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Post by Oweena on Mar 3, 2022 10:27:37 GMT -5
So I guess I need to make the March book thread.
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Post by Oweena on Mar 3, 2022 10:28:16 GMT -5
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Post by Oweena on Mar 3, 2022 10:37:59 GMT -5
Lemon by by Kwon Yeo-Sun translated by Janet Hong
Short book (150 pages) with a murder mystery at its core, but it's not a murder mystery. Solving the crime isn't the point. Da-on is the main character, and her beautiful older teen sister is murdered while they're in high school. The narrative is how this affected Da-on and their classmates. It jumps between narrators, and spans nearly 20 years. I'd say the book is less about finding out whodunit and more about grief and how it affects us over the years. As well as a bit of retribution thrown in.
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Post by lillielangtry on Mar 3, 2022 13:48:07 GMT -5
Thanks Oweena!
I was off work yesterday and I read: Mary Elsy, Pedals and Petticoats: On the Road in Post-War Europe This was a charity shop find from the UK. It's a charming piece of travel writing about 4 young British women who decide to quit their jobs and cycle through Europe in 1950. They make it through Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Austria, Italy, Spain (a little bit) and France, camping and staying in youth hostels. Obviously the effects of WW2 still very much in evidence at that time and 4 women alone were a novelty in many of the places they went through. Very much enjoyed this.
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Post by Liiisa on Mar 3, 2022 18:27:30 GMT -5
Thank you Oweena!
I'm just starting my next book now, one of those little sci-fi paperbacks from the 1960s that I always look for when I'm in a used bookstore.
I had been intending to start "Inventory of Losses" by Judith Schalansky, but everything has been so depressing lately that I kept not getting around to picking it up, so I'll read this bit of weird fluff instead.
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Post by ozziegiraffe on Mar 4, 2022 8:18:30 GMT -5
Thank you Oweena. 12. When There Were Nine. CA Larmer. Australian cozy mystery set in a remote mountain lodge with a bushfire raging, loosely based on Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None, the book the group staying in the lodge were discussing.
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Post by scrubb on Mar 4, 2022 15:14:50 GMT -5
The Trout, by Peter Cunningham.
A sad Irish book, half set in Canada.
It was good, but not great. Dealt with lots of big themes (Catholic priest abuses, family, friendship, trust and loss of it). Tried to also be a somewhat tense mystery but had to throw in annoying red herrings to accomplish it.
My real takeaway is the serious devotion to the church in Ireland (past tense, talking the '50s to '70s). Parents refusing to believe kids, parishioners refusing to condemn priests, and the internalized rejection even of those directly affected.
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Post by Liiisa on Mar 5, 2022 16:44:21 GMT -5
5) Philip José Farmer, The Gate of Time
A World War II pilot who also is a skilled linguist and part Iroquois all-around hero crashes his plane in what he thinks is Romania, but it turns out it's the same location on the planet but in a parallel universe where there are people but all is very geographically and culturally strange. It's kind of violent, so CW for folks who prefer not to read stuff like that, but fairly gripping (if only to figure out what the heck the author is going to do with this crazy plot next). Plus a surprise twist ending!
Anyway, enough of that silliness; now I'll read Judith Schalansky's Inventory of Losses.
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Post by Oweena on Mar 6, 2022 9:44:07 GMT -5
Wayward by Dana Spiotta
A suburban wife and mother of a teen daughter has a midlife crisis. She buys a fixer upper house in the city, separates from her husband, and has lots of hot flashes. There is more, but none of it worked for me. The main character spends a lot of time commenting on the women around her (their hair and clothing), and not in a flattering way. Which was odd since one recurring theme is how the character rails against how society looks past middle-aged women. The story didn't grab me, the characters bored me, and the plot was weak.
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Post by Liiisa on Mar 6, 2022 13:20:12 GMT -5
Thanks for the warning, Oweena; that does sound uninteresting.
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Post by Liiisa on Mar 6, 2022 21:57:45 GMT -5
6) Ursula LeGuin, The Dispossessed
This is a reread, but since the first time I read it was in 1979 I figure it's as good as new because I had only the vaguest memory.
This is the LeGuin book about the two nearby planets where one is like Earth and the other is a big anarchist collective. There are so many interesting ideas in this book - about evolution of societies, and how much work it takes to make communal living work, and about the nature of time itself. Definitely worth the reread.
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Post by mei on Mar 7, 2022 9:51:13 GMT -5
i finally finished a non-fiction book I've been reading on and off: Consumed by Aja Barber. It's subtitled "The need for collective change: Colonialism, climate change & consumerism" so I think it's not difficult to guess what it's about.
I read a lot about these topics, still an interesting book, but I think it was mostly the style of writing which wasn't very appealing for me.
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Post by sprite on Mar 7, 2022 15:09:28 GMT -5
I read a book by Michael Moseley about intermittent fasting, but I'm not counting it. It was more like a very long intro to a tiny recipe book. Unless you're interested in IF, in which case, it's a decent read, very quick.
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Post by scrubb on Mar 7, 2022 15:14:28 GMT -5
Just finished a reread of the first book in a fantasy series of 5 that I loved back in the '80s when it was written.
Pawn of Prophecy, first book in The Belgariad, by David Eddings.
It's still enjoyable, but hasn't stood up well in some ways. Or I'm just more aware now. This medieval style world is broken up into different races and they fiercely guard their homelands and don't mix. And everyone from some of the races are evil (and, coincidentally, are dark featured and associated with the colour black). And everyone from another of the races is very foreign and snake- like, and associated with the colour yellow.
And our heroes have to band together to try to wipe out the evil races.
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Post by scicaro on Mar 7, 2022 15:23:50 GMT -5
I read all of those too back then scrubb. The writer is more than a little problematic from what I've read recently.
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Post by Queen on Mar 7, 2022 16:28:48 GMT -5
Murder at the Vicarage - Agatha Christie - just for fun, quick read. It's the first book featuring Miss Marple, and a lot of people in the book find her very annoying which amused me because I've often thought she's quite the busy-body.
1000 Ships - Natalie Haynes A retelling of Greek myths from the perspective of women. I don't know much about the myths although quite a lot seeps into popular culture so I had some idea of who the people were. It's a great story, with some parts that were clearly a lot of fun to write. I wish she'd been less mean to Cassandra, but other than that I really enjoyed it. She also has a podcast "Natalie Haynes stands up for the classics" which I enjoy even if I don't understand much...
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Post by scrubb on Mar 7, 2022 20:45:54 GMT -5
I read all of those too back then scrubb. The writer is more than a little problematic from what I've read recently. Ugh, I just looked it up.
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Post by sprite on Mar 8, 2022 5:35:15 GMT -5
Just finished a reread of the first book in a fantasy series of 5 that I loved back in the '80s when it was written. Pawn of Prophecy, first book in The Belgariad, by David Eddings. It's still enjoyable, but hasn't stood up well in some ways. Or I'm just more aware now. I read all those too, and at the time it was like, well, there is a single strong female character, and she does develop a romantic relationshiop, so this is as feminist as we're going to get in fantasy... I just read up on Eddings, and a bunch of other names were dropped as having horrible pasts. Ugh. I know that no one's perfect, but I'm more than a little tired of the 'tortured genuis' nonsense.
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Post by ozziegiraffe on Mar 8, 2022 6:23:53 GMT -5
I read all of those too back then scrubb. The writer is more than a little problematic from what I've read recently. I just googled him. Horrible story. I felt the Belgariad was OK, but nowhere near comparable to Tolkien.
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Post by ozziegiraffe on Mar 8, 2022 6:27:16 GMT -5
13. Away with the Penguins, Hazel Prior. Recommended for anyone who thinks they are too old for travel and adventures.
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Post by Liiisa on Mar 8, 2022 6:34:18 GMT -5
I actually had managed to have never heard of David Eddings, but now I have skimmed his wikipedia article and - yuck.
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Post by lillielangtry on Mar 8, 2022 6:35:31 GMT -5
2 very different books from Singapore-born women:
Catherine Lim, O Singapore! A short collection of short stories originally published in 1989. Amusing views on life in Singapore. The birth rate policies ("stop at 2!" and later "have 3 or more (if you can afford it!)") are repeatedly mentioned.
Balli Kaur Jaswal, Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows This is a really warm, engaging story set among the Punjabi community of Southall in London. It's more of the category "commercial women's fiction" than I generally go for, but I was totally drawn in by the story - it's got murder, cultural issues, funny bits and, yes, sex. The audiobook was perfectly rendered by actor Meera Syal and I'm actually missing it now I'm done.
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Post by sophie on Mar 8, 2022 11:29:45 GMT -5
Lille, I really liked that ‘erotic stories’ book!
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Post by lillielangtry on Mar 8, 2022 12:25:15 GMT -5
Oh Sophie, you read that one too? I seem to be following along your reading taste a few months or years later! ;-)
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Post by Liiisa on Mar 8, 2022 12:44:59 GMT -5
i finally finished a non-fiction book I've been reading on and off: Consumed by Aja Barber. It's subtitled "The need for collective change: Colonialism, climate change & consumerism" so I think it's not difficult to guess what it's about. I read a lot about these topics, still an interesting book, but I think it was mostly the style of writing which wasn't very appealing for me. Yeah, it sounds like one of those books where I say "yep sounds like a summary of one of my environmental policy classes." But I'm glad there are so many general-audience books about this kind of stuff coming out.
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Post by sophie on Mar 8, 2022 20:10:00 GMT -5
Violeta by Isabel Allende. Loved, loved, loved this book. It’s a letter from an elderly woman to her beloved grandson telling him about his family. I stayed up late last night to finish it because it was so good, felt like a wonderful warm quilt of love wrapped around the person reading. Most of the story takes place in Chile. The narrator is quite the character, and her family and various adventures during her century of living are a wonderful backdrop to how she changes.
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Post by sophie on Mar 11, 2022 21:10:06 GMT -5
Something to Hide by Elizabeth George. A big and satisfying murder mystery by a master writer of murder mysteries. Inspector Lynley is the main character but shares the stage with other well developed characters. Just a heads up that FGM is one of the issues tied to the murder and mystery.
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Post by scrubb on Mar 11, 2022 22:28:33 GMT -5
IS that a new one, sophie? I've read most of the series but can never remember the titles!
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Post by sophie on Mar 11, 2022 23:38:41 GMT -5
Yes Scrubb, it is brand new!
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Post by Oweena on Mar 13, 2022 17:13:33 GMT -5
These Precious Days: Essays by Ann Patchett
Highly recommend this book. I love Patchett, and her last book of essays was wonderful. This one is even better and I'm guessing it's going to end up on my top ten list for 2022.
I love both her writing and her view of people, dogs, the world. Even when she's writing about death it's not gloom and doom.
Anyway, try to read this one.
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