I am well into A Gentleman in Moscow and I am not going to want it to end.
The Plot Against America, by Philip Roth.
Makes this election just that much scarierā¦
just belatedly finished Light Between the Oceans. For popular fiction I thought it was very well written. Had seen the movie and wanted to read it, very fine adaptation of the book.
I just purchased History on Trial: My Day In Court with a Holocaust Denier, by Deborah E. Lipstadt.
Ms. Lipstadt described David Irving as a Holocaust Denier in her book about Holocaust denial and was subsequently sued by him. In British courts, the burden of proof in a libel trial lies with the accused. There is a movie out right now about this incident called Denial, which I plan to see also.
David Irving is the person who made the famous quote āMore women died on the back seat of Edward Kennedyās car at Chappaquiddick than in the gas chambers at Auschwitz.ā
I have had a run of pretty good books that (except for one) are a little off the beaten path:
And After The Fire, by Lauren Belfer. Belfer does a good job with well-researched historical novels that primarily deal with normal people on the fringes of great events. But sheās not very prolific. This is only her third novel, and the first was 20 years ago. (City of Light, which is excellent.) This book mostly takes place in contemporary time, with extensive historical flashbacks. Several characters ā a skeptical, intelligent Jewish woman in her 30s who works at a foundation in Manhattan, a wealthy and talented salon hostess in early 19th Century Berlin, a musicologist whose Lutheran faith has been at the center of his life ā rise to the challenge of dealing with an unpublished Bach cantata that is musically stunning and aggressively anti-Semitic, while dealing with other problems in their lives as well. Fits perfectly well on anyoneās chick-lit shelf, but with a lot more intellectual heft than you usually find in the genre, and itās a nice combination.
Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead. Believe the hype. Itās very good, in the vein of Toni Morrison (i.e., if you really hated Song of Solomon, donāt bother with this, either).
Nocilla Dream by Augustin Fernandez Mallo. A young Spanish author methodically building a universe out of a series of short vignettes centered on a desolate stretch of highway in Nevada. If you like Julio Cortazar and Borges . . . .
The Man Who Loved Dogs by Leonardo Padura. Another mixed contemporary/historical novel. Too long, but really interesting nevertheless. It alternates among three stories ā separate (but converging) fictionalized biographies of Leonid Tolstoy after his fall from power, Ramon Mercader, the Catalan communist who assassinated Tolstoy in Mexico, and a failed writer in Cuba trying to keep his life together during the 1980s and 1990s in Havana. Apart from its literary virtues (which are many), it has cultural importance because Padura is the most successful Cuban author to have stayed in Cuba, and he has somehow gained special license to criticize its government, which he does mercilessly. In an interesting parallel to the Belfer book, thereās lots of discussion of what to do about artifacts of inconvenient history.
You mean Trotsky. 
Iām now reading āThe Underground Railroad.ā Itās riveting.
āThe Underground Railroadā won the National Book Award yesterday.
I finished āHis Bloody Projectā a few days ago, which was on the Man Booker prize shortlist this year. It is a novel told through witness statements, police reports, court documents, and a written account by the accused of a violent murder in a tiny Scottish village in the 1800s. It is a pretty dark but compelling story, with a lot of psychological twists. I find myself still thinking about it days later.
Am about 50 pages into another Man Booker 2016 short list novel, āDo Not Say We Have Nothingā ā about China during the Cultural Revolution. Maybe it is just not a good time for me to read on this topic, but I probably wonāt finish it.
Oooh, Iāve been eyeing āHis Bloody Projectā since I saw the shortlist. Good to hear a review!
Agree that āThe Underground Railroadā warranted the hype.
Any other fans of Daniel OāMalleyās The Rook? His sequel, Stiletto, was great. I also loved Dark Matter by Blake Crouch and A Gentleman in Moscow. I would love a good thriller/mystery recommendation.
^^^ Iāve wanted to read The Rook. Your post moved me from āwanted toā to āorderedā it. I also want to read Dark Matter and A Gentleman in Moscow. We have similar reading tastes @jedwards70.
@ignatius Love that avatar! If you have any book suggestions feel free to PM me. I really hope you enjoy The Rook. I just started Lock In by John Scalzi. It is like a detective novel and sci fi mash up. So far, so goodā¦
I read and liked Lock In. Hereās an extra (pre-Lock In - so no spoilers) from Scalzi, in case you donāt have it: http://www.tor.com/2014/05/13/unlocked-an-oral-history-of-hadens-syndrome-john-scalzi/
I learned something of note after I finished but it may be considered a spoiler, so let me know when you finish.
*Mystery-thriller: I enjoyed Rage Against the Dying - Becky Masterman
I just finished Skinny Legs and All by Tom Robbins, which came highly recommended by a friend. And indeed, it was remarkable. The cast of characters includes a dirty purple sock, a silver spoon, a can of beans, a painted stick, and a conch shell, all of whom achieve locomotion and travel across the country together. The latter two are ancient Phoenician sacred objects. The human characters are equally interesting. The book deals with the nature of art, the Middle East (present and historical), radio evangelists, and more.
Many years ago I read Even Cowgirls Get the Blues and disliked it, and Iāve avoided him ever since. But Iām very glad I picked up a used copy of this one. I, like my friend, highly recommend it.
Danteās Divine Comedy. Iām in the middle of Purgatorio now and I never thought Iād enjoy it as much as I do. Itās religion, history, Florentine politics, philosophy, and personal introspection all rolled into one. Itās one of the greatest feats of the human imagination.
If you like screwball comedies I recommend Connie Willisā Crosstalk. Technically itās sci fi, or possibly fantasy. Itās set in the very, very near future, but mostly itās just silly and fun. A nice distraction from current events.
^^^ Iām actually picking Crosstalk up at the library tonight, though I donāt know when Iāll get to it. Iām not yet at the midpoint of *East of Eden/i.
ChasingMerit, your words about The Divine Comedy are inspiring. I always love it when somebody raves about a classic Iād never thought about readingā¦leading me to reconsider. Somebody here got me to read Dostoevsky that way!
Iāll put in a plug for āThe Discovery of Witchesā by Deborah Harkness which I am reading again. If you liked Outlander you will like this as it is similar. It has a grounded science and academia POV which was refreshing and kept it from being clichĆ©.