I finished "The Guest Room" by Chris Bohjalian. It was a book on CD for me. I enjoyed it. It starts out w/ a straight-laced family man having a bachelor party for his brother. Of course one of the brother's friends invites "entertainment". At what should have been a fun night out for the boys turns into murder and mayhem. The story is told from the view point of the good brother and his wife as well as "the entertainment". This had a decent amount of suspense to keep me interested. Good enough book. The ending kind of surprised me.
Books, books and more books
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Sandy Greek
Cathlete
I just finished "The interestings"' by Meg Wolitzer. I highly recommend it, a big story of love, friendship, dreams and expectations in one's life, gifted people against normal ones.. Made me think....
I just finished "The Woods" by Harlen Coben. I enjoyed it. It had a good amount of suspense which kept me coming back for more. It didn't have a predictable storyline either. If you like mystery or suspense I recommend this one. This is the one about some camp couselors going into the woods for....well you know...right? Problem is, they are never seen again. The brother of one of the missing counselors is now a prosecutor and hell bent on finding the truth of what happened to his sister.
I also just started "The orphan Train". I'm just a short way into it and I'm hooked.
I also just started "The orphan Train". I'm just a short way into it and I'm hooked.
maddiesmum
Cathlete
Sorry there hasn't been much from me on this thread lately. I just started a new job, my daughter came home from college, gardening season has begun (hooray!) and my mother arrived from UK for a visit. I am inundated, and reading time is literally the 10 mins before I fall asleep!
I am reading "Eligible" the new release from Curtis Sittenfeld. Basically, it is an update on Pride and Prejudice for a contemporary audience. So far though, I fail to see the need for this book and I am more than 2/3-rds through it. I am persevering because she is a good writer and I feel that, ultimately, there has to be a reason and ultimate meaning behind this 're-write.' Otherwise, why would you bother? I mean, P & P is a classic, a majesterial novel. You can't improve upon it, it already is da bomb in literature so there has to be some other reason, right? I don't yet know what that reason is. If there turns out not to be one, I will be bloody annoyed! Watch this space ...
On BOCD I am re-listening to "Girl with the Pearl Earring" by Tracy Chevalier and still loving it, even after several reads and listens. Also, "The Ex" by Alafair Burke, read by Xe Sands, who is one of the most original BOCD narrators I have heard in a while, her voice is incredible, expressive as hell, real easy on the ears. I could, literally, listen to her all day. She's gonna be one of the greats. She narrated Lily King's "Euphoria," one of my best novels of 2015: knock-your-socks-off good!
Hugs to all my reading friends!
Clare
I am reading "Eligible" the new release from Curtis Sittenfeld. Basically, it is an update on Pride and Prejudice for a contemporary audience. So far though, I fail to see the need for this book and I am more than 2/3-rds through it. I am persevering because she is a good writer and I feel that, ultimately, there has to be a reason and ultimate meaning behind this 're-write.' Otherwise, why would you bother? I mean, P & P is a classic, a majesterial novel. You can't improve upon it, it already is da bomb in literature so there has to be some other reason, right? I don't yet know what that reason is. If there turns out not to be one, I will be bloody annoyed! Watch this space ...
On BOCD I am re-listening to "Girl with the Pearl Earring" by Tracy Chevalier and still loving it, even after several reads and listens. Also, "The Ex" by Alafair Burke, read by Xe Sands, who is one of the most original BOCD narrators I have heard in a while, her voice is incredible, expressive as hell, real easy on the ears. I could, literally, listen to her all day. She's gonna be one of the greats. She narrated Lily King's "Euphoria," one of my best novels of 2015: knock-your-socks-off good!
Hugs to all my reading friends!
Clare
I remember really liking that one last summer!
Really enjoyed that one, too!
Right now I'm totally engrossed in "The Last Painting of Sara de Vos." 3 related storylines that span centuries and continents, with the painting linking all 3. I'll post back when I finish it, but I'm hooked so far.
maddiesmum
Cathlete
Sara de Vos: definitely sounds good. Tell us all when you are done!
Clare
Clare
The Lilac Girls....forget the authors name. Based on a true story but fictionalized about Polish women in Ravensbruck concentration camp during WWII ...how they got there and what happened to them afterwards...and socialite Caroline Ferriday...a real person...who came to their aid after the war. Amazing what strength and survival skills these women possessed. This was very good both from a historical perspective and the individuals involved.
Lake House Kate Morton. Good read. A mystery that begins before WWI and continues thru to the present. Disappearance of a child from a country estate and the family questions of what actually happened to him. A 70 year old mystery and the people involved. I enjoyed this.
Lake House Kate Morton. Good read. A mystery that begins before WWI and continues thru to the present. Disappearance of a child from a country estate and the family questions of what actually happened to him. A 70 year old mystery and the people involved. I enjoyed this.
Justinef
Cathlete
Thank you for the recommendation! Could hardly bear to put it down.
Ronne
Cathlete
I just finished The Year of the Runaways by Sunjeev Sahota. It's set in India and the UK about migrants, focusing on three people from different parts of India/UK and their interconnected lives. It's about what people run away from and how things don't turn out as expected. The stories are very moving with a range of characters/experiences. I enjoyed the insight into a world I know nothing about.
I like books that tell me about things I don't know but in a novel form which can provide more insight into people's thoughts and motivations.
I like books that tell me about things I don't know but in a novel form which can provide more insight into people's thoughts and motivations.
Curious to hear your thoughts on this one. I'm 90 pages in and am enjoying the humor - and I want to slap Kitty and Lydia, which I suppose is the appropriate reaction. I kind of prefer this version of Mr. Bennett to the original.
Sort of a sad commentary so far on our "modern" expectations for women, though.
Sandy Greek
Cathlete
I just finished "Americanah" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: the story of a Nigerian girl who leaves her country and goes to the Usa where she understands what it means to be black and be treated like a black. She goes to University, finds her way into the good American middle- class and starts a blog where she discusses and observes ratial related topics. She finally decides to go back to Nigeria. This book gave me a perspective of ratial issues in the Usa, just one of course and I hope to soon read something else on this subject. Ifemelu, that is the name of this woman, is a really strong character, I have loved her coherence, her staying true to her principles and her courage to make decisions often against the stream.
Sandy Greek
Cathlete
Hi Zora! This was my first book by this author. I came acrooss this book by chance. I googled American bestsellers and was taken to a page on the most sold books written in 2013 if I am not mistaken. I am fascinated by Africa and America, would also like to get a deeper understanding of ratial conflicts. I live in Europe, our experience is so much different. Right now I have just begun to read "children are diamonds: an African Apocalypse" by Edward Hoagland.
maddiesmum
Cathlete
Curious to hear your thoughts on this one. I'm 90 pages in and am enjoying the humor - and I want to slap Kitty and Lydia, which I suppose is the appropriate reaction. I kind of prefer this version of Mr. Bennett to the original.
We always want to slap Lydia and Kitty, no matter which version we read. Lydia, in this version, is more insolent than downright stupid, and the marriage she makes is not disastrous as the one to Wickham is in P&P. As for Mr Bennett, I find him as objectionable in his apathetic stance in this version as in the original. I think I want to shake him more than I do Lydia!
I found it hard to believe in the love between Darcy and Lizzie in Settenfeld's book: Darcy appears largely absent from the scene, which is more about saving the Bennet parents from themselves and Jane than anything else. Darcy is a shadow figure. Still not sure what the point of this re-write is or was ...
Hey ho! On to my next read ...
Clare
The Hoagland book sounds interesting. If you're interested in the racial conflicts in the US, definitely check out Ta-Nehisi Coates' Between the World and Me. It's framed as a letter to his teenaged son and is a powerful commentary on racism today.
I agree. While parts of it were quite funny and entertaining, other parts were too over-the-top for me. We're supposed to hate Wickham, yet cheer on Ham as a genuinely likeable guy (why he's with Lydia is still a mystery to me). Darcy wasn't needed in this version to "save" Lydia from utter ruin; it would've been more believable if he'd rescued her from joining a cult or something. And the whole family participating in the reality show at the end made me lose respect for most of them. The hate sex twist surprised me, too.
maddiesmum
Cathlete
I want to chime back in and give a shout out to all the books by Laura Lippman, one of my favourite authors of all time. Excellent writing. Superb plotting. I haven't read her new release yet, Wild lake, but just re-read one from 2 releases ago: "When she was Good". Stunning.
A suburban madam narrates how disastrous relationships with abusive men got her into the life --reminiscent of many of the narratives of the inmates on OITNB (TV show on Netflix)-- and these flashback, retrospective narrative sequences are interspersed with her present day life as she details the trials and tribulations of her day to day life, or rather, her double life, as both madam of a high class escort service and suburban mother and housewife, although, an impeccably groomed and circumspect one. The narrative opens with Heloise standing in line at a supermarket check out and over-hearing a conversation being held between the two ladies ahead of her in the queue who are loudly condemning the recent news headlines regarding a suburban madam of another brothel who managed to get herself killed, the heinous bitch and oh!, how morally superior these two women in queue are!
Heloise's reaction to these women, her thought processes as she listens while in the queue and thinks about the social implications of the dead woman's life and work, mark her out immediately as in possession of a lively, well-read mind and as a prospective force to be reckoned with. The reader is hooked from this opening sequence. What we will gradually begin to ask ourselves is: what are the ramifications for Heloise of the fate that befell this murdered madam? And, more significantly, can she outwit those who were the instrument of that fate?
Once you've read this novel, head back to your library and grab an armful of Lippman's previous novels, both her stand alone mystery/thrillers and also her series set in Baltimore featuring PI Tess Monaghan, a woman after our own hearts because she is big-boned, loves to eat and eat well, lifts weights, rows/crew and runs. And, of course, has an enquiring mind of her own. All of the Tess books feature Baltimore as a character, just as Manhattan is a character of Sex in the City, as each novel takes in as aspect of Baltimore's past and [present history as backdrop to the present day narrative and events. It is refreshing to have a PI series set somewhere other than New York or Los Angeles.
Happy Bank Holiday everybody!
Clare
A suburban madam narrates how disastrous relationships with abusive men got her into the life --reminiscent of many of the narratives of the inmates on OITNB (TV show on Netflix)-- and these flashback, retrospective narrative sequences are interspersed with her present day life as she details the trials and tribulations of her day to day life, or rather, her double life, as both madam of a high class escort service and suburban mother and housewife, although, an impeccably groomed and circumspect one. The narrative opens with Heloise standing in line at a supermarket check out and over-hearing a conversation being held between the two ladies ahead of her in the queue who are loudly condemning the recent news headlines regarding a suburban madam of another brothel who managed to get herself killed, the heinous bitch and oh!, how morally superior these two women in queue are!
Heloise's reaction to these women, her thought processes as she listens while in the queue and thinks about the social implications of the dead woman's life and work, mark her out immediately as in possession of a lively, well-read mind and as a prospective force to be reckoned with. The reader is hooked from this opening sequence. What we will gradually begin to ask ourselves is: what are the ramifications for Heloise of the fate that befell this murdered madam? And, more significantly, can she outwit those who were the instrument of that fate?
Once you've read this novel, head back to your library and grab an armful of Lippman's previous novels, both her stand alone mystery/thrillers and also her series set in Baltimore featuring PI Tess Monaghan, a woman after our own hearts because she is big-boned, loves to eat and eat well, lifts weights, rows/crew and runs. And, of course, has an enquiring mind of her own. All of the Tess books feature Baltimore as a character, just as Manhattan is a character of Sex in the City, as each novel takes in as aspect of Baltimore's past and [present history as backdrop to the present day narrative and events. It is refreshing to have a PI series set somewhere other than New York or Los Angeles.
Happy Bank Holiday everybody!
Clare