Tuesday, November 26, 2019

Recent Reads

I've read some pretty good books (with the exception of maybe one of them) recently and thought I would link to my reviews of a few of them in case you might be interested. 



Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson (4 stars)

Reiki  by Pamela Miles (4 stars)

Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport (4 stars)

The Body by Bill Bryson (4 stars)

Solar by Ian McEwan (3 stars, but ... )

A Circle of Quiet by Madeline L'Engle (4 stars)

The Dutch House by Ann Patchett (5 stars)

If you've come across any good books lately, I would love to hear about them. I'm currently reading only one book with one in my "to be read" pile, so I would greatly appreciate your recommendations in the comments!

============

Be sure to check out Kym's blog today for her summary of Just Mercy
Kym has also put together a Read With Us survey that we would love you to answer. It's eight easy questions about your experience with our first "bloggy book club", and your chance to provide feedback and recommendations. Here's your chance to tell us what you think! 

13 comments:

  1. I think The Dutch House might be my favorite read of 2019. I'm reading The Starless Sea and you will love it when your turn comes up.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'm with Carole -- the Dutch House is right at or near the top of my list for the year!

    I'm reading Jennifer Weiner's latest right now, and it's definitely a departure from some of her others.

    ReplyDelete
  3. The Dutch House is on the top of my list for best-reads-of-2019, too. I'm reading The Turner House (by Angela Flournoy) right now . . . so far, so good.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Ah the Dutch House ... and of course I also loved The World That We Knew (and thank you for that Amazon Prime tip about the Madeline L'Engle journals ... they are waiting on my kindle!)

    ReplyDelete
  5. I just finished The Water Dancer and loved it (but I know some did not) I also loved Ibram X. Kendi's How to be an Anti-Racist. And, for the sheer joy of reading - Kent Haruf's Plainsong Trilogy.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Oh, I loved "Circle of Quiet" and reading Mary's comment above, I went to Amazon and the quartet of journals is now on my Kindle!!

    I've been in a bit of a reading slump, but am now reading the latest Louise Penny and that seems to be holding my attention. I also downloaded from Overdrive The Starless Sea and am looking forward to that.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Great reviews! Thank you. I have two books to recommend to you. Their topics may be of interest and their geographic significance may resonate with you.
    A Woman of No Importance by Sonia Purnell is nonfiction about an American woman who was a leader in the French Resistance during WWII. I could not believe I had never heard of this woman. Here's an NPR review: https://www.npr.org/2019/04/18/711356336/a-woman-of-no-importance-finally-gets-her-due
    I read this as an e-book and had the advantage of x-ray view to help me keep track of the spies in the French resistance who used multiple names.

    The Beneficiary by Janny Scott is interesting for the history of the Main Line Families and their history with the Pennsylvania Railroad. The last half of the book deals with the author's relationship with her father, Robert Montgomery Scott. My Library Thing review is here: https://www.librarything.com/work/23154621/reviews/168623811
    Janny Scott also wrote a biography of Barack Obama's mother

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for those excellent recommendations! Both books sound quite interesting and are ones that I might not have come across without your suggestions. I'm definitely going to add them to my list and place holds at my libraries.

      Delete
  8. Your reviews are so good and give others a chance to decide if the book is something worth their time. I liked The Dutch House, but Girl, Woman, Other (winner of the Booker Prize) is my favorite of 2019, simply for its unique story.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Thanks, Bonny! I love book recommendations, and I also love the comments that you inspire. I just finished The World that We Knew, and it was very good. I didn't really get into it until almost the middle of the book, but they I was totally capitivated. Highly recommend. I am still 55 on the wait list for Dutch House, and I am still waiting for Just Mercy. With the library's new policy, I may just have to start buying some books, but it's never a bad thing to support authors, so I am not put out about that.

    ReplyDelete
  10. The World We Knew and The Dutch House are on my TBR...I'm not much of a fiction reader so I'm trying to step up my game in that genre. Ruth Ozeki's A Tale for the Time Being, (pub 2013 ) is one title I totally liked - if I were to give a book stars, it would get at least 4.5. I listened and also bought a print edition because I wanted to re-read and follow up on some of the author's extensive footnotes. Problem tho' : I keep lending the book...

    ReplyDelete
  11. Death in the Grand Canyon. Fascinating stories

    ReplyDelete
  12. I have Dutch house on the shelf....I need to up it in my virtual queue.

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for visiting and taking the time to comment! :-)