Book Club

[Gerri S]

THANK YOU TO ALL THOSE THAT POST THEIR READING RECOMMENDATIONS!  I do my reading with audio books, and In the last month I've read:

THE MEASURE

LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY

REMARKABLY BRIGHT CREATURES

I SO enjoyed them all........I'll look here for my next selections. 

[jlkz]

A few years ago on our 2-day drive to FL, DH and I listened to the book Snow Falling on Cedars.  A wonderful book that was set in California and Washington State San Juan Island during WW II.  Not one of this country's banner year in its treatment of Japanese Americans.

However, it was a great story and we both learned something of history.

[GenXmuse]

Welcome! I am an audiobook listener too and it's always good to get recomendations including how the narrator was. 

[CalminHeart]

I'm reading Profiles in Ignorance by Andy Borowitz. While his humor and political leanings appear in the book, there is a lot of history about political figures over the last 40 years. I've followed politics longer than that but am surprised at what research has shown.

I recently finished UnMasked by Paul Holes. He is a retired investigator in CA who solved a lot of cold cases, including the Golden State Killer. He talks about his work, intense devotion to finding criminals, impacts on his psyche and personal life.

[Oznell]

Hi book lovers.

"Mrs. Harris" by Diana Trilling--     The very best of the books, I believe, on the 1980's Jean Harris trial for killing her long-time but straying beau, diet doctor Herman Tarnower.  The reason it's the best is the author, Diana Trilling.  She excavates the lives of private school administrator Jean Harris, and narcississtic diet author Tarnower, to a tee.  She knows their Scarsdale milieu backwards and forwards.  She's honest-- tells us that she reflexively supported Jean Harris at the beginning, through some kind of 'feminist' lens, but changed her view over time as facts emerged.  Brilliantly written, with psychological insights and Trilling's characteristically tart social observations.

"The Portrait of a Lady" by Henry James     Strong-willed, Gilded Age American Isabel Archer comes to Europe, and encounters more than she bargained for.  Isabel is a fascinating character, partly based on James' doomed, but memorable young cousin, Minny Temple, who died at 24. James adored her--  she was opinionated, exuberant, relentless-- unlike so many other young ladies of the time.

Elements of her elusive personality appear in multiple Jamesian heroines...

"The Last Knight--  The Twilight of the Middle Ages and the Birth of the Modern Era,  by Norman F. Cantor

Cantor plunges us into his deep understanding of medieval times, with chapters on Plantagenet England, Spain, peasants, women, the church, in those turbulent times.  Scholarly but colorful!

"Dear Life",  by Alice Munro      The modern short story writer most often compared to Kafka.  Munro's seemingly down-to-earth stories of "regular" Canadians have a kind of narrative magic and "twists".  She's one Nobel Prize winner for literature who richly deserves her prize.

"Anatomy of a Murder"  by Robert Traver    Small town rape and subsequent murder in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.  The movie with Jimmy Stewart was great, and so is the book.  Like the film, it evokes so well the wind-swept resort communities of northern Michigan and the determination of one somewhat alienated, but extremely smart lawyer.    

Decorating on Ebay-  Fast and Stylish on a Budget,  by Barbara Guggenheim     A terrific coffee table book!   The gimmick is that knowledgeable art consultant Guggenheim will decorate a house using only Ebay, but the book is full of superb decorating tips and the resulting California suburban house is adorable.   Very fun to watch the progress.

[cindyNC]

Books I've been reading/have read

The Shop on Royal Street - Karen White

The Last Night in London - Karen White

The House of Wolves - James Patterson & Mike Lupica

The Guardian - Nicolas Sparks

Some Danielle Steele books

Racing the Light - Robert Crais

Desert Star - Michael Connelly

The Sound of Gravel - Ruth Wariner

[Runner26]

I also almost exclusively listen to audiobooks. 

I just finished: I'm Glad My Mom Died. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I also listened to Matthew Perry's Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing. The narration done by Matthew Perry was almost unbearable. 

I recommend: The Skeptic's Guid to Health, Medicine, and the Media.

[Judaline]

@Oznell  You sure know how to write a review! Enjoyed.

[Isobel Archer]

Love Portrait of a Lady but then you knew that.