Book Club

[itsmetoo]

First off I want to thank everyone who posts on this forum.  Because of all of you I have read some really good books I wouldn't have otherwise.

I moved recently so didn't get to read too much this year but my favorites were -

BEFORE WE WERE YOURS - Lisa Wingate

HER EVERY FEAR - Peter Swanson

Peter Swanson also wrote THE KIND WORTH KILLING which was another great one I read last year that I believe is being made into a movie.

Merry Christmas everyone!

[Jersey Born]

Dark Matter by Blake Crouch

The Vegetarian by Han Kang (This one was so NOT what I thought and hoped it would be about.  It was shocking, and tragic, and bizarre, and even disgusting.  And to think I purchased it because I had just newly become a vegetarian.  LOL!)

[LoriLori]

---

@Jersey Born wrote:

Dark Matter by Blake Crouch

The Vegetarian by Han Kang (This one was so NOT what I thought and hoped it would be about.  It was shocking, and tragic, and bizarre, and even disgusting.  And to think I purchased it because I had just newly become a vegetarian.  LOL!)

---

@Jersey Born, I don't know your taste in fiction but since you're a new vegetarian I'll throw it out there because I absolutely love this book:

"My Year of Meats" by Ruth Ozeki.   Like the best satire it has a lot of truth in it and it's also wry and at times laugh-out-loud funny in the way of so much of Japanese literature, addressing disturbing subjects with humor and irony and sometimes you find yourself laughing and then you gasp, gobsmacked.

Her book "A Tale for the Time Being," which has nothing to do with meat, is one of my favorite books of all time.  

[LoriLori]

Re the above:  Anyone at all intrigued  should look at "My Year of Meats" on Amazon and/or Goodreads or wherever you go.  It's a fabulous book.  It's been out for years so I don't think I've ever seen it mentioned here.

ETA:  And I'm not a vegetarian.  I just love the book!

[Jersey Born]

I will be sure and pick up those two books, LoriLori.  Interestingly, I purchased the two books I mentioned at a Japanese bookstore, as my daughter is into Anime and Manga. The bookstore was wonderful -- Kinokuniya in NYC-- and I had never been there before, but I am sure I will be going back there again.  It's upper floor is devoted to Manga, while the ground level has very unusual books that are mostly from Japanese authors.

[LoriLori]

@Jersey Born, that is so cool!  Makes me miss NY even more if that's possible.

BTW, Ruth Ozeki, though she has lived in Japan, was born here and lives here.  Her books are written in English.

A Japanese author Haruki Murikami.  His books are all translated.  For some people they are hard to read.  I have to be in the right mood but when I am, I love in.  I love "A Wild Sheep Chase" and "Dance Dance Dance" yet I've had "The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle," probably his most beloved book, on the shelf for a long time.  Oh well, every book has its time.

Hope you enjoy and please post back whatever you think.

[Another new name Sue]

News of the World. Jiles

[abbalulu]

The books that I enjoyed most in 2017 were

1. Those Who Save Us by Jenna Blum

2. The Fireman by Joe Hill

3. The One in a Million Boy by Monica Wood

4. The Day the World Came to Town by Jim DeFede

5. Inheriting Edith by Zoe Fishman

6. The Last Chance Matinee by Mariah Stewart

7. Behind Closed Doors by B.A. Paris

8. The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper by Phaedra Patrick

[sassenach1]

Many of these were not published in 2017, but I read them in 2017.  It's been a year of mostly non-fiction. 

By David McCullough:

• John Adams (so grateful this brilliant man was a Founding Father)
• The Path Between the Seas (story of building the Panama Canal - fascinating!)
• Truman (again, grateful for this moral, hard working man)
• (David McCullough is a master at bringning history to life!)

The President's Club by Nancy Gibbs and Michael Duffy - a great read about something I had no idea even existed.

Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow.  Fabulous biography that led me to my current obsession with Hamilton the Musical.

Mississippi Blood by Greg Iles - the third in the Natchez trilogy - Iles is incredibly talented.

MIchael Connelly, Louise Penny, and John Sanford's latest were excellent, as expected.

The Good Daughter by Karin Slaughter - powerful.

I discovered the Dog Lady Mysteries and have enjoyed them all. 

[TTerri]

I read a few good ones.

-Still Hungry After All These Years by Richard Simmons, 1999

-Who Killed Cindy James? by Ian Mulgrew, 1991

-The Bad Seed by William March, 1954

-Come and Knock on Our Door- A Hers and Hers and His Guide to "Three's Company" by Chris Mann, 1998

-And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie, 1939

-Hot Prowl by Jack Gray, 2013

-ABBA the Scrapbook by Jean-Marie Potiez, 2009

-Bad Ronald by John Holbrook Vance, 1973