What I'm Reading - May/June 2024

[Sue]

Hotel Silence was my introduction to her writing. It’s quite different in a wonderful way. I have recommended it to many and continue to do so.

[Tamara]

After reading John Buchan's The 39 Steps, I felt like reading another spy novel. I remembered how much I used to enjoy novels by John le Carré, so I picked up his Agent Running in the Field. Read it and enjoyed.

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

[Book Concierge]

The Underground Railroad – Colson Whitehead – 4****
Whitehead’s Pulitzer-Prize-winning novel is an extraordinary work of fiction. Unlike many novels set in the antebellum south, Whitehead’s imagination gives us a real railroad, traveling underground, through various states. As abolitionists and slave holders battle for supremacy, stations are closed or opened, sections of track are expanded or abandoned. Cora is a marvelous character - strong, resilient, smart, observant. Her desire for freedom never wanes; she will get there or die trying.
LINK to my full review

[Tamara]

I read The Wren, the Wren by Anne Enright. The novel uses familial relations to show how language and silences can serve to connect us or distance us over time. It was very well done.
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show....

[Lynn]

Tamara wrote: "I read The Wren, the Wren by Anne Enright. The novel uses familial relations to show how language and silences can serve to connect us or distance us over time. It wa..."

This book is one of the ones selected for our next six months of the Reading List, Tamara. I hope you can remember enough about it to participate in the discussion when it comes around. (We haven't set the specific schedule yet, so I can't tell you when it will be discussed, but the schedule should be posted in the next few weeks.)

[Tamara]

Lynn wrote: "This book is one of the ones selected for our next six months of the Reading List, Tamara. .."

Thanks for letting me know, Lynn. I wasn't aware of that.
I'm always out of sync because the library books I'm on hold for seldom come in the right time for me to participate in the discussions. I write reviews of books I read to help me remember what I've read. So I should be able to participate in the discussion of The Wren when it comes up. I thought it was a good book and look forward to seeing what others thought of it.

[Book Concierge]

Leave the World Behind – Rumaan Alam – 4****
This grabbed me from page one and held on through the wonderfully ambiguous ending. It’s hard to say this is post-apocalyptic, though it’s certainly headed in that direction. Alam writes these characters so well. And gives the reader the same “unbalanced” sense that the characters feel – not knowing what is happening nor whom to trust. I’m left feeling unsettled and confused and curious and excited and desperate to know what is next.
LINK to my full review

[Ana]

I'm reading The Adversary by Michael Crummey, a Canadian writer. I love his work and he doesn't disappoint in this one either.

[Barbara]

Thank you, Ana. I have spent a significant amount of time in Canada. Their writers frequently don't get the attention that they deserve.

[Tamara]

Ana wrote: "I'm reading The Adversary by Michael Crummey, a Canadian writer. I love his work and he doesn't disappoint in this one either."

Ana, I've not heard of Michael Crummey before and would like to read his novels. Do you have a suggestion as to which one I should read first? Fortunately, my library has a couple of his books.

[Tamara]

I read James by Percival Everett.
A brilliant re-imagining of Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn which honors its predecessor while interrogating the social construction of race through the performance and voice of an eloquent and unforgettable James. An impressive achievement.

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

[Lynn]

Tamara wrote: "I read James by Percival Everett.
A brilliant re-imagining of Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn which honors its predecessor while interrogating the social con..."

You're on a streak, Tamara - that's another one on our Reading List for discussion this fall. Look for the schedule in the Reading List conference to find out the specific starting date (I should be able to post the schedule in the next couple of weeks).

[Tamara]

Lynn wrote: "Tamara wrote: "I read James by Percival Everett.
You're on a streak, Tamara - that's another one on our Reading List for discussion this fall..."

LOL!

[Lynn]

I just started the new thread for July and August so I'm closing this thread to new posts. Please continue your discussions in the new thread.