What are You Reading - 2023

[Kristie, Moderator]

I'm finally starting Daisy Darker later today.

[Gavin]

Reading A Man Called Ove

[Peggy]

Gavin wrote: "Reading A Man Called Ove"

I found out today that there's a movie of it!

[Peggy]

I just started The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World

I'm also reading Eldest and listening to Lessons in Chemistry. I started them both quite some time ago.

I seem to have three books on the go all the time now, and not that much time for reading, so they all seem to take forever.

[Christine]

I’m reading a book called The Accomplice by Lisa Lutz

[Janice, Moderator]

I finished Song of the River and will start my monthly challenge pick, The Killings at Kingfisher Hill.

[Kristie, Moderator]

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

Currently reading Townshipped and Daisy Darker.

[Dem]

Finished and enjoyed The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley Heller

My Review: www.goodreads.com/review/show/4985349905

[Christine]

[Janice, Moderator]

Finished Purity in Death on audio and will start A Natural History of Dragons today.

[Cherie]

I just finished reading Other Birds by Sarah Addison Allen. I really liked it! It is the fourth book by this author that I have read.
I just downloaded The Peach Keeper to read - because it was available. 😊

I am currently listening to Moonflower Murders by Anthony Horowitz. It is a book within a book. Interesting!

[Christine]

[PattyMacDotComma]

Peggy wrote: "Gavin wrote: "Reading A Man Called Ove"

I found out today that there's a movie of it!"

The original Swedish movie is terrific, Peggy. I believe Tom Hanks is A Man Called Otto in the new American film. He's a wonderful actor, but I think they should have chosen someone who seems grouchier to begin with. He's too easy to warm to.

[PattyMacDotComma]

The Transit of Venus, by acclaimed Australian author Shirley Hazzard, is now a modern classic that was reissued in 2021, 25 years after its first publication. Aussie sisters grow up in post-WW2 England, where their beauty is admired, but their southern hemisphere origins are disparaged. GREAT READ!
5★ My review of Transit of Venus

[PattyMacDotComma]

Hedy Lamarr was a true Hollywood bombshell, as this children's picture book by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara describes in an addition to the Little People BIG DREAMS series. She was not only beautiful, she was technologically brilliant.
5★ My review of Hedy Lamarr with several of the lovely illustrations and a drop-dead gorgeous photo of her

[Shirley]

PattyMacDotComma wrote: "The Transit of Venus, by acclaimed Australian author Shirley Hazzard, is now a modern classic that was reissued in 2021, 25 years after its first publication. Aussie sist..."
Thanks for the recommendation. I’ve put it on my TBR list.

[Christine]

I’m reading a book called Only Fear by Anne Marie Becker

[PattyMacDotComma]

Shirley wrote: "PattyMacDotComma wrote: "The Transit of Venus, by acclaimed Australian author Shirley Hazzard, is now a modern classic that was reissued in 2021, 25 years after its first..."

Hope you like it, Shirley. 😊

[PattyMacDotComma]

This is a terrible, but important, story from what should be America's past. Now the nightly news is almost as bad.

Ralph Ellison wrote A Party Down at the Square in his youth, but it wasn't published until decades later.

Maybe humans should slink back into the swamp. Content warning, even for the review. (no pictures!) There are many excellent reviews of it Here's mine:
5★ My review of A Party Down at the Square including a link to a PDF of the story

[Tricia]

I'm still struggling through Sea of Tranquility which I started a week ago during the toppler. Not sure what my deal is, but I'm finding it extremely slow going.

Meanwhile, my library hold for The Winners became available, so I've started that and am really enjoying it.

[Cherie]

Tricia - I found the Sea of Tranquility hard to get into at first. I was listening to the audiobook and had to re-listen to several sections more than once before I understood what was going on. It is such a different time and place and the characters are not easy to understand, especially the MC and the family dynamics. I DID get to understand them and appreciate the story though. I doubt that it s for everyone, so don’t feel bad for giving up, if you do. 😊

[Cherie]

I put The Peach Keeper on the back burner and I am currently reading Pellucidar, to catch up to speed on the series. I read the fourth book in the series for the topper and decided that I needed to review the in between books because I want to read the rest of the books in the series. I’m trying to get my grandson interested in reading Tarzan of the Apes.

[PattyMacDotComma]

Freddie Mercury had a remarkable impact on today's music. The recent children's biography by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara gives us a bit of his life and the founding of the phenomenon that became Queen.
5★ My review of Freddie Mercury with several illustrations and links to some of the unforgettable music

[PattyMacDotComma]

Aussie author Michael Robotham is a favourite of mine. Bleed for Me is the fourth in his clinical psychologist Joe O'Loughlin series. It could easily be read as a stand-alone because he fills in the back stories so well but manages not to spoil the earlier books if you go back and read them later (as I have done).
5★ My review of Bleed for Me

[Dem]

Finished Ancestry: A Novel by Simon Mawer

My Review:www.goodreads.com/review/show/5335203629

[Janice, Moderator]

I finished A Natural History of Dragons and started Abaddon's Gate.

[Kristie, Moderator]

I just finished Townshipped . It was really cute. My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Kristie, Moderator]

I also finished Sudden Death, but haven't had a chance to review yet.

I just started The Last Orphan.

[Tricia]

I finished The Winners (5 stars) and Sea of Tranquility (2 stars: I think it went right over my head).

Now I'm reading The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency. I've wanted to read it for a long time, and "Read a book set in Africa" just happens to be on the last puzzle I need for my first yearly challenge badge.

[Christine]

I’m reading a book called The Bodyguard by Katherine Center

[PattyMacDotComma]

The Torrent by Dinuka McKenzie is set in the aftermath of the NSW Northern Rivers floods, where the mother of a flood victim says he was murdered. Good story with a great new detective, heavily pregnant Kate Miles (as if she didn't have enough to worry about).
4★ My review of The Torrent

[Danny]

I'm in the middle of a few books right now but I'm focusing on Our Stories, Our Voices: 21 YA Authors Get Real About Injustice, Empowerment, and Growing Up Female in America and What If It's Us :)

[Lilisa]

I finished A Spell of Good Things by Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀. I loved the author’s debut novel, but was a bit disappointed with this one - her second. My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I finally did a review for Boxed Wine at Sunset by Judy Beaudoin, which I read for the yearly challenge. I loved it! My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I’m listening to The Temptation of Forgiveness by Donna Leon and restarted A Stone is Most Precious Where it Belongs by Gulchehra Hoja.

[Cherie]

I am wandering around in Pellucidar.
I am reading #5, Back to the Stone Age by Edgar Rice Burroughs.

[Lilisa]

I finished A Stone is Most Precious Where it Belongs by Gulchehra Hoja. About the Uyghurs and their ongoing struggles the Chinese government. I liked it a lot, it was so informative and interesting. My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Christine]

[Christine]

I’m reading a book called Dead Against Her by Melinda Leigh

[Lilisa]

I am with Donna Leon’s Doctored Evidence on audio and Acqua Alta in print.

I just finished reading a short story collection - A Small Sacrifice for an Enormous Happiness: Stories by Jai Chakrabarti. I enjoyed it. My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Shirley]

Lilisa wrote: "I finished A Stone is Most Precious Where it Belongs by Gulchehra Hoja. About the Uyghurs and their ongoing struggles the Chinese government. I liked it a lot, it ..."

Thanks for the recommendation, Lilisa. I was happy to find that my library has a copy, so I’ve put a hold on it.

[Shirley]

PattyMacDotComma wrote: "The Torrent by Dinuka McKenzie is set in the aftermath of the NSW Northern Rivers floods, where the mother of a flood victim says he was murdered. Good story with ..."yes I liked this one too, so I’m looking forward to the next one.

[Christine]

[Janice, Moderator]

I'm reading The House Girl on ebook, and The Return of the Native on audiobook. New month, new reads.

[Lilisa]

Shirley wrote: "Lilisa wrote: "I finished A Stone is Most Precious Where it Belongs by Gulchehra Hoja. About the Uyghurs and their ongoing struggles the Chinese government. I like..."

Fingers crossed that you’ll like it, Shirley!

[PattyMacDotComma]

Shirley wrote: "PattyMacDotComma wrote: "The Torrent by Dinuka McKenzie is set in the aftermath of the NSW Northern Rivers floods, where the mother of a flood victim says he was m...

yes I liked this one too, so I’m looking forward to the next one"

Me too, Shirley!

[PattyMacDotComma]

Doris Lessing showed in 1963 that it wasn't possible for even A Woman on a Roof to escape unwanted attention. I'm not sure things have changed that much in 50 years, have they?
2.5~3★ My review of A Woman on A Roof with a link to the short story itself

[PattyMacDotComma]

I was hoping to find an answer to What Are Mondays Good For, Anyway?, not being a fan of Mondays, and while I enjoyed the illustrations, I don't think I'd have been happy sending my kids to school with these suggestions.
2.5★ My review of What Are Mondays Good For, Anyway? with illustrations, of course

[Christine]

I’m reading a book called Stay Awake by Megan Goldin

[Kristie, Moderator]

I have too many books started right now and they are all of a similar genre. I need to get straightened out.

[PattyMacDotComma]

Kristie wrote: "I have too many books started right now and they are all of a similar genre. I need to get straightened out."

Hit the library, Kristie!

[PattyMacDotComma]

A classic that I somehow missed! A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle has everything I'd have loved as a young reader: kids on a quest, a mysterious missing father, magic spirits, time travel, and Evil to be overcome! I still enjoyed it now.
4★ My review of A Wrinkle in Time