I actually finished East of Eden early - the second half went a lot faster than the first half.
1/2 way through Springsteenās autobiography. Definitely for fans only.
^ CAnāt WAIT to get my hands on a copy and some time to read it. (Minor surgery right after Christmas, so my H says he will coordinate who gets it for me.)
@ignatius I am about halfway through Lock In. Iāll pick up Rage Against the Dying.
@mathmom I love Connie Willis and will try Crosstalk.
Just finished The Underground Railroad. I loved it.
Am nearly finished with A Man Called Ove. Though Iāve heard mixed reactions, I love the book. Ove grew on me immediately, and the writing is very charming and witty, IMO. I have a number of family members with Aspergers, and I think I was more open to the character of Ove because of them.
@jedwards70 Crosstalk is more in the vein of Bellwether than the time travel ones, so if you liked that Iām guessing you will like this.
Also just a recommendation in general - Connie Willis has a fantastic collection of Christmas themed short stories.
Oooh, a new Scalzi! I had no idea. 
Yay! My favorite time of the year. All the annual best book lists are coming out.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/entertainment/2016-best-books/
https://www.amazon.com/Best-Books-of-2014/b?ie=UTF8&node=10207069011
@mathmom: When you say ānew Scalziā are you referring to Lock In or a newer Scalzi?
And a second thumbs-up for Connie Willisā Christmas book - *Miracle and Other Christmas Stories/i
I just finished āThe Sea Detectiveā by Mark Douglas-Home. It is about a guy who is interested in sea currents, and uses that info to try to solve both personal (family) mysteries and actual police matters. It was pretty good. Not fully predictable, not all tidily wrapped up at the end (too tidy annoys me sometimes, this seemed like the right balance of resolved and unresolved issues to me).
I was referring to* Lock In* which I see is not that new, or at least Iāve read the latest * Old Manās War* book i* which was published a year later anyway.
^^^ FWIW, I thoroughly enjoyed Lock In.
I really need to look into more Connie Willis books. I loved Doomsday Book and found Passage absorbing.
I just finished reading Some Luck, by Jane Smiley. It is the first in a trilogy dealing with generations of several farm families. The book has a really unusual structure: one chapter per year from 1920 through 1953. As one of the many ecstatic jacket blurbs says, āWhat seems simple becomes profound.ā
The Plot Against America, by Philip Roth (imagines the pilot Lindbergh became a populist president and how society responded);
Home of the Brave, by Katherine Applegate (childrenās novel, in verse form, about a refugee-- my districtās fifth graders read and love it).
Both are extremely applicable to current events and wonderful to read, though very different in style and tone (and degree of optimism vs. pessimism) from each other.
I mentioned Hillbilly Elegy last month based on Dās recommendation. I met her for lunch last Tuesday before my flight to Sās for Thanksgiving and she brought me the book. It was an easy read in 3 days during my travel time and very thought provoking. It completely lived up to Dās recommendation and may be the best thing Iāve read all year, although I did really enjoy both Strong Inside: The Perry Wallace Story and Eligible earlier this year.
I am currently reading Hillbilly Elegy as well, and finding it very interesting and thought-provoking.
Read Alice Hoffmanās new book āFaithfulā yesterday. It was fast moving and well written.
Lots of good books on sale at Audible - Inspector Gamache, Maisie Dobbs, Flavia de Luce. Liane Moriarty too.
I read all three books this summer after finding the first one in a Little Library near my house. That family just keeps getting older every year! The last chapter in the third book actually is situated a bit into the future.
A quick read for this time of year- Christmas Jars by Jason Wright. I like to reread this one and Skipping Christmas if I have time.
Iām reading āAmerican Heiress,ā about Patricia Hearst. Itās fascinating. I highly recommend it.