Thank you, Annie!

I'm trying to read Mistress of the Art of Death by Ariana Franklin (book club choice). "In 12th-century Cambridge, four children are murdered, and the locals blame rich Jews. Adelia [a forensic specialist] is called to investigate....What follows is an
episode of CSI: Middle Ages...and Adelia uncovers forensic clues while fighting the backward beliefs of church officials and the anti-Semitic citizenry." Roman Polanski directed a 2009 film of the book.

Recently read (and enjoyed) Paula McLain's Circling the Sun, the fictionalized account of Beryl Markham's life. I liked the story and the writing, as well as the depiction of life in Africa at the turn of the 19th/20th century. Annie, this one would have qualified for your challenge as a love triangle (Beryl Markham, Denys Finch Hatton, and Baroness Karen Blixen, aka Isak Dinesen).

Also read and enjoyed William Boyd's Restless. The story takes place before and during the second world war, and in the summer of 1976. A young mother discovers her mother was a British spy planting disinformation about WWII and Germany's progress to convince the US to enter the war. Also made into a movie, which was a bit more focused and eliminated a seemingly extraneous plot-line from the book.

Fates and Furies: I thought the writing (and the protagonist) in Fates was pretentious. Although I preferred the writing of the second half (Furies), for some reason I felt let down at the end. These were some seriously strange people....

Loved Stephen King's 11/22/63! I haven't read his books since sometime in the 1980's as they were weird and formulaic, but, come on, who wouldn't want to prevent the assassination of JFK??

On the shelf are A Little Life (Hanya Yanagihara), The Book of You (Claire Kendal), and Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight: An African Childhood (Alexandra Fuller).

I could not get into Fates and Furies. At all!

I LOVED A Little Life but there were parts I had to skim because of the graphicness of the content. But what a haunting and beautifully written book!

I just finished reading A Man Named Ove by Frederick Backman and absolutely loved it. Fate Moreland's Widow by John Lane will probably be my next one.

I'm reading M Train by Patti Smith. I chose it based on a NYT book review. I don't know much about her as a musician, and I didn't really think I'd be that interested in what she has to say. I was wrong, I love this book.

The New York Times called it "achingly beautiful". She herself describes it as a book about moving from a time when her children were little and "the things I touched we're living" ("my Husband's fingers, a dandelion, a skinned knee") to a time when she increasingly begin to capture and memorialize moments from her life in photos and words – to create, as an artist, talismanic souvenirs of the past.

I've realized that my attention span has shortened...I blame using the internet and doing word puzzles, and I'm serious. So I have not read a book since The Martian! I'm starting back in with short fiction, with my high schooler's anthology for English class, and a compendium of Shorter Novels of Herman Melville (no Moby Dick!)

BPat home, try Alice Munro, too. She is great. Lots of short stories.

After hearing her interviewed on WTF podcast, I got hold of Cintra Wilson's latest:

Fear and Clothing: Unbuckling American Style

I enjoyed both The Rosie Project and The Rosie Effect. Both are light and charming. I have a soft spot for any book that makes me LOL.

Although these next two are from the children's library, I would still recommend them. I'm in a Skype book club with my youngest niece and nephew. Last month we read The Mysterious Benedict Society and the first of the Penderwick's series. Both were delightful. I thought the Benedict Society was a bit intense at times, although the kids did not. I have the next Penderwick's book for this month but the 2nd Benedict Society book was already checked out.

I liked The Truth According to Us, about a family in depression era West Virginia. It was written by one of the Guernsey Potato/Literary authors.

I just started reading The Chosen by Chaim Potok. According to the cover, it's a perennial bestseller. And the cover would never lie.

HHireno, I read the Penderwick series with my kids, we loved it too.

Hhireno, thanks for the children's book suggestion. I will send the recommendation on to my daughter or better yet purchase for my DGSs and myself on our Kindles.

When they were younger, we read Fancy Nancy books together. Those are fun books for young kids.

Book club started after my niece told me, at age 4, about the book she called The Huge Alligator, except the title was really The Enormous Crocodile. Her description was so cute, I took the book out of my library to read it so we could talk about it.

Recently when I was visiting them, they were reading one of the Ramona books by Beverly Cleary. Now that I'm reminded about those, I need to check out the rest of those to catch up.

My apologies for the slight hijack into children's lit. Please carry on with some adult books, I need to update my beach reading list.

Bpat - I like to read short stories. I second mtn's recommendation of Alice Munro. I also like Tobias Wolff, Margaret Atwood, Edna O'Brien, and Flannery O'Connor.

The Thing Around Your Neck By Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and A Thousand Years of Good Prayers by Yiyun Li are both quite interesting.

I'm working on Doris Lessing's autobiography Under My Skin. It seems to be taking forever to finish it. I guess I'm in one of my "non-reading" moods which happens periodically. I'm looking forward to a book I'm in line for at the library: Moloka'i by Alan Brennert.

Bpathome, I am having exactly the same issue. It's more common than I thought. I too appreciate these short story suggestions. I'm determined to lay down my iPad and get back to books.

I'm reading Catherine the Great by Robert Massie. I love to read but seem to only find time right before bed so...I fall asleep pretty fast which means it takes me awhile to get through a book. Good suggestions here for my next read!

I just finished The Body in the Wardrobe by Katherine Hall Page. It wasn't her best and seemed oddly disjointed. I continued reading Craig Schaefer's Harmony Black series with the newest book, Red Knight Falling. These books are of the fantasy/witchcraft/special abilities type.

I'm generally not a fan of short stories, but talking to my cousin, I realized I missed Daphne Du Maurier's short stories. Those are my kind of stories.

Just finishing up The Restaurant Critic's Wife written by the wife of the restaurant critic for The Philadelphia Inquirer. It's good, not great, but always fun to read something with local references. I picked The Gravity of Birds at the library and then got a call that A Man Called Ove was waiting for me there. Grrr. Which to read first? Actually, I have to read My Name is Lucy Barton for book club. Doesn't get great reviews on Amazon. I swear I support the libraries with all my fines.

I've read a number of books on my phone - I esp. enjoy Louisa May Alcott. My Overdrive app has about 50+ books on it right now - most free from Gutenberg.org

I recently finished The Girl in the Spider's Web and am almost finished with David Baldacci's newest, The Last Mile. Love his books.

There was a lot of speculation over whether the Lisbeth Salander/Mikael Blomkvist trilogy could be carried on by another author. Well, I for one, was pleased with the way it was done.

I haven't decided what my next book will be. I need to find several since our Alaska trip is coming up and I need to download some.

Rosesstink, Moloka'i is a truly wonderful book. I actually bought the Moloka'i and Honolulu packaged together for my Kindle. As much as I loved Moloka'i, imo, Honolulu was even better. Brennert is an amazing author and I am so pleased that I had the good fortune to stumble across this on another forum.

I am currently reading Sandra Cisneros' A House of My Own: Stories from My Life. I am really enjoying it.

Thanks to all for the recommendations. I put several on my library list. I'm currently reading a non-fiction book, Ivory Vikings, by Nancy Marie Brown. It's a history of the Lewis Chessmen and I'm enjoying it. I'm not a chess player but I do like Viking and medieval history, so it's right up my alley.

This is such a great thread. I just finished "Inside the O'Briens" by Lisa Genova, a book that was recommended here. I am fascinated by the author, a Harvard educated neuroscientist, whose education and training help to make her qualified to tackle such difficult subject matter as alzheimer's disease and huntington disease. Her next book will be on ALS. I just started Still Life by Louise Penney.

I'm still waiting for the Nightingale from two libraries in the e-version. I signed up to lead a book group discussion on the book in September, which means I'll be given a paper copy to read over the summer.

I have read 3 books written by Lisa Genova, Inside the O'Briens, Left Neglected and Still Alice. I recommend all 3.

Just finished The Nightingale and will be discussing it tomorrow at my book group. Great insight into the lives of the women at home while their husbands go off to fight during WWII in France.

Bonnieann and bac717,

Years ago, I was lucky enough to see Lisa Genova speak locally. It was actually a conference for social workers and those working with seniors but it was open to the public. My book club had just read Still Alice so we attended. She was a very good and entertaining speaker.

She told how she had self-published Still Alice, selling it out of her trunk, until it was finally picked up by a publisher. A few months later, I was in the Zurich airport looking for an English book to buy for my long flight home. I was so happy for the author to see Still Alice was one of the few choices for sale but I was sad for me because that further limited my options.

Roses & mtn, I do like Alice Munro but haven't read her in a while, thanks for the reminder! What prize did she win a year or so ago, a Pulitzer? Margaret Atwood, I've read a bit of her and find her...contrary to my personality, ya know?

Those who read The Rosie Project, I just finished listened to it, and highly recommend the audio version! Had me laughing in traffic. There's something about an Australian accent...

i really want to read Chernow's Hamilton, but for two things: It's in DS' stack, and I just don't think I'm ready for that tome. In the meantime I'm obsessing over the album.

Just had another thought for folks who need or want shorter works to read. Studs Terkel. I have Working on my nightstand and will pick it up to read one or two stories/narratives when I just want to read a bit before sleep. Studs had a tremendous talent for interviewing people and getting them to tell their stories in their words.

I think it was a Nobel? or am I confusing her w Doris Lessing?

Bpat - Alice Munro received the 2013 Nobel Prize in Literature. (Lessing won it in 2007) If you don't like Margaret Atwood's work then... well... don't read it! lol These are only recommendations. Everyone's mileage varies.

Yes, that was it! We were in Toronto and it was huge news, how could I not remember Nobel!

Roses, its fun to listen to recs, then pick and choose, isn't it. I gave my Margaret Atwoods to the library's book sale, because I know other people appreciate her more than I. Her writing is marvelous, it's just not for me :) I liked Carol Stone, but I think she passed away. Other Canadian writers to recommend?

ooh, Studs. I think I got one for DS (from the library sale!) It must be on his shelf, not in his queue. Better go check.

bpathome, maybe that's my problem - my attention span. I used to love to read, now I just can't make myself sit and read. I lose interest and the last book I tried to read, I never finished.

HHireno - how sweet that you are in a reading club with your niece and nephew! It's great you all have that in common. I remember loving the Ramona books.

Finished the Smoke Jumper (Evans) for my "love triangle" category and it was what I would consider to be good summer reading, light, schmaltzy, a little adventure, a lot predictable.

I also read The Chocolate War (Cormier) for the "takes place in high school" category and I found it disturbing, and was glad it was a quick read. I can understand though why it's considered a classic.

Having read none, I started Harry Potter & the Sorcerer's Stone (Rowling) for "book with magic" and am surprised I'm enjoying it as much as I am. Also surprised at how familiar much of it is as so many terms and characters are already part of the vernacular.

I just started The Nightingale.

The Nightingale

by Kristin Hannah (Goodreads Author)

The Nightingale 4.53 · Rating Details
· 160,280 Ratings · 21,506 Reviews

In the quiet village of Carriveau, Vianne Mauriac says goodbye to her husband, Antoine, as he heads for the Front. She doesn’t believe that the Nazis will invade France...When France is overrun, Vianne is forced to take an enemy into her house, and suddenly her every move is watched; her life and her child’s life is at constant risk. Without food or money or hope, as danger escalates around her, she must make one terrible choice after another.

Vianne’s sister, Isabelle, is a rebellious eighteen-year-old girl, searching for purpose with all the reckless passion of youth. Isabelle races headlong into danger and joins the Resistance, never looking back or giving a thought to the real--and deadly--consequences.

I am reading Enrique's Journey by Sonia Nazario for my book club.

It is a compelling, albeit disturbing, account of a young boys journey from Central Amerca to reunite with his mother who had illegally immigrated to the U. S. It puts a human face on the issue of immigration.

Enrique traveled across Mexico by riding on top of freight trains. The book describes the multiple dangers he encountered from bandits, corrupt police, local villagers, and from traveling on top of moving trains. It also relates the heartbreak involved when a mother seeks to improve the future of her family by seeking work in America.

I just finished the two book series about Empress Wu, the first and only woman empress of China. It's fictionalized(of course) but contains mostly historical characters. Very interesting. "The Moon in the Palace" & "The Empress of Bright Moon" by Weina Dai Randel.

Now I'm reading "Reckless: My Life as a Pretender" by Chrissie Hynde. I like her writing style and she is very honest about her life.

I finally gave in to DS1's pleas to read The Golem and the Jinni, by Helene Wecker. He knows my dislike of sic-fi and fantasy, but nevertheless urged me to try this book -"You'll love it" - and I did! It takes place in the Lower East Side and Little Syria, in NYC, in 1899-1900. with a rich portrayal of immigrant life then.

But mainly it is about two amazing creatures: the golem is a legendary Jewish figure made of clay and bound to do the bidding of its master, with an unquestioning nature and the strength of a dozen men. The jinni (what we call a "genie") is a spirit made of fire, who is extremely clever and can assume any form it wishes. In this story the golem comes to life as a young woman who has lost her "master" and the jinni is trapped by happenstance in a human form. Eventually they meet and decide to team up, for both self-protection and survival amidst the superstitions and volatile and fearful lives of a wide range of immigrant characters. The story hinges on questions of good and evil, and loyalty and love. I found the tale to be beyond charming and the descriptions of Manhattan are wonderful.

Every time someone mentions S. King's 22-11-63 I have to chime in and say that this book absolutely knocked me out, another sic-fi I didn't want to read, but found gripping. Didn't want it to end!

Another suggestion for a short attention span book, Depot of Speculation by Jenny Ofill. A novel but in a format of short, diverse increments. Recommended by Maureen Corrigan

To comment on a few of the above- I enjoyed a Man Called Ove (but didn't think it was quite worthy of the hype). I adored Moloka'i.

I recently (shh... in April) read the Art of Hearing Heartbeats which was definitely worthwhile.

I just finished The Rent Collector which was also quite a good read......next up is the Swans of Fifth Avenue, and possibly Eight Cousins (by Alcott).

Thinking I should look into the Rosie Project as it's mentioned quite a bit.

Will be on vacation next week so loaded up the kindle with a few...

I loved A Man Called Ove! The Rent collector was wonderful.

i finished Unintended Consequences yesterday and though it was so boring in the beginning that I almost abandoned it, the story picked up speed and ended up being a worthwhile read.

i started The Ocean at the End of the Lane last night and was up until almost two o'clock. I love this story and the writing is luscious!

if anyone needs a book recommendation A Thousand Splendid Suns was superb.

Holly-Kay, I'm so glad you decided to give Ocean at the End of the Lane a try - I remember you were a little reticent about it!

Olychick, I started it last night and I'm already finished with it. Thank you so much for recommending it. I truly enjoyed it. I'm looking to see what other books he has written.

I've had Anansi Boys on my to read list for a while. I'm not really a fan of fantasy though and most of his other books seem a little creepy to me. However, all his books seem to get a 4+ star rating on most sites.

Based upon recommendations in the other "what are we reading" thread, I downloaded Jayber Crow to my Kindle and started it but had a hard time getting into it. I finally picked it back up and I am so very glad I did. I love this book! I'm a little more than halfway finished, and I do not want it to end. It's wonderful.

Oly, I downloaded Coraline from the library. It was good but I would categorize it as a children's book though I think my DGS would have nightmares if they read it. I'm going to suggest my DD download it to make sure that it won"t scare the daylight savings out of them.

Jen, I am so glad you are enjoying Jayber Crow. It's one of my all time favorites.

Thanks, H-K. There aren't a lot of books that I would care to purchase to make a permanent part of my library after I've already read them, but Jayber is definitely one of them.

Just finished When Breath Becomes Air (Paul Kalinithi). Oh Wow! What a fabulous, thoughtful, insightful, and moving book. Highly recommend.

I tried to read Jayber Crow, but ultimately lost the battle. A friend shared a Wendell Berry poem with me and I loved it. So she said, oh, you must read JC. He does say things in the most wonderful way, but I stalled reading the book.

Sable, I loved The Golem and the Jinni. Normally I don't go for the supernatural, but they were set against a very real background. I love novels set in that time period.

Back from vacation where I devoured the Swans of Fifth Avenue. I thoroughly enjoyed that one and will try at some point to get her other book The Aviator's Wife... I am soon to finish Eight Cousins (Louisa May Alcott or is it Mae?) which is just so cozy and sweet. I love reading it on my kindle for all the vocabulary help with the words of the era. Such a sweet story though really. not sure what will be ext.

I am so glad you liked The Swans. I read The Aviator's Wife also but wasn't crazy about it.