What Are We Reading, Page 17

I was disappointed in Shrines of Gaiety. It seems as though Kate Atkinson tried to do too much. The novel is witty in its language and is cleverly referential to itself and to other books and films of the 1920s, but there were too many characters, most of which were not sufficiently fleshed out for me to care about. I plodded on to the ending, hoping that it would redeem itself there, but although most of the plot lines were tied up, it was summarily and clumsily done. One of the characters is an aspiring novelist, and the description of his planned novel, entitled "The Age of Glitter," sums up the unrealized aspirations of Shrines of Gaiety nicely: "The Age of Glitter had rapidly become unwieldy. Yes, it was a crime novel, "but it was also a razor sharp dissection of the various strata of society in the wake of the destruction of war."

I've moved on now to The Book of Joan which is a post-apocalyptic novel which, so far, is quite weird.

I'm reading The Bandit Queens by Parini Shroff.

I finished and loved The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield and will look for more books by her. I'm just about done with The Book Lovers' Miscellany by Claire Cock-Starkey, am continuing with The 1619 Project and have also started The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.

>2 LynnB: That looks like something that I would like. Thanks!

>1 vwinsloe: I have The book of Joan on a TBR pile. I'll look forward to seeing your thoughts.

>5 Sakerfalcon: Is it you who has an interest in medieval women? If so, you will find The Book of Joan more intelligible than I did, I'm sure. The beginning section I found to be brutal and angry; the furious tone reminded me of The Female Man. But as it went on, I saw that there was a good deal of symbolism there, and I didn't find a way in until I did a little research. In the end, I understood it to be about exploitation of the earth and people, as well as about sex, love, and sexuality. I wish that I had read this review before I started. It doesn't really contain spoilers and it provides a clue about the references that the author subtly employs as symbols.
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/jan/24/the-book-of-joan-by-lidia-yuknavit...

I'm reading The Forgotten Garden by one of my favourite authors, Kate Morton

>7 LynnB: I have only read four of hers, but this is my favorite one so far. I also really liked The Distant Hours.

>7 LynnB: My first by her was The House at Riverton which I LOVED; I have The Forgotten Garden on my TBR.

>8 Darth-Heather: I'll have to pick up The Distant Hours sometime.

>8 Darth-Heather: >9 LisaMorr: My favourite is the Clockmaker's Daughter. It was the first one of hers I read, and I've since been reading all the others.

I've finally started Know My Name which Citizenjoyce and LynnB spoke highly of on the previous page. Chanel Miller writes remarkably well.

I finished Know My Name which I had to read in small chunks because the subject matter was so difficult. Then today I saw that Christine Blasey Ford, who was mentioned in Chanel Miller's book, has a memoir coming out in a few days entitled One Way Back: A Memoir. I'll read it, but not soon.

I really needed a diversion, so I started The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi. I wanted a fantasy read, and I hope that it isn't a cliffhanger because the next book in the series hasn't been published yet.

>12 vwinsloe: The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi does have a full story arc and ending, although I think the author left enough plot open for there to be another installment. I enjoyed it quite a bit, although near the end things get very hectic and I had a little difficulty envisioning exactly what was happening. I am looking forward to the next one though; I like this author's writing style.

I'm re-reading...after more than a decade....Fall On Your Knees by Ann-Marie MacDonald, one of my top three fiction books of all time.

FYI, the other two are The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy and the un-girly Not Wanted on the Voyage by Timothy Findley, although I'd argue that the character of Mrs. Noyes (Noah's wife) makes the book a fine choice for this group.

>13 Darth-Heather: Thank you. It is not a short book, and I'd hate to be left hanging.

>14 LynnB: I looked for Fall On Your Knees when I took the last trip to my used bookstore, and they didn't have it. If it doesn't show up eventually, I will order it from an online used bookstore.

My book club has put off our discussion of Fall on Your Knees, so I'm going to put it aside for a week or so. I'm reading The First Day of the Rest of My Life by Cathy Lamb

>6 vwinsloe: Thanks for this, and the link to the review. I've taken my copy off its shelf, which is one step closer to me reading it!

I've just started reading The stargazers, which seems to be a multi-generational novel about the fallout from a toxic childhood. I admit that I fell for this one entirely due to the gorgeous cover.

>17 Sakerfalcon: I haven't heard of The Stargazers. Let us know what you think.

Not by a woman, but a biography of one: I'm reading Anastasia: The Life of Anna Anderson by Peter Kurth. I know that recent DNA evidence shows Anastasia is buried with her family, but I remain interested in the life and times of pretenders.

I finished The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi which was an enjoyable romp as I had hoped.

Now I'm on to the enormously popular Lessons in Chemistry.

I finished Lessons in Chemistry, and I have thoughts. First off, I loved it. It reminded me very much of the Barbie 2023 film, in that it was Feminism 101, and very funny and ironic. Interesting that this may be a trend now, and I don’t know whether it will be a good thing or not yet.

I texted a younger librarian friend and asked if the Dewey Decimal System had a category for “hysterical fiction.” She said no, but that she could get behind it, even though she didn’t like the book that much. She explained that she didn’t actually realize when the time period of the novel was when she was reading it, because not much has changed. Ooof. I get that. (Personally, I was insulted when the book said "historical fiction" on the cover, and then opened with the chapter entitled, "November 1961.")

But just like the Barbie 2023 film, many people would be understandably disappointed if they dislike such serious subjects being taken so lightly. I think that there may also be an age component involved in liking the book. Those of us who are of a certain age understand that Lessons in Chemistry is pure fantasy. Even if a woman were to be so enlightened in those times, there is no way that she could have been so publicly outspoken about it, let alone be that peculiar package of stunningly beautiful, incredibly intelligent, outspoken and athletic. Period. But many women may have been beginning to have glimpses of feminist thought in the late 1950s, and recognize it when the idealized character Elizabeth Zott speaks those thoughts. On a hunch, I looked up Bonnie Garmus’s age. Yup; she’s about 67 years old. (Wow, kudos to her on her first book.) She’s also of the age in which women turn invisible, and has some perspective now. She would have been about the same age as Zott's daughter is in the novel, and it is touching that Bonnie Garmus dedicated the book to her mother.

There is a lot of sexism depicted in this book that should be the subject of outrage and anger instead of humor. Even the plot of the book itself centers men, and the women simply revolve around them. Okay. For those who are still battling against sexism in their lives every day, I can see why they wouldn’t love this book. But for those women who still have not allowed themselves to see things the way that they really are because of their cultural backgrounds, this approach may be something that they can grasp. For those turned off by the emotions of anger and outrage, and those who need a pretty woman who is a mother and a cook, this book may be as enlightening as it is entertaining. The pink chicklit cover is stealthy, and if it leads more women to questioning whether things have to be the way that they are, then I’m all for it.

>21 vwinsloe: Great review! I agree with you entirely.

>22 LynnB: Thanks. I don't write reviews often; only when I find something particularly thought provoking.

I finished The Ride of Her Life and found it to be quite touching in the end. I've read a few of Elizabeth Letts's books and found her writing style to be uneven, but this one was much better.

Now for something completely different, I've started reading Malka Older's first novel, Infomocracy. The world she has built seems a little complicated and it might take me a while to figure out.

I'm starting The Postcard by Anne Berest

>18 vwinsloe: I enjoyed The stargazers a lot. It has strong gothic vibes, with a crumbling stately home, obsession, a disputed inheritance, and Jane Eyre-esque cruelty to children. It takes place in Hampstead in the late 1960s, and at Fane Hall after WWII. Sarah hasn't been in touch with her mother or sister for years; the trauma of her childhood has led her to cut all ties with them and the family home. Her mother was not entitled to inherit the house, yet she is obsessed with it being "hers". This is the driving passion of her life, at the expense of her daughters' wellbeing. Older sister Vic finds her own way to cope, leaving Sarah to rely on the kindness of strangers. These scars haunt her years later as an insecure young mother, married to a charming, flamboyant, careless husband. The books moves between the two times, revealing secrets and showing their effects. There was one plot thread that I didn't think was necessary (although it was quite plausible, if melodramatic), but most of the twists were very well done. There is cruelty to children and animals, but in spite of that I found the book extremely compelling.

>24 vwinsloe: I liked Infomocracy and its sequel, I need to read the third volume. It took me a while to get my head around the worldbuilding.

>21 vwinsloe: I appreciate your thoughts on that one - it was a Christmas present and I haven't quite convinced myself to read it yet. I do need to get to it though.

I finished The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot a week or so ago, and I thought it was really well done.

I'm a few chapters into The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith - I've never seen any of the movie adaptations, and while I know Mr. Ripley is a con artist, I'm going into it without any other ideas, lol.

>26 Sakerfalcon: I'm putting The Stargazers on my wishlist, and thanks for the encouragement on Infomocracy. Now that I've invested in this interesting world that she's built, I'll probably continue on with the sequels.

>27 LisaMorr: You're welcome. Do read Lessons in Chemistry - if you are anything like me, it's probably not what you expected. Oh, and there is a reason that The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is the #1 biography of notable women, which was the March List here on LT, even though it was not at all a traditional biography.

https://www.librarything.com/list/45354/Best-Biographies-of-Notable-Women

I'm about to start Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

>28 vwinsloe: Thanks for sharing that list!

>30 LisaMorr: You're welcome. I tend to participate in such things.

I've just started Lady Tan's Circle of Women which Citizenjoyce recommended. I've read several books by Lisa See, and I have always learned something from them. She primarily writes historical fiction that takes place in China.

Finished The Talented Mr. Ripley and it wasn't what I expected at all; a very good read, although being in Tom Ripley's mind was disturbing. I'm continuing with The 1619 Project - for me it's more like a book to dip into, a chapter at a time, rather than one to read through all at once - just finishing the chapter on how as part of the government's quest to civilize the native Americans, they were encouraged to enslave blacks. Have also started some lighter fare, with Nora Roberts' Jewels of the Sun.

I'm starting The Great Stewardess Rebellion: How Women Launched a Workplace Revolution at 30,000 Feet by Nell McShane Wulfhart

>34 LynnB: Ooooo, that one looks interesting, and I hadn't heard about it. On my list! Thanks.

I'm reading Les Femmes qui Lisent sont Dangereuses by Laure Adler and Stefan Bollmann

>36 LynnB: What a great title! If there are any paintings in that book that could be used as the primary photo for this group, let me know. It would have to be a digital image in the public domain, of course.

There are many wonderful images...you'd have to check for copyright.

I found The Great Stewardess Rebellion to be an inspiring read about women who decided to take charge of their working conditions. It is easy for us to take for granted what we now have as rights. So much so that some young women don't see the ongoing need for feminism. It is, therefore, so important to learn about and remember and honour those who fought so hard for our rights.

Labour unions, that bastion of egalitarianism, treated female members as second-class citizens for far too long. Stewardesses were seen as hostesses, there for the enjoyment of predominantly male passengers. They were not recognized as trained professionals there for passenger safety. On top of the unfairness and sexism, think of the implications for public safety if the person responsible for evacuating a crashed plane was starving, dressed in a miniskirt and high heeled go-go boots.

The book looks at history and legal cases. And it focuses on a few women in depth so we can follow their stories. This book is well written, easy to read and so informative.

I'm reading Health for All: A Doctor's Prescription for a Healthier Canada by Jane Philpott, our former Minister of Health.

I'm reading The Speed of Mercy by Christy Ann Conlin

>33 LisaMorr: I think it was a recommendation on Ann Patchett's Facebook page that lead me to Mouth To Mouth by Antoine Wilson. It starts off kind of slow, well someone does save a life so I guess not really slow action, but lots of internal dialogue. I wasn't sure I was going to kick in, but then it grabbed me and became very Patricia Highsmith. People have such clever, rationalistic, devious minds.
In preparation for the Bob Marley move One Love I read How to Say Babylon: A Memoir by Safiya Sinclair about a woman who was raised in the Rastafarian religion. The religion worked for Marley and helped him write some powerful, hopeful songs beloved world-wide. Of course it also lead to his death since he refused to have his cancerous toe amputated. It seems to have done nothing good for Sinclair. The way she describes the religion, every man is the king of his castle and all the other people in it - wife, children - are his serfs. He can make whatever law he wants to govern his home. Some men make liberal laws, some men devise laws so restrictive that women have to confine themselves to a room away from the family for the duration of their menstruation. Sinclair's father was a singer 10 years after Marley's death. He wanted fame and respect but got disrespected by his band, his employers, and the white government. She does a good job of showing why her father was abusive but also shows just how abusive he was to his family, or rather to the females in his family. Like Tara Westover, Sinclair is saved by education, but she's had to fight for her freedom.
So, after singing Bob Marley songs for a month, I read Her Country: How the Women of Country Music Became the Success They Were Never Supposed to Be by Marissa R. Moss. I don't follow music but I had heard of the Dixie Chicks and how they were treated. It seems, for some bizarre reason, country music stations didn't want to play female artists. Their explanation was that country music is like a salad - they need lots of lettuce, which is the male artists, and just a sprinkling of tomatoes - the female artists. They especially wanted their female artists to be compliant and feminine, which did not exactly cover the Dixie Chicks. Aside from their political comments about Bush, country radio found them over all to be too rebellious. You can imagine how the straight, white men reacted to "Good Bye Earl." I'd never heard this happy song about killing an abusive husband, so I'm glad the book directed me to it. It also directed me to country women who won Grammys, and even then radio didn't want to play them because they were queer or of color or just outspoken. So I've been able to listen to people I'd never heard of before that the rest of the work has - Brandy, Mickey Guyton, Maren Morris, Amanda Shires, Natalie Hemby. I don't know if those in charge of country radio have wised up by now, but I think all the kerfuffle about Beyonce going country reflects the same old attitude.

I'm reading Peacekeeper's Daughter: A Middle East Memoir by Tanya Bellehumeur-Allatt

I'm on to Big Shadow by Marta Balcewicz

>44 LynnB: The touchstone is going to a cozy cat mystery, which I don't think is the book you intended!

>42 Citizenjoyce: How to Say Babylon sounds very interesting. I know virtually nothing about the Rastafarian religion, and I probably should. Thanks.

Her Country: How the Women of Country Music Became the Success They were Never Supposed to Be seems timely. I've never had an interest in "country" music, but I like the stuff that they are putting under the label "Americana" which is sort of country, singer-songwriter and bluegrass. Now it seems that that genre may be blowing country up, not just with Beyonce, but with the woman named Rhiannon Giddens who plays the banjo on her album. Did the book mentioned her?

>45 Sakerfalcon: Fixed it, thank you!

I'm reading The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley Heller

>46 vwinsloe: It could have mentioned her, there were so many women I can't remember most of their names. I see she's a person of color. One way to deal with these "unacceptable" women was to call their music Americana because they didn't represent "true" country meaning WASP, ladylike country.

>49 Citizenjoyce: Huh. I can't help but think that since music radio is mostly going the way of the buggy whip, the power of county radio stations as arbiters of taste will be diminished. It seems now that Spotify and Pandora and other streaming services are winning the day, and I suppose if there is a demand for white male country western music, there will be a channel exclusively for it.

I just read Femlandia. I liked her book Vox, even though it sort of devolved toward the end, because it had some really insightful, well written scenes. Femlandia is clearly reactionary (the author says as much in the afterward) but in my view, that wasn't what made it a weak story. There was one main character, who drove a lot of the plot, about whom there was no background or description. The character had no backstory and the reader knows absolutely nothing about her. Weird that this obvious flaw should survive the editorial process.

>51 vwinsloe: I gave it only 2 stars but I didn't write a review and don't remember why. I also like Vox. You can't win them all.
I just finished Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto. It's kind of a female version of A Man Called Ove - a competent, lonely old person makes friends and changes lives. It's very pleasant, but those aggressive old Chinese women can be quite offputting on occasion.

>52 Citizenjoyce: I thought that Remarkably Bright Creatures was the female version of A Man Called Ove. A bit too cozy for me, but I do like older people being portrayed as vital members of a community.

Just started Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood - very good so far. I didn't know anything about the murders the book is based on - peaking at the afterword has helped explain a bit more about how Atwood researched and wrote the book.

>53 vwinsloe: How strange. I got so involved with the octopus that I didn't think of the connection with Ove.
>54 LisaMorr: It's been years since I read Alias Grace. I remember liking it. Maybe I should read it again.

I finished Dinosaurs: A Novel and liked it quite a bit. I read it because I liked A Children's Bible, but this one is quite different. It is a quiet, mature book that has a lot going on without much action. The writing is very concise and compels you to read every word. From reading reviews, I guess that there is a lot of allusion to Biblical references, which went over my head. I enjoyed it anyway.

>56 vwinsloe: I've never heard of her. Do you think I should read A Children's Bible first?

>57 Citizenjoyce: You don't need to read A Children's Bible. It is really a very different book from Dinosaurs: A Novel. I had thought that A Children's Bible was YA, but I'm not sure.

I've just read a debut novel by a Canadian First Nations author - And then she fell. I'd class it as domestic horror, as the real and the supernatural combine to haunt Alice after she has her first baby. Alice has married a white husband and left the rez to try and fit in with his middle class life in the Toronto suburbs. But as a Native person she finds herself the subject of suspicious looks and judgemental attitudes. She feels persecuted and is afraid that she'll be seen as an unfit mother and her child taken away from her. The visions she sees and voices she hears add to her fear, although the reader wonders whether they are real or figments of her imagination. At about 80% in, the book suddenly changes to a different viewpoint, disorientating the reader, but eventually tying the past to the present and unveiling the mystery behind Alice's visions. There are some heavy themes here, dealt with effectively through a protagonist who it was easy to empathise with. It's an excellent, unsettling read.

>59 Sakerfalcon: That looks good. My daughter loves horror movies, which I don't because they all seem to be about gore rather than horror. But horror books are different, especially those about fear of one's personhood. I'll check out And Then She Fell.

I read The Wives: A Memoir by Simone Gorrindo and thought it excellent. Gorrindo is the last person in the world you would think could make a successful marriage with a military man. In fact, the only other review of the book is by a "typical" military family member who can't believe how unpatriotic the author is. Gorrindo grew up in liberal Marin County. She considers herself centrist politically, but she's Hillary Clinton centrist as opposed to the current definition of centrist which is Kyrsten Sinema or Joe Manchin. She's a writer. She married an intellectual who decided to become an Army Ranger. I know how I felt when my grandson joined the Air Force. I was horrified. We don't do that sort of thing. That's how she felt, yet she has stuck by him and chronicles the difficulty such an arrangement entails. She lives in her head, he lives at least 75% of the time in his body. As a labor and delivery nurse, I would have bet money that she would have a C-section and be unable to breastfeed. Voila. She is filled with anxiety which can be an impetus to writing but can devastate normal bodily functions. It can also fight against adjusting to the role of supporting a loved one whose career choice involves repeatedly risking his life. She shows a variety of army wives from political liberals to evangelical Christians and how they hold each other up as they support their husbands. It's quite an eye-opener to those of us who would never choose such a path.

>59 Sakerfalcon: & >61 Citizenjoyce: I would definitely read those books and have put them on my wishlist.

I just finished reading The Buddha in the Attic. It's an older book that someone left in my Little Free Library. I was a bit dismayed when I saw that it was written in the first person plural. But it was really well done, almost like a long prose poem about the collective immigrant experience of Japanese mail order brides, and I enjoyed it.

>62 vwinsloe: It's a little book but very powerful. My book club read Hotel on The Corner of Bitter and Sweet a few years ago and I remember being disappointed with it having recently read the well-written The Buddha in the Attic. I don't know why Corner seemed to have reached more readers. Maybe simple books win over well-written ones. That's a bad thought.

>63 Citizenjoyce: I think that most people read for pleasure and don't enjoy a challenging read. I see that I read The Corner of Bitter and Sweet and thought that it was meh. I don't even remember it now. I will remember The Buddha in the Attic.

I finally finished The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story, created by Nikole Hannah-Jones. It was good, and I learned a lot - however it was a bit uneven, which I think is to be expected with a project like this - different chapters written by different authors. The chapters were organized around different issues like citizenship, self-defense, inheritance. Prior to each chapter there was a short historical snippet and a poem or short fiction piece.

It took me a while to read because there is a lot of painful history here and honestly not a lot of hope for change. I'm glad I read it and I have a lot more reading to do in this area.

Before I went back to Alias Grace, which is soooo good, I read a novella by Christine Feehan, Magic in the Wind. the first book in her Drake Sisters witches series. It was kind of ugh, and for some reason I picked up 4 more books in the series when I bought this one... I will eventually try one more to see if gets any better...

I'm also going to start Five for Sorrow, Ten for Joy by Rumer Godden, for the Virago Monthly Read.

I'm reading Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn

>66 LynnB: I love that book.

>66 LynnB: & >67 Citizenjoyce: How have I not heard of that book? It sounds hilarious.

I'm reading Biography of X which is a widow's exploration of her artist wife's past, in a world where the US was split into Northern Western and the walled-off Southern territories. The narrative includes ephemera and images, which I always enjoy. It's a good read so far.

>69 Sakerfalcon: I read Biography of X because I love alternate realities especially those emphasizing differences in geographical citizenry. I ended up being disappointed, but I find I didn't review it anywhere, so I don't remember why. Let us know what you think when you finish.

I'm reading What an Owl Knows: The New Science of the World's Most Enigmatic Birds by Jennifer Ackerman

>71 LynnB: Oh, that looks good. I love birds.

I finished Five for Sorrow, Ten for Joy by Rumer Godden and it was excellent.

And continuing with Alias Grace - I decided to finish the Godden book first because it was shorter; I was starting to get a little confused with the two because they both include women in prison.

I am making my way slowly through White Trash, an older book with lots of interesting information, but written in a painstakingly dry style. Accordingly, I am breaking it up with short stories, and some days making more progress than others.

>74 vwinsloe: It's a great book. I am continually amazed at the treatment of poor people who don't know they have any power. If they could combine their individual power they could stop exploitation by the rich, so I guess that's why the rich need to try to crush and divide them continually.

>75 Citizenjoyce: White Trash is certainly important reading, but the academic style can be soporific. So I started Where The God of Love Hangs Out which had languished on my TBR pile with the rest of the short stories, only to find out that it is really a series of related stories and almost a novel. And I love Amy Bloom, but I will try to stick to reading White Trash in the daytime and her book in the evenings.

>76 vwinsloe: I know just what you mean. For my book club, I'm rereading The Woman They Could Not Silence: One Woman, Her Incredible Fight for Freedom, and the Men Who Tried to Make Her Disappear by Kate Moore, and I'm having a hard time getting through it. I first read it in 2021, 8 months before the Dobbs decision making a certain religious viewpoint the law of the land. I loved it the first time around and have recommended it to others, but now I see the oppression of this woman who was confined to a mental institution by her husband for disagreeing with his religious views too much of a current possibility. I'm about 3/4 of the way through because I've had to take breaks to read some uplifting feminist science fiction, the first two books of the Midsolar Murders series by Mur Lafferty . They're very busy books maybe too overful of characters. There's a woman who solves murders with ease even though she doesn't know what's going on in general and is constantly trying to figure out who to trust. Combine this with a weird set of aliens from giant stone creatures, hornets the size of your thumb, and sentient stick-like creatures and space stations all of whom think humans are inferior because we are incapable of forming symbiotic bonds with other species. It's kind of a combination of His Dark Materials and the Wayfarers series and cleanses my mind and restores my hope so I can get back to female oppression.

>77 Citizenjoyce: For some reason, I don't have The Woman They Could Not Silence on my wishlist. I've added it, thanks.
I have read a Mur Lafferty, but mystery is just not my genre for some reason.

The Midsolar murders are a lot of fun! I hope Lafferty continues to write more instalments.

I've nearly finished Biography of X, which I'm mostly enjoying but which isn't as good as I'd hoped it would be. The alternative history of the US, in which the South seceded in 1945, is used as a background and is effective, but I would have enjoyed the book if it had been more in the foreground. The parody of the art scene is good, but X herself is so banal and annoying that I can't understand anyone wanting to spend more than a few minutes with her, let alone becoming obsessed or infatuated. I know that's part of the satire, but i'm not convinced by X as either a person or an artist. Still, I like the inclusion of visual ephemera, and the hints of the alternative history are good.

>78 vwinsloe: It's kind of equal parts mystery and science fiction. The science fiction part is better than the mystery part but, like you, I'm not much interested in mysteries.
I finished Dinosaurs. What a shock, a book about good men.
>79 Sakerfalcon: I agree with your assessment of Biography of X.
I hope Mur Lafferty writes the next installment soon so I don't have to reread. Tina is a hoot, I know people like her.

>80 Citizenjoyce: I read Six Wakes and thought that it was just okay. If the Midsolar murder books are better, I might be interested in looking for them.

Yeah, Dinosaurs: A Novel was really different, wasn't it.

>81 vwinsloe: I haven't read Six Wakes. It looks like she's equally devoted to science fiction and mystery. I like what she does with aliens. Are there aliens in the book? Just as I can't understand why a writer as good as Stephen King would waste his talents on horror, I don't understand why she devotes so much of herself to mysteries, but authors like what they like.

I finished Leigh Bardugo's latest, The Familiar. I enjoyed it but gave it only 3.5 stars because I didn't understand so much of it. I gave both books in her Alex Stern series 4 stars even though there were parts I didn't understand either. However, by the end of those books everything became clear. At the end of The Familiar I was still wondering what happened. It's about a scullery maid in 16th century Spain, the daughter of conversos, who is able to work small magic using Hebrew songs. Of course, big magic and power struggles ensue. At one point I heard the recommendation for people who are being burned at the stake, "breathe deep." I'd just come across that in a very depressing book, The Mercies by Kiran Millwood Hargrave - it's better to die of smoke inhalation than by burning. So, a word to the wise witches among us. When I finished The Mercies my first thought was, why do we need to read this stuff? It's about The Witchcraft Trials of Vardø in the early 17th century. What we learn from the book is that proud supporters of the patriarchy who enjoy dominating and damaging women get great joy from dominating and damaging women. What a shock. After reading that I read One Way Back: A Memoir by Christine Blasey Ford. Same thing. How the trump supporters wish they had the freedom of their 17th century forebearers.

>82 Citizenjoyce: As I recall, Six Wakes was a locked room mystery about clones. There was an element of horror (another genre that I feel too old for). I don't remember any aliens. I was surprised that Six Wakes was so highly acclaimed at the time it came out, but perhaps it was because no one had so obviously combined a classic mystery plot with science fiction.

>84 vwinsloe: Yes, for me Lafferty was the first person I noticed combining science fiction and mystery.
I just finished a book that was a big wow for me. Strange Sally Diamond by Liz Nugent is kind of an extended version of Room. What would have happened to everyone involved if psychiatrists and pedophiles were given free rein? It's very disturbing, and I couldn't stop reading. I'll probably read it again at some point because I'll recommend it to enough people that I'll want to join them again. Be warned.

>85 Citizenjoyce: Your recommendation is good enough for me. On my list. Thanks!

>72 Citizenjoyce: I finished What an Owl Knows. I found this book interesting, especially the section on raising young. And the section on owls in our culture, including some of the beliefs that persist to this day. The book is more of an overview than a deep dive into the subject -- perfect for general readers. But watch out...some of the pictures are creepy!

I've enjoyed One Bone at at Time: Tales of an Adventurous Animal Chiropractor by Alison Seely, and The Leftover Woman by Jean Kwok. I'm now reading Deliberate Cruelty: Truman Capote, the Millionaire's Wife, and the Murder of the Century by Roseanne Montillo

>87 LynnB: The owl book looks good, I've requested it.
>88 LynnB: Deliberate Cruelty looks good. After watching the series Feud: Capote vs. the Swans I read a bit about the Swans and about Capote and just recently reread In Cold Blood. What a terrible human being he was, yet how attractive. In Cold Blood is beyond excellent. Who wouldn't want to get to know the author of such a work? I saw him on Dick Cavett and was enthralled. I could have listened to him for hours. He was such a great observer of humanity yet seemed to lack empathy. He always thought he would be forgiven whatever he did, yet in the end he became pretty unforgivable.
The Leftover Woman also looks good though it's probably a difficult read. I think I'll give it a try.
And speaking of difficult reads, I just finished And Then She Fell by Alicia Elliott. I kept thinking I would abandon it because it is such a good look at the mind of a suffering woman that it overwhelmed me. I think this was recommended by >79 Sakerfalcon:. There's a combination of racism, sexism, and, as the author states "sanityism". All you need to do is enter Alice's mind to know you don't want to live there, but even in her paranoia and self-hatred she makes sense. I'll probably read more by Elliott, but it will be with trepidation.

I took a long drive yesterday and listened to most of No Ordinary Time. It's quite interesting and well read, but now I am currently reading 3 books which is not ideal.

>89 Citizenjoyce: Yes, I recommended And then she fell. You are right, it's a very painful, but powerful, read.

I saw that Alice Munro has passed away. I don't read short stories very often, but a couple of hers really stuck with me.

>92 vwinsloe: I read The View from Castle Rock 10 years ago and liked it very much but haven't read anything else by her. I wonder why. I'm not a big fan of short stories. Recently I read No One Belongs Here More Than You: Stories by Miranda July. I do love a good duck out of water story, which all of these are but she combines them with weird sexual stuff that's just not interesting. I'm sure Alice Munro is better. I should try more of her stories.

>93 Citizenjoyce: The one that I read was Dear Life, and, as always, there was just one or two great ones in the collection.

I finished Where the God of Love Hangs Out and as much as I love Amy Bloom, there was only one story there that I thought was great.

I have a little ways to go with White Trash, so I started Vampires in the Lemon Grove. I think that you, Citizenjoyce, said that you liked that one.

>94 vwinsloe: I did like many of the stories in Vampires in the Lemon Grove. I hope you do too. I just read a children's book that tore me up, How To Steal a Dog told in first person by a little girl who lives in a car with her younger brother and her mother because they were evicted from their apartment after her father left them. She hates the situation, keeps blaming her mother, and tries to think of a way to make money so they can get another apartment (they've never lived in a house.) The solution is to steal a dog then return it for a big reward. It's truly gut wrenching. The dog doesn't die, which is a must for me to recommend a book.

When I read The Last Neanderthal by Claire Cameron I assumed the author was an anthropologist who just happened to be good at writing. I guess that shows how much I know about anthropology. Cameron is a writer who is also a very outdoorsy person having previously been a teacher for Outward Bound. The novel is about a small family of Neanderthals and about the woman who discovers their bones and is driven to make her reputation off her discovery knowing how undervalued women scientists can be. I was completely captivated, more by Girl, the Neanderthal, but also sympathizing with Ruth, the scientist. The book was very successful, I heard about it on https://fivebooks.com/. What a great site, I'm sure I'll get lots of recommendations there. Caneron's book was listed under Historical Fiction, Five Books Imagining Neanderthals.

>95 Citizenjoyce: I did like the first two stories in Vampires in the Lemon Grove which is way above my average, and still more to read. Thanks.

I finished White Trash and was a bit disappointed because the thesis did not live up to the promise of its title. While the book began with the history of New England and Jamestown colonies, at some point it shifted exclusively to the American south. For me, that raised more a lot more questions than answers, as the result of which, I found the book to be a dissatisfying read.

I've started Ink Blood Sister Scribe which I don't think is considered YA, but it is giving me YA vibes. We'll see.