i have no specific "have to" reads right now, what i'm reading now is all the books on Mediterranean diet/lifestyle i can put my hands on - and occasionally i'm reading The Wedding Tree by Robin Wells -usually when i'm sitting in the same room as the tv is blaring and i'm needing something that doesn't need much focus....

I'm on vacation this week and still working on my book challenge. I'm currently reading In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and American Family in Hitler's Berlin by Erik Larson. I just finished The Ocean at the End of the Lane. For light reading next, I have a book called The House on Primrose Pond.

I'm reading Straight From the Heart by Ann Richards. The first chapter is about her keynote address at the 1988 DNC. I read that and, of course, had to revisit the speech online. Well done.

I'm reading Fall on Your Knees, by Ann-Marie MacDonald. Quite enjoying it, not sure how it came to be in my hands; it's an Oprah pick from a few years ago. Our book club selection this month is Circling the Sun by Paula McClain. I'm looking forward to it, as I really enjoyed the Paris Wife.

Loved, loved, loved Invention of Wings.

4kids, I haven't heard of Garden of Beasts, but I looked it up and with our current political scene think it looks like a must read. I've always been so puzzled and curious just HOW Hitler came to be in power and why no one stopped him in the beginning. I think I have a little more understanding now.

I seem to be on a Frances Mayes kick lately. I reread "Under The Tuscan Sun" last month and am now just finishing her sequel, "Bella Tuscany". I think I'll start "Every Day in Tuscany" next. I'm a fast reader, so I'll be checking out recommendations here for my next book after that.

I just finished reading 'The Summer Guest' (Justin Cronin) which I really enjoyed. It's not a new book, I think it was published in 2004, but I only recently discovered Justin Cronin having read his "The Passage" trilogy earlier this year. I enjoyed those books so much I went looking for Cronin's other works. 'The Summer Guest' was totally different than the trilogy, but still I book I really liked. It takes place primarily at a rural fishing camp in Maine.

I also just recently read 'The Library at Mount Char' (Scott Hawkins) which I stumbled across at Chapters when the cover caught my eye. It's a very.... weird book. Bizarre. And dark. But somehow I couldn't put it down.

4kids, I love Erik Larson's books. In the Garden of Beasts is one of his best. Have you read Dead Wake? The best.

Linelle, I've read two of Erik Larsons books. I read Devil in a White City many years ago with my book club. I read Dead Wake a few months ago. I'm not sure where I head of Garden of Beasts. I didn't even realize he wrote it until after I downloaded it to my iPad. I'm only about 60 pages in. I can't read it on the beach (iPad) so I'm reading another book during the day and that one at night. Interesting so far. Oly, I hadn't thought about how it relates to our current political climate but yes, that's a good point!

I haven't been reading much lately, but I have The Black Widow by Daniel Silva, Pegasus Down by Philip Donlay and The Edge of Dreams by Rhys Bowen loaded on my iPad, ready to read.

I've enjoyed several Erik Larson books: Devil in the White City, Isaac's Storm, and Thunderstruck.

Dodd's correspondence If you are interested in Garden of Beasts, here is a link to Dodd's correspondence file at the FDR Library Archives. It's interesting to read primary sources related to a book you are reading.

As I mentioned in one of the last posts of the July thread, I am reading Dave Eggers' recent release Heroes in the Frontier. I started it in the bookstore while waiting for my friend to arrive... he was almost an hour late due to rain and flash flooding so I got a good start! I just returned to it last night and am already thinking about how early I can jump into bed to read another few chapters!

I have just started 'My Grandmother Asked me to Tell You She's Sorry' by Fredrik Backman (author of A Man Called Ove). So far it's very good. I've read a lot of fun stuff over the summer. Elin Hilderbrand 'Here's to Us', Mary Kay Andrews 'The Weekenders', Dorothea Benton Frank 'All Summer Long', David Baldacci 'The Last Mile' and a couple of others.

I just started book 2 "In the Eye of the Storm " from the Storm and Silence series by Robert Thier.

I did a write up on the first book on the last book thread. I'm really enjoying these books. They are far from anything I normally read. Think a 1950's movie interpretation of a Victorian era romance/action/comedy sort of thing with the tough women's rights gal as the heroine.

I highly recommend for a change of pace. First book starts out just okay but builds so keep going. At times you will fully feel Mr. Ambrose exasperation of Lilly's incessant questioning and want to reach in and shake her but it is the huge difference in personalities that make it work. Lots and lots of fun!

I had started The Early Short Stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald but will save the rest for my inbetween times of novel searching .

Here is the first book in the series.

https://www.amazon.com/Storm-Silence-Book-ebook/dp/B01AALOWI4/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8#navbar

Just finished Daniel Silva's "The Black Widow" and started Sebastian Faulks' Where My Heart Used to Beat".

We will be reading "The Girl on the Train" for my book club mid-month. IF I ever can get to the library.

I just finished The Boys in the Boat and really liked it. The writing was superb.

One of the places we visited on our vacation was Concord, MA and now I want to re-read works by Alcott, Emerson, Thoreau, and Hawthorne. Mind-boggling that they were all neighbors there.

in the meantime, I'm starting Barkskins, Annie Proulx's latest. It's a long one, and will keep me busy for quite awhile.

Artemis, we are reading "Girl on the train" for my book club too. It's on Wed. so I better get reading. So far everyone who has finished has loved it-but we aren't a real "literary" group.

Annie, I loved Sue Monk Kidds "Invention of Wings"

Starting Truly Madly Guilty by Liane Moriarty soon.

Beagles, can you report back how you liked it? I have enjoyed all Liane Moriarty's book so far.

Yup, will report back :) I liked all her books so far, except for The Last Anniversary which I hated!

I just finished Invention of Wings. Wow what a book. Thoroughly enjoyed it and highly recommend it.

I'm slowly making my way through The Prince of Tides. I love Pat Conroy but this book is almost 600 pages and the print is tiny! I can read a couple of hours and feel like I've barely made any progress. Even though I dont need glasses to read, I picked up dh's reading glasses and that definitely helps, especially at night when my eyes are tired.

annie, I loved the Invention of Wings too.

I've listened to The Black Widow by Daniel Silva and just finished Under the Influence by Joyce Maynard. I enjoyed them both, especially the latter.. Next up is Christodora by Tim Murphy.

4 kids, Prince of Tides is one of my favorite books. But I sympathize about small print. I actually bought the kindle edition of a book I already owned in print as I needed to read it for book club and the small print was ruining my reading experience. It was money well spent!

I didn't like Truly, Madly, Guilty. By the time she revealed 'the incident', I had almost lost interest. I understand delaying to build tension but it just went on too long for me. And all the other many shockers along the way made me think oh for heaven's sake, what else are you going to throw in here?

I liked Judy Blume's In the Unlikley Event until the ending. It seemed rushed, as if she ran out of pages and had to quickly tie things up. The funny thing about that book was I was flying in and out of Newark airport while reading it. It's a book about three 1951-52 plane crashes at Newark airport, something I forgot when I tossed it in my carry-on.

For a quick, entertaining read I read two of Donna Leon's Commissario Brunetti series.

I agree with hhireno's comments on Truly, Madly, Guilty. It took way too long to learn what 'the incident' was. I'm also with beaglesdoitbetter on her dislike of The Last Anniversary. I'll be curious to see what others say about Truly, Madly, Guilty.

I agree w/ everyone else about not thinking Truly Madly Guilty was very good. Drawn out. Maybe this formula is getting tired or she's run out of ways to build the suspense leading up to the big reveal...

hhireno I missed that Judy Blume had a new book out (and I guess it was last year). I really liked Summer Sisters. It was a nice read. When I was a little kid, Fudge and Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing were some of my favorite books, so I was excited to read her adult books. Summer Sisters was the only one of them I really liked so far though. Will try Unlikely Event.

I agree about "truly madly guilty" taking too long to reveal what happened at the barbecue. However I did like the storyline about Erica and Clementine's complicated friendship.

I finished Storm and Silence but didn't like it. I was so sick of hearing about little yellow piggies for three chapters that I lost interest. I did finish it though. I liked Lily except for her drunken binge but I don't think I can read more of the series.

I finished The Secret Life of Bees and loved it, then promptly started Another Brooklyn and enjoying it. I will most likely finish it tonight and not sure what I will start next.

Olychick, I loved Fall On Your Knees -- I read it years ago -- and also The Way The Crow Flies by the same author.

I just recently read Before The Fall (Noah Hawley) and The Girls (Emma Cline). I liked them both...can't say I looooved them. I did really like I Let You Go (Clare MacIntosh) and right now I'm reading You Will Know Me (Megan Abbott), which I can't put down. It's sort of silly in some ways -- it's sort of a mystery that takes place in the world of competitive gymnastics, and the way competitive gymnastics (and coaches and parents) are portrayed is really nutty. I live in that world with my DD, and it's not like it's portrayed in the book...but I'm still riveted. It's sort of like watching Dance Moms, probably (I've never watched it) but with a murder thrown in.

DD is looking forward to seeing The Girl on the Train with Emily Blunt when the movie comes out so last night I read it. I won't reveal anything but in the beginning I had trouble keeping the 2 main female characters and the timeline straight. I ended up keeping notes for the first few chapters until things fell into place.

I didn't particularly care for it but I do think it would make a good film.

Well, I'm not reading The Summer Before the War by Helen Simonson. A friend had raved about it, and I love stories set in England in the early part of the 20th century. I waited endless weeks for it (library) and I had to force myself to get to page 40 (my limit) before I went, nope.

I'm enjoying The Monuments Men by Robert Edsell about the priceless works of art stolen and hidden by the Nazis, and their recovery.

I find there are never enough photos accompanying nonfiction books. I'm forever stopping and looking something up online, a town, a person, a work of art.

Sueb - I hadn't looked for other books by the author of Fall on Your Knees, but I read As the Crow Flies years ago and absolutely loved it, too! Thanks for posting that info. Who knew?!

Linelle, I tried 'The Summer Before the War' also and didn't get nearly as far as you before saying Nope - and I, too, love historical fiction - - British aristocracy, through he War years, those types of books. (It's not fail proof, but I can usually tell within the first 5 sentences if I'm going to really enjoy a book. The first sentence either pulls me in, or it does't. I think that's why I always love Stephen King - he has the best opening lines out there - - my personal favorite is from IT.)

Have you read the Cazalet Chronicles? You might like them if you enjoy that sort of historical fiction. There are 5 books, IIR the first one is The Light Years.

Holly, sorry you didn't like the book. I really enjoyed it (skipped over the piggies) lol. It was perfect reading material to keep my mind off other serious matters involving my husbands health. I'm looking forward to the 3rd book.

Justerri, I am so sorry to hear of your DH's health problems.

i did skip a good bit. I like Lilly so much except that she was exasperating though. Did the second book move quicker?

i finished Always Brooklyn and started In the Land of the Long White Cloud but not sure I will continue it. It's meh.

Holly, yes, the 2nd book moved very quick with lots of adventure. There was still a few small annoyances but Lilly's charachter started growing up and Mr. Ambrose showed signs of human emotions. I'm liking these books almost against my will right now. They are helping to keep my mind off everything. We will be making a trip in the next few weeks to Mount Sinai in NY for complicated heart surgery. Can't wait till it's over.

Had a lot going on since the end of July and just was not making the time to read. I did just finally start Middlesex . The first part was really dragging for me and I almost threw in the towel but since so many people have said how good it is (and it has a sticker on it as Pulitzer Prize Winner) I pushed past the 60 page mark and am now at abotu page 150 and am taken with it. :)

edited because I just now read the previous post and I hope everything goes well for you terrilyn..........

I will complete All the Missing Girls this evening-- it's ok but not particularly gripping or notable. I have The Art of Running in the Rain (Garth Stein), In a Dark, Dark Wood (Ruth Ware) and Cooking for Picasso (Camille Aubray) all waiting for me. Not sure which I will pick up next. I guess it depends on my mood tomorrow night.

Sheila, glad to hear you say that -- I've had Middlesex sitting on a shelf for years. Started it once, couldn't get into it, recently picked it up again because a couple of friends were talking about it...but I put it down again. Maybe I'll give it one more try after I finish Truly Madly Guilty (funny that so many here have read it, and my BFF visited this weekend and we were surprised to realize we were both reading it).

I'm in the middle of Olive Kitteridge. I'm really liking it. It is a novel but told in the format of short stories and I'm usually not a short story fan, but this is so well done. Each story is about someone connected to Olive's life and you get a little bit more of her character with each one even though in many of the stories she is barely present.

I read The Summer Before the War and didn't enjoy it nearly as much as Major Pettigrew.

Bumping this to say I'm reading The Rosie Project from the May thread and really enjoying it!

I just started "You Will Know Me"--thus far, riveting!

Bumping AGAIN to say I spent the least 2 days reading The Rosie Project and the Rosie experience and doing nothing else (including things that had to be done, LOL) and these were 2 of my favorite books ever. Thanks to whomever recommended from May!

I liked the Rosie Project too. It was cute and quick.

i just finished Christodora and it was great! Some of the primary characters reside in a NYC building with the title name. The story covers the AIDs emergence and spans several decades. This was my favorite book so far this year.

I enjoyed the Rosie Project.

I am rereading Defending Jacob for our book club. This is an excellent book about a father who is the DA on a case involving the murder of his son's classmate. Lots of interesting issues arise.

I finally finished Prince of Tides. I didn't have a lot of time to devote to reading the last few weeks, but I can usually finish a book in a week at most. This one took me three weeks! I love Pat Conroy, but whew, it was a long one.

Furry, I read Defending Jacob many years ago with my book club. Really enjoyed it and good discussion points.

I'm just starting a book called When The Moon is Low by Nadia Hashimi. It was recommended by a friend. It's about a family who escapes from Afghanistan/the Taliban to Europe.

To end the month.... I finished Russell Banks' The Sweet Hereafter a few days ago. Very well done. Currently reading The Book Thieves and 200 pages in I'm really liking it. I probably wouldn't have picked up this book on my own but it appeared to be popular when I was I looking for a YA bestseller for my book challenge. A Goodreads friend then posted how much she liked it so I figured it would a good choice for the genre.