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What have you just read? Opinions, recommendations, reviews Part 2
Finished reading The Lost Daughter by Elena FerranteMy review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Finished
. A so-so read. Not as good as The River. My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Two reviews up nowA Week at the Shore
by Barbara Delinsky
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Songbirdsby Christy Lefteri
4 and a half stars
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
My review of What W. H. Auden Can Do for You by Alexander McCall Smith
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I was delighed to enjoy watching Richard Osman's Thursday Murder Club solve the mystery of The Man Who Died Twice. It's every bit as good as their first outing, I reckon!
5★ Link to my Man Who Died Twice review
The thriller Falling, by T.J. Newman, has attracted a lot of fans, and I can see why. It would make a terrific movie or mini-series. A terrible dilemma, lots of tension, and some good characters.
3.5★ Link to my review of Falling
Race Cars: A children's book about white privilege is an illustrated story of two cars, one black and one white, who are best friends. The "committee" keeps making the black car's race longer!
4★ Link to my review of Race Cars with several pictures.
Finished yesterday Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.
A really beautiful book, hard, wide, looking at history, race, gender, love, literature. Loved it - even if tough to follow sometimes
A really beautiful book, hard, wide, looking at history, race, gender, love, literature. Loved it - even if tough to follow sometimes
LauraT wrote: “Finished yesterday Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.A really beautiful book, hard, wide, looking at history, race, gender, love, literature. Loved it—even...”
I’m curious—have you read We Should All Be Feminists ? I didn’t think that it lived up to the hype (a little on the simplistic/shallow side, for me). Which has made me hesitant to try Americanah, though I do still have it on my TBR. If you’ve read both, I’m curious how you think it compares.
spoko wrote: "LauraT wrote: “Finished yesterday Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.
A really beautiful book, hard, wide, looking at history, race, gender, love, literature. ..."
No, Americanah was my first book by her; I've also started Half of a Yellow Sun and liking it quite; I've not read the one you are talking about, so I can't say
A really beautiful book, hard, wide, looking at history, race, gender, love, literature. ..."
No, Americanah was my first book by her; I've also started Half of a Yellow Sun and liking it quite; I've not read the one you are talking about, so I can't say
Finished this one last week.
by Fiona BartonMy review, 3 stars:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I read The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng. A retired judge in Kuala Lumpur decides to hire the services of a Japanese gardener to construct a Japanese garden in memory of her sister who died in a Japanese prison camp during Japan's occupation of Malaysia. The novel has a haunting, ethereal quality. Rich in immersive imagery.
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Finished Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. A really beautiful book. Really a stunnig book, on a piece of history I really ignore, even if I shouldn't.
As written here, we all, in eastern world had Biafra as a synonym of hunger and starvation, but we actually - I at the least - didn't know what it ment. Now I know...
As written here, we all, in eastern world had Biafra as a synonym of hunger and starvation, but we actually - I at the least - didn't know what it ment. Now I know...
Minor Detail
by Adania Shibli. ★★★☆☆An intense story of a tramautic incident in the wake of the 1948 Israeli-Palestinian war, and a brief follow-up investigation some half-century later. Sadly, the story is let down by stultified writing (or possibly translation, though I suspect the former).
My review of Once Upon a Seaside Murder by Maggie Blackburn
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Of course, continuing to love Jack Reacher.
by Lee ChildMy review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I just enjoyed the tender and funny Under the Whispering Door by T.J. Klune, the story of a selfish man who uncomfortably learned about friendship, love, and life only after he died.
4★ Link to my Whispering Door review
I always like the Buzz Books, by Publishers Lunch, which publish the first chapters or excerpts from dozens of upcoming books and are free for anyone to download and read.Buzz Books 2021:Fall/Winter includes selections from famous established authors and some wonderful debuts. There's also non-fiction and Young Adult. I've included a smattering of samples of a few that appeal to me.
5★ Link to my Buzz Books review
What You Have Heard Is True: A Memoir of Witness and Resistance by Carolyn Forché - 4 stars - My Review
Joy D wrote: "Bewilderment by Richard Powers - 4 stars - My Review"Oh I just purchased that after hearing the author talking on Start the week last Monday.
Finished an Australian Mystery: Crimson Lake
,.
Really well built. I'm going on with the second therefore!
,.Really well built. I'm going on with the second therefore!
Finally read this one!
by J.D. SalingerMy review, three stars:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I read the brilliant collection of essays The Dark Brain of Piranesi and Other Essays by Marguerite YourcenarMy review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I read My Father's Notebook: A Novel of Iran by Kader Abdolah.Written in Dutch by an Iranian exile living in the Netherlands, translated by Susan Massotty, the novel weaves the story of Aga Akbar and his son, Ishmael, against the turbulent background of 20th Century Iran. Persian songs, myths, and legends thread the narrative. The novel is a poignant portrayal of the enduring love between a father and son. A great story.
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Yesterday I read The Wild Fox of Yemen: Poems by Threa Almontaser. It's been a while since I read a collection of poetry. Almontaser's voice is vigorous, authentic, and unflinchingly honest. Winner of the Walt Whitman Award of the Academy of American Poets, the collection is breathtaking, drawing the reader into Almontaser’s world imbued with personal and political intensity. My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Finished
. A twisty one - not sure if I'll remember it, but a good distraction from the deeper ones :)My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Disappointing two stars for this one.
by Lucy DawsonMy review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Books mentioned in this topic
Dark Mode (other topics)Critical Mass (other topics)
The Go-Between (other topics)
One, Two ... He Is Coming for You (other topics)
Death at Hungerford Stairs (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Ashley Kalagian Blunt (other topics)Daniel Suarez (other topics)
Willow Rose (other topics)
L.P. Hartley (other topics)
Luis Alberto Urrea (other topics)
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Wow! What an unusual and imaginative story. A stay-at-home mother of a demanding toddler turns into a dog. Or does she?
The story isn't for everyone because there are some graphic scenes of violence toward little, furry creatures. But it will resonate with women who have experienced de-selfing, internal conflicts, guilt, isolation, a stifling of their creativity, and society’s erroneous assumptions about their lives as stay-at-home mothers. I found it absolutely riveting.
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...