I’ve read East of Eden, and it’s a book that begs to be discussed, so that’s why I added it to the list.
For what it’s worth, I liked East of Eden better than Grapes of Wrath.
But enough about Steinbeck! It won’t be him or Barbara Kingsolver or the duet.
The choice has pretty clearly come down to Seveneves by Neal Stephenson or Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy.
Far From the Madding Crowd is the safer choice, but I’m sensing a gravitational pull toward Seveneves. So I am ready to call it for Seveneves…but are you sure? I gotta be honest, even more than the 880 pages, this comment from the NY Times review scares me:
I’m hebel worried that Stephenson will niksht my flivver, but I’m in if the rest of you say “aye.”
This is funniest comment ever- you win the creative “humisknit” award - mary13
I’m hebel worried that Stephenson will niksht my flivver, but I’m in if the rest of you say “aye.”
Which do you prefer, mary13 ? Per by laws, your vote counts by a factor of 37
All I’ll do is finish The Sparrow and then start Seveneves. I’m a little worried about being able to finish it in time (assuming that it’s our selection) because I’m busier than usual this summer, but I figure I’ll somehow make it work.
I spent most of the month of May slowly reading a 400-page nonfiction book: The Victorian City: Everyday Life in Dickens’ London by Judith Flanders. Really fascinating!
Before that, I read The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene, which I didn’t like too much.
Another book I read recently that I don’t think I reported here was “Tales of the East and West” by Joseph Conrad.
Oh man, dh lost both of his parents. His Mom had early onset dementia and was basically helpless by the end. Horrible. His Dad, was alway a bit wacky, but thankfully died suddenly of a heart attack just a year after his mother passed away. My Dad had Alzheimer’s but we were extremely lucky. It just made him nicer and more peaceful. He recognized everyone right to the end. He had a pretty good death with in home hospice care though he surprised everyone by only needing it a few days. My mother is the only one left. She has Parkinson’s and has been noticeably declining in the last six months. She’s having a very hard time with time and managing her pills. She lives with my brother, so I am not involved with the day to day decisions regularly, but it’s always a bit of shock when I go up to NH to see her and see the changes. The hardest thing is the neediness and anxiety - it’s really changed her personality.
I got a book of DeLint short stories since they are easy to put down once I get a hold of our new book. I also am reading the second book in Haddix’s YA missing series. I’ve decided they are too much like little history lessons (think Magic Schoolhouse, but infinitely better). Since there are 36 missing children, I fear there could be almost 36 books! They are fun, but not that fun!
oregon101: You should have spoken up during the selection process. Everyone gets to suggest books and/or veto a book or two.
Mary: I’m about halfway through with Beautiful Ruins - a real-life book club choice. I hereby invite you to join us on June 22 for the discussion. I’m debating whether to watch Cleopatra when I’m done with the book. I’d also like to pair it Furious Love: Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, and the Marriage of the Century but, you know, Seveneves awaits me. (Still, I’m tempted.)
Other books I have checked out from the library:
Dark Magic - I have started it and like what I’ve read so far.
*The Girl on the Train
A Desperate Fortune*
and I think two or three others.
(My library allows you to check out 75 books at a time. Ah, the temptation)
Again, I enjoyed the discussion. See you on August 1. :-h
@oregon101, I’m not sure I can read science fiction either, but we’ll see how it goes! My only other foray into SF was when the group read the duet Enders Game and War of the Worlds, but I think Stephenson is on a different plane altogether.
I’ve never read Gilead and would be delighted to pair that with Being Mortal. @mathmom’s post tells me that Atul Gawande’s book could be either a great choice or an awful one, depending upon how willing one is to read about the painful realities you’re actually experiencing with loved ones.
Many years ago, my son was very ill and had to undergo multiple surgeries. (He’s fine now.) Taking a break from the hospital room, I crossed the street to the bookstore and saw Gawande’s Complications on the display rack, and I bought it. Strange choice of reading material under the circumstances, right? But I couldn’t put it down. It was oddly comforting–almost a relief to have found a book about the very world that was occupying my every waking thought.
Buying my plane ticket to Texas now. You’ll pick me up at the airport?
Sorry to have been AWOL from the last two discussions, but sadly, my husband died in early April after dealing with colon cancer for four years, so my focus has been elsewhere (although I did manage to finish A Spool of Blue Thread, and read the comments here).
So it’s fitting that Gawande’s book should come up; I actually read it when we were in the thick of things at the end (by chance timing of the library waiting list). I didn’t find it scary, but I’m familiar with his writing and had already seen the PBS show he did on the subject, so his work wasn’t new to me–nor the topic, unfortunately. The beginning of the book is mostly about nursing home care, and I found that very interesting. But that’s a subject I haven’t had to deal with (yet) in my own life. I haven’t read Gilead, but I’d be interested.
I’m not a science fiction reader, either, but I’ve been surprised to enjoy other things here that I wouldn’t have thought I would, including Ender’s Game, War of the Worlds, Cloud Atlas and Station Eleven, so I’ll give Seveneves a try! I certainly wouldn’t be picking it up on my own! It’s nice to get pushed into trying something new.
Other summer reading includes Americanah for another book group (just started), and Epitaph, by Mary Doria Russell (about Wyatt Earp). I’ve been trying to read some of the “widow/widower books,” but so far I’m not finding them very helpful or illuminating.
I’ll start a new thread.
I’m debating whether to watch Cleopatra when I’m done with the book. I’d also like to pair it Furious Love: Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, and the Marriage of the Century but, you know, Seveneves awaits me. (Still, I’m tempted.)