I just finished Daughter of Moloka’i. It was just as beautiful. I can’t recommend the pair enough.
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Thanks to whoever recommended Table for Two by Amor Towles. Just finished it and really enjoyed it.
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Love Moloka’i as well when I read it for bookgroup some time ago. Great read. Will look for Daughter of Moloka’i as I didn’t know about that book. Thanks
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I really enjoyed My Friends by Fredrik Backman, although it took me a short bit to get into it. A gradually unraveling story of hope and resilience with just enough humor.
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I just finished “Disorientation,” by Elaine Hsieh Chou. Per the publisher:
A Taiwanese American woman’s coming-of-consciousness ignites eye-opening revelations and chaos on a college campus in this outrageously hilarious and startlingly tender debut novel.
I enjoyed it a great deal, but I think I would have enjoyed it even more if I were a 20- or 30-something East Asian-American, especially those who are or were graduate students.
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The Briar Club by Kate Quinn. Loved it.
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Can’t put down The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon - love me a good midwife book.
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Just finished Marble Hall Murders - once again Anthony Horowitz does not disappoint! Highly recommend (although you need to read the previous ones in the series first).
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Didn’t realize this was the CC bookclub pick - had lost track of that string. Great info in those posts about the story and history.
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Finishing up The Names by Florence Knapp. I keep thinking it would be a great book club book – it’s not a particularly demanding read, and much in it is fodder for discussion.
It’s the story of a woman, married to an abusive man, who names her baby. The book does the story 3 times, each in which she approaches the naming differently, and each of which triggers a different path for the characters. It brings attention to domestic abuse, but is thoughtful about how environment, relationships, and choices alter the course of events.
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I attended a book reading/signing event at which the author was interviewed by another local author. I really went for a homebound friend who was interested in the the book being discussed (facetimed my friend in with the hosts’ permission!), and while I also read it myself, it really did nothing for me. But the author who did the interview was super interesting, and now I have read all four of her novels: Rene Denfeld
Her stuff is not for the faint of heart - it’s pretty dark - but it’s incredibly thoughtful, poetic, and original. Her writing is a blend of deep observation of the ordinary world with elements of fantasy that I suspect few could pull off the way she does. I find myself increasingly impatient with formulaic/predictable/trope-y books, so my Denfeld binge was a breath of fresh air in spite of the heaviness. I don’t think she’s widely known so I thought I’d plug her work here. 
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I just finished JAMES by Percival Everett. And now I need DH to read it so I have someone to discuss it with!!
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soooo good!
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I contracted Covid last week and when I wasn’t sleeping, I read several books. If you’ve read any of Ann Leary’s books, you might enjoy her latest (I Tried Being Nice), which is a series of short, humorous essays. Also finished Molly Jong-Fast’s memoir that focuses on the author’s relationship with her mother, Erica Jong, who wrote a best seller in the '70s (Fear of Flying).
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Did you like Molly Jong-Fast’s book?? It’s on my list.
I didn’t know of the relationship!
Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan. So short, almost a novella. So intense, so deep, so real.
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I just read Isabel Allende’s achingly beautiful memoir Paula. I’d always meant to, but recently having the privilege of seeing her in person spurred me to finally read it. It’s about (for those who don’t know) the year she cared for her adult daughter who’d fallen into a coma because of an inherited condition and ultimately died. Allende weaves this story with her own life story, which she is telling to her daughter in this writing. Both threads are written so well as we go back in time and then return to the future by Paula’s bedside. Allende’s life is amazing–she lived through so much as her family is formed and re-formed throughout her life.
The most gripping parts are those describing Chile’s descent into fascism–chilling to read how it happens. Very much recommend. And I need to read more of her novels. House of the Spirits is one of my favorite books.
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I just finished The Salt Path by Rayno Winn. It’s slightly old - 2018 or so - and there is now a movie out with Gillian Anderson - not available for streaming yet. I believe that’s how I heard about it.
I’m not sure if this book moved me more than The Jungle Kid, but it’s close. The couple was a hard working British couple who built their farm, business, life from the ground up - and due to one bad investment with a friend and a long court battle, lost literally everything. At the same time, the husband was diagnosed with a terminal illness that sounds a lot like ALS.
So completely homeless with nothing to live on except roughly $30/week of welfare benefits, they walk the coastal path. 630 miles.
You think it would be depressing. I told my H about it and he kept saying “that sounds awful,” but it’s not. They are so honest, in love, funny, optimistic, but yet don’t gloss over how hard it is to be starving and homeless. And the variety of reactions people have to them along the way.
Highly recommend!
Edit - forgot to mention in case it wasn’t apparent - it’s a true story as well
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