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Post by Liiisa on May 12, 2021 4:44:41 GMT -5
Agreed, I don't like bingeing on an author even if it is a trilogy. But I do like to read the next book before I've forgotten everything I figured out about the first one.
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Post by lillielangtry on May 12, 2021 6:15:28 GMT -5
I've been meaning to try N. K. Jemisin for a while. But I think I've got to the stage with unread books where I have to ban myself from acquiring more for a while.
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Post by ozziegiraffe on May 12, 2021 6:26:47 GMT -5
34. Aunt Bessie Finds, Diana Xarissa. This is an enjoyable cozy mystery series, set on the Isle of Man. In each story I’m learning a little more about the island.
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Post by Liiisa on May 12, 2021 18:00:12 GMT -5
I've been meaning to try N. K. Jemisin for a while. But I think I've got to the stage with unread books where I have to ban myself from acquiring more for a while. I had friends tell me I should read her other books, which are more standard fantasy, but when I opened one to page 56 in the bookstore, it just didn't grab me. But this one was more my kind of thing. Next I'm going to read a Samanta Schweblin!
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Post by scrubb on May 13, 2021 14:59:27 GMT -5
35. Mama Day, by Gloria Naylor.
Really liked it. I bought it because I really enjoyed some of her other books, and this one was probably my favourite.
It's based mostly in a fictional location, an island offshore between Georgia and South Carolina, that doesnt belong to either. Most of the residents descended from freed slaves. The main characters are 2 very old women (sisters), their grand daughter/great niece, and her husband, from New York. The point of view switches between Mama Day (Miranda, one of the old women), Baby Girl/Cocoa/Ophelia (her grand niece) and George (Ophelia's husband). Sometimes the narration is in 3rd person. The switches are sometimes a little unclear and you have to think about it to figure out whose voice it is, but I didn't find that a weakness.
It's about lots of things, but mostly about relationships. And some magic realism. The sense of place on the island is fantastic. Recommended if you like wise old women and mysticism and atmospheric writing.
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Post by sophie on May 14, 2021 19:36:12 GMT -5
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig. I really liked the premise of this novel, of exploring alternative lives in that ‘space between’, but the ending left me feeling a bit flat. I think in trying to tie up threads the author lost the intensity present earlier in the book. Still a good read though.
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Post by Liiisa on May 15, 2021 4:28:19 GMT -5
12) Samanta Schweblin, Little Eyes
A group of stories in which an internet-connected plushie has been invented where one person keeps it in their home and a completely different randomly assorted person controls it, and it has cameras for eyes (hence the title). This can be fun but generally a very bad idea.
Very good, of course.
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Post by lillielangtry on May 15, 2021 7:32:35 GMT -5
12) Samanta Schweblin, Little Eyes A group of stories in which an internet-connected plushie has been invented where one person keeps it in their home and a completely different randomly assorted person controls it, and it has cameras for eyes (hence the title). This can be fun but generally a very bad idea. Very good, of course. Ah, glad you enjoyed this, although I have to say it's my least favourite of her works I've read so far. #27 Ben Aaronovitch, False Values (a reread) #28 Frances Cha, If I had your face This month's read for book club. The four protagonists are all young women living in Seoul. At first I had difficulty with who was who, but I quite liked this novel, which is focused on the stresses of South Korea - cost of living, family pressures, and beauty. Several of the characters either have or have had extensive plastic surgery. It discusses the "room salons" - basically high-end escort services. A really interesting contrast for me with the story from North Korea I read right before!
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Post by scrubb on May 15, 2021 21:08:39 GMT -5
The Rainbow and the Rose - Nevil Shute.
I really like Nevil Shute's books (with the caveat that sometimes the attitudes from the '50s when he wrote can be jarring and in particular, the way Aboriginals in Australia are portrayed and spoken of). This one was very good - about a pilot (as are many of his books). The narrator is trying to fly a doctor to a small, remote landing strip in terrible weather to operate on an old friend of his, also a pilot, who crashed there and has a head injury. Between attempts while he rests, he dreams the story of his old friend's life - flying in the war, a failed marriage, a tragic romance years later... and finally, some good things later in his life.
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Post by ozziegiraffe on May 15, 2021 23:30:38 GMT -5
35 An Occupied Grave, A G Barnett. A good start to a series set in an English police station and its surrounding villages. Interestingly eccentric village characters, and police personnel with plenty of room for character development as the series proceeds. I liked how their personal issues and quirks were part of the story.
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Post by tzarine on May 16, 2021 13:33:38 GMT -5
has anyone read baldwin's another country?
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Post by Liiisa on May 16, 2021 14:28:35 GMT -5
I am sorry to say that I have not. I should!
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Post by scrubb on May 16, 2021 21:24:31 GMT -5
Same as Liiiiiisa. Sorry.
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Post by Oweena on May 18, 2021 8:53:01 GMT -5
Lady Killers: Deadly Women Throughout History by Tori Telfer
Each chapter tells the story of a female murderer and I know that sounds lame and exploitive but it's not like that. The author delves into the society at large during the time of the woman she's discussing. The cases go back centuries and pretty quickly you realize a common denominator is some of these women killed as the world they lived in gave them no other opportunities. That's not an excuse for murder, but the setting can matter. Women in a small town, cut off from the world expected to put up with abusive husbands and a life with nothing going for it may make slipping the asshole you live with a bit of arsenic easier.
Most of the case studies are from centuries gone by, just two are from the 20th century. One chapter focuses on the females who murdered their partners in Chicago of the 1910s-20s and how over 20 were acquitted for murder in this time period when they were young and pretty. But there were middle aged and ugly (per newspapers of the time) women who were convicted and sentenced to long prison terms for almost identical circumstances during this time.
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Post by Oweena on May 18, 2021 9:01:16 GMT -5
Blood, Powder, and Residue: How Crime Labs Translate Evidence Into Proof by Beth A. Bechky
Admitting up front I didn't finish this book and only got it to start with because of work. Made it halfway and couldn't deal with the dry, repetitive writing and skipped to the conclusion to see if there was anything earth-shattering. And nope, there wasn't.
I didn't realize the author is an ethnographer, so she wrote it in that style, like a term paper.
Not that anyone here would be interested in this book, but definitely can't recommend.
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Post by sprite on May 18, 2021 10:44:54 GMT -5
Robin Hobb, the Farseer Trilogy Good fun with fantasy. Probably shouldn't have read all three in 10 days.
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Post by scicaro on May 18, 2021 12:32:55 GMT -5
Robin Hobb, the Farseer Trilogy Good fun with fantasy. Probably shouldn't have read all three in 10 days. Apparently I have the first one of these on my Kindle (no memory of buying it) maybe I'll read it next.
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Post by Liiisa on May 18, 2021 18:57:05 GMT -5
13) Lara Prescott, The Secrets We Kept
At first I thought this was going to be kind of chick-lit-esque since it opens with some intrigue in a CIA typing pool in the 1950s, but it turned out to have a little more heft. It's a fictionalized portrayal of how "Doctor Zhivago" got published from the perspective of the women involved. It wasn't completely my kind of book, but I found it pretty hard to put down once I got about halfway into it.
Now I guess I'm going to have to read "Doctor Zhivago." I've never even seen the film!
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Post by sprite on May 20, 2021 7:23:00 GMT -5
Robin Hobb, the Farseer Trilogy Good fun with fantasy. Probably shouldn't have read all three in 10 days. Apparently I have the first one of these on my Kindle (no memory of buying it) maybe I'll read it next. I'm kicking myself because 2/3 of the way through the first book, I realised that I'd already read it.
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Post by tzarine on May 20, 2021 12:55:35 GMT -5
roland barthes a graphic guide
it's not the way i was taught but i love seeing these intros designed for manga generation
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Post by ozziegiraffe on May 21, 2021 19:34:25 GMT -5
36. Aunt Bessie Goes, Diana Xarissa. Another cozy set on the Isle of Man. This one travels to some far corners of the island, but because the plot depends on previous books in the series, it would not be a good place to start the series.
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Post by scrubb on May 22, 2021 22:13:28 GMT -5
Russell Banks - Lost Memory of Skin.
The main character is a convicted sex offender, living under The Causeway in a Florida city, because that's the only place 2500 feet from where children might gather. There's also The Professor, a sociologist researching homelessness and homeless sex offenders.
It makes the main character pretty sympathetic, and goes a long way into explaining why he is how he is and why he did what he did, but leaves him some ambiguity, too. He wasn't written entirely consistently, though. There are scenes where he uses language far better than the character is supposed to be able to, and he asks very discerning questions sometimes, when other times he can't follow simple logic. The reader was supposed to be unsure how intelligent he is, I think, but it still should have been more consistent (IMO).
The professor has many secrets too. The reader never quite knows what to believe about him. He didn't necessarily work for me, but finding him unconvincing wasn't enough to ruin the book.
Overall, an unexpected and well done book. It's not horribly dark and there's nothing to upset squeamish readers. Worth reading, but not amazing.
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Post by sophie on May 22, 2021 22:43:29 GMT -5
Scrubb, I read that novel a few years ago and quite enjoyed it.
The Law of Innocence by Michael Connelly. A decent murder mystery featuring the lawyer Mickey Haller. Easy reading.
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Post by Oweena on May 24, 2021 8:45:14 GMT -5
Outlawed by Anna North Strange novel set in the late 1880s-90s in the US after The Flu of the 1830s wiped out the population. So there was no Civil War and no Industrial Revolution. Females worth is based on their ability to bear children and when they can't they're accused of being witches, cast out of their towns, or killed. The main character finds a band of female thieves she hooks up with and so it's a Western, a Handmaid's Tale subplot, and there are lots of gender fluid and queer characters. I'm not sure it all works.
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Post by sprite on May 24, 2021 11:29:58 GMT -5
Holly Black--The Cruel Prince. Twin sisters see their mother and father murdered, by a being who turns out to be the father of their sister. Turns out mom was married to a fairy, had a child then escaped fairy land to marry a human.
The fairy father takes all three children to Faerie, and the story picks up when they are 17. Although the twins are under the protection of a powerful general to the King, they are constantly bullied for being inferior humans--most other humans in Faerie are under enchantment, or very talented. Taryn does her best to fit in, but Jude can't stop trying to prove she can be as good as everyone else.
There were a few twists you could sort of see--Jude gets a very attractive offer from a high-ranking individual which doesn't lead to what she hoped for, friends are less than friends, foes are less than foes. But the story is interesting enough to pull you through those.
The Faerie bit is well done. It's not a story about magical beings, but about family loyalty, finding your way, learning about what's really important to you. It's YA fiction, but enjoyable. I'll read the rest of the series in a while.
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Post by scrubb on May 24, 2021 19:03:37 GMT -5
Outlawed by Anna North Strange novel set in the late 1880s-90s in the US after The Flu of the 1830s wiped out the population. So there was no Civil War and no Industrial Revolution. Females worth is based on their ability to bear children and when they can't they're accused of being witches, cast out of their towns, or killed. The main character finds a band of female thieves she hooks up with and so it's a Western, a Handmaid's Tale subplot, and there are lots of gender fluid and queer characters. I'm not sure it all works. Sounds like a fascinating premise, but if it's not well done...
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Post by tzarine on May 24, 2021 19:44:06 GMT -5
Russell Banks - Lost Memory of Skin. The main character is a convicted sex offender, living under The Causeway in a Florida city, because that's the only place 2500 feet from where children might gather. There's also The Professor, a sociologist researching homelessness and homeless sex offenders. It makes the main character pretty sympathetic, and goes a long way into explaining why he is how he is and why he did what he did, but leaves him some ambiguity, too. He wasn't written entirely consistently, though. There are scenes where he uses language far better than the character is supposed to be able to, and he asks very discerning questions sometimes, when other times he can't follow simple logic. The reader was supposed to be unsure how intelligent he is, I think, but it still should have been more consistent (IMO). The professor has many secrets too. The reader never quite knows what to believe about him. He didn't necessarily work for me, but finding him unconvincing wasn't enough to ruin the book. Overall, an unexpected and well done book. It's not horribly dark and there's nothing to upset squeamish readers. Worth reading, but not amazing. russell banks was tzar's writing professor when i meet you in person, i will tell you a story of one of our encounters
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Post by Liiisa on May 25, 2021 12:18:45 GMT -5
14) Zadie Smith, Grand Union
A group of short stories. I really liked a couple of these, and liked the rest. There's a lot of amusing subtle social commentary in these. The one about the NYC Public Schools writing assignment template made me laugh out loud throughout.
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Post by scrubb on May 27, 2021 14:11:27 GMT -5
Jane's Ellroy - The Big Nowhere.
Part of this crime noir writer's "LA Quartet" along with The Black Dahlia, LA Confidential, and White Jazz.
I thought the Dahlia was great, and also really liked LA Confidential. Couldn't read White Jazz. This one is quite good, and was worth reading- but I think it also will be my last Ellroy. I don't like his dark '50s world of corruption, violence, racism, and homophobia. Maybe it's depressing because it's still too much like that, but I just don't want to go there anymore.
Anyway, the book follows a few policemen and associates working on uncovering Communists in the entertainment industry as part of a grand jury investigation, and it keeps brushing against a murder investigation one of the cops is also working on, that most people don't care about because it was only gay lowlifes who were killed.
There are really bad guys, medium bad guys, and a few good guys who all have some very dark parts and/or have done some very bad things.
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Post by Liiisa on May 28, 2021 20:23:40 GMT -5
15) Nicole Glover, The Conductors
This is a murder mystery set in Reconstruction-era (post-American Civil War) Philadelphia, the detectives are a Black couple, and it's set in a universe where people practice magic based on constellations.
I thought this was really good, and hard to put down - well, it's a 400-page book that took me 2 days to read. A bunch of really good characters, real history woven throughout about a period that people in this country don't know enough about, and a well-described, interesting setting.
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