I liked it, but it was not the best book I have ever read.
You arenât the only one who couldnât/wouldnât read it. It was one of a few books that I just stopped reading..
Copying my thoughts from the book club thread because thatâs where I found the author:
I really enjoyed The Garden of Small Beginnings - there were some bittersweet parts but overall very enjoyable. So I looked for more Abbi Waxman books and found Christa Comes Out of Her Shell which I loved - laughed throughout it. Then I read I Was Told it Would Get Easier which was also amusing - the fun part was that it involved a mother and daughter on a college tour so very appropriate for CC! I have holds on more of her books. So far Christa was my favorite. If youâre looking for upbeat and entertaining, Abbi Waxman meets the objective.
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Thanks for the heads up. For $1.99, it seemed worth at try.
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Thanks for the deal alert! Iâve also heard all the hype and have wanted to try this one.
And So I Roar is a sequel to Girl With The Louding Voice!!! So excited, on page20.
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OoohâŠ. I liked The Girl with the Louding Voice. Thanks!
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Recently finished two âdarkâ fantasy books set in the world of academia - the first book is Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo is set at Yale and has the premise that the Yale Secret Societies are actually magical societies with different specialities, including one which predicts the stock market. I loved the premise and how it explores the privilege and power of Yale on an exagerated scale. It doesnât fully deliver, but there are moments of brilliance. Warning: this novel is the first of a trilogy and only the second one has been published so far.
The second is Babel: An Arcane History which is set at Oxford in an alternative history of the 1830s. This is a longer meatier book. It is about a cohort of four studying âtranslationâ (which includes using translation to perform magic) at the Royal Institute of Translation (aka Babel) at Oxford. It focuses on one in particular from his childhood where he is removed from his home in Canton after the death of his family and taken to England by a mysterious professor. Once at Oxford he quickly becomes ensnared in a group fighting colonialism, and he slowly becomes aware that his beloved Babel is not necessarily a force for good. Warning: this novel goes to some pretty dark places and you will find sympathetic characters doing things that you may feel are wrong.
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I enjoyed How To Read A Book by Monica Wood. The parrot plot was definitely interesting and different. It reminded me of Remarkably Bright Creatures. Iâm currently reading Horse by Geraldine Brooks and also enjoying it. I must be in an animal theme.
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Just finished a book I quite liked, My Husbandâs Wives by Faith Hogan. Interesting and heartwarming in a real life way.
About to start The Sandwich - I think recommended here!
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I like books that have a very strong sense of place. This summer I have really enjoyed Kris Lackeyâs Chickasaw Nation mysteries featuring Lighthorseman Bill Maytubby and county deputy Hannah Bond. The cultural and jurisdictional issues are really interesting and you feel as if you are there in Southeastern Oklahoma (north of Plano and Dallas). Lackey paints a convincing picture of decaying rural America. These were my absorbing beach reads.
I also must point out one of my favorite series, the Martin Bora WWII series by Ben Pastor, an Italian author writing in English. The latest, The Venus of Salo, I just finished today. Martin Bora is an interesting protagonist, an aristocratic Catholic German officer whose personal code both sustains and threatens him throughout WWII. The mysteries are not written in chronological order. It is not certain if he survives the end of the war. He sees action in Poland, Russia, Crete, Spain, Italy. He is in the Wehrmacht but eventually you feel that the Gestapo will catch up with him, esp. after the Von Stauffenberg assassination attempt. The latest volume is very suspenseful. What I find interesting is the characterâs sense of self and honor even when everything is pretty much stacked against him and he believes he is going to die.
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Thanks. I use this forum as a source of titles for my library list. Got any âsense of placeâ recommendation for London (any era) ?
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Well for contemporary London, the Mick Herron Slow Horses books are very good there; also Mo Hayder writes good thrillers although they are a little more violent than I can tolerate comfortably. Charlotte Vassellâs The Other Half was a good one.
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I posted upthread that I loved Fellowship Point in part because the setting in Maine is its own character. Really a good read with a lovely sense of place.
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Earlier ths year I enjoyed this book set in Maine https://www.amazon.com/Midcoast-Novel-Adam-White/dp/0593243153
When I mentioned to my friend who was raised in Maine and visits often, she said that she likes it too.
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Sounds right up my alley. I am a big Paul Doiron fan also (Mike Bowditch series).
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Thanks @Colorado_mom. I just finished The Lincoln Highway last night (meh) and need a new read. The Midcoast was available from my e-library, so Iâm looking forward to reading it.
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The CC book club read Horse. You might like the commentary. Horse - April CC Book Club Selection
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Finished this last week. It impacted me (even in context of reading many of these books set in WW2).
âThe Things We Cannot Sayâ by Kelly Rimmer.
Itâs an excellent story.
(Rimmer also wrote âThe Warsaw Orphanâ
Etc.)
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