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Post by Oweena on Aug 28, 2020 19:56:11 GMT -5
I have a few pages left of Elena Ferrente's "My Brilliant Friend ". A lot of people think it's great but a lot of other people gave it luke warm reviews, so I wasn't sure what to expect. Turns out I really like it. Will have to find the sequels. The setting is 1950s Naples, in a fairly poor neighborhood- really paints a fascinating picture of time and place. One of my favourite reads this year. Read all three and was totally meh on them. I think I struggled to understand why the two girls/women felt such a bond since to me they were never looking out for what was best for the other, and were so competetive. Any friendship I've ever had, especially the ones that have lasted over the years are supportive. They did paint a depressing view of post war Naples though. I didn't understand why people were so drawn to the books. I remember one review talking about how the books captured womens friendships so well. But the friendship she writes about aren't relationships I recognize in my life or that of my friends. |
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Post by scrubb on Aug 28, 2020 21:29:34 GMT -5
I recognized a lot of what the narrator felt in the childhood friendship. Not that I had a single friendship exactly like it, not at all, but elements of it were in various relationships. I was a very insecure child and always felt overshadowed.
I haven't read about their adult relationship (yet) so can't say if it will ring bells for me or not.
I wouldn't say that I was exactly drawn to it, but when I got the chance to read for a fair chunk of time shortly after starting it, I really got into it and began enjoying it a lot, and that involvement continued right through (even though I had to finish it in short snatches).
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Post by ozziegiraffe on Aug 29, 2020 7:00:41 GMT -5
50. Dying to Cruise, Dawn Brookes. Another light, fun mystery set on a cruise in Australia. The characters in this series are likeable and well drawn. As an Australian, the only minor niggle was the attempt at Australian accents by the very English audiobook narrator.
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Post by lillielangtry on Aug 29, 2020 11:01:27 GMT -5
Rounding off women in translation month:
Ukraine: Fieldwork in Ukrainian Sex by Oksana Zabuzkho, translated by Halina Hryn
I listened to this on audiobook, which I think was a mistake, although it is a first-person narration. I found it difficult to focus on. Anyway it's about a Ukrainian woman, an academic visiting the US, who thinks about the unhealthy relationship(s?) she had in the past.
Montenegro: Catherine the Great and the Small by Olja Knezevic, translated by Ellen Elias-Bursac and Paula Gordon
This novel focuses on the character of Katarina, growing up in the former Yugoslavia and then becoming an adult between the UK and newly independent Montenegro. She has a best friend with a drug problem, an on-off relationship with a golden boy and a strong grandmother. I found this very enjoyable and well-balanced between the political background and the characters themselves.
Thailand: Arid Dreams by Duanwad Pimwana (translated by Mui Poopoksakul)
This is a collection of short stories and I actually have a few left to go, but I will finish them by the end of the month. I am generally getting on with these stories about ordinary people in modern Thailand.
Now I'm excited to get started on the new David Mitchell!
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Post by Oweena on Aug 29, 2020 17:03:51 GMT -5
Becoming Duchess Goldblatt by Anonymous
Read this as it was on a couple of lists of books to read in 2020.
After finishing it, I'm not sure why it was on those lists.
It's a bit of memoir/autobiography written by a woman who had a rough divorce and child custody battle so she opened a Twitter account and posted in the persona of an 81 year old woman author she called Duchess Goldblatt. The account gained followers and many of them were authors. Against this backdrop you learn about her real life childhood (it sucked) and early adulthood (it sucked) and then the divorce.
I didn't find either her persona or her real story intriguing. She wonders throughout the book why she can't keep friendships. I was always thinking, "maybe it's you".
Anyway, her fake Twitter persona saves her sanity, she builds a real friendship with her musical hero Lyle Lovett, she gets this book deal based off her Twitter musings, and she tries to put her life together.
I.Just.Didn't.Care
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Post by Liiisa on Aug 29, 2020 17:17:37 GMT -5
Thank you Oweena; I saw that book and thought "ugh I already spend too much time on Twitter, I really don't need to be reading BOOKS about Twitter." So I'm grateful to learn that I'm not missing anything.
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Post by lillielangtry on Aug 30, 2020 2:02:47 GMT -5
Ha, oweena, sounds like one to miss!
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Post by ozziegiraffe on Aug 30, 2020 6:32:50 GMT -5
51. The Alpine Kindrred, Mary Daheim, one of my favourite cozy mystery authors. Another interesting mystery with a peek into the Gold Rush in the Pacific Northwest. As Washington is one of only 3 US states I have visited, I’m interested in insights into its history, especially the Scandinavian and Asian connections.
The outcome was interesting and perceptive.
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Post by scrubb on Sept 1, 2020 22:02:16 GMT -5
Late last night I finished "What the Dog Saw" by Malcolm Gladwell. It's a collection of columns he's written and published in the New Yorker, and most of them are pretty interesting. Some haven't aged particularly well, but most are still relevant. He's an engaging writer.
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Post by sophie on Sept 1, 2020 23:43:58 GMT -5
The Weight of Ink by Rachel Kadish. I think someone in here recommended it. Glad I read it. Beautiful language as the setting changes from modern times to the 1600’s. A cast of characters: a graduate student floundering in his Shakespeare thesis, a historian on the brink of retirement, a young female scribe to a blind rabbi. The minor characters are also very strong. The plot revolves around newly discovered papers which were written (mostly) by the female scribe and the revelations contained within those papers. Very engaging and well researched.
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Post by lillielangtry on Sept 2, 2020 1:53:31 GMT -5
The September thread is here |
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Post by riverhorse on Sept 2, 2020 3:55:13 GMT -5
The Weight of Ink by Rachel Kadish. I think someone in here recommended it. Glad I read it. Beautiful language as the setting changes from modern times to the 1600’s. A cast of characters: a graduate student floundering in his Shakespeare thesis, a historian on the brink of retirement, a young female scribe to a blind rabbi. The minor characters are also very strong. The plot revolves around newly discovered papers which were written (mostly) by the female scribe and the revelations contained within those papers. Very engaging and well researched. Hooray, glad you enjoyed it. It was my recommendation |
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Post by sprite on Sept 2, 2020 9:45:42 GMT -5
It has finally hit my LIbby list, but I've had to postpone the loan, as I'm halfway through two other books. Looking forward to lots of reading on holiday.
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Post by HalcyonDaze on Sept 2, 2020 20:26:39 GMT -5
Ok, so I have completely lost track of numbers.
These are the books I read in August:
Big Summer - Jennifer Weiner.
Chick lit with a murder, a look at toxic friendships, body shaming and social media influencers.
Heist Society - Ally Carter.
During our family movie marathon that has been happening every weekend since lockdown we watched "Now you see me" and LC absolutely loved it. So I did a google search for books that had a similar heist/con potline and this one came up. YA read of a teenager who has to pull off a heist to save her father.
Totally unrealistic and a lot of fun. It is the start of a series and I'd happily suspend belief and read the rest,
The Library of the Unwritten - A.J. Hackwith.
It's about a library. In hell. What's not to like?
Fun fantasy/paranormal quest book.
Once Upon a Death - Dzintra Sullivan
Free book bub cozy mystery where the main character is the Reaper, who has decided to retire from collecting souls and try life in a small American town.
Decent enough but I won't look for more.
Dying to Meet You - Rich Amooi
Another freebie from book bub.
Chick lit that I kept on reading for the travel scenes even if the actual plot line was just a bunch of cliches.
It started with a secret - Jill Mansell
Chick lit set in Cornwall. Families, friendships and secrets.
An easy feel good read.
The Last Smile in Sunder City - Luke Arnold.
Dystopian urban fantasy with environmental allegories.
Luke Arnold is an actor - he is possibly best known for playing Michael Hutchence in a TV mini series about INXS. If I had realised this I probably would have been snobbish and not picked up the book, which would have been a mistake. Instead I found the book listed among those like the Rivers of London series. And the publishers are trying to market it that way with a cover that is incredibly similar to that series.
I really loved this - sure, Arnold sometimes goes for overblown phrases and tortured similes. But he can also tell a decent story of a world that used to be full of magic and where humans weren't at all special. Until the day the humans drain the magic from the world in a war against all the magical beings. The book is set in this post magic times and we follow Fletch, a human who now hates people for what they (and he) did and will only work as a P.I for magical beings. He is called into a school to search for a missing teacher - a vampire who can no longer feed.
Again Again - E. Lockhart
YA
This was clever at the time and yet seems fairly forgettable now.
A sliding door type of novel where we are given glimpses into all the possible worlds where Adelaide Buchwald is living out her summer after being dumped by her boyfriend.
Still have a few more books but that is long enough for now!
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