I like Seveneves better than Station Eleven. Didn’t care much for Station Eleven. I hardly remember it so that says a lot. I agree that Seveneves went off the rails. I really enjoyed most of it but then I had to just get through the rest. Too bad he didn’t just do a sequel.
@ignatius, so glad to hear someone else was frustrated by The Buried Giant! I was dumbfounded that an author whose other books had been so pleasing had produced such a mess. I have a theory that after a writer has had a few big successes, no editor will dare tell him/her that a new work is a failure (much less attempt to edit it), and the publisher will just hope against hope that the author’s name alone produces good sales. This seems to happen again and again.
The Tournament of Books long list is out and the short list is coming soon! It’s a bracket-style ‘competition’ from The Morning News that takes place around the same time as the NCAA bball tournament. Usually lots of fun, great books, excellent judges and commentary. I always get a lot of new delicious books to add to my list. Last year I actually tried to read all 16 books.
Goodreads also has a ToB group and they do an “alt ToB” with some very interesting picks, too. My book club has started their own ToB; we pit the last 16 reads against each other at random and always have a fun discussion.
Whee!! I love March Madness-- in bball and in books!
That’s an intriguing list!
Goodreads has some good groups. I’m in one called The Roundtable (currently reading Proust and other things – you can choose) and another called The Dead Writers Society (currently reading a Virginia Woolf novel).
I’m reading Ali Wentworth’s book Happily Ali After. It’s a quick, light, enjoyable read.
Thanks to those who are Louise Penny fans and suggested her books. Just finished “Still Life” and thoroughly enjoyed “visiting” Three Pines.
My SIL and I were talking about 3 Pines yesterday. We think it might be less fun to live there in winter than portrayed in the books. 
I love this thread! For those who liked Station Eleven and Sevenses (which I haven’t read), The Age of Miracles by Karen Walker is really good. I also agree with @intparent about 3 Pines. After reading the first book I was ready to book a trip to Quebec. I’m almost done with All the Light You Cannot See, which I put down last year but now am greatly enjoying.
As much as I’ve been trying to inch my way through The Nature of the Beast slowly, I have less than 50 pages left. I think this may be my favorite Gamache book yet.It has sold more than any of the others but that isn’t unusual for a very popular author writing a series of books. I admire Louise Penny and her ability to write such beautiful stories when she has such very real challenges in her personal life. She is finished the second draft of the next book and I really can’t wait until it comes out, probably late summer.
I have been to many of the towns mentioned in the Gamache books as my H’s grandparents lived in the Eastern Townships and their town is actually mentioned in the current book. There are aspects of many of those small towns that are found in Three Pines. It is a beautiful area, even in the winter!
If anyone is interested, the University of Washington bookstore taped their event with Louise Penny introducing “The Nature of the Beast” earlier this year. I was there in person and enjoyed every minute.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?list=PLTqdDRldge0J2IMOuxw6QNOn93fFa9EJw&v=6IWmFmuvHRA
For those of you who have not read the Penny books through number 10, do yourselves a favor and listen to at least one of them. The narrator, who died before the last book was finished, is truly wonderful. He brings the characters to life. It is worth it just to hear him say Reine Marie.
We need our own Gamache lovefest thread.
On my second Louise penny book
I haven’t read any of Ferrante’s books, ( yet) so this Is for you Ferrante fans
I’m reading the first Ferrante book. It is not love at first sight but I’m not tempted to put it down.
Wonderful article, @SouthJerseyChessMom, thank you. @cartera45, let us know what you thought of My Brilliant Friend when you finished.
Thanks to, I think, @JHS and others who recommended Elinor Lipman. Just read one and I love her! Funny and smart! I haven’t read “Inn at Lake Devine” yet but have it on order from the library. Looking forward to lots of good reading of all her books.
I just finished reading The Round House, by Louise Erdrich. Wonderful book: a coming of age story wrapped around what could be considered a mystery novel with deep roots in Native culture and spirituality. I’ve never read any of her books before, but I definitely plan to read more.
I’m currently enjoying “Golden Age” Jane Smiley’s final book in her trilogy. I enjoyed the first book “Some Luck” and can’t remember if I read the second. The hardest part is that I kept having to flip back to the family tree in the front of the book to keep the characters and their relationships straight.
@Garland, which Lipman book did you read ???
And Then She Found Me
Basically I decided if I couldn’t find the one most recommended, I’d read an earlier one that my library had and work my way forward in time. It was utterly charming.