Yes, City of Thieves by David Benioff.

I also enjoyed his The 25th Hour, his first book. Not as good as City, but a tight, well-written story.

I agree that The 25th Hour, though good, was not nearly as captivating as City of Thieves.

And yay! I suggested Eleanor Oliphant to my bookclub (from afar, as I couldn't be there) and that's what was chosen for our next book.

Although I have to say that participating in these "What are we reading" threads is almost as good as my bookclub.

This *is* my bookclub.

Thanks Bunny. I will be downloading this and a few other new ones to try to read while on vacation.

I just finished By Invitation Only by Dorothea Benton Frank. I needed a little fun, light read and it delivered. So much fun to read her quirky, crazy characters. I always end up picturing them in my mind and who would play them in a movie.

i also have The Woman in the Window and Same Kind of Different as Me lined up. Haven’t decided which will be next, but it will be one of these three I think.

I more or less liked Less by Andrew Sean Greer (see what I did there?). It’s not a raving endorsement but it was a pleasant enough few hours of reading.

I was charmed by L’appart: The Delights and Diasters or Making My Paris Home by David Lebovitz.

I have Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz on deck.

I read Unraveling Oliver by Liz Nugent and wouldn’t recommend it. It starts with a guy beating up his wife and then each chapter tells the story from a different character’s POV. The opening is very shocking but after that it was very predictable, with only one “oh, that’s unexpected” moment. It seems to follow the pattern set by Gone Girl/Girl on a Train/Couple Next Door of unlikable psychotic lead characters in unbelievable situations.

Bestyears, if you like The Bitch in the House try The Bitch is Back, which is a more or less follow up to the original, and very good as well. I loved both!

I wasn't able to suspend fast enough ;), and now The Female Persuasion is on hold waiting for me. Anyone read this book? It's gotten such rave reviews but I'm wondering if they are the kind of raves that come from NYT/cognoscenti reviewers and that don't really translate into good books that I want to read, if that makes any sense.

I finished The Word is Murder by Anthony Horowitz. I liked the book but I didn't love it. It was definitely an interesting perspective to a murder mystery-- from the perspective of a writer following a murder investigator. Horowitz wrote himself into the story and what surprised me most is how he portrayed himself-- he was self conscious, sometimes self deprecating and while he had spurts of brilliance and confidence in solving the case, they were generally poorly timed or off the mark. The struggle between Horowitz as the writer and Horowitz as the sidekick was at times charming and at times uncomfortable. Still, a unique perspective. I think it would make a fine movie.. perhaps that was his intent from the start (BTW I am a big fan of his Foyles War a BBC series).

I have a few on deck-- Celine by Peter Heller, A Faithful Place by Tana French, City of Thieves by David Benioff and finally Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou. John Carreyrou is a journalist (WSJ) who is responsible for the dramatic fall of Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos, the startup she founded. Elizabeth Holmes caught my attention as she rose to "stardom" in the biotech world-- she's beautiful, seemingly intelligent and as it turns out vicious, amoral and outrageously egotistical. I was sucked in by the hype so I am eager to read the real story.

"Alone was how your soul got stolen by spirits, or your body kidnapped by enemies. Alone was when your thinking turned to evil. " Very glad I stuck with Euphoria. Great imagery, too.

Still plowing through Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World by Jack Weatherford. Work and the garden having been eating up much of my time though. Has anyone read this book? Genghis Khan was innovative but I'm not sure that I'm buying the author's assertion that he was less "bad" than the other leaders of the time.

I just finished The Commoner by John Burnahm Schwartz. It’s an older book, first published in (2007), but given to me recently by a friend who has lived in and loves Japan. It’s the story (historical fiction) of the first commoner to marry an Emperor of Japan and what her life became. Very interesting, beautifully written and culturally mystifying to me.

I attended an author's session with Lily King at Chautauqua a few years ago. She talked about the writing of Euphoria as well as her other novels, all of which she writes in longhand, often while in attendance at children's sporting events, etc. She said with Euphoria, she was certain by the end it was just a big pile of drivel and she nearly tore it up. So glad she didn't!

Just finished We Were the Lucky Ones by Georgia Hunter based on the true life story of how her family, Polish Jews, survived WWII against all odds. I found the story quite incredible and it read easily enough, but it felt very one dimensional to me in terms of characters, which I suppose is what happens with a family narrative. It was also written with chapter after chapter following different people/stories which is not my favorite style book. But it's a decent enough book 3.5-4 stars.

Last night I finished The Bright Hour by Nina Riggs. What a beautiful book. I highly recommend it.

As an aside, I was talking to a good friend on Sunday night about that book and she said that though it sounded good, she just didn't think she could "get through a book like that." While I do think it was sad, the author's approach to both her diagnosis and her life was what really spoke to me.

Leela, yes I think that people may assume The Bright Hour would be unbearably sad because of the outcome, and of course it is but it's also an amazing meditation on the meaning of life, how to live a full and rich life knowing that you can foresee the ending of your own existence, and a chronicle of the beauty and the sacredness of what we so often ignore--the day to day small activities that make up a life, the quiet moments we don't always realize are the source of our deepest feeling of joy and contentment. An amazing book.

I just finished Unbelievable by Katy Tur, about life as a reporter embedded in the Trump presidential campaign from his announcement of candidacy till election night. Fascinating of course.

I did get a bit tired of the life-as-a-reporter-is-so-crazy schtick with all the complaining about hotel food and plane flights and nerve wracking deadlines. I mean, honey, you're a network news correspondent and about a zillion young women and men would love to be slogging through that airport at 6 am ;). However the insights about Trump were incredibly spot on. Especially reading it almost halfway through his first term it resonated as a portrait of a singular moment in American history.

I read Peter Heller's Celine over the weekend and just loved it. I've had a few Heller books on my to-read list for ages but I am glad I started with this one. I read through the negative reviews and a number of people complained about the flashbacks but I quite liked them. I found Celine fascinating and I enjoyed each moment of her story. While the mystery is all fiction, the title character is based on Heller's mother. In his own words, the book was a way to spend another year with her after her death. Some say the character is "larger than life" and not believable-- if so, then her obituary was also fiction! Regardless, I quite enjoyed her character!

For me, the mystery was really just the delivery media for the character. It wasn't much of a thriller but it sure was a fun and enjoyable read.

I am now reading Faithful Place by Tana French

I just read Judd Apatow's Sick in the Head. I love comedy, though I never go to standup shows or anything. In this book, Apatow documents his interviews with many of his favorite comics, some young, some quite old now. This was one of those books that I probably picked because it was $2.99 on Amazon or something, and might not have otherwise. I'm glad I did -I found it to be fascinating and revealing.

Ratherbesewing, thanks so much for the recommendation of Lucky Boy by Shanthi Sekaran. Coincidence that I started it just days before the huge uproar over children being separated from their parents - it made the novel so timely and even more heartbreaking knowing the reality that it is actually happening and not just fiction. Even though it was long, I had to make three trips back and forth to the beach in a week, plus I put it on a faster speed, so I was able to get through it in a reasonable time. Though a couple of parts seemed a bit unrealistic, I loved it nonetheless and thought the ending was well done.

Just finished Two Steps Forward by Simsion and Buist. (He's the guy who wrote The Rosie Project.) It's a nice summer read, pleasant, interesting and light. It's about a man and a woman each walking the Camino who meet at various points along the way and it goes from there. I'd recommend it.

Annie, I started Two Steps Forward and didn't finish-it just didn't grab me and after a few chapters I realized it wasn't going to ;).

I did complete a book I'd read about somewhere in one of those summer reading recommendation guides, The High Season. Meh. About the hijinks that go on during the summer rich folks' Hamptons vacation season with the protagonist being a woman who has to rent out her own house each high season to afford living there the rest of the year. Not sure why I kept reading because I didn't really like any of the characters!

Also, it featured one of those author traps: trying to create realistic teenage characters. For some reason, like Southern accents attempted by non-Southern actors, writers have a very tough time trying to recreate how teens speak. This book fell into the same trap-writing a teenage main character as being incredibly witty and arch and filled with worldly wise ennui, at a level beyond any mortal 15 year old. Happened in My Absolute Darling and many other books as well.

Just started the Pamela Druckerman book There are No Grown Ups and liking it so far. Essays about getting older--unfortunately since my 40s are well in the rear view mirror, the angst of that stage doesn't resonate too much ;).

Orphan's Tale was my latest read...wish I would have liked it more, as it's a compelling story about a subject and period in history that I can barely get enough of....WWII in Europe. But I found the writing just meh and by the end I was skipping whole paragraphs and sometimes pages of what felt like filler dialog and the characters' thoughts. It appears to be based on some historical facts (circuses in Europe during the war and the hiding of Jews within those communities), which is a fascinating subject, but I just was disappointed in the development of the (fictional) characters and plot.

Finished Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World. Very interesting. I learned a lot although, as I said earlier, I'm not buying all of the author's assertions about Genghis or his decedents.

Bill McKibben's Radio Free Vermont is up next. It's a novel about a group who want Vermont to secede. Sounds like a fun read. From Goodreads: "McKibben imagines an eccentric group of activists who carry out their own version of guerilla warfare, which includes dismissing local middle school children early in honor of 'Ethan Allen Day' and hijacking a Coors Light truck and replacing the stock with local brew."

I started Anatomy of a Scandal by Sarah Vaughan over the weekend. Was not on my radar but I saw it in the New Books section at the library and checked it out. My favorite kind of book - slow burn, well-written, set in England, moral dilemma.

Our book club read What She Left behind, by Wiseman, fiction. We discussed it last Wednesday. Chapters relating to a woman consigned to an asylum in the 20's - 30's because she would not marry the man her wealthy parents chose for her, but instead wanted to be with someone they considered unsuitable. Other chapters related to a late-teen in the 1990s coming to terms with her own troubled past, who happened upon the story of the earlier woman.

I'd rate it 3.5 stars out of 5. Worth reading, but some parts of the book ended up annoyingly unnecessary.

Our next book is In Order to Live, by Yeonmi Park, a memoir of a woman who ended up escaping North Korea as a child, with her mother. While this is a relatively quick read, Park's life story (as well as her family's) is harrowing. I finished this in the early hours of the morning.

Does anyone, seriously, want to Sit up at attention when a Korean, or ANY, dictator speaks?

Oly, I am reading An Orphan’s Tale right now. Am about halfway through it and agree with you. The subject matter is interesting and compelling (European circuses in WW2 and the hiding of Jews) but the dialog lags in many places.

Being on vacation at the moment, I was trying for light entertainment and went for Elin Hilderbrand’s Winter Solstice, which I went through pretty quickly. It is part of the Quinn family saga set in Nantucket mostly and just so-so.

I still plan to start City of Thieves and a couple of others when I can. Most days we are too tired after a day of hiking and sight-seeing.

I just finished, "The Cookbook Collector", by Allegra Goodman. It took me a chapter or two to get into it, but then I was hooked. I'm going out to buy another of her books, "Intuition", tonight. I'm on holidays and I feel like I'm wasting my vacation if I have nothing to read - even for one night.

I am now on Anthony Bourdain's, The Nasty Bits. Kindle. Just starting so no comments yet. I really liked his Kitchen Confidential that I read years ago.

DaisyChain, I think I'll put your last read, The Cookbook Collector, on my "to-read" list... sounds up my alley.

Outside, Radio Free Vermont sounds like a hoot!

I'm sorry I've missed these book threads in the past... gonna make up for that.

I’m helping out at DD’s school library, and am trying to expand my knowledge of young adult fiction. To that end, I read Princess Academy by Hale. A quick, sweet read that ponders issues of friendship, loyalty, and character. Next was The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Bender. Truly odd and lovely. Now I’m on to The Marsh King’s Daughter by Dionne. Thrillers are sometimes too stressful for me, but this one looks interesting, so I hope it’s worth it! And I just put Cookbook Collector on my list, thanks!

I LOVED the Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake!

Fouram, I loved The Marsh King's Daughter though IMO it is an intense read; both the subject matter and the author's skill in creating vivid characters make it a book that is sometimes difficult to read in some passages. Still I'd definitely recommend it!

Ok, so Marsh King is definitely not a bedtime read for me! If I did read it before bed, I’d wake up worrying about the characters in the middle of the night. Yes, I really do that. :(

I'm almost 100 pages into City of Thieves, thanks to the recommendations here. I absolutely LOVE this book. The scenes are so incredibly bleak, but the writing is beautiful and there is such a palatable humanness in these pages. I don't want to put it down, and I also don't want it to end.

Ida, I loved it too.

Bunny, I'm reading it on my Kindle app, but this is one that I would absolutely buy in hard copy to keep. Love, love, love -- even though it's quite horrific in places.

It's a wonderful story. David Benioff is a really good writer. I also enjoyed his first book, The 25th Hour. It's not as good as Thieves, but it's a page-turner and very well written.

I'm rereading Frances Mayes' "Under The Tuscan Sun" once again. For me, it's like revisiting an old friend. I love all of her Tuscan books. (BTW, I read the book first, and later saw the movie when it came out. I absolutely hated the movie, as it was so NOT like the book!

Is Mudbound available through Streaming? The title sounds familiar. The Guest Room was good...except the ending was less than it could have been.

Streaming? Like audio? I dunno. I sure did enjoy the book though.

ETA: Oh wait, wasn't it a movie?

Just started Cutting for Stone and am enjoying it very much. If it continues this way, I might recommend it for book club, though it is a long book and usually the gals prefer something shorter.

Annie, I loved Cutting for Stone. I looked at the PBS great American read list trying to find something new. I have read most of the list but did find Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None which I just started.

I started After Anna by Lisa Scottoline. It has good reviews and I usually like her but I stopped this one in the middle. The dialog was horrible and it was a poor rip off of a Gone Girl type plot.

Oh, Cutting For Stone was a great book. I loved it too.

I just finished The Alice Network last night. I ended up really liking it, although I am a bit saturated with WWll stories. I don't particularly like the vehicle that a lot of writers seem to be using these days of alternating between past and present, or an old present (1947) in this case. But in the end it was such a good story that I let go of being annoyed with that.

I also love books where I learn some history as I don't really know much about anything.

I just finished A Man Called Ove. For the first half, I just wasn't sure about it. Sometimes a day would go by and I wouldn't pick it up. A supreme curmudgeon who is bound to commit suicide surrounded by a cast of madcap neighbors?!! I might have set it aside if I'd had something else to read at that very moment. I'm glad I stuck with it. The writing is really good and I love stories of ordinary people where small gestures and actions can change them and others around them. I had a good little cry at the end.

Next up: Song of Achilles.

I just finished If We Had Known by Elise Juska. It started out well enough but just fizzled out in the end. Next on the pile is the new CJ Box. He never disappoints - love that game warden Joe Pickett. I'm a little hesitant to begin because I know it will be a one sit read and over too quickly, but since it will be unbearably hot and humid today I won't be up for much else. (good snacks to go with it too - cherries, peaches and strawberry rhubarb pie)

Bunnyfoof, apparently Mudbound is a series on Netflix.

A series? I watched it (excellent but super-disturbing) and it was a movie.

I heard it was a movie. There were certainly disturbing parts in the book, but disturbing things were going on. Overall, I found it uplifting.

I agree, I could practically hear my heart break open

Sorry but twice I've tried opening a "What are we reading in July" and twice it hasn't appeared after I posted it.

If someone wants to start one, that'd be great...or we can hope one of mine eventually shows up.

Finished Radio Free Vermont yesterday. Bill McKibben is no <insert your favorite writer> but it was a fun read. The frequent mentions of Vt craft breweries was a bonus. "I've been there!" "Ooo, I love their IPA."

I know it's officially July and a movie, not a book. But, but, but...

I watched A Man Called Ove on Amazon Prime and was very glad I did. It was a somewhat condensed version of the book, but it fleshed it out nicely. Of course I loved the cat.