As the Page Turns (the Book Thread)

[Susan1]

I just checked my library page. All of my books have new due dates of May 12. And the ones that had 4 or 5 renewals on them still do. Summer of 69 is the only one that does not and never has had any renewals. If I have to keep it long enough, I might read it again.

 

[Jenny]

Just finished The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Scott Turton and highly recommend it - if you like a certain genre, or genres would be more accurate. Especially now when so many of us are at home with more time on our hands than we are used to, this is a very complicated book with a fast paced plot and a million details to keep track of, plus it's so outside the real world that you can really let yourself be absorbed by it.

Essentially it's a murder mystery with many elements, well pretty much every element of a typical Agatha Christie mystery, with a lot of Gosford Park thrown in, and many other references all jumbled together. A remote country house filled with dozens of family members, guests and servants who all have secrets, dozens more confusing things in the form of an army of additional servants and 50 guests to a masquerade ball; the house and grounds are filled with potential murder weapons of every sort, and the stuff of clues are everywhere - footprints in the mud, mysterious ledgers, unsigned notes, stray chess pieces, a gallery of portraits, a stash of costumes, all of it.

The premise is that the protagonist is there to solve a murder that is about to happen. The twist is that each day is repeated, only he wakes up in the body of a different person, so sees it all play out from a different perspective, picking up clues along the way. I don't want to say more for fear of spoiling it, but that's really only the beginning.

Still thinking about the ending, not sure I loved it but not sure how else it could have gone, but for a first time author, wow.

 

[quartz]

Finished A Gentleman in Moscow today - took me a more than a month to read (while also reading other books) as I found it was one of those savour it in small morsels type of books. Absolutely loved it, and it is one of the rare books that will not go in the goodwill box, but be put back on my shelf to re-visit like an old friend, at another time.
Would love to see a mini-series made of this book.


Still having a hard time concentrating on reading much - considering I am on day 28 of being off work and housebound, I would have thought I would be used to my new non-routine by now, but its not really become any less weird.

 

[Susan1]

If we are opening up in stages, can I be a broken record and hope for libraries?

 

[clairecloutier]

I finished a book by the German journalist, Jens Muehling, called Journey into Russia. He's definitely drawn to the extreme, so I think it's important to keep that in mind, like he's not trying to represent the sort of ordinary contemporary daily life of your everyday person by any means I don't think, and there is an underlying focus on the Old Believer history and culture which might not interest everyone as much as me, but it's well-worth reading, really interesting, a couple of disturbing bits but an almost magical ending section.

Thanks for recommending this book, @Michalle. Very intriguing and a bit surreal. I enjoyed it. (And the tale of the ill-fated, vodka-soaked, high-speed boat odyssey in search of Agafya Lykova is one I'll remember.)

 

[mjb52]

Thanks for recommending this book, @Michalle. Very intriguing and a bit surreal. I enjoyed it. (And the tale of the ill-fated, vodka-soaked, high-speed boat odyssey in search of Agafya Lykova is one I'll remember.)

I absolutely loved it. I also love how this random-ish Russian person that he doesn't appear to know well eventually literally guides him on foot through hundreds (?) of miles of the taiga to reach her and he sort of takes that for granted a bit. Like whoa, this dude did NOT have to do that. I'm sure he appreciated it in life, it's just sort of funny how he glazes past it a bit in the book. And the part where one of the Russians he's interacting with asks why it's so important to him to reach her and he can't really explain it is resonant for me, how sometimes there is something we feel that we need to do but we can't really articulate the reason even to ourselves. I guess someone could be cynical and say he needs it for his book but I definitely feel like it was more than that. The ending has such a beautiful transcendent quality.

 

[PrincessLeppard]

I finished another book of the dystopian list. American War by Omar El Akkad is set about 80 years in the future, and fossil fuels have been banned. The south rebels and starts a civil war, the north releases polio (or something similar) into South Carolina, which gets walled off because a cure doesn't exist, and the Middle East, which is now one very powerful nation, encourages the southern rebels because it's in the ME's interests to keep the fight going. Oh, and there's a pandemic. Very timely! LOL

It's a good book, and I figured out who unleashed the pandemic pretty quickly (I'm not entirely sure the author meant to keep it a secret; it's fairly obvious), but you are going to get hit pretty hard over the head with IRONY -- omg, what America has done to other countries is now being done to it! IRONY IRONY IRONY

Oh, it's also a really interesting read into how children and teenagers can get radicalized.

 

[rfisher]

I often have my junior level radiation safety class read Bones of Betrayal by Jefferson Bass. The "Bass" part of the writer (it's two people) is Dr. George Bass professor emeritus from U Tennessee who started the Body Farm. The novel looks at a former Manhattan Project scientist who is poisoned with radioactive Iridium (he swallows it). There is a lot of other stuff that happens. I have them read the novel to critique the science on radiation biology and radiation safety. There are Russian spies and backstory about Oakridge and women who worked with the plutonium and uranium eventually used in the bombs dropped on Japan. I think this is more interesting than reading a boring textbook, but I'm always amazed at how many students comment that they never read for pleasure. Like ever. I don't understand them. But, the ones who do, really get into the story and want to know more about the characters and the series. But, one of the students cracked me up in their discussion of the novel today. Their favorite character, who is mine as well, is an 80 something Russian spy named Beatrice. The reason she was the student's favorite character is because she starts drinking at 8:00 in the morning and doesn't take any BS from anybody. The student wants her to be her Russian spy grandmother.

 

[Marge_Simpson]

I can't read new books at all right now. I have a stack of library books but I gave up trying to read them; I just can't process new material.
What I'm doing instead is re-reading favorites, since I already know the plot.

 

[genevieve]

It took me a whole month to get through my last book - which is too bad, because it was interesting and fun and funny, and overall I feel like I missed out on a lot of it because I started reading it right when things got real and my brain lost the plot a bit. Ways to Disappear. I recommend it. I think.

Now that my brain is back online, I'm on to Juliet the Maniac, which so far seems kind of like a grittier, less-precious version of Girl, Interrupted.

 

[Habs]

I can't read new books at all right now. I have a stack of library books but I gave up trying to read them; I just can't process new material.
What I'm doing instead is re-reading favorites, since I already know the plot.

I'm doing this as well. I'm having trouble concentrating on new books so I pulled a stack of old favourites off of my shelf.

 

[Susan1]

I can't read new books at all right now. I have a stack of library books but I gave up trying to read them; I just can't process new material.
What I'm doing instead is re-reading favorites, since I already know the plot.

I mentioned before that I'm just reading on weekends, like I usually would, and I get interested and forget what's going on, till I have to go to the bathroom or get a snack.

 

[her grace]

It's more the idea that libraries are closing. This is truly the end times.

I am missing my library very much and hope we can do drive-through service again at some point.

All you people who don't do ebooks... we're at war! That means doing ebooks if that's what it takes.

but I have read my first ebook. Desperate times require desperate measures.

 

[Prancer]

Since I see a lot of complaints about finding it hard to concentrate and read, I thought some might appreciate this list of fast-paced quick reads.

 

[quartz]

I just finished Tipping the Velvet, and for the next little while I’m going back to some old friends. I’m thinking Diane Setterfield’s Bellman & Black, Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere, maybe the entire Narnia series. I also have the 3 volume boxset of the complete Gary Larson “Far Side” which has never been opened since the day I bought it, at least 5 or 6 years ago. That should be a good balm for my very sad soul.

 

[Prancer]

For those of you interested in trying ebooks, Amazon has free international ebooks for World Book Day and three free ebooks for reducing stress and anxiety.

 

[Prancer]

Two months' free Kindle Unlimited (new subscribers only)

 

[rfisher]

I'm reading the worst romantic suspense I've ever read, but I can't stop reading it. The plot holes are so big a semi could drive through them. Every time the heroine is put in danger, she and the hero default to thinking about how hot the other one is and that they want sex now, except they don't because they also default to and tension. But it was a FREE nook offering. You do get what you pay for. I don't even care if they get eaten by a bear (it's set in Alaska) except they'd give the bear indigestion, but I'm utterly fascinated by the author's total failure to write a coherent and plausible plot. They do grope each other a lot. While people are shooting at them or wielding an axe.

 

[quartz]

I’m now reading old friends - read Clan of the Cave Bear and now A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. I remembered that I bought 5 or 6 vintage copies of Victoria Holt books for a buck each, so I think I will read a couple of those next.

 

[Prancer]

I've read some truly forgettable thrillers and one historical novel that I liked--The Siege Winter, a book started by Ariana Franklin and finished by her daughter Samantha Norman after Franklin's death. The one thing I didn't like was the villain--he is just too satanic. But the rest I really enjoyed.

 

[nlloyd]

I have had a spate of good luck with novels I've read recently, all of which I have enjoyed: A Gentleman in Moscow (Amor Towles); What Poets Needs (Finuala Dowling); Flyleaf (Dowling); Chances Are . . . (Richard Russo); Fatima's Good Fortune (Joanne Dryansky and Gerry Y. Dryansky); Fortune's Second Wink (sequel), and The Cactus (Sarah Haywood). Not quite in the same league, but still well worth reading were: A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian (Marina Lewycka) and Summer of '69 (Elin Hilderbrand).

 

[PrincessLeppard]

They do grope each other a lot. While people are shooting at them or wielding an axe.

Look, we all have our kinks, okay? don't be so judgey.

@nlloyd I've been pondering the Lewycka book. If the libraries ever open again, I'll check it out.

 

[rfisher]

Look, we all have our kinks, okay? don't be so judgey.

@nlloyd I've been pondering the Lewycka book. If the libraries ever open again, I'll check it out.

Kink is perfectly fine. In fact a little kink is good, but GMAFB, when a mad man just tried to cut your head off with an axe, is probably not the best time to be thinking about how much you want to lick your partner's neck. Maybe after the crazy axe murderer is gone would be a better time.

Apparently, this was a first novel for the author who went on to win a RITA award from the romance writers of America. Maybe her editors did a better job with subsequent books. I'm not buying them to find out.

 

[ryanj07]

I really enjoyed Not Our Kind by Kitty Zeldis. It’s set in post WW2 NYC and begins with a Jewish school teacher and an upper class socialite meeting after a car accident. They go from strangers to employee/employer and forge a somewhat friendship that is constantly held back by their different social class and religion. It was very strong but I wasn’t a fan of the somewhat open ending.

Also finished One Day by David Nicholls and I can’t believe I haven’t read this before now! It starts in 1988 the night of Emma and Dexter’s university graduation and continues to check in on their life each July 15th for the next twenty years. Some years they are together, some they correspond and others they are apart and barely speaking but they’re always thinking of the other. I LOVED it and it’s going on my favorites list but it’s one of those that you’ll either love or hate, not much room for middle ground. It was the first book to make me cry since Kristin Hannah’s Firefly Lane. I found the movie starring Anne Hathaway on Netflix and it’s on my to watch list!

 

[Susan1]

Just saw Mike Lupica on Morning Joe. His second Robert B. Parker Sunny Randall novel comes out today. I'll put it on my list for when the library opens again.

Forgot - it's called Grudge Match. And he said he's working on a third one.

 

[Matryeshka]

I'm reading Uprooted by Naomi Novik. It's one of those books where if someone asked "would you recommend it? Is it a good book?" I would unequivocally say "yes" and at the same time if someone asked "did you enjoy it" I would say "meh." There is something just missing for me and I can't quite figure out what it is, but then, that's kind of a common theme for me when I read this genre of updated, darker, slightly-feminist fairy tales for adults. I read ONE series of those I liked, and every other one has just lacked...something. I want to like this genre and feel like I should like it, but maybe I just don't.

 

[PrincessLeppard]

I read a political thriller called Oppo, which was fairly interesting, probably a good airplane book should we ever be able to get back on one of those things. So a moderate Republican senator (LOL like there's any left) is being sought out by the maverick Democrat (who is sort of Trumpian but not as stupid) running for president as his running mate. So someone threatens to blackmail the Republican senator and she hires a team to find out what it's for. She's a bit of a Mary Sue, which is annoying, because she has nothing in her background that could possibly disqualify her.

Anyway, the theme of the book is that money in politics is bad, super PACs are bad, and Congress is strictly run by the wealthy. I mean, yes. Still, if you need some mindless reading (once you get all the characters straight...good Lord there are many), it's easy enough to turn off your brain and just go along for the ride.

 

[MacMadame]

I have been watching Killing Eve. It's based on 'the Villenale stories". Has anyone read them? I assume they are more from the POV of Villenale than of Eve.

 

[VALuvsMKwan]

I read a political thriller called Oppo, which was fairly interesting, probably a good airplane book should we ever be able to get back on one of those things. So a moderate Republican senator (LOL like there's any left) is being sought out by the maverick Democrat (who is sort of Trumpian but not as stupid) running for president as his running mate. So someone threatens to blackmail the Republican senator and she hires a team to find out what it's for. She's a bit of a Mary Sue, which is annoying, because she has nothing in her background that could possibly disqualify her.

Anyway, the theme of the book is that money in politics is bad, super PACs are bad, and Congress is strictly run by the wealthy. I mean, yes. Still, if you need some mindless reading (once you get all the characters straight...good Lord there are many), it's easy enough to turn off your brain and just go along for the ride.

Sorry to digress, but since I have never known exactly what the bolded term meant (other than its inherent pejorative connotation), I did a little search and found this:

Mary Sue Tropes - TV Tropes

Tropes that are directly related to and often found on Mary Sue and her brother Marty Stu. Not related to Peggy Sue. See also The Beautiful Tropes, Trapped in Another World, Harem Genre, Purity Personified, and Rule of Glamorous. Tropes: Subindex …

tvtropes.org

 

[MsZem]

I'm reading Uprooted by Naomi Novik. It's one of those books where if someone asked "would you recommend it? Is it a good book?" I would unequivocally say "yes" and at the same time if someone asked "did you enjoy it" I would say "meh." There is something just missing for me and I can't quite figure out what it is

Dragons.

His Majesty's Dragon (Temeraire, #1)

Aerial combat brings a thrilling new dimension to the N…

www.goodreads.com