well-written Regency romance with interesting characters and good descriptions, as well as added mysteries that may or may not be related.. I will probably look for more in the series.
5. A Pie to Die For, Stacey Alabaster. A quick read cozy mystery that was long enough for some interesting characters to develop, and some real sleuthing to take place before the killer is unmasked. Good as a short, easy read.
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Post by Liiisa on Jan 9, 2019 20:02:36 GMT -5
3. Haruki Murakami, Killing Commendatore
Yep, it's a Murakami novel. I find them all rather similar, and yet every time I love them. I liked this one just as much as the other ones. This one had a lot about what happens in the process of creation - in this case of paintings, but I found it to be a useful analogy for other things like writing.
I was hoping that the Commendatore in the title referred to the character in "Don Giovanni," and it did.
Pages 398-399 in the US hardcover edition describe something violent and difficult to read, but the rest is fine.
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Post by sprite on Jan 10, 2019 10:35:20 GMT -5
Wed Wabbit--Lissa Evans
Someone recommended a book by this author, so I went looking on my library app. that book wasn't there, but some others were, so i borrowed this one. it's YA, of a teenager who is transported into the world of her 4 yr old sister's favourite book, along with an over-protected cousin and some toys. She has to save the world and get back to her sister, who is in the hospital after an accident the teenager feels responsible for.
it was ok. but i suspect this was not the same author as the original one mentioned. now i can't remember who was talking about this author, or where.
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Post by shilgia on Jan 10, 2019 12:03:35 GMT -5
4. Suki Kim - Without You There Is No Us. Account of a few months the author spent in North Korea, teaching English to the sons of the country's elites. Given her unusual access (and her South Korean upbringing, which means she speaks Korean), she was able to see a lot more of the country than most journalists and travelers. Still, a lot remains shrouded in secrecy. The book offers powerful depiction of how all-pervasive the brainwashing and monitoring is; how isolated the country is from the rest of the world. When the author was there she wasn't able to talk to anyone in private ever, couldn't really communicate with people outside, could never trust anyone. It feels suffocating just to read it. The writing is a bit facile (and having looked at her website, I think the author's English isn't great - it was probably massaged heavily by an editor) and she makes some weird connections sometimes in clumsy attempts to be literary, but the book is worth reading for that, and for learning how little North Korea's young adults (even those from the elite) know about the world outside of their country.
5. Fredrik Backman - A Man Called Ove. This has probably been discussed here. I thought it was a lovely story.
6. Nickolas Butler - Shotgun Lovesongs. I loved this. The story of a group of friends who grew up together in a small rural town in Wisconsin. They aren't hicks, they have seen some of the rest of the world, but they all ended up back in Wisconsin and through first-person narration by five different characters, we get to know them all. It's a bit sentimental, but I didn't mind and found it utterly charming and moving. I had never heard of this author, but will have to read more by him now!
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Post by Queen on Jan 10, 2019 13:49:12 GMT -5
#1 Wayfaring Stranger
James Lee Burke
Saga for boys, a bit like a prayer for Owen Meeney but not as clever. Man rescues woman in WW2, gets back to US and makes lots of money, is therefore harassed by the competition and has to Overcome.
I stuck with it because I expected a great denouement and was disappointed. It's build as crime fiction but that's debatable. Meh. On to better things.
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Post by scrubb on Jan 10, 2019 23:11:54 GMT -5
6. Nickolas Butler - Shotgun Lovesongs. I loved this. The story of a group of friends who grew up together in a small rural town in Wisconsin. They aren't hicks, they have seen some of the rest of the world, but they all ended up back in Wisconsin and through first-person narration by five different characters, we get to know them all. It's a bit sentimental, but I didn't mind and found it utterly charming and moving. I had never heard of this author, but will have to read more by him now! Did you get that on bookbub, shilgia? I bought it just before Xmas but haven't read it yet. Now I can't wait! |
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Post by shilgia on Jan 11, 2019 0:31:02 GMT -5
I actually listened to the audiobook. (Is that cheating?) In this case, that actually added a bit, because every character has his/her own voice; it's a very well done recording. But I have been racking my brain but have no idea how the book got into my list. Maybe it came up on Bookbub and I looked it up on the library app? It's possible. In any event, yes, please read it! I thought it was warm and heartbreaking and uplifting and sweet. I'm curious what you think.
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Post by HalcyonDaze on Jan 11, 2019 0:37:58 GMT -5
3. The Way of All Flesh - Ambrose Parry.
Well done historical murder mystery set amongst the medical world of Edinburgh in the 1840s. A lucky pick from the library shelves - had no idea that Ambrose Parry is actually Christopher Brookmyre and his wife Marisa Haetzman until I started the book and thought it incredibly well written for a first time author. Marisa Haetzman is an anethetisit who studied Edinburgh's medical history for her PhD and it showed.
A good mystery and some excellent little medical tidbits.
4. The Sentence is Death - Anthony Horowitz.
Another of his Hawthorne 'true crime' novels, where Horowitz becomes a minor character in the story. Again I found the book problematic. And again it wasn't the conceit of being a biography with the mix of real and fictionalised characters. It was including a medical condition in the novel that I know a bit about and having the depiction come across as unrealistic. Sure, maybe it could happen like that but it would be so rare it seemed out of place in a supposed 'true crime' novel, particularly when it ended up being rather central to the murder.
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Post by ozziegiraffe on Jan 11, 2019 4:00:56 GMT -5
Your first one sounds interesting, Hal.
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Post by mei on Jan 11, 2019 5:18:29 GMT -5
on a reading roll in 2019 so far! (admittedly with two books which I largely read in 2018 but finished on Jan 1). Anyway:
#4 If cats disappeared from the world by Genki Kawamura
A cute little book about a young man who has less than a week to live in which he contemplates the meaning of life by having to choose what things to let go off in exchange for extending his life. A bit philosophical and I liked the second half better than the first which is a bit mixed in the way of writing I thought. But a nice read for something quick & short.
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Post by Oweena on Jan 11, 2019 10:37:29 GMT -5
A Life of My Own by Claire Tomalin.
I really need to stop reading biographies and get some fiction-time.
Not sure why I got this from the library? It was interesting to read about her schooling in the 1940s and 50s, her struggles to raise a family, make a living, and deal with an unfaithful husband, but she spent a lot of time name-dropping people she met or worked with. They were from the literary world, many of whom I haven't a clue who they are.
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Post by scrubb on Jan 11, 2019 12:59:26 GMT -5
Finalky finished "Wonders Will Never Cease" by Robert Irwin. Not sure how good it was, but it did keep me interested enough to finish it.
Set in medieval England during the War of the Roses. When I picked it up, all I noticed was that the author had written a lot about Arabia and I had the vague impression it was going to be about exotic lands and people. And I thought, somehow the author was a scholar. No it's kind of a fantasy, blending history with mythology with magic realism. The fantasy elements are a bit jarring as they really contrast with the somewhat bleak/stark picture of medieval England.
Characters are nobles and royalty, closely involved in the fighting between Henry of Lancaster and Edward of York. No one at all is very likeable, which is always problematic for me, but the minor characters (like Thomas Malory, and Richard of Gloucestor who became Richard III) are creative and interesting.
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Post by scrubb on Jan 11, 2019 13:04:30 GMT -5
Oh, and I'm pretty sure that the author wrote the "about the author" blurb himself. Apparently his most popular novel is "considered by many critics to be one of the greatest literary fantasy novels of the twentieth century".
Also, had I noticed that two of his previous novels were titled "Prayer Cushions of the Flesh" and "Satan Wants Me", I may not have bought this one...
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Post by Liiisa on Jan 11, 2019 14:25:45 GMT -5
Oh, and I'm pretty sure that the author wrote the "about the author" blurb himself. Apparently his most popular novel is "considered by many critics to be one of the greatest literary fantasy novels of the twentieth century". Also, had I noticed that two of his previous novels were titled "Prayer Cushions of the Flesh" and "Satan Wants Me", I may not have bought this one... Prayer Cushions of the Flesh!!!! 😂😂😂😂 |
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Post by sophie on Jan 12, 2019 10:15:24 GMT -5
21 lessons for the 21st Century by Yuval Noah Harari. This is his latest; many of the chapters were written in response to questions brought to his previous work. Some were published as essays first. Like his other work, it is very thoughtful and provocative. I need to read it in small bits and think about the content.
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Post by shilgia on Jan 12, 2019 10:31:44 GMT -5
I'm very curious about his books, sophie. The earlier two are in my library queue. (But they're so popular that it will take another two months for them to become available!) Had you read the earlier two?
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Post by sophie on Jan 12, 2019 11:12:31 GMT -5
Shilgia, yes I did. The first one remains my favourite probably because of how he presented his thesis.. very different way from any other I had encountered. The second one deals more with future issues, as does this one. All of his books challenge conventional perceptions of human society.
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Post by scrubb on Jan 12, 2019 17:37:56 GMT -5
Shotgun Lovesongs - the one shilgia wrote about above. I felt the same as she did about it - it's lovely. Charming and warm and yeah, a bit sentimental, but that didn't bother me.
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Post by HalcyonDaze on Jan 12, 2019 17:44:54 GMT -5
At my local library - in fact I am pretty sure I picked it up one time, read the blurb and put it back. Will pick it up properly next time I am there. Which could well be today, or if not today, Monday.  |
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Post by shilgia on Jan 12, 2019 17:55:08 GMT -5
So glad you liked it, too, Scrubb!
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Post by kneazle on Jan 13, 2019 3:38:06 GMT -5
2. Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine - really liked it
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Post by snowwhite on Jan 13, 2019 4:58:43 GMT -5
Little Fires Everywhere
I enjoyed it - reminded me in a good way of YA fiction. Various themes, interesting questions raised and left me wondering what happened next to various characters.
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Post by scrubb on Jan 13, 2019 13:01:02 GMT -5
Decades late to the show, I finished "We Have Always Lived in the Castle", by Shirley Jackson. Creepy! Very well done, though.
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Post by Queen on Jan 13, 2019 15:11:35 GMT -5
My mind is boggling at those titles
"Satan wants me" sounds like erotica crossed with fantasy (as a genre, not a personal preference)
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