What are you reading the week of July 3, 2021?

I'm reading two books right now. The Origin of Continents and Oceans by Alfred Wegener and The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin.

I'm reading The Witches Are Coming by Lindy West.
Up next is Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston.

finished The Soldiers of Fear by Dean Wesley Smith and Kristine Kathryn Rusch. mindless comfort read.

doing a re-read 0f Velocity Weapon by Megan E. O'Keefe before I dive into the next book in the series. otherwise, still reading The Mists of Avalon and Neuromancer.

I'm going back and forth between Anime Architecture and Custer: The Making of a Young General. Will probably start Black Sun during the coming week.

I just finished reading One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston. I have read her first novel, Red, White, and Royal Blue three times. McQuiston's books, for the uninitiated, are romances, written for people much younger than I am (20s? 30s?), have LGBT protagonists, and are wonderful. I'm not a big reader of romances, but hers are just great. They're also quite sexy, and this particular book has a science fiction/time travel backdrop which is unusual, and which McQuiston handles very well.

Next up is The Winthrop Woman by Anya Seton.

Finished Notes On Grief, which was excellent.

Next up is the first book of a trilogy, Iron Lake by William Kent Kreuger.

All Quiet On the Western Front – Erich Marie Remarque
Book on CD narrated by Frank Muller.
4****

From the book jacket: “I am young. I am twenty years old; yet I know nothing of life but despair, death, fear, and fatuous superficiality cast over an abyss of sorrow.” This is the testament of Paul Baumer, who enlists with his classmates in the German army during World War I. They become soldiers with youthful enthusiasm. But the world of duty, culture, and progress they had been taught breaks in pieces under the first bombardment in the trenches.

My reactions;
Many have called this the “greatest war novel of all time.” I’m not certain I agree with that superlative, but it IS a powerful, emotional, gripping, disturbing, enthralling, and honest exploration of war and its affects on the young who become the pawns of their leaders.

Remarque was himself a soldier in World War I, so he was intimately acquainted with both the romantic adventure that lures many a young person to enlist and the despair and terror of the horrors witnessed on the battlefield.

Frank Muller’s performance on the audio book is perfect. He is in turns eager, excited, confused, terrified, gentle, compassionate, ruthless, defeated, or hopeful.

>2 PaperbackPirate:

Up next is Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston.

That's a wonderful book.

Enjoying this OverDrive audio ~

The Disappearing Act: A Novel
Catherine Steadman (author/narrator)

Just finished The Woman Who Went to Bed for a Year, and while it had some very funny moments, it also had a lot of darkness -- not to mention a protagonist who the reader is going to want to slap upside the head on more than one occasion.

Next up is Jodi Picoult's Vanishing Acts.

Also, I may have ordered six books from paperbackswap.com in the last two days....

I just finished The Humans by Matt Haig...which made me laugh and think. It is interesting that he wrote this when he was going through a bit of a dark time. Words on a page can help us sort things out and I think this is what this book did for him. I am almost finished The Women of Chateau Lafayette by Stephanie Dray. There have been some really good historical fiction books published lately. Or maybe there have always been such and I am just discovering them now. This one chronicles the lives and accomplishments of three women during three different time periods: the French Revolution; World War One and World War Two.

I finished Transcendent Kingdom, a novel written as a memoir. It explores the conflict between religion and science, or between emotion and reason. A difficult struggle. 4 stars

Non-fiction: All That She Carried: The Journey of Ashley's Sack, a Black Family Keepsake, by Tiya Miles

Fiction: The Slaughterman's Daughter, by Yaniv Iczkovits

The White Umbrella – Brian Sewell
4****

Opening line: Mr B, a wiry little man of fifty with white hair was sitting in the back of a big white Land Rover when he saw the donkey.
The television documentary filmmaker leaps out and comes to the rescue of the poor animal which is laden with a burden far too heavy for her tiny frame. They are in Pakistan and scheduled to leave the next day, but Mr B will not leave without the donkey and declares he will walk back to England if necessary. And so, he sets out, with a knapsack filled with a few essentials and one change of clothes, and his large white umbrella for shade.

This is a charming fable of one man’s devotion. Along the way Mr B and Pavlova (so named because of her long legs) encounter kind strangers and a few sketchy criminal types. Still, everyone seems enthralled with the little donkey and the crazy Englishman’s determination. A pharmacist treats Pavlova’s wounds, a lorry driver offers a lift, a merchant opens his home and garden, even the drug smuggler gives them a lift.

It was an engaging, gentle read, with a totally satisfying ending. A perfect escape from the hectic and stressful present day situation.

Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike
Phil Knight
4/5 stars
What a well written book by Phil Knight, who maps out his journey to build a shoe brand and form his own company, NIKE with the help of his family and friends. This is definitely very inspirational for those building their own company but very readable for those who like a good biography.

I finished both The Best of It: New and Selected Poems by Kay Ryan and We Band of Brothers: A Memoir of Robert Kennedy by Edwin Guthman. If interested, you can find my comments on my 50-Book Challenge thread.

I'm now reading Glimpses, by Lewis Shriner, published in the early 1990s. The book is marketed as science fiction, but really it's (at just past the halfway point) a somewhat dark but very effective character study of a man in personal crisis, with some very well done magical realism thrown in. Sadly, I'm going to have to set this book aside temporarily as soon as my recently order copy of Barack Obama's recent 900-page memoir arrives, as I only have until July 18 to read as much as I can of it before my book group meets!

July

Reading:
1. The Sun also Rises by Ernest Hemingway ( Almost Done, brings me back to my University days in Europe, easy read)
2. The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel Van Der Milk, M.D ( PTSD, CPTSD and self help. Good so far)

Listening via Audible:
1. The Choice By Eva Eger, PhD ( Exceptionally good and deeply emotional)
2. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte ( started listening very recently)
3. History Chicks Podcasts ( Women of History, great hosts)

On Pause:
1. To Marry an English Lord ( On loan to my Grandma)

Started The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

I finished up the surprisingly excellent novel Glimpses, by Lewis Shiner. It's a story of a character wrestling with his own present and past, with magical realism visits with 60s counter culture icons. My more in-depth comments are on my 50-Book Challenge thread.

Next, I have 10 days to read Barack Obama's 900-page memoir of his presidency, A Promised Land, before my book group meets. Wish me luck!

Finished Vanishing Acts. Solid and entertaining, but nothing to get overly excited about.

Next up is this month's F2F group read: Afterlife by Julia Alvarez. Not real excited about it, as I couldn't get through her In the Time of the Butterflies. (Our group liaison does not have a real good track record at picking books and firmly resists suggestions from members.) We shall see.

Finished listening to the excellent mystery, Iron Lake by William Kent Kreuger.

Next up for listening is The Neighbors by Hannah Mary McKinnon.

>8 lilithcat: I'm loving it so far!