As the Page Turns (the Book Thread)

clairecloutier

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Messages
14,559
Did anyone else here read Jill Krementz’s book A Very Young Dancer? It was a favorite of mine as a kid, along with her other Very Young books. Anyhow, I was sad to read last night that Stephanie Selby, the little girl in the book, died this week at 56 from suicide-related complications. There’s an article about it in NYT. Apparently Stephanie had a lifelong struggle with depression. 😢

 

SHARPIE

fsuniverse.COM (finally)
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21,368
So “Again, Rachel” appeared at long last on my kindle today. I’ll rate it 7/10.
 
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10,073
I finished Sarah Polley’s book Run Towards Danger this morning. I was a HUGE fan of Road to Avonlea as a child but hadn’t really paid attention to what she’d done since and knew nothing about her as a person. Part memoir, part essay, I found it heartbreaking, super engrossing, and ultimately hopeful. I also related to much more than I expected.
 

genevieve

drinky typo pbp, closet hugger (she/her)
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I've been unintentionally reading East Asian historical fiction so far this year:

Beasts of a Little Land, Juhea Kim - spans several decades in the 20th century in Japanese-occupied Korea
She Who Became the Sun, Shelley Parker-Chan - a very fictional retelling of the transition from the Great Yuan to the Ming Dynasty in 14th century (now) China

I enjoyed both, but SWBTS is the beginning of what I think will be a 2-parter and I can't wait for the second book to come out. The storytelling is great. If all history was taught like a soap opera, I would have gotten much better grades in school :lol: (and yes, I know this book is heavily fictionalized, but still)

I've also read When Two Feathers Fell From the Sky, Margaret Verble (loved it) and Last Night in Montreal, an early Emily St John Mandel book. The latter is maybe my least favorite of her books that I've read, but it was still pretty good. Plus, even though the Montreal parts are in the most brutal part of winter, it made me want to go there.

Currently reading Black Cake, debut novel by Charmaine Wilkerson. Liking it so far - kind of a relief that it's a fast read after the dense plotting of SWBTS.
 

PrincessLeppard

Holding Alex Johnson's Pineapple
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28,194
Do you want a book where you hate everyone? Then I have a book for you! The School for Bad Mothers by Jessamine Chan is about a woman who leaves her 18 month old daughter home alone for two hours and the police find out. The only way she can keep custody is to attend a one year program at a special school. I think there is supposed to be some satire in this section, but it's hard to be sure. I do think the book is highlighting the unrealistic expectations that are put on parents (especially minority parents), but who knows? An interesting read, but get it from the library.
 

annie720

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,303
Did anyone else here read Jill Krementz’s book A Very Young Dancer? It was a favorite of mine as a kid, along with her other Very Young books. Anyhow, I was sad to read last night that Stephanie Selby, the little girl in the book, died this week at 56 from suicide-related complications. There’s an article about it in NYT. Apparently Stephanie had a lifelong struggle with depression. 😢

Oh, wow. :( So sorry to hear this. I still have this book on display with other dance books. I loved it and at one time could probably quote the text from every page. I’d read a while back that Stephanie was living near a town in Wyoming that we liked to visit. I thought of her whenever we were there. Rip beautiful dancer.
 

Susan1

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12,006
Not a specific book, but I just got to see how the library's automatic return works. I had an ILL book that the little white sticker fell out of, so I took it to the desk when I brought it back. Some branches don't use the stickers yet. Then I was thinking, I checked it out with the sticker just stuck between the pages. How did I do that? So I asked. I didn't really get an answer, but he showed me how the books go back in. There is a window in the corner of the lobby that shows the back room that I never really noticed, because I always return them inside. When I have returned them to the lobby return, the library was closed so the light in the back room would have been off. Since 2017 - what a dummy.

Anyway, they get pulled through on the conveyor belt and it reads what department it goes back to. There is a long conveyor belt on the inside that has four little conveyor belts off to the sides and one on the end and it knows which way to shoot them into baskets - children, fiction, etc. I was in shock. I didn't even ask where the ILL books know to go. When I volunteered in West Carrollton, you just left them in the bin under the desk, or the book drop outside, and the workers had to check them in and sort them (me) by hand. I wonder where the DVDs and magazines and stuff go. (When I volunteered, I had to sort piles and piles of CDs and VCR tapes.) I have to remember the next time I take books back to do it in the lobby and watch where they land.

Book-wise - Find Me by Alafair Burke was good. You don't even have to read the Ellie Hatcher series first cause she's only part of it, but those are good too. The last one was 2014.

Run, Rose, Run - Dolly Parton and James Patterson came in. I was the 57th in line. I have to read that first before the 5 books I already had cause it doesn't have any renewals after three weeks.
 
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Jenny

From the Bloc
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21,824
Reporting in on three recent books!

First, Reckless Girls by Rachel Hawkins. Promoted as a thriller featuring a half dozen beautiful people on a remote South Pacific island, people start dying and everyone has secrets. Not exactly accurate, but anyway. It was fun at times, but more and more it was obvious that the author had more than liberally lifted from the true crime story of Palmyra Atoll in the 70s. When I finally got past the disappointing ending (which I was more than anticipating at that point) the author does in fact reference reading And the Sea Will Tell (the definitive if arguably highly biassed account) when she was young but doesn't bother to name the authors of that book (Vincent Bugliosi and Bruce Henderson). Fellow readers, I think I'm over the whole psychopathic female "heroine" book genre. I feel like too often the author is making an either obviously traumatic backstory or in this case somewhat flimsy excuse to make their characters behave very badly. And once again we have these falsely modest characters who somehow attract the hottest character(s), who so often just happen to be in turn rich, and then just not attentive enough or something so they need to die.

Sigh. Did anyone read Stuart Woods? He had this recurring character Stone Barrington who, despite several dozen novels, remained one-dimensional in what would appear to be the manifestation of everything the author himself and his life was not. I used to read those books - there were some good ones, great for the beach or an airport delay - but he finally lost me when the setting was an environment/industry I know well and it wasn't even close. One of those authors that has a good thing going but ends up just churning it out in the end.

So then, in need of something original and well written, I went to Mouth to Mouth by Antoine Wilson. The structure/approach is not that original - a story within a story - but the way it all wove together was fascinating. The title is double meaning - it's a story being told by one person to another, and it also opens with someone being rescued from drowning via mouth to mouth resuscitation. In any first person telling we have the happy potential for an unreliable narrator, and in this case, it's filtered through the book's actual narrator, whose own bias plays into the relaying of the first person's story to the reader. And it's a good story, interesting, you're right there with all the self questioning (what would you do?), the motives for each good and bad decision (or lack thereof) are presented to the reader within the story so we can play along. It's outlandish at times, but as presented, you see how these things can just sort of happen. Much as been made of the last line of the book, but as I think back on it, I think there was a lot more subtly to the whole thing. As the NY Times Book Review likes to say, it's a "slim novel," so not a huge commitment and well worth it in the end.

And then, finished very late last night, The Anomaly by Hervé Le Tellier. This book was a huge deal when first published in France, winning tons of prizes, and I'm not surprised because wow! For most of my life I've had the unreasonable bias that books can only truly be enjoyed in the form in which the author intended, but recently having read excellent, prose-filled books originally written in Japanese and Swedish, and French, I'm changing my tune. Funnily enough, one of the characters in this book is an author who also does translations (recent recurring theme in books I'm reading - they include writers, often it would seem as an outlet for the author's own life/career). Anyway, I don't even know how to describe this (sci fi? character study? advanced math and physics dissertation? love story? philosophical musings? future blockbuster movie? all of the above?) without giving away major plot points, it's a mash up of a lot of things, too many to unpack when I'm still only a few hours from finishing it, so I'll just say look it up and if the jacket description interests you, go for it.
 

Prancer

Chitarrista
Staff member
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56,079
Reporting in on three recent books!

First, Reckless Girls by Rachel Hawkins. Promoted as a thriller featuring a half dozen beautiful people on a remote South Pacific island, people start dying and everyone has secrets. Not exactly accurate, but anyway. It was fun at times, but more and more it was obvious that the author had more than liberally lifted from the true crime story of Palmyra Atoll in the 70s. When I finally got past the disappointing ending (which I was more than anticipating at that point) the author does in fact reference reading And the Sea Will Tell (the definitive if arguably highly biassed account) when she was young but doesn't bother to name the authors of that book (Vincent Bugliosi and Bruce Henderson). Fellow readers, I think I'm over the whole psychopathic female "heroine" book genre. I feel like too often the author is making an either obviously traumatic backstory or in this case somewhat flimsy excuse to make their characters behave very badly. And once again we have these falsely modest characters who somehow attract the hottest character(s), who so often just happen to be in turn rich, and then just not attentive enough or something so they need to die.
ITA with every word and could probably add a few more negative ones. I almost didn't finish this one, but powered through and then hastily set it aside along with two or three others that ran along the same general lines. I decided to give up books with big twists for a while; they just aren't executed all that well most of the time.
 

Susan1

Well-Known Member
Messages
12,006
I can report on Run, Rose, Run. Not like the above book reviews, with all the literary opinions and stuff. It was good. Like a whole season of Nashville, without the sex. If the retired country singer was supposed to be Dolly, I actually pictured her as Rayna James, except all tarted up. Not like the usual Patterson book either, not even the beach reads. No detectives or murders or sex with strangers. It was more of a drama, with some intrigue that was solved at the end.
 

jeffisjeff

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Messages
16,858
And then, finished very late last night, The Anomaly by Hervé Le Tellier. This book was a huge deal when first published in France, winning tons of prizes, and I'm not surprised because wow! For most of my life I've had the unreasonable bias that books can only truly be enjoyed in the form in which the author intended, but recently having read excellent, prose-filled books originally written in Japanese and Swedish, and French, I'm changing my tune. Funnily enough, one of the characters in this book is an author who also does translations (recent recurring theme in books I'm reading - they include writers, often it would seem as an outlet for the author's own life/career). Anyway, I don't even know how to describe this (sci fi? character study? advanced math and physics dissertation? love story? philosophical musings? future blockbuster movie? all of the above?) without giving away major plot points, it's a mash up of a lot of things, too many to unpack when I'm still only a few hours from finishing it, so I'll just say look it up and if the jacket description interests you, go for it.

I did not link The Anomaly as much as I had hoped to. I didn't dislike it, but found myself disappointed based on expectations. That said, I finished it a week or so ago and still find myself thinking about it occasionally, so it had an impact.
 

Susan1

Well-Known Member
Messages
12,006
Adventures at the library, part 2 - I went to the closer library (that does not have a window to the back room so that you can watch your books check themselves in to the correct bin) today to print my Absentee Ballot request, trying to get back before it started raining again. (Why don't they let you do that online? It's just a request, not actually voting.) I used to email stuff to myself to print and open it there, but I discovered that putting it on a USB drive is faster. You don't have to open the internet and put in your mail password. So I did that. You have to send it to the printer and then release it from the print queue and put the money in and tell it to print - the usual pressing about 10 different things. I know how. It just takes moving around. I wasn't paying attention to other stuff, but the guy that works there brought an older lady over to print something, so he pressed my document release after I put the money in around the corner. I said thanks. And went around the other side to get it out of the printer. That older lady said I'll do it myself, huffily, and he said o.k. and walked away. Geez. Another worker was there and walked up to her and the older lady said this is the way I do it. I don't need any help. So she walked away too. Maybe she just didn't want them to see what she was printing? Or she thought they were patronizing her because she was old. The kind of little white haired lady - who was probably early 60's like me, huh?

So I closed my document and computer session and walked past the desk and told him I appreciated his help. He just threw his hands up. I could tell he was smiling behind his mask though. Soooooo, I got home, changed clothes and went to take the USB drive out of my purse. Uh, I left it in the computer at the library cause I am used to closing email and the document and the computer and leaving. And I was distracted. So, I had to get dressed and go back. It was still in the computer I used. Of course, by then it started raining again. It was pouring by the time I got home again.
 

Kasey

Fan of many, uber of none
Messages
16,343
I tend to read biographies/autobiographies. So I just finished the autobiography of actor Kal Penn "You can't be serious". It was an interesting look at ongoing racism in Hollywood, as well as talking about his time serving in the White House under Obama. Well-written and frequently amusing.
 

AxelAnnie

Like a small boat on the ocean...
Messages
14,463
Thank you for the Jack Reacher information. I can't wait. Not familiar with the actor but his body type looks like it fits Reacher.
Anyone besides me have the misfortune to watch Tom Cruise as Reacher? Totally mis cas:confused::scream:
 

millyskate

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16,732
My dad read the James Herriot books to us as bed time stories and it's a great memory. (My dad read all types of things to us as bed time stories, from Narnia to the biographies of great inventors, explorers and scientists to Arthur Ransome and James Herriot. Many of the books were not children's books).

I finished the second Richard Osman book - The Man who died Twice. A pleasant read again, he writes well but the plot is a bit convoluted and there are so many British cultural references I'm not sure how it would read to anyone who hadn't lived in the UK.
 

PrincessLeppard

Holding Alex Johnson's Pineapple
Messages
28,194
I read Bumped by Megan McCafferty, which as YA novel set in 2035. A virus has caused most people to lose their fertility between the ages of 18-20, so teenage girls are encourage to be surrogates ("surrogettes") for couples who can't have children. Interesting concept, but the author couldn't decide if she wanted to do satire or have a serious book and the confusion is evident. Also, be prepared to be hit with slang that is so over the top (again...satire?). No real teenagers uses that much slang in one conversation. Apparently there's a sequel.

Meh.
 

genevieve

drinky typo pbp, closet hugger (she/her)
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I've been busy reading! I have 3 library books to read in the next 2 weeks when I leave for 2 months...can I do it??

Fencing With The King by Diana Abu-Jaber - interesting book that doesn't quite gel the way I wanted it to. Main character accompanies her father back to his native Jordan after decades away (she has never been). Lots of complicated family dynamics and secrets.

Brown Girls by Daphne Palasi Andreades - not really a novel, more like a lengthy spoken word piece. Can't say I liked or disliked it, it just is.

Mary Jane by Jessica Anya Blau - very fun and frothy. Great beach read. If you like Taylor Jenkins Reid's books, this is for you.

Olga Dies Dreaming by Xochitl Gonzalez - loved loved loved this one. Starts off like a romcom and becomes so much more. Protagonist Olga is funny, flawed, and all around wonderful.

I just finished Four Treasures of the Sky by Jenny Tinghui Zhang - yet another Asian historical fiction, this one set in the late 1800s. Starts in China, moves quickly to the US. Centers around one character's experiences, but the dynamics of anti-Chinese sentiments and violence in the US are central. Very well written, a touch of fantasy about it, I don't want to say more but I'm glad my next book is light.

Just started Emily St John Mandel's latest... always interesting, should be a quick read.
 

Prancer

Chitarrista
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56,079
I just finished Exit Stage Left: The Curious Afterlife of Pop Stars. The book was written in the UK, so I had a few "Um, who?" moments throughout the book, although a lot of names were familiar. Most of the careers followed the same trajectory--freshman or sophomore album a major hit when artist(s) is in early 20s, career is dead by 30 (usually 26 or so), the end is often abrupt and cruel, years of something follow (often but not always drugs and bankruptcy) then the nostalgia tours come calling when the artist hits 50 or so and they get another round of sorts if they want to, which most but not all of them do.

I find the intersection of art and commerce very interesting, so I quite enjoyed it. The author is slyly snarky about some of the artists (Terence Trent D'Arby, now known as Sananda Francesco Maitreya, is probably not at all pleased with his chapter), so there some laughs here and there, too.
 

genevieve

drinky typo pbp, closet hugger (she/her)
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Last year a friend gave me a book that explored some '80s bands, and while some US groups were included (The Waitresses!), it was UK-focused and I had no idea who a couple of them were. And I was amused how universally hated Bono is by British bands :lol:

I just finished the autobiography of Kathy Valentine of the Go-Go's (All I Ever Wanted), and it is fantastic. Anyone who was around in the '80s shouldn't be surprised that the Go-Go's were a hard partying bunch completely at odds with the America's Sweethearts image superimposed on them, but Valentine had a pretty shocking childhood long before she fell into the band. TW for frank discussion of frank sexual topics including assault.

My only tiny complaint is that the book stops at the first Go-Go's reunion and Valentine's 2012 firing and rehiring gets a scant mention. I'm sure that was by mutual agreement, but come on!!
 

Prancer

Chitarrista
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56,079
Last year a friend gave me a book that explored some '80s bands, and while some US groups were included (The Waitresses!), it was UK-focused and I had no idea who a couple of them were. And I was amused how universally hated Bono is by British bands :lol:
Ah, I might look for that after I finish Mozart in the Jungle. Apparently Mozart was developed into a show that ran for two seasons on Amazon; this was news to me. But it was also news to me that classical musicians in 80s New York could have taught Keith Richards a thing or two about sex, drugs and partying. Good lord. AIDS is just becoming a known issue where I am reading, and the main character keeps sneaking off to Harlem for free AIDS' tests. I keep thinking "Girl, you'd better get a full panel."
I just finished the autobiography of Kathy Valentine of the Go-Go's (All I Ever Wanted), and it is fantastic. Anyone who was around in the '80s shouldn't be surprised that the Go-Go's were a hard partying bunch completely at odds with the America's Sweethearts image superimposed on them, but Valentine had a pretty shocking childhood long before she fell into the band. TW for frank discussion of frank sexual topics including assault.
I read Belinda Carlisle's autobiography a while back and she was not a happy child, either. And she was definitely a party girl.
 

Sylvia

TBD
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79,991
I decided to cross-post @Wyliefan's post in this thread too, along with @Trillian's reply:
Anyone remember Keri Blakinger? I came across her new book Corrections in Ink, and the description said she was a promising skater before becoming addicted to drugs, going to prison, and then becoming a reporter covering the justice system. I couldn't find much on Google about her skating career except that she used to skate pairs with Mark Ladwig. Anyway, here's the link to her book for anyone interested!
Link:
ETA that Keri Lynn Blakinger & Ladwig competed twice at U.S. Novice Nationals (5th in 2000 & 2001) and Mark recently shared her book in his Instagram story (as well as on his Twitter).
I’m not sure if I ever saw them skate together, but I do remember Keri’s name from those days and it’s nice that Mark is supporting her. I think her memoir could end up being a pretty big deal - she has an interesting backstory, but she’s also a talented journalist who’s done some important work on prison reform and related issues. I’m hoping she’ll find a really wide audience with this book.
Blakinger was interviewed on NPR's Fresh Air in December 2018:
 

MsZem

I see the sea
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18,463
I think I've mentioned Blakinger before, though not in this thread - her articles are always worth reading, and you can see how her experience informs the work she does.

I know some of her past reporting has made a real difference for incarcerated people. Hopefully the book will make an even bigger impact.
 

cygnus

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3,297
Anyone needing a pick-me-up feel good book these days? I can heartily recommend The House by the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune. It's not at all twee, and is just a bunny hug of a book with some great characters and an understated love story- in the fantasy genre.
 

Prancer

Chitarrista
Staff member
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56,079
Anyone needing a pick-me-up feel good book these days? I can heartily recommend The House by the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune. It's not at all twee, and is just a bunny hug of a book with some great characters and an understated love story- in the fantasy genre.
My daughter is reading this book right now and really enjoying it.

I don't know that I would read a book about a state just because I was traveling there, but there are some interesting selections here: Traveling this summer? Here are book picks for all 50 states (and then some)
 

genevieve

drinky typo pbp, closet hugger (she/her)
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Anyone needing a pick-me-up feel good book these days? I can heartily recommend The House by the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune. It's not at all twee, and is just a bunny hug of a book with some great characters and an understated love story- in the fantasy genre.
Haven’t read this one but read his next over the holidays and it was beautiful.

TJ Klune really does love the word cerulean, though :lol:
 

clairecloutier

Well-Known Member
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14,559
Haven’t read this one but read his next over the holidays and it was beautiful.

TJ Klune really does love the word cerulean, though :lol:


Cerulean is a great word, though. 😁

Did anyone else read the kids’ book The Bad Times of Irma Baumlein? It’s prominent in that book too.

ETA: That state-specific book list idea is interesting. actually, wouldn’t it be kind of interesting if people here recommended books from or about their own state or region??? I might have to think about this.
 
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Wyliefan

Ubering juniors against my will
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43,989
Haven’t read this one but read his next over the holidays and it was beautiful.

TJ Klune really does love the word cerulean, though :lol:
Reminds me of The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry. She had this character who was obsessed with blue. Blue, blue, blue, blue, blue, blue, blue. By the time I was done I never wanted to hear or see the word "blue" again, and it's my favorite color. :lol:
 

Susan1

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12,006
Does anybody read Julia Heaberlin books? I liked all of her previous ones, but I tried to read Paper Ghosts a couple times over the past 2 weeks, and I just can't get interested. It's so slow. Most of the reviews are good, but the bad ones say it is 25 chapters of people talking in a car and the "suspense" part of it is disappointing. I hate not reading a book because I will run out of books to read, but I've had it for 2 weeks so I can pretend like I read it during that time.
 

Susan1

Well-Known Member
Messages
12,006
James Patterson has written an autobiography. I'm 34th on the library list.

I was almost afraid to read his latest Women's Murder Club book because it started out about protests of new gun restrictions in San Francisco. But I kept going and there was a lot more of the usual crime solving to it. It didn't get political. I already had to not read a 2019 book in a series last year by Karin Slaughter because it was about "a" virus and worrying about spread and stuff. Too close to what was going on.
 

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