All About Books discussion

My planned reads for October:

Fiction

✔1.Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie DNF 1 star
*2.The Timeless Land by Eleanor Dark CHANGED MY MIND!
✔3.Seize the Day by Saul Bellow 3 stars read
✔4.The Tenants by Bernard Malamud 2 stars read
✔5.A Well-Behaved Woman: A Novel of the Vanderbilts by Therese Anne Fowler DNF 1 star
✔6.Imperium: A Novel of Ancient Rome by Robert Harris 3 stars read
✔7.Love is Blind by William Boyd 3 stars read stars read
✔8.False Dawn by Edith Wharton 4 stars read
✔9.Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner 4 stars read
✔10.The Grand Sophy by Georgette Heyer 3 stars read
✔11.Gone So Long by Andre Dubus III 3 stars read
✔12.The House of Broken Angels by Luis Alberto Urrea 1 star read

Non-fiction :
✔1.Jane Austen at Home by Lucy Worsley 4 stars read
✔2.You Can't Win by Jack Black 3 stars read
✔3.Feeding the Dragon by Sharon Washington 2 stars read
✔4.The Face of War by Martha Gellhorn 4 stars read
✔5.American Legends: The Life of Harriet Tubman by Charles River Editors 3 stars read
✔6.The Queen: Aretha Franklin by Mikal Gilmore 3 stars read


Short Stories and Drama :
✔1.Girls & Boys by Dennis Kelly 5 stars read
✔2.The Eyes by Edith Wharton 2 stars read
✔3.Pictures by Katherine Mansfield 3 stars read
✔4.After Anatevka: Live by Alexandra Silber 1 star read
✔5. The Gospel According to Mark by Jorge Luis Borges 2 stars read

Wow, how many interesting titles Chrissie!
These some of the books I've intention of reading ...

Elizabeth von Arnim  VeraRead
Herman Bang, La casa grigiaReading Now
Arnaldur Indriðason,   La ragazza della nave Read
Alexandre Dumas Il tulipano nero
Leo Perutz Dalle nove alle nove
Saramago Saggio sulla lucidità
John Steinbeck East of Eden
John Grisham A Time to Kill
Anthony Trollope The Eustace Diamonds Reading now
Dafne Du Maurier Jamaica Inn
Daša Drndić Trieste: Un romanzo documentario
Carlo Cassola Monte Mario
Elif Batuman The Possessed: Adventures With Russian Books and the People Who Read Them
Mary & Carol Higgins Clark He Sees You When You're Sleeping

Laura, I am always excited and hopeful when I pick new books, although I was nor surprised at being disappointed by Christie's--mysteries are difficult for me.

Good luck with yours.

This might be my first post in this group.

Current: Rabbit memoir, kindle bargain-book
F2F book group: The End of the Affair
Waiting on library loan: A Place for Us
From my A-List to read: Where the Crawdads Sing
Our Homesick Songs
Full Cicada Moon
Recommended: A Ladder to the Sky

I’m sure I’ll do some side reads but my primary book for the month is Don Quixote! I started it today. So far, I like it. It’s mostly daunting because of the size - 940 pages. It’s a recent translation that uses more contemporary English than the older ones.

Chrissie wrote: "Laura, I am always excited and hopeful when I pick new books, although I was nor surprised at being disappointed by Christie's--mysteries are difficult for me.

Good luck with yours."

Thanks Chrissie! I generally love Christie's books - but I usually love mysteries! Thanks God we are not of the same tastes!!!

LauraT wrote: "Chrissie wrote: "Laura, I am always excited and hopeful when I pick new books, although I was nor surprised at being disappointed by Christie's--mysteries are difficult for me.

Good luck with your..."

I WANT to love mysteries; this is why I keep trying. IF I liked books of this genre there would be so any more books to choose from!

Chrissie wrote: "LauraT wrote: "Chrissie wrote: "Laura, I am always excited and hopeful when I pick new books, although I was nor surprised at being disappointed by Christie's--mysteries are difficult for me.

Good..."

I know what you mean. And there are a lot of really lovely mysteries!!!!

LauraT wrote: "Chrissie wrote: "LauraT wrote: "Chrissie wrote: "Laura, I am always excited and hopeful when I pick new books, although I was nor surprised at being disappointed by Christie's--mysteries are diffic..."

So is the hope for me? Is there one you think I should try?

I've loved those by Louise Penny, especially the second and third of her Gamache series.
Or, if you like victorian novels, I'd give Wilkie Collins a try, especially his The Woman in White or The Moonstone

Finishing the Trylle trilogy by Amanda Hocking. The Throne of Glass series by Sarah J Maas. And the All Souls trilogy by Deborah Harkness

LauraT wrote: "I've loved those by Louise Penny, especially the second and third of her Gamache series.
Or, if you like victorian novels, I'd give Wilkie Collins a try, especially hi..."

I have read Still Life, the first in the Louise Penny series.......... I gave it one star.

The Woman in White, I gave three. :0)

I have added two shorties to my list, both being Audible Originals. Members may choose two at no cost each month. I have chosen The Queen: Aretha Franklin and After Anatevka: Live.

I was thinking that if I listen maybe my reaction to them will help others choose which to pick this month.

Usually I don't plan what to read, but seen that I bought some books, I hope to read them this month.

To finish: Interviews from the Short Century: Close encounters with leading 20th century figures from the worlds of politics, culture and the arts

Planning to read (sadly none has an English translation, but they could be of some interest for the Italian members):

- Chiamami sottovoce by Nicoletta Bortolotti

- E Marx tacque nel giardino di Darwin by Ilona Jerger

- Il catalogo delle donne valorose by Serena Dandini

And then I'm waiting for a book to arrive at the bookstore, so I hope to read that one too. I don't remember the title, lol. I told the shop assistant, that now knows me, to give me a book I could like about a specific topic, and he had to order it.

My plans for October are based on my currently reading shelf -

Wives and Daughters
Jude the Obscure
The Aeneid (slowly plodding through)
George Orwell: A Life in Letters
The Waterproof Bible

I feel like I need some good modern fiction, but I don’t have much of that on my shelves. Has anyone read any recent releases that they’ve loved and would recommend?

Pink wrote: "I feel like I need some good modern fiction, but I don’t have much of that on my shelves. Has anyone read any recent releases that they’ve loved and would recommend?

Pink, I strongly recommend There There by Tommy Orange. It was one of the best books I read all year.

I've just finished my first October read The Sellout. My remaining October TBR is:

The Girl in 6E
Dracula
Slade House

and at least one of the library books that I keep renewing:

The Unseen
Dalila
Bluebird, Bluebird
The Invisible Bridge
More Than This

Chrissie wrote: "I have read Still Life, the first in the Louise Penny series.......... I gave it one star...."

Chrissie, I almost didn't continue with this series after Still Life. I wasn't fond of the mystery or the characters. It seemed too "cute", I think. Someone convinced me to try reading the second. It was better, so I tried the third and was hooked by then.
I think that because this is a friendship & character driven series, the first book is clunkier while it makes the introductions of all the main characters.
I found that the series got better as it went along and I was more invested in the characters. There's also a "behind the scenes" long-term mystery that runs through all the books (once it is introduced) and is very intriguing.
Depending on what you found unsatisfactory in Still Life, there may still be hope for the rest of the series.

I am currently listening to Magpie Murders. It has an interesting storyline that may interest you. It is different. I don't want to say how as it's part of the mystery.
You may want to wait until I reach the end and can evaluate the story as a whole.

Petra wrote: "Chrissie wrote: "I have read Still Life, the first in the Louise Penny series.......... I gave it one star...."

Chrissie, I almost didn't continue with this series after Still Life. I wasn't fond ..."

I must say the first book did not make me want to read more of the series, but I will keep what you say in mind.

Jess wrote: "I've just finished my first October read The Sellout. My remaining October TBR is:

The Girl in 6E
Dracula
Slade House

and at least one..."

The Invisible Bridge was fantastic!

October reads:

Finished:
The Happiness Project: Or Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun 5 stars
My Dear Hamilton: A Novel of Eliza Schuyler Hamilton: Wife, Widow, and Warrior in Alexander Hamilton’s Quest for a More Perfect Union 4 stars (audio)

Reading:
A Gentleman in Moscow; 5 stars
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (audio); 5 stars

Plan:
History of Wolves (audio); 2 stars

Changed mind on these as I am not going to get to them! Maybe by year's end....
Atonement
The Lace Reader
Under the Dome

I did start:
The Woman in White (audio)
The Collector’s Apprentice

I think I'll need another 1-2 audio, and I do need to get to my reading of a few giveaways - so subject to change....ugh.

Chrissie wrote: "LauraT wrote: "I've loved those by Louise Penny, especially the second and third of her Gamache series.
Or, if you like victorian novels, I'd give Wilkie Collins a try..."

O my!

Tamara, thanks for the recommendation. I’ve never heard of that book, so I’ll take a look.

Pink wrote: "Tamara, thanks for the recommendation. I’ve never heard of that book, so I’ll take a look."

FYI: here's my gushing review so you can see if it's the sort of book you'd be interested in reading.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Well, I have finished those books I planned on reading this month with a few minor variations--two book I did not finish and one book I changed my mind about reading. I added one short story and a another book, that which I am now reading.