I just finished that, cartera. It’s wonderful.
I loved Invention of Wings. Would love to read more about that era, and from the female perspective. Such a great read.
I am listening to The Invention of Wings and the narrators are wonderful. One of the best listening experiences I have ever had.
I agree…loved Invention of Wings and the narrators are great!
^^^I’m so glad to hear this! I have an 11 hour road trip tomorrow and listening to The Invention of Wings is my plan.
I am starting to think I am the pickiest reader in the world. The last three books I have downloaded have disappointed me. Why is it so hard to find a book that has both a compelling story and it written at a skill level that exceeds an 8th grader.
Right now I am reading “Winter People”.
Spoiler Alert:
Story is good but the writing…not so much. Here is an example of what I mean. The narrator is talking about a characters situation and states “Her parents were not here to help. Her dad was dead and her mom was missing.”
Yeah, we know that. We have been reading the story and know that the dad is dead and the mom is missing. It just seems so sophomoric to me. I guess my problem is that I like thoughtful, insightful writing that has a good plot. Not so easy to find!!!
There are a fair number of us picky readers around, EPTR. And, alas, there are lots and lots of mediocre books! I don’t care so much about plot, myself, but I care very, very much about well-crafted, thoughtful, insightful writing.
I’d say your best bet is to stick with what they call literary fiction and classics. I find books by looking at the reviews in place like the New York Times and by checking out the titles nominated for the yearly literary awards.
Yeah, I’m thinking that I have to stop relying on user reviews. I used to read the Boston Globe when it was still around and it had great book reviews. Have to work on finding another source. Does anyone have a link to a website with good literary reviews?
<a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/pages/books/review/”>http://www.nytimes.com/pages/books/review/</a>
<a href=“http://www.the-tls.co.uk/tls/”>http://www.the-tls.co.uk/tls/</a>
<a href=“Books + Reviews | Books | The Guardian”>http://www.theguardian.com/books/books+tone/reviews</a>
I just finished The Other Typist. I did not enjoy it that much.
I have Invention of Wings to start next. Glad to read that it is a hit with so many.
EPTR, here is a list that I think was taken from the book 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die
<a href=“1001 List << 1morechapter.com”>http://www.1morechapter.com/projects/1001-list/</a>
There are actually 1305 books on the list. I’ve read about 100 of them.
I had mixed feelings about The Other Typist. I did not like the ending.
To the fans of “The Thirteenth Tale,” did you know there is a movie that stars Vanessa Redgrave?
Thank you for the links everyone. I did look at the NY Times last night and downloaded “The Dinner” by Herman Koch. I rushed through the ending of Winter People so that I could start it. Good decision!
I recently read Gone Girl – delicious! Except the ending. As I’m sitting here now, I can’t remember how it ended.
After that, The Wives of Los Alamos by TaraShea Nesbit (because I was born there). It’s about the first group of women who settled the wild mountaintop town in 1943-45 as their husbands developed the bomb. It’s written in a style I’ve never read before, first-person plural, which judging from the reviews is not a popular style. But I found it engaging, like they were drawing me into their world.
Next up was Sleep Donation, a novella by Karen Russell. A new pandemic is sweeping the world; people are losing the ability to sleep. Technology has been developed for “pure” sleepers to donate their sleep. A universal donor, “Baby A”, is found, but the sleep supply has been contaminated by a viral nightmare from “Donor Y.” I’m not a novella fan, and I feel like some plotlines and characters aren’t well-developed, but a quick and entertaining read with a unique premise.
Now I’m finally getting around to The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. Twenty pages in, I can already tell I’m going to be mesmerized and outraged.
EPTR, I’m a picky reader also. I also download books that I then don’t like. 
LasMa, I felt the same about Gone Girl. I’ve recommended it to other people but said the ending stinks. The Wives of Los Alamos sounds good, I think I’ll put in on my list.
Sleep Donation, I wonder if it was written when the author was going through menopause! I could use a sleep donor!
Just read The Goldfinch. Or tried to read it. Every. Single. Event. in the story is 3 times longer than it needs to be. It’s confusing, and I really have no idea how it ended since there were pages and pages and pages of drug delirium and shady characters… It started out promising and well written, but as it went on it became relentlessly depressing and overly long.
Also tried to read Winter’s Tale but gave up. If I had known it was a fantasy-based book I never would have started. I thought the writing was over-long, self-important and dense. No wonder the movie was a flop.
Still looking for something good. I have discovered I need my books to be pretty much realistic and somewhat plot driven. When I’m reading for pleasure I need it to be a fairly easy read - my real life has enough confusion and complication, reading should be an escape from that!
Lafalum84, did you ever read The Crimson Petal and the White by Michel Faber? It’s long, but entertaining and pretty straightforward.
I just finished “The Martian” by Andy Weir, which I really liked. A NASA mission to Mars encounters a dust storm, one of the team members is lost and thought dead, and they abort the mission. But he is not dead…but is left behind on Mars (not giving anything away, you find out all this in the first 10 pages). I am kind of a space buff, and think this is really true to how astronauts and NASA would act in this scenario. I definitely recommend it.
I’ve become addicted to Scandinavian police procedurals. Everyone knows Stieg Larsson, but I’ve been binging on Jo Nesbo, Jussi Adler-Olsen, Lars Kepler, Henning Mankill, Camilla Lackberg. Can’t seem to get enough of them!