June 2023: What are you reading?

[Vintage81]

Hello everyone! 👋 June is here! 

School is officially on break for the summer, so hopefully I can get a lot of good reading in over the summer. I live in Texas and it gets blazing hot here, which means I'll be hibernating....good time for reading! 😜

Feel free to share anything and everything you've been reading lately! 

I hope y'all are enjoying your summer! 😎

[Kassia]

Well, I am NOT reading "Looking for Jane" anymore.  I finally quit at almost halfway through but should have put it down when I hated the writing starting on the first page.  Not sure what I'll read next.  I have two books here by Rex Ogle so maybe I'll read one of those next.  I finished one of his books last week, Free Lunch, and ordered the two companion books.  

Looking for Jane got great reviews, so I don't recommend avoiding it because I hated it.  😛

[Ottakee]

42 minutes ago, Kassia said:

Well, I am NOT reading "Looking for Jane" anymore.  I finally quit at almost halfway through but should have put it down when I hated the writing starting on the first page.  Not sure what I'll read next.  I have two books here by Rex Ogle so maybe I'll read one of those next.  I finished one of his books last week, Free Lunch, and ordered the two companion books.  

Looking for Jane got great reviews, so I don't recommend avoiding it because I hated it.  😛

I enjoyed Free Lunch….if you can “enjoy” a book on that topic.   

[Storygirl]

I've been reading a lot and keeping tabs on the reading threads, even though I haven't been posting. I'll try to join in again this month!

[Kareni]

I've finished several books since I last posted.

I enjoyed Murder in Admonishment: A Doyle & Acton Mystery by Anne Cleeland which is the twelfth? thirteenth? book in a favorite series. I don't even try to solve the convoluted mysteries, I simply enjoy spending time with the characters. If interested, do begin with the first book, Murder in Thrall.

**

I both enjoyed and found poignant Of Sunlight and Stardust by Christina Lee. The book features a couple falling in love in the present day (one man is grieving the recent death of his wife and the other has just served four years in prison); the men discover a journal which tells of two young men in love in the forties when homosexuality was a crime. (Adult content)

"After the death of his wife, Tanner Rowe takes a step toward making her dream come true and buys the house with the dilapidated barn she’d been inexplicably drawn to in the picturesque Upper Peninsula. But after a year, he still can’t get past his grief long enough to make the repairs he’d promised. Recently out of prison, Cole Lachlan has little to his name. Homeless, broke, and without many options as a felon, Cole heads to Red Bluff with hopes of a second chance. There he meets Tanner, whose loneliness mirrors his own, and soon Cole is trading room and board for rebuilding the burned-out barn on Tanner’s property that hasn’t been touched in seventy years. Turns out, the barn holds more secrets than either of them could have imagined. After unearthing a hidden journal from 1948, Cole and Tanner spend their evenings poring over the pages, reading about a young man pining after his best friend. The deeper they delve into this forbidden affair from the past, the more Cole and Tanner’s own relationship shifts—from acquaintances to friends…to undeniable attraction. But as they begin to deal with the newness of falling in love in the wake of Tanner’s loss and Cole’s past, they also become more determined to unravel the mystery of the young lovers who’ve captured their hearts, the rumors about the fire, and what really happened that fateful night."

**

I also read Crazy Foolish Robots (The Robot Galaxy Series 1) by Adeena Mignogna.  This was a pleasant story about a young woman running away from home (an asteroid) and getting kidnapped by a robot. I don't plan to continue on in the series.

"What would you do if you were kidnapped by alien robots?

Ruby Palmer finds herself on an entire planet surrounded by the things she hates the most: robots. Besides taking everything she says way too literally, the robots have problems of their own. A myriad of technical glitches are, on the cosmological scale, quickly destroying them. Ruby has the programming knowledge and skills that matter to them, but can she overcome her fears and find it within herself to help? Her survival, along with the survival of all of humanity and robot kind, depends on it."

 (FIC 51, RR 25, NF 4, NS 13///)

Regards,

Kareni

[Vintage81]

46 minutes ago, Storygirl said:

I've been reading a lot and keeping tabs on the reading threads, even though I haven't been posting. I'll try to join in again this month!

I look forward to hearing all about what you’ve been reading 😊

[Kassia]

2 hours ago, Vintage81 said:

I look forward to hearing all about what you’ve been reading 😊

Me too!  

[BakersDozen]

My author for May/June/July is Tony Hillerman. I'm about halfway through the title list and loving every one (save for Finding Moon).

[historically accurate]

Just finished Anne of the Island this morning.

Started Lying Beside You in the Cyrus Haven series. Eerie so far. 

I'll probably start What If2 this week as well. 

I also have several books for next school year to preview, but those don't look nearly as fun.

I think I'll be on the hunt for some fun quick reads next. My schedule is pretty crammed this summer and I'll have to fit in reading around it. Some light romance or something.

[alysee]

Reading The Hidden One by Linda Castillo and Echo of Old Books for book club. 

[marbel]

Yesterday I started listening to The Maid by Nita Prose and have abandoned it after about an hour or so. The main character/narrator is described as "quirky," clearly she is not neurotypical. The story became rather tedious and repetitive. Maybe the  narrator's voice didn't help. But, I'm done with that.

So I started The Dentist by by Tim Sullivan; it's a police procedural and guess what, the main character/detective is clearly not neurotypical! But so far, about an hour in, it's more enjoyable than The Maid. 

I also picked up The Late Mrs Willoughby by Claudia Gray and will start that tonight. This is a followup to The Murder of Mr Wickham which is a fun, light mystery based on Jane Austen characters. I didn't find it necessary to have a deep familiarity with all Austen's characters to enjoy the book. Oh yes and one of the characters in these books (not in the Austen novels) is nonneurotypical too, but I think this author did a better job of it than in The Maid.

[Kareni]

Perhaps some here might enjoy this (not a) review ~

Alexandra Petri’s US History

Regards,

Kareni

[Kareni]

A bookish post from the Word Wenches ~

What We're Reading in May 2023

Regards,

Kareni

[historically accurate]

I forgot I ordered One Girl in All the World from the library, but it came in today. So, I'm getting my mindless read on. It's the second in the new Buffy the Vampire Slayer series. 

[Ottakee]

I am reading Dear Dana….story about a lady who wrote to a FB friend when her son died and then was spurred on to write a real written letter to all of her 500+ FB friends.    Pretty encouraging and thought provoking but in a lighter sense.

[Jenny in Florida]

Apparently, I never checked in during May. 

I'm still on my quest to read my age (58 books) this year, but running a little behind. We'll see how it goes. I'll be content as long as I log more than 50.

Also still enjoying books that have to do with walking/running/hiking/dance, although I'm having trouble finding enough good ones to keep me going. I'm especially drawn to books on these topics written by women, which makes the pool shallower.

That said, my list since I last checked in:

• The King's Grave: The Discovery of Richard III's Lost Burial Place and the Clues it Holds, Philippa Langley and Michael Jones (Was inspired to finally get around to this one after watching The Lost King. The book alternates between chapters about Richard's life and ones about the project/dig. The film is highly fictionalized for dramatic effect, but I enjoyed it a lot. )
• The London Séance Society, Sarah Penner
• American Born Chinese, Gene Luen Yang (Wanted to read this one before trying out the new series on Disney+)
• Fit Nation: The Gains and Pains of America's Exercise Obsession, Natalia Mehlman Petrzela
• Choosing to Run: A Memoir, Bonnie D. Ford and Des Linden
• Stalking Shakespeare: A Memoir of Madness, Murder, and My Search for the Poet Beneath the Paint, Lee Durkee

I have been trying to make my way through The Sun Is a Compass: A 4,000-Mile Journey into the Alaskan Wilds, by Caroline Van Hemert, which seems like it should be my kind of thing. However, I just keep stalling out and making excuses to switch to other things. 

Next up, in some order:

• Horse Barbie, Geena Rocero 
• Sword Stone Table: Old Legends, New Voices, Swapna Krishna, Jenn Northington (This one is a buddy read suggested by my daughter.)
• The Slow AF Run Club: The Ultimate Guide for Anyone Who Wants to Run, Martinus Evans (Due to be released next week)

 

Edited June 2, 2023 by Jenny in Florida

[Amoret]

I just finished The Covenant of Water. I was lucky to get on my library's holds list early, though I was ready to order it because I really enjoyed Cutting for Stone. I am glad I didn't. I wanted to love the book, and it starts so well. It is very well written and Verghese does a wonderful job establishing the setting and evoking the feeling of life in southern India where it is set. But I think he tried to do too much and it fell flat for me. There are many characters and none of them are fully or convincingly developed (even with over 700 pages to work with), and the plot felt convoluted and contrived overall. I love fantasy, science fiction, and historical fiction, so I have no problem suspending disbelief, but this book pushed it too far, I think. There were too many coincidences and so many improbable tragedies that they just started to seem absurd after a while. He also includes a lot of medical terminology and information, which worked so well in Cutting for Stone, but it feels out of place here. I don't regret reading it, but I am glad I didn't buy it.

Now, I can get back to some LeGuin short stories, a Town Like Alice, and Joan Didion's Year of Magical Thinking

Edited June 3, 2023 by Amoret

[4kidlets4me]

I finished In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. I don't even know what to say about this. Parts of it were a slog I had to force myself to get through, especially the end. Once they are convicted and sentenced to death I was perplexed as to why there was still 60 pages left to the book. I really had no desire to read about their time on death row and all the other inmates in there with them, it just went on and on. I was hoping there was an epilogue with info about what happened to the 2 older girls and the house but nope, all we get is pages and pages about the killers death row experience. I read the family really disliked him so maybe that's why they are basically absent from the book but it just comes off as weird. I also didn't like how sympathetic Capote tries to make the killers, especially Perry. It was clear Capote was infatuated with him which calls into question how much of the book is actual fact and how much is Capote adding in? 

I  would have liked more info on the guy from jail, Wells, who tells Hickock about the Clutter family. Did he really think there was a safe? Is seemed clear that anyone who knew Clutter knew he did business by check and didn't have a safe, so what made this guy think he did? It was hard to tell if Wells was just talking, making Clutter out to be richer than he was or if he really thought there was a safe. I was also perplexed as to why the man living at the property didn't hear the gunshots. His house was only 100 yards away and they were up all night with a sick baby. How do you not hear 4 gunshots in the dead of night? Makes me wonder if he did hear them and just decided he didn't want to know what was going on. 

I only gave it 3 stars.

 

[Kidlit]

@4kidlets4meRe: Capote's In Cold Blood--have you read any biographies of Harper Lee?  She and Capote were good friends (frenemies?) and there's a lot of interesting backstory about her involvement in In Cold Blood. 

[Kassia]

On 6/2/2023 at 9:16 PM, Amoret said:

I just finished The Covenant of Water. I was lucky to get on my library's holds list early, though I was ready to order it because I really enjoyed Cutting for Stone. I am glad I didn't. I wanted to love the book, and it starts so well. It is very well written and Verghese does a wonderful job establishing the setting and evoking the feeling of life in southern India where it is set. But I think he tried to do too much and it fell flat for me. There are many characters and none of them are fully or convincingly developed (even with over 700 pages to work with), and the plot felt convoluted and contrived overall. I love fantasy, science fiction, and historical fiction, so I have no problem suspending disbelief, but this book pushed it too far, I think. There were too many coincidences and so many improbable tragedies that they just started to seem absurd after a while. He also includes a lot of medical terminology and information, which worked so well in Cutting for Stone, but it feels out of place here. I don't regret reading it, but I am glad I didn't buy it.

 

I am on the library waiting list for this book.  I loved Cutting for Stone but am a little intimidated by the length of The Covenant of Water.  Based on your review here, I may skip reading it.  I really dislike books with too many coincidences as well as some of the other problems you mentioned.  I don't want to invest that much time in a book that I'm not going to love.

I just finished another Rex Ogle book, Abuela, Don't Forget Me, and thought it was excellent.  

[Amoret]

25 minutes ago, Kassia said:

I really dislike books with too many coincidences as well as some of the other problems you mentioned.

It is long, but not dense. I finished it in about a week and I am not a super fast reader. I think my biggest complaint is that Verghese would reveal things about characters late their their stories that he never set up. For example, one character, it turns out, wrote obsessively in journals that end up being vitally important. We don't know this about the character until at least page 500 or so. It may have been mentioned at one point in passing, but not in a way that made me take notice. Another character apparently had a life-long career aspiration in mind that also becomes important, but it is not even mentioned when this character is young.

Overall, I feel let down, so I wouldn't blame you if you didn't want to invest the time. I'm not sure it is worth it.

Edited June 4, 2023 by Amoret

[Kidlit]

@Kassia @Amoret

What makes Cutting for Stone so good (a must-read?) for you?  I've abandoned it twice.  I think mine generally has to do with a squeamishness about the sexuality/sensuality in the book, but I can usually power through.  Not so (so far) on this one. 

[Amoret]

22 minutes ago, Kidlit said:

What makes Cutting for Stone so good (a must-read?) for you?

Would I say it's a must-read? No, but I did enjoy it. I think that what I really liked best was the setting, the world he created in Ethiopia -- it was well-researched, and I learned about a wide variety of things while reading it (I liked The Poisonwood Bible for the same reason, though I didn't love everything about that story either). He also had an element of magical-ish realism that mostly worked in that book to justify some of the coincidences (this was lacking in his later book).  I can't say that I loved many of the characters, and I think that some of the sensual details edged into gratuitous. As in The Covenant of Water, a few of them seemed unreasonably pummeled, and others had arcs that were unconvincing.

I don't think I'm making a very convincing case for you to finish it, am I?  I guess that I enjoyed the book because I felt like it transported me to a very different time and place, which, when I read it, was something I dearly needed. If I read it again, I'm not sure I'd enjoy it as much.

Edited June 4, 2023 by Amoret

[Garga]

I’m re-reading a fantasy “trilogy” (the last book was so long, they had to publish it in 2 volumes) that I read about 25 years ago to see if I still like it. When I read it in my 20s I loved it.

Turns out I still like it! 🙂

It’s been fun to re-read the story. I remember more of it than I thought I would and I’m enjoying re-discovering all the parts I forgot. 

It’s the Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn series by Tad Williams. The first book is “The Dragonbone Chair.”

What made me want to re-read it is that I found out the author added more books to the series a few years ago, so I hope to finish up the first trilogy and then dive into the next set of books. I didn’t want to read the newest books without refreshing my memory of the originals and I’m so glad I did. It’s not deep reading, but I’m enjoying getting drawn into a good fantasy. 

Edited June 4, 2023 by Garga

[Kassia]

3 hours ago, Kidlit said:

@Kassia @Amoret

What makes Cutting for Stone so good (a must-read?) for you?  I've abandoned it twice.  I think mine generally has to do with a squeamishness about the sexuality/sensuality in the book, but I can usually power through.  Not so (so far) on this one. 

I read it a long time ago and don't remember what I liked about it.  I'm sorry!  I just remember thinking that the writing was good and felt it was similar to another author's writing that I really like ( Khaled Hosseini).  I wouldn't bother with it if you're struggling to get through it, though!  

[Kareni]

My distant book group meets tomorrow to discuss At the End of the Matinee by Keiichiro Hirano which I quite enjoyed. (This was a free World Book Day gift from Amazon in 2021. If you saw my notice then, you might own this.) The book features a classical guitarist and the journalist who catches his attention. I'll admit to wondering what might happen with the characters after the book ends. (FIC 52, RR 25, NF 4, NS 13//)

"Classical guitarist Satoshi Makino has toured the world and is at the height of his career when he first lays eyes on journalist Yoko Komine. Their bond forms instantly.

Upon their first meeting, after Makino’s concert in Tokyo, they begin a conversation that will go on for years, with long spells of silence broken by powerful moments of connection. She’s drawn by Makino’s tender music and his sensitivity, and he is intrigued by Yoko’s refinement and intellect. But neither knows enough about love to see it blooming nor has the confidence to make the first move. Will their connection endure, weaving them back together like instruments in a symphony, or will fate lead them apart?"

Regards,

Kareni

[Vintage81]

Last night I finished The Lighthouse Keeper's Daughter by Hazel Gaynor. This was my book club's selection for the month. This was a dual timeline following Grace Darling in 1838 when she becomes famous for rescuing people from a shipwreck (this was based on a true story). We also follow Matilda Emmerson in 1938 when she is on a boat sailing to New York because she is pregnant, unmarried, and her parents are sending her away to have the baby. I enjoyed the dual timelines and how eventually the author connected the two. I also enjoyed how this book was focused on each woman and her journey. However, this book was sad. The author seemed a bit gratuitous with death and towards the end I was rolling my eyes because yet another person was dying. I know not all books can have a nice, happy ending all tied up with a bow, but this just felt like too much sadness and despair and things that were meant to be, but never were. It just left me with a feeling of....ugh. (3.5 stars)

[Vintage81]

I'm also slowly making my way through Jane Austen's Persuasion. I'm only about 20% through, so I don't have too many thoughts yet. ☺️

[Kassia]

36 minutes ago, Vintage81 said:

I'm also slowly making my way through Jane Austen's Persuasion. I'm only about 20% through, so I don't have too many thoughts yet. ☺️

I loved Persuasion, but I'm a big Austen fan so that's not saying much.  🙂  

I just finished the third Rex Ogle memoir, Punching Bag.  Excellent book, but very intense and upsetting due to the content (mostly domestic abuse).  

[Lady Florida.]

2 hours ago, Vintage81 said:

I'm also slowly making my way through Jane Austen's Persuasion. I'm only about 20% through, so I don't have too many thoughts yet. ☺️

That's one of my favorite Austen novels. Unlike most of her fans, I don't put Pride and Prejudice at the top.

[Kassia]

43 minutes ago, Lady Florida. said:

That's one of my favorite Austen novels. Unlike most of her fans, I don't put Pride and Prejudice at the top.

Persuasion and Pride and Prejudice are my two favorites.  

[GailV]

I just finished All the Devils Are Here by Louise Penny. I had read a review of it when it came out in fall 2020, thought it sounded interesting but thought I should read all of the preceding books first - it's number 16 in the series. That turned out to be a lovely project for the semi-shutdown world of late 2020 and beyond - books full of friends gathering for dinners or coffee or whatnot. I was running out of steam more recently as everyone in the books seemed a little twee and shallow. This one, though, restored my enthusiasm. It takes place in Paris, and involved much texting with one of my kids about Nutella crepes, Quebec vs Paris accents (she recently visited Montreal) and other trivia.

Now I fell "caught up" with the series, but, sheesh, actually I'm still 2 books behind.

[Kidlit]

8 hours ago, GailV said:

I just finished All the Devils Are Here by Louise Penny. I had read a review of it when it came out in fall 2020, thought it sounded interesting but thought I should read all of the preceding books first - it's number 16 in the series. That turned out to be a lovely project for the semi-shutdown world of late 2020 and beyond - books full of friends gathering for dinners or coffee or whatnot. I was running out of steam more recently as everyone in the books seemed a little twee and shallow. This one, though, restored my enthusiasm. It takes place in Paris, and involved much texting with one of my kids about Nutella crepes, Quebec vs Paris accents (she recently visited Montreal) and other trivia.

Now I fell "caught up" with the series, but, sheesh, actually I'm still 2 books behind.

I don't know why, but I can't for the life of me finish this series.  Actually, it's almost any series at this point in my life.  I will guess that if it were only 3 books or so (a trilogy?), I would have enough stamina. As it is, I feel the need to have a "palate cleanser" after every book, so I lose any momentum I had built every single book. 

[GailV]

8 hours ago, Kidlit said:

I don't know why, but I can't for the life of me finish this series.  Actually, it's almost any series at this point in my life.  I will guess that if it were only 3 books or so (a trilogy?), I would have enough stamina. As it is, I feel the need to have a "palate cleanser" after every book, so I lose any momentum I had built every single book. 

I have to switch out to very different books between each - that's why it's taken nearly 3 years to finish 16 books. I took a 6 month break in there somewhere, and had actually forgotten the series existed until I happened to see another book review for a more recent book in the series. I was in the mood for something predictable, so started back up.

And there are plenty of series I've just quit reading. Heck, there are plenty of BOOKS I've quit reading partway through, even within sight of the last chapter. 

Years ago I was reading the Little House books and all of their prequel/sequel series aloud to the kids each day, until one day in the middle of Big Red Apple I suddenly announced that I needed a break and never picked the book back up to finish. The kids never asked about it and to my knowledge never finished the books themselves.

[TheReader]

I don't normally pop in here, but just finished a book that was a really hard but good read, and thought this was a good place to share it: 

The Escape Artist: The Man Who Broke out of Auschwitz to Warn the World, by Jonathan Freedland.  -- it's a true story about one of I think 4 Jewish inmates to escape from Auschwitz, who got out and helped give the info that became the only known inside report on the death camp side of things, a report that then circulated to gov't officials all over, and because of this, saved the 200,000 Jewish people from Hungary, Budapest, keeping them from being round up and thus murdered. 

Highly recommend.

[marbel]

10 hours ago, Kidlit said:

I don't know why, but I can't for the life of me finish this series.  Actually, it's almost any series at this point in my life.  I will guess that if it were only 3 books or so (a trilogy?), I would have enough stamina. As it is, I feel the need to have a "palate cleanser" after every book, so I lose any momentum I had built every single book. 

Aside from my marathon reading (aloud!) all 12 of the Swallows and Amazon books (Arthur Ransome) to my kids, back to back, over one summer, I don't think I've ever read more than one or two books of a series at a time. The pattern usually is: I'm all excited after book 1 to go on; I eagerly start book 2 and like it, but then need a break. Often I go back to the series after a break. I do find, though, that sometimes by book 3 I am done with a series. Sometimes all the plots seem too similar - I found that when reading the Amelia Peabody series by Elizabeth Peters. I got a bit further into Laurie R King's Mary Russell (Sherlock Holmes' much younger wife) series - 10 books - before I stopped a few years ago. I may pick up book 11 at some point!  I never got beyond book one of Louise Penny's Gamache series. I did like the Amazon series Three Pines and am sad that they cancelled it! 

 

[Kidlit]

Just finished Homecoming by Kate Morton.  SO GOOD!  So many plot twists and turns.  I didn't see the resolution coming!  A must-read for fans or anyone who enjoys a gothic-esque mystery (though this one is set in Australia!).  🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

[KrissiK]

I’m still in a slump. I am about halfway through “Sam Houston and the Alamo Avengers: The Texas Victory that Changed American History” by Brian Kilmeade. It’s a good book, it really is, but I just really need some good escapist, suck-you-in reading right now and I have none of those in my piles. And I do need to work down my piles.

[Kassia]

2 hours ago, TheReader said:

I don't normally pop in here, but just finished a book that was a really hard but good read, and thought this was a good place to share it: 

The Escape Artist: The Man Who Broke out of Auschwitz to Warn the World, by Jonathan Freedland. 

Thanks for sharing.  I put this on my to-read list.  

I just finished some really heavy books by Rex Ogle and am reading something lighter now - I'm Wearing Tunics Now: On Growing Older, Better, and a Hell of a Lot Louder.  I'm about halfway through it and it's okay.  Some parts are kind of funny and other parts really irritate me.  It's a good read for me now after reading the Rex Ogle books because they were pretty intense and upsetting.  

[Storygirl]

On 6/4/2023 at 9:19 AM, 4kidlets4me said:

I finished In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. I don't even know what to say about this. Parts of it were a slog I had to force myself to get through, especially the end. Once they are convicted and sentenced to death I was perplexed as to why there was still 60 pages left to the book. I really had no desire to read about their time on death row and all the other inmates in there with them, it just went on and on. I was hoping there was an epilogue with info about what happened to the 2 older girls and the house but nope, all we get is pages and pages about the killers death row experience. I read the family really disliked him so maybe that's why they are basically absent from the book but it just comes off as weird. I also didn't like how sympathetic Capote tries to make the killers, especially Perry. It was clear Capote was infatuated with him which calls into question how much of the book is actual fact and how much is Capote adding in? 

I  would have liked more info on the guy from jail, Wells, who tells Hickock about the Clutter family. Did he really think there was a safe? Is seemed clear that anyone who knew Clutter knew he did business by check and didn't have a safe, so what made this guy think he did? It was hard to tell if Wells was just talking, making Clutter out to be richer than he was or if he really thought there was a safe. I was also perplexed as to why the man living at the property didn't hear the gunshots. His house was only 100 yards away and they were up all night with a sick baby. How do you not hear 4 gunshots in the dead of night? Makes me wonder if he did hear them and just decided he didn't want to know what was going on. 

I only gave it 3 stars.

 

I have distant family ties to the victims in this book. My great-great grandmother was married to the uncle of the family. My grandmother was raised by them (her grandparents), and my mom used to mention "Grandma Clutter" sometimes, though she didn't know how they were related to the Kansas family. I figured the connection out by sleuthing online.

[Kareni]

I quite enjoyed School Days (SC Marva Collins Book 1) by Nathan Lowell; this is a new space opera book by an author of a favorite series which features the same lead character. I recommend starting with the author's Quarter Share.  (FIC 53, RR 25, NF 4, NS 13//)

"A New Ship
A New Crew
A Different Kind of Mission

When Manchester Yards donates a new training vessel to the Merchant Officer Academy at Port Newmar, Alys Giggone recalls the Chernyakova.

She wants Ishmael Wang and his crew to take a crew of cadets into the Deep Dark. They have to sort out the crews of two ships, figure out what lessons they need to teach, and who will get those lessons.

Once they agree, the trouble starts."

Regards,

Kareni

[Kareni]

I have also recently finished three other works.

I enjoyed the contemporary male/male romance Damage Control (North Shore Stories Book 1) by Lynn Van Dorn which featured an actor and a dermatologist, both of whom had trauma in their past and present. (Significant adult content plus assault, cutting, and more.)

"Everything to lose.

Tyler’s worked hard to kick the dust of the Chicago suburbs off his heels and move on with his life as Hollywood’s newest up-and-comer, burying his demons and hiding his scars from the world. Just as everything seems to be going his way, a scandal from his past threatens everything he’s worked for. Now he’s stuck back home, where his family of lawyers can maybe help sink the scandal and find out who’s behind it.

Afraid to love.

Josh doesn’t know what to think when his ex’s little brother falls into his arms, other than that Tyler is trouble with a capital T. But when Tyler’s publicist suggests that an adoring fake boyfriend might be just the ticket to saving Tyler’s acting career, Josh doesn’t mind playing along. It’s not like he has anything else going on, and faking a relationship with someone you’ve known your entire life can’t possibly be that difficult.

A second chance for two damaged hearts.

Now they’re stuck together for the foreseeable future, and neither can deny their mounting attraction. Why should they? They’re supposed to be in love, at least out in public. But in private, when no one is watching, Tyler and Josh grow closer in a way that has nothing to do with their agreed upon arrangement. What do they do when make-believe becomes real, and how can two men with such different lives have a shared future?"

**

I also enjoyed Be My Mistake (North Shore Stories) by Lynn Van Dorn, a prequel novella that featured a character who had played a minor role in the above book. (Significant adult content)

"Ethan's Valentine's day isn't going well. He's been talked into attending a pretentious premier gala with his ex-boyfriend at movie mogul Charles Weston’s posh Beverly Hills mansion. Ethan’s plan is to hit up the free bar for all the gin they'll give him, then slink home, alone. Instead, he gets lost in the host's mansion, runs into a handsome stranger, and suddenly his night takes a sharp turn for the better.

Charlie has everything he could ever want, except someone to love, and he's just about given up trying to find him. Then, at his party, he stumbles upon a young man gawking at his Cezanne and cursing his name. Charlie is amused, then charmed, ...."

**

And I enjoyed The Memory in His Skin by B. Ripley for, another male/male romance novella. This featured a grieving musician and a tattooist. (Significant adult content)

 (FIC 54, RR 25, NF 4, NS 15///)

Regards,

Kareni

[GailV]

In Love With the World: A Monk's Journey Through the Bardos of Living and Dying by Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche. I loved this book. But I like reading about dying and perception and NDEs and even Tibetan Buddhism, so, yeah, this hit all of those notes, plus told a story. I look forward to re-reading in a few years and seeing how I feel about it then.

In the meantime, I just got notice that 3 holds have all arrived at the library at once. Wildly disparate books. Popular books that others will be waiting for, so I'll need to get right through them. Yikes. Wish me luck.

[Vintage81]

4 minutes ago, GailV said:

In the meantime, I just got notice that 3 holds have all arrived at the library at once. Wildly disparate books. Popular books that others will be waiting for, so I'll need to get right through them. Yikes. Wish me luck.

Good luck! ☺️

[scholarly]

I've finished a few more.

Civil War Places: Seeing the Conflict Through the Eyes of Its Leading Historians- Gary Gallagher, Ed.  This was ok, not great. It's a series of essays by Civil War historians. Even though I have read and enjoyed works by a few of the authors, none of these essays really captured my attention.

Murder for Christmas- Thomas Godfrey, Ed. This book is a collection of short stories featuring murder at Christmas time. The quality was very uneven (the Woody Allen story was terrible, the Dorothy Sayers was great), but overall it was a nice book to read to start the summer, somehow.

The Haunted Bridge- Carolyn Keene    I'm still reading through the Nancy Drew series. This one didn't hold my interest at all.

I felt kind of blah about this batch of books, so I'm hoping I can find something more interesting in my tbr pile.

[Kassia]

On 6/8/2023 at 12:20 PM, Kassia said:

 

I just finished some really heavy books by Rex Ogle and am reading something lighter now - I'm Wearing Tunics Now: On Growing Older, Better, and a Hell of a Lot Louder.  I'm about halfway through it and it's okay.  Some parts are kind of funny and other parts really irritate me.  It's a good read for me now after reading the Rex Ogle books because they were pretty intense and upsetting.  

I finished the Tunics book and liked it much more than expected.  Maybe a 3.5/5.  Starting Anywhere You Run by Wanda M. Morris next.  I haven't read fiction in a while and am looking forward to it.  

[historically accurate]

I've read a couple more since I last posted.

One Girl in All the World - Frankie the Vampire Slayer. Super fun, 3rd book to come out early 2024.

Lying Beside You - fair, I liked it but although it said it could be read as a stand alone, it might've helped if I'd read the first two in the series. The characters needed more fleshing out.

Becoming Free Indeed by Jinger Duggar Vuolo. I was never a Duggar watcher although I knew about them from homeschooling. Not sure how I feel about this book - several places made me roll my eyes (ie: one section she talks about how Gothard cherry picked scriptures to back up his teachings and explicitly says to use longer passages and then proceeds on the next page to give 5 different single verses that back up her idea on something I forget). I have met in my years as a co-op founder several families that probably did IBLP, but I was pretty ignorant of the whole gamut of issues for years. One lady tried to tell me about blanket training, although she didn't tell me about the rulers or smacking (and I, in my innocence, had no idea that that was the way to do it). I remember being pretty incredulous that a baby wouldn't just crawl off no matter how many times you picked them up and placed them back on it.

What If? 2 - just as weird, earth-blowing-up scenarios as the first one.

I've started The Seamstress of Sardinia - I like it thus far, although I've noticed that since the book is in first person, I don't have a clue what the main character's name is. Also listening to Anxious People by Fredrik Backman, the author of A Man Called Ove. It's a little out there, sometimes I've chuckled along with it. 

I went through the library's "Popular Hold" List and added my name to some coming-soon items. Hopefully, they won't all show up at once.  

[Kareni]

A bookish post ~

Jo Walton’s Reading List: May 2023

Also

This is a Good Book Thursday, June 1, 2023

This is a Good Book Thursday, June 8, 2023

Regards,

Kareni

[easypeasy]

On audiobook, I'm in the middle of the third book of the The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet series (Record of a Spaceborn Few) by Becky Chambers. I find the series to be mildly interesting (space travel) - good for having in my ears while I do busy work around the house.

Along the same vein, I recently started the series by Deanna Raybourn, A Perilous Undertaking and am now in the third book, A Dangerous Collaboration. I find this series to be of the same family as the Amelia Peabody series, if anyone liked those and wants to read something similar. Veronica Speedwell is sister-character to Amelia Peabody as are their romantic interests. Also a good "while cleaning the house" series.

I'm also listening to Think Again by Adam Grant. Excellent so far.

I'm also reading Dune, which was a Mother' Day gift from my son bc he just finished reading it and thought I'd like it. ♥

At the start of the month, I finished This is Where you Belong: the Art and Science of Loving the Place You Live by Melody Warnick, which had some very interesting points and am now beginning The Geography of Bliss: One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places in the World by Eric Weiner. There's a theme there... lol

Edited June 11, 2023 by easypeasy

[historically accurate]

6 hours ago, easypeasy said:

...and am now beginning The Geography of Bliss: One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places in the World by Eric Weiner. 

We just read this book for book club a couple of months ago. I really enjoyed it - Bhutan was the standout place for me. Moldova wasn't on my to-visit lisit, but after reading the book, I don't think I'll put it on there lol.

 

I had some bad insomnia last night, and I started and finished The Day the World Came to Town. Touching (and a really fast read).