lately i’ve been reading out on my porch at dusk until it’s completely dark. last night i ran inside to get my zoom lens for some moon shots. it’s been awhile.
the last couple of days THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN has been my porch read.
it’s officially unputdownable. i’ll probably finish it tonight and that will be sad. it will not be satisfying for the highbrow readers of the world, but for you lowbrowers like myself you will probably race through it and find it very good indeed.
i finally finished THE LEOPARD by jo nesbo. i started it in sweden a month ago, and while i have enjoyed it, overall it was layered throughout with a few too many red herrings for my taste. it’s possible that i’m just not a detective/crime drama fan.
if you have one recent title you found compelling i’d like to hear about it. zip through the comments over in my last book post to prevent repeats por favor. here’s the general book category.
it’s rare that i find 2 unputdownables in a row, but maybe fortune will smile upon me and one of you will deliver. keeping my fingers crossed!
Do read The Orphan Train and Boston Girl!! Both are excellent!!
The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion … a good lol book.
It’s a couple years old, but enjoyed reading “The Perfume Collector” by Kathleen Tessaro.
All the Light you can not see. Amazing!!!
Well – my most recent read is The Girl Who Chased the Moon which was great. And I love the books by Mark Pryor based in Paris. Have you read the Deborah Harkness books (3)? Loved them too. And the quirky mysteries by Ben Aaronovitch based in London. OH, and Mr. Penumbra’s 24 Hour Bookstore. Learning to Swim by Sara J Henry was good. Storied Life of A. J. Fikry quite good. Oh, and The Funeral Dress was an amazing story by Susan Gregg Gilmore.
I loved, loved Deborah Harkness’s All Souls Trilogy! Highly recommended.
Love the moon photos, MAM. Gorgeous! I just finished reading “The Girl With Seven Names” by Hyeonseo Lee. It is non-fiction but reads like a novel and I couldn’t put it down. One of those you wish wouldn’t end. It is about a girl who escapes from North Korea, and the unbelievable ways she survived, finally making it to South Korea via China. It took her YEARS, so many tales are told. Eventually she works on getting her mother and brother out as well. It is an eye opener about being basically imprisoned by your own country, but escaping and still missing your homeland, because with all of it’s flaws, it was still home. It talks about how difficult it is for North Koreans to learn to trust in an open society, and adjust, because as NK’s you learn early to trust no one. It was both fascinating and sad. Since I read mostly non fiction, my next book is “Turn Right At Machu Picchu by Mark Adams. The NYT Book Review says, “Ebullient…An engaging and sometimes hillarious book”. Mens Journal writes, “Like all travelogues (and this is certainly one) …this should come with a fedora and rucksack.” Mark Adams retraces the footsteps of Hirum Bingham III (1911) in the search for Machu Picchu, and tells of his own adventures. I will let you know if I liked it:). Happy reading, everyone!
I loved it too! i couldn’t believe all that she did to survive?
A book that I loved and would recommend is All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr.
“All the Light We Cannot See.” By far my favorite of 2015!
I’m just finishing Ordinary Thunderstorms by William Boyd. It’s been a very intriguing story so far. The suspense is starting to build and I need to read faster to get to the end!!
Currently reading A Marriage of Opposites by Alice Hoffman, and am enjoying it. Recently read Whistling Past the Graveyard by Susan Crandall (which your sister recommended) and I LOVED it!! I also really enjoyed Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman.
Some older ones on my favourites list:
The Little Giant of Aberdeen County-Tiffany Baker
Girl in Translation-Jean Kwok
Cutting for Stone and Kite Runner – mentioned before but I loved these 2
Vinegar Hill and Blue Water – both by Manette Ansay
Anything by Barbara Kingsolver especially her early ones – The Bean Trees, Pigs in Heaven etc.
I love Lee Child’s books about Jack Reacher, macho loner and roamer, ex MP always finding himself in dangerous situations….(Why in the world they cast Tom Cruise in that role I’ll never know!)
Just finished Girl on the Train. Liked it but I enjoyed Gone Girl more.
THE GRAVITY OF BIRDS by Tracy Cuzeman and THE CHURCH OF MARVELS by… I forgot and my copy is on loan. I found them both unputdownable. LOVE LOVE LOVE your blog and follow you DAILY. Off to Paris today to drop second born for first semester of college. Will attempt mini travel journal inspired by MAM. Thanks for sharing yourself with us!
Well, literary Neanderthal raising her hand over here – I also got caught up with The Girl on the Train. I think I’ve already dumped my recent book stuff on you. I just haven’t been reading as much lately. But I belong to a book club which picks the books, and a choice this summer was The Jezebel Remedy by Martin Clark. I never ever read legal thrillers, but my brow temporarily dropped into my eyelids and I’ll admit to running through it pretty quickly. On my teetering to-be-read pile, I have Circling the Sun that Violet mentioned. I loved Beryl Markham’s own book, West with the Night – a classic I first read many, many years ago.
I really really enjoyed this one.
THE EMMA CAITES WAY by A.V. Walters
This is the blurb from Goodreads.com—
Empty-nester, Fiona Hedge, finds a strange and evocative painting while rummaging in a thrift store. Later she discovers that it connects her to Emma Caites, an obscure, long-dead artist whose mysterious life compels her. In her quest to unravel Emma’s story, Fiona is forced to shake free of her own circumscribed life to explore new definitions of success, as she learns to live fully.
To keep you in your Swedish state of mind you must read “A MAN CALLED OVE” by Fredrik Backman. If you don’t read it at least check out the books cover. There is an elderly man on it with a cat by his feet. If that doesn’t intrigue you read the first page. This book is digital and if you like it his second book just came out but is not as good as OVE.
Two of my favorite books this year:
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
The Shore by Sara Taylor
I’m actually looking forward to seeing what your readers suggest, I have had a run of lame duck reads as of late and have yet to find one that has truly yanked me in. So I’ll just linger over here for a bit and take notes. Love the moon shots…so cool.
Yesterday the followup of the Stieg Larsson books came, now written by another author called DAvid Lagerkranz. It’s taking the characters under the skin and beyond the cartoonic figures. I think it might be better. Do not yet know the English title
i cannot wait for this. release date here in u.s. is sept. 1st
THE SPIDER WEB.
just saw a good/funny video with the author talking about lizbeth salander. made me want to read it even more.
I know. His world is spinning around at the mom. I like him. Will read it to
I’m reading The Girl on the Train too 🙂 I’ve got about 120 pages left … I’m a slow reader and can’t read fast enough.
I have quite a TBR pile but nothing is beckoning for my next read – look forward to reading everyone’s suggestions.
Happy happy weekend!
Hi Mary Ann–Here are a few books that I really liked:
A Paris Apartment by Michelle Gable
Don’t Try to Find Me – Holly Brown
I Am Having So Much Fun Here Without You – Courtney Maum
Lesson Plans – Suzanne Greenberg
The Art of Leaving – Anna Stothard
The Half-Life of Hannah – Nick Alexander
Other Halves – Nick Alexander
The French House – Nick Alexander
I have so many more, but maybe one of these will do!
I just started The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry and it’s quickly drawing me in. Will maybe update my comment in a few days when it’s finished. Really enjoying it so far, though.
Did you end up tearing through and enjoying Where’d You Go, Bernadette? I just picked it up from Goodwill and it’s next on the list for me.
lori,
i LOVED where’d you go bernadette so so so so so so so much. i predict you will enjoy it v. much.
I finished The Storied Life of AJ Fikry on Tuesday night. It was fantastic! But I will warn that I cried and cried and cried after it was over and couldn’t fall asleep. 🙂
I’m so excited to hear about the new “Stieg Larsson”, I had no idea! And the Girl on the Train was a fast read for me too as I was dying to know what happened. The sudden ending drove me nuts though…I wanted more!!!
I know you only want one rec, and The Storied Life…would be it, but I have also read most of Liane Moriarty’s and Sarah Vowell’s books this summer as well. Fun fun fun!!!
Kitchens of the Great Midwest: a novel
by J Ryan Stradal
Have you read CONSIDER THIS,SENORA by Harriet Doerr?
Yes I whipped through the requisite prologue to leaving a comment but didn’t find it all that instructive so you will have to edit as you see fit. I have read the most incredible books this summer I decided to just go by recommendations and avoid lists. One I loved was Circling the Sun. About Beryl Markham. Lovely and empowering. The other was My Mind is Shit. Unbelievable in scope I got it on Kindle but can’t find it anywhere in print. The author is Epiwssa Noog. If I could write a book I would write this one But I would change the author’s name real quick;) The third great read this summer was the instructions to my Emjoi foot shredder. Never had so much fun with my feet before. tTFN.
O?
Oh Yay! The comment section has been fixed! I couldn’t read it for the entire seft side of page wasn’t visible.
Girl On The Train is my next on the audio book to be read. I’m so slow at reading, I can’t help you out with anything new. My last audio book was & now the title escapes me. Oy! I’ve been two night without sleep, it’s time to go find illusive sleep. It’s on the best seller list, about the south during slave days, how they were treated, the rise of the AME church in Charleston. I can’t say it was enjoyable reading as the subject was so grim as well as the inhumanity shown the pleople caught in that awful web.
Now, Jo Nesbo is right up my alley. I’m a true crime, good mystery lover since I first stumbled on Agatha Christy (sp?) and Sherlock Holmes whose books I have read since childhood.
Love the pix of the moon, WOW