Book Club

[chihuahuamom]

Well, I am 4th on the list of The Great Alone!  I enjoyed the book very much, even though it was hard to read about the abuse.

[SWEET]

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@SusieQ_2wrote:

It looks like I'm the third one in this thread to have recently read The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah. I loved it. The author is definitely one of my favorites. Her books never leave me disappointed. 

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I loved this book and so far, it's one of my favorites from 2018.  I got a free copy via a FB group who linked it to free ARCs. 

[Judaline]

I loved the Eleanor Oliphant book. Not for everyone, but for me, I loved it.

[CANDLEQUEEN]

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@beckyb1012wrote:

@CareBearswrote:

@beckyb1012 Another one in my Wishlist, looking forward to your thoughts.

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I lasted posted about Alternate Side so I think that must be the one you are referring too @CareBears.  I love Anna Quindlan and started first thing the next am on my bike but could not get into it after 100 pages while riding.  So put it aside to start again on the couch and now engrossed and back on track reading and riding and as usual Anna is making the time fly for me.

Also read this weekend:

The Afterlives, by Thomas Pierce;

Stranger In The House, by Shari Lapena 

 Excellent book  if you have not read yet @CANDLEQUEEN

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@beckyb1012 Thanks Becky! It is on my list!!!!!!

[smoky22]

@LoriLori  I absolutely hated that book.  It did remind me a little of Spoon River Anthology, which I consider a masterpiece next to this unoriginal, pretentious drivel.  I felt like he was using Lincoln's grief rather than portraying any real sympathy.  I guess I'm not highbrow enough for it. Rant over.  Hope you like it.  The critics sure did.

[LoriLori]

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@smoky22wrote:

@LoriLori  I absolutely hated that book.  It did remind me a little of Spoon River Anthology, which I consider a masterpiece next to this unoriginal, pretentious drivel.  I felt like he was using Lincoln's grief rather than portraying any real sympathy.  I guess I'm not highbrow enough for it. Rant over.  Hope you like it.  The critics sure did.

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Thanks, @smoky22.  .I don't know if it's highbrow but I'm kind of amazed that he's pulling it off (so far).  It's true that Lincoln used to go hold his dead son's body, I had no idea until I read about "Lincoln in the Bardo"...not sure if my opinions will change, this could get quite repetitious and there are many gross parts...

...I never heard of "Spoon River Anthology" so thanks, I will put that on my list (I am trying not to buy books right now; I have way too many!  but then i remind myself you can never have too many books, just too little time!).  

Anyway "Lincoln in the Bardo" reminded of "Ironweed," in which people also talk in their graves -- only they know they're dead -- and I didn't like it.

[LoriLori]

@smoky22, I'm back LOL.  I just signed in to Amazon to put "Spoon River Anthology" on my TBR list and there's an annotated edition.  Is it that complex that I need to get that one? 

I just finished the art book that had precisely 259 end notes, but that's understandable.  Not up for that in a novel...Will I understand it as written, without the notes? 

(BTW the table of contents creeps me out but you say it's a masterpiece and I trust your taste.)  

[LoriLori]

@smoky22, sorry, I'm back and now I have two questions:

1.  Do I need to get the annotated edition or will I understand it without notes?

2.  Some of the reviews say it's poetry.  I don't care for poetry.  Is it poetry?

Thanks, sorry to bother you and Bookies (hah) sorry to take up so much space.

[Alison Wonderland]

I am currently reading Americanah, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Moby ******, by Herman Melville, and Fire and Fury, by Michael Wolff.

[smoky22]

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@LoriLoriwrote:

@smoky22, I'm back LOL.  I just signed in to Amazon to put "Spoon River Anthology" on my TBR list and there's an annotated edition.  Is it that complex that I need to get that one? 

I just finished the art book that had precisely 259 end notes, but that's understandable.  Not up for that in a novel...Will I understand it as written, without the notes? 

(BTW the table of contents creeps me out but you say it's a masterpiece and I trust your taste.)  

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@LoriLori  Spoon River Anthology was a classic of the 20th Century.  It started out as individual poems and then was finally published as a whole in 1915.  A lot of people have put their two cents worth in on it and that's probably why there are all these versions. 

You do not need an annotated version unless you really want to get immersed in it.  In fact, if you've never heard of it, I don't think you should go looking for it now.  I only meant it was a masterpiece compared to Lincoln in the Bardo (my opinion only). 

It's very loosely poetry like Lincoln in the Bardo might be considered poetry. The table of contents lists every person who has a story to tell from beyond the grave.  In its day it was considered very creative (sound familiar?).