All Sinners Bleed lived up to its name. Very gruesome and bloody. Not my cup of tea.

I started, Demon Copperhead last night but am expecting the new Stephen King book today so I am going to start it tonight and put the other book aside until I get back from my trip.

@jewelisfabulous Wow! Bill Forstchen taught history at the tiny highschool I attended in Maine in the 80s. And by an odd twist of fate he went to the same high school my mom attended in NJ many years apart. They did have the same history teacher.

None of This Is True By Lisa Jewell

Frieda McFadden is fun for me, but I just have her books through Kindle Unlimited. I pick them up every year on amazon prime day and drop three months later. I started The Covenant of Water, but I'll wait until autumn or winter. I liked Demon Copperhead.

maddie, did you read Never Lie? Was it the most awful book you couldn't stop reading?!!

@Bunny_Freida McFadden is my fave "trash writer". I have my DILs hooked. The endings are fun, and the books can be read in a day or two.

Whew! I finished The Nix, all 600+ pages. I could see this being released in installments, like Dickens. I've never read a novel so involved with the riots around the Democratic convention in Chicago in 1968. (What IS the fascination with Chicago, anyway? All those TV dramas -- and novels.) 4 Stars for Nix. You just have to keep going. It all ties in by the end.

I finished The Voyage of the Beagle by Charles Darwin. I found it interesting. I had never read it before. I am now about halfway through The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese. I am really enjoying it and am finding it hard to put down. I read Demon Copperhead last month also and loved it.

So, I've been doing a Barbara Kingsolver thing. I read Unsheltered, and I think it was great. It's the story of two families who live in the same house, only 150 years apart. They confront similar problems--finances, personal satisfaction with careers and "Science vs. the Status Quo". Probably a 4.

@kk_md that’s kind of how i felt about The Cookbook Collector by Allegra Goodman. So many comparisons to Sense and Sensibility, lots of storybook beauty and broad shoulders in descriptions of the characters, and nothing meaningfully new.

For silly diversion I just reread Bangkok 8. Last time I read it I was in sweaty Thailand

I just finished Horse by Geraldine Brooks and I enjoyed it. 3-4 stars. It would be good for book group. Only thing is I am not one of those who like the books that skip back and forth in time and all around in narrator. I find it annoying and a false way of setting up drama...making you wait til the next chapter involving that person to find out what happens next. I'm always sorely tempted to just read the chapters in chronological order.

Not sure what's next but for one book group...my mostly nonfiction one...I'm going to propose An Immense World by Ed Yong. We'll see if it gets accepted.

Gone Tonight by Sarah Pekkanen...loved it...at least 4 stars.

@agmss15 How cool is that! Bill may have styled the protagonist a *bit* after himself in that they both are history teachers. :)

Somebody's Fool, Richard Russo, was amusing. There's not a lot of direction -- several interesting characters just living their small town lives, warts and all. "Return with us now, to the tangled web of...Nobody's Fool". 3 Stars is a tad generous.

Fifty Words for Rain by Asha Lemmie. The story of a bi-racial young woman being raised by her aristocratic grandparents in 1950's Japan. At times, it's horrific what she endures. But it's a story of strength, hope & family. I highly recommend it.

I read Fifty Words for Rain a while ago and I agree.

In The Gloaming, Alice Elliott Dark, 5 Stars. A wonderful 2000 publication of her work, beginning with the well-known title story. What talent!

Annie, An Immense World is on my Want To Read list. I'm just reading Beyond Words: How Animals Think and Feel by Carl Safina.

I normally read a lot, but this month not so much.

For book club, I read The Netanyahus which was a very strange book. The parts I enjoyed were pertaining to some history that I suspect most people will not be familiar, and the fiction parts were, in my opinion, of course,,,,,,,,, pretty absurd. The book apparently was a Pulitzer Prize (2022) winner which again weighs to my having no faith in that award. I understand that historical fiction has much fictionalized in it, but this was a whole other level. It struck me as just bizarre, and I guess I obviously didn't see the value. To me, it may be comparable to someone writing a book titled the Bidens and having them based in Delaware and using the kids' names, but telling a story of some imaginary vacation when they were in Switzerland. (it's using the name of the current leader which I found off). I gave it 2 stars. I had some good chuckles, but mostly I found it absurd.

I am now reading The Violin Conspiracy for another book club. I am not loving it either, but I'm sticking with it. It does get very good ratings on goodread, but I'm finding it very tiresome and predictable. Hopefully it picks up.

I think after having read some great books last monht, Demon Copperhead ( which I did love) and Lincoln Highway ( also loved) , and generally really enjoying what I read, these 2 for September are really a disappointment.

Just finished two very short Claire Keegan books, really long short stories. Foster and Small Things Like These. Excellent reading and 5 stars for discussion. Such concise evocative writing is an immense pleasure.

@lisaam- The Quiet Girl, an Irish film, was adapted from Foster and nominated for an Academy Award last year. It's a good film.

Thanks, maddie260, I’ll look for the film

The Quiet Girl is on Hulu. A beautiful story, beautifully told both on the page and the screen.

Just finished The Silent Patient. I think it was recommended here. That's my kind of book. Murder, thriller, psychology, someone in an asylum for the criminally insane, and a twist at the end that I didn't see coming, which probably made it more enjoyable. Might be good for book group depending if the group likes that genre. I give it 4 stars.

Next up, another that was recommended here: Stupid Things I Won't Do When I Get Old. I'm looking forward to it.

Well, I've finished The Violin Conspiracy. It did get better, and it was less of a chore to read it for me. However, I still think it was pretty much chock full of cliches, and one dimensional with respect to most of the characters. It's for book club next week and I suspect most people will have loved it. I'll report back.

For me, it was a 2.5 to 3 star read.

I just haven't felt like reading this month! But I did "Libby" Maya Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, and I can't believe I missed this one. Very compelling.

Everything I start reading lately turns meh. I don't know if it's me or the books I'm choosing.

Im another having trouble settling into one book. Giving Kavalier and Clay a rest because it is so darn long. Tried the Big House but I know of too many of those old money families (due to the work I did, not because we hung out!) and I its not grabbing me. Still looking for the right book for the moment. I do get one free ebook a month from Prime so Ill see what’s available.

I'm rereading Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier. She writes so beautifully and evocatively; it's a real treat. And the original movie, with Olivier and Joan Fontaine, is a very faithful adaptation.

Hester and I am enjoying it. Chapter 1-8 so far.

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed The Big House. The first part lays our the history of the author's Boston Brahmin ancestry and a history of their early summer house colonies on Cape Cod. Going on, the author's childhood memories of summers on the Cape are tempered by adult realizations. As time goes on, the founders vast fortunes dwindle, and the society's exclusive standards (including inbreeding) take their tolls.

one free ebook a month from Prime so Ill see what’s available.

Some of those have turned out to be really great reads. I recently reread one (The Old Neighborhood by Avery Corman - highly recommend). Some are pretty bad. Lately I've noticed a lot of "women's" books, written by and about women, relationships, romance, women cops, etc. Not that there's anything wrong with a women's perspective or cast of characters. I just prefer it to not be so obvious.

Bookwoman, I am off to London on Saturday, and I noticed that there is a West End musical based on Rebecca. I am not seeing it, but it might get across the pond to us at some point.

Ooh...but, a musical? I dunno....

Try to think of it as opera? The Met did The Hours last season, and it was spectacular.

Just finished Celeste Ng's Our Missing Hearts. I would give it a 3.5; I think it would inspire a good book group discussion. Now reading The River of the Gods, by Candice Millard. I'm enjoying it, but it is quite brisk and I do like adventure nonfiction to linger and be a little more detailed...

Oh my gosh, @Bunny. I just read a book called The Perfect Son. It was ok, except the writer kept saying "[character] snorted." Everyone was snorting all.the.time. It got to the point that I was trying to make a snort noise but could not manage it. Pffft, I can do.

Anyway, there was a plot twist, that was fine and the story mindlessly carried me along but then the ending was kind of a " ...ok. really? But ok, clever, I guess." I was just noticing your pinned comment and realized Frieda McFadden wrote my recent time waster! 14 people are waiting for it at the library - no idea why I had requested it.

Just finished Stupid Things I Won't Do When I Get Old which was recommended here. I enjoyed it. 4 stars. I will be recommending it for my nonfiction book group.

Not sure what's up next...I have several to choose from.

Try to think of it as opera? The Met did The Hours last season, and it was spectacular.

Good point. In any event, enjoy your trip!

@barncatz, hee hee. There she goes again.

Time for book recommendations for our book group for next year. Any genre will do...we read fiction, historical fiction, biographies, etc. So what did you enjoy and do you think would be of general interest?

I'm looking forward to reading "Remarkably Bright Creatures" by Shelby Van Pelt. My book club is scheduled to read it, many in the club already have and loved it.

I'm currently trying to get through "The Girls Who Stepped Out Of Line" by Major General Mari K Eder. I'm bored to tears with it. I'd give it a 3 for penmanship & topic.

I picked up "Astrophysics for People In A Hurry", by Neil deGrasse Tyson....but haven't had time to read it.

i read The Stolen Marriage ( Diane Chamberlain) for book club. I was going to pass because it just didn't seem like my type of book, and the past few I've read have been really duds. Anyway it was available on kindle from the library so I tried it. I was so pleased at what a good read it was. It really drew me in and each time I read, I'd start to take a break and then think, well, maybe one more chapter. It was a very good mystery, historical fiction, romance, etc. All the things. It was a very "easy read" in that it was effortless to stick with it.

There's definitely a lot to discuss, and the historical parts of it were very interesting. ( for starters, the polio epidemic, as well as WW2 and race relations in the south).

I would have given 5 stars, but to me the ending was a bit forced and the few improbable pieces began to bother me more. So, I'd give it 4 stars but high 4 stars. I still would recommend it and am glad I read it.

" I picked up 'Astrophysics for People In A Hurry', by Neil deGrasse Tyson....but haven't had time to read it"

funny! You haven't had time because you're in a hurry. giggling!

I've just started The Rose Code by Katie Quinn. Its very good! Its an historical novel about three women who worked at Bletchley Park during WW2. Its a mystery and the narrative goes between the war years and 1947. I've read about 1/4 of it so far!

I love Neil DeGrasse Tyson, and not only because we went to the same high school. Of course, I was there first. He was captain of the wrestling team. I like that in a scientist!

I really enjoyed The Rose Code, as did most of my friends.

Just finished All The Broken Places...Wow! It was recommended here and the best book I've read all year. 5 stars. Definitely recommending to book group for next year.

Link to October 2023