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What have you just read? Opinions, recommendations, reviews Part 2
I have finished reading Henry Green's Living. It is a look at workers, managers & owners of an iron foundry in Birmingham during the late 1920s (it was first published in 1929). Knowing as I do that the Great Depression was just around the corner made the plight of the workers all the sadder.
Mod
I really enjoyed this. It was an interesting look at the USA at..."
Gone! In my TBR list ... when will I ever end it????
How Jesus Became God: The Exaltation of a Jewish Preacher from Galilee by Bart D. Ehrman.Prof. Ehrman is a biblical scholar who has written nearly two dozen books on early Christianity. This book may not be for everyone, but I thought it was a fascinating study.
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I did my usual year-end reading sprint so I could meet my challenge goal and also leave as few books in-progress as possible when the calendar flipped over. (Not sure why I do that, especially when books finished after the New Year make completing that year's goal a little easier, but annnyyyyway...)
Full Throttle by Joe Hill (2019) Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Emma by Jane Austen (1815)Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez (1985) Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Democracy Against Capitalism: Renewing Historical Materialism by Ellen Meiksins Wood (1995)Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo (2019) Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Bring on 2020!
I absolutely LOVED reading The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper
, a different approach to the myth of Jack the Ripper aimed at restoring the lives and identities of his five victims.My 5⭐ review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I have two great ones to recommend, an old classic and a new, probably-to-become classic.The Call of the Wild by Jack London is much more than just a dog story. Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
and There There is an amazing debut novel by Tommy Orange. Fascinating details of urban Native American life inside a unique and riveting story. Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Mod
Paul wrote: "I did my usual year-end reading sprint so I could meet my challenge goal and also leave as few books in-progress as possible when the calendar flipped over. (Not sure why I do that, especially when..."That was quite a sprint Paul! And a nice mix of books :)
About to start
The Companion by Kim Taylor Blakemore after finishing
The Other You by J.S. Monroe which totally creeped me out. My spoiler free review can be found at https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I read Strangers by C.L Taylor and it was brilliant5 STARS
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Best one yet! Into the Fire Orphan X #5 by Gregg Hurwitz doesn’t pause anywhere long enough to let you catch a breath! 
4.5★ (rounded up) Link to my review
LauraT wrote: "Both interesting Kethleen! Thanks"Thanks, Laura!
I finished a book of poetry by Irish author Des Greene yesterday - Poems from a Life. I picked this Kindle book up back in 2013 when I was making a more definite attempt to read more poetry, something that I have given up in the past few years. Sadly this collection won't be the one to rekindle my enthusiasm for reading poetry - they were okay but that was it. 2*
I just finished two books, In Such Good Company: Eleven Years of Laughter, Mayhem, and Fun in the Sandbox
my review
and
Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking
my review
About to begin reading
The Man She Married by Alison James after finishing the very disappointing
The Companion by Kim Taylor Blakemore. My spoiler free review can be found at my webpage https://wordpress.com/post/sandysbook... and https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Domain, by James Herbert, disappointing compared with the first two books in the Rats serieshttps://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
My updated review for a reread of I, Michael Bennett by James Patterson
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I read The Forty Rules of Love by Elif Shafak. It was disappointing and not her best work. My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I have finished Uncle Silas by Le Fanu. I don't know why the Guardian's List of 1000 Novels has this book listed under 'Science Fiction and Fantasy'! It is a Gothic horror story but there is nothing supernatural or occult in it. If you like that type of suspense story, you will probably give it a higher rating than my 3.5*. I always find the heroines of these stories intensely annoying and Maud, though better than some, was still pretty irritating to me.
My review of The Secrets at Ocean's Edge by KaliNapier
2 and a half stars
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I've just finished Graeme Simsion's Don Tillman trilogy and very much enjoyed it. The main character may/may not be on the autism spectrum and the books explore how he engages with the world and vice versa. Sounds heavy, but the treatment (to my mind) is nuanced, with a light touch. (I also remember hearing about a movie being made of the first book.)
Tom wrote: "I've just finished Graeme Simsion's Don Tillman trilogy and very much enjoyed it. The main character may/may not be on the autism spectrum and the books explore how he engages with the world and vi..."Sounds interesting. Thanks for the summary Tom!
I have finished several mysteries - Hag's Nook, A Quiet Life In The Country & A Death of No Importance (the last 2 being historical mysteries). Of the 3, all of which I found enjoyable, the last was the best. Mariah Fredericks not only crafted a good mystery but clearly spent time researching the historical period (1910-1911 New York City).Then I 'refreshed my palate' with an early Wodehouse - Sam the Sudden. I find Wodehouse's humor highly entertaining so it is no surprise that I liked this book.
Author Jennifer Haigh's Zenith Man fixes Zenith TVs. Did he also 'fix' his dead wife?
4.5★ Link to my 'Zenith Man' review
I think I'm the odd one out with William Kent Krueger's already popular This Tender Land, about runaway kids.
3.5★ Link to my 'Tender Land' review
I have finished what essentially is a short story by Balzac (53 pgs) in my quest to read his The Human Comedy -- The Ball at Sceaux by Honore de Balzac, translated by Clara Bell
The book blurb says:
Emilie de Fontaine is a spoiled and pround brat. She rejects all suitors her father proposes. Emilie has incredibly high standards for the man she will marry, and at the top of her unreasonable list of criteria is that he absolutely must be a peer of France. Leaving Paris for the summer, as all good families do, they go to Sceaux. At the local ball, Emilie falls in love with a charming, beautifully mannered, elegant young man. Is he noble? Will he bestow a title on his wife? Will it matter if he turns out to be a commoner? One of the pieces of Balzac's "La Comédie Humaine", this work reflects the narrow-mindedness of the peerage of French society. The mind-set of people is presented in an elucidating manner that reflects their thinking. The whims and fancies of youthful maidens and young gentlemen and their frivolous attitudes to life are depicted in an interesting manner.
My thoughts: 3.5*
This was really a short story rather than a novella but nonetheless Balzac gives a complete picture of the de Fontaine family and of the youngest daughter Emilie in particular. She provides quite a different picture of feminity from Augustine, the heroine of "At the Sign of the Cat and Racket"!
My review of How to Walk Away by Katherine Center
3 and a half stars
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Mod
The Ball at Sceaux by Honore de Balzac, translated b..."
A great challenge this one, equal to the one we did with Gill some years ago, of the Rougon Maquart! I could give it a thought
Three short stories from the Amazon Originals series.Short stories can sometimes just capture a moment or emotion which makes it difficult to explain exactly how you feel in a review.
4 stars each
The Weddings
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Can You Feel This?
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Everything My Mother Taught Me
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
LauraT wrote: "Leslie wrote: "I have finished what essentially is a short story by Balzac (53 pgs) in my quest to read his The Human Comedy -- A great challenge this one, equal to the one we did with Gill some years ago, of the Rougon Maquart! I could give it a thought ..."
With over 90 books, I don't think that I will ever read the entire thing. But I figured it was time to tackle at least part of it so I am working on his "Scenes from Private Life". That should keep me busy for at least a couple of years! I have been using this website for the order:
https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~spok/metabook...
Please do feel free to join in anytime you want :) I have only read the first 2, both very short, so you could easily catch up or just jump in with the next one (early Feb.).
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I really enjoyed this. It was an interesting look at the USA at the beginning ..."
That trilogy is where I first learned about the Wobblies (workers in the union Industrial Workers of the World)!