Suzan’s Comments (group member since May 22, 2020)

Suzan’s comments from the 2020 Big Book Summer Reading Challenge group.

Karla wrote: "I finished my 3rd book: A Better Man by Louise Penny (audio narrated by Robert Bathurst) 464 pages. this is a mystery but not a thriller. it's a slow-paced mystery with a lot of human emotion, moti..."

Congrats on finishing another Big Book, Karla!! I hope to listen to that one on audio this summer, too! I've only read book 1 in the series so far, so I hope I won't be too confused!

Victoria wrote: "I finished another book without realizing it was over 400 pages (darn ebooks). The Doctor of Aleppo. This comes out in August and I highly recommend it."

Congratulations on finishing another Big Book, Vicki! I'm starting to hear a lot of good things about this one. Glad you enjoyed it!

Jane wrote: "Still reading Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens, and almost half way through Men to Match My Mountains by Irving Stone. Both quite hefty, and both very good in such different ways."

I always enjoy Dickens' novels, though I haven't read Nicholas Nickleby yet. Glad you are enjoying them both!

Cheriee wrote: "I finished up my second and third big books in the last couple of weeks. I barely had time to read, never mind comment since we had our 3 year old granddaughter staying with us for five sleeps. We ..."

Glad you enjoyed your books (and your granddaughter, even if she was exhausting!). I've heard great things about the Huntress.

Congratulations on Big Books #2 and #3!

Karen wrote: "I finished The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson. It was an absorbing and fast read for such a long book, non-fiction that reads like fiction. Al..."

I've heard about this one but haven't read it yet, Karen - glad to hear it was so good! Congrats on finishing a Big Book!

Congratulations, Elinor! Americanah sounds SO GOOD! Will go check out your blog review. I need to read it!

Victoria wrote: "Yay Sue! I just noticed I read another big book without realizing it. It was Dragon Hoops, the graphic novel recommended during the last Northshire bookseller videoconference. It wa..."

Oh, that sounds good, Vicki - I enjoy graphic novels.

Nancy wrote: "Well, I hate to say it but I gave up on My Name is Red by Orhan Pamuk. I really wanted to be the woman who reads Turkish novels. I tried everything I could think of to get through it but kept comin..."

ha ha no worries, Nancy! I was pretty impressed you were even attempting it. Definitely, if you're choosing to write a grocery list instead of reading, then it's not the book for you!

A God in Ruins was very good (I LOVED Life After Life), and I've heard great things about the Broken Earth trilogy, so I think you're on the right track now! Enjoy!

Kate wrote: "I am reading The Shadow of the Wind. It has been on my shelf for ages and as Carlos Ruiz Zafon has passed away, I picked it up again after some encouragement from my bookish friends!"

Aw, what a great book! And so sad to lose such a wonderful writer so young. I didn't like The Shadow of the Wind the first time I read it, then re-read a few years later because my book group was reading it and LOVED it! Funny how sometimes you need to find a book at the right time.

Hey, I finally posted my first Big Book review for this year! Just wrote a review of Faithful Place by Tana French, which was super easy because I loved it SO much!

https://bookbybook.blogspot.com/2020/...

Victoria wrote: "Karen wrote: "Starting Hilary Mantel’s The Mirror & the Light. 754 pages."

I started on publication day but set it aside. Guess I wasn’t in the mood. I felt like I needed a recap after so long sin..."

I just restarted Catch-22 after setting it aside last summer and first had to read the SparkNotes for the chapters I'd already read, so I get that!

Karen wrote: "Starting Hilary Mantel’s The Mirror & the Light. 754 pages."

Oooh, I have heard such great things about Hilary Mantel but have never read one of her books! I need to get to that.

Enjoy!

Karen wrote: "I just finished Valley of the Dolls, 466 pages. It was an okay read. I guess in 1966 it was considered quite risqué. But in today’s world not even close to Fifty Shades of Gray. 3.5 stars."

ha ha funny how times and standards have changed!

Congratulations on finishing your Big Book, Karen!

Davida wrote: "I just posted my review of Miss Benson's Beetle by Rachel Joyce. You can read my review here: https://tcl-bookreviews.com/..."

Congratulations, Davida! I will read your review...

Deb wrote: "I dug up the 3rd book in the Neapolitan series.
Here is my review:




Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay by Elena Ferrante
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I had read the first two books in this series a..."

Congratulations on finishing another Big Book, Deb! I've heard so much about this author and this series but haven't read any yet! I will have to give it a try. So glad you enjoyed it.

OK, I am going to get back to reading Catch-22 by Joseph Heller tonight. If that sounds familiar from LAST summer, it's because it IS! I started it last summer and just was not in the mood for it, but now I am motivated to finish it. I spent some time today reader the chapter-by-chapter SparkNotes (my son's favorite website) to remind myself of who the characters are and what happened so far, and I will dive back into it tonight. Wish me luck!

Karla wrote: "I'm still working and have more responsibilities than before. I'm usually exhausted when I get home. So I've been reading short stories and novellas. However, I've started listening (on my car ride..."

Oooh, Karla, I have that one waiting on audio, too! I've so far only read the 1st Louise Penny, so I'm a bit concerned I'll have missed too much in between, but I'm going to give it a try this summer. Enjoy!

Cheriee wrote: "I’m still reading The Huntress. I should be done by now, but I was terrified of what was about to happen, so I put the book down for a bit. That’s the problem with listening instead of reading with..."

ha ha that's funny, Cheriee! Sometimes, you just need a break, right? Hope the ending is a good one!

Karen wrote: "Finished my second book for the challenge, John Caldigate by Anthony Trollope. It's a big fat Victorian novel, but I managed to finish it in less than a week. Here's a link to my review:

https://k..."

I just finished reading your review, Karen! :) It sounds like an intriguing book - I have never read a Trollope novel but know that many people love his books. Congratulations on finishing your 2nd Big Book!

I'm now reading a normal-sized book :) but I'm about to start a new audio Big Book, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins.