i'm a reading machine right now. i began ready player one and am enjoying it so far, but that's not saying much. since my last book post i was also enjoying fin & lady, but i'm afraid that enjoyment was short-lived. i really wanted to like it especially since a friend with similar book taste loved it, but alas i could not. for me the story could not overcome the bizarre ghostly narrator and overall poor writing. i hope this isn't becoming a fiction-based theme with me, but if it is i am prepared to read it out. and well, i thought a dystopian sci fi about a virtual reality world might jar me out of it.
i discovered the lady in gold accidently when i went over to check out the hare with the amber eyes which my friend suzanne was raving about. oy. i started the sample and before i knew it was in the throes of a full-on book crush. i still am. fascinating. unputdownable.
from an NPR review:
During World War II, the Nazis stripped Jews of their belongings, including many pieces of art. Some of these were returned after long legal battles. Author Anne Marie O'Connor's new book, The Lady in Gold, tells the story behind one of the most famous cases, Gustav Klimt's Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer.
and all of that brings me to van gogh the life. i am now officially dying to get into the van gogh museum in amsterdam. if i don't finish it first, i'll bring this enormous tome with me. perhaps reading it on my kindle while cozied up in my apartment overlooking the canal. it's important that i string those 5 words together as much as possible between now and the next few weeks. for, you know, obvious reasons.
do share your latest book crush. curious cats want to know!
WHEN will you be in your apartment overlooking the canal? I will be in Holland too, very soon, and would be so excited if our trips overlapped. Would love to take you out to dinner! (Or an evening canal boat ride or trip to Delft…) (My parents and in laws are all from Holland.)
If you are at all interested or think you will have time, message me on Facebook or here if you don’t mind saying the dates ‘out loud’. 😉
(Another Marianne)
Marianne VanWingerden
I love all your book suggestions. I recommend The Language of Flowers, Tell The Wolves Im Home and Saving Cee Cee Honeycutt. All are wonderful stories.
Oh I loved Ready Player One and have re-read it a couple of times. Now that there really are online schools beginning to appear on the internet, I think the storyline is not that far off base (but that’s just me). And for a good disaster book read Cyberstorm by Matthew Mather. Older books which I loved were The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield and my all time most favorite books ever Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern and Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. Shadow has the Cemetery of Forgotten Books so that says it all. Guess this is enough to keep you going?! What can I say, I’m a bookaholic
Today I finished Dearie: The Remarkable Life of Julia Child by Bob Spitz. When you are in the mood for a biography, I highly recommend you give this book a try. I was inspired by the way her life unfolded once she found her passion and how she lived for all she was worth. Especially since she didn’t fully “become Julia Child” until she was in her 50s.
just love hearing what you’re reading M.A.! My fav recent read has been Magical Thinking by Augusten Burroughs. In the middle of And the Mountains Echoed, and enjoying it.
xo natalea
I just finished reading “Whistling Past the Graveyard” by Susan Crandall. It’s a coming of age story about a 9 year old girl in Mississippi in 1963. If you liked reading “The Help” and “Secret Life of Bees” you’ll enjoy this one. Also read “The Cleaner of Chartres” by Salley Vickers. If you like armchair travel reading you’ll enjoy the historical history of Chartres cathedral mixed with the modern life of a medieval French town.
I recently read The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and really enjoyed it. I’d liken it to The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry.
I recently finished Cross my Heart(book 1) and Heart of Glass (book 2) by Sasha Gould, it’s set in Venice, 1585. Being set in Venice is what attracted me to them and they are filled with mystery and intrigue.
It’s fun how sometimes all you want to do it read, read, read. I find it a refreshing way to take a break from creative work.
You should read The Accidental Caregiver which is an account by an actor turned caregiver for Maria Altmann, who is the niece of Adele Bloch-Bauer, and who ultimately got the famous painting returned to her as the surviving member of her family. She was quite the character and the book is really lovely, as well as interesting.
Louise Penny’srecent book, just out a week….she is a Canadian award-winning mystery writer. You definitely want to read her books in order, so used copies should be easy & low-cost….or all on kindle/I-books. I never finishedFin & Lady. I am still reading, OLD FILTH, a highly respected English writer is the author. Apparently, her books never sold well in the US; she’s 79 & has written many novels. I was attracted to this because my youngest, 24 yr, is attempting to make a living in Shanghai. Holly
It’s been a prolific summer here…The two favorites were Cheryl Strayed’s ‘Wild’ and Rachel Joyce’s ‘The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry.’ My absolute favorites are the audio books read by Maya Angelou…that voice is the voice of every mother I know.
Glad you picked up Van Gogh — it is very comprehensive and readable. I never knew how late in life he started to create art and how long he spent in just trying to perfect his drawing technique, which thankfully he never did, as those gorgeous color landscapes would never have been created. Drawing like a draftsman is not a prerequisite to creating masterpieces. That epiphany has been a long time in gestation in my OCD mind.
I also recommend the WOOL series (3 books) by Hugh Howey. I just finished the 3rd in the series – Dust and couldn’t put it down. One of those books you have to keep reading but don’t want it to end.
Marilyn K.
I finished but didn’t love The Interestings. The main character was irritating and envious, I wouldn’t recommend it. So now I’m onto The Good House which I’ve heard (including here) so many good things about.
And not for nothing, when I came around the corner in the National Gallery and saw a Van Gogh for the first time in real life I burst into tears at the remarkable, overwhelming beauty of it. Just sayin’.
I’ve been guzzling a lot of fiction, but not sure I would particularly recommend anything. But I do also love Maira Kalman (from your previous post). She does some great kids’ books, and a wonderful illustrated version of the classic writing guide: The Elements of Style. There’s also a collected-works: Various Illuminations (Of a Crazy World). But I’ve been enjoying Danny Gregory’s An Illustrated Life and An Illustrated Journey. Love looking at people’s sketch books! Old favorites are The Decorated Page and The Decorated Journal by Gwen Diehn. And The Art of Travel with a Sketchbook by Mari Le Glatin Keis.
dangity-I started Fin and Lady on your recommendation, the sample ended with a pretty good hook so I bought it and quickly stalled out. I got family drama so I’m desperate for something juicy and unputdownable to get my mind to settle. Going to bed with Fin just ain’t doin’ it for me.
PS I invited Dotty out to play but she won’t answer my virtual knocks at the door. Is she the shy Moss sista?
i read ready player one a while ago. it is a funky book. i can’t remember it as well as i could when i first put it down (obviously) but as someone who has always enjoyed (and still does) playing video games, it was a lot of fun. Read On. 🙂
Outlander. Diana Gabaldon. Read it. You will love it.
Okay. I totally loved “The Panther” by Nelson DeMille. Totally ripped from today’s headlines like the TV show “Homeland,” and with really zippy dialogue that had me hooting in delight throughout. Unputdownable and it’s fat! I feel comfortable recommending it to you because I liked your review of “Ray Donovan.”
Also, while you were gone I found out that Ray Donovan is married to Princess Diana. Not, like, on TV but in real life. And finally, I am ordering that Klimt book from Amazon right now, Miss Myapartmentoverlookingthecanal Moss! And thanks.
Mary Ann,
Schedule that overdue visit to New York City and see this amazing painting, Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer, in person. She “lives” two blocks away (in a museum of course).
dawn – for some unexplainable reason everytime i read sci fi i like it! who knew?!
even though you always spout on about not wanting to read sci-fi, and now you’re reading it, I will share my latest unputdownable: SHIFT, by Hugh Howey – the second book in the WOOL series. Post-apocalyptic, depressing, and intriguing – perfect for the overly sunny summertime. Cheers!