What are you reading the week of March 14, 2020?

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What are you reading the week of March 14, 2020?

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1fredbacon
Mar 14, 2020, 8:25 am

I finished The Splendid and the Vile last night. The book covers the first year of Winston Churchill's tenure as Prime Minister during WWII. There is little that is new in the book, but Erik Larson does his usual excellent job of storytelling. Now to pick my next book.

2PaperbackPirate
Mar 14, 2020, 12:33 pm

I'm about 100 pages into In the Heart of the Canyon by Elisabeth Hyde. It's not what I expected but still an entertaining adventure.

3rocketjk
Mar 14, 2020, 12:44 pm

I'm just past the halfway point of Soldiers of the Faith: Crusaders and Moslems at War by Ronald C. Finucane, an interesting and cleanly written history.

4Molly3028
Editado: Mar 14, 2020, 7:34 pm

Enjoying this library audiobook ~

The Killer's Wife: A Novel by Bill Floyd

(West Coast and North Carolina/ex-wife of a serial killer on death row/stalking suspense)

5ahef1963
Mar 14, 2020, 1:53 pm

I am reading The Thing with Feathers: The Surprising Lives of Birds and what they Reveal about Being Human by Noah Strycker. It's excellent, teaching me a lot about avian behaviour, all done with a sense of humour and the pleasure that comes from reading a book by someone passionate about his field.

6BookConcierge
Mar 14, 2020, 4:19 pm


The Wife of the Gods – Kewi Quartey
Digital audiobook performed by Simon Prebble.
4****

First in a series featuring Detective Inspector Darko Dawson of Accra, Ghana. Dawson is a dedicated family man with a loving wife and a charming, if medically fragile, young son. He’s also somewhat of a rebel in the police force and frequently at odds with his cantankerous boss. He’s not happy about his new assignment in remote area of Ghana; a young woman – a promising medical student and AIDS worker – has been found dead in a jungle area near the small town of Ketanu. The local police are not equipped to handle an investigation like this, and Dawson, who has relatives in the town, is fluent in the local indigenous language. But what he uncovers brings up many memories of his own mother, who disappeared without a trace after a visit to her sister in Ketnau.

Oh, I am going to like this series! Darko is a principled man, but he has his demons, and he seeks solace in smoking marijuana. He’s also sometimes prone to resorting to his own brand of vigilante justice. But there’s no denying that he’s a talented – and tenacious – detective. The way he ferrets out small clues and pieces the puzzle together is marvelously portrayed. There are plenty of suspects and motives and a compelling subplot to keep the reader off balance and guessing.

I also really appreciated the information on the cultural ideologies and customs of this small corner of Ghana. There’s a significant clash between traditional beliefs and modern-day medicine. And Dawson also needs to tread carefully in the political minefield that is the turf of the areas leaders, who, if not exactly corrupt, are certainly misguided and provincial in their thinking.

Simon Prebble does a marvelous job reading the audiobook. He really brings these characters to life.

7seitherin
Mar 14, 2020, 6:12 pm

Finished One With You by Sylvia Day. Also finished The Last Smile in Sunder City by Luke Arnold which I really enjoyed. I have the second book in the series on pre-order.

Added Sixteenth Watch by Myke Cole and The True Bastards by Jonathan French to my reading rotation.

8browner56
Mar 14, 2020, 7:22 pm

I’m about a third of the way through Simon the Fiddler by Paulette Jiles, my new LTER novel. It’s good so far, but not as engaging as the author’s sublime News of the World. That’s a really high bar to reach, though!

9Pamdelions
Mar 15, 2020, 2:36 pm

I'm reading 'Salem's Lot, by Stephen King. I never read Stephen King's books, but there's a few I want to read, so I finally started.

10booksbooks63
Mar 15, 2020, 3:22 pm

I am almost finished with "The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle" by Stuart Turton. It is a long involved story about a person who is moving from different characters internally (hosts) to solve a puzzle and be released.

11princessgarnet
Editado: Mar 15, 2020, 4:12 pm

Finished Border: A Journey to the Edge of Europe by Kapka Kassabova
The author returns to her native Bulgaria for the first time in many years and explores how the region has changed.

12JulieLill
Mar 15, 2020, 6:58 pm

>9 Pamdelions: I really enjoyed that book!

13JulieLill
Mar 15, 2020, 6:59 pm

The World Of Suzie Wong
Richard Mason
3.5/5 stars
Robert, a young artist moves to Hong Kong to concentrate on his painting career. Looking for a cheap place to live and paint, he ends up in a “brothel” where the all occupants pay by the hour except him. Robert gets to know the “girls” as friends but ends up in an up and down relationship with the beautiful Suzie. Written in 1957, it was made into a film with William Holden and Nancy Kwan.

14PaperbackPirate
Mar 15, 2020, 7:47 pm

>9 Pamdelions: >12 JulieLill: One of my favorites by him!

15hemlokgang
Mar 15, 2020, 8:42 pm

Just finished reading Memoirs of A Polar Bear, a quirky and poignant novel.

Next up is an Early Reviewer selection, The Quarter by a favorite Egyptian author, Naguib Mahfouz.

16cindydavid4
Mar 15, 2020, 9:20 pm

the mirror and the light

I may be some time......

17snash
Mar 16, 2020, 9:53 am

I finished the superb An Unnecessary Woman. Humor, exquisite descriptions of Beirut and people, critique of the arts, philosophy, and most particularly the rambling of a mind grappling with the "lightness of being" are all here.

18cindydavid4
Editado: Mar 16, 2020, 10:07 am

>17 snash: oh I loved that book! Reread it a couple of times. I actually was surprised that it didnt seem that to be more popular, its really good!

19LisaMorr
Mar 16, 2020, 11:13 am

>9 Pamdelions:, >12 JulieLill:, >14 PaperbackPirate: One of my favorites by Stephen King!

I finished, finally, Pilgrimage, on Saturday morning with the last pages of March Moonlight in Pilgrimage 4, by Dorothy Richardson. It took me 14 months to complete the 13 novels (in 4 books). This stream of consciousness work was not easy to read, but happy I finally got through it!

Still working on Winter's Heart, the ninth book in the Wheel of Time series, and am alternating with The Presidencies of William Henry Harrison and John Tyler.

20rocketjk
Mar 16, 2020, 3:08 pm

Last night I finished Soldiers of the Faith: Crusaders and Moslems at War by Ronald C. Finucane. Finucane did his best to present an account of the reasons why people, both high-born and low, would have signed up for and pushed off on the various crusades over the course of a couple of centuries during the Middle Ages, as well as showing what it was like to take part, both on the journey to the Middle East and once battle had been joined, from the point of view of both the Christian invaders and the Moslem defenders. I found it clearly written and interesting. Next up for me will be some "between book" reading followed by The Mansion, the third novel in William Faulkner's "Snopes Family" trilogy.

21Molly3028
Editado: Mar 19, 2020, 7:53 pm

Enjoying this OverDrive audiobook ~

You Are Not Alone: A Novel by Greer Hendricks (4+ stars)

(NYC/psych suspense/a subway suicide/Shay Miller, lady who witnessed the event/the mysterious Moore sisters and their group)

22princessgarnet
Mar 16, 2020, 10:20 pm

>16 cindydavid4:
I read there's supposed to be an adaptation of Mirror and Light to follow up the 2015 adaptation of Wolf Hall.

23hemlokgang
Editado: Mar 17, 2020, 3:18 am

Finished listening to Stay, a good coming of age novel.

Next up for listening is Carnegie's Maid by Marie Benedict.

24rocketjk
Mar 17, 2020, 9:20 am

Yesterday was a day for reading another round of "between books" . . .

* “Mussolini and His Mistress, Petacci, Are Dumped Like Carrion on the Piazza Loretto of Milan, the City Where Fascism Was Born” from A Treasury of Great Reporting: "Literature Under Pressure" from the Sixteenth Century to Our Own Time edited by Louis L. Snyder
* “A New Kind of Capitalist” from Magazine Digest - August 1949 edited by Murray Simmons
* “On Clothes” from Leaves in the Wind by Alpha of the Plow (a.k.a. A. G. Gardiner)
* “One of the Strangest Naval Combats” by Ferdinand LeComte from The Union Reader edited by Richard B. Harwell
* “The Hidden Part of the Iceberg” from Tierra del Fuego by Francisco Coloane
* “Trinidad – Where the Pavement Begins” by Frank Dorrance Hopley from The Mentor, November, 1924 edited by W. D. Moffat - Finished!

I've now started The Mansion by William Faulkner.

25Pamdelions
Editado: Mar 17, 2020, 9:46 am

>10 booksbooks63: I recently read this. I enjoyed it, but after a while I felt like it was just droning on, so I put it down. When I picked it back up, a couple of weeks later, I felt refreshed and was glad I decided to finish it.

26Pamdelions
Editado: Mar 17, 2020, 9:47 am

>12 JulieLill: I'm almost done with it. I'm enjoying it so much I'll be sad when it ends. I don't know why I haven't read Stephen King before.

27Pamdelions
Editado: Mar 17, 2020, 9:47 am

>14 PaperbackPirate: I'm really enjoying this book. Stephen King has a new fan!

28cindydavid4
Mar 17, 2020, 11:27 am

Excellent!

So I need a bit of a break from Mirror, started to read Starless Sea. Not sure where its leading but the writing is beautiful

29ahef1963
Mar 17, 2020, 4:47 pm

I'm still reading The Thing with Feathers bit by bit, but I also read a romance novel, 400 pages long, called The Unhoneymooners, which I enjoyed enough to stay up to 4:00 a.m. to finish. It was not literature, but it was a darned good read.

Am planning to start Lonesome Dove. I've been told it's wonderful.

30LyndaInOregon
Mar 17, 2020, 9:30 pm

You started with a good one! King sort of drifted into sausage-making in his middle career -- you know, you put in all the ingredients, turn the crank, and sausage comes out. It was sometimes very GOOD sausage, but still ...

Then, after his accident, his later stuff seemed to be mostly concerned with detailed and loving (!) descriptions of the ways in which the human body can come apart. I quit reading his stuff at that point!

31mollygrace
Mar 17, 2020, 10:53 pm

I finished Colum McCann's beautiful and deeply moving Apeirogon.

Now, for a complete change of pace, I'm reading Jean Stein's West of Eden.

32ahef1963
Mar 18, 2020, 12:48 am

I was going to start reading Lonesome Dove today, but after repeated attempts to get past the first two paragraphs I decided that what I needed is something familiar and loved. So I've made myself a stack of books and put them on the coffee table. Old, familiar, and not dystopian!

I've got The Far Pavilions, Angle of Repose, Pride and Prejudice, Cranford, Microserfs, High Fidelity, A Gentleman in Moscow, The Sea, The Sea, The Lake House, and to start on - Elizabeth is Missing.

33lilisin
Mar 18, 2020, 3:00 am

>32 ahef1963:

Unfortunate! Lonesome Dove is one of those books that if I needed a stack of books of things familiar and loved, it would be on it! Try again soon!

34lamplight
Mar 18, 2020, 7:55 am

I'm reading The Beautiful Mystery by Louise Penny. I'm reading her books in order, as they tell a unique story that way (although each could be a stand alone). As much as I love learning about the monastery and Gregorian chants...I'm finding this a little slow going. Still love the characters though.

35bell7
Mar 18, 2020, 8:14 am

I finished House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas and The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson today - both were solidly good but not great reads.

I'm about halfway through Pachinko by Min Jin Lee and expect to finish it in a day or two. I'll also start The Broken Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin today.

36cindydavid4
Mar 18, 2020, 10:59 am

>32 ahef1963: The Far Pavilions, Angle of Repose

Two of my all time favorite books!

37LyndaInOregon
Mar 18, 2020, 12:58 pm

Somebody remind me how to indicate whose post I'm responding to?

I can see it in others' posts but don't know how to do it.

--(signed) Techno-Dope

38Molly3028
Editado: Mar 19, 2020, 4:39 pm

>37 LyndaInOregon:

Type the arrow followed by the number of the post you are
responding to (no spaces). LT adds the rest. We are all learning
new things on a daily basis.

39BookConcierge
Editado: Mar 18, 2020, 5:22 pm


Patsy – Nicole Y. Dennis-Benn
Book on CD narrated by Sharon Gordon.
4****

This novel follows Patsy, a young Jamaican mother of a 5-year-old girl, Tru, as she makes her way to America and tries to find a better life for herself. However, in order to find herself and achieve her potential, she must leave her daughter back in Jamaica, in the care of her father, a man Patsy never married, and with whom she’s had little contact. But leaving Tru with Roy is much better than leaving her with Patsy’s mother, Mamma G, a woman who has given all her pension to the Church hoping that Jesus will save her.

This story is in turns heartbreaking and inspiring. I applaud Patsy’s determination, courage, inventiveness and work ethic, but have difficulty forgiving her for leaving her child in Jamaica. Her guilt at this no-win choice is palpable and heart-wrenching. Her inability to deal with the very real results of her decision made me want to shake her. And then, I would feel so sorry for her – for the difficulty she faced when her dream was proved to be just that, a dream with no real basis in reality, for her struggles to survive, to find housing and work, for her misguided attempts to find even a little happiness and a sense of self-worth.

Dennis-Benn alternates points of view giving the reader insight into Tru’s life back in Jamaica. Her inability to understand how her mother could leave her, the sliver of hope a Christmas card conveys, and the defeat she feels when she finally accepts that her mother is not coming back. , My heart breaks over and over for Tru as she grows to her teens and hides her pain and sense of responsibility for her mother’s decisions.

But lest you think this is a depressing story, be aware that I loved these characters, even though I didn’t always like them. Despite all the hardship, all the bad decisions and failures to communicate, ultimately there is some triumph and some sense of hope.

Sharon Gordon does a marvelous job of voicing the audiobook. Dennis-Benn uses a vernacular patois dialogue in much of the book, and I found it difficult to make out the sense in those few sections that I chose to read in text format. Gordon’s performance made it easier for me to absorb and understand those lilting Jamaican accents. She really brought these characters to life for me.

40LyndaInOregon
Mar 19, 2020, 12:31 am

>38 Molly3028:

Like that?

Hey, I think it worked. Thanks.

(I belong to half a dozen different groups and each one has a different process for comments and responses to comments.)

41JulieLill
Mar 19, 2020, 5:58 pm

The Sundial
Shirley Jackson
4/5 stars
The Hallorans’ live in an expensive mansion with an odd assortment of relatives and guests. When Aunt Fanny wanders off, she experiences a vision. Her dead father tells her of an impending disaster in which everyone but her family will be destroyed. Shirley Jackson doesn’t fail with this eerie family tale.

42hemlokgang
Editado: Mar 20, 2020, 1:19 am

Finished The Quarter.

Next up for reading is Apeirogon by Colum McCann.

43bell7
Mar 20, 2020, 7:35 am

I finished Pachinko, and have started The Broken Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin and Monument: Poems New and Selected by Natasha Trethewey.

44mollygrace
Mar 20, 2020, 7:02 pm

>42 hemlokgang: I'll be interested to read your comments on Apeirogon.

45LisaMorr
Mar 20, 2020, 7:47 pm

46fredbacon
Mar 21, 2020, 2:00 am

The new thread is up over here.

47LyndaInOregon
Mar 21, 2020, 8:18 pm

>41 JulieLill:

Have you read her biography, A Somewhat Haunted Life? Highly recommended for Jackson fans, and it points out (among other things) the recurrent theme of houses influencing the lives of the people who live there.

48JulieLill
Mar 22, 2020, 8:16 pm

>47 LyndaInOregon: Yes and I loved it. Definitely for Jackson fans!