What books are you reading now? (2020) Showing 1,401-1,450 of 2,222

[Joy D]

Published in 1984, this book tackles the meaning of life by exploring the concepts of lightness and weight. Set in 1968, coinciding with the period of history known as Prague Spring, the four primary characters (and a dog) represent these concepts through the choices they make. This book is a philosophical contemplation of love, fidelity, politics, and destiny. It certainly engages the brain.

The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera - 4 stars - My Review

[Roman Clodia]

Thanks Chrissie and Elizabeth for the sympathy - I've never hurt my back before and am finding that sitting down to work at my laptop is too uncomfortable. So the positive is that I've packed up work early and can give myself over to reading and listening!

[Val]

I am wincing in sympathy RC. I hope you feel better soon.

[Susan]

Oh dear - sending healing wishes your way, RC.

[Roman Clodia]

Thanks Val and Susan. I've just made a start on The Queen's Necklace, our next buddy read, which I'm enjoying a lot.

[Judy]

I'm looking forward to that one, RC. Hope you feel better soon!

[Chrissie]

Laughter in the Dark by Vladimir Nabokov is short and exciting. I recommend it.

My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I am about to begin The Sea, The Sea by Iris Murdoch. As you know, she is an author I have recently discovered and like. I hope this one proves to be as good as the others I have read.

[Judy]

I've started the noir thriller Ride the Pink Horse ready for our forthcoming buddy read.

[Nigeyb]

I've just finished...


The Last Mad Surge Of Youth (2009) by Mark Hodkinson

Here’s my review

5/5

[Pam]

I just started my first Bill O’Reilly book, Killing England: The Brutal Struggle for Independence. My mom is listening to the audiobook and recommended it to me. I’m also listening to the audiobook and enjoying it so far.

[Joy D]

Set in 1956, a black family relocates from Alabama to Pennsylvania after the death of their son. The storyline explores racial discrimination and how people bond over painful experiences. Themes include grief, guilt, faith, friendship, and forgiveness. The story contains a great deal of sadness and suffering, but it also offers a thread of hope.

The Solace of Water by Elizabeth Byler Younts - 4 stars - My Review

[Judy]

I've finished Ride the Pink Horse, which I think should be an interesting book to discuss, and have now started another forthcoming buddy read, The Queen's Necklace by Antal Szerb. I enjoyed the only other book by him I've read so far, Journey by Moonlight, so am looking forward to this one.

[Susan]

I was interested to see that Antal Szerb says he will not cover the biography of Marie Antoinette as everyone would have read Stefan Zweig's biography of the time María Antonieta

It made the book seem very contemporary and made me want to read that biography, as I've only read the Antonia Fraser one.

[Roman Clodia]

Yes, I was interested, too, to see the Zweig positioned as a kind of 'standard work' on Marie Antoinette. Interesting that both writers had ventured into this territory.

[Chrissie]

While I like Zweig, I have never fallen in love with any of his books. I keep looking for one that will blow me over.

[Roman Clodia]

I have to confess that the only Zweig I've read is Beware of Pity and I just didn't get on with it at all. I do wonder if it was my mood as the time as so many people love it.

[Susan]

The World of Yesterday was wonderful. I haven't read much of his fiction, but I would like to read a biography by him, or Journeys

[Kathleen]

As far as 20th century, I recently finished East of Eden , only my second Steinbeck, and I was blown away.

I'm currently reading 2001: A Space Odyssey , which is kinda fun and is shedding light on the movie for me.

And coming up I have a lesser-known Virginia Woolf that i'm looking forward to: Monday or Tuesday .

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

Roman Clodia wrote: "I have to confess that the only Zweig I've read is Beware of Pity and I just didn't get on with it at all. I do wonder if it was my mood as the time as so many people love it."

I have not read that one. I have read his Chess Story and Letter from an Unknown Woman and Other Stories both of which were 5-stars for me. Also have read his biography, Balzac which I was very glad to have read being a Balzac enthusiast, but it was just 4-stars for me.

[Susan]

I just finished Moonflower Murders and adored it.
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Susan]

Have started The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman
Never sure about novels written by celebrities, but liking it so far.

[Chrissie]

Here is a novel by Iris Murdoch that I have not liked so much--The Sea, The Sea. It is her novel that won the Booker Prize in 1978! ALL of the others I have read by her are in my view better.

My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I have begun and am enjoying All Our Worldly Goods by Irène Némirovsky, the author of the better well known Suite Française. I think you could tell SF wasn't ready for publication, which explains why I have wanted to read All Our Worldly Goods because although it was published posthumously in 1947, it had already appeared serially in the spring of 1941 in the far right newspaper Gringoire. In other words, this book the author thought was ready for publication.

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

Irène Némirovsky writes in an interesting way and we all know how much store I put in that. I have read only her The Wine of Solitude and The Misunderstanding. Despite giving each of them 3-stars (and that's not a particularly good rating by me), I would not be averse to reading another.

[Chrissie]

Susan wrote: "The World of Yesterday was wonderful. I haven't read much of his fiction, but I would like to read a biography by him, or [book:Journeys|4293..."

That is one o the several I have liked but not loved.

[Chrissie]

Roman Clodia wrote: "I have to confess that the only Zweig I've read is Beware of Pity and I just didn't get on with it at all. I do wonder if it was my mood as the time as so many people love it."

Beware of Pity I thought was worth three.

[Judy]

I thought Beware of Pity and The Post Office Girl were both fantastic, as were all the short stories/novellas by Zweig that I've read so far. I also really liked The World of Yesterday, but prefer his fiction.

[Chrissie]

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Irène Némirovsky writes in an interesting way and we all know how much store I put in that. I have read only her The Wine of Solitude and [book:The Misunderstanding|1..."

I'll write a review of it when I am done. It's short.

[Joy D]

Alternative history in which Charles Lindbergh is elected President in 1940, defeating Franklin Roosevelt. The plot stays with a Jewish family for the bulk of the novel, focusing on what happens to the protagonist and his relatives. Toward the end, Roth relies on summaries of newsreels to tell the larger story. I did not find this part as effective. This book serves as a warning against electing a leader who marginalizes a segment of society.

The Plot Against America by Philip Roth - 4 stars - My Review

[Chrissie]

I have completed Irène Némirovsky's All Our Worldly Goods.

My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I have begun John Steinbeck's Once There Was a War.

[Jan C]

Joy D wrote: "Alternative history in which Charles Lindbergh is elected President in 1940, defeating Franklin Roosevelt. The plot stays with a Jewish family for the bulk of the novel, focusing on what happens to..."

Having just read a biography of Anne Morrow Lindbergh, Anne Morrow Lindbergh: A Gift for Life, I see what a real mistake that would have been. Linbergh believed he was right and the remainder of the free world was wrong. Unfortunately Anne went along with whatever her husband said. This included opposing her mother. She did come to her senses before her husband did, but not before losing a lot of friends and readers.

[Chrissie]

I have completed Once There Was a War by the master writer, John Steinbeck. Of course, some books of his are better than others.

My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I have begun Bad Connections by Joyce Johnson. I am wondering if I will like it as much as the others I have read by her. Authors of the Beat Generation were not all male!

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

I have started Ride the Pink Horse for our buddy read. I'm a bit late getting started, unfortunately. The opening paragraph is ominous.

[Jill]

I hope you like it Elizabeth. I liked it a lot and have you to thank for pointing out this author to me.

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

Yay! I am so glad you liked this.

[Chrissie]

I enjoyed Bad Connections by Joyce Johnson. So far I have given all three boks I have read by her either four or five stars.

My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

This afternoon I began When You Finish Saving the World by Jesse Eisenberg. It is funny, terribly, terribly funny! But not stupid funny. It is one of the free Audible Originals offered this month to members at Audible.com. I haven't finished it. It might change, but so far I am enjoying it. a lot. What hits me is how different this is from the book I just completed. Each is marvelous in their own way. I adore variety. It will probably only last until tomorrow; it's short,

[Val]

I'm still behind on the group reads, but I intend to catch up eventually. (I have a lot of delayed library reservations which I have to read and return first.)

[Chrissie]

My review of When You Finish Saving the World by Jesse Eisenberg. It is free for Audible.com members during August.

My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I have begun the Victorian classic The Odd Women by George Gissing.

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

I have started A Hero of France by Alan Furst, an installment of his Night Solders series, WWII espionage novels. It's been a while since I've read one in the series which I've always enjoyed. This one is about the French Resistance rescuing RAF who were downed by the Germans in Occupied France and helping them get back to Britain.

[Val]

Fairfax and Carstairs?

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

Val wrote: "Fairfax and Carstairs?"

Was this for me?

[Val]

Yes, but probably meaningless. Fairfax and Carstairs are downed airman the resistance are trying to repatriate in a popular UK comedy from the late '80s early '90s.
Sorry Elizabeth, posting without considering context is not helpful.

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

Haha! The Alan Furst is definitely not comedy, just good historical fiction.

[Val]

I'll stick it on my TBR list, but am unlikely to get to it this year.

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

I picked it up at a charity sale last summer. I just knew I wanted to read more of his very good series. The books need not be read in order. Though I've been told some characters reappear, they would be in very minor, maybe even cameo, reappearances.

[Val]

I've never worried about reading a series in order or all the books in one.

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

We're on the same page, Val.

[Val]

We often are, so long as we avoid politics.

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

Val wrote: "We often are, so long as we avoid politics."

LOL - yep, and I'm probably the odd man (well, person!) out here anyway.

[Susan]

Politics are best avoided, I find. You made me smile, Val - I remember Fairfax and Carstairs well!

I don't have to read a series all at once, but I DO have to read them in order.

[Val]

Susan wrote: "Politics are best avoided, I find."
Yes, I've eventually found that too, although you might be surprised to hear that most of my family and several of my friends consider me to be right wing.