What are you reading the week of August 28, 2021?

CharlasWhat Are You Reading Now?

Únete a LibraryThing para publicar.

What are you reading the week of August 28, 2021?

1fredbacon
Ago 28, 2021, 10:21 am

I'm about two thirds of the way through Introduction to Paleobiology and the Fossil Record. I'll be glad when there is something living on the Earth besides sponges, corals and worms. :-)

2Shrike58
Ago 28, 2021, 10:26 am

Knocked off British Cruiser Warfare, about half-way through Blackburn Buccaneer, about 30% through Hitler's Northern Utopia, will probably start Radiance.

3ahef1963
Ago 28, 2021, 3:02 pm

My mother died on Thursday, age 90. We thought it was the COPD that killed her, but it turns out she died of septicemia from a Staph infection. So it's been a terrible few days with little chance to read.

I'm going to pick up a book today - The Light Years by Elizabeth Jane Howard arrived yesterday and looks like the sort of book that will absorb me. If not, then I'll pick up Austerlitz, which looks interesting.

4seitherin
Ago 28, 2021, 3:37 pm

5Copperskye
Ago 28, 2021, 4:20 pm

>3 ahef1963: I’m so sorry for your loss, Allie. May she rest in peace.

6hemlokgang
Ago 28, 2021, 8:49 pm

My condolences, ahef!

I finished listening to the excellent The Madness of Crowds.

Next up for listening is a collection of short stories, There's Something I Want You To Do by Charles Baxter.

7BookConcierge
Ago 29, 2021, 12:15 am


What Alice Forgot – Lianne Moriarty
Book on CD performed by Tamara Lovatt Smith
3.5***

After she collapses during her spin class, hitting her head as she falls from the bike, Alice Love wakes to find herself surrounded by concerned onlookers and emergency technicians. Twenty-nine and crazy about her husband, she’s pregnant with her first child, and is afraid what this episode may mean for her baby. But, in fact, Alice is not pregnant; rather, she’s thirty-nine, has three children, and she and Nick are getting divorced.

What an interesting concept! Moriarty does a great job writing about women and their relationships – with friends, with siblings, with spouses. Here we have a woman who is possibly getting a “do-over” … or is she? Can she really erase the last ten years? Does she want to? As she comes to grips with her 10-years-older self, Alice hardly recognizes the woman she’s become. And as her memory slowly returns – in fits and starts – she is sometimes horrified to recall how she has behaved.

I liked this approach to how our past shapes our present and future.

Tamara Lovatt Smith does a fine job performing the audio. There are a lot of characters, and I was never confused about who was speaking. That being said, the text uses different fonts and indentations to highlight some aspects of the book and that was lost on the audio.

8BookConcierge
Ago 29, 2021, 10:44 am


This Tender Land – William Kent Krueger
Digital audiobook narrated by Scott Brick
4****

Krueger references both The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain and Homer’s The Odyssey in this epic adventure set in America’s upper Midwest during the Great Depression.

Orphaned brothers Odie and Albert O’Banion have been placed at The Lincoln School, in Fremont County, Minnesota, which is primarily for Native American children. It is far from a refuge; rather, it is a prison and a labor camp, where the children are subject to many abuses – verbal, physical and sexual. Following one horrific event, the boys decide they have no choice to but set out on their own to try to find their aunt. They are joined by their friend Mose, a mute Native American boy, and Emmy, a young girl who has suffered a great loss. The plan is to paddle a canoe down the Gilead and on to the Mississippi and St Louis, Missouri.

Krueger is a marvelous storyteller, and he keeps the plot moving with a variety of incidents. The travelers show intelligence, resourcefulness, and tenacity. They are also children - immature and prone to misunderstanding or misinterpretation of information they gather. And, of course, they are vulnerable. Not everyone they meet is helpful; some are violently dangerous, and some want only to use them. I loved watching them grow, both individually and in their relationships, through these experiences.

The novel is very atmospheric. Krueger uses the landscape as a character – terrain, flora, fauna, and weather all have roles to play. He makes good use of magical realism. And there is a painful history lesson here as well, with the treatment of Native American children – ripped from their homes and tribal lands to be “re-educated” in abysmal conditions.

Scott Brick is a talented voice artist and does a marvelous job of performing the audio book.

9PaperbackPirate
Ago 29, 2021, 11:48 am

>3 ahef1963: Sending lots of love!

I have less than 100 pages left of The Regulators by Richard Bachman. My goal is to finish today, but I have some grown-up stuff on my to-do list. We'll see what wins.

10seitherin
Ago 29, 2021, 12:59 pm

>3 ahef1963: Adding my condolences for your loss.

Finished Citadel by Marko Kloos. Really enjoyed it. Added Thunderbird by Chuck Wendig to my rotation.

11LyndaInOregon
Ago 29, 2021, 1:55 pm

>3 ahef1963: - So sorry for your loss.

12Copperskye
Ago 29, 2021, 2:01 pm

I finished Penny's latest, The Madness of Crowds. It wasn't my favorite but still good.

Just started Feral Creatures.

13LyndaInOregon
Ago 29, 2021, 2:04 pm

>8 BookConcierge: - I just added This Tender Land to my with list - sounds like an interesting read.

Finished The Hot Flash Club Strikes Again last night. This is the second book of a sort-of series about women "of a certain age", as the title indicates, hanging out together and solving each other's problems. Mildly entertaining.

14JulieLill
Ago 29, 2021, 3:32 pm

Tipping the Velvet
Sarah Waters
4/5 stars
In the 1890’s Nan King lives with her family in England and helps with their oyster seafood restaurant business. One day she is invited to music hall and is intrigued with Kitty Butler, a young actress whose act has her portrayed as a male impersonator. Nan has become enamored with her and goes to her show daily.
Kitty Butler sees her there and hires her to help with the act. They soon become lovers but that ends when Kitty goes off with a gentleman friend leaving Kitty devastated. She soon meets with a rich woman who takes her in but that too becomes complicated and she is left on her own but she soon finds someone that she may rely on. This was made into a mini-series. Intriguing!

15Molly3028
Ago 29, 2021, 9:30 pm

started this OverDrive audio book ~

Murder on Wall Street (A Gaslight Mystery)
by Victoria Thompson

16momom248
Ago 30, 2021, 9:52 am

Ahef my deepest sympathy on your loss. I lost my Dad earlier this year at 90. It’s a tough loss to bear but I wish you some comfort in reading. Take care.

17rocketjk
Ago 30, 2021, 1:57 pm

I finished I The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion by Jonathan Haidt. The book is psychologist/ethicist Jonathan Haidt's attempt to understand and explain why humans can come to see things so differently from each other and, most importantly, to become so set in our ways that we see people who disagree with us on important matters as enemies and/or fools.

The book, for me, works best in its first half, as Haidt lays out his research and his theories about human perceptions, how we form opinions, and what drives our responses. The book's second half was less effective for me, as I felt that Haidt was trying to force all of the foregoing information over his own ideas of politics and culture. He begins doing things like describing another researcher's theory and then proceeding to further conclusions based on that theory as if we had reason to accept the theory as fact. Towards the end, I must admit, I began skimming. So I give the first half of this book 3.5 stars, and the second half 2 stars. I do give Haidt credit for clear writing, relatively free of doze-inducing scientific jargon. My longer review is on my 50-Book Challenge thread.

I'm now about a third of the way through this month's selection for my reading group, The Splendid and the Vile Erik Larson's latest, about Winston Churchill's first year as Prime Minister as the Battle of Britain ramps up. Sort of surprisingly, this is my first Larson book. I am enjoying it.

18JulieLill
Ago 30, 2021, 2:14 pm

>17 rocketjk: I love anything by Larson but his newest is really good!

19seitherin
Ago 30, 2021, 4:23 pm

Finished The Madness of Crowds by Louise Penny. Didn't like this one as much as some of her others. Added The Moonlight Child by Karen McQuestion to my rotation.

20LyndaInOregon
Ago 30, 2021, 4:56 pm

Think I'm suffering from whiplash. I just went from the mildly entertaining ("Should I even bother to finish this?") The Hot Flash Club Strikes Again to the utterly riveting Gravity, by Tess Gerritsen.

The other day, I put aside a book about a plague, thinking "I don't need to read this right now", only to pick up a novel about a deadly organism loose on the International Space Station, and could not put it down.

Not for the faint of heart (or stomach), but one heck of a suspenseful read. This one gets an A- and will certainly be on the short list of 2021's Best.

21princessgarnet
Editado: Ago 31, 2021, 9:36 pm

Binge reading The Lady Sherlock Series by Sherry Thomas from the library.
Charlotte Holmes takes the name Sherlock Holmes to solve crime in 1886 London.

The new and #6 installment, Miss Moriarty, I Presume?, releases in November.

22BookConcierge
Ago 31, 2021, 10:38 pm


Unnatural Causes – P D James
Digital Audiobook read by Penelope Dellaporte
3***

In book three of the mystery series, Superintendent Adam Dalgliesh has a holiday planned. He’ll spend ten blissfully uneventful days with his spinster aunt at her seaside cottage on the Suffolk coast. It’s a well-earned break, and his plans include nothing more taxing that long walks, tea by the fire, and some personal reflection. And then a headless, handless body washes ashore.

I came late to the PD James party, but here I am and I’m ready to enjoy myself. Dalgliesh is a marvelous character – a supremely competent detective, astute, observant, and intelligent, but also sensitive to nuance and willing to reflect on numerous possibilities.

James gives us several possible suspects and enough red herrings to keep the reader guessing. There’s also a thrilling scene involving a major storm that puts everyone in danger. I hadn’t identified the culprit before the reveal. A totally satisfying mystery. I’ll continue with this series.

Penelope Dellaporte does a fine job of narrating the audiobook.

23snash
Sep 1, 2021, 2:48 pm

I finished the LTER book The End of Bias. It was an excellent presentation of the ubiquitous nature of bias, the damage that it causes, and a look at various experiments to diminish it. The methods to overcome bias are admitted to be a beginning and range from structural changes to personal ones. It is well thought out recognizing the advantages and pitfalls of various approaches. It also acknowledges the painful nature of self growth.

24Molly3028
Sep 1, 2021, 4:26 pm

Enjoying this OverDrive audio ~

Wife Who Knew Too Much
by Michele Campbell

25hemlokgang
Editado: Sep 1, 2021, 11:28 pm

Finished the disappointing collection of short stories, There's Something I Want You To Do.

Next up for listening is The Storyteller's Secret by Sejal Badani.

26JulieLill
Sep 3, 2021, 11:27 am

Bellevue: Three Centuries of Medicine and Mayhem at America's Most Storied Hospital
by David Oshinsky
5/5 stars
Oshinksy does a wonderful job of relating the rich history of Bellevue Hospital that has been around for three centuries serving all the people (poor or rich) within their reach and the pioneering of many of the advancements in healthcare. I had a hard time putting this down because it was so compelling to read. This definitely will be on my best reads list this year!

27hemlokgang
Editado: Sep 3, 2021, 9:17 pm

Finished reading the fantastic The Levant Trilogy by Olivia Manning.

Next up for reading is Act of The Damned by António Lobo Antunes.

28fredbacon
Sep 4, 2021, 12:32 am

The new thread is up over here.

29fredbacon
Sep 4, 2021, 12:35 am

>17 rocketjk: In the Garden of Beasts is probably Erik Larson's best book, but The Devil in the White City is also excellent.

30JulieLill
Sep 4, 2021, 1:09 pm

>29 fredbacon: The Devil In White City is my favorite book of Larson's but Dead Wake and The Splendid and the Vile are pretty close up there on my list of favorite books of Larson's.

31BookConcierge
Sep 5, 2021, 7:58 am


Death Cruise – Lawrence Block (editor)
3***

Subtitle: Crime Stories on the Open Seas

This is a collection of short stories, all of which take place on a cruise ship (though at least one of them never sets sail). The anthology is edited by Lawrence Block, himself a master crafter of mysteries, though he did not contribute one for this work. Authors come from multiple nations, starting off with Agatha Christie and including writers from Cuba, Belgium and the Netherlands.

I enjoyed reading them and was happily surprised that there was sufficient difference from story to story to hold my interest – and keep me guessing. Not all the stories involve murder – there are thefts, con jobs, and kidnapping.