Books!!

Clare - I totally agree with your thoughts on The Minaturist. Modern ideas in an 18thC setting.

I'm currently reading What Alice Forgot (as recommended here!) - and enjoying it (started last night).
I loved A Man Called Ove (we ALL know a man just like him - my dad in my case!)
Funny Girl by Nick Hornby has been my favourite this year (partly because the protagonist was born in Blackpool and moved to London - just like me)
I have recently read a series of spy novels (cold war era), which is totally unlike me (I could never get through Tinker Tailor). They're by Charles Cumming and start, I think, with A Colder War. I think I liked them so much because the author is only 44, so has a fresh perspective.
Also our book club has just read Behind The Scenes at The Museum, which was a very different sort of book. I do like Kate Atkinson, and have read a few of hers (Case Histories etc)
Clearly, I'm riding a British novelists wave at the moment (although I will read Harper Lee's 'new' one as soon as I can).

If I think of any others that stand out, I'll post.
x
 
tlc93 said:
I also read John Sanford with Lucas Davenport as well as the off shoot character, Virgil Flowers. James Patterson is always good and I love his Micheal Bennett books. Bennet is an NYPD detective with 10 kids and an Irish Priest grandfather and an Irish nanny. Love that series! Because James Patterson is from NY, some of the stories have familiar towns, roads, businesses etc....close to where I live. That's kind of neat.
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I also read John Sanford's 2 series and the Michael Bennett books are my favorites from Patterson. :)
 
Great thread! I agree with Clare and Justine and highly recommend the Jackson Brodie novels (though I do think they tail off a bit), but Case Histories is just superb, so moving.
Best book I've read recently is William Trevor Other People's Worlds. I must read more of his, that was only my second.
I also absolutely loved The Circle by Dave Eggers, hilarious and chilling.
I'm currently reading The Emperor Waltz by Philip Hensher. I've read quite a lot of his. His best one, for me, was the last one Scenes From Early Life.
I never really buy books, just go to the library and get whatever's there. I'm not quite in your league Clare, I get through a book a week on average! I have a kindle as well but I don't really like it, I just use it on holiday.
I'm a big 19th century novel fan as well, Dickens, Wilkie Collins etc.
 
So....I've become a fan of Liane Moriarty with Big little lies (loved it ), The husband's secret, What Alice forgot. I have more of hers on my list that I haven't gotten to yet. Similar to her is Sophie Kinsella with Wedding night (very cute and funny) and Remember me. Also new to me because of this thread is Alex Kava.

Thank you everyone for your input and suggestions! I've been introduced to authors I may have otherwise missed and I do love a good story!!
 
tlc93 said:
So....I've become a fan of Liane Moriarty with Big little lies (loved it ), The husband's secret, What Alice forgot. I have more of hers on my list that I haven't gotten to yet. Similar to her is Sophie Kinsella with Wedding night (very cute and funny) and Remember me. Also new to me because of this thread is Alex Kava.

Thank you everyone for your input and suggestions! I've been introduced to authors I may have otherwise missed and I do love a good story!!
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I just finished "The Husband's Secret," thought it was very good.
 
Ronne said:
Great thread! I agree with Clare and Justine and highly recommend the Jackson Brodie novels (though I do think they tail off a bit), but Case Histories is just superb, so moving.
Best book I've read recently is William Trevor Other People's Worlds. I must read more of his, that was only my second.
I also absolutely loved The Circle by Dave Eggers, hilarious and chilling.
I'm currently reading The Emperor Waltz by Philip Hensher. I've read quite a lot of his. His best one, for me, was the last one Scenes From Early Life.
I never really buy books, just go to the library and get whatever's there. I'm not quite in your league Clare, I get through a book a week on average! I have a kindle as well but I don't really like it, I just use it on holiday.
I'm a big 19th century novel fan as well, Dickens, Wilkie Collins etc.
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Yes Ronne: love The Moonstone, re-read it every 5 years or so.

Clare
 
FireLight said:
There was an old Book Recommendation thread that I found on the Cathe Forum where someone suggested State of Wonder.
Currently listening to that and truly enjoying it.

2 more discs to go and on to the next exciting book. I wonder what I will devour next from all these enticing book recommendations!
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'State of Wonder' by Ann Patchett!!!!!! Read by Hope Davis on BOCD: what an adventure! Please come and tell me what you think when you are finished, yes? A truly marvellous book. It was my favourite book read the year it came out. Also excellent of hers are: 1) Bel Canto and 2) her recent book of essays called 'This is the Story of a Happy Marriage'.

This summer I have loved the following:

1) The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher
2) The Hours by Michael Cunningham (it means more on so many levels if you have already read Virginia Woolf's Mrs Dalloway, of which it is an elegiac echo and commentary)
3) Shotgun Lovesongs by Nikolas Butler (actually, that was from last year, but I just read a review of it so was reminded of its fabulousness)
4) On Beauty by Zadie Smith (a loose re-write of Howard's End by E. M. Forster, re-told though the prism of race as class)

5) The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield (a moving, somewhat hermetic tale of suspense)
6) A Spool of Thread by Anne Tyler (I was a little disappointed at the end, wasn't sure what the point of it all had been)
7) The Bookseller by Cynthia Swanson ( a single woman in the 1960s dreams at night she is instead a married woman with a whole other existence: which is the real life and which is the dream? Are dreams ever better than reality in the end? Not the absolute best book I've ever read but interesting)
8) Where'd You Go Bernadette? by Maria Semple (it's an entertaining story that ultimately has little point, but the characters are highly entertaining along the way. A mother and her daughter: I guess that's the point. Fun stuff.)

Currently I'm reading:
9) The Rocks by Peter Nicholls (good writing, creates atmosphere wonderfully well, story keeps going further and further back in time: when will I ever find out why, the two senior citizens introduced in the first chapter got married decades ago but haven't seen each other or spoken for 60 years? What happenend?!!)
10) The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe (he discusses his mother's illness and the books they read during her cancer treatments and the life questions their discussions gave rise to. Very well written, astute comments on human nature and familial relations and deeply moving.

There will be more, summer's not over yet and the pile on the floor from the library grows higher each week! So, I'll update in a few week's time if I come across any more 'must-reads'!

Anyone read The Luminaries? It's next on my list I think. Comments?

Clare
 
Justinef said:
Thank you Clare - lots on your list which I haven't read, and I always enjoy your suggestions.

I've made a few boo-boos in my recent choices (Inspector Van Veeterens series - no good), but will post when I next enjoy something.
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Fab. and yes, please do. Sorry about the mis-steps. They happen. In the film world too. I got dragged to see Trainwreck last weekend: yawn. Bill Hader is the best thing in it. The rest? Pfft. And Bill Hader is even better in The Skeleton Twins which is the film I recommend.

I had not heard about the Inspector Van series yet: one to avoid!!!

Clare
 
Here's another one for you (hunting and fishing are metaphorical!).

Melissa Bank, "The Girl's Guide to Hunting and Fishing."

I have read this book about 3 times and bought it for my daughter, who's coming to the same age as the protagonist. It's a wry, humorous, deeply-touching read. A young girl coming into herself in her early twenties, trying to get it right, something we can all understand. I have always loved it. Women I have gifted it to have also really appreciated it too. Here's a review of it I came across yesterday in my inbox:

http://offtheshelf.com/2015/08/the-girls-guide-to-hunting-and-fishing-by-melissa-bank/

And here's amazon's review and details. Seems they are putting out a new edition:

http://www.amazon.com/Girls-Guide-Hunting-Fishing-Penguin/dp/0241973600/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1441065665&sr=1-1&keywords=melissa bank&pebp=1441065670491&perid=0FAJGCNQ87KXPVNSGA9X


And I'm re-reading the third part of the Deborah Harkness "A Discovery of Witches" trilogy because a) I can, b) because they are fun, and are well-written 'block-buster' types that don't make me cringe, c) because they combine fantasy with history, racial politics, and romance and d) because they are the only books featuring vampires, demons and witches that I have ever found palatable. The narrator for the bocd version, Jennifer Ikeda, is good. Highly recommended!

Has anyone read any of the Elena Ferrante Neopolitan trilogy? What do you think?


Clare
 
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Ah! Thank you for bringing back this thread Clare! I was hoping you (an avid reader) would post more suggestions. Problem is, I can't keep up with you! I will add your suggestions to my list. You gave me some really great reads from last years thread! I'm still listening to Liane Moriartys "Three Wishes" about triplets and how intertwined their lives are. It's cute! She knows how to develop memorable characters! My Nook has an Alex Kava book (murder mystery) and I'm reading Lisa Jacksons "Cold blood", another murder mystery. I DO enjoy a frightful kill!
 
Also, Anna Quindlen. I have just finished her "Rise and Shine" which made me mile, laugh out loud and cry at different moments. Good writing, funny situations, a sisters bond that never breaks but the relationship between the two needs some clarification, across the years and in light of changing circumstances. Quindlen is so eminently readable. She reminds me of dinner and wine with your very best girlfriend, this is intimate conversation about stuff that matters, very woman-focussed, and I just love her.

Last year, I read her latest novel, "Still Life with Breadcrumbs" and adored it. Reading it gave me the same sense of curling up in conversation with my dearest friend. It becomes very hermetic: I get so into the lives she constructs that I am unaware of time passing, I can't wait to sink back into the world she creates and delve back into the life of her main character.

Quindlen is just a gem of a writer, at least to me. She doesn't pretend to be Jonathan Franzen, doesn't want or need to be "The Great American Novel," and would probably be dismissed by somebody like him as 'writing about women's stuff.' But that to me is the point: she writes like one of the girls because she gets it. Women's writing often gets dismissed as unimportant or light literary fare perhaps because it speaks the truth in such unpretentious ways, in the hands of the right writer. Quindlen is such a writer. Jennifer Weiner comes close. Ann Patchett is another, and more literary.

Peg: I agree: sometimes we just need a good dose of murder and mayhem and the right detective brains to get at the truth. I read Michael Robotham when I need this. Any of his novels are a treat: Parkinson's sufferer, Professor Joe McLoughlin and the down to earth ex-detective, London born and bred, friend who assists him. Love them! Also, anything by Laura Lippman. Truly, any single book. She's magic.

What's next on my reading list? Lev Grossman's 'Magician' series. Anybody know them?

Thank heavens for libraries, truly!

Clare
 
Just caught up with the thread again. Some great recommendations on here. Clare, I'm going to check out Anna Quindlen, never heard of her, sounds intriguing. Also, I'd heard of the Melissa Bank's book but the title sort of put me off, might have to try it now.

Yes, I just read the first part of the Elena Ferrante trilogy on holiday, My Brilliant Friend. I wasn't blown away but it has a slow subtle power that draws you in. It is fabulously written (and translated) and is very honest about friendship, the jealousies, the negative reasons we stay friends with people. I probably will go on to read the rest.

I love a good crime novel as well but have been disappointed recently (read a Mark Billingham on holiday as well, I didn't care who'd done it by the end!). I'll have a look into Michael Robotham.

I've just started Eclipse by John Banville, the writing is so good. Beautiful descriptions.

My must read recommendation is What Was Lost by Catherine O'Flynn. It's a book that's stayed with me since I read it a few years ago. I just found it incredibly moving.
 
Ronne said:
Just caught up with the thread again. Some great recommendations on here. Clare, I'm going to check out Anna Quindlen, never heard of her, sounds intriguing. Also, I'd heard of the Melissa Bank's book but the title sort of put me off, might have to try it now.

Yes, I just read the first part of the Elena Ferrante trilogy on holiday, My Brilliant Friend. I wasn't blown away but it has a slow subtle power that draws you in. It is fabulously written (and translated) and is very honest about friendship, the jealousies, the negative reasons we stay friends with people. I probably will go on to read the rest.

I love a good crime novel as well but have been disappointed recently (read a Mark Billingham on holiday as well, I didn't care who'd done it by the end!). I'll have a look into Michael Robotham.

I've just started Eclipse by John Banville, the writing is so good. Beautiful descriptions.

My must read recommendation is What Was Lost by Catherine O'Flynn. It's a book that's stayed with me since I read it a few years ago. I just found it incredibly moving.
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Ronne:

yeah, Melissa Bank's book: NOTHING to do with hunting and fishing. It all takes place in NY!

Elena Ferrante. I'm intrigued by your description of "slow subtle power that draws you in." That I can totally get behind. Books like that give you time to think as you read because you aren't furiously turning pages on a roller coaster ride to see what happens next. She's just published a fourth book in the series, did you see? No longer a trilogy!

Thanks for the recommendation of the O'Flynn book. Off to search the Michigan libraries databases ...

Stay well and happy and enjoy your fall reading!

Clare
 
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