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What Are You Reading Part 3


Coconut Flan

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My September reading:

 

Fiction:

The Madness of Crowds, by Louise Penny -- I really liked it even though (and maybe because) it was a bit outside the mold of the usual Armand Gamache.  Set back in the idyllic town of Three pines, I knew I would like that because the town and its characters are what I enjoy far more than the actual crime plots.  But this book focused on ethics and even hinted at a bit of politics (though nothing was made explicit).  I was mildly annoyed at some plot reaches, though -- I absorb these stories very literally so when something doesn't fit the descriptions given in earlier books (or my interpretations of those descriptions), or just doesn't make sense to me, it really irks.  On the plus side, there were multiple connections back to minor players/scenes from her earlier books, which I always enjoy.  This time I am actually tempted to reread the earlier books to freshen my memory of the characters who were renewed in this book.

206 Bones (Temperance Brennan #12), by Kathy Reichs -- I am enjoying her books even though they are quite formulaic.  I read reviews expressing annoyance at things such as how she ends each chapter with a cliffhanger-type sentence -- but as a listener rather than a reader, I find this is barely noticeable.

 

Non-Fiction (history):

Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.: A Life in War, Law, and Ideas, by Stephen Budianky -- I gave this book a moderate thumbs up -- it wasn't highly compelling but did the job of giving me some background and context for OWH Jr.

Louis D. Brandeis: American Prophet, by Jeffrey Rosen -- I was a third of the way through this before I realized this was not the Brandeis biography I thought it was, but a different one altogether.  This one was shorter and the longer one still isn't available at my Overdrive libraries, so I continued on.  It was an ok background but not highly compelling to me.  I might or might not listen to the other Brandeis biography if/when it becomes available.

 

Non-Fiction (politics, science, psychology):

Prophet's Prey: My Seven-Year Investigation Into Warren Jeffs and the Fundamentalist Church of Latter-Day Saints, by Sam Brower -- recommended by someone on FJ and very interesting.

Thieves of State: Why Corruption Threatens Global Security, by Sarah Chayes -- Good political background and context which is just what I was looking for.

The Reckoning: Our Nation's Trauma and Finding A Way to Heal, by Mary L. Trump -- not as good as her first book, but still very good.  Also addresses a wider range of social injustice issues than just those emanating from her infamous uncle.  

Fascism: A Warning, by Madeleine K. Albright -- I loved this book.  Like with "Thieves of State" I was looking for basic introductory background to global political and corruption issues, which I got.  But in addition, I found Albright's writing style to be very appealing and easy to understand.  Made me want to take her out for a beer just to hear more of her anecdotes and opinions and explanations.

Attached: The New Science of Adult Attachment and How It Can Help You Find - And Keep - Love, by Amir Levine -- Pretty good.  I was looking for psychological explanations to help me put in context a particular dysfunctional relationship with an ex, and I definitely got that, so I found value in the book, even if I don't necessarily think every single thing in the book was correct or useful.

Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat: Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking, by Samin Nosrat -- Meh.  While I got value from some basic explanations of various aspects of cooking and how these four elements work with food, the author's style was really annoying.  Since I listened rather than read, the audiobook version didn't include the recipes which apparently make up the second part of the print version, which might possibly have balanced out my annoyance with her style.  I'm glad I listened but had higher expectations for this which weren't met.

Landslide: The Final Days of the Trump Presidency, by Michael Wolff -- Loved this, as I did his others.  The repeating of some information book to book doesn't bother me, as that only helps me retain the information.  I remain amazed at how Trump seemed to welcome the attention from a prominent journalist, and grant him interviews, without any regard for the fact that the journalist was writing pieces highly critical of him.

 

 

 

Edited by church_of_dog
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Recent reads: Empire of Pain (Keefe) Non Fiction. Book documents the marketing of OXyContin by Purdue Pharmacy owned by the Sackler Family

The Salt Path & The Wild Silence (Winn)

News of the World (Jiles)

The Exiles (Kline)

A Promised Land (Obama)

The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane (See)

Cannery Row (Steinbeck)

The Rosie Project (Simsion)

The Good People (Kent)

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On 9/25/2021 at 9:26 AM, clueliss said:

Attention Jane Austen fans.  I just finished a wonderful retelling of pride and prejudice written by a black author. Very inclusive. I loved this.  The Bennet Women by Eden Appiah-Kubi 
 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56605592-the-bennet-women

Just put this one on hold at my library. It's on order with no other holds, so I'll be the first to get it! :cracking-up: (that inordinately excites me because it almost never happens. A brand new, shiny book! For free!  LOL)

Right now I'm reading Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell, which is about Shakespeare's son. Just started it so not sure how good it will be. Also reading some silly old teen romances from the 50s that I ordered to finish out a couple of series that I've been collecting since I was...well, a teen. Good light reading for those days when I just can't focus on anything else.

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I just finished Hail Mary by Andy Weir (author of The Martian).  This sci fi has quite a bit of hard science, space exploration, and alien culture, plus I liked the ending.  Highly recommend if you are interested in this category of fiction.  

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I just finished the audiobook version of The Amateurs by Liz Harmer.  I have no idea why it’s called The Amateurs.  It’s a very intriguing story about people being able to abandon their current life by entering a portal.  Every day, people vanish through these portals, and eventually very few people populate the earth.  The development and existence of the portals raise questions, and I’m not going to spoil the rest of the plot, but it’s really an interesting concept.  The only weak part, in my opinion, was the epilogue.  So many times it seems like authors don’t know when to stop.  

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And today I listened to a short book by Julie Klam.  The Almost Legendary Morris Sisters: A True Story of Family Fiction.  These four sisters (there was also a brother) were the stuff of legends in the author’s family history.  She decided to search for the facts about their lives and learned the basics of genealogy and research along the way.  Very interesting to follow her methods of discovery.  Note - there is more information after “the end,” so be sure to keep listening.  I’ll have to see if I can find photos online. 

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  • 3 weeks later...

My October reading:

 

Fiction:

The Body In the Woods (Point Last Seen Mystery #1), by April Henry

I am drawn to stories of tracking, both of fugitives and of lost people.  When I saw there was a "series" (two books total so far) titled "Point Last Seen" (a phrase used in Search and Rescue), I was intrigued.  But I was disappointed.  This is a YA book, written both for YA readers and from the perspective of YA characters.  Somewhere in there it was highly unappealing to me.  I know lots of you read YA books and enjoy them, and I have no idea exactly what it was about this one that turned me off.  Shallow characters, shallow plot?  Poorly written?  Anyway I pondered abandoning it but did finish, but don't plan to read the sequel.

 

Hemlock (China Bayles #28), by Susan Wittig Albert

Pretty good.  I do enjoy this series of cozy mysteries, though it's not high literature.  But this one, while the plot was appealing, was poorly edited which was a bit distracting.  But otherwise pretty good as the series goes.

 

State of Terror, by Hillary Rodham Clinton and Louise Penny

Really liked this one.  Political thriller, not my usual genre.  But given the authors I had to check it out.  Plenty of not-so-subtle jabs at Trump, plus fun "easter eggs" connecting to Louise Penny's Three Pines series.

 

Damnation Spring, by Ash Davidson

I had a conflicted reaction to this book.  Strong like combined with medium dislike.  The story is of California's north coast redwood logging country in the 1970s, when the environmental awareness and objections were starting to gain strength.  First time author, receiving high acclaim for her writing, much of which is very compelling, yet there were some strong downsides to the writing, like lots of logging jargon used without sufficient explanation, and plot tidbits whose significance were never made clear to the reader.  Overall I enjoyed it and would recommend it, but it's not without some issues.

 

Non-Fiction:

Adolf Hitler, by John Toland.

Super long biography, I got halfway through and then paused for some best sellers I only have for limited time.  I wanted to understand his rise to power but didn't want to read a bunch of WWII books.  This is the biography of the person and it's very well done.  If my opinion changes when I read the second half I'll mention it, but that's unlikely.

 

The Ages of Globalization: Geography, Technology and Institutions, by Jeffrey D. Sachs

This title sounds like the driest thing since the Sahara, but I found it educational and absorbable and put some aspects of history into better context for me.  It wasn't the particular meaning of "globalization" I had intended to be learning more about, but was compelling enough (and short enough) that it was well worth listening to anyway.

 

Saving Us:  A Climate Scientist's Case for Hope and Healing in a Divided World, by Katharine Hayhoe

Slightly disappointed with this one.  She hits a few good notes, like talking about how the right-wing Bush-era strategy of "framing" (see Frank Luntz) can shape how the public perceives an issue.  But there is too much emphasis on her religion (she may be trying to show religious folks it's ok for them to care about climate issues, and if that's her stategy then I revoke this criticism).  And for me, too much disconnected mention of "hope" without spelling out what she means by that and how that is consistent with the rest of the facts about the climate crisis.  I am glad to see more and more books focusing on the climate crisis, but I hope others will be more compelling.

 

Then Comes Marriage: United States v. Windsor and the defeat of DOMA, by Roberta Kaplan

Loved this book.  I only recently became aware of Robbie Kaplan as the lawyer representing Mary L. Trump and E. Jean Carroll in their respective lawsuits against DJT.  Then I saw someone mention Edie Windsor as related to Kaplan, and I googled and found out who Edie Windsor was.  Which led to me discovering this book.  The book documents the years of legal process leading toward the achievement of marriage equality, specifically the case Kaplan argued for Windsor.  Lots of Supreme Court/legal jargon but still, compellingly written in an easy-to-follow way.

 

Midnight in Washington: How We Almost Lost Our Democracy and Still Could, by Adam Schiff

Another one I loved.  I thought it would be focused on the events of Jan. 6 from the perspective of Congress, but it really was more broad than that, giving the history of both Trump impeachments and Schiff's perspective of how those events affect the longterm survival of the American Democracy.  He reads the audiobook himself which is an added treat.

 

Uncontrolled Spread: Why COVID-19 Crushed Us and How We Can Defeat the Next Pandemic, by Scott Gottlieb

I'm about halfway through this, high ratings so far.

Edited by church_of_dog
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On vacation, I read a few space-opera type books of little significance.  I did set aside one before finishing because after a good starting battle and an exciting chase through a wormhole, there followed a disjointed history discussion of how the 21st century GQP had all the right answers from the perspective of 300 years in the future.  Really? WTF.  Is Q everywhere?!?  🤮

I read Elaine Pagels “Gnostic Gospels” for about the third time.  This reading I paid more attention to the early church history, as various leaders decided which writings to promote and which to discard.

John Marrs’ “The One” was better than I expected.  Had some good plot twists that I couldn’t foresee.

4 hours ago, church_of_dog said:

State of Terror, by Hillary Rodham Clinton and Louise Penny

Really liked this one.  Political thriller, not my usual genre.  But given the authors I had to check it out.  Plenty of not-so-subtle jabs at Trump, plus fun "easter eggs" connecting to Louise Penny's Three Pines series.

This was a fun one.  I’m glad I had read a few of the Three Pines series before I read (listened to) this novel. 

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Anne Boleyn, 500 years of lies by Hayley Nolan.  Read by the author.  I really enjoyed this.  And pay appreciate her labeling Henry VIII as a sociopath.  

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I'm working my way through Agatha Christie - just finished "And Then There Were None" which is literally the first mystery book I've read where my suspect kept changing, and when it was revealed I was like ... ugh I'm so dumb! I had no idea. 

Also not a fan of the original title. Or the replacement title. The current title and fake nursery rhyme are much better. 

Now I'm reading Murder on the Orient Express. 

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After finishing “State of Terror,” I decided to try Stacey Abrams’ “While Justice Sleeps.”  Abrams is a good writer, and I enjoyed most of the plot twists.  There was a mixture of political intrigue, bio weapon skulduggery, legal shenanigans, and good pacing to keep me entertained over a couple stormy days.

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Erik Larson has a novel out - No One Goes Alone.  It’s a spooky tribute to the psychical research societies of the Victorian era (think early ghostbusters), and includes a few real historical names in the book’s ensemble cast.  It’s a haunted house on a desolate island, and is pretty tame compared to a lot of this genre’s offerings.  Be sure to read/listen to the author’s afterward, where he outlines some of the real characters, events, and inventions of the time.  

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Hello!

I don't venture into this part of the forums all that much, but I have a new short story collection coming out at the end of the month and wondered if anyone here might be interested in an eARC to review on goodreads etc? It's sort of Young Adult crossover, with most stories featuring at least one teen character, but a couple more aimed at adults, and themes of resilience, growth, grief & loss. There's a bit of swearing but no graphic sex scenes (& it's light on romance in general, more focused on other relationships like family and friendship), content warnings for abuse & mental illness. There is one story about fundies.

DM me if you're interested and I'll email you a copy.

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 11/18/2020 at 12:31 PM, church_of_dog said:

Also, @CTRLZero I just remembered a trilogy I loved that sounds like you might like.  It's under the genre of "cli fi" -- climate change fiction, so technically science fiction but no monsters, in fact nothing supernatural at all.

It's by Kim Stanley Robinson and called the "Science in the Capital" trilogy.

1.  Forty Signs of Rain

2.  Fifty Degrees Below

3.  Sixty Days and Counting.

Darn, looks like only two of them were made in audio format!  Well, I highly recommend them if you can find them in audio, and if not, save for when you're up for paper reading again.

Over a year later, I’m finally tackling this trilogy.  Thanks for the recommendation.  I really like this author.

I’ve been reading some Agatha Christie and Louise Penny (Gamache) novels.  It seems I needed some cozy, comfort reads for a brief spell, but now I’m ready for something a little different. 🙂 

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7 hours ago, CTRLZero said:

Over a year later, I’m finally tackling this trilogy.  Thanks for the recommendation.  I really like this author.

I’ve been reading some Agatha Christie and Louise Penny (Gamache) novels.  It seems I needed some cozy, comfort reads for a brief spell, but now I’m ready for something a little different. 🙂 

I'm so glad you are liking them!

KSR is much better known for his more stereotypical sci fi books and so you might like his other works as well.  I'm not really into the other-planet type sci fi but his New York 2140 is one I'll probably read in the next year or two.

I too seem to need cozies or other mentally easy books regularly, almost as palate cleansers between heavier or more complicated stuff.

6 hours ago, clueliss said:

Finished At Home with Jane Austen by Lucy Worsely 

l thought that author's name sounded familiar:  I read The Art of the English Murder a few years ago and was surprised at how much I enjoyed it!

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I’ve watched a lot of documentaries with her on YouTube and now they’re showing up on pbs.  

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My November reading:

 

Fiction:

 

A Line to Kill (Hawthorne & Horowitz #3), by Anthony Horowitz

These are really fun cozy mysteries with a twist: in a half-breach of the fourth wall, author Horowitz is a character in his own books.

 

The Talisman, by Stephen King

For the past 5-6 years I have made a point of reading a new-to-me Stephen King book each Halloween.  This October I was busy with new releases I only had for a limited time, so I kept postponing the King read, until I finally got to it just before Thanksgiving.  I had read The Talisman in the 80s but needed a refresher reread before undertaking the sequel which I hadn't read before.  The Talisman wasn't quite as good as I had remembered, but still pretty darn good.  It was very different from my memory of it, which makes me wonder about the workings of my brain, now, back then, or both. :my_tongue:

 

Black House, by Stephen King (sequel to The Talisman)

I'm just over halfway through this and so far liking it quite a lot, considerably more than The Talisman.

 

Non-Fiction:

 

Finished the Hitler biography I started in October.  Still excellent in its writing and laying out of history.  (This is a very long book (44 hours of audio, probably 1200+ pages)  so timewise it took up 2-4 books worth of listening time.)

 

Cult of Glory: The Bold and Brutal History of the Texas Rangers, by Doug J. Swanson

Pretty good.  Not a glorification of the agency, but tells it straight about the brutalities the Rangers inflicted on both Native Americans and Mexicans in Texas' early years, as well as some pretty bad treatment of Blacks during the first half of the twentieth century.  Some interesting stories of investigations and crimefighting in the modern era.

 

Unbound: My Story of Liberation and the Birth of the Me Too Movement, by Tarana Burke

I became aware of the Me Too movement from the best-sellers written after it had become about (mostly) famous women speaking up about their history of being sexually harassed/abused by powerful men.  Tarana Burke's story was more about ordinary women experiencing that treatment from ordinary men (although still holding power over the women, but not necessarily rich/famous sort of powerful).  Her story is also a civil rights story of a Black woman finding her own power.  It was not exactly what I was expecting, due to my own ignorance, but was still an inspiring and valuable book.

 

Dark Money:  The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right, by Jane Mayer

Possibly my favorite book of the year, though not a happy topic.  But SO enlightening about where all that Republican money has come from, and all the unethical contortions they do to keep it flowing.

 

Peril, by Bob Woodward

Yet another excellent book detailing the tragedy of the Trump presidency.  This one focused on the transition between the Trump and Biden administrations.

 

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Very happy that two holds came through as I’m recuperating from my Pfizer booster.  I’m almost done with the audiobook “Activation Degradation,” which is a standalone sci fi novel by Marina J. Lostetter similar to the Murderbot series.  Very interesting opening as the reader tries to figure out who the aliens might be.

Next up, “The Brutal Telling” by Louise Penny.  I’ve really been enjoying this series.

Then I’ll be looking for the third book in the Kim Stanley Robinson climate trilogy (mentioned above).

Edited by CTRLZero
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Ooh, I'm half jealous.  The Brutal Telling is probably my favorite of the Gamache series, and the one after that, Bury Your Dead, has a connected plot and is a close second.  

And for a little teaser, the most recent Gamache, The Madness of Crowds, has some bit of tie-in to that same plot as well.  As soon as I realized it, I was tempted to stop and reread those two, because I didn't remember the details very well.  (You'll have it easier since you don't yet have to wait a year between each book!)

 

PS glad you got your booster and I hope you're feeling better!  I've heard the side effects of Pfizer booster can be a whopper.

Edited by church_of_dog
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This is my first time posting on this thread. I am an avid reader and love talking books. I just finished reading a memoir, Three Girls from Bronzeville  by Dawn Turner. The author writes about herself, her sister and her best friend. It is a wonderful and at times heart wrenching story of relationships and place. My public library did a weekly read aloud via Zoom of the book for 8 weeks. Each week we read a portion of the book together and had discussion, finishing it this afternoon. Then this evening the library hosted a virtual talk with the author. Readers submitted questions beforehand. This is the second book our library has done this with since Covid and they are planning to continue offering these programs. I’ve enjoyed the programs very much. 

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15 hours ago, KSmom said:

I just finished reading a memoir, Three Girls from Bronzeville  by Dawn Turner.

Thanks for the recommendation.  This is available through my library, so I’ve added it to my list.  I’m glad you’re here.  I’m always looking for book ideas, and these threads are great to look through.  📚❤️ 

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Just finished “Into the Forest” by Jean Hegland.  It’s the story of two young sisters coping in a post-apocalyptic environment.  I like these sorts of fairly realistic, though sometimes grim and violent, figuring-out-how-to-live-off-the-land scenarios.  It was a needed change from my usual fare of zombie apocalypses.   

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Some of my favorites from my November reading:

Fifty Words for Rain by Asha Lemmie, fiction. This story is set in Japan in post WWII. Nori is 8 years old when she is abandoned at her grandmother’s house. Nori is the daughter of a Japanese mother and an Africa American soldier, growing up at a time of great change in Japan. The book follows Nori for the next 20 years as she is abused, humiliated and then finds her brother and a purpose for her life. I greatly enjoyed this book.

Just Us by Claudia Rankine, essays/ race. This is a collection of essays, visual images and poetry all presented in a thought provoking conversation about race. These are awkward, thought provoking conversations with no easy answers. This book will cause you to ask yourself questions and ponder situations you may never have thought of. No easy answers here but very compelling writing.

A Trick of the Light, The Beautiful Mystery, and  How the Light Gets In all by Louise Penny. #7, 8, 9 in the Armand Gamache series. I first became aware of this series from a thread drift on the Rodrigues forum and now I’m addicted. I am trying to space them out and only read one a month but obviously self control was lacking this month.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I just finished a book that I have been working in for a couple of months. It’s titled A Black Women's History of the United States and it is written by Daina Ramey Berry and Kali Nicole Gross. Written in the vein of Hoard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States, this book focuses on the mostly ignored role black women have had in our history. This book begins before1619 with the story of a woman who took part in the exploration of South and North America and works its way through history until approximately the year 2000. Though there are some names and stories that will be familiar, for the most part this volume tells the stories of unknown women who shaped their world, each in their own way. I highly recommend this book.

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