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This Week I are mostly reading (contd)

Sammy Jennings

...continued from this thread

A Good School by Richard Yates

Slight, but some great moments

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Wyldwood

Finished The Sleeper Lies by Andrea Mara. A good crime thriller with a couple of unforseen twists and turns. Will look for more books by her.

Callan57

The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd

farmerval

Reading lots through the lock down, finished;
The boy who followed his father into Auschwitz. Really good read.
Normal people, Sally Rooney, good book, started really well, faded somewhat.
Idaho, really disappointed in this, very well written, too much left unsaid in it.
Blood and Sugar, Thriller set around slave trading, really excellent thriller.
The Killer in me, Olivia Kiernan, Irish set crime novel, thoroughly enjoyed it.
Where the Crawdads sing. Good book, read it straight after Idaho, possibly too much slow moving, very detailed descriptions in two books in a row. Way better than Idaho though.
Willie Carlin, Thatchers spy. Good read. Good insight into the times, also good insight into mentality of various factions at the time.

Thanks to all who put up what they've read and what they thought of it, this thread is currently my first port of call when looking for new books.

The White Feather

Callan57 wrote: »

Next is Scrublands by Chris Hammer

I really enjoyed that book. Reviewed it as well

Callan57

Finished Unorthodox by Deborah Feldman ... amazing insight into a Hasidic community in NY. I was aware of the existence of this orthodox Jewish community but didn't know it was so introverted and fundamentalist nor did I know it's origins are only post WW11, I had assumed it went back much further.
I've now read Educated, Unfollow & Unorthodox so I think that is more than enough of ultra-conservative sects for a while.

Next is Scrublands by Chris Hammer

Really enjoying Senan Moloney's The Phoenix Park Murders at the minute.

Sinister Kid

Callan57 wrote: »

I read it back in Dec & I enjoyed it. Very original but dark & oddly funny. It's a short but intriguing read.

I agree with this but on the other hand, I think because of the hype surrounding it, I was expecting something less predictable, a twist or something a bit more dramatic.

Daisies

Flew through My Friend Anna in 3 days. Started Born A Crime last night.

Callan57

Xofpod wrote: »

My sister the Serial Killer is in my pile (actually bought it for my wife but I don't think she was too impressed) - what's the general verdict?

I read it back in Dec & I enjoyed it. Very original but dark & oddly funny. It's a short but intriguing read.

Xofpod

Sinister Kid wrote: »

Very true! The chick lit I was referring to would be Sophie Kinsella & Cecelia Ahern... I definitely would't put the others into that category!
I enjoyed My Sister The Serial Killer but I don't think it deserves the all hype it has gotten.

My sister the Serial Killer is in my pile (actually bought it for my wife but I don't think she was too impressed) - what's the general verdict?

[Deleted User]

KJ wrote: »

I preferred his first book. I found the second one trying too hard and showing too much of his Kevin Barry influences. Still enjoyable though.

I'm about half way through the second one, so it's difficult to compare. I've put it to one side to accommodate the book club schedule. The second book seems marginally less gut-churningly gross than the first one. The guy obviously is amazingly well read.

Joe_ Public

Sinister Kid wrote: »

Very true! The chick lit I was referring to would be Sophie Kinsella & Cecelia Ahern... I definitely would't put the others into that category!
I enjoyed My Sister The Serial Killer but I don't think it deserves the all hype it has gotten.

Ha! Was only kidding really. I read the other one on the booker list, Girl, Woman, Other and liked it a lot. Was disappointed they felt they had to give Atwood the prize as well because i didnt think her book was quite in the same league.

Sinister Kid

Joe_ Public wrote: »

Havent read the Braithwaite book but didnt think it came under the 'chick lit' banner. Also, I'd strongly advise ever using that term within 400 yards of Marian Keyes and only then if you have your best trainers on ;-)

Very true! The chick lit I was referring to would be Sophie Kinsella & Cecelia Ahern... I definitely would't put the others into that category!
I enjoyed My Sister The Serial Killer but I don't think it deserves the all hype it has gotten.

Joe_ Public

Sinister Kid wrote: »

I've been reading more chick lit than usual lately. I think my brain needs a soft squishy distraction from the chaos in the world at the moment.

Since the lock down began I've read...

Interlude in Death - J.D. Robb
Grown Ups - Marian Keys
The Husbands Secret - Lorraine Moriarty
Can You Keep a Secret - Sophie Kinsella
Postscript - Cecelia Ahern
My Sister The Serial Killer - Oyinkan Braithwaite
The Hunting Party - Lucy Foley

Havent read the Braithwaite book but didnt think it came under the 'chick lit' banner. Also, I'd strongly advise ever using that term within 400 yards of Marian Keyes and only then if you have your best trainers on ;-)

Sinister Kid

I've been reading more chick lit than usual lately. I think my brain needs a soft squishy distraction from the chaos in the world at the moment.

Since the lock down began I've read...

Interlude in Death - J.D. Robb
Grown Ups - Marian Keys
The Husbands Secret - Lorraine Moriarty
Can You Keep a Secret - Sophie Kinsella
Postscript - Cecelia Ahern
My Sister The Serial Killer - Oyinkan Braithwaite
The Hunting Party - Lucy Foley

Callan57

Starting Unorthodox by Deborah Feldman

eire4

Finished a re-read of The Adventures of Tintin Volume 3 which contains The Crab With the Golden Claw, The Shooting Star and The Secret of the Unicorn. Always was my favourite graphic novel/comic when I was a kid and even now still a fun re-read.

Wyldwood

Enjoyed The Lighthouse Keeper's Daughter by Hazel Gaynor. Based on the true story of Grace Darling and written with two parallel related stories a century apart one in in the 19thC and one in the 20thC.

eire4

Finished Marion Zimmer Bradley's The Lady of Avalon which is another historical fiction novel from her Arthurian series and carries on from where The Forest House left off. Definitely an improvement on the previous book but still not much better then slightly above average for me. The way the book is put together it is almost like 3 mini books in one that lead into one another.

AndrewJRenko wrote: »

Boulevard Wren by Blindboy Boatclub

Gripping, bizarre, surreal, stomach churning - like a set of David Lynch films set in economically deprived parts of Ireland. The writer is clearly amazingly well read himself.

I preferred his first book. I found the second one trying too hard and showing too much of his Kevin Barry influences. Still enjoyable though.

[Deleted User]

Boulevard Wren by Blindboy Boatclub

Gripping, bizarre, surreal, stomach churning - like a set of David Lynch films set in economically deprived parts of Ireland. The writer is clearly amazingly well read himself.

51903501._SX318_SY475_.jpg

Callan57

The Hundred Secret Senses by Amy Tan

Wyldwood

The Foundling by Stacey Halls. Finally a book that I got engrossed in during this mess.

Love the way Halls can weave a story based on historic happenings. The Foundlings came about after she visited the Foundling Hospital and heard the stories of how women had to leave their children there with a token to identify them should they be in a position to retrieve them at a later date.

Daisy78

The island that dared by Dervla Murphy.

Just finished A Clockwork Orange. Enjoyable after you get to grips with the language used. I do now refer to things being bezoomny and horrorshow though.

Daisies

What else would you read in a pandemic but a book about a pandemic. Started Getting to Zero by Sinead Walsh and Oliver Johnson on Sunday. It's a book about the Enola pandemic in Sierra Leone. About half way through already

Callan57

Last night I started The Paper Bracelet by Rachel English

Xofpod

Wolf Hall, Hilary Mantel. Sat on my shelf for years. Despite universal acclaim from everyone I know who's read it, I think it was my general lack of interest in matters around the British monarchy that put me off. A fairly ridiculous mental block if this was the case, and thoroughly enjoying it so far

Wyldwood

Apeirogon by Colum McCann.

This is the heartbreaking story of the friendship that develops between Rami and Bassam after the deaths of their daughters in the Palestinian Isreali conflict. Theirs is a peace mission that takes them all over the world. I loved the story, upsetting as it was, but I didn't like the delivery.
I know I'm in a minority here but the 'stream of thought' mode of writing, while being very well researched and detailed, just made the flow of the narrative disjointed for me. I know my concentration is off and that possibly made it more difficult to enjoy. Maybe a re-read another time might be on the cards.
Having said all that I would recommend it and I'm a big McCann fan.

I'm also listening to Hilary Mantel's The Mirror and the Light on BBC. It's an abridged version but I'm enjoying it as I couldn't get into a 900 page long book right now.

Here it is for anyone looking for it

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000gcvz?fbclid=IwAR3QGRijv7leBv7XG1-w3Q96qEZo8nSLvmlTWA4t5hR4vZDZDwgIJoFVVcE

Callan57

This is Happiness by Niall Williams