Outside of a Dog, a Book is Man's Best Friend (The Book Thread)

[Finnice]

Marian Keyes is one of my absolute favourites. Rachel's Holiday is her best, IMHO.

I just finished The Break, and it rivals with Rachel's Holiday. It was painful to read, because I felt the main character was holding a mirror to me, and the picture really was not a pretty one.
It also had a very important political theme: the Irish abortion rights.

 

[PrincessLeppard]

I just finished the second book of the Scythe series, Thunderhead. I am not usually that surprised by twists and I sort of figured out one, but even then, it went far beyond what I was predicting. Damn. While it does have a pretty depressing ending, since it's the middle book of a trilogy, I think that's required.

And the love story doesn't irk me in this book. Probably because it doesn't feel forced and it isn't the driving idea behind the plot.

 

[Susan1]

This list was in Parade magazine this morning - http://www.pbs.org/the-great-american-read/books

 

[clairecloutier]

Just finished Masha Gessen's latest book, The Future Is History. This book is really interesting, a bit hybrid in character. It gives a narrative, or perspective, on political developments in Russia from the end of the Soviet Union to the present. It also mixes in first-person accounts. Several of Gessen's first-person subjects are people who were close to important figures in late-Soviet and post-Soviet Russia, specifically, Zhanna Nemtsova, daughter of opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, who was killed in Moscow a few years ago, and Sergei (Seryozha), grandson of Alexander Yakovlev, a Soviet Politburo member and reformist in Gorbachev's era. Gessen covers a similar time period and mood as Svetlana Alexievich does in Secondhand Time, but with a more political slant. Gessen is a (self-imposed) exile, and her view of Putin's Russia is profoundly pessimistic ... not light reading. The portrait she gives of Boris Nemtsov, Zhanna's father, is haunting.

 

[Mad for Skating]

My recent reads were the Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer (young adult dystopian fantasy). They're based on fairytales, but they're not fluffy princess stories whatsoever. The characters are AMAZING and the four romantic couples have excellent, varied chemistry. There's a lot of action so I wasn't bored, and the author doesn't shy away from depicting an actual dystopia. The series is also very funny; there's a sarcastic sense of humor that runs through all four books, which helps to lighten up some of the heavier parts. They're pretty clean too so I'd say they're ok for the kiddos.
Overall, I enjoyed them very much and would recommend!

Just finished Masha Gessen's latest book, The Future Is History. This book is really interesting, a bit hybrid in character. It gives a narrative, or perspective, on political developments in Russia from the end of the Soviet Union to the present. It also mixes in first-person accounts. Several of Gessen's first-person subjects are people who were close to important figures in late-Soviet and post-Soviet Russia, specifically, Zhanna Nemtsova, daughter of opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, who was killed in Moscow a few years ago, and Sergei (Seryozha), grandson of Alexander Yakovlev, a Soviet Politburo member and reformist in Gorbachev's era. Gessen covers a similar time period and mood as Svetlana Alexievich does in Secondhand Time, but with a more political slant. Gessen is a (self-imposed) exile, and her view of Putin's Russia is profoundly pessimistic ... not light reading. The portrait she gives of Boris Nemtsov, Zhanna's father, is haunting.

Ooh, that sounds very interesting!!! I'm a sucker for anything about Russian corruption

 

[millyskate]

22 Ambassadors Recommend the One Book to Read Before Visiting Their Country

Some interesting recommendations, some for countries that are off the beaten path.

I'm late to the party, but thanks for this. Some really interesting suggestions there, I'm quite impressed with the ambassadors

I haven't read anything earth-shattering recently, in fact I got stuck on a couple of books like "The Fourteenth Letter" by Claire Evans. I'd bought it as a light-hearted mystery but it jumps around so much that there's no plot. And if you're going to write a retro pseudo Agatha Christie, throwing bad language in just ruins the effect.

I did enjoy Guillaume Musso's "An apartment in Paris" (I read it in French), especially the beginning. It was all very promising but unravelled somewhat at the end, the outcome so so convoluted and far-fetched that I can't even remember what it was and I only read it 2 weeks ago

 

[snoopy]

Random house put out this series in 2016 with different authors retelling a Shakespeare work. I picked up “New Boy” because it was written by Tracey chevalier - a favorite author of mine. But I should have paid more attention. It is a retelling of othello, taking place in DC. I can’t deal with reading a story so steeped in racism right now while living in trump’s America. Too real.

Alas off to find a less real book.

 

[Prancer]

100 Stories That Shaped the World

 

[clairecloutier]

This essay made me laugh out loud once or twice, and I basically couldn't agree more with the author's take on the "classic Western literary canon":

The Literary Roots of the Incel Movement
Our canon of sad white men's literature reinforces the idea that male sexual deprivation is a public concern
https://electricliterature.com/the-literary-roots-of-the-incel-movement-4ba183b9c9c5

"This is more extreme version of a broader phenomenon described by Rebecca Solnit (among others): "A book without women is often said to be about humanity but a book with women in the foreground is a woman’s book.” This is the same logic that allows us to unreflectively give teenagers The Catcher in the Rye instead of The Bell Jar, because Salinger’s book seems to have universal appeal, while Plath’s is an account of pathology (when in reality, of course, both books tackle the protagonist’s mental illness)."

^^ I felt an instant ping reading this part. Of course I've read both books mentioned--but I read Catcher as an assignment in high school and Bell Jar on my own, in my 20s. I puzzled over and thought about and wrote about Bell Jar in my diary at the time. It still informs my views. Whereas I remember reading Catcher but that's it. It had no impact on me. I wonder if Bell Jar gets assigned in schools these days ....

 

[SHARPIE]

Holiday Reads

Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine by Gail Honeyman.

An easy light read with some dark moments. Enjoyed it.


Forever Greener -Ruth Jones.

Loved this one, horrible self centred main characters though.



I also read Jenna Jameson’s autobiography

Shite.


I also read a few other non fictions which were nothing to write home about. To be honest I read less on this holiday as I was in a new place and enjoyed it.

 

[antmanb]

^^ I felt an instant ping reading this part. Of course I've read both books mentioned--but I read Catcher as an assignment in high school and Bell Jar on my own, in my 20s. I puzzled over and thought about and wrote about Bell Jar in my diary at the time. It still informs my views. Whereas I remember reading Catcher but that's it. It had no impact on me. I wonder if Bell Jar gets assigned in schools these days ....

Not the Bell Jar (though I did read it at the time as well) but when I did my A-Level English Literature in 1996 one of my teachers selected the Sylvia Plath selected poems for our poetry paper. I always thought our teacher had her work cut out for her trying to get a big class of 17/18 year old boys to engage and understand the themes in the poems. I actually hated that teacher for many different reasons, but I really did enjoy learning all about Sylvia Plath.

 

[Susan1]

I reserved The President Is Missing yesterday, by James Patterson and Bill Clinton. It's not even in the library yet. They have ordered 100. I forget how far down the list I am already. Anyway, I got to the library today and the June "Book Page", library magazine, has a picture of them on the front. There is a little interview - just how much they each liked working with each other and how Patterson is such a great writer and how Bill knows what it's like in the oval office, etc. It's about cybersecurity, so it will be over my head, and not a Women's Murder club or Michael Bennett type mystery, but it will be interesting to read the Presidential insights. Wonder if the name of the book was wishful thinking. hee hee hee

I like the Julie Hyzy White House chef mysteries. It's been awhile since one came out, but I think I pictured somebody like the Madam Secretary president as the president.

 

[MsZem]

#cockygate makes me laugh.

Cockygate had its first day in court. The transcript is better than most of the books I've read so far this year.

 

[oleada]

I finished David Sedaris' new book, Calypso. I think it's the most intimate and darkest of his essays, as he often talks about his sister Tiffany (who committed suicide) and his mother's alcoholism. I enjoyed it, even if it wasn't as laugh as loud funny as his previous books. I enjoyed it and it's a fast read.

 

[SHARPIE]

Had a fab time at Marian Keyes’ live in Cardiff on Friday night. She comes across just as you’d imagine, hilariously funny and lovely.

 

[rfisher]

Cockygate had its first day in court. The transcript is better than most of the books I've read so far this year.

I so wish I'd been there in court when they started discussing if cocky represented male prowess.

 

[MsZem]

I so wish I'd been there in court when they started discussing if cocky represented male prowess.

Or when Judge Hellerstein read the list of cocky books:

THE COURT: You present in your papers about a dozen instances of prior use of "Cocky" in a title: Bite Me Cocky; A Little Bit Cocky; The Cocky Cowboy; Cocky Balls Boa, described as an erotic parody; Cocky Cowboys; Cocky SWATS; Cocky: A Stepbrother Romance; Cocky: A Cowboy Stepbrother Romance; and so on.

I don't know how anyone managed to keep a straight face through the entire hearing.

 

[Winnipeg]

Random house put out this series in 2016 with different authors retelling a Shakespeare work. I picked up “New Boy” because it was written by Tracey chevalier - a favorite author of mine. But I should have paid more attention. It is a retelling of othello, taking place in DC. I can’t deal with reading a story so steeped in racism right now while living in trump’s America. Too real.

Alas off to find a less real book.

I read that one too. I finished it and your assessment is bang on really. The ending was sad.

 

[PrincessLeppard]

I finally got around to reading Insurgent, the sequel to Divergent, and while it was okay, it had a bit too much of WHAT IS THE BIG SECRET (that I had already guessed) and "I am going to have to lie to Tobias. Again. Even though I trust him completely."

I have Allegiant, too but I'm not sure I'm in a big hurry to get to it.

 

[rfisher]

Or when Judge Hellerstein read the list of cocky books:

I don't know how anyone managed to keep a straight face through the entire hearing.

The Cocky Mother's Day discussion had me laughing out loud. But, I lost it when the judge cut the attorney off in midsentence to take a short recess.

 

[Erin]

I just finished reading Lucy Worsly’s Jane Austen at Home, a biography of Jane Austen that came out last summer that has been sitting on my to-read list for a while. For fans of Austen, I would highly recommend it. It’s definitely among the best of the Austen biographies I’ve read (possibly the best) and adds some historical detail of the places and people that I hadn’t read before, along with some of Worsly’s own experiences in some of the places (she was a student at the Abbey school where Austen spent a year or so). It also poses some interesting and surprising questions (example: did Jane Austen have lesbian sex? With the answer being probably not but that the door is slightly open and we can’t know for sure.)

 

[Mad for Skating]

I finally got around to reading Insurgent, the sequel to Divergent, and while it was okay, it had a bit too much of WHAT IS THE BIG SECRET (that I had already guessed) and "I am going to have to lie to Tobias. Again. Even though I trust him completely."

I have Allegiant, too but I'm not sure I'm in a big hurry to get to it.

The Divergent series is pretty good in general but if you're looking for a happy ending, Allegiant isn't gonna cut it. If you want something in that ballpark though (YA dystopian), the Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer are awesome. (don't let the "princess story" covers fool you)

 

[MsZem]

Isn't Divergent what Harry Potter would be if people were sorted into houses for life?

I read the first book, which was okay but didn't inspire in me any great desire to find out what happens next.

 

[Buzz]

Not sure if I have mentioned it already but I loved The Alienist so much I just had to read the book. LOL The book is not bad either.

 

[PrincessLeppard]

The Divergent series is pretty good in general but if you're looking for a happy ending, Allegiant isn't gonna cut it. If you want something in that ballpark though (YA dystopian), the Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer are awesome. (don't let the "princess story" covers fool you)

I teach a class called "Dystopian Lit" so not-happy endings don't bother me. But bad story telling does. I started Allegiant last night, but I'm not sure how I feel about the dual narrators.

I also started reading Tom Nichols' The Death of Expertise and so far I'm really enjoying it. He's a conservative, but also a Never-Trumper, so while I don't always agree with his stance on the issues, I respect that he does his research before he comes to conclusions. I also follow him on Twitter. He's entertaining.

 

[Wyliefan]

I teach a class called "Dystopian Lit" so not-happy endings don't bother me. But bad story telling does. I started Allegiant last night, but I'm not sure how I feel about the dual narrators.

I also started reading Tom Nichols' The Death of Expertise and so far I'm really enjoying. He's a conservative, but also a Never-Trumper, so while I don't always agree with his stance on the issues, I respect that he does his research before he comes to conclusions. I also follow him on Twitter. He's entertaining.

I really liked the Nichols book.

 

[antmanb]

I finally got around to reading Insurgent, the sequel to Divergent, and while it was okay, it had a bit too much of WHAT IS THE BIG SECRET (that I had already guessed) and "I am going to have to lie to Tobias. Again. Even though I trust him completely."

I have Allegiant, too but I'm not sure I'm in a big hurry to get to it.

I wouldn't rush to get it

Though I have to confess that I read the series more or less straight after the hunger games, and having watched the first Maze Runner film and was a little bored of basically the same story repackaged in not the most interesting way.

I did wonder why it needed to be a trilogy, which I also wondered about the Hunger Games, though with that i'd have cut the second book and with this i'd have preferred a stand alone book with the entire story.

 

[snoopy]

I’m almost done with the bakers secret, about a German occupied village in France near d day. I usually avoid wwii books because there are so many and they can be terribly sad, but I enjoyed this. I liked the characters. there is some violence but overall kind of a feel good story.

 

[millyskate]

I picked up Lisa Gardner's "Touch&Go" at the airport (in French) and I must say I'm disappointed so far. I'm finding it just flat. Give me Agatha Christie any day!

 

[Mad for Skating]

I've read both the Divergent trilogy and the Hunger Games, and I can honestly tell you that the Hunger Games were way better.