Classy and Trashy Book Club with the Moorhead Public Library discussion
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Classy and Trashy Readers' Salon: March 2021
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Right now, I am listening to The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins, which I've been meaning to read since we read and all enjoyed The Woman in White in an earlier iteration (or at least earlier name) for this group. I'm liking it so far except for some of the comments about women (as if a young woman having thoughts of her own is a bad thing - sigh).The previous audiobook that I finished was Oona Out of Order by Margarita Montimore which is the March selection for Pop Lit and I liked it a lot. I knew nothing about it going in, but ended up really enjoying it. In fact, I felt a little bad giving it 4 stars since I gave several recent things that rating and I liked this more than some of them, but I wasn't quite sure if I was ready to give it 5 stars since I so rarely give those (though I seem to be more comfortable giving non-fiction 5 stars than I am about fiction, not entirely sure why).
I'm also still working through the second part of Don Quixote with my online group and I think we are all enjoying the second part more than the first. We're more than halfway through this second part now so the end is at least vaguely in sight.
Other recent listens (I haven't actually been reading any books at the moment - though I do read bits of newspapers and some magazines) were Busman's Honeymoon by Dorothy Sayers due to discussions on that Classic Crime Fiction course I mentioned (that I still need to finish) and I've liked all the Lord Peter Wimsey ones I've read and Martin Eden by Jack London for the Fargo Classics Book Club, which I'd never heard of even though I've read others of his books and that was good too. And, the other looooong thing I listened to was Ducks, Newburyport by Lucy Ellmann which is a 45+ hour long (over 1000 pages) almost entirely stream of consciousness book with maybe 10 sentences (other than a few short sections about a mother mountain lioness). I know that sounds really awful, but it was nominated for several awards and won at least one (relating to the How to Read a Novel online course I've done a few times) and I liked it more than I expected to and found it an unexpectedly pleasant listen.
Mod
I also listened to the new Elly Griffiths - The Postscript Murders. I really enjoyed it and would recommend it to anyone who likes The Stranger Diaries or Thursday Murder Club. It's definitely got a contemporary British Cosy vibe.
The last book in Buroker's Star Kingdom series, Layers of Force, finally came out on audiobook so I listened to that. It was entertaining, but I'm not sure I liked it as much as some of the previous books....although some of that might have been me being sad that the series was coming to an end. I love all the characters in it.
I also may have finished listening to the Murdbot books for the second time. Because I love them that much!
And finally, I'm just about to finish The Last Smile in Sunder City (also for the 2nd time) and plan to go on to the next book in that series, Dead Man in a Ditch. When I first started Sunder City for book club I was second-guessing my picking it, but the further I get the more I remember how much I loved it and why. Can't wait to discuss it with everyone! - deb
Mod
I also finished Aunt Dimity's Christmas - another very cozy read that promotes a general happy feeling. I'm now trying to decide if I want to go back to Amelia, check out Erin Hart, check out the Bryant and May series, or do Dead Man in a Ditch (which I kind of started before but then got distracted finishing an Amelia book before it was due....). So many options :) - deb
I just saw your comment. I am a little over halfway through Wild Sign right now. I'm liking it so far, but I tend to like the Mercy Thompson books more than the Alpha and Omega ones (they are interconnected series, for those who don't know about Patricia Briggs' books), so I'm not sure this will end up being a favorite. But, we'll see. Another friend who read it as an ARC mentioned that the end left a lot of threads for future books to tie up.Before that, I finished The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah, which was very good, but really sad. I cried at multiple points. I also learned about what life was like during the Dust Bowl, which was something I learned about very briefly in school and from reading The Grapes of Wrath, but this gave me a much more personal idea of what the experience might have been like for those who lived through it.
Prior to that, I listened to the one I mentioned called Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado Perez. I thought it was very good and full of information and things I hadn't thought about. But it made me MAD!!!!
I liked the books by Erin Hart that I've read, but it's been a while. I don't think I've read The Book of Killowen yet, but I really should.
- deb