What Are You Reading Part 3

[KSmom]

Here are my favorite books from 2023. I would love to know yours!

Non-fiction-

The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee by David Treuer

Myth America edited by Kevin M. Kruse and Julian E. Zelizer

Surrender by Bono

Reading for the Love of God by Jessica Hooten Wilson

The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben

Democracy Awakening by Heather Cox Richardson

Poverty, by America by Matthew Desmond

Practice of the Presence by Brother Lawrence, translated by Carmen Acevedo Butcher 

War Against All Puerto Ricans by Nelson A. Denis

Fiction-

Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver 

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

Above Ground by Clint Smith 

The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride

Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury 

 

[church_of_dog]

My favorites from 2023:

 

      

                      

 

Fiction:

The Appeal, by Janice Hallett

The Witch Elm, by Tana French

In A Dark, Dark Wood, by Ruth Ware

 

Non-Fiction:

The Story of Jane, by Laura Kaplan

Engtangled Life, by Merlin Sheldrake

The Three Ages of Water, by Peter Gleick

Democracy Awakening, by Heather Cox Richardson

Oath and Honor, by Liz Cheney

The Scheme, by Senator Sheldon Whitehouse

Scientist: E.O. Wilson, A Life in Nature, by Richard Rhodes

Eager, by Ben Goldfarb

Burnt, by Clare Frank

Kill Switch, by Adam Jentleson

 

 

Edited January 1 by church_of_dog
smallenating images

[CTRLZero]

2 hours ago, church_of_dog said:

Oath and Honor, by Liz Cheney

I’m just finishing Cheney’s book.  It’s a good recap, though not as in-depth as I’d like.  I do appreciate her take on Mike Johnson and others.

My goal is to read more this year.   Last year was a little unsettled for various reasons, and it was hard to concentrate.  I’ve got a few books piling up, and I’ll report back as I finish.  😊 

[church_of_dog]

My December reading:

 

The Outsider, by Stephen King.  (When I chose Holly as my annual Halloween Stephen King read this year, I had already read the Bill Hodges trilogy where the character of Holly first appears.  But at some point I learned that there are two other books in which her character appears before Holly takes place.  I like to read in order but in this case I didn't know the other books included her until too late.  The Outsider is one, the other is If It Bleeds, and I'll get to that in the next month or so.)

 

The Scheme: How the Right Wing Used Dark Money to Capture the Supreme Court, by Senator Sheldon Whitehouse.  Really important, enlightening, and enraging.

 

Oath and Honor:  A Memoir and a Warning, by Liz Cheney.  As so many others have said, I'll likely never agree with her on policy issues, but she writes very well, told the story clearly and rationally, and she did a very brave thing, killing her own career in the process, in taking a stand against Trump and participating on the January 6 Committee.

 

Counting the Cost, by Jill Duggar.  Better written than I'd been expecting.  I barely follow the Duggars anymore but always find the process of someone distancing themselves to be fascinating.

 

Burnt: A Memoir of Fighting Fire, by Clare Frank.  She wrote this just after retiring as one of the heads of Cal Fire (California's state agency for forestry management and fire protection).  She started at the bottom, liked the work on the ground, never intended to rise very high in rank, but her skills led her otherwise.  I really liked the book and how she told her story, even though the story bounces back and forth in time in a somewhat confusing way.

[KSmom]

January 2024 reading-

Fairy Tale by Stephen King- I read this last year when it first came out. This was our book club read for this month so I reread it. I liked it even better on a second reading and it will probably be reread again! This is a classic fairy tale with an imaginary world and a fight between good and evil. King is an amazing storyteller.

Prequel by Rachel Maddow- In the 1930’s and 40’s there was a growing fascist movement in the United States, reaching into the highest levels of governorment. Maddow tells the story of these budding fascists and those who worked to expose them. Though no direct parallels to today are made, they are obvious. I like Maddow’s  writing and this book is very well researched.

Maus, Vol I&II by Art Spiegelman- I have read many books on banned book lists but I am trying to read more of them this year, particularly ones published more recently. This was published in the 1980’s but I don’t read many graphic novels so I picked it to read. The artist has captured the conversations he had with his father who was a prisoner in Auschwitz. The story is told in flash backs and is quite compelling. I highly recommend this, especially if you’re wanting to expand your reading into graphic novels.

Ragtime by E.L. Doctorow- Doctorow has set this book in the early 1900’s and has painted a picture of America prior to WWI. Through a family that lives in New Rochelle, NY, the reader meets many notable figures of the time- Houdini, JP Morgan, and Emma Goldman. I found this to be a highly readable book.

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen- I reread an Austen book every January, and every reread is wonderful. What can I say? I love Austen.

[clueliss]

Popped in to say, I finished audiobook of Did You Hear About Kitty Karr by Crystal Smith Paul.  Multigenerational story about a white actress who dies and leaves everything to a trio of black sisters, and what is revealed.

 

I want the screen version of this novel.

 

If you like Taylor Jenkins Reid’s Seven Husands of Evelyn Hugo, you might want to try this one.  (And I just noticed on Goodreads when I marked it rinsed and did a rating, shirt review that Reid had added this novel.  

[clueliss]

Oooh, I forgot, I’ve also read Outofshapeworthlessloser by figure skater Gracie Gold.  Memoir.  She gets into her life story, rise and fall in skating, her ED, mental health struggles, Russian doping, SA, and more.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/150247389-outofshapeworthlessloser

 

[louisa05]

3 hours ago, clueliss said:

Oooh, I forgot, I’ve also read Outofshapeworthlessloser by figure skater Gracie Gold.  Memoir.  She gets into her life story, rise and fall in skating, her ED, mental health struggles, Russian doping, SA, and more.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/150247389-outofshapeworthlessloser

 

I read that in one day. I used to watch everything figure skating. I was at her first senior nationals in 2013--her breakout season. And at the one where she fell apart in 2017. And while the fan forums were blaming her coach, her hair do (I kid you not--whole threads about how a new hairstyle would get her back to her previous form in competition), her makeup, music, costumes and every other stupid thing for her struggles that season, I had an uneasy feeling that it was far worse. I wish a hair style could have fixed it. I wish it had been that minor. But her mother was in it for the fame early on--things she doesn't mention in the book. Her mom posted videos of her jumps in practice all over the internet when she was a junior skater to build hype. At one point, she had accounts on the most trafficked skating forums pretending to be a random insider where she hyped Gracie and fought with people. Gracie came off as so inauthentic throughout those first four years when talking to interviewers and just in the way she presented herself. It bothered me and I wasn't really a fan. 

The book proved me right. In ways that I wish I hadn't been. And it was so introspective and insightful and raw. I'm glad that she's finding her way and I am a fan now. 

[KSmom]

February 2024 reading-

The Hundred Years' War on Palestine by Rashid Khalidi. The author has divided this history into six parts, each is labeled as a declaration of war. The author has family history in Palestine and he has deeply researched the matter.  I knew very little about Palestine and it's history. This is a good book to give the reader an understanding of what had led us to today. I did have reservations when I picked this book up, I was concerned that it would be very one-sided. I found however that the author was very critical of Palestine leadership in the past as well as laying out the destructiveness of  UN/Israeli/British/USA policy.

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley - This is part of my effort to read more banned books this year, as well as classics I've missed over the years.  Huxley creates a dystopian future where people are genetically engineered for their station in life, their caste. Questions of consumption, perpetual  happiness and carefree sex are explored. I enjoyed this book very much, it was very readable. Many good questions that we still face today are raised in this book.

Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune - Wallace Price is dead, watching his own funeral. Mei, leads Wallace to a tea shop that is a way station on death's journey. But, how long will Wallace need to stay there before he crosses over? Wallace has been a selfish unkind man in life, but in death he learns how to be a better human. This is the second book by Klune that I have read and I have really liked them.

A Palestinian Theology of Liberation by Naim Stifan Ateek- The subtitle of this book summarizes it well: The Bible, Justice and the Pastine-Israel Conflict. The author begins with brief overviews of liberation theology and who the Palestinian Christians are, and historical events in Palestine. He then turns toward the scriptures-with a focus on Christ. The author closes with his thoughts on what is needed to bring justice to Palestine. I found this book very helpful.

Stamped From the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi - The author's thesis is that racist ideas did not lead to racist policies bu that racist policies required racist ideas for justification. As racist policies changed over time the racist ideas that supported them evolved. This is a dense book, not one to be read quickly. However, I was immediately  drawn in. The author has made a very scholarly book quite readable for the average reader. I learned a lot I didn't know from this book. I also found that the author added depth and dimension to many things that I was already familiar. with. I highly recommend this book.

[church_of_dog]

I've really slacked on keeping up with this thread, because I didn't read much during indoor winter weather this year.  Now that I'm back at yard work most of the time, I'm looking forward to getting back to a higher pace of book consumption, getting into some fiction authors I've only recently discovered, and back to my ongoing chronological history lesson -- when I left off, I had just started into the 1940s with biographies of both Hitler and FDR and a book about the polio epidemic.  Even without getting into the specifics of WWII battles, I could see spending months if not more than a year reading biographies and histories of politics and other interesting topics of that era.

But here's what I've read since the beginning of 2024:

Pageboy, by Elliot Page

Index, a History of the, by Dennis Duncan

Travelers to Unimaginable Lands: Stories of Dementia, the Caregiver, and the Human Brain, by Dasha Kiper

What Your Clutter Is Trying to Tell You: Uncover the Message in the Mess and Reclaim Your Life, by Kerri L. Richardson

Declutter Like A Mother: A Guilt-Free, No-Stress Way to Transform Your Home and Your Life, by Allie Casazza

Doughnut Economics: Seven Ways to Think Like A 21st-Century Economist, by Kate Raworth

If It Bleeds, by Stephen King

The Hunter, by Tana French

The Truth About The Devlins, by Lisa Scottoline

Nightmare Scenario: Inside the Trump Administration's Response to the Pandemic That Changed History, by Yasmeen Abutaleb

She's Not Sorry, by Mary Kubica

[AnywhereButHere]

I have had such a hard time concentrating on reading and finishing books over the past year or so. Either my “chooser” is off, or I just don’t have the patience that I once had to finish something I’m only marginally interested in. Or my attention span is shot. That works too… Anyway, I did find two good books this month which I’m very excited about! One was surprising, as it really isn’t my usual style. 
 

Perestroika in Paris - Jane Smiley (this one surprised me - I was not sure about a story told from a horse’s perspective, but it was completely engaging and charming)

 

The Ferryman - Justin Cronin (this one was definitely more my usual, sci/fi style)

 

[KSmom]

March 2024 Reading-

i read the first three Elizabeth George Inspector Lynley mysteries. She is a good mystery writer and in that respect they were good. I found some of the story lines too dark for me- incest  and CSA. I’m going to try out another mystery series in the future.

The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride. This was my second reading, this time for book club. It’s one of those books that is even better the second time. Set in the late 1930’s in Chicken Hill, Pennsylvania, an area settled by European Jew immigrants and Blacks migrating north.  The community revolves around the grocery store run by a Jewish woman, whom all the community loves. When tragedy strikes the community comes together in her memory to right an injustice.

Code Girls by Liza Mundy. This is the story of some of the American women who worked as code breakers in WWII. I found it very engaging and well researched and written. I would highly recommend it.

[CTRLZero]

17 hours ago, AnywhereButHere said:

I have had such a hard time concentrating on reading and finishing books over the past year or so. Either my “chooser” is off, or I just don’t have the patience that I once had to finish something I’m only marginally interested in. Or my attention span is shot.

I’ve had this problem the past year, myself.  I pictured my retirement years having time to do all the reading I want, but no.  That said, I’d read Cixin Liu’s The Three-Body Problem a couple of times.  I enjoyed it, but had a hard time picturing the virtual “game.”  Then I watched the Prime series, it made the game/situation more understandable, and bought the trilogy + 1.  I’m starting on book three and enjoying the plot.  The Dark Forest was very clever. 

Cixin Liu - The Three-Body Problem; The Dark Forest; Death’s End; + The Redemption of Time

I’m also taking a literature class on the short stories of Flannery O’Connor.  Short stories I can handle, lol. 

[KSmom]

47 minutes ago, CTRLZero said:

I’m also taking a literature class on the short stories of Flannery O’Connor.  Short stories I can handle, lol. 

That sounds wonderful! I love Flannery O’Connor.

[keen23]

I picked up a Clive Cussler book from a little free library in January. Since then, I've been on a Clive Cussler kick. They're Dad books for sure. The female characters are pretty well written, but sparsely used - these books don't pass the Betchdel, but on the flip side, the females are more than boobs with legs who get in the way of the manly men. Sex is behind closed doors, and the action sequences are fun and not too gory. They're really non stressful reads, and there are a TON of them.

[clueliss]

@church_of_dog

Tana French!  The hunter, is that the one that’s not part of the Dublin PD series and is the American guy in Ireland? Because if so I think I’ve read that one. It was different but I didn’t hate it.
 

Also, how was the Lisa? Scottoline novel? I think I’ve seen that title around. I’ve read some of her other stuff.

 

@AnywhereButHere add me to that list. I wouldn’t say the last year but definitely the last 6+ months. I’ve all but stopped listening to audiobooks and I don’t know what it is. That’s not speaking to me these days but something somewhere is not speaking to me on the reading front. I’m reading just not at the voracious level I was. I think in my case part of the problem is I’ve had a hip issue develop(I was diagnosed in January with bone hip arthritis in my right hip. I had an injection in February. ) I have not been walking near as much as I used to, and when I walked, I was either listening to a podcast or listening to a book for the most part there were times when it was music, but a lot of my reading happened while I was walking. And I think that’s had an impact.  

[church_of_dog]

12 hours ago, clueliss said:

@church_of_dog

Tana French!  The hunter, is that the one that’s not part of the Dublin PD series and is the American guy in Ireland? Because if so I think I’ve read that one. It was different but I didn’t hate it.
 

Also, how was the Lisa? Scottoline novel? I think I’ve seen that title around. I’ve read some of her other stuff.

 

@AnywhereButHere add me to that list. I wouldn’t say the last year but definitely the last 6+ months. I’ve all but stopped listening to audiobooks and I don’t know what it is. That’s not speaking to me these days but something somewhere is not speaking to me on the reading front. I’m reading just not at the voracious level I was. I think in my case part of the problem is I’ve had a hip issue develop(I was diagnosed in January with bone hip arthritis in my right hip. I had an injection in February. ) I have not been walking near as much as I used to, and when I walked, I was either listening to a podcast or listening to a book for the most part there were times when it was music, but a lot of my reading happened while I was walking. And I think that’s had an impact.  

The Hunter is Tana French's new release.  You're correct that it's not a Dublin Murder Squad book, it's about the American (Cal Hooper) in Ireland, but it's the #2 about him (first was The Searcher), perhaps becoming a new series?  I really enjoyed it.

Similarly, the Lisa Scottoline one is a brand new release.  However, the title has a similar ring to her previous release -- that one was What Happened to the Bennetts and this one is The Truth About the Devlins.  That might be why it sounds familiar.

To be honest, I was a bit disappointed with this one.  I *really* liked some of her older standalone novels, and even the ones I didn't "love" were still really good.  Her books are what introduced me to the concept of a psychological mystery or thriller, which has become my favorite fiction genre.  But this latest one, while still a good story, fell a bit short for me.

 

Can you say a bit more about your hip?  I'm having a serious hip problem too, pain plus accelerating loss of range of motion, and xrays don't seem to capture the magnitude of the problem, they just indicate moderate arthritis.  How did you figure out the arthritis is in the bone?  Thanks for any tidbits you can share -- I'll see if they match my symptoms and ask my doctor about it.

[clueliss]

I had an X-ray at an orthopedic doc's office.  He specializes in hip and knee arthritis (but no longer operates).  My walking habit was making my hip pain worse and it wasn't getting better.  And last year the pain intensified to the point it was affecting my sleep.  

I had seen someone (orthopedic Dr) circa 2007 where I used to live.  They found nothing except degenerative discs, arthritis etc in my lowered back and sent me to physical therapy.  I learned to mostly ignore my pain issues because I was tired of being blown off by Drs.  And, I've seen chiropractors on a regular basis to help with the back issues.  

This was just to a point where I limped, had a lot of inflammation around the femur head area and other pain down my inner thigh toward my knee.  

I have a virtual appointment Friday afternoon with someone from a 2nd MD program my health insurance benefit package includes.  So at no extra cost to me, they are reviewing my records (I signed form to have records sent).  

The injection helped, but I can still feel pain in that hip, deeper in that is clearly the joint itself and not inflammation.  I'll probably wind up with a hip joint replacement.

[clueliss]

Popping in to share about an online bookseller I learned about on threads . 

Bookshop.org Us 

When you go to it, you can select a local bookstore, an indie bookstore. Your online purchase will come to you just like Jeff bezos joint but proceeds and they tell you how much will go to the bookstore you selected. 

For audiobooks, there's also 

Libro.fm

And I believe that works in a very similar way. People are starting to encourage it because audible is owned by bezos.