Bonnie (brenzi) Reads to 75 and Beyond - 2

WELCOME FRIENDS!

Canadian artist Deb Garlick

My two favorites, growing like weeds. Look carefully and you'll see how close they are to the deer in their backyard.

Reading 2021

January

1. Ordinary Grace - William Kent Krueger - Kindle - 4.6 stars
2. Miracle Creek - Angie Kim - audio - 4 stars
3. The Cold Millions - Jess Walter - Kindle - 5 stars
4. Fraud - Anita Brookner - OTS - 4.2 stars
5. The Boy in the Field - Margot Livesey - audio - 3.5 stars
6. The Hand that First Held Mine - Maggie O'Farrell - Kindle - 5 stars
7. The Moment of Lift - Melinda Gates - audio - 3.8 stars
8. The Cut Out Girl - Bart Van Es - audio - 4 stars
9. Halsey Street - Naima Coster - Kindle - 4 stars

February

10. The Abstainer - Ian McGuire - Kindle- 4.2 stars
11. Deacon King Kong - James McBride - audio - 4.5 stars
12. A Family Romance - Anita Brookner - OTS - 4.2 stars
13. The Book of Lost Names - Kristin Harmel - audio - 3.5 stars
14. Apeirogon - Colum McCann - Kindle - 4.4 stars
15. Hidden Valley Road - Robert Kolker - audio - 4.2 stars
16. The Thursday Murder Club - Richard Osman - audio - 4 stars
17. Driftless - David Rhodes - OTS - 5 stars
18. The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath - audio - 4 stars

March

19. The Vanishing Half - Brit Bennett - Kindle - 4 stars
20. Lean on Pete - Willy Vlautin - audio - 4.5 stars
21. A Private View - Anita Brookner - OTS - 4 stars
22. Agent Sonya - Ben MacIntyre - audio - 4 stars
23. The Book of Lost Friends - Lisa Wingate - Kindle - 4.5 stars
24. Milk Blood Heat - Dantiel Moniz - Kindle - 4.5 stars
25. Crooked Heart - Lissa Evans - audio - 4.6 stars
26. Zorrie - Laird Hunt - Kindle - 4.8 stars
27. Radium Girls - Kate Moore - audio - 4.2 stars
28. The Prophets - Robert Jones Jr. - Kindle - 4.5 stars
29. March Violets - Philip Kerr - audio - 4 stars

April

30. The Ratline - Philippe Sands - Kindle - 4.3 stars
31. The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of 9/11 - Garrett Graff - audio - 5 stars
32. Incidents in the Rue Laugier - Anita Brookner - OTS - 4 stars
33. Walking with Ghosts - Gabriel Byrne - audio - 4.5 stars
34. A Town Called Solace - Mary Lawson - Kindle - 4 stars
35. The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid - Bill Bryson - audio - 3.8 stars
36. Giovanni's Room - James Baldwin - OTS - 4 stars
37. The Salt Path. - Raynor Winn - audio - 4.5 stars
38. The Night Always Comes - Willy Vlautin - Audio - 4.5 stars
39. The Widows of Malabar Hill - Sujata Massey - Kindle - 4 stars
40. The Boys of My Youth - Jo Ann Beard - audio - 4.5 stars
41. Acts of Desperation - Megan Nolan - L

May

42. The Copenhagen Trilogy - Tove Divletsen - Kindle - 4.6 stars
43. And Then There Were None - Agatha Christie - audio - 4 stars
44. The Go-Between - L.P. Hartley - OTS - 4.5 stars
45. The Exiles - Christina Baker Kline - audio - 4 stars
46. The Fran Lebowitz Reader - Fran Lebowitz - audio - 3.5 stars
47. The Dictionary of Lost Words - Pip Williams - Kindle - 5 stars
48. Early Morning Riser - Katherine Heiny- audio - 4.3 stars
49. Altered States - Anita Brookner - OTS - 4 stars
50. The Winemaker's Wife - Kristen Harmel - audio - 3.5 stars
51. The Slaughterman's Daughter - Yanif Iczkovits - Kindle - 4.6 stars
52. In Extremis - Lindsey Hilsum - audio - 4 stars
53. Light Perpetual - Francis Spufford - Kindle - 4.3 stars

June

54. Don't Skip Out on Me - Willy Vlautin - audio - 4.2 stars
55. The Four Winds - Kristin Hannah - 3 stars
56. Letters to Camondo - Edmund de Waal - OTS - 4.2 stars
57. The Doctors Blackwell - Janice Nimura - audio - 4 stars
58. Great Circle - Maggie Shipstead - Kindle - 5 stars
59. Facing the Mountain - Daniel James Brown - audio - 4 stars
60. Unsettled Ground - Claire Fuller - Kindle - 4.4 stars
61. The Plague Year - Lawrence Wright - audio - 4.5 stars
62. Visitors - Anita Brookner - OTS - 4 stars
63. The Seed Keeper - Diane Wilson - audio - 4.3 stars

July

64. Festival Days - Jo Ann Beard - Kindle - 4 stars
65. Men Explain Things to Me - Rebecca Solnit - Kindle - 3.7 stars
66. The Pull of the Stars - Emma Donoghue - audio - 4 stars
67. The Last Bookshop in London - Madeline Martin - audio - 4 stars
68. Big Lies in a Small Town Diane Chamberlain - audio - 4 stars
69. Revelation - C.J. Sansom - OTS - 4.5 stars
70. Snap - Belinda Bauer - audio - 4 stars
71. Infinite Country - Patricia Engel - audio - 3 stars
72. All That She Carried - Tiya Miles - Kindle - 3.5 stars
73. Everyone Knows Your Mother is a Witch - Rivka Galchen - audio - 3 stars
74. A Room Made of Leaves - Kate Grenville - Kindle - 4.5 stars
75. Falling Slowly - Anita Brookner - OTS - 4 stars
76. Between Two Kingdoms - Suleika Jaouad - audio - 4 stars

August

77. The Wild Silence - Raynor Winn - audio - 4 stars
78. The Sweetness of Water - Nathan Harris - Kindle - 4.5 stars
79. Falling - T.J. Newman - audio - 4 stars
80. Undue Influence - Anita Brookner - OTS - 4 stars
81. Migrations - Charlotte McConaghy - Kindle - 5 stars
82. Homeland Elegies - Ayad Akhtar- Kindle - 4.5 stars
83. All the Frequent Troubles of Our Days - Rebecca Donner - audio - 4.5 stars
84. The Lamplighters - Emma Stonex - audio - 4 stars
85. The Fortune Men - Nadifa Mohamed - OTS - 4.5 stars
86. Second Place - Rachel Cusk - Kindle - 4.2 stars

September

87. The Unquiet Dead - Ausma Zehanat Khan - audio - 4 stars
88. The Madness of Crowds - Louise Penny - Kindle - 4.5 stars
89. A Room With a View - E.M. Forster - OTS - 3.5 stars
90. The Personal Librarian - Marie Benedict - audio - 4.5 stars
91. The Free - Willy Vlautin - audio - 4 stars
92. Still Life - Sarah Winman - OTS - 4.5 stars
93. Leaving Isn't the Hardest Thing - Lauren Hough - audio - 4 stars
94. Intimacies - Katie Kitamura - Kindle - 4 stars
95. Miss Benson's Beetle - Rachel Joyce - audio - 4.5 stars
96. The Bay of Angels - Anita Brookner - OTS - 4 stars
97. Bewilderment - Richard Powers - Kindle - 3.5 stars

October

98. David Copperfield - Charles Dickens - audio - 4 stars
99. A House for Mr. Biswas - V.S. Naipaul - OTS - 3.5 stars
100. The Man Who Died Twice - Richard Osman - audio - 4.5 stars
101. The Promise - Damon Galgut - Kindle - 4.5 stars
102. Fifty Words for Rain - Asha Lemmie - audio - 4.5 stars
103. A Passage North - Anuk Arudpragasam - Kindle - 4.2 stars
104. Matrix - Lauren Groff - audio - 4.6 stars
105. An Elderly Lady is Up to No Good - Helene Tursten - audio - 3.5 stars
106. The Next Big Thing - Anita Brookner - OTS - 4 stars

November

107. All In: An Autobiography - Billie Jean King - audio - 4.5 stars
108. Once There Were Wolves - Charlotte McConaghy - Kindle - 4.5 stars
109. Exit - Belinda Bauer - audio - 4.5 stars
110. Cassandra at the Wedding - Dorothy Baker -OTS - 5 stars
111. The Window Seat: Notes From a Life in Motion - Aminatta Forna - audio - 4 stars
112. Know My Name - Chanel Miller - audio - 4.5 stars
113. To Serve Them All My Days - R. F. Delderfield - Kindle - 4.7 stars
114. Ghosts of the Tsunami - Richard Lloyd Parry - audio - 4.2 stars
115. Island of the Lost - Joan Druett - audio - 3.6 stars
116. Something in Disguise - Elizabeth Jane Howard - Kindle - 4.6 stars
117. Ninety-Nine Glimpses of Princess Margaret - Craig Brown - 4.2 stars
118. The Rules of Engagement - Anita Brookner - OTS - 4.2 stars
119. My Name is Lucy Barton - Elizabeth Strout - reread - audio - 4 stars
120. Anything is Possible - Elizabeth Strout - reread - audio - 5 stars
121. Unfinished Business: Notes of a Chronic Rereader - Vivian Gornick - 4.5 stars

December

122. Oh, William! - Elizabeth Strout - Kindle - 4.2 stars
123. My Man Jeeves - P.G. Wodehouse - audio - 3.5 stars
124. A Small Place - Jamaica Kincaid - audio - 4 stars
125. The Lonely City - Olivia Laing - audio - 4 stars
126. The Singapore Grip - J.G. Farrell - OTS - 5 stars
127. Passing - Nella Larsen - Kindle - 4 stars
128. Small Things Like These - Claire Keegan - Kindle - 4.6 stars
129. There is Nothing for You Here - Fiona Hill - audio - 4 stars
130. Leaving Home - Anita Brookner - OTS - 4.2 stars
131. State of Terror - Hillary Clinton/Louise Penny - audio - 4 stars
132. Jewelweed - David Rhodes - OTS - 4 stars
133. Empire of Pain - Patrick Redden Keefe - audio - 4.5 stars
134. Fierce Attachments - Vivian Gornick - L - 4.5 stars

Stats

Total Books: 134

Author Gender
Male: 45
Female: 90

Author Status:
Living: 100
Dead: 35

Publication Medium
Hardback: 12
Trade: 16
eBook: 38
Audiobook: 66

Category
Fiction: 96
Nonfiction: 38

Source
Library: 98
Mine: 36

Translation: 3

Happy new thread!

Hi Bonnie! I can't believe you caved and started a new thread - LOL.

Happy new thread, Bonnie, and congratulations on reaching 75!

Highlights of July reading:



I finally pulled this one off the shelf and was delighted to sink back into Shardlake's world. Just so well done between characterizations and history. 4.5 stars



I just love Kate Grenville and this one shortlisted for the Women's Prize I believe was another excellent outing. Based on the story of Elizabeth MacArthur who almost singlehandedly settled New South Wales, despite her hateful husband, this was a wonderful read. 4.5 stars



Best audio of the month! If you're a fan of Call the Midwife you might love this book set at the beginning of the Spanish Flu and WWI in a maternity hospital in Dublin. So good!

>4 brenzi: Thanks Jim!

>6 katiekrug: Bwahahaha! I know Katie. I was hoping to get to 1000 posts but I was getting sick of my own thread.

>7 FAMeulstee: Thank you so much Anita🤗

Bonnie started a new thread! Bonnie started a new thread! Fireworks & Sirens! Hooray for one of my favorite book buddies. How is The Sweetness of Water coming along?

>2 brenzi: >3 brenzi: Love the art. Love the grandkids.

>11 msf59: Fireworks and Sirens!
LOL, good one, Mark.

I love the pic of your grands and the deer, Bonnie. Honestly, how could those kiddos have grown so much? Weren't they just born yesterday?

Glad to see you're back in the Shardlake groove, that was a great series. And I didn't know about the Kate Grenville, I'll have to look for it.

Happy new thread, Bonnie, and congrats on reaching the magic 75.

Happy new thread, Bonnie. I love the Garlick art at the top!

>11 msf59: Hold the applause Mark lol. I just started The Sweetness of Water this morning so I'm not that far along but it's shaping up to be a good one.

>12 lauralkeet: Well it seems like yesterday to me but in a month Mia will be seven and Cole is now four. He will be going to UPK for a full day so my babysitting days every Monday, Wednesday and Friday will be coming to an end. I have mixed feelings about that.

>13 karenmarie: Thanks Karen.

>14 BLBera: Thank you Beth. I was drawn to her art.

Double celebration, Bonnie - happy new thread and congratulations on already passing 75!

Oh, I missed your total. Congrats!

I'm just listening to The Sweetness of Water so will be curious to hear what you think. So far I think it's very good, with one minor compliant: the narrator uses a John Wayne impression when voicing the sheriff, and it's really annoying! Congrats on 75!

Happy new thread, Bonnie. The poem up top made me smile as did the photo of your grandchildren -- I remember when they were born -- how did they get so big?

>8 brenzi:
I love Call the Midwife but I have never yet managed to finish a book written by Emma Donoghue. I don't know why I don't like her books, but they just don't interest me. Well, the interest me as I pull them off of the library shelves, but I can never manage to finish one. Maybe this would be the ONE that I would finish if I started it.

I am in Kansas trying once again to deal with my mother and her Long Haul Covid. I have been away for about 6 weeks and just got here last night. It is clear that she is doing much better and it is also clear that I need to put more pressure on the Physical Therapy people. She needs to do some work with weights but her stamina is so much better. It is clear that progress has been made. Overall, things are looking pretty good. I will be taking her to a specialist in another town to see else we can do to get some muscle strength back, but that won't happen until Monday. In the meantime there are books and remote working.

>16 PaulCranswick: Thank you Paul.

>17 drneutron: Thanks again Jim.

>18 vivians: Thanks Vivian, I'm really enjoying The Sweetness of Water about 40% in and it sounds like I'm better off with the print version. No John Wayne impressions here lol.

>19 RebaRelishesReading: "how did they get so big?"

That's a question for the ages Reba lol.

>20 benitastrnad: I listened to the audio version of The Pull of the Stars Benita. I'm not a huge Emma Donoghue fan either but I get a monthly newsletter from Audiofile with a list of the best audiobooks recently released and I've had great luck with that. Since the narrator can usually make or break the audiobook, this has been fairly accurate in pointing me in the direction of great reads. Good luck with your mother's physical therapy.

Ohhh, a brand new thread! Lurvely Garlick around these here parts, too...and soon to be a full 75er, too?

...I feel faint...

Soon to be? Um already am Richard lol.

#77.

The Wild Silence by Raynor Winn, narrated by the author

This is the follow-up to Winn's remarkable The Salt Path which came out of nowhere last year. She'd never written a word in her life and ended up publishing a fantastic book about losing her home and all she owned through financial mismanagement and, being homeless, she and her husband pack up and hike the Salt Path on the southwest coast of the UK. This book continues her journey with her beloved husband Moth, who has a degenerative neuro-muscular disease, and they actually hike a path in Iceland while waiting for the publication of the first book. It doesn't have the impact of the book, nor the wonderful Ann Reid to do the narration but I enjoyed another journey with Winn and Moth.

4 stars

#78.

The Sweetness of Water by Nathan Harris

Set in Georgia right after the Civil War, this is the story of two brothers, Prentiss and Landry, former slaves. They're camped out in the woods, trying to figure out where they can go and the landowner, George Walker, comes upon them and changes the lives of everyone in the town. Heartbreaking and yet hopeful, I could hardly stop reading this one. It's hard to believe it's a debut novel and nominated for the Booker. I've read several books about slavery and the Civil War this year, which is somewhat unusual: The Book of Lost Friends by Lisa Wingate, The Prophets by Robert Jones, Jr., and All That She Carried by Tina Miles but I think this one was the best.

4.5 stars

>25 brenzi: Smiled to see that you are reading Undue Influence at the moment considering the influence your thread has been on my own reading these last years.

Hi, Bonnie. I always enjoy hearing about your current reads. The Wild Silence sounds like another good one and The Sweetness of Water is all ready on my list. The Pull of the Stars would be a good companion piece to The Last Town on Earth, which I am currently reading, so I NEED to finally get to that one.

>24 brenzi: Bonnie you aren't helping my wish list one bit :)

>26 PaulCranswick: Hah it's not as if you haven't also influenced my reading Paul. Right now I'm staring at Eustace and Hilda by P. L. Hartley. Now how did that get on my shelf???

>27 msf59: How is The Last Town on Earth Mark? It's been sitting on my shelf for ages. If you do decide to read The Pull of the Stars try the audio. Really well done.

>28 RebaRelishesReading: B-b-but Reba, I can't stop reading good books, can I? Lol.

I had a great meetup with Roni yesterday. I had to take my mom down to Salina, KS for a doctor's appointment and my mom, myself, and my cousin Trudy met Roni at Panera. We had a good time talking about books and teaching school. Trudy, Roni, and I are all people who have worked with education as our careers. I figure that between us we had about 100 years of experience at the table! My cousin also lives in Salina and so we got to talk about Roni's new house and where it is located, etc. etc. It was a fun meetup. My mother and my cousin were astonished about how Roni and I met, so then I told them about meeting Reba up at Chautauqua and getting to meet you in the bargain.

>29 brenzi: Of course not, Bonnie. I'll just have to speed up.

Omg Cuomo resigned! Can you say Governor Kathy Hochul! Buffaloian no less. Actually she's from Hamburg, NY just a NY minute from where I spent 43 years of my life. I'm excited for her. She'd never get elected on her own because NYC but she's in there now so I know she'll make the most of it.

I am to the moon with excitement!

>32 brenzi: - 'Bout time!

>32 brenzi: I just came in from my walk and found an email from a friend about the resignation. It's about time!! And I too am excited that NY has a western, female governor.

>32 brenzi: If she does well and doesn't look like too much like a conservative, who knows what NYC might do next time around. I hope she does well, and if she does, I hope she runs for her own term.

>30 benitastrnad: Sounds like a fantastic meet up Benita. That meet up at Chautauqua will go down as a favorite of mine.

>31 RebaRelishesReading: That's it Reba, speed up lol.

>33 katiekrug: Well yeah, Katie. It is the 21st century so yeah, 'Bout time.

>34 RebaRelishesReading: I was certain he wouldn't resign Reba so I have to wonder what kind of information they have against him.

>35 ffortsa: She's definitely a moderate Democrat Judy and has been in government a long time so I expect she will run on her own. Who knows what will happen. Rebecca Solnit published a piece today saying Hochul has visited every county in NY every year since she was elected in 2015. She's probably made some friends around the state.

I was pleased to see Cuomo finally bite the bullet (although in his speech he seemed to position it as some sort of altruistic act on his part). And of course I'm excited to see a woman take the role.

Hi Bonnie - I finished Still Life last night and it was fabulous. I'm in Colorado for a few days but will be back at the end of the week and will send it off to you!

Hi Bonnie...I think you're likely to enjoy a lot the book I reviewed today. From the Caves...a cli-fic novella that's just so very good.

>37 lauralkeet: His speech was awful Laura. He blamed his problems on everyone else. Hochul will be a breath of fresh air. Rachel Maddow did a piece last night about all the crappy men she had to shove out of the way to get to where she is. It was amazing. I'd totally forgotten about a couple of them.

>38 vivians: Oh boy. I'm excited now Vivian. Thank you so much. I've sent you a pm.

>39 richardderus: Well Richard, that's pretty hard to resist. Thanks for the tip.

I'm a big Rachael Maddow fan!! Such a brilliant, funny, thoughtful, woman.

Sweet Thursday, Bonnie. Hooray for Governor Kathy Hochul! I like her in the early going. Were you a fan of Cuomo, before these slimy allegations?

I am thoroughly enjoying Second Place. The writing is exquisite.

Hi Bonnie!

I'm excited that Cuomo has been forced out and that there will be a female governor. He wasn't on my radar before Covid and I thought he did a pretty decent job at Ground Zero of the pandemic; but these allegations/findings and his absolutely revolting resignation speech make me glad he's going to be gone. What's he doing in the 2 weeks notice he gave himself, though? Very bizarre.

>43 karenmarie: I agree. No one can figure out what he might accomplish in those two weeks, aside from finding a place to live. He's been in politics his whole life, so it will be interesting to see his new trajectory. And he has 12 million $$ in campaign funds that he obviously can't use himself, but that he can use to fund other politicians and PACs. Someone is sure to make hay of what he does with it.

Hi, Bonnie! Happy Saturday! I love your thread toppers!

Congrats on hitting (and passing) 75!

Oh, and you hit me with a book bullet with The Pull of the Stars!

Hurray for meetups!! For hitting the magic 75. Love all your topper photos! And here's to NY. Happy new thread. : )

>41 RebaRelishesReading: Ain't that the truth Reba.

>42 msf59: I'm glad you're enjoying Second Place Mark. I'll have to get caught up with you. I was never a huge Cuomo fan but at the height of the pandemic when Trump was botching up just about everything, I thought Cuomo's press conferences where he spoke the truth, at least in the beginning, were very good. Of course then he screwed up the nursing homes. We've had more than our share of slimey politicians.

>43 karenmarie: Yes Karen, that two week thing is very suspicious. We're kind of waiting for a bomb to fall. Or rather another bomb.

>44 ffortsa: Hi Judy, I saw where Cuomo didn't know where he would live and I thought, huh? Are you kidding me? Of course his gf left him a couple of years ago and she was the one who had an actual home.

>45 tymfos: Hi Terri, I hope you enjoy The Pull of the Stars. I really enjoyed it.

>46 Berly: Hi there Kim! Good to see you and thank you.

So I've been away for a bit, visiting my son and his wife in North Carolina where on Saturday it hovered in the low 100s and humid? Unbelievable. We were at an outdoor dinosaur museum and park which was great fun but I thought I was going to pass out. Anyway I did get some reading done:

#79.

Falling by T.J. Newman, read by Steven Weber

Well, this was a thriller that had me on the edge of my seat for the entire time
I listened to it, which wasn't all that long because I could barely wait to see what would happen next. A fun summer read by a former flight attendant who came up with a plausible ending. Soon to be a movie.

4 stars

#80.

Undue Influence by Anita Brookner

As I continue reading Brookner's books in order of publication it's becoming very obvious that her strong suit is characterization. She is second to none in the publication of the character driven novel and this one was no different. Sometimes her characters seem to suffer from extreme loneliness and although I don't think every woman suffers from this trait, many do. And Brookner is quite good at delineating the malady in its various forms. This book started rather slowly but to a Brookner fan, well, so what? I'm enjoying these monthly forays into Brookner land and look forward to the last few I have left.

Claire, a twenty something single woman, is devastated by the death of her mother. She finally manages to find a job working for a couple of elderly sisters in their bookstore. She meets a man whose wife is seriously ill and thinks she may have a chance with him should his wife pack it in. Things start to fall apart and in true Brookner fashion the ending is somewhat unexpected.

3.8 stars

#81.

Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy

Set in the very near future where the climate has been decimated resulting in the gradual loss of most animals and birds, main character Franny Stone Lynch will remain with me for a long time. She is trying to follow the last of the Arctic Terns on what may well be their final journey. Absolutely beautiful in both the writing and the depiction of what our world may evolve into. Franny's personal story is breathtaking and her journey haunting. Could this be my book of the year? I thought I'd already read it (Driftless comes to mind) but who knows. This one was certainly wonderful.

5 stars

>48 brenzi: Wow, you went outside in North Carolina! In the summer! Without being cattle-prodded by a prison guard or anything! You're The Iron Woman, you are.

They all sound like very good reads indeed. Just what a family visit needs.

I put Falling on hold at the library a while ago, and I am about #ninetybajillion 🙂 Good to know it's worth the wait!

>49 richardderus: They've lived there for ten years Richard and this is the first time I've gone down in the summer. It may be the last. I don't know how they tolerate it especially since my son was one of these guys who always hated the heat. What???

>50 katiekrug: Don't mistake it for literature Katie but just a terrifying fun read lol.

>48 brenzi: They all sound great, Bonnie. Luckily Migrations is already on my list and I've read the Brookner, I think.

Hi Bonnie!

>48 brenzi: Falling had me occasionally rolling my eyes but it sure held my interest. I can imagine that it was fun to listen to the audio!

Happy Wednesday, Bonnie. Hooray for Migrations. I agree it was a wonderful surprise. She has a new one coming out this fall. I plan on getting to The Pull of the Stars soon. Looking forward to your thoughts on Homeland Elegies. I really liked that one too.

I love reading your Brookner thoughts, Bonnie. One of these days I'm going to take a look at which Brookners I've read (a few) and which I haven't (a lot), and start to fill in the gaps.

Migrations is waiting for me at the library, along with A Town Called Solace which I know you loved. I just picked up a couple of other holds on Monday, when it rains it pours don'tcha know. As much as I'm looking forward to reading these latest two, I'm going to let them sit on the hold shelf for a few more days to push their due dates out a bit.

>53 BLBera: I think you'll love Migrations Beth. I can't wait to get to her new one which is on my Overdrive list with not too long of a wait🤗

>54 Copperskye: It was the perfect audio book Joanne!

>55 msf59: I'm about 25% into Homeland Elegy Mark and really enjoying it. Charlotte McConaghy's new book is already out and on my Overdrive list. It's called Once There Were Wolves.

>56 lauralkeet: Heh I know how to play that game too Laura lol.I get very few print books from the library anymore but I do the same thing with my eBooks.

Hi, Bonnie! I just finished listening to the audio of The Pull of the Stars. I agree -- it was excellent! I'm so glad I spotted your recommendation.

Hope your weekend rawked, smoochling.

>58 tymfos: Hi Terri, I'm so glad you liked it too. I get a monthly newsletter from Audiofiles which lists the best audiobooks of the month and that's where I saw it.

>59 richardderus: Hi Richard, I hope your weekend was good too.

#82.

Homeland Elegies by Ayad Akhtar

Part memoir, part fiction, part history and an important book for our time, I found myself furiously turning pages. Akhtar brought to the surface what it's like to be a brown man of Pakistani heritage, although born in this country, even now, almost twenty years after 9/11. Beautifully written, he brings out awful truths about this country that just seem to add to the horrors of summer 2020 and the BLM protests. Brutally shows how Trump's election made life harder for all those who are 'other'. Quite brilliant.

4.5 stars

Homeland Elegies sounds amazing. Added to the WL.

>61 brenzi: I'm happy that I already have this one waiting, Bonnie.

Homeland Elegies is now on the wish list. Another BB from a favorite source :)

Hi Bonnie!

>48 brenzi: Ah yes, North Carolina in the summertime. Glad you got to visit your son and DiL. I hope most of your time visiting was spent inside with AC.

I've lived here in central NC for 30 years and 5 months, but who's counting? I miss SoCal summer dry heat but love the other three seasons.

>63 Berly: >64 BLBera: >65 RebaRelishesReading: Hi Kim, Beth and Reba, I hope you all enjoy and learn from Akhtar's book like I did. It's quite well done. A note of caution that I should've probably mentioned, there is a very, very graphic sexual encounter he has with a woman, that some may find offensive. As I always do when that happens, I skimmed. But the encounter actually plays an important part on later events in the book.

>66 karenmarie: Hi Karen, they've lived in Raleigh for over ten years and this is the first time I ever visited in the summer. They're used to it I guess.

Are there any other fans of Shtisel on Netflix? I just finished binging all three seasons and I'm bereft cuz, well, no more Shtisel. If you don't know it's a show set in Jerusalem about Orthodox Jews, mainly one family, and their family travails. It's absolutely wonderful if you can tolerate subtitles. Really wonderful. I don't know if there'll be any more seasons but I sure hope so. I also don't know why I'm in love with such an unusual show.

Hi, Bonnie. It looks like you loved Homeland Elegies as much as I did. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on The Fortune Men. I will have to give Shtisel a try. Always interested in trying something new and different. Currently watching the 4th season of Line of Duty. Good show.

>68 brenzi: I agree about Shtisel, Bonnie! I've been holding off on bingeing Season 3 since I loved the first two and don't want it to end. That Michael Aloni...what a star.

>68 brenzi: I can't get past the dopey dress code. Too distracting.

>70 vivians: How can you hold off Vivian? I'll probably start watching it a second time before you get to season three lol.

>71 richardderus: But that's part of the charm Richard. Come on.

>72 brenzi: Their gawd gives *awful* fashion advice and has *far* too many opinions about hair for my taste.

#83.

All the Frequent Troubles of Our Days by Rebecca Donner, read by the author

Mildred Harnock was born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin but after marrying a German student, Arvid, they moved to Berlin in the early 1930s where she taught American literature at the university. But as time passes and she witnesses the rise of Hitler, her outspoken nature ends up costing her her job. She organizes a group known as The Circle and they discuss, clandestinely, what is happening in Germany and how they might help. Needless to say, eventually, the Reich catches up with her, and she is imprisoned and eventually executed for treason. It seems every year I read about another heroic woman who impacted WWII in one way or another. Meticulously researched (Mildred is actually the author's great aunt) and beautifully written, this is a heartbreaking story that demonstrates once again the importance of the heroines who operated in Nazi Germany.

4.5 stars

#84.

The Lamplighters by Emma Stonex, narrated by Tom Burke

A haunting story about the disappearance of three lighthouse keepers in 1972. Really well done with fabulous narration, I gulped this one down ravenously. Secrets, secrets and mores secrets. And the suspense is almost overwhelming. Based loosely on an actual disappearance in the 19th century, I loved this one.

4 stars

#85.

The Fortune Men by Nadifa Mohamed

Based on a true story, Somalian sailor Mahmood Mattan has been a free spirit roaming the globe over the seas, until he meets and falls in love with Laura. He admits to being a petty thief but when he's arrested for murder his world is turned upside down. But it's 1952 in the Tiger Bay section of Cardiff and even though there are lots of mixed race couples in this Welsh seaside town, will the famous British justice prevail or will Mahmood's race get in the way?

Richly drawn characters go a long way toward making a book compelling and these characters were compassionate, intelligent and fully fleshed out by the author. I was particularly enamored with the relationship that developed between Mahmood and the two warders at the jail, that quietly conveyed a beautiful compassion. But it was really Mahmood's solidarity with the Tiger Bay community and the teeming community itself that jumped off the page for me.

I don't want to say too much because the mystery is the thing here but I'll just say that very bad policing makes justice difficult today and in 1952.

Booker longlist.

4.5 stars

Got me with another book bullet for Fortune Men. I am staying in this weekend and waiting for Hurricane Ida to arrive, so am getting lots of reading done. I need to have about 2 more stay-in-weekends in order to finish a couple of really good books I have started and want to finish.

I'm so glad you're reading Second Place. I'm both curious and unsure about it!
Of course I'm also going to read The Madness of Crowds -- I'm working my way up the hold list.

Happy Sunday, Bonnie. You got me with The Fortune Men. I loved Second Place, so I hope you do too.

>74 brenzi: All three of those sound great, Bonnie. I'm also working my way up the hold list for the new Penny. I'll watch for your comments on Second Place; I liked Outline.

>76 benitastrnad: Hi Benita, it's nice to get a weekend with nothing to do but read isn't it? I hope you get a couple more.

>77 lauralkeet: I've kind of figured out my local library Laura at least for Louise Penny. If I go on their Overdrive site over and over again on the day her book is published, eventually it appears and I can snatch it and be among the first to get it lol.🤷‍♀️ I finished Second Place but it's still percolating in my brain.

>78 msf59: I think The Fortune Men may be your kind of book Mark.

>79 BLBera: I have the Cusk trilogy on my shelf Beth thanks to Reba but I'm probably not getting to it any time soon.

>80 brenzi: That's very clever, Bonnie. I keep watch for the print editions, which are usually on the website a couple months before release.

I actually pre-ordered the audible version of the Penny book, and put my name on the library kindle hold list early. I do enjoy the audio versions of these books. But since I’m in Maine on vacation, I may read the kindle version and listen to it another time. Choices… :-)

>81 lauralkeet: Yes Laura, I had the print copy on request since June or July so I just cancelled it when my number came up for the Kindle edition.

>82 NanaCC: it's good to have choices Colleen. I don't think I've ever listened to one of Penny's books. Hmmm

#86.

Second Place by Rachel Cusk

When this book first came out several months ago I read a review where the reviewer compared Cusk's writing to Anita Brookner. Uhhh....no. Not even close. Brookner's long, luscious prose was nowhere to be found. At least from this reader's perspective and after all, I have become somewhat of an expert. But that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy this very introspective novel about a woman whose innermost thoughts consume most of the narrative.

M and her second husband Tony, live in a house adjacent to a marsh where they built a "second place" that they use for guests who come and go. M writes a letter to L, an artist whose work she saw in Paris and fell in love with, and he decides to come and stay with his friend Brett. M's daughter Justine and her husband Kent are staying with M and Tony at this time. The interactions among these people provide the only action in the story as there's no plot really.

The narrative is told through a letter that M writes to a friend, Jeffers and although there are six characters, it's really M's story about her relationship with L, who is one of the most obnoxious and misogynistic men I've ever encountered in literature.

"While he spoke, a feeling had been growing inside me, of the most abject rejection and abandonment, because what I understood him to be saying underneath all his explanations was that my used-up female body was disgusting to him, and that this was the reason he kept me at a distance, even to the point of being unable to sit next to me."

Ugh. And yet he somehow allows M to face her inner demons by forcing her to accept her role as a woman and a mother, mending her relationship with her daughter.

At the end of the book, Cusk notes that the novel owes a debt to Lorenzo in Taos, Mabel Dodge Luhan's 1932 memoir of the time D.H. Lawrence came to stay with her in Taos, New Mexico. And of course I'm going to have to find that book and read it now.

Booker Longlist

4.2 stars

>84 brenzi: Great comments, Bonnie. Isn't it funny how one book leads to another...

Great review of Second Place, Bonnie. I liked the novel a bit more than you, but I am glad you came down on the positive side. I really need to read Bookner.

>83 brenzi: The original reader, Ralph Cosham, put the voice of Gamache in my head even when I read the print versions. He died after the 10th book. The new reader is good, but I still liked the original better. I think you’d enjoy the audio though, Bonnie.

>83 brenzi: >87 NanaCC: I will happily second the recommendation of Ralph Cosham’s narration of the Three Pines Books. They are great fun to listen to, especially if your French is, like mine, rusty/essentially nonexistent. For me, Ralph Cosham was Gamache and I haven’t had the heart to listen to the newer books with a different voice.

>84 brenzi: Second Place. Hmmm. I'm on the fence. In fact, I'm kind of on the fence about Cusk in general. I feel like she's an author I *should* like, but haven't been convinced yet. I read a NYT review of this book over the weekend, which went into some detail about the memoir. It made me wonder whether I would need to read that first in order to appreciate the novel.

>84 brenzi: I like your synopsis and your comments on Second Place, but, unlike you and Mark, I did not come out with as positive a view. It was far too introspective for me. I was really intrigued by the actual inspiration and wish there had been more historical detail. I felt very uncertain about time and place as I was reading, and I found that disquieting.

>85 BLBera: Thanks Beth. I really love when one book leads to another.

>86 msf59: Hi Mark, I'm still thinking about that book which is and really want to read the memoir Cusk modeled it after.

>87 NanaCC: and >88 Copperskye: I'm not sure why I've never listened to the audiobooks. It's just a series I like to read I guess. How else to complain about Penny's sentence fragments and dangling participles and numerous other grammatical errors lol. Where is her editor??

>89 lauralkeet: Well Laura, honestly at 111 pages it's not much of an investment in time and I'll be reading the memoir soon and let you know if I think it was a prerequisite.

>90 vivians: You're right Vivian, time and place were a mystery and I kept looking for clues. I got the idea it was during the pandemic after she made a couple of cryptic remarks. And it took me a while to get into it but once I did I enjoyed it. I downloaded Lorenzo in Taos onto my Kindle last night and hope to read it soonish.

>91 brenzi: Lol. Cosham actually made those annoying sentence fragments work, giving them weight/suspense/humor, or whatever their intent is, that my own inner reading voice doesn’t.

I noticed the fragments a lot more in Penny's last book. Seriously, please do some editing! Some fragments for effect are fine, but she goes WAY beyond that. I think it's getting worse, too.

>92 Copperskye: Hahaha well that sounds good Joanne.

>93 BLBera: I know Beth! I can't believe no one has brought this up to her publisher.

This isn't me.......but it could be lol.

>95 brenzi: I'm taller and my hair is distributed differently, but yep.

>95 brenzi: :)
>94 brenzi: I almost get the feeling she's thumbing her nose at her critics by increasing them. Someone has to have mentioned it. I might have to resort to audiobooks for her.

Maybe I'm hearing the audio books in my head (although I've never listened to one) but, quite honestly, I'd never noticed that she uses a lot of sentence fragments/short sentences until it came up on LT. They still don't bother me, actually.

>96 richardderus:
Are you kidding? That's my house! and that is the neighbors dog. No question that the woman is me. Those are certainly my book stacks and that table looks like the one in my office.

>99 benitastrnad: Heh. Bonnie tapped a nerve, didn't she?
***
Normally I am a person who Knows My Own Mind. Startling, I realize, for you to hear this...as I've always been such a soft-spoken crowd-goer-alonger.

Stop laughing.

Anyway. I need help. The wisdom of the crowd is sought to help be decide between two equally strong contenders for Read of the Month. I am simply incapable to unparalyzing myself from the FOMO I get thinking about this problem.

Please vote on the poll or you will be directly responsible for my re-admission to the Goofy Garage this birthmonth.

I love Penny despite her short sentences.

>100 richardderus: Bonnie! Bonniiieee!! Help! It was a tie at 5pm and I had to roll it over until Saturday the 4th at 5pm to come beg stragglers like you to vote!! Pleeeeeeeze?

>97 BLBera: >98 RebaRelishesReading: >101 NanaCC: Good news whether you can tolerate Penny's grammatical errors or not. Amazon Prime is making a series out of the Gamache books! Look at this article: https://www.chroniclejournal.com/entertainment/entertainment_news/amazon-prime-v...

I for one am excited.

>96 richardderus: Interesting Richard. I wondered.

>99 benitastrnad: Well Benita, I don't know what to say. Is an intervention in order? Lol

>100 richardderus: >102 richardderus: Ok Richard, I voted.

>103 brenzi: Yow...the Gamache film made with Nathaniel Parker (aka Inspector Lynley) wasn't great. I'm really worried! But I really hope against hope they get it right!

>103 brenzi: Wow! Thanks for the heads up. I will definitely watch that one. I just hope their vision of Three Pines matches mine. A couple of years ago we visited and I must say the real place is nothing like the one in my head. Agree strongly with Richard "I really hope against hope they get it right"!

Thanks Bonnie! Can't wait.

>104 richardderus: >105 RebaRelishesReading: >106 BLBera: I have the same fears about the series plus I already have these characters set in my head and to see someone representing them on the screen, well, I don't know how that would make me feel about what I have in my head about Three Pines and all the characters. Still, I'll probably watch. Of who am I kidding of course I'm going to watch hahaha.

#87.

The Unquiet Dead by Ausma Zehanat Khan, narrated by Peter Gaman

Set in the Toronto area, Detective Rachel Getty and her boss, Esa Khattak, are investigating the death of a local man who fell from a cliff. There's some question if it was accidental or if he was killed. As they investigate, it's revealed that he's not who he seems to be and there are ties to the genocide in Serbia. It's quickly established that the local Serbian community have their own suspicions. Lots of twists and turns in this mystery and I found Rachel's character to be very well drawn. The audio was well done too.

3.8 stars



The Madness of Crowds by Louise Penny

It doesn't seem quite right that we get to visit Three Pines so seldom when it's right where I want to be. It's just so comfortable there, such a homey feeling. I mean I feel like I can finish Reine Marie's sentences, like Beauvoir is stalking me, like Lacoste is questioning me, and Olivier and Gabri are serving me up some muffins straight out of the oven. And since the book ended I can't get it out of my mind. Of course that also happened with the last sixteen volumes so what the heck is this spell that Penny casts over me with most of her books? Setting aside the bad grammar and lousy sentence structure, I can see why the general population laps up the books like a cat finishing off a bowl of milk, but I consider myself to be a step above the minions, as a reader anyway. There are plenty of books that I love with a passion unknown to others but what makes this series stick with me like nothing else? I don't know but I really wish Penny would write faster. Once a year isn't enough.

As far as the mystery goes, this is one of her best, as far as I'm concerned, but much darker than normal. And timely. Ever since that time during the pandemic when the lieutenant governor of Texas was quoted as saying that the elderly people susceptible to COVID shouldn't be treated but just allowed to, well, die I've thought that's the scariest thing I've ever heard. Penny takes that idea one step further and sets Gamace in motion to try to protect the woman espousing this theory. And even though it goes against everything he stands for he's forced to carry out his job. Everyone gets involved, as usual, and Penny introduces a real life character whose history reveals he is one horrific Canadian. I didn't think there were any. I've only heard of really nice Canadians. Heh.

4.6 stars

>108 brenzi: I’m ready to start listening to the new Penny.. I’m glad it still holds up. I’m with you on the warm fuzzy feelings about these characters. I keep saying I’d love to live in Three Pines.

Skipping right past your review of The Madness of Crowds as I want to keep my head clear until I've read it myself. I'm waiting for a library copy. But I'm picking up the positive vibes, and that bodes well.

>109 brenzi: Marie Benedict really finds interesting subjects to write about, doesn't she? Mileva Einstein was a fascinating one, too.

Happy that your reads are pleasing you so well!

>108 brenzi: The Unquiet Dead goes on to my wish list for next batch of Audible credits (soon I think).

I agree that I would love Penny to write faster. She is writing a book with Hillary Clinton ("long time close friends" -- who knew?) though which is due out in November, I think. We'll see how that goes.

I loved A Room With a View when I read it decades ago -- might be due for a reread, although there are so many books I've never read out there...

Glad to see you are reading A Room With a View. I read it a couple months ago and enjoyed it. I think I prefer Howard's End, but that is just my opinion. The film is pretty good too.

I loved The Unquiet Dead, and the series as a whole is very good. I can't wait to get my hands on the new Penny. Glad it's a good one.

>110 NanaCC: Years ago, when Stasia was active, we all used to joke about getting on a bus together and going to Three Pines Colleen😉

>111 lauralkeet: I'm sure you'll enjoy it Laura.

>112 richardderus: Thanks Richard. What you don't realize is that I drop books I don't enjoy and I've dropped lots of them this year. Mostly audiobooks that didn't work for one reason or another. I just don't bother noting them. I'm really enjoying my first Marie Benedict.

>113 RebaRelishesReading: I know there's a book coming with Hillary, Reba, in October I think. I'll be looking for that one too. I have dreams of rereading books I really loved and actually have some of them lined up on a shelf: A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry, The Idea of Perfection by Kate Grenville, Stones for Ibarra by Harriet Doerr, Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner and The Frozen Thames by Helen Humphreys. That's a good start. I'm planning to reread all of Barbara Pym's novels in 2013 which will be ten years since I first read them. You know what they say about plans lol.

>114 msf59: Yes I think I agree with you Mark. I'm reading it now because I have the new Sarah Winman (Still Life) lined up next and it makes some reference to A Room With a View according to reviews I've read.

>115 BLBera: Good to know Beth. I may continue with it on audio as they're all available.

Popping in to say Hi! Glad you are continuing to enjoy Penny. : )

>116 brenzi: I've read Stones for Ibarra and Angle of Repose and loved both so I added A Fine Balance and The Idea of Perfection to my wish list and then went back and ordered A Fine Balance.

>116 brenzi: I usually don't comment on books I drop either...if I cared enough to comment, why wouldn't I finish it?

Hi Bonnie!

>84 brenzi: I’m sitting staring at the copy I have checked out from the Library, and think, that for me, it’s just not going to work. Back it goes! Thank goodness I didn’t buy it.

>91 brenzi: The more famous an author is, the less the editor seems to be involved in the final product. And my theory is that Penny is getting paid by the punctuation mark.

>116 brenzi: … I drop books I don't enjoy and I've dropped lots of them this year. Mostly audiobooks that didn't work for one reason or another. I just don't bother noting them. I don’t comment on dropped books. I count pages for a paper books and don’t bother counting hours for audiobooks. I’ve abandoned 11 books for a total of 974 pages so far this year. Too many books, too little time to waste on stinkers.

>117 Berly: Hi there Kim. Good to see you.

>118 RebaRelishesReading: I really hope you enjoy both of those Reba. A Fine Balance is a very powerful book and The Idea of Perfection is.....well absolutely wonderful. I hope that's not too much hype.

>119 richardderus: Exactly Richard. Couldn't agree more.

>120 karenmarie: Hi Karen, Second Place certainly isn't for everyone but I did end up enjoying it and I have her trilogy on my shelf and will get to that at some point. I have the usual problem. Too. Many. Books. On the other hand, the good thing is there's always another book if you don't like what you're reading. That's why I have no trouble dropping a book I'm not totally engaged in.

#89.

A Room With a View by E. M. Forster

This book has been sitting on my shelf for eons. Light and humorous it is fairly short. In the early 1900s, young, entitled Lucy Honeychurch is on vacation in Florence, Italy accompanied by her much older cousin and guardian, Charlotte Bartlett. Confusion and slight nonsense ensue when Lucy meets the Emersons, father and son. The trip is cut short when the son, George makes a fatal error. After returning home, Lucy ends up engaged to Cecil Vyse, who really is not a good match for her. But did she make a mistake with George, who coincidentally ends up living right around the corner from her? This is the main theme of this light, little romance. Excellent writing but certainly not as good as Howard's End. I also have Passage to India on my shelf that I hope to read later this year.

3.5 stars

#90.

The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict, read by Robin Miles

A highly researched biographical fiction account of the life of Belle deCosta Greene, J.P. Morgan's personal librarian. It was absolutely fascinating to see how a young black woman, who passed for white, landed the position she was truly perfectly prepared for and went about doing a most difficult job, for a demanding man, who expected perfection while at the same time keeping her private life secret. Absolutely wonderful, and filled to the brim with information about life among the very wealthy and intellectual in the early part of the twentieth century. The audio was astoundingly well done.

4.6 stars

Well, you got me with number 90….

>122 brenzi: Well...hmm...I don't really see this as an Act of War, Bonnie, but you might feel differently:
Sourcebooks, Marie Benedict's publisher, has a set-of-four Kindlesale of her books for only $5: https://smile.amazon.com/Marie-Benedict-Historical-Fiction-Bundle-ebook/dp/B08GW...
Included are The Other Einstein, which I quite enjoyed; Carnegie's Maid, which I'm reading now; Lady Clementine, about Churchill's exceedingly interesting wife; and The Only Woman in the Room, about my dote Hedy Lamarr, a woman so underknown it's actually painful to contemplate. (Hedy's Folly is a wonderful book about her contribution to your cellphone.)

Anyway, you should know about this and now you do. *smooch*

>124 drneutron: Heh, well Jim, I guess my work here is done lol.

>125 richardderus: Them are fighting words Richard, but pretty hard for me to resist that price.

The Booker Prize shortlist came out today:


The Promise by Damon Galgut


A Passage North by Anuk Arudpragasam


No One is Talking About This by Patricia Lockwood


The Fortune Men by Nadifa Mohamed


Bewilderment by Richard Powers


Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead

I've read only two of them so far The Fortune Men and Great Circle but I'll be reading some of the others before the winner is announced in November.

^Thanks for supplying the Booker Shortlist, Bonnie. I am waiting to read Great Circle and I for sure want to read Bewilderment & The Fortune Men. Sorry, that A Town Called Solace didn't make the cut. I am on a waiting list, at the library for it.

I'm not very surprised that A Town Called Solace didn't make it Mark. I love everything MARY Lawson writes but I never thought this was her best book. I'm on the waiting list for Bewilderment, A Passage North and The Promise but I have no intention of reading the Lockwood book. It just doesn't sound like anything I'd like. So of course it will probably win lol.

I've only read Great Circle and I liked it but Booker short list---really?

>130 RebaRelishesReading: Hmmm I'm not sure what you mean Reba but I do know that they've chosen some really odd books like Milkman in 2018, Lincoln in the Bardo in 2017 which I absolutely hated, The Sellout in 2016 which I couldn't finish, and The Finkler Question which was simply unreadable. But once in a while they hit a home run like last year's Shuggie Bain and Hilary Mantel's two books so maybe this year Great Circle will win. They do have a history of liking long books: The Luminaries in 2013, The Narrow Road to the Deep North, the two Mantel books. Anyway, who knows which book will win? There's no sure fire way to tell but I like guessing.

I am terrible at guessing winners, Bonnie. I've read two from the shortlist and will probably read Bewilderment, A Passage North, and Fortune Men at some point.

>131 brenzi: I don't really know what their criteria are but it just didn't seem like a book that rose to the level of a big award to me. That said, I'm certainly not an expert on literature so who am I to say?

>131 brenzi:
I agree with you on Lincoln in the Bardo. I finished it but just couldn't understand why it was an award winner at all. I understand an author's need to experiment and expand what they do, but really? That book was horrible. I finished reading it because I felt obligated to do so since it was a selection for a real life Book Club, but it was a painful experience. The other Booker winners you mentioned are ones that I haven't read and don't intend to as the subject matter just doesn't appeal to me. I do have a copy of The Luminaries and I do intend to read it - someday, but it just isn't calling out to me yet. Same thing is true for the Mantel books. Part of the problem there is that I know how the Thomas Cromwell story ends and that ending doesn't appeal to me either. However, the journey along the way does. I find that Mantel's take on history is often interesting and controversial and when I read one of her previous books, Place of Greater Safety, I had to keep reminding myself that she was writing fiction and not nonfiction. Fiction gives the author greater latitude to interpret and Mantel takes advantage of it.

>129 brenzi: >131 brenzi: I agree with you that No One is Talking About This is the one I am least likely to read. The rest of them are all pretty appealing. And the Booker does pick odd prize winners from time to time. I hated The Finkler Question and The Sellout too, and to me The Sellout illustrated why the Booker doesn’t work as well when it includes US books. It was one that was clearly expecting the reader to understand the background of race issues in the States, and I just didn’t have enough background knowledge to understand the nuances of what it was trying to say. But I did like Lincoln in the Bardo though - l listened to it on audiobook and it worked very well.

I very much enjoyed Milkman and The Luminaries, I *revere* Shuggie Bain, and I live among The Finkler Question's cast.

I will be dead and buried under a ditch before I read another George Saunders book. That bardo thing was ponderous, misshapen, inelegant, and just plain stupid. The Sellout? A Booker?! Why? Not awful, not memorable in any way, just white guilt writ small. Very small. The US has its own prizes. Leave the Booker for some interesting Nigerian or Pakistani or New Guinean writers. Or start giving Pulitzers or National Book Awards to poets from Brixton.

Hi Bonnie. I love the photo in >3 brenzi:. I would not have seen the deer had you not mentioned it.

I loved A Town Called Solace but didn't think it prize-worthy. It was a great read but not "original" in the way I think Bookers are "supposed" to be.

I read No One is Talking About This before the long list was announced and gave it four stars. But the weird thing is I don't remember it all that well. I gave A Passage North 3.5 stars and think I may have been a bit stingy as I have thought about it since. In any case, I'm still working my way through the list and so far none of them have knocked my socks off like Shuggie Bain did last year.

>132 BLBera: Usually they pick books I don't deem worthy of winning the Booker, Beth. I'll now do what I always do with the Booker longlist which is to ignore the books I didn't get to and read as many of the shortlist as I can get in. But I've already decided I won't read the Lockwood, even if it wins. Just doesn't sound like something I'd like.

>133 RebaRelishesReading: I'm going to go out on a limb here Reba and say I think it might also be nominated for the Pulitzer. I've never been able to figure out their criteria.

>134 benitastrnad: Hi Benita, I think Mantel is in a league of her own. Her writing is luminous to say nothing of her research and cleverness. I have A Place of Greater Safety on my Kindle and hope to get to it at some point. I loved The Luminaries and wonder when we'll get another book from Catton.

>135 SandDune: Hi Rhian, I wish I would've gone with the audio of Lincoln in the Bardo. Maybe that would've made a difference for me. I don't know why they felt the need to add American books to the books eligible for the prize. I didn't like the idea at the time and still don't see the point. After all, we do have the Pulitzer Prize for Gods sake.

>136 richardderus: Right on Richard. I agree completely. I ended up not rating Milkman and ended my review saying:

"I’m not rating this book, at least not now, because the more I think about it the more I change my mind. Brilliant? Or have I been had? Don’t know. No idea. Must consult third brother in law."

I also loved The Luminaries.

>137 EBT1002: Hi Ellen, as much as I love Mary Lawson (and I really, really do) I was shocked when that book showed up on the list. I read it back in April. But then, nobody really knows what the criteria is so.....I really loved Great Circle. Not only didn't I mind how long it was, I didn't want it to end. Now that may be the kiss of death for that book because I am really lousy at picking the winner. But I'm thinking it may get nominated for the Pulitzer🥴

I did read the Lockwood and wasn't overwhelmed.

>138 brenzi: Based on absolutely nothing I tend to think of the Booker as "edgier" and the Pulitzer's as more "a good read" so I think I'd be less surprised at it being listed for Pulitzer.

>139 BLBera: Yes, I know Beth. I really have no desire to read it.

>140 RebaRelishesReading: I think before they allowed American authors to be eligible, Reba, that may have been true. But now it seems like anything goes. And that's also based on absolutely nothing lol.

#91.

The Free by Willy Vlautin, read by the author

Willy Vlautin writes with a passion about the down and out, the poverty stricken, the people hanging on by their fingernails, trying to get by. And in doing so, he is really quite good at tearing your heart out.

He relates the stories of three such characters in this book, Leroy, delusional Iraq War veteran, battling demons that no one else can see; Pauline, a hospital nurse who cares for her patients with the utmost attention and compassion, and after work tries to also care for her ornery father, trying to overcome her own desperate thoughts; and Freddy, whose lack of health insurance bankrupted him as he had to spend everything he had on his young daughter's serious medical condition. Now he works two jobs trying to get out of the hole. Vlautin brings the stories of these and other related characters to life in this novel. This is my fourth novel by this author and he hasn't disappointed yet.

4 stars

#92.

Still Life by Sarah Winman

Oh my. Every so often I stumble into a book that I feel was written just for me. Meaty characters, unique setting, a big sprawling novel that overflows with compassion, humor, intelligence and love. Lots of love. This is that book.

Ulysses Temper was a British soldier stationed in Florence, Italy during WWII where he met the art historian Evelyn Skinner. She was many years older than him but almost took the place of his beautiful wife, Peg, at home in London but now in love with an American airman.

I won't be able to do this book justice because the story is larger than life and, well, sprawling, and complicated and pretty darn wonderful. I will say that there is a direct line between this book and E. M. Forster's Room With a View and I'm really glad that I read that one first.

If this sounds like the kind of book you'd enjoy then this is the book you'd enjoy lol. Absolutely wonderful. (Thank you to Vivian for sending this book to me and now I will be sending it off to Laura.)

4.5 stars

#93.

Leaving Isn't the Hardest Thing by Lauren Hough, narrated by the author and Cate Blanchett

A memoir in essays by a former child member of the Texas cult, Children of God, covering her life in the cult where she was abused, coming of age as a lesbian, enduring life in the Air Force where she was both raped and kicked out because of Don't Ask, Don't Tell, and her life after all that. Best essay for me was The Cable Guy where I was laughing out loud and the book is full of humor but it's also gut wrenching, brave and absolutely searing. It won't be for everyone but I'm really glad I read it.

4 stars

>142 brenzi: #91 I am so very glad that Vlautin has a following here. He's like Donald Ray Pollock in writing about those who just...can't...and get stomped. I love him for it!

>142 brenzi: Woo hoo, I can't wait to read Still Life!

I think you may have hit me with Still Life, Bonnie.

*** there are so many books with that title…

I listen to lots of books and right now I am listening to Last Painting of Sara De Vos and I like the novel, but I simply hate the narrator. I am thinking that this is a book that will have to read instead of listen to. I can usually get past a narrator I don't like, but this reader is just grating and even though the plot was slow getting started and I am into the book, I am thinking that I am going to give up on this sound recording and move on to another. Has that ever happened to you?

Hi, Bonnie. You also got me with Still Life. I am also a fan of Vlautin, so that one has been on my radar.

>144 richardderus: I saw Vlautin mentioned on Mark's thread a while back Richard and have been tearing through his books ever since. I think I only have one left. So down to earth and gut wrenching. I've listened to all of them and the author did the narration on them all and he is wonderful. The perfect voice for this kind of book. Nitty gritty.

>145 lauralkeet: I really hope you enjoy it Laura but be ready to sink into a fairly lengthy book, almost 500 pages.

>146 NanaCC: I noticed that too Colleen. What's up with that I wonder.

>147 benitastrnad: Yes that's happened to me Benita, too many times to count. Recently it was The Survivors by Jane Harper. The Australian accent was so strong that I couldn't follow anything he was saying. So long. There are too many other books out there to listen to.

>148 msf59: Vlautin has been quite a find for me Mark, and I found him on your thread several months ago.🥰

>149 brenzi: I forgot it was a long book ... but I'm sure it will be worth it. Also, you might be pleased to know that this book will wing its way to Colleen when I've finished it. The chain continues!

Hi Bonnie! Still Life is now on the wish list. I'm wondering how you're liking Miss Benson's Beetle. I read it "with my eyes" but it has some real potential as an audio if well read I think.

Still Life sounds great, Bonnie. I loved When God Was a Rabbit and have been wanting to read more by Winman.

>150 lauralkeet: Good to hear Laura.

>151 RebaRelishesReading: I'm really enjoying Miss Benson's Beetle Reba. It's narrated by the wonderful Juliet Stevenson.

>152 BLBera: If you want something shorter than Still Life Beth you should read Tin Man. Absolutely wonderful.

>153 brenzi: I read a paper copy of Miss Benson's Beetle which was given to me by a friend. I liked it a lot that way but if the voices were right I might have liked the audio even more.

I have another Winman somewhere in Mt TBR I think. Must go look for it.

>152 BLBera: and >153 brenzi: - Oh, do read Tin Man, Beth! It's wonderful. And I loved WGWaR, too.

I am looking forward to getting my hands on Still Life - I know I'll want a keeper copy in hardcover, so I'll probably put it on my Christmas list :)

>142 brenzi: It really is a good job I already gave you one of my recommendation of the month prizes, Bonnie, as you could easily win for multiple entries and certainly including Still Life. I will have to go and look for it.

Happy Saturday, Bonnie. I started Great Circle. Very interesting set-up. Marian is still a child in Montana...the writing is quite good.

>154 RebaRelishesReading: I couldn't recommend the audio any higher Reba. It was wonderful. Whatever Winman you have will undoubtedly be good.

>155 katiekrug: I hope you enjoy Still Life Katie. I'm pretty sure you will😏

>156 PaulCranswick: Hi Paul, haha well good point Paul. I hope you find Still Life and enjoy it as much as I did.

>157 msf59: Well Mark, I think you probably know that I absolutely loved Great Circle so I hope you do too.

#94.

Intimacies by Katie Kitamura

Well this was such an interesting book. I'm still thinking about it after reading two other books so I can't really get it out of my mind. It's a strange book and if you're a stickler for proper sentence structure and plot, well, you may want to look elsewhere. (This really threw me until I finally just succumbed to the interesting things going on in the novel).It's not stream of consciousness but I don't really know how else you would describe it.

An unnamed narrator living in NY accepts a job as an interpreter in The Hague at the International Criminal Court. She is a stranger in a strange town and the eponymous intimacies are those that take place between her and the subjects whose speech she is translating, those that take place between her and her acquaintances, her and her colleagues, her and her lover, well you see what I mean. Of course as a translator she realizes that every movement she makes may add something to the meaning of the words she's translating.

This book may have been too intellectual to be truly appreciated, by me anyway. It's undoubtedly quite brilliant and I really liked it and as I said, I'm still thinking about it so what does that say about me. I'm not sure. National Book Award nominee

4 stars

#95.

Miss Benson's Beetle by Rachel Joyce, performed by Juliet Stevenson

Absolutely delightful and the audio production was a big part of the reason I found this gem to be so very, very good. Margery Benson comes to the end of her rope one day while teaching an ornery group of students and quits her job. She decides she will organize an expedition to the other side of the world, New Caledonia, to look for the mythical Golden Beetle. She decides to take along one of the few respondents to her help wanted ad, a totally incapable assistant named Enid Pritty and then, well, let the fun and frolicking begin. One unexpected adventure after another completely envelop the two woman until they both are able to achieve their true life. Please go with the audio version and you won't ever look back. So much fun.

4.5 stars

#96.

The Bay of Angels by Anita Brookner

As I continue to read Brookner on a monthly basis I can almost see her aging before my eyes. This is, I think, the value of reading her books in order of publication. Zoe Cunningham and her mother Ann, have lived a quiet life since the death of Zoe's father when she was a young child. Ann never had an interest in another man but as Zoe prepares for college, her mother meets and marries Simon. He seems to be wealthy and generous and Zoe enjoys this new upscale life with all its advantages. Then the unforeseen happens and things are not apparently as they seemed.

Brookner's trademark elegant prose is on full display is this heartbreaking novel that eventually gives the reader a bit of a reward, and Zoe the full life she longed for.

4 stars

>159 brenzi: Oh, three good reads in a row...and sneaking up behind the triple-digit-dom, too. A enviably good reading week indeed.

I have never heard of The Bay of Angels at all and really am attracted to the story.

I love following your Brookner reading, Bonnie. It's really interesting that you can sense her aging process.

I've been following your Brookner project as well, Bonnie. There is something to be said about reading through an author's work in order.

Great comments on Intimacies and Miss Benson's Beetle. Luckily they are already on my WL and my library reserve list. I'm waiting patiently.

>161 richardderus: Hmmm, interesting that you made no mention of my reading Dickens, Richard hahaha. But you're right, I have been reading some great books.

>162 lauralkeet: I really feel like I can Laura. This was her 21st book. She wrote 25 novels so I'm closing in on the end.

>163 BLBera: We're always waiting for books aren't we Beth. Even though our book shelves are bursting to say nothing of our Kindles or whatever device lol.

I never managed to finish David Copperfield. I don't consider that to be a failure.

Nearing the halfway point in Great Circle. I am really enjoying it, although I prefer the Marian segments over the Hadley ones.

>165 benitastrnad: I'm pretty much enjoying the audio Benita. It's the longest one I've ever listened to though.

>166 msf59: I agree Mark and pretty much said that in my review. But the book on the whole was really wonderful for me.

Saw this on bookish Twitter and couldn't resist:

>165 benitastrnad: Certainly isn't a failure, Benita, but does surprise me as I think it to be one of his most readable works.

>168 brenzi: I liked that very much. I do wonder how many of those ten rules I break every day.

>168 brenzi: love it!!

>169 PaulCranswick: I was actually thinking of the book I read last week Paul, Intimacies which had horrific sentence structure.

>170 RebaRelishesReading: Hi Reba🤗

I didn't go to this March but if I had I would've liked to have been holding this sign:

#97

Bewilderment by Richard Powers

You know when you get to a certain point in a book and you're just so frustrated with it that you throw it across the room? What? that's never happened to you? Well if I hadn't been reading this one on my Kindle it would've been flying across the room. And it's just too bad because I had been enjoying it even though it's a bit out of my wheelhouse.

Set in the near future, Powers sets the stage for a country ruled by another Trump-like president and you can just imagine the horribleness that's going on. The plot is centered around an astrobiologist Theo Byrne and his son Robin who are both grieving the death of their wife and mother. Robin has some special needs, probably on the autism spectrum and is having an awful time at school. Theo seeks out what I would describe as a futuristic treatment.

Also, climate change is having devastating effects on the animals and birds that Robin loves and that were so important to his mother. I was truly engaged in this cautionary tale but the ending was so unsatisfying and truly depressing for me that it ended up being downgraded in my estimation.

Booker and National Book Award nominee.

4 stars

CURRENTLY READING

Something that's been on my shelf for eons:

A House for Mr. Biswas by V. S. Naipaul

AUDIO

David Copperfield by Charles Dickens

>174 brenzi: I thoroughly enjoyed A House for Mr. Biswas when I read it a few years ago. I hope you do too, Bonnie!

Have a lovely week!

>174 brenzi: & >175 alcottacre: It has a playfulness and loving quality that I have never subsequently found in VS Naipaul's work.

>172 brenzi: Amen!

I'm waiting for my turn with Bewilderment; it sounds like one I would like.

>173 brenzi: I just finished Bewilderment last night, and reread the ending AND listened to the last chapter on audio. Although devastating, I don't think it made me rethink my overall admiration for the book. So powerful and so "cautionary" as you said.

>172 brenzi:
That made me laugh, but also shake my head. I totally agree with the sign carrier. I thought this was over and done with. What I don't understand that many of the same people who want these new anti-abortion laws also think the Taliban is bad. Seems to me that the two things are pretty much the same - all about female slavery.

>172 brenzi: Amen!!

>172 brenzi: ::eyeroll::

The number of idiots who thought 45 would be *good* for the country boggles my mind. I loathe their "vision" for what the country...the world...should be with all my soul.

And it bothers me not at all that they loathe mine the same way.

>168 brenzi: *snort*

Happy week-ahead's reads!

(note ongoing absence of the verb "to listen" in its gerund form from this wish)

>175 alcottacre: Stasia's here! Yay! I'm enjoying A House for Mr. Biswas so I'm glad to hear you liked it too.

>176 PaulCranswick: Well, that's good to know Paul. I'll keep it in mind.

>177 BLBera: I hope you enjoy it Beth!

>178 vivians: Well Vivian, I don't think I could put myself through that ending a second time so that's not going to happen. But I agree it was a very powerful read. I would've liked something a little more uplifting I guess. Pipe dream I guess.

>179 benitastrnad: I so agree with you Benita. It's easier to buy a gun and kill someone in this country than to allow women control over her own body.

>180 RebaRelishesReading: Hi Reba.

>181 richardderus: I am absolutely terrified of what's ahead for us if Trump runs again Richard. He's setting things up so he really can steal the next election.

>181 richardderus: I keep getting targeted ads asking if I still support President Trump. I never supported him to begin with! I would not have voted for him if he was the only person running.

>183 alcottacre:, >182 brenzi: The only way he won't run in 2024 is if he's in jail or dead. I myownself have nothing to choose between the two, so am silent on giving the goddesses advice.

Happy Wednesday, Bonnie. Good review of Bewilderment. I am hoping the ending works better for me. Have a good time with David Copperfield. I thought it was a Dickens gem.

>184 richardderus: From your mouth to God's ear --- please!!

>186 RebaRelishesReading: Heh.

>185 msf59: Gem...gem? *potters off to find out the previously-unknown-to-me negative connotations of "gem"*

>183 alcottacre: Hi Stasia! I am also being targeted by Trump emails. Somehow I'm on their list. I figure I'll let them send emails to me so I can keep track of the enemy.

>184 richardderus: yes. I'd worry if he were in jail - who knows if he would run again anyway! Something obvious but not a bullet would be fine with me.

Hello Stasia, Richard, Mark, Reba and Judy. Good to see you all here. Maybe I should revive my thread. Hmmmmm.

#98.

David Copperfield by Charles Dickens, narrated by Simon Vance

Well, it's Dickens so you know what to expect. And Simon Vance is the narrator so you know he's great. And it's 30+ hours long so you'd better have a lot of listening time available. Very enjoyable.

4 stars

#99.

A House for Mr. Biswas by V. S. Naipaul

I can't tell you how many times I thought about dropping this book but then I decided to plow ahead and I have to say, at almost 600 dense pages, I thought the end would never come. But it did, eventually. Set in Trinidad in the early and middle twentieth century, Mr. Biswas, possibly the most frustrated man in literature, spends the greater part of the book wishing and dreaming about owning his own home. And it takes nearly the whole book for him to do that. And yet he gets very little satisfaction from it. I'm kind of left with the feeling that no matter what you want from life, there's little chance you'll be happy with the result. Did I mention frustrating? This book is considered a classic and I believe Vaipaul is a Nobel Laureate, and although I ended up liking the book I found the main character to be so totally....I can't use the word frustrated again so....discouraged....embittered....stymied by his life that it was difficult to enjoy the beautiful prose.

3.5 stars

#100.

The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman, narrated by Lesley Manville

This is by far my favorite mystery series right now and if you're going to try it out you absolutely must get the audiobook. Lesley Manville is pitch perfect from beginning to end. I practically listened to it non-stop for eight hours straight. Once again, the bodies are piling up and The Thursday Murder Club has to solve the crimes. I really love these characters, especially Elizabeth. Can't wait for the next one.

4.5 stars

>189 brenzi: I'm reading The Man Who Died Twice, Bonnie. What a delight!!

>188 ffortsa: I have no idea how I got on one of Trump's lists, but I do wish they would take the hint (what am I thinking? the people do not believe in hints of any kind!) and leave me be.

>189 brenzi: Sorry that Mr Biswas did not work better for you, Bonnie. I have the first book in the Osman series here to read. I hope I enjoy it as much as you appear to.

Happy Friday!

Bonnie, I admire you for sticking with Mr Biswas. I've read one book by Naipaul, In a Free State, and I hated it so much. It's very short so I finished it, but gave it just 1 star. The only reason I read it was because it won the Booker and I was on a quest to read all the winners. Also, in my review I wrote, "I found it impossible to get past Naipaul's misogynist history, having psychologically abused his wife for many, many years." I have no desire to refresh my memory on the details, but it was enough to put me off reading any more of his work.

It sounds like book #100 was the perfect antidote so hopefully you've been able to purge Biswas from your system.

Happy Friday, Bonnie. Glad to hear you enjoyed David Copperfield. I am long overdue to read another Dickens. Fifty Words for Rain sounds interesting.

>189 brenzi: I loved that audio too, Bonnie. Right now I'm struggling through the audio of Hell of a Book, a National Book award nominee, and wondering if I should give up.

Whew!! Visited your thread and got away with nothing new on my wish list :) (I was just adding something to it and noticed that about half of the listing there have your name after them.)

>191 Copperskye: Yes Joanne, absolutely delightful.

>192 alcottacre: I hope you enjoy it too Stasia.

>193 lauralkeet: I have no idea what made me plow my way through this book Laura. I drop many books over the course of a year and just never mention them. But this one?🤷‍♀️ I bought the book before information came out about his abusive pattern but I can't say I gave that an awful lot of thought while I was reading.

>194 msf59: Hi Mark, do you have many Dickens books left to read? Fifty Words for Rain is a book club pick.

>195 vivians: Oh I wondered about that one Vivian. Maybe it's not one for audio.

>196 RebaRelishesReading: Only half Reba? That's disappointing. Lol

Triple digits! Yay Bonnie!

#99 was a trudge, but I ended up feeling a lot like you did. Biswas doesn't elicit a lot of sympathy from me, either...but that is some spectacular writing.

>197 brenzi: *chuckle*

There are several Dickens books, I have still not read: Nicholas Nickleby, Little Dorrit and Hard Times. I plan to get to them at some point. How about you?

>198 richardderus: Very disappointing Richard.

>199 RebaRelishesReading: 😏

>200 msf59: I haven't read any of those Mark 😬

#101.

The Promise by Damon Galgut

Set in South Africa from 1986, when Apartheid was still if effect, until the present day, this Booker shortlisted novel tells the story of the downfall of a South African farmer's family. And what a story it was! I found it to be very compelling as it revealed the petty selfishness of this well to do family. It took me no time at all to get to the end. My only complaint was the odd and sudden change in point of view, which I found jarring, but overall just a terrific novel.

4.5 stars

I really enjoyed the first in the Thursday Murder Club series and you have inspired me to get my paws on the second one and keep reading.

ETA: Ha. I see that The Man Who Died Twice IS the second in the series. Onto the wish list it goes!

I agree, Bonnie, the audio for David Copperfield was excellent. And, I laughed my way through The Man Who Died Twice, twice. I read it on kindle, and then decided to listen to it on my ride to Connecticut last weekend. A year is such a long time to wait for the next.

So...whenever you're ready...there's a new thread to visit.

Hi, Bonnie. I'm looking forward to reading The Man Who Died Twice. Our daughter got it from the library and will pass it on to me when she's done.

I'm glad Bewilderment worked for you. It's one of my favorites this year.

>204 EBT1002: I liked the second one even more than the first Ellen. You have a treat in store.

>205 NanaCC: Yes Colleen, I hate being caught up with a good series like this one or the Louise Penny series. The waiting is awful.

>206 richardderus: 🤗 Thanks Richard.

>207 jnwelch: Well, except for the ending Joe, which I hated. Lol. Enjoy The Man Who Died Twice.

#102.

Fifty Words for Rain by Asha Lemmie, narrated by Robin Eller

Book Club pick and I was pleasantly surprised as I had never heard of the book. But it was good and the audio was absolutely perfect. But it was soooo dark. Set in Japan after WWII, Nori is a young child whose mother abandons her to her grandmother due to the mother's relationship with the black American father. It's complicated. At any rate rape, abuse of children, selling of children for sex, attempted suicide, murder....well, there's barely a crime that's not committed and most of them pretty awful. But I'll tell you, I. Could. Not. Stop. Listening.

4 stars

#103

A Passage North by Anuk Arudpragasam

I thought all the writers who could write long, beautiful, luscious prose were...well, dead. (I'm looking at you, Anita Brookner.) But this book is absolutely beautifully written like nothing I've read from other writers recently. Not much plot but a young man is mulling over his life and the war in Sri Lanka as he walks, and later takes a train across the country. It's heartbreaking learning about how the country was devastated by war but the writing is the star here. Just so beautiful. Booker shortlist.

4.2 stars

#104.

Matrix by Lauren Groff, narrated by Adjoa Andoh

One word and the word is Wow! Absolutely terrific historical fiction + strong, strong women + brilliant narration = egads I loved this book.
Marie de France was a 12th century historical figure and all that's really known about her is that she wrote poetry. That left the field wide open for Groff to invent a history for her. A product of rape, Marie is made abbess of an abbey in England by her queen, Eleanor of Aquitaine and goes on to take the abbey from the brink of disaster to a thriving community of the toughest women you will ever meet. The audio was wonderfully narrated. A terrific read.

4.5 stars

>209 brenzi: I've seen lots of highly favorable comments about Matrix, and for reasons unknown hadn't yet added my name to the library list. Your review was the tipping point. I'm #44 but in no hurry ...

Hi, Bonnie. You have been churning through some wonderful books. I am a Groff fan, so I have Matrix on the list but now I have added A Passage North too. It has been a heck of a fall for good books. I am starting Bewilderment later today.

>211 lauralkeet: there's never any shortage of books to read, that's for sure Laura. I hope you enjoy it no matter how long you have to wait.

>212 msf59: Hi Mark, this was my first Groff but I think I'll look for Fates and Furies. Between the Booker list, which was excellent this year, and the National Book Award list, you almost can't go wrong.

I think I’ll need to add Matrix to my list. I really enjoyed Fates and Furies.

>202 brenzi: I get to dodge that particular BB only because I already have the book on its way to me.

>209 brenzi: Adding Fifty Words for Rain to the BlackHole. The other two books are already there.

Just dropping by to say "hi". You remind me that I need to look at the Booker and National Book Award lists for this year ... not that I need any more books ;> I have been making a bit of progress on Mt. TBR lately though which is a good thing.

Hope you're having a good Tuesday.

>214 NanaCC: I'm going to look for Fates and Furies Colleen.

>215 alcottacre: Happy Reading Stasia. I hope you enjoy them.

>216 RebaRelishesReading: I need to make more progress reading the books I own Reba. I don't even want to know how many I've read this year but I'll bet it's a minuscule number😕

#105.

An Elderly Woman is Up to No Good by Helene Tursten, translated by Marlaine Delargy, narrated by Suzanne Toren

Eighty-eight year old Maud doesn't suffer fools and unfortunately for the fools in this short story collection, they found this out the hard way. Very humorous and clever collection.

3.5 stars

#106

The Next Big Thing by Anita Brookner

Julius Herz ponders events occurring over the last 73 years as he faces the loneliness of old age. Were mistakes made? Yes but Julius is trying to sort things out and possibly save his final years for an interesting relationship. Brookner once again writes about loneliness with great compassion and with her trademark luscious prose. I've got four books to go in her oeuvre and I have to say, she never wrote a bad book, in my estimation. I learned today on the Mookse and Gripes podcast that she took up writing as a sort of hobby in her late 50s and cranked out a book every summer for the next twenty five years. This one was especially good. Brilliant.

4.2 stars

Hooray for Once There Were Wolves, Bonnie. I have a strong feeling will enjoy this one. I am also looking forward to your thoughts on the King memoir. I am just about done with Bewilderment. It is definitely not blowing me away like The Overstory did but it is still a solid read.

>218 brenzi: #106 Her greatest strength is, it seems to me, making us sad for people who just...didn't. Not couldn't. Didn't. That takes a high order of genius.

>218 brenzi: My local library has exactly one book by Anita Brookner and I have already read that one. I will have to look further afield for the one you mention. Thanks, Bonnie.

Have a wonderful weekend!

HI Bonnie!

Yikes. I can’t believe I haven’t posted since September, although I’ve been lurking.

>121 brenzi: I abandon books, too, often with glee at getting away from something awful/ridiculous/boring/etc.

>122 brenzi: Sounds fabulous! I put it on hold at my library, but am not holding my breath – I’m #72 for 7 copies. But I’ll be thrilled when it finally becomes available and it will be complete surprise to me. *smile*

>125 richardderus: The disadvantage of getting behind in threads is discovering that what was once $5 is now $29.49. Sigh.

>127 brenzi: Well, contrary me, the only book that sounded intriguing to me was the one you won’t read, No One is Talking About This.

>131 brenzi: More contrary: I loved Lincoln in the Bardo, wouldn’t read Shuggie Bain if you paid me, acquired and have now gotten rid of the Mantel books, and have The Luminaries on my shelves for the right time. Ah well, to each her/his own!

>168 brenzi: I loved this, too.

>173 brenzi: I threw Cold Mountain across my cubicle at work one lunchtime when Inman died. I wasn’t going to read Bewilderment anyway, but you’ve sealed the deal.

>182 brenzi: I am absolutely terrified of what's ahead for us if Trump runs again Richard. He's setting things up so he really can steal the next election. Me, too. Bad cess to him.

>189 brenzi: I loved The Man Who Died Twice as much as you did. I’ve already loaned my copy out to one friend and another wants to read it but she just finished The Thursday Murder Club and has some other things going right now. I can’t wait for the next one, either. And, a perfect book for #100 for you.

>218 brenzi: I’ve never read Brookner. If you had to pick out a good book for me to start reading her, which would you recommend?

>220 msf59: Well, I'm absolutely loving Once There Were Wolves, as you guessed Mark and the audio of Billy Jean King's autobiography is pretty wonderful so I'm happy with my reads.

>221 richardderus: Hmmm, I've never thought of it that way Richard, but you're right.

>222 alcottacre: I hope you find a couple to try Stasia. Most of them are available as eBooks.

>223 karenmarie: Hi Karen, I think I'd start with Brookner's first book, A Start in Life. I really liked it and she hadn't fully developed her penchant for dwelling on loneliness yet, although it's there to a certain degree. I just love The Thursday Murder Club series. I've been listening to them and the audios are pitch perfect. I hated every line of Cold Mountain until I ditched it. I know I'm in the minority.

Have a wonderful new week, Bonnie!

>129 brenzi: & >131 brenzi: & >223 karenmarie:

I must admit we do so often agree about books, Bonnie.

The Booker Prize has indeed made some strange choices over the years and I certainly haven't agreed with many of the picks. I thought that The Sellout was a very poor pastiche and was amazed that it got so much recognition.

I do think though that the shortlist this year is a strong one. I have finished three and so far really enjoyed all of them.

I saw your grading of them so we do differ slightly but I would have The Promise as my favourite with a dead heat between Great Circle and The Fortune Men just behind it. I will manage to finish A Passage North before the winner is announced and hope that the winner comes from those four. I have started the other two and Powers' is definitely a little below the others and Lockwood's book is something you are right to avoid.

Added to my wish list, thanks Bonnie!

>226 PaulCranswick: Hi Paul, this has been the best Booker shortlist in my memory. Here are my favorites:

1. Great Circle
2. The Promise
3. The Fortune Men
4. A Passage North
5. Bewilderment
6. The book I will not read and, therefore, will probably win lol.

I would be happy with any of the first four. We'll know on Wednesday!

>227 karenmarie: Oh good. I hope you enjoy it Karen.

Hi, Bonnie. I liked Bewilderment well enough but it definitely didn't reach the heights that The Overstory did. I have a copy of The Fortune Men but still not sure when I will bookhorn it in.

I haven't read any of them yet, but plan to do so, as the comments about the quality of the short list has been so positive. I do want to read Fortune Men and The Promise and so have them on the top of my list of things to read. I will probably get around to reading Great Circle eventually and for some reason Passage North and Bewilderment just haven't appealed to me so it will be some time before I read them.

>229 msf59: I think you have the copy of The Fortune Men that I originally purchased Mark. Lol. It's been making the rounds.

>230 benitastrnad: You almost can't go wrong with aloft them Benita. Enjoy!

#107.

All In: An Autobiography by Billie Jean King, narrated by the author

As a woman, and as a tennis fan, I lapped up this audiobook with tremendous enthusiasm. I've been a King fan since the 70s when she started defeating one tennis foe after another and her story was compelling, but the tennis was only part of her story. Fighting for the rights of women has been a job that King took on very early in her career and still is a prominent activist. Her sexuality, and the way in which it was publicly revealed, was more than a little distressing but her fight for Title IX may be her most important legacy. In her audio narration, she was very emotional about several parts of her history but especially when she talked about her parents and how they struggled to help her achieve success. Highly recommended.

4.5 stars

#108.

Once There Were Wolves by Charlotte McConaghy

Another terrific book by McConaghy, this time set in Scotland, where Inti and her small group of colleagues are attempting to reintroduce wolves into a rural area dominated by sheep farms. The locals don't want anything to do with it and protest vociferously. And as soon as a wolf is found very close to a farm, the owner shoots it causing tremendous problems for everyone. At the same time, Inti and her twin sister Aggie, reveal a very disturbing backstory. So well done with a tantalizing mystery that provided the only drawback for me because I figured it out fairly early on. Otherwise, really well done.

4.5 stars

>232 brenzi: My local library has a copy of the Billie Jean King book so I am hoping I can get around to it soon. I already have Once There Were Wolves in the BlackHole or I would be adding it again.

You will be thrilled to know that Anita Brookner was discussed on the New York Times Book Review Podcast. I had to cook this last weekend and so I downloaded a bunch of the podcasts from back in March and April of 2021. To my surprise one of the reviewers talked about his love for Brookner and told about the latest book he was reading, which was Visitors. The reviewer said many of the same things about Brookner and her writing as you have. What started the conversation was the announcement that a well known author of biographies is going to write a biography of Brookner. Of course, that will take several years, but this author (and I can't remember the name) has access to all her papers so it should be a thorough biography when it is finished.

The reviewer from the New York Times Book Review said that he was reading Brookner's oeuvre randomly, but he praised her ability to create sympathy for characters that it would be easy to not like. Much the same thing as you have said.

Due to your quiet continuous pushing of Brookner I have started to purchase her books whenever I find them at used bookstores. Of course, I also have access to many of them in our huge library as well, but it surprises me the number of her books that our 2 million volume library doesn't have. Visitors is one we don't have.

>234 alcottacre: Enjoy them both Stasia😊

>235 benitastrnad: Thank you for bringing this to my attention Benita. I listen to that podcast sporadically but missed this episode. I will listen to it tomorrow. It's funny but after I finished Brookner's last book I thought I'm going to need to read a bio of Brookner but when I searched I found none. What! Seriously? As I looked further I found that Hermione Lee has been signed to write her biography. She's written renowned bios of Wharton, Woolf, Cather and others but you're right. It will take years which is disappointing to me. Anyway, during my research I discovered that they published Brookner's last book, At The Hairdresser's probably after her death, as an eBook only (no idea why) so I've purchased that one because above all, I'm a completist. Thanks for the podcast info. I was able to purchase all the books, used, on Abebooks.

I too have been a Billie Jean King fan for many, many years and have just added her autobiography to my wish list for audio books. I'm even considering going over to audible to buy extra credits so I can get it right now.

Happy Wednesday, Bonnie. Hooray for All In: An Autobiography & Once There Were Wolves. I might just make the King memoir my next audio, with that kind of endorsement.

……And The Promise wins the 2021 Booker Prize!

>237 RebaRelishesReading: I'm pretty sure you're going to enjoy it Reba. There was a lot that went on that I'd either forgotten or had never known.

>238 msf59: Go for it Mark! She faced some mighty obstacles but managed to accomplish a lot.

>236 brenzi:
As soon as I saw the name Hermione Lee I knew that was the right name. She is the one who is going to do the biography of Anita Brookner

>233 brenzi: I'm about to start Cassandra at the Wedding tonight, Bonnie! I heard about it on the "Backlisted" podcast, which just devoted a full episode to Baker. Exit is also on my list - I really like Bauer's other novels.

>241 benitastrnad: I'll be waiting with bated breath for that one Benita.

>242 vivians: Hi Vivian, I'm waiting until I finish the book before I listen to the Backlisted podcast. Do you listen to the Mookse and Gripes podcast? I really like that one too. And Oh my, Exit may be the most suspenseful book I've ever read. I can barely stop listening. This is my second Bauer.

Thanks for the podcast recommendation - I'll definitely try it. I recently had another Backlisted success: Something in Disguise by Elizabeth Jane Howard. (I loved the Cazalet series so was glad to read something else by her.) The podcast urged readers to go in completely blind - to read no blurb, review or summary - and they were right! Wonderful book and even more appreciated after listening to the podcast.

>240 brenzi: I did buy the extra credits and Billie Jean will be next up for audio for me

Thursday orisons, Bonnie.

>244 vivians: Bwahahaha I downloaded it last night Vivian. I also loved The Cazalet Chronicles. So do you think it's better to listen to the podcast first because I've kind of been doing the opposite (terrified of spoilers lol)?

>245 RebaRelishesReading: I hope you love it Reba.

>246 richardderus: Cheers, Richard😀

>247 brenzi: Most definitely read it first! Thrilled to have hit you with a BB!

>248 vivians: If only this were the first time you hit me with a book bullet Vivian lol.

#109.

Exit by Belinda Bauer, narrated by Rupert DeGas

This is my Audiobook of the year unless something comes along in the next month and a half and blows my mind. Unbelievable suspense plus terrific story line and exquisite narration. I couldn't stop listening and blew through this in no time at all. The Exiteers are at work here, volunteers who help people who are suffering and want to commit suicide. But something goes wrong and, well, the wrong person is inadvertently killed. Or was he? Great characterizations, unexpected plot twists and great, great fun. Very highly recommended.

4.6 stars

#110.

Cassandra at the Wedding by Dorothy Baker

I came across the idea of reading this book because it was all over bookish Twitter last month and then I saw that the hosts of the Backlisted podcast had selected it as their featured book a couple of weeks ago. And it is a gem.

When the novel opens, eponymous Cassandra is on her way home from Berkeley where she is working on her thesis, to her father's ranch in Northern California for her twin sister Judith's wedding. It's the early 1960s and these twins have grown up thinking they only need each other and Cassandra still feels that way. But she now knows that Judith probably doesn't otherwise why would she be getting married and planning to live across the country in NY?They used to share an apartment at Berkeley but earlier that year she had moved to NY. And Cassandra is miffed. But she has other problems that are slowly revealed over the short novel's pages but it pretty much all boils down to the relationship between these two sisters.

The writing is stunning. The cast of characters, although quite short, is brilliant: drunken, arrogant father; meek, aim to please grandmother; future perfect husband Jake and the twins, Judith, a brilliant pianist and Cassandra, a brilliant writer if she can allow herself to be because lurking in the background throughout the novel is Jane, the twin's mother for whom they are still grieving after her death a few years prior.

I loved it. But listening to the Backlisted podcast after I read the book added another whole dimension to the appreciation of this book. I'm pretty sure I'll be doing a lot of that in the future.

5 stars

>249 brenzi: I already have Exit in the BlackHole or I would be adding it again. Too bad my local library does not have the Dorothy Baker book. It sounds terrific! Thanks for the review and recommendation, Bonnie.

Have a wonderful weekend!

>250 brenzi: To Serve Them All My Days -- wow, that brings back some memories. I read that book in my teens, adored it, and also watched the miniseries at some point. About a year ago we started watching it again (I think we found episodes on YouTube). It held up pretty well, but we didn't finish it, probably just distracted by some other new and shiny program.

Happy Sunday, Bonnie. Exit sounds like an entertaining read. I had never heard of it. I will watch for your thoughts on The Window Seat: Notes From a Life in Motion. I am always looking for a promising audio.

>250 brenzi: That was one of my mother's absolute favorite books, and authors. Taylor Caldwell and Delderfield...she liked the big, sweeping stories!

Have a wonderful week-ahead's reads.

>251 alcottacre: Exit was really good Stasia so I hope you get to it. Belinda Bauer is getting to be a favorite.

>252 lauralkeet: I've had this on my Kindle for ages Laura and when it came up on a podcast I listened to I thought now's the time.

>253 msf59: well I love sweeping epics Richard, so this is a good book for me I guess.

You’ve managed to add Exit to my wishlist, Bonnie. And, I hope you enjoy Delderfield. I loved all of those books when I was in my 20’s.

>249 brenzi: If you keep this up, Bonnie, I'm going to have to get a bigger Audible subscription! I'm not sure about Exit but will now go put Casandra at the Wedding on my phone. Bye :)

>249 brenzi: I’ve just read Exit as well Bonnie, and I’m certainly going to try some more by her. What did you think of the ending though? I just couldn’t see Geoffrey as the arch criminal who was making money from the exiteers and that detracted from my enjoyment rather

>250 brenzi: I listen to the Backlisted podcast quite often and Cassandra at the Wedding was one that caught my attention too.

>256 NanaCC: Hi Colleen, I'm really enjoying the Delderfield but it's a long one so I'll be with it for awhile. And that's fine.

>257 RebaRelishesReading: Oh do enjoy Cassandra at the Wedding Reba.

>258 SandDune: Hi Rhian, you know, I don't read a lot of these kind of books but I don't think I was as enamored with that character as you were. I just found it to be sooo compelling.

>259 brenzi: I think I'll do Cassandra at the Wedding next. Right now I'm listening to Billie Jean King's autobiography and enjoying it thoroughly.

>259 brenzi:
It is funny that you are reading To Serve Them All My Days because I started putting things in my suitcase for my Thanksgiving trip to my sister's and I had put in my old copy of that same book in the suitcase. I figured that long hours in airports and by myself would be conducive to getting it read. I am not sure how I missed reading this one back in the day. But then I looked at the copyright date and on my copy it is 1970 so at that point I would have been in junior high. It might have been more than I wanted to read at that age. A friend of mine told me that it is a good book but a bit on the sentimental side. That's OK with me. Sometimes I like sentimental.

Happy to see you reading To Serve Them All My Days. It’s been a while since I read it. Maybe 45 years or so. I still have my little Bantam paperback edition of his Diana which I read around the same time. They’re the kind of books that make me sigh happily when I hear someone is reading them.

I hope it’s holding up.

I just finished Great Circle this afternoon and loved it!

>260 RebaRelishesReading: Sounds like you're enjoying BillyJean, Reba.

>261 benitastrnad: I don't know how I missed it either Benita but I certainly did. I bought a Kindle copy eons ago and it just sat there. But I just finished it this morning and oh, my, it was wonderful.

>262 Copperskye: It certainly held up Joanne. I'm tempted to try some of his other books. You're right, it made me sigh happily too. Glad to hear you also loved Great Circle. Such a good book.

#111

The Window Seat: Notes From a Life in Motion by Aminatta Forna, narrated by the author

Excellent book of essays by a prose master. I really enjoyed her travel experiences and had no idea she lived in Iran as well as Sierra Leone, London and the U.S. I particularly liked the ones relating her experiences caring for abandoned dogs in Africa, foxes in London, and the Trump inauguration which she described in this way in an email to a friend: "what if you had an inauguration and no one came?" comparing it to the mobs for Obama's inauguration.

4.2 stars

#112.

Know My Name by Chanel Miller, narrated by the author

I finally got to this book, the memoir that took the country by storm a couple of years ago. The author was sexually assaulted by Brock Turner, a Stanford freshman, after attending a party with her sister. Gut wrenching doesn't begin to cover it. She takes us from the assault through the lengthy legal process and the totally inadequate sentence, the eventual recall of the judge and finally the end where her victim's statement was published initially by Buzzfeed and went viral as it struck a chord with women all over the world. Important.

4.5 stars

#113.

To Serve Them All My Days by R. F. Delafield

So I'm apparently the last person on earth to read this one but that oversight is finally over. And what a book! David Powlett-Jones returns from WWI, damaged both physically and mentally and is directed to try his hand teaching at Bamfylde, a boys' boarding school near Devon. No degree or experience but he seems to have found the place to heal his soul, among the boys and colleagues, all so vividly portrayed by a master storyteller.

The book is long, over 600 pages, but the time just flew by as I was reading because it was so very engaging. And compelling. Complex characters, especially his characterization of the female characters, which is particularly impressive considering the book was written in the early 70s and depicts the years between the wars. Someone described it as sentimental. Maybe so but also compassionate, funny, endearing and just wonderful all the way around. This book was enhanced for me by the Backlisted podcast which I listened to earlier today. I found the BBC mini-series on YouTube and will have to watch that, because of course I will.

4.8 stars

#114.

Ghosts of the Tsunami by Richard Lloyd Parry, narrated by Simon Vance

An astoundingly detailed account of the 2011 tsunami in Japan that concentrates on the destruction of a coastal village elementary school and the 74 children who were lost. I won't be able to do this review justice because it's hard to explain how deft the author was at slowly revealing the layers of this tragedy in brilliant prose. After the wave takes these children, the agony of the parents' lives going forward are breathtaking: the mother who learned to operate an excavator so she could continue looking for her child after the officials have given up; the young boys who tried to convince their teacher that they needed to run up the hill to get away from the coming disaster; the terrible disaster planning on the part of the school and the apparent negligent behavior of the principal during and after the wave; and the second guessing on the part of parents who failed to go pick up their children before the tsunami hit. Incredible reportage by a prose master who also made the Japanese culture understandable. Just an absolutely brilliant book that is also astoundingly sad.

5 stars

Sweet Thursday, Bonnie! I love your excellent Lightning Round. I also was deeply moved by Know My Name. I have also never read To Serve Them All My Days but have now added to my list. I will also add The Window Seat & Ghosts of the Tsunami to my future audio list. Your warbling is still paying off.

I, too, thought Know my Name was excellent, important and very well written. And I'm delighted to see how much you enjoyed To Serve Them All my Days!! As I mentioned before, we started to re-watch the series but didn't finish. This was in 2020 and to be honest neither of us wanted to go through the part where his wife dies so we moved on to more uplifting things. But it's a great series.

I have The Window Seat on my wish list, and Know My Name and To Serve Them All My Days on my Kindle.

Ghosts of the Tsunami sounds really interesting, so I'll look for that one.

Great comments, Bonnie!

I've never read anything by Delafield, Bonnie. So you're not the last...

I'm so glad to see another fan of The Window Seat. I want to read more Forna soon.

I had never heard of To Serve Them All My Days before either but now it's on my list. I'm about to change the name of that list from "wish list" to "Bonnie Bullet List" :)

*smooch*

That is all.

>266 msf59: Haha happy to oblige Mark. Maybe payback for all your warbling? Lol

>267 lauralkeet: I watched the first two episodes on You Tube last night Laura but honestly, these aren't the characters I've pictured. Also, the video quality is terrible. I don't think I'm going to continue. Maybe later when it isn't so fresh.

>268 katiekrug: Thanks Katie, Ghosts of the Tsunami really took me by surprise because I never expected it to be so effecting. I was on a shortlist of some prize (can't remember which one) and sounded like a good audio but it was really quite a book.

>269 BLBera: Hi Beth, I have The Hired Man sitting on my Kindle. I really loved The Memory of Love.

>270 RebaRelishesReading: Bwahahaha I'm here to serve Reba.

>271 richardderus: Right back at ya Richard.

>272 brenzi: We watched the series when it was originally broadcast, too long ago for me to remember if the characters matched my imagination. But back in the day, the video quality would have been comparable to everything else. I certainly noticed it when we began re-watching. That's probably another reason we didn't continue.

>272 brenzi: & 273
I wonder if video quality is part of the reason why the BBC and PBS are redoing so many classics. I would like to chalk it up to laziness and lack of funding because the production of new stories from the ground up is so expensive. Besides the first Poldark and the first All Creatures Great and Small were very well done for their time. They were great stories so do we really need a redo? However, given the advances in technology it might be just as easy to film the stories from the ground up than to remaster the originals.

Even if the technology is better and the resulting film is better I would still like to see production companies like BBC and PBS do some new stories rather than recycle the old ones. I am very appreciative of the pay-for-view companies like Netflix, Amazon, etc. etc. who are doing good series. They have really opened the world of great storytelling to people who don't read the book first. I do not subscribe to any of these services (Netfilx) is the only one that temps me, but I love the fact that some of these great stories are being told in a series format.

>274 benitastrnad: My Dad sucked me into a series called Heartland, which is basically a heart-warming family drama with lots and lots of horses. It is produced by CBC (Canada) and the first 13 of 15 season are on Netflix.

I have To Serve Them All of My Days safely ensconced in my backpack ready and waiting for the early morning in the Birmingham airport. Just in case I finish it I am taking two other books with me. It just wouldn't do to be without a book in a airport. If I didn't have a hardcopy book in my hands nobody would sit down next to me and ask "whatcha reading?"

>264 brenzi: My local library does not have any of Forna's books. I am going to have to look further afield to read anything by her. Know My Name was one of my top reads last year. A difficult book, certainly, but I think a needed one.

>265 brenzi: I just received a paper copy of Island of the Lost today. I was sure you were the person who recommended it to me, but I guess not - unless this is a re-read for you?

Happy Thanksgiving, Bonnie!

A Thanksgiving to Friends (Lighting the Way)

In difficult times
a friend is there to light the way
to lighten the load,
to show the path,
to smooth the road

At the darkest hour
a friend, with a word of truth
points to light
and the encroaching dawn
is in the plainest sight.

Bonnie, to a friend in books and more this Thanksgiving

Bonnie, I am so very grateful for you, my wonderful friend here on LT.

I wish you (and yours) happiness and health on this day of Thanksgiving. And cookies. : )

>273 lauralkeet: We're too used to perfect picture quality Laura. Let's face it we're all spoiled at this point.

>274 benitastrnad: I'm afraid I have too many choices Benita, and half the time I don't know what to watch. I never expected to have too many choices but here we are.

>275 Berly: Hi Kim!

>276 benitastrnad: Oh I hope you enjoy it as much as I did Benita.

>277 alcottacre: Not a reread Stasia. I'm not sure who read and recommended it but it was a good one.

>278 PaulCranswick: How lovely Paul. Thank you.

>279 Berly: Thank you Kim. And I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Cookies? How about pie lol.

I have read about a third of To Serve Them All of My Days and it was the perfect book for vacation reading. It might be lengthy but it is perfect for reading in airports and on airplanes and in the quiet mornings.

#115.

Island of the Lost by Joan Druett

In 1864 Captain Musgrave and his crew are shipwrecked on the island of Auckland, 300 miles from New Zealand and not far from the Arctic Circle. Absolutely brutal winds and weather conditions but Musgrave and his men somehow endure. Excellent audio.

3.7 stars

#116.

Something in Disguise by Elizabeth Jane Howard

I wonder why I didn't move on to this book after finishing the amazing Cazalet Chronicles? Howard is a wonderful writer but the less said about this book, the better. Things aren't as they seem. And she sticks the landing. Greatly enhanced by the Backlisted podcast but make sure you read the book first.

4.5 stars

#117.

Ninety-nine Glimpses of Princess Margaret by Craig Brown, narrated by Eleanor Bron

Omg, what a pure delight. I don't know what podcast mentioned this book but it was laugh out loud funny. It certainly wouldn't appeal to anyone who reveres the Royal family in general and Princess Margaret in particular but it was absolutely hysterical. Ninety-nine instances of moments in Princess Margaret's life when she was, shall we say, fairly tone deaf to the terrible lack of judgment she used in dealing with, well, just about everyone. I absolutely loved it. The narrator was terrific at mimicking everyone from the Queen to Roddy Llewelyn.

4.3 stars

#118.

The Rules of Engagement by Anita Brookner

I only have two more books left in my exploration of Anita Brookner's 24 published books (and one novella published in eBook form after her death) and I'm really going to miss my visits with her carefully drawn characters. In this one, Elizabeth and Betsy were childhood friends and reconnected at Elizabeth's wedding. They renew their friendship but things have certainly changed for both of them. The recurrent theme of loneliness is at the forefront once again but Brookner has a way, once again, of making unlikable characters somewhat sympathetic and the ending is somewhat hopeful. But it's Brookner's gorgeous prose that stands out as usual.

4.2 stars

#119.

My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout, narrated by Kimberly Farr

This was a reread for me as I get ready for Strout's new book. This one held up and came back to me very shortly as the audiobook got going. Lucy's upbringing leaves a lot to be desired. It was very rough. As the story opens she's an adult, in the hospital for treatment of an undisclosed illness, and her mother, whom she hasn't seen in years, is visiting her and stays and sleeps in her chair after refusing a cot from the nurses. She stays for several days but it becomes apparent to Lucy, that her mother has changed very little over the years. But she also loves having her there and is upset when her mother decides to go home. A very odd woman, as Strout makes apparent.

4 stars

>281 benitastrnad: Oh great Benita. I'm glad you're enjoying it.

Hi Bonnie: You got me with both the Druett and the Howard. I still have to read the last book in the Cazelet chronicles!

>280 brenzi: Oh, we had pie, too. Apple, pumpkin and marionberry. : )

Hope you enjoy the next Strout book!

>282 brenzi: #116 I have the whole Cazalet Chronicles in a Kindlebundle and have yet to read past 50% in The Light Years...not because it's not a good read but because it is, and I want to savor it.

#118 Yay-but-boo! Only two to go, boo; finding her prose quality undiminished, yay.

#119 I hope you'll appreciate Oh William! when you get to it. I was stunned that I liked it at all.

Happy Sunday, Bonnie.

>285 BLBera: Oh my! How is it you didn't finish The Cazalet Chronicles, Beth? I can't imagine leaving it hanging but then I'm pretty much a completist lol.

>286 Berly: Hi Kim, I figured you probably had pie. What's Thanksgiving without pie?

>287Hi Richard, The Cazalet Chronicles are definitely swoon worthy. I heard about a book today called Misreading Anita Brookner by Peta Mayer that I'd like to find but that won't be easy. $78 on Abe! Not in my library either. I shall keep looking.

#120.

Anything is Possible by Elizabeth Strout, narrated by Kim Farr

Nothing much has changed since I first read this in 2017. It's a terrific collection of linked short stories based on the people Lucy Barton grew up with. Whereas My Name is Lucy Barton came back to me immediately when I reread it this second book in the trilogy was very murky and I remembered little about it. Still, it was a wonderful read about poverty-stricken residents of the Midwest who manage to get by by their wits and the seat of their pants. A lesson on how far kindness can go and how, believe it or not, anything is possible.

5 stars

#121.

Unfinished Business: Notes of a Chronic Rereader by Vivian Gornick

I wasn't familiar with Vivian Gornick until I heard someone rave about her writing on a podcast. In nine essays, she combines memoir, biography and literary criticism to explain why she has found rereading to be so important to her understanding of life. Among those books she fondly remembers are Colette's The Vagabond and The Shackle, D.H. Lawrence's Sons and Lovers and Marguerite Duras' The Lover as well as WWI novels by J.L. Carr, and Pat Barker and she investigates Elizabeth Bowen's complex prose, Natalia Ginzburg's love of life and Doris Lessing's odd Particularly Cats. I loved every word in this short book and look forward to reading more of her writing in the new year. Quite brilliant.

4.5 stars

Uh oh. NYRB Had a book sale last week.

Ooh, pretty! I love NYRB editions.

I came by to tell you I started Ghosts of the Tsunami today. Only an hour in but it was hard to stop listening...

>291 brenzi: Congratulations! Looks like a lovely haul.

>292 katiekrug: Yes!!! Exactly!!! Isn't it outstanding Katie?

>293 RebaRelishesReading: You've got that right Reba.

>291 brenzi: Jealous of the haul! Congratulations on it, Bonnie.

I have been hit by too many BBs to mention. Your thread is dangerous for my wallet.

Book sale!! Happiness abounds. I enjoy Strout but haven't read that one. So noted. : )

I'm glad to see your Lucy Barton re-reads proceeding apace, Bonnie. I don't remember much about Anything is Possible, either, except that I liked it a lot. I'm sure you'll love Oh William!

>291 brenzi: Yes, the sale got me as well.

Happy Wednesday, Bonnie. I love your Strout rereads! I also gave Anything Possible 5 stars, (like minds). It is my second favorite Strout. Glad it worked well on audio too.

A 100 pages left in Still Life and I am continuing to swoon. This will show up on my Best of the Year list.

I finished reading To Serve Them All of My Days by R. F. Delderfield and loved it! It is one of those quiet books where nothing happens but everything happens and that makes for terrific reading. He also has lots to say in this book about the art of teaching and how important it is to provide leadership for children as well as book learning. I am going to give my copy to my sister. This title is going on my best of the year list.

>289 brenzi: I didn't realize it was linked short stories. I'm more interested in reading it now!

>291 brenzi: Nice!!

>295 alcottacre: Well I'm sorry about that Stasia. But what can you do when there's a sale except give in and buy. Lol.

>296 Berly: Hi Kim, I've been read every Strout and liked them all but some are better than others. You've got to keep up lol.

>297 lauralkeet: I'm kind of surprised none of the stories in Anything is Possible stuck with me Laura. That is one terrific collection.

>298 BLBera: Great minds and all that Beth.

>299 msf59: Still Life was so good Mark so I'm not surprised you loved it as well.

>300 benitastrnad: We feel absolutely the same about this book Benita. I'm tempted to try some of his other books as he was quite prolific.

>301 Copperskye: I think you'd enjoy it Joanne.

#122.

Oh, William! by Elizabeth Strout

I must say I'm glad I reread the first two books in the trilogy. Lucy Barton devotes this book to talking about her first husband, William. I still love the second book more than the other two but of course they're all good cuz Strout. Somehow the writing in this one seemed a bit choppy but all in all I liked it a lot. Strout has an uncanny ability of seeing to the heart of a matter and that was very apparent in this book. William has his many faults, that's for sure and yet Lucy still feels he's worth the effort of caring for him.

4.2 stars

#123.

My Man Jeeves by P. G. Wodehouse

Short stories, some of which introduce us to the inimitable Jeeves. Lightly humorous. Short and sweet. Listened to the audio but can't remember who the narrator was.

3.5 stars

#124.

A Small Place by Jamaica Kincaid, read by Robin Myles

My first Kincaid. She seethes with anger in this non-fiction description of her life as a resident of Antigua. Racism and the shoddy treatment by the upper class as well as the British government fuel her anger and rage. Quite short and with a tremendous wallop. I'll be reading more by Kincaid.

4 stars

Glad (but not surprised) that you liked Oh William (as I type it I'm thinking "isn't that title just perfect"). Looking forward to hearing about your current reads. I'm not familiar with either one.

There has been another flap about an author of fiction writing something that a fictional character said. This time it is Ellen Hilderbrand who had a fictional character make a passing remark about living in an attic for the summer "like Anne Frank." Readers jumped on the statement as being casually antisemitic. Immediately, Hilderbrand apologized and asked her publisher (Little Brown) to remove the passage from the e-book version of the novel and in future printings of the hardcopy book.

I find myself puzzled. All of this is in a work of fiction. How do you write characters that are real if they have to be perfect? I think this is really strange.

>306 benitastrnad: I agree with you, Benita. I really do wish that the PC crowd would leave fiction alone.

>291 brenzi: I love the NYRB books. Good job there was no sale of them over here, Bonnie, or I may seriously have dented my poor bank balance.

>303 brenzi: I'm so glad you liked Oh William! I read the whole thing, can you even believe it? I even...well, "liked" is pretty close, "accepted" is too weak-kneed, "approved" is an overstatement...let's say I'll never be a Stroutophile but I'm no longer mad at her.

>291 brenzi: I do love the sales. I ignore them, but I love them!

I am back after a wifi-less week and making my rounds slowly. I've got reviews galore written because of my outage, though, so it wasn't all bad.

>303 brenzi: Oh William and the other Lucy Barton books are already in the BlackHole or I would be adding them again.

I am adding the Jamaica Kinkaid book to the BlackHole. My local library has a couple of books by her, but not that one, so I will have to look further afield for it. Thanks for the recommendation!

>305 RebaRelishesReading: Trying to stretch my reading a bit Reba. I felt like I was in a bit of a rut.

>306 benitastrnad: Cancel culture Benita. Sad.

>307 PaulCranswick: Absolutely right Paul.

>308 PaulCranswick: I'm slightly surprised you can still find books you don't already own Paul lol.

>309 richardderus: Not a Strout fan Richard? Ah well, you've got plenty others to choose from.

>310 alcottacre: new author for me Stasia.

#125.

The Lonely City: Adventures in the Art of Being Alone by Olivia Laing, narrated by Susan Lyons

A narrow look at four artists whose loneliness, although living in a big city, (maybe because of it) provides an interesting platform for loneliness in general. Andy Warhol, Edward Hopper, David Wojnarowicz, and Henry Darger all were aided in their art by their lonely lives in 1970s, 80s NYC particularly during the AIDS crisis. Extremely well researched and well narrated.

4 stars

#126.

The Singapore Grip by J. G. Farrell

What a fabulous end to J.G. Farrell's epic trilogy. The harrowing bombing of Singapore and the greed of the corporate community was highlighted in passionate language by a prose master. On my Best of 2021 list for sure.

5 stars

#127.

Passing by Nella Larsen

Published in 1929, Larsen's book was a new idea at the time and raises the same sorts of questions that were brought out in Brit Bennett's The Vanishing Half but of course at a much earlier time. I couldn't decide whether the ending was a cop out but then I listened to the Backlisted podcast about this book and I'm convinced it wasn't and that this book was quite brilliant for its time.

4 stars

#128.

Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan

Another new author for me but I can assure you I will be reading everything she's written. Beautiful writing relates the story of forty year old William Furlong who lives in a small Irish town and on Christmas Eve in 1985, comes upon the horrors that were the Magdalene Laundries, run by the Catholic Church and enabled by the government. (As a lapsed Catholic, don't get me started on all the things the Church has done over the years that horrified everyone with an ounce of integrity or compassion.) At any rate, Furlong, whose own past haunts him, finds his heart won't allow him to turn a blind eye to what he's seen.

A quiet, beautiful, almost poetic novel that poses questions for everyone facing the idea of doing the right thing.

"As they carried on along and met more people Furlong did and did not know, he found himself asking was there any point in being alive without helping one another? Was it possible to carry on along through all the years, the decades, through an entire life, without once being brave enough to go against what was there and yet call yourself a Christian, and face yourself in the mirror?"

A beautiful book and only 70 pages so do yourself a favor and search this one out now.

4.7 stars

>312 brenzi: We have just watched the film of Passing which we enjoyed a lot, but I have not yet read the book.

>312 brenzi: Adding all of those except for The Singapore Grip and Passing to the BlackHole. I have read 2/3 of Farrell's trilogy, but somehow never gotten to the last one. I am going to rectify that. Thanks for the reminder, Bonnie!

>314 SandDune: Hi Rhian, I watched the movie after I finished the book. As usually happens I liked the book better but I did enjoy the movie too. The book, for me, showed more explicitly the thought process in Irene's head and made it more difficult to determine what exactly happened at the end of the movie.

>315 alcottacre: Yes, I know what you mean Stasia. I read Troubles back in 2010!(which by the way, you recommended at the time🤗) Last year I finally read The Siege of Krishnapur last year and thought I'm going to finish this off finally. They were all wonderful.

>312 brenzi: I bought the Keegan book recently and in hardback too! I may put it in this month as I try to boost numbers to get close to 2x75. I read the first couple of paragraphs and knew she was for me!

I read The Singapore Grip first in the nineties and the other two since I have been in the group. The books are all slightly different and I would struggle to pick a favourite from them but I do think that the third in the trilogy should have gotten more plaudits than it actually did.

Oh yes Paul, you will love the Keegan. Have you read any of her other books? She's done a couple of short story collections I believe.

I've given all three books in the Farrell trilogy 5 stars. Just such excellent historical fiction. Such a loss that he died so young. Sometimes I feel like I was born in the wrong country. I read more British fiction than anything else I long for a flat in London haha.

>318 brenzi: One of these days, Bonnie! I had hopes if my business ventures had not been scuppered slightly by misadventure to have bought a small pad in London which I would have kept for my Theatre visits and book splurges. Of course LTers and especially the 75ers would have been welcome there anytime!

I haven't read anything yet by her but I do think that she is someone I will like. I was born in the wrong decade I think. Twenty years early in the immediate aftermath of the war and I would have wallowed more in the wonderful fiction of the 50s, 60s and 70s. I have grown to appreciate many American authors but I still hold a place very near and dear in my heart for Greene, Maugham, Delderfield, Spring, Priestley, Murdoch, Sillitoe, Hartley, etc

>316 brenzi: Well, turn about is fair play, right? I recommended the first in the trilogy to you and you recommended the last one to me.

Happy Friday, Bonnie. I fully intended to read The Siege of Krishnapur after loving Troubles but never got to it. You put it back on my radar. Hopefully, I will get to it early next year. Thanks, friend.

Yoo-hoo! *smooch*

>319 PaulCranswick: Oh yes Paul, I've always thought I should've been born when my mother was born to enjoy all the excitement of the middle of the twentieth century especially all the good writers. But then, I'm reading them all now so 🤷‍♀️

>320 alcottacre: There you go Stasia😉

>321 msf59: The Siege of Krishnapur was great Mark. I read that one last year and really enjoyed it. I'm sure you will too.

>322 richardderus: Right back at you Richard😙

#129.

There is Nothing for You Here by Fiona Hill, read by the author

Fiona Hill impressed me when she appeared as a witness during the first Trump impeachment and I was anxious to hear what she had to say in her new book and she didn't disappoint. The title comes from the words her father spoke to her when she was trying to decide what she wanted to do with her life. Their small northwest England town has been devastated by economic problems and is muddling its way through some very tough times. She credits her education with pulling her out of this mess and goes on to explore how residents of rural areas in the U.S. suffer from all the same problems. Then she draws a straight line between this phenomena and Trump. She goes ahead and comes up with suggestions on how to overcome these problems in both countries.

4 stars

#130.

Leaving Home by Anita Brookner

I honestly can't believe that I have only one Brookner left to read. This one is number 23 and what a ride it's been. Once again, Brookner hones in on a single woman, Emma Roberts, splitting her time between London and Paris, where she's working on a thesis in 17th century garden design. At 26, she'd like to enjoy life a little more but I've been reading Brookner long enough to know this will be a tough row to hoe. So although she does manage to cultivate a couple of friends, she continues to experience what can only be called a lonely existence. I have to admit, there were times I just wanted to reach out and shake her when she couldn't get up the courage to tell her French friend Francoise to stop taking advantage of her but Brookner had other ideas. The ending was quite brilliant.

4.2 stars

As I come to the end of my Brookner reading, I'm quite excited for the biography that will be written by Hermione Lee, widely respected biographer of Virginia Woolf, Edith Wharton, Willa Cather and others. From the announcement:

Clues as to Hermione Lee's approach as she begins the process of writing are to be found in the Bookseller. The proposal synopsis reads:
Anita Brookner (1928–2016) is a seductive subject for a literary biography. She was a writer like no other, of stylish brilliance, wisdom, passion, sadness and irony, and she was a magnetic, witty and complex woman, at once well-known and private, candid and secretive, loved by many and close to very few. Her personal style, more French than English, was impeccably self-concealing; her attitude to life was both romantic and grimly realistic.

The publisher adds:

The richness of Brookner’s life, which in recent years has been occluded by a reputation of quiet and isolation, more than warrants another look. Her life was multifaceted, distinctly European, and offers tantalising mysteries.

I have no idea how many years it will be before the biography is published.

You keep reminding me that I need to get to Anita Brookner, Bonnie! My local library does not have any of her books, which is just sad.

>326 brenzi: That's exciting news, Bonnie. I've not read any of Hermione Lee's bios, have you? They come highly recommended. I have her Edith Wharton bio on my shelves. I've just decided I'll make it a longer-term reading project starting in January,

I ordered a copy of The Siege of Krishnapur and I plan to bookhorn it in, early next year. I am just wrapping up my current read, so I will at least get a taste of Jewelweed today. Good luck with Christmas week.

>327 alcottacre: Oh that is sad Stasia. I don't get it.

>328 lauralkeet: So glad I could trigger a big project for you Laura lol. At any rate, I haven't read any of Lee's bios but I wish the Brookner one was available NOW because I have such a passion for her writing and who knows how I'll feel by the time the bio comes out.

>329 msf59: Hi Mark, you won't regret reading The Siege of Krishnapur, I can pretty much guarantee that. I'm well prepared for Christmas week I think. Wrapping is done. My son and his wife will be arriving on Friday, and I have our Christmas Eve meal planned, and my daughter will be doing Christmas Day so I don't think there'll be much stress. You, of course, will have your first Christmas as grandparents. Try not to go bankrupt hahaha. And enjoy that baby. You won't believe how incredibly fast the time will fly by as he grows. It's really unbelievable. But tremendous fun.

>331 brenzi: We are so blessed with Jackson and we are so happy that we get to spend as much time with him, as we do.

I am about 100 pages into Jewelweed. It is a slow read but I am really enjoying it. He does a great job with character development. I think Nate is my favorite so far.

>332 msf59: I'm just a bit ahead of you with the book Mark and I'm enjoying it too. I do like Nate but I'm interested in the dynamics at the Roebuck house and also between Ivan and August. I don't know if this will knock my socks off like Driftless did, but I'm enjoying it.

Sweet Thursday, Bonnie. I am at the 260 page mark. Like you mentioned- not in the same league as Driftless but I am enjoying it well enough.

Have a wonderful Christmas, with your family, my friend!!

Or in other words: Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year!

Hi Bonnie!

May all your surprises be good ones this Holiday season.

Have a lovely holiday, Bonnie.

Bonnie, you're famous! I was just listening to the Mookse and Gripes podcast and they read your recommendation! What a great surprise. Loved hearing your praise of To Serve Them All My Days.

>334 msf59: I have less than a hundred pages left Mark but little reading time with all the Christmas hubbub. I'd like to think I could finish it by tomorrow but that's probably a pipe dream at this point. Hope you had a great holiday celebration.

>335 SandDune: >336 karenmarie: >337 richardderus: >338 PaulCranswick: Thank you Rhian, Karen, Richard, and Paul, for your warm wishes. I hope you all had wonderful holidays.

>339 vivians: Bwahahaha I'm sure you and I are the only ones aware of this Vivian. I just responded to Paul's tweet. I was probably as surprised as you.

These were our family ornaments this year and, despite COVID, a merry time was had by all. I hope the same is true for your holiday and here's to next year!! And who knows what will happen now that you are famous!!

Happy New Year, Bonnie! I am looking forward to some great recommendations from you in 2022.

>341 Berly: I hope your holiday was merry Kim!

>342 alcottacre: And a Happy New Year to you Stasia.

#131.

State of Terror Hillary Clinton/Louise Penny, narrated by Joan Allen

This was an extremely well done political who-done-it that was performed in great style by Joan Allen. If you follow Penny, you'll find a few surprises. I bet there'll be another one of these.

4 stars

#132.

Jewelweed by David Rhodes

This book is the follow-up to a book I loved earlier this year, Driftless, but this isn't that book. It was enjoyable, nevertheless and I would certainly recommend it but it just didn't hit me the same way. Mark was reading it at the same time so he may feel differently.

4 stars

>344 brenzi: I'm waiting on the Clinton/Penny from the library. It's a long line, but I'm in no hurry. I'm glad to see your positive comments, Bonnie.

>345 lauralkeet: - What Laura said. I'm looking forward to it, as I enjoy a good political thriller :)

Merry Christmas, Bonnie! I was gifted a copy of State of Terror and I’m looking forward to it!

Did you see Penny posted that she has Covid?

Well I don't know how this happened but I've read 132 books this year. What?!?! I'll probably end up with 133 because the book I'm reading now, Fierce Attachments by Vivian Gornick, will be finished before year's end.

BEST BOOKS OF 2021

I do this a little differently than most people. It doesn't matter to me whether I rated a book 5 stars or 4 stars or anywhere in between. That was my immediate reaction to it right after I finished the reading. To land on this list, the book has to be memorable or impactful for me. SOMETHING sticks with me even if I read it last January.

Driftless by David Rhodes hit me like no other book I read this year. The language was beautiful and the characters finely drawn and months later I still feel like I'm in Word, Wisconsin with July Montgomery and and Rev. Winifred, and Jacob, and Rusty and Maxine, and the Brasso sisters, and Gail Shotwell. All memorable characters. Kind, caring people. Lovely people

To Serve Them All My Days by R.F. Delderfield is a true epic. A shell-shocked WWI veteran takes a position as a history teacher at a boarding school and I was immediately drawn into the world that the author created. Heartache, joy,
love, fully developed characters that had me tearing up, laughing out loud and pulling my hair out in frustration. So darn good.

The Copenhagen Trilogy: Childhood; Youth; Dependency by Tove Ditlevsen is a memoir or auto-fiction, whatever you want to call it she beautifully relates her life story from a tough tough childhood, through her youth and the first blossoms of her poetry, and on through more than one abusive husband and her dependency on drugs, including time in a mental hospital. She's a poet so the writing is, well, poetic. Beautiful.

Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead - I didn't want this book to end, even though it ran over 600 pages. What a story! Marian Graves grows up under the care of her alcoholic uncle and has to learn to fend for herself. She does and oh, by the way, learns to fly a plan in the 1920s. She goes on to vow to circle the globe, longitudinally, and ends up in New Zealand. Meanwhile, her brother Jamie has his own adventures and becomes a military artist, depicting scenes during WWII. Adventure story supreme.

Unsettled Ground by Claire Fuller is a beautifully written book that was shortlisted for The Women's Prize. Her story of the brother and sister, in their 50s, who are left bereft after the death of their mother because they have absolutely no knowledge of how the world works, gobsmacked me with its beauty and its way of addressing how people sometimes slip through the cracks and have to fight to keep their heads above water. Outstanding.

The Go-Between by L. P. Hartley surprised me because I'd never heard of the author and Paul surprised me with this book because of a little contest he was running on his thread. A beautiful coming of age story set in the English countryside where love and secrets and heartache abound. Lovely and bitterly sweet. Also, a classic as I discovered after reading it. I might've gone ahead and purchased another book by this author.

Zorrie by Laird Hunt - oh my Zorrie. If you enjoy character driven novels this may fill the bill for you. It's a short book but packs quite a punch as we follow Zorrie through her youth being raised by a rather uncaring aunt, through her work in the radium factory and finally when she marries and settles into farm life in Indiana. Beautifully written, joyous and heartbreaking. Did I mention that it's beautifully written.

The Singapore Grip by J.G. Farrell was the final book in Farrell's Empire Trilogy and deals with the attack and bombing of Singapore by the Japanese in the early days of WWII. The prose master doesn't let you down in this final book as he describes the greed and lust for power of the English corporate interests in Singapore whose abuses over many years led to the problems faced by the small shareholders trying to raise rubber. Wonderful end to a terrific trilogy.

All the Frequent Troubles of Our Days: The True Story of the American Woman at the Heart of the German Resistance to Hitler by Rebecca Donner was the story of the author's great-aunt, Mildred Harnock, who left the mid-west to teach at a university in Berlin with her German husband. They end up leading a group that is opposed to Hitler and all he stands for. Her trial was breathtaking in its horror. The book's depiction of how doing the right thing is not easy even though it is right was driven home with a deft touch. Excellent non-fiction.

Unfinished Business: Notes of a Chronic Rereader by Vivian Gornick is a treatise on how rereading sometimes changes your opinion of a book or author and sometimes reinforces your original opinion. Gornick is an inveterate rereader and, with gorgeous prose, explains why it's been an important part of her reading life. Some I was familiar with like Pat Barker, J. L. Carr, and Elizabeth Bowen. New writers I'd like to explore now that I've read this wonderful book: Natalia Ginzburg, D.H.Lawrence, Colette, and Thomas Hardy.

>345 lauralkeet: >346 katiekrug: >347 Copperskye: Hi there Laura, Katie and Joanne. I think you'll all enjoy State of Terror when you get to it. I'm going to be really interested in the next Gamache novel.

Hi, Bonnie. We had similar feelings about Jewelweed. I gave it slightly less than 4 stars. It just did not soar for me, the way Driftless did. Regardless, I enjoyed our shared read of it. I am very glad to see Driftless on your best of list. It just missed mine. Nice to see Great Circle on there. It made mine too. I would also like to read Unsettled Ground. I thought Still Life would have also made the cut. I know you also loved it.

I just posted my Best Of list, too, and some of the higher rated ones didn't make the cut because the impact just wasn't lasting. So I totally agree with how you decide your faves!

Bonnie and Kim, I think you both make a good point. I've never tried to do Best list but if I did I think that's the approach I would take. Also glad you liked the Penny/Clinton book. I though it was great.

I like the way you think about your year-end wrap up, Bonnie. I'm hoping to write mine today. We'll see.

Thanks for the write-ups, Bonnie. I had been looking at Zorrie because it made the National Book award longlist, and you've convinced me to give it a try. The Go-Between looks interesting too.

That's a great End of Year list, Bonnie. I also loved Unsettled Ground. Zorrie is waiting patiently for me on my Kindle :) I read The Go-Between when I was in college and liked it, but I would like to revisit it. Maybe in the coming year...

>348 brenzi: Great list, Bonnie. Unsettled Ground was also on my list. And, I've added a couple to read in 2022.

>348 brenzi: The Farrell trilogy is such an astounding achievement! Unsurprised to see it make your best-of.

The Vivian Gornick is very much on my wishlist, as how could it not be on such a topic?

Happy happiness, happy lady.

>344 brenzi: I do not enjoy political thrillers, so my rating of State of Terror was lower than anyone's than I have seen. I am not sorry I read it, but have no desire to read another one along this line.

>348 brenzi: Congratulations on the 133 reads this year, Bonnie! Thanks for the list of your best reads of the year. I collect those in case I might actually get some of the books read at some point :)

I have already read Great Circle, have Zorrie set aside to read this year, and will be reading The Singapore Grip this month.

>350 msf59: I loved lots of books Mark. That's the problem. I did love Still Life but I had to make the cut somewhere. 🤷‍♀️You should read Unsettled Ground. I think you'd like it.

>351 Berly: Hi Kim, I'm glad to see we think alike Kim. It's the only way, isn't it?

>352 RebaRelishesReading: Hi Reba, you mean you don't make a Best of list? I'm shocked hahaha.

>353 lauralkeet: I like the way you think Laura lol.

>354 vivians: Hi Vivian, turn around is fair play. I've gotten so many good book recommendations from you it's not even funny.

>355 katiekrug: Zorrie should not be waiting Katie. Pick that sucker up and read it. Lol.

>356 BLBera: Hi Beth, Unsettled Ground is just such a good book. I'm not surprised it's on several end of year lists.

>357 richardderus: It's such a shame that he died so young Richard. I can only imagine the books he would've written if he hadn't fallen into the sea while fishing and drowned. Such a loss. You'd probably like the Gornick. You're more wide read than I am and would be more familiar with all the authors she explores.

>358 alcottacre: Looks like you have you're reading for 2022 all planned out Stasia. It's always good to have a plan. I'm just speculating about a future Clinton/Penny book. I don't know if that's their plan.

>312 brenzi: I requested Small Things Like These. LOL.

I love your end of year list, Bonnie. I’m glad to see you liked the Clinton/Penny. I’ve been thinking about reading it, and your comments have sealed the deal. I loved all of Delderfield’s books when I read them years ago. To Serve Them All My Days was my favorite.

Happy New Year to you and your family.

>348 brenzi: Great list, good approach to determining what's best of the year. I tend to agree - I may have read quite a few 4-5* books, but only the ones I think of since reading hold a place for me.

Happy New Year!

Forget your stresses and strains
As the old year wanes;
All that now remains
Is to bring you good cheer
With wine, liquor or beer
And wish you a special new year.

Happy New Year, Bonnie.