Sign in with Facebook
Chris’s 2019 Year in Books
Take a look at Chris’s Year in Books. The long, the short—it’s all here.
2,337 books
|
51 friends
559 books
|
4,952 friends
538 books
|
70 friends
5,158 books
|
2,709 friends
1,895 books
|
768 friends
2,459 books
|
82 friends
1,548 books
|
82 friends
1,494 books
|
1,222 friends
More friends…
Chris Bohjalian
Goodreads Author
Born
in White Plains, New York, The United States
Website
Twitter
Genre
Member Since
November 2007
|
Midwives
—
published
1997
—
44 editions
|
|
|
The Flight Attendant
—
published
2018
—
14 editions
|
|
|
The Sandcastle Girls
—
published
2012
—
32 editions
|
|
|
The Double Bind
—
published
2007
—
40 editions
|
|
|
Skeletons at the Feast
—
published
2008
—
25 editions
|
|
|
The Light in the Ruins
—
published
2013
—
16 editions
|
|
|
The Guest Room
—
published
2016
—
22 editions
|
|
|
Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands
—
published
2014
—
18 editions
|
|
|
The Sleepwalker
—
published
2017
—
15 editions
|
|
|
The Night Strangers
—
published
2011
—
16 editions
|
|
You just looked around, and they were gone
This is the time of the year when we are most likely to hear “Abraham, Martin and John” on the radio. You know the song. It was a hit for Dion in 1968. It’s an homage to Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Jr., and John and Robert Kennedy. It’s wistful, elegiac, and perhaps a little saccharine. It has a harp.
We all, if we are a certain age, can ad-lib the lyrics pretty well, because the verses... Read more of this blog post »
We all, if we are a certain age, can ad-lib the lyrics pretty well, because the verses... Read more of this blog post »
Related News
Are you ready? It's here! Give a Good Read Week kicks off today and runs through Sunday, September 22. Which book are you going...
393 likes · 176 comments
His Favorite Narrators Who Will Break Your Heart: His new novel, Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands, follows the chaos of a nuclear meltdown, and these st...
11 likes · 14 comments
The reader doesn't know how much to believe. My favorite line in the book is spoken by Stephen Drew: "Believe no one, trust no one, assume all of o...
28 likes · 0 comments
Upcoming Events
No scheduled events.
Add an event.
Nothing Very Bad Could Happen to You There
(Literature & Fiction)
2 chapters
—
updated Dec 15, 2015 02:07PM
Description:
A short story set in Manhattan in the days before The Guest Room (publication date: January 2016) begins.
Skeletons at the Feast
(Literature & Fiction)
0 chapters
—
updated Nov 28, 2007 09:13AM
Description:
A novel
Chris’s Recent Updates
|
Chris
is currently reading
|
|
|
Chris
rated a book it was amazing
|
|
| Astute, insightful, and deeply moving novel. I love Richard Russo's work, and CHANCES ARE captured the wistfulness of aging and regret, and how little we really understand even our closest friends. | |
|
Chris
added a status update: TONIGHT! Midwives, the play, opens at the George Street Playhouse. Tickets at https://georgestreetplayhouse.org. Did you enjoy the novel? Join us for the play with an all-star cast!
|
|
|
Chris
is currently reading
|
|
|
Chris
is currently reading
|
|
|
Chris
rated a book it was amazing
|
|
| Few writers capture dialogue as beautifully as Zadie Smith -- and are such empathetic observers. I loved so many of the short stories in this collection: they're smart and moving and surprising, and the dialogue is as real as it gets. | |
|
Chris
has read
|
|
| Research for my 2022 novel set, in part, in the Serengeti. | |
|
Chris
has read
|
|
| Research for my 2022 novel set, in part, in the Serengeti. | |
|
Chris
finished reading
|
|
“Food is a gift and should be treated reverentially--romanced and ritualized and seasoned with memory.”
― Secrets of Eden
― Secrets of Eden
“We may talk a good game and write even better ones, but we never outgrow those small wounded things we were when we were five and six and seven.”
― Secrets of Eden
― Secrets of Eden
“But history does matter. There is a line connecting the Armenians and the Jews and the Cambodians and the Bosnians and the Rwandans. There are obviously more, but, really, how much genocide can one sentence handle?”
― The Sandcastle Girls
― The Sandcastle Girls
Polls
Topics Mentioning This Author
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Next Best Boo...: Jodi Picoult | 44 | 391 | Apr 16, 2009 08:11AM | |
| Pick-a-Shelf: 2009-07 - Realistic Fiction - Post July Reviews Here | 65 | 119 | Aug 13, 2009 10:12AM | |
| Challenge: 50 Books: Mandy's 50 in 2009 | 34 | 331 | Aug 21, 2009 09:01PM | |
| The Next Best Boo...: September 's Groups Reads Are..... | 156 | 733 | Sep 10, 2009 04:32PM |
“And though some days it is very hard, I try not to live for the future. And I try not to dream of the past.”
― The Law of Similars
― The Law of Similars
“As Jeremy Bentham had asked about animals well over two hundred years ago, the question was not whether they could reason or talk, but could they suffer? And yet, somehow, it seemed to take more imagination for humans to identify with animal suffering than it did to conceive of space flight or cloning or nuclear fusion. Yes, she was a fanatic in the eyes of most of the country. . .Mostly, however, she just lacked patience for people who wouldn't accept her belief that humans inflicted needless agony on the animals around them, and they did so in numbers that were absolutely staggering.”
― Before You Know Kindness
― Before You Know Kindness
“Though angels were easy to finds in cemeteries, she said that she didn't especially care for funereal angels and tombstone cherubs -- she wanted her angels among the living, not watching over the already dead -- and thus she scoured parks and gardens for the angels with whom, on some level, she wanted to commune.”
― Secrets of Eden
― Secrets of Eden
“Sara knew that behind its locked front door no home was routine. Not the house of her childhood, not the apartment of her husband's. not the world they were building together with Willow and Patrick. All households had their mysteries, their particular forms of dysfunction.”
― Before You Know Kindness
― Before You Know Kindness
“He moved quickly away from her through the ring, his whole body starting forward with the big animal in two-point and then -- the horse's legs extended before and behind her, a carousel pony but real, the immense thrust invisible to anyone but the boy on the creature's back -- he was rising, rising, rising. . .
And aloft.”
― The Buffalo Soldier
And aloft.”
― The Buffalo Soldier
Wise Women, Giggling Girls
— 167 members
— last activity Dec 31, 2016 05:16PM
Looking for wise women, still giggling girls at heart who love to READ books that matter, books that move you, books that make you call your ...more
Latino and Latin American Literature
— 851 members
— last activity Jan 04, 2020 12:13PM
Best Writings of The Americas
Books on the Nightstand
— 6097 members
— last activity 33 minutes ago
A group to discuss books and topics mentioned on Books on the Nightstand, a blog and podcast about books and reading.
Amherst Reads – Amherst College Alumni and Friends
— 203 members
— last activity Aug 07, 2016 07:56AM
Amherst Reads is an online bookclub that connects alumni, students, faculty members, parents and friends of Amherst College to the intellectual life ...more
Comments (showing 1-17)
post a comment »
date
newest »
newest »
What an honor it is to be your friend on Goodreads. I love your books, and I am looking forward to reading "The Guest Room." I have been following your writing for years, and you are one of my very favorite authors.
I started reading your books with Midwives and have read everything I could get my hands on since. To list my favorites would not be a very exclusive list, but my favorite of favorites is Skeletons at the Feast. I just discovered Trans-Sister Radio, and was, once again, blown away by your extraordinary talent. When are you coming to Nashville again? When I was at Parnassus Books recently, I made a special request for you to come to Salon@615. They pointed out that you had been here before (which I missed out of ignorance), but might come again with your next book. So, write fast!
And, thank you for all the pleasant hours of reading you have given us.
Dear Mr Bohjalian,I just wanted to tell you that I love reading your work. The Double Bind rocked me back on my (mental) heels. Skeletons at the Feast kicked off what would grow to be morbid fascination/disgust/rabid researching of the Holocaust, which had previously been just a small history fact gleaned from a required class in high school.
I just finished The Sandcastle Girls. I note the day I start and finish each book (because I eventually log them on goodreads, you see), and didn't realize until I read your author's note that the day I had begun reading said book on April 24, 2015, coincided with the Armenian genocide's centennial.
I don't believe in coincidences, so do with that what you will.
Thank you for taking the time to read my message, and thank you even more for diligently sharing the fruits of your craft with us readers.
Sincerely,
Jennifer Engh
Chris, How fun to see you here. I'm not terribly active on GoodReads, but I try to stay a bit connected.
Chris, I sooo wanted to see you when you come to Minneapolis July 12 but I checked with the bookstore and I can't afford the cost of the lunch etc. I hope you come again sometime when I'm more able to swing it. I really would love to meet you.
I had a dream the other night that you were doing a reading at the Taco Bell in Janesville, WI. Please don't take this as an insult. I think I just so want to go to one of your readings my mind created one. However, if you should want to come to WI I will be the first in line.
Dan wrote: "Chrisi am almost finished reading the electronic edition advance of LIGHT IN THE RUINS. Once again an example of your masterful storytelling. I love the separation of timelines and the added narra..."
Thanks so much, Dan. I really appreciate your kind words.
Looking forward to seeing you three weeks and three hours from right now!
Chrisi am almost finished reading the electronic edition advance of LIGHT IN THE RUINS. Once again an example of your masterful storytelling. I love the separation of timelines and the added narrative from the killer, a good touch. The scenes in Florence bring back memories from my trip there, even the smell of the Arno; you make me long to go back.
IT IS MY VERY DISTINCT PLEASURE BECOMING YOUR FRIEND INDEED APPRECIATED !!! WISHING YOU MUCH SUCCESS & HAPPINESS BUT ABOVE ALL GOOD HEALTH !!! Your True Friend
Edik
Chris because, I saw your recommendation of Baker's Daughter, reading and loving, and savoring every page.
Theresa wrote: "Just wanted to say I am a big fan! Hangman was one of the scariest and most suspenseful books I've ever read! Water Witches was a great one too. I own them all and as soon as I finish the book I..."Theresa, I found Hangman to be scary too, and I thought I had gotten to the point that things in books couldn't scare me anymore! I loved The Double Bind! I liked it even more than Secrets of Eden, & I thought it was great too!
Hoping you can make it to Nonesuch for your new book tour! Would be a huge success :D
It was wonderful meeting you yesterday here at Nonesuch! Lots of people saw your interview on '207' and have come in to buy your books.Excited to have you here for your next release! We've got a pretty literary crowd - in fact, when you were here, one woman recognized you and was pretty starstruck! She came in again today and was gushing. haha.
Anyway, hope you're well and best of luck with your writing/touring! Enjoy your time at home (assuming you've finished the tour!)
Best,
Matty
Thanks so much for the friendship! I'm such a fan!
I was so happy to find you on here! I just got Midwives and can't wait to start- it looks great! Thanks for everything you do!
Just wanted to say I am a big fan! Hangman was one of the scariest and most suspenseful books I've ever read! Water Witches was a great one too. I own them all and as soon as I finish the book I'm currently reading I'll start The Double Bind. I actually chose it for my bookclub pick, I am excited to see what everyone thinks of it.
