Lara’s Comments (group member since Feb 12, 2016)

Lara’s comments from the Who Doesn't Love a Classic? group.

Finished two books on my honeymoon: Modern Romance and Mudbound. Got back Saturday and I'm almost finished with my third: Triumph: The Untold Story of Jesse Owens and Hitler's Olympics

Book Concierge wrote: "Lara wrote: "I'm glad you enjoyed this one BC! This was the first novel by Wells that I ever read and I loved it. Have you ever seen the movie version they did of this in the 90s with Marlon Brando..."

It's...interesting...

Jerry wrote: "Lara wrote: "Jerry wrote: "Howdy all. I'm Jerry and I am a pining Shelfarian. It's good to see many of you from back in the day. If you don't remember, I was the voice of reason in this group :) Ac..."

Ahh! Tess of the d-Ubervilles! I wanted to throw that book against the wall so many times!!

I'm glad you enjoyed this one BC! This was the first novel by Wells that I ever read and I loved it. Have you ever seen the movie version they did of this in the 90s with Marlon Brando?

Jerry wrote: "Howdy all. I'm Jerry and I am a pining Shelfarian. It's good to see many of you from back in the day. If you don't remember, I was the voice of reason in this group :) Actually, the title of Fool o..."

So good to see you here Jerry! Sorry about your Giants...though not really ;)

I'll be interested to hear what you think of Rabbit, Run. It's been on my TBR for a while now but I've never pulled the trigger.

Book Concierge wrote: "Oh, wait .... On the Beach by Nevil Shute is fantastic!

It's also short.

But it's a bit depressing ...

Darn ... what a hard choice ...

Okay ... I'll stick with my original recomm..."

Yeah see that's my problem. A few of these I really want to read but...should I be reading depressing books on my honeymoon? ;)

Tracy wrote: "You're able to decide now what your shortlist is? I'm impressed by your ability to plan like that!
My packing tends to be a carry on of clothes and a "purse" (re: tote bag) of books, an iPad, wall..."

I was just looking through my TBR and these are ones that caught my eye that aren't that long.

Book Concierge wrote: "Lara wrote: "So...I just noticed while scrolling through my TBR that a few of my books that I imported as READ loaded in the "to read" section and my star reviews and tags are all gone. Ugh! I foun..."

I don't think so... :(

My honeymoon is coming up next week (2 weeks in Europe!!) and I am trying to figure out what books to bring with me. The flights will be long and the hubby and I will also have some relaxing beach time, so I need some good stuff!

I was thinking I should bring 2 or 3 books of different genres. I don’t want to bring any tomes because no need to weigh down my suitcase. So I’m trying to choose which to bring out of these:

The Kite Runner
Triumph: The Untold Story of Jesse Owens and Hitler's Olympics
Angela's Ashes
Modern Romance
On the Beach
The Other Typist
Mudbound

What do you think? Help me decide!

So...I just noticed while scrolling through my TBR that a few of my books that I imported as READ loaded in the "to read" section and my star reviews and tags are all gone. Ugh! I found two...hoping there aren't any more...

Lara wrote: "My sister-in-law and I went to this little pop-up used bookstore in her neighborhood this weekend. It was their last weekend so everything was half off the already super cheap prices. We figured th..."

I can't believe I forgot one!

Mudbound by Hillary Jordan

Book Concierge wrote: "Lara wrote: "My sister-in-law and I went to this little pop-up used bookstore in her neighborhood this weekend. It was their last weekend so everything was half off the already super cheap prices. ..."

Thank you! I was very impressed with their selection. I recently got a new bookshelf so I need to fill it up with books! And I'm lucky to have a sister-in-law who loves books as much as I do :)

My sister-in-law and I went to this little pop-up used bookstore in her neighborhood this weekend. It was their last weekend so everything was half off the already super cheap prices. We figured they wouldn't have much of a selection left but they had some great finds! I got 8 books for $12!!

Here's what I got:
Fool by Christopher Moore
The Dive From Clausen's Pier by Ann Packer
Life After Life by Kate Atkinson
Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt
Ironweed by William Kennedy
Moo by Jane Smiley
Triumph: The Untold Story of Jesse Owens and Hitler's Olympics by Jeremy Schaap

To add to what BC said, we'll be creating that Crime and Punishment FOLDER in September. So that's officially when discussion will begin.

If you want to ask a discussion question, you can go ahead and create your own TOPIC in that folder to pose that question.

Hope this makes sense to everyone!

The Girls by Emma Cline
★★★

Evie Boyd is 14 years old and living in a rural town in California. Her parents recently divorced and she is basically trying to find herself the summer before she’s sent away to boarding school. One day she meets Suzanne, a woman who lives with a bunch of other people on a ranch outside of town. Evie is completely taken with Suzanne. She wants to be near her. So she ends up hopping on their bus and heading out to the ranch with them. On the way to the ranch, the others tell Evie all about Russell. They way these women are talking, Evie can tell they think highly of him. That he’s something special. After meeting him Evie understands what the others were saying. Russell is magical in a sense. She can see how big his influence is on the others, even on Evie herself. But really, Evie only stays because of Suzanne. She’s drawn to her. She keeps coming back to the ranch and by the end of the summer, she can tell the mood has shifted. Something is not right. Something is coming.

This is basically about the Manson Family right before the murders. All the names are changed, along with some other details, but if you’re familiar with Charles Manson then the similarities are very easy to spot. Parts of it were definitely interesting, the way Cline tries to describe the feelings of a young woman coming of age in that time, with those people. How even though Evie wasn’t there for the murders, would she have actually done anything to stop them if she was? Would she have participated? But at some point it seems that all Evie cares about is sex. I get that she’s a teenage girl and is finding herself but it becomes a little over the top. I’m a true crime buff and have read Helter Skelter (which is excellent by the way) and so maybe that’s why this book wasn’t, in my opinion, all it was cracked up to be. I’ve read the real thing and it was so interesting on its own, I see no need for some kind of fictionalized portrayal of the events.

So overall this book was okay. Nothing great.

Just started Crime and Punishment for our group read. Wish me luck!

Audra wrote: "Any discussions yet?"

Yeah, what BC said. I haven't even started it yet. I'm finishing up another book at the moment but Crime and Punishment is next!

By mid-September I'd expect some people will be ready for discussions.

Book Concierge wrote: "Lara wrote: "We Are Not Ourselves by Matthew Thomas

★★★★★
..."

This sounds really good. Great review."

It was excellent. I highly recommend it!

Just started The Girls by Emma Cline. It's for my F2F book group. After that, it's on to our group read!

We Are Not Ourselves by Matthew Thomas

★★★★★

Eileen Tumulty was born in 1941 to Irish immigrant parents. They live in a small apartment in Queens and things aren’t easy. Her dad drinks too much and her mother never seems happy. Eileen’s goal is to create a better life for herself. Really it is the embodiment of the American Dream that she’s striving for. So when she marries Ed, she expects greatness. He’s a researcher and professor at a local college and Eileen is a nurse, but she pushes Ed to reach for more. However Ed’s aspirations are different than hers. He believes in working hard and doing good. She wants him to go for promotions, switch to a better school, make more money, etc., but Ed is content in being the best teacher he can be for the kids in the community. Their personalities could simply not be more different, and though they love each other, going through life and raising their son, Connell, together is a struggle. Ed wants Connell to have a great life. To live fully. Eileen wants Connell to have a full life too, but that means something different to her than it does to Ed: to become a lawyer or doctor or politician. She knows he has potential and pushes him to meet it.

As the daily struggles persist, things get even harder when Ed starts behaving erratically. He starts forgetting things. His students have started complaining that their grades are wrong. He finds something out of place and he snaps, completely losing control of his temper. He sees all the groceries Eileen has bought for the week and starts ranting about them eating too much and then starts throwing everything in the garbage. Eileen doesn’t know what is wrong with her husband but she has had enough. If a doctor can’t find anything wrong with him, she has no choice but to divorce him. Unfortunately, their worst fears are confirmed. He has early-onset Alzheimer’s.

Really, We Are Not Ourselves, is a simple story. One of a girl growing up in New York, finding love, marrying, and raising a family. But perhaps since it’s such a simple story, that’s why it resonates so deeply with me. I cannot think of another book I’ve read recently where each character feels so real and true. They all have their flaws and I could find myself empathizing with each of them in different ways. They are not caricatures by any means. I felt like I knew them and was rooting for each one of them. I found myself yelling at them in my head when they were making a mistake. How could Eileen not realize something was seriously wrong with her husband for so long?! Stop focusing on a new, fancy house and look at what’s really going on! Connell, stop being a brat and help your mother! But it was these instances that made it feel so real. The denial, the depression, the confusion, the anger, the love. Each character had deep thoughts and emotions that read so true. It was the story of a family, making their way through the difficulties in life and trying to make sense of it all. And it was beautiful.