What to read next?

leighan

Feb 21, 2015 at 12:29pm

@eliz, I am reading Alexandra Fuller's book right now too! I've loved her other memoirs too.

In the mood for some quasi-fluffy short stories so I just downloaded Single, Carefree, Mellow by Katherine Heiny.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/12/books/review-single-carefree-mellow-except-for-that-illicit-affair.html?_r=0

leighan

Feb 21, 2015 at 2:00pm

I think the thing I miss most about working (as a librarian) is not having my review journals! I feel so out of the loop about forthcoming books. I tried using goodreads, but yuck! All those romance series that people recommend!

j_r

Feb 21, 2015 at 2:39pm

The NPR recs are good. And of course, The Times. ;-)

campbell29

Feb 21, 2015 at 2:48pm

I read "Girl on the Train". On the plane for 4 hours. Perfect time to finish. I am now reading "the Minituriast". About a woman in Amsterdam during the 1680's. Also getting back to non fiction with Africa-5000 Years of History. Next I will pick up the Jojo Moyes book. I see it at my library all the time.

I usually find lots of books either here, through the NYTimes book review Sunday section or Amazon. I review books on Goodreads, but don't find much there to read.

campbell29

Feb 21, 2015 at 2:50pm

Loved "don't lets go to the dogs tonight". But didn't read any others. What is the second one called ?

j_r

Feb 21, 2015 at 2:53pm

Leaving Before the Rains Come.

campbell29

Feb 21, 2015 at 2:54pm

Thanks

leighan

Feb 21, 2015 at 3:03pm

I think "leaving" is the third, no? I thought "cocktail hour under the tree of forgetfulness" was the second! Heck, I'll google!

j_r

Feb 21, 2015 at 3:10pm

Oh!! Yes! Correct.
http://www.amazon.com/Cocktail-Hour-Under-Tree-Forgetfulness/dp/1594202990

allisond

Feb 22, 2015 at 11:29am

I'm currently reading Beyond Belief - My Secret Life Inside Scientology and My Harrowing Escape by Jenna Miscavige Hill. I wanted to read Going Clear by Lawrence Wright but another friend read this one and said she couldn't put it down, so I decided to dive in. It is definitely compelling reading.

I've also picked up a few books for an upcoming trip - both nonfiction - Quiet - The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking, and Being Mortal by Atul Gawande. I saw the author of the latter on the last Frontline, and wooo, boy, did I go through a box of tissues watching that one. Had to pick up the book when I saw it at Costco. I think I might also pick up The Girl on the Train as a nice light fiction break.

galileo

Feb 22, 2015 at 11:48am

Just finished The Girl on theTrain. It was a very quick read. Guess I expected more,it was just okay.

kathy

Feb 22, 2015 at 3:06pm

Quiet is excellent. Being Mortal is supposed to be also, but my book club just rejected it for being insufficiently cheery oh oh

I just read (also in book club) Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. She is Nigerian/American and it offers interesting perspectives on cultural differences. Also very funny in places. (It is a novel.)

IM80

Mar 8, 2015 at 3:15am

So many books, so little time! question

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/08/magazine/cover-to-cover.html?ref=todayspaper

annabanana

Mar 8, 2015 at 4:05am

Just finished Nick Hornby's Funny Girl. Sweet, light, funny.

jeffl

Mar 8, 2015 at 6:51am

Love Nick Hornsby. A Long Way Down is a favorite.

DottyParker

Mar 17, 2015 at 8:55am

"1984" by George Orwell. I've read many books over the years but Orwell's 1984 is, by far, the most horrifying. "1984" was published in 1949, sixty-six years ago, yet it is the one book that becomes more timely as it ages. Readers of 1984 could not help but think about its "telescreens" with the news about Samsung's "smart" tv's ability to monitor conversations. Samsung, of course, issued denials. But truth is not the strong suit of any corporation whose goal is to make money.

Bob Braun's Ledger: Testing Spies Admit They Cast a Really Broad and Deep Net
http://www.bobbraunsledger.com/testing-spies-admit-they-cast-a-really-broad-and-deep-net/

Tech Dirt: Samsung's Smart TV's are Collecting and Storing Your Private Conversations
https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20150206/04532329928/samsungs-smart-tvs-are-collecting-storing-your-private-conversations.shtml

mcgoey

Mar 17, 2015 at 8:57am

I just finished Elizabeth Street. I can't remember the name of the author but it was a great story about an Italian immigrant experience- a very enjoyable read!

kthnry

Mar 18, 2015 at 8:22pm

I'm hoping someone can identify a book based on a really lame description. It's fiction. I read it within the last five years or so. The first half is funny, focusing on observations of mundane office life. ("Donuts? There are donuts in the break room?") The second half is more serious. The protagonist has a friend come down with cancer (or some other tragedy). Does this ring a bell for anyone?

allisond

Mar 20, 2015 at 10:46am

@kthnry - was it possibly Then We Came to the End by Jonathan Ferris? http://www.amazon.com/Then-We-Came-End-Novel/dp/031601639X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1426882488&sr=8-1&keywords=then+we+came+to+the+end

kthnry

Mar 20, 2015 at 12:01pm Edited

Yes! Thanks! Did you read it? I thought it was hilarious. He really nailed office culture.

mjc

Apr 23, 2015 at 6:23am Edited

Just read Thank You For Your Service by David Finkel. Book group chose this, and I was going to skip it because of subject matter (post-war lives of some Iraq war veterans the author had been embedded with). I dipped into it so I could follow the discussion and was totally hooked. This is a very fast read, totally engrossing, a trip to a different world that's right here at home. Also horrifying, of course. No wonder it is taking the services and the VA a while to gear up to help these guys (and families); hats off to these people, and to all who are working for them. (no hats off to those who sent them into harm's way less than fully prepared/equipped, and for doubtful purposes)

galileo

Apr 23, 2015 at 6:39am

I highly recommend The Nightingale and Me Before You. Wonderful reads. I see Donna Leon has a new book on the NYTimes list., always enjoy her.

j_r

Apr 23, 2015 at 6:43am

I'm really getting into The Moor's Account by Laila Lalami, about an expedition to Florida in 1527, told from the point of view of a Moroccan slave.

jeffl

Apr 27, 2015 at 7:41am Edited

bookgirl said:
Did you read The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach? That was really good.

I'm just finishing up a book that is beautifully written (though I had a bit of trouble getting started with it)--Arcadia by Lauren Groff.

Loved that book.

Oops. Just realized that this post was from 2012!

mjc

Jul 8, 2015 at 2:59pm

Life After Life by Kate Atkinson. When I read a review, I decided to skip it because it sounded complicated and "difficult" (protagonist born over and over with varying outcomes). "Had" to read it for book group (moaning, omg, it's 500+ pp), and *loved* it. You get used to the differing plots, come to love the family (well, most of them), and imagine life in a moderately well-to-do English family from 1910? through WWII (with a glimpse or two later). Amazing, vivid writing, way by far the most affecting treatment of the Blitz I've read, for one. Can't wait to read the follow-up, A God in Ruins. Read this book!

(Here's a review of A God in Ruins that also comments on Life After Life, by Jersey boy Tom Perrotta: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/10/books/review/kate-atkinsons-a-god-in-ruins.html?_r=0 )

mtierney

Jul 8, 2015 at 5:17pm

Read both Atkinson books. Difficult to read due to changing time frames, etc. The character of Teddy, Ursula's youngest brother, the focus of her second book, is such an amazing portrait of a man. Strong, decent, loving and kind, and tortured! The trajectory of a life lived with too many memories. At the end, I felt sad and worried over who would remember Teddy

campbell29

Jul 8, 2015 at 6:56pm Edited

Are the books structured the same? But A God in Ruins, is about Teddy rather than Ursula.

I have 41 books on my list for summer. I had eye surgery, so I am off to a slow start, but read the audible of the Erik Larsen book on the Lusitania. I would like to knock Halfoff my list by summer end, but I always end up adding.

What should be on my list for the summer

bookgirl

Jul 9, 2015 at 10:38am

They are not structured the same. While the new book goes back and forth between past and present in Teddy's life a bit, it's not a series of what-ifs/alternate lives.

I'm reading it now. Kate Atkinson is my absolute favorite writer, though this one isn't grabbing me as much as I hoped it would. I still love her first book the best--Behind the Scenes at the Museum. If you haven't read it, you should (I'm sure I've recommended it earlier in this thread!).

Did anyone read All My Puny Sorrows by Miriam Toews? It is FANTASTIC. I loved it so much.