What are you reading the week of September 5, 2020?

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What are you reading the week of September 5, 2020?

1PaperbackPirate
sep 5, 2020, 12:07 pm

In honor of The Kentucky Derby today, I'm reading The Sport of Kings by C. E. Morgan.

What are you reading this week?

2rocketjk
Bewerkt: sep 5, 2020, 1:11 pm

Greetings! I'm about 200 pages into the 556-page history, Been in the Storm So Long: The Aftermath of Slavery by Leon Litwack. Very detailed, very well written, fascinating, but, of course, depressing. Still I consider this essential information for, at least, every American. I'm sorry it took me until age 65 to delve into this era in detail.

3Molly3028
Bewerkt: sep 8, 2020, 3:33 pm

Continuing to enjoy ~

The Romanov Empress: A Novel of Tsarina Maria Feodorovna
by C. W. Gortner
(OverDrive audio/almost 18 hours long)

UPDATE ~ 4+ stars

5JulieLill
Bewerkt: sep 5, 2020, 4:05 pm

The Two Faces of January
Patricia Highsmith
4/5 stars
A couple of con men, Chester MacFarland and Rydal Keener, along with McFarland’s wife, Colette travel to Greece. When MacFarland kills a Greek who reminds him of his father, they have to get out of Greece fast. However, another tragedy occurs and the group then splits up to leave Greece on their own before being arrested. Good story and a fast read! It was later made into a film.

6cindydavid4
Bewerkt: sep 5, 2020, 6:15 pm

Its taken me longer than I thought it would but I just finished stone sky It took rereading the last few sections a few times to totally get it, and still arent clear some things. But it didn't matter; in the end it really is a love story.

More than ready to start her Inheritance series, but not quite yet. Coming back to earth (heh) Im restarting Pull of the Stars

7Sheila_Samuelson
sep 5, 2020, 6:56 pm

The Beautiful by Renee Ahdieh

8Copperskye
sep 5, 2020, 7:16 pm

I'm still reading The Splendid and the Vile and mixing it up with Connie Schultz's The Daughters of Erietown.

9LyndaInOregon
Bewerkt: sep 5, 2020, 7:48 pm

Thirteen books read in August, with the standout being Tom Russell's Ceremonies of the Horsemen, a collection of essays dealing with various Western and music topics. When Russell is really cooking, he can't be beaten, but he really REALLY needed to have a proofreader/copy editor make a final pass over this.

One DNF this month: Mighty Justice by Dovey Johnson Roundtree. No question that Roundtree was present at or participated in many landmark moments of the Civil Rights Movement of the 60, but her writing has all the passion and emotional involvement of a grocery list.

Other works, rated high to low:
The Queen: The Forgotten Life Behind an American Myth, Josh Levin
Then We Came to the End, Joshua Ferris
Waterlily, Ella Cara Deloria
What's Left Untold, Sherri Leimkuhler )LTER)
The Note, Angela Hunt
Miss Julia Takes Over, Ann B. Ross
Nothing But Blue Skies, Thomas McGuane
The Idiot Girl and the Flaming Tantrum of Death, Laurie Notaro
Too Much and Never Enough, Mary Trump
Whiteland, Rosie Cranie-Higgs (LTER)
The Devil and Webster, Jean Korelitz

10hemlokgang
sep 6, 2020, 3:13 am

I finished lustening to the marvelous All The Devils Are Here. How I love this series!

Next up for listening is This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger.

11mnleona
Bewerkt: sep 6, 2020, 8:17 am

Finished Jane Eyre and now back to The Pillars of the Earth

12snash
sep 7, 2020, 7:20 am

Finished Epitaph: A Novel which was an excellent portrayal of characters and the lawless west in describing Wyatt Earps life and legend from Tombstone till his death.

13JulieLill
sep 7, 2020, 12:29 pm

>12 snash: I love Mary Doria Russell's books!

14seitherin
sep 7, 2020, 1:48 pm

Finished All the Devils Are Here by Louise Penny. Another excellent Inspector Gamache book.

16Coffeehag
sep 8, 2020, 10:52 am

Still reading Democracy in America by Alexis de Tocquecille. Fascinating book!

17lamplight
sep 9, 2020, 8:00 am

I'm reading the series by Louise Penny, but not yet up to the new book. Instead, I am reading Kingdom of the Blind. I read one of her books, then a few others in between, and then back to one of hers. I dish them out slowly....something to look forward to.

18BookConcierge
sep 9, 2020, 8:23 pm


Be Frank With Me – Julia Claiborne Johnson
Digital audiobook performed by Tavia Gilbert.
4****

M.M. “Mimi” Banning is a reclusive literary genius (and one-hit wonder) who has fallen prey to a Ponzi-scheme and is flat broke. In order to keep her Bel Air mansion, she must now produce a new book. She reluctantly agrees to her publisher’s offer of an assistant, with stipulation: “No Ivy Leaguers or English majors. Must drive, cook, tidy. Computer whiz. Good with kids. Quiet, discreet, sane.” But when Alice Whitley arrives she’s put to work immediately as a companion / nanny to Frank, Banning’s 9-year-old son, a devotee of 1930s movies (with a wardrobe to match).

This is a delightful, engaging novel. The characters are complex and the author deftly handles the difficulties of dealing with such an unusual situation. To say that Alice has her hands full is an understatement. She almost never has a chance to interact with Mimi, whose assistant she is supposed to be, because Mimi locks herself away in her study “writing” while Alice is left to care for Frank.

Frank is a challenge – to say the least. Although no diagnosis is ever given, it seems clear that he is on the autism spectrum. He’s highly intelligent, but unable to understand other’s behavior. His chief coping mechanism is to lie down stiff as a board. He is very literal as well, so jokes and word play elude him. He’s also a pretty talented detective and thief. Frank is the catalyst for the book’s most hilarious … and heartbreaking … moments.

Rounding out the cast are Mr Vargas, Mimi’s publisher and Alice’s boss (and all-around good guy); Paula, the secretary at Frank’s school (and a person Frank can truly rely upon); and the mysteriously elusive Xander, Frank’s piano teacher and all-around handy-man, who comes and goes seemingly on a whim.

I thought this was headed for a Hollywood ending … but Johnson surprised me. I’m glad. I love it when a book leaves me wanting more. I can hardly wait to read what she writes next.

Tavia Gilbert does a superb job narrating the audiobook. Her voice for Frank is particularly effective. Brava!

19cindydavid4
sep 9, 2020, 9:05 pm

Just finished You have arrived at your destination a short story/novella about a company that will help you chose your childs basic personality. Interesting concept, but Sam, the man character, kinda loses it, and didn't really care for the ending. I think this easily could have been a regular novel to explore each of the actors reactions. Also why isn't Sam more angry at Ann for sharing things with the company that are really not their business. And why is Ann not in the story? Loved Towles other books, disappointed in this one, even tho interesting concept.

20cindydavid4
sep 9, 2020, 9:11 pm

you have arrived at your destination Intersting nature/nurture look at choosing your childs personality with a algorhythm. Short story that easily could have been a complete novel so relationships and choices and actions could be better explored. I do like his writing and enjoyed this, but was somewhat disappointed (love that pic on the cover of the book!)

21BookConcierge
sep 10, 2020, 8:44 am


The Red Address Book – Sofia Lundberg
2.5**

From the book jacket: Meet Doris, a 96-year-old woman living alone in her Stockholm apartment. She has few visitors, but her weekly Skype calls with Jenny – her American grandniece, and her only relative – give her great joy and remind her of her own youth. When Doris was a girl, she was given an address book by her father, and ever since she has carefully documented everyone she met and loved throughout the years. Looking through the little book now, Doris sees the many crossed-out names of people long gone and is struck by the urge to put pen to paper.

My reactions: I am so over the dual time-line device in historical fiction! Just tell the story. This seemed very disjointed, what with the drama occurring in present day – both Doris and Jenny have some serious problems – and the drama of her great lost love in the past, I just never felt connected to these characters or to the story. I wanted more of Gosta, the artist that Doris befriended and who came through for her when she most needed him. I felt that the love affair with Allan was rushed and not really fleshed out. Yes, I remember the passion of a youthful love affair, the way your emotions wipe everything else out of your consciousness; but this just seemed underdeveloped to me. I also thought the relationship with Jenny’s mother (Doris’s niece) was lacking depth.

So, while I enjoyed reading about the modeling career in 1930s Paris, and the pluck and drive which took Doris across the ocean (twice), I was decidedly “meh” about the whole.

22nrmay
sep 10, 2020, 11:37 am

I've been reading novels dealing with the African American experience.
After reading Poet X by Ezabeth Acevedo and
golden poppies by Laila Ibrahim,
I'm now nearly done with award-winning piecing me together by Renee Watson.

23cindydavid4
Bewerkt: sep 10, 2020, 6:22 pm

>21 BookConcierge: Ive been over the dual time line device for ages. There are some authors who pull it off well, but Often the original time event or person is more interesting than any one they can put in modern time. Geraldine Brooks came close in her People of the book but she ruined it including the book conservators mother and her affairs. The ending was really all Dan Brown, and spoiled what was really a book of great imagination and insight. Ah well

24snash
sep 12, 2020, 2:56 pm

I finally got around to and finishing American Dirt. I can understand why it's gotten so much attention. It was well done and suspenseful.

25seitherin
sep 12, 2020, 5:16 pm