Have read and enjoyed both of the Will Schwalbe books, so a second vote for them.
2 Likes
Schwalbe looked familiar. Ha yea, I just finished his End of Life Book Club⊠audio version. Thought it was excellent.
2 Likes
I just finished listening to We Should Not be Friends. I liked it better than I thought I would!
2 Likes
After World
â Debbie Urbanski
Near-future science fiction, environmentalism, humanity in trouble. Narrated by a compassionate AI who frequently gets threatened with realignment.
2 Likes
Iâve finished Ruth Renklâs Comfort of Crows and if you are an outdoorsy person (you perhaps have birdfeeders, a naturalized yard, you gawk at trees on occasion) it is quite a lovely read. I had been reading some pretty serious nonfiction and this was a good change; optimistic, no drama, no stress.
Concept is an essay for the weeks of a year in her backyard, which also overlaps her adult sons leaving home once COVID allows it.
1 Like
I recently watched Lessons in Chemistry on Apple TV and then decided to read the book. Both were thoroughly enjoyable, even though the TV series veered from the book in significant ways and I found the book to be funnier.
I thought Brie Larsen was magnificent playing Elizabeth Zott in the TV series and picturing her while reading the book added to my enjoyment of it.
For those who yearn for the âgood old daysâ, 1950s America sucked for most women and minorities. Also, if the authorâs depiction is to be believed, the Catholic Church did some pretty despicable things back then.
9 Likes
Iâve recently read 4 enjoyable books that probably made my library wishlist based on the helpful comments here. Thanks!
âThe Lost Bookshopâ - a cross of modern story plus a bit of fantasy
âNorth Woodsâ - interwoven nature-rich human sagas
âThe 7 Husbands of Evelyn Hugoâ (audio) - compelling Hollywood story with some time interesting twists
âDemon Copperheadâ - Modern day David Copperfield orphan story, set in the south during oxy crisis. Really well done, with heartbreaking tragedies and numerous memorable characters.
6 Likes
Just finished âThe Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Boisâ. Epic story of an extended family from slavery to the modern time. Very long, but worth the time with beautiful writing and interesting saga.
1 Like
Loved The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois. My favorite book the year I read it.
2 Likes
Help me out, smart bookworms:
Iâm trying to remember the title of an English or Irish book I read probably 40 or 50 years ago. Itâs about a young Irish woman who is a passionate Catholic. She lives alone, has a sad little job, lives in a sad little bedsitter (ie, studio), and drinks way too much. She is very depressed, but when she confides in her priest, he just tells her she needs to pray more. I donât remember the actual end of the book but it is very sad.
Does anyone know what Iâm thinking of?? Thanks in advance.
Never read it myself, but my research led me to The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne.
https://valsec.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-lonely-passion-of-judith-hearne-brian-moore/1102805302
2 Likes
@VeryHappy , man, that sounds like the most depressing novel in the history of printing, going all the way back to Gutenberg!!! And I thought "Eleanor Rigbyâ was depressingâŠ
2 Likes
@Marilyn : You win the prize!!! Yes, yes, thatâs the book. Iâve been racking my brain for days!!
1 Like
If anyone is interested, here are some reviews of The Lonely Passion of Judith Herne.
Editorial Reviews
Set in Belfast in the early 1950s, Brian Mooreâs The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne is not a kind book, no, but it is utterly transfixing . . . By the end of this truly brilliant, shocking novel, a story peopled by characters who make your skin crawl, the impossible has occurred: The reader both understands and feels compassion for a really awful woman.â
âKatherine A. Powers, The Boston GlobeâRemarkable . . . seldom in modern fiction has any character been revealed so completely or been made to seem so poignantly real.â
âThe New York TimesâA powerful haunting story by a young Irish-Canadian who knows the meaning not only of loneliness, but that of compassion as well.â
âThe New York TimesâMoore has absolute control over his narrative, and Judith Hearneâs descent is both excruciating and enthralling.â
âAnne Enright in O, The Oprah MagazineâA penetrating, comic, tragic tale of a plain womanâŠIt is a novel that occasionally sings with the lilt of the Irish greats.â
âSan Francisco Chronicle
After other tries, I finally googled âold book about an alcoholic Irish spinster who talks to a priestâ and bada bing. Seems too depressing for me but clearly very famous - and made into a movie starring Maggie Smith and Bob Hoskins.
1 Like
Has anybody read some good science fiction that is a single volume? You know, not one of a trilogy, or a long series? I have read all the classics but am hunting for maybe a new author?
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir. Loved it. He also wrote The Martian.
I really enjoyed Project Hail Mary, especially the friendship aspects. In our book club, not everybody liked it. For me, the trick was to not get bogged down in all the spaceship technical detail (though as an engineer I did like some of that).
1 Like
I enjoyed Cityborn, by Ed Willett, as a standalone sci-fi novel.
And I just finished Babel by RFKuang, set in an alternate 19th century Oxford, England, and would highly recommend it to anyone looking for an engrossing read.
2 Likes
I liked Seveneves by Neal Stephenson. Definitely had to suspend disbelief in places but overall a good read (Iâm not usually a science fiction reader).
1 Like