Just reading The Flamethrowers. Started off strong, I'm getting a bit bogged down in the middle, but my DD says to keep reading as the ending is really good, too.

Next on my list is Patti Smith's "Just Kids". I've heard very good things about it.

Almost finished with Rabbit Cake.

Just started "A Little Life". I like it so far but I am only 20% into it. The reviews all say it turns rough so I am going to withhold judgement until I get farther along.

A Little Life is such a beautiful book, but I found parts of it very very difficult to read and had to skim-read some of them b/c of it.

I'm starting The Best of Adam Sharp, by Graeme Simsion, who wrote The Rosie Project, which I adored. The reviews were not great, but I'm still going to give it a try.

I just started reading Hidden Figures. Didn't see the movie yet and thought it sounded like a good story of the type I like - biography and history.

Henry James' "Washington Square"

Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea by Barbara Demick.

Rosesstink, I just finished Nothing to Envy today. I wonder if there's any current follow up out there on those people who defected. The book answered some questions I had about the country but raised others. I've got to do some googling. I'm really glad I read it.

I have been taking a break but just returned to The Reluctant Empress ( yes, about Empress Elizabeth- aka Sissi).

I loved A Little Life. Was sad to finish it, I liked the characters so much. Now I'm reading Lincoln in the Bardo. Only 80 or so pages in but I'm enjoying it so far.

Thanks to Ida's recommendation on another recent thread here, I'm reading "Clutter's Last Stand - It's Time To De-Junk Your Life!". It just arrived in yesterday's mail from Amazon.

Me too, Lynn!

Just started The Year of Living Danishly: Uncovering the Secrets of the World's Happiest Country, by a British writer who relocates to Denmark when her husband takes a job at Lego.

I'll be visiting Copenhagen this summer, so my friend recommended this book. Enjoying it so far.

"Clutter's Last Stand" - I must have read it 20 years ago and it changed my life in that I never again looked at our "stuff" in the same way. I cleaned out a lot of things, but we have recluttered a bit, so time to go to work again. Don Aslett is an excellent drill sergeant for emptying those boxes!

I started a few books and set them aside over the last week realizing I needed something light and easy to read right now. With the weather changes and some changes at work, I am reading later at night and when I am less focused. I started Razor Girl by Carl Hiaasen. I am only a handful of pages in but it seems like it will be a good fit as it is light, funny and fast moving.

I haven't read any Hiaasen to date. I am hoping the quirky characters remain entertaining and don't push to the point of tiresome.

I'm still plowing through The Dry, but I honestly haven't had much time to read in the last week or so. I've barely kept up here.

Funky, I'll have to put Razor Girl on my list as I usually enjoy a light Hiaasen read now and then. His characters are always quirky but likeable.

I finished Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance. I found it very enlightening as well as a good read. It is a memoir, although the author is only in his 30's, so he still has a lot of living to do. He grew up in Kentucky and an Ohio steel town, as part of a hillbilly family. He gives fascinating insights into that culture and also into why so many "hillbilles" supported Trump. He writes about what enabled him to pull himself up from there -- the support of a loving grandmother. He is now a conservative Republican but did not support Trump. We will be hearing more from this young man.

I've also been reading an oldie called The Spanish Lover by Joanna Trollope. Since I will be going to Spain, I am enjoying reading about the experiences of the one sister who is a travel agent visiting there. Quite enjoyable.

OMG, I just finished The Nix. 620 pages

Hmm, I cannot say it was a favorite. Or that I enthusiastically recommend iT. But it does meet my standard of being "worthwhile".

Pros:

It weaves together an amazing number of stories and characters with interesting details, quite a feat.

It has historical fiction elements which interest me.

It is certainly original.

Once in a while it made me laugh.

A few interesting insights.

Published August 16; not sure when it was written but it has a very Trumpian minor character and a fair amount about truth in media. He was either quite prescient or editing it up to the last day.

Cons

It is so so so long.

Parts were boring.

I think it had too many stories and lacked focus.

Many of the characters actions and words were not at all believable to me.

Did I mention it was long?

.....

Now I am off to go read what the reviews and find out what I am supposed to think about the book.

PS. Daisy, I liked Patti Smith's book M Train.

PPS Stealing this from the NYT review, which sums it up well. However, they were not really saying it in a critical way, and I am.

One gets the sense that Hill wanted to include every anecdote, observation and turn of phrase he ever conjured up or heard, and was loath to prune any from the finished product.

Okay, so, that's done and now onto April.

I'm trying to choose between these two :

The Lesser Bohemians: A Novel

Eimear McBride

and

Elizabeth Strout’s ‘My Name Is Lucy Barton’

But I am also intrigued by The Heart is Lonely Hunter. How are you liking it, Texanjana?

And wanted to add, for those who have not seen it, NPR's book concierge is a cool tool to find something to read.

See link: http://apps.npr.org/best-books-2016/

Mtn- regarding My Name is Lucy Barton- I had that on hold at the library forever and when it finally came time to read it, the pro is that it was a good (easy) read and nice and short. However, I felt like it just ended quickly and was basically for me, a big disappointment.

The Nix is on my list but I don't know about the length.... will definitely give it a whirl.

I loved Hillbilly Elegy.

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter appeals to me as I never saw the movie or read the book but these popular ones from years back are often very worthwhile. Will be adding this to my list.

I saw the movie with Alan Arkin, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter back when I was a teen. I still remember because it was so sad. Mom & Dad were out that night and I was home alone. When they came home, they thought something was wrong as I was in the bathroom literally sobbing. Through sniffs, blows and sobs, I managed to get out that it was just the movie. I saw it again oh, maybe 3-4 years ago. Still very moving. Never read the book.

I recently (in the last year or two) reread The Heart is a Lonely Hunter and was so glad I did. It is a wonderful book and hard to believe the author was so young when it was written.

I read The Heart is a Lonely Hunter about 8 years ago. Enjoyed it very much.

Finished Nothing to Envy yesterday. The book made me both sad and angry. The egos and evil of the Kims that will cause/allow people to suffer like that is maddening. Gawd. I'm glad I read it. chickadee2 - Were you able to find out anything more about the people in the book?

Didn't plan ahead for my next read so picked up a random book at the library today that I will start next. The Other Me by Saskia Sarginson. Unusual author names often catch my eye. Gets decent reviews so we shall see.

I just started The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George. It's a slow go so far.

My YA brain wants simple fantasy that's sex free. I found it in my current online series, The Iron Fey series. Did I mention that I'm 60; that's not months but SIXTY years old. I will never develop a sophisticated reading palette at this rate. :( I don't even have a great excuse, like work is stressful and or I'm reading late at night. It's simply escapist reading no matter what.

Wanted to mention that I started The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead but found it way too difficult to read the scenes of violence and also did not enjoy the magical realism aspect of it, so I did not finish it.

Mtn, I started The Nix, got about 100 pages in and then gave up. Didn't like the protagonist, ie found him so unlikeable that I couldn't see spending another 500+ pages with him LOL. And, yeah the book just went on and on and on.

May I recommend Lucy Barton as a gem of a book? I know quite a few folks who didn't like it, but to me the genius of the book was the author's writing ability and gift of using such spare, almost elliptical language to create a short book that tells volumes and volumes about what abuse does to people, how they think, how they love, how they hope, how they grieve. It was one of the single best books I read last year and it still haunts me. So much said by what is only barely hinted at or not even spoken. I thought it was a masterpiece.

I finished Tomorrow to be Brave late last week. Wow, what a story about a woman definitely ahead of her time. I was put off by some of her behavior, but certainly admired her fearlessness heading to the front in WWII. At times the detailed fighting scenes were a bit tedious. In the end, this relatively brief period of her life seemed to be the only happy time for her. I was struck by what seemed like sort of a disappointing or depressing remainder of her life, as if she was "settling" with the man she later marries. I seem to have read a lot of WWII novels and a few non-fiction over the last couple of years but appreciated the setting of this book, which mostly takes place in northern Africa. It was nice to get away from Germany, England, France, and Eastern Europe as settings for most of the WWII books I have read.

I'm not sure what I will read next. I have a few on my nightstand including Exposure by Helen Dunmore. Historical fiction/spy thriller during the Cold War. We have spring break for 10 days coming up and dh will be gone for most of it, so I will have a lot of time to read. I have to go back through the last reading thread and look for some ideas.

Mtnrd, thanks for the review of The Nix. I've had that one on my list but noticed that my friend has been reading it for a long time based on her Goodreads account. I don't think she ever finished it but I've been meaning to ask her. I think I may skip it. I'd give it a try if it weren't so long.

I really like the first two books I read by Antoine Laurain (The President's Hat and The Red Notebook) but after months of picking it up and putting it down, I'm giving up on French Rhapsody. I can't get into the characters and the story just isn't compelling enough to keep me reading to see how it all comes together.

Delilah, I have the Little Paris Bookshop and was going to try that next, sorry to hear it's a slow go.

I decided I needed some light reads so I whipped through The Year of Living Danishly (I really enjoyed it) and the Little Book of Hygge (quick read, because once you've read "light candles" for the 20th time you skip over it.)

maybe I will finish the book I picked up last year at Monticello on the man who saved it for posterity. But sometimes such books are not tightly edited, and this is one of those.

A brand-new book I just got is "Motherprayer" by Barbara Mahany, essays and rumination on mothering. Like her, I have two sons spread out in age, so I often relate to her writing. I enjoyed her "Slowing Time" a couple of years ago. But I might have to hold off: my younger is a high school senior and I find myself so close to tears sometimes as completing high school is not a given, though he's been accepted to some fine colleges, and I don't thnk I can take anything too tender right now! I may have to pick up some old Erma Bombeck, where at least the tears are of laughter.

I think I'm going to give up on The Other Me. The story and characters are theoretically interesting but the writing seems forced. "The heat bites at my skin like an angry Pekingese." Oh?

I'll stop by one of my alternate libraries tomorrow and pick up Shadows of the Workhouse by Jennifer Worth. It's a follow up to Call the Midwife (the basis of the BBC/PBS series). The first book was worth reading - TV series can only be condensed versions of books - so I hope the second one will be too.

Bpathome, thanks for mentioning the Antoine Laurain books. I've never heard of him and just finished reading The Red Notebook. After I finished, I read some of the reviews on Goodreads and noticed that most found the book either creepy or charming. I was definitely in the "charming" camp. I think after reading a few books that were a bit dark and depressing, The Red Notebook was just what I needed. I read it in nearly one sitting - perfect start to my spring break getaway.

Just finished "We were the Lucky Ones" by Georgia Hunter. Story of a Jewish family from Poland during WWII. Not sure how I feel about it. Incredible survival but still horrifying and sad.

I'm on ch 1 of Lincoln in the Bardo. So far it is .... bizarre

I came within a gnat's eyelash of giving up on Lincoln in the Bardo -- the introduction of the Barons nearly caused me to hurl the thing across the room. But I stuck it out and thought it paid off. I found the last third or so really moving and thought provoking. Of course, I loved The Nix, so clearly my taste is suspect!

Nuthe,

The first chapter ... umm, well. But then I found the weaving together of historical sources really interesting and well done (though am now confused since reading that some are true and some ersatz). I will stick with it (seems short after Nix) and it does meet my criteria of definitely "worthwhile".

I'm reading:

Bold spirit : Helga Estby's forgotten walk across Victorian America

It's a historical accounting of a woman and her teenaged daughter who walked from Spokane WA to NY, in the late 1890's, to take advantage of a publicity offer from a clothing manufacturer of "modern" women's clothing, trying to promote new, ankle baring dresses for women who wanted to become more active (like bicycling) and found the Victorian clothing too restrictive. The reward was to be $10k, which Helga was trying to earn to save their home from being foreclosed upon. Unfortunately, Helga's diaries were lost and her letters home apparently destroyed by her family, angry at being left by her, so the story is pieced together by newspaper accounts of their journey and other historical records of the times. Some speculation is included about different aspects that aren't detailed anywhere, based on current events at the time. They followed the railroad tracks where they could, some of the Oregon Trail, and just bushwhacked a great deal of it.

It follows Helga from her early youth in Norway, emigration to the US, then homesteading on the plains of Minnesota with her husband and small children, living through the worst winter in Minn. history living in a sod hut. Omg. I don't think I'll complain about vacuuming again. Eventually, they move on to Spokane to live.

The book chronicles the early suffragette movement, a serious depression in the late 1800's, immigration, the Presidential election of 1896, which seemed a bit familiar to today's news. I'm finding it, while not great literature, at least a good read. Lots of photos included.

Such an interesting story, olychick. Let us know what your final impression of the book is.

I finished Shadows of the Workhouse. Fascinating account of life in the docklands of London in the 1950s by Jennifer Worth who was a nurse/midwife attending to the poor in that depressing place.

Next up isThe Night in Question by Tobias Wolff. He is one of my favorite short story writers. This collection is two decades old but I'm just getting to it and looking forward to a change after the two glum non-fiction books last read. Not that Tobias Wolff writes light fiction, but at least it is fiction.

Just finished My Name is Lucy Barton. Excellent book! A pretty quick read too.

Well, for work I'm reading Why Kids Kill Parents: child abuse and adolescent homicide by Katherine Heide. Aren't you glad you don't have my job, lol?

I also just finished I Will Find You: a reporter investigates the life of the man who raped her, by Plain Dealer journalist Joanna Connors and I can't recommend it highly enough. Great memoir/journalism/social commentary and provides wonderful insight into the long process of recovery after sexual assault.

Oly-that book sounds very interesting.

I thought The Heart is a Lonely Hunter was excellent. The writing was so descriptive that I felt like I was in that town in Georgia in the late 30s/early 40s. It was at times sad and sometimes hard to read about the awful things happening in the Jim Crow south at the time, but well worth it. I also can't believe how young Carson McCullers was when she wrote it-in her early twenties. Her life was difficult due to poor health and she died when she was only 50. I want to read more of her work.

I am currently reading The Sympathizer, and am about 2/3 of the way through it. I sailed through the first part, but now it has become a bit of a slog. I plan to finish it, though.

Finished The Little Paris Bookshop and ended up liking it. For those who love books, who wouldn't like to have a literary apothecary? My favorite take-away phrase: Every mountain has a path, every one.

The Night in Question had some good stories. Unfortunately, I'd read most of them before. The problem with short stories. They are often published more than once. Ah well.

Just about finished with Grandma Gatewood's Walk by Ben Montgomery. It's the story of the first woman to walk the full length of Appalachian Trail alone. She was 67 YO, had no tent or sleeping bag or hiking boots or backpack. It's pretty amazing. There's no freaking way I would do it. And then she did it again. And again.

ETA What I didn't know earlier. Emma Gatewood also walked the Oregon Trail before her final AT through hike (which she did at the age of 77). Okay. I think I need to take a long walk tomorrow.

Roses, I've been wanting to read Grandma Gatewood's Walk. Thank you for reminding me about it. As a person who considers a 6 mile hike a major undertaking and who is never more than thirty feet from a car while camping, I can't even imagine. But what a gal!

I'm enjoying Lincoln in the Bardo and finding it to be quite funny! It's so creativeIy written. I think I read that Nick Offerman and Megan Mullally bought the movie rights, which is kind of disappointing.

I finished "Inside the Third Reich" which was very interesting...far more so than I expected. I then happened to catch the movie Judgment at Nuremberg which was a perfect cap to the book. Many years ago, I worked for a very German boss and wished I'd read this book then! Very insightful from that point of view. I made a thread of some excerpts I thought interesting in light of today's political environment which I posted in Hot Topics.

I'm now reading "The Dollhouse" by Fiona Davis for our book group. A nice, light and fun read...perfect timing after that last one.