lol scout. I liked the digression (the part about Fanning as a human?) though at one point I thought, “Wait! I read ‘A Little Life’ already!!”. I love the use of non-traditional narrative to make it more ‘historical’. I want to read “The Passage” again now-- it’s definitely my favorite of the three.
That was my problem - I really liked “The Passage” (also my favorite of the three), so everything pales in comparison, at least in my view. I did read “The Twelve” again before I read “City of Mirrors,” so that also probably colored my perspective.
I’m a big fan of the non-traditional narrative, too, which was one of the things I liked most about “The Passage.”
And I wish that I knew what happened to Michael. Or did I miss something?
I just read “Becoming Nicole”, the story of a transgendered girl (born a boy) and the struggle she, and her family, went through as they tried to understand her and help her. The parents are normal and likeable, and I found myself highly sympathetic to them as they wondered what in the world to do with this child who was behaving so opposite to the expectations of society. Making it even more interesting, Nicole has an identical twin brother who is completely comfortable as a male.
I’m on the liberal end of the spectrum, strongly supportive of gays and lesbians, yet I confess I’ve been pretty uneducated about trans issues. I hadn’t realized, for example, that sexual organs and sexual identity are formed through different parts of the brain and that those parts of the brain are very influenced by hormone levels in utero. I also gained a much better understanding of some of the struggles trans people face.. bathroom use issues, for example.
I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to increase their awareness of Gender Identity Disorder and trans issues.
@scout59: He survived NYC and Amy helped him board the little boat; he’ll go look for the island.
…or did he decide to try for Europe instead? Either way, I guess we’ll never really know where he wound up!
I’m about to catch up to Louise Penny in the Inspector Gamache series and looking into others. Has anyone read the Andrea Camilleri, Inspector Montalbano books?
I just read “Raising Ryland,” about a boy (now 8 years old) who was born with female sexual organs but self-identified as a boy when he was about 2 1/2 years old. I have been liberal about sexual orientation issues for all my adult life (I was a bit intolerant as a child) but reading this book nevertheless was a light bulb moment.
@cartera45, I’ve read the Inspector Montalbano books. I enjoy them. The translator always has a couple of pages at the back that explain some of the cultural references, literary quotes, and so on, which helps me a lot. It took a few books for me to get over the use of dialect for the one character. Sicily isn’t Rome!
Very different from Donna Leon’s books, but do reinforce the idea that Italy is not homogeneous…the different regions have some definite opinions of each other and the crimes vary as well.
@calla1, I had a very similar reaction toBecoming Nicole. I, too, realized how little I knew about the whole subject as I began reading.
I’ve really gotten behind on this thread. Have any of you read The Husband by Dean Koontz? I just read it is a major page turner, and I need one to keep me motivated to work out, so I downloaded the audio version to my phone.
Also just finished “Becoming Nicole”. I really liked it.
Just read The Invention of Wings for a book club and it was really good. I love historical novels where I learn about real, extraordinary people who have done amazing things. I highly recommend this one. It will go down as one of the most memorable for me.
@jaylynn I finally finished Constellation. That was a tough read. I walked away from the book a few times to give myself relief and yet I eventually came back since I wanted to know what happened to Sonja, Natasha and Havaa. He created indelible characters that stay with you afterwards.
I think Tsar is an easier read but I like them both. I probably recommend Tsar then Constellation since the Tsar is more hopeful and the macabre humor helps. The author’s signature style is his time shifting narrative, where seemingly irrelevant details or minor characters re-emerge later to weave the stories together. I wonder if this will become gimmicky over time.
I like your perspective re Constellation, @ccreader . I like his narrative style a lot, though I could see where it could turn some readers off. Other authors that do that (that I like) are Kate Atkinson (like in Life After Life) and David Mitchell (like in Cloud Atlas and The Bone Clocks).
Thank you to everyone who recommended Kate Morton’s The Lake House. You inspired me to get it from the library. I’m still in the middle of it and stayed up way too late last night reading it. The only reason I don’t have my nose in it at the moment is, I told myself chores have to come first 
I finished the Lake house yesterday. I enjoyed it, tho I already know one person in my Bookclub did not.
Now I’m reading alice Hoffmann The Dovekeepers. Any thoughts? Also a Bookclub read.
I really liked the dovekeepers - great book club book
I just finished “The Girl With All the Gifts” and enjoyed it. The trailer from the movie, as brief as it is, presents Dr. Caldwell in a way that I did not imagine.
Has anyone read LaRose by Louise Erdrich?
@jaylynn - I just finished “Fellside” last night. Like you, I didn’t like it nearly as much as I did “The Girl With All the Gifts.” The ideas were intriguing and the writing was beautiful, but still…it just didn’t “grab” me like Girl did. I also though that the middle part dragged a little.
Maybe if I had read Fellside before I read Girl, I would have liked Fellside better… “The Girl With All the Gifts” is a hard act to follow.
One of the things I liked about both books was their unpredictable endings. I was afraid that Fellside would be ruined by a neat, tidy finale that wrapped everything up nicely, but no…I much preferred its open-ended ending (if that makes sense).