Book time again...what are you reading? - YouLookFab Forum

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Book time again...what are you reading?

Peri

Veteran

I have gotten several recs I really enjoyed from these occasional threads. There hasn't been one in awhile so I thought I'd start.

I am re-reading I'll Give You the Sun, written by Jandy Nelson. A book focused on teens, but I wouldn't say really for them. Maybe. It is about twins, a boy and a girl. The years around 13-15 are narrated by the boy and the year 16 by the girl. I'm not even sure how to describe this book, but I love it. They are artists, and everything the boy experiences becomes a painting in his head. He is constantly coming up with things like Self Portrait: Boy Dives Into a Lake of Light. Truly one of the favorite things I've ever read.

Over to you...any good books lately?

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34 replies

Latest reply was from JAileen

deb

Veteran

I just finished The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Satterfield. I really enjoyed it.

Anonymous

Reading The Nest right now - lots of media buzz this spring. Debut novel from a New York writer - so far, so good. Next up is She's Not There - Joy Fielding's latest. And I have an advance reading copy of Ann Leary's The Children, which I can't wait to dive into. Do you know her? She's Denis Leary's wife, and a really good story teller !

Anonymous

Thanks for this thread, Peri. I love to see what YLFers are reading!

I'm reading Nora Webster by Colm Toibin. (He also wrote Brooklyn, which was made into the recent movie.) It's hard to believe a man can write about women so well.

Also just finished The Turkish Embassy Letters by Lady Mary Worley Montagu, a real live wire of the 18th century. Her husband was the English ambassador to Turkey, and she wrote tons of highly entertaining letters back home to all her friends.

UmmLila (Lisa)

Veteran

I just finished Arcadia by Iain Pears. Kind of a mystery, time travel dystopia. I'm about to start on yet another YA novel, The Winner's Kiss (third in a trilogy.) Also in the to-read pile, The Blue Hour, which is set in Morocco and claims to be like The Sheltering Sky (one of my all time faves.)

I'm interested in the Turkish Embassy letters, having heard of the author.

Anonymous

Xtabay - I gave up on Nora Webster about 2/3 of the way through. I like his books a lot, but this one was going nowhere ....I think my patience with certain novels is less than it used to be.

ma

Veteran

Currently reading Notorious RBG which is full of photos and timelines, so feels more like a coffee table book but her life is very interesting. Just finished Her by Christa Parravani which was an excellent memior and Random Family (old, published 2004) was a quite shocking to read. Newer books of fiction I've recently read were Nightingale by Kristin Hannah and Marriage of Opposites by Alice Hoffman. Both were okay historical fiction, i enjoyed Hoffman better, mostly because I'm a bit burnt out on France during WWII fiction.

Anonymous

Ummlila, maybe we can swap The Blue Hour and The Turkish Letters at some point.

Lisap, sorry Nora Webster wasn't your cuppa. I'm pretty well seduced by the elegant writing and the low-key story. Kind of soothing, I guess. We'll see if I make it to the end (I'm about halfway through it).

JAileen

Veteran

I'm reading Emma by Alexander McCall Smith, a modern version of Jane Austen's Emma. He wrote the #1 Ladies Detective Agency series. It's delightful!

Anonymous

I found Nora entirely unlikable, and flakey, which turned me off. But I agree with the elegant , quiet writing.

rabbit

Veteran

I'm constantly listening to audiobooks while I work, and tend to go for escapist stuff (because half my mind is doing something else), so there is a lot of historical romance, sci-fi, and fantasy of all kinds of mixed quality.
One of the best genre books I've read in a very long time (and great narration) is Uprooted by Naomi Novik - it's got world-building, intelligent magic, non-traditional romance and the creepiest forest I've ever run across in print. Very Grimm's folklore, Baba Yaga come to life.

rachylou

Veteran

Right now I'm reading self published dystopian short stories. Just finished one that was rather poetic and profound about how one can't keep to one's own little life, as much as one might like. The workings of the world, the doings of governments and leaders, they do involve and effect us.

pil

Veteran

UmmLila, I listened to Iain Pears 'Instance of the Fingerpost' years ago and enjoyed it.

I also recently read 'Unbecoming' by Amy Scherm and enjoyed that. An unlikeable main character but I still wanted to find out what happened in the end!

Peri

Veteran

Thank you all for your recommendations! I will Kindle sample these as soon as I finish my third reading of I'll Give You the Sun. Happy reading, keep them coming!

Jenn

(website)

Veteran

It sounds like rabbit and I have similar tastes in books! A lot of my reading is just the next book in one of the million series I'm invested in, but I did just recently finish up Borderline, by Mishell Baker, which I thought was groundbreaking. It's an urban fantasy novel set in LA, but the main character is a double-amputee who suffers from borderline personality disorder. She's a fascinating character who elevates the book beyond the genre standard (and this is coming from someone who really likes UF, in general).

On a completely different note, I also just finished Fever Pitch, by Nick Hornby. As a soccer fan and a Hornby fan, I found it hilarious and wound up reading many passages out loud to my husband each night.

AviaMariah

Veteran

My reading stays light these days as I only ready in about 10 minute increments so can't keep too much straight in my head! I'm currently reading The Long and Faraway Gone by Lou Berney which was a kindle deal last week. It's pretty good. I just read Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter which was also a deal and was just okay. Awhile back I got on a Jojo Moyes kick and really enjoyed most of her books. I believe "Me Before You" is currently being made into a movie. Another book I read recently that got a lot of positive buzz was Fates and Furies and I really didn't like it. Great writing but I didn't care for the characters at all.

Laura (rhubarbgirl)

(website)

Veteran

I really liked Uprooted too - I am impatiently awaiting the next/last in her Temeraire series which is coming out next month. I hadn't heard about the McCall Smith Emma; I got tired of the repetitiveness of his series(es?) but I'd be interested in his take on Emma.

AviaMariah, I tried to read Fates & Furies too and gave up - the characters were so unlikeable and unpleasant. Not that unpleasant people can't be interesting to read about, but the text didn't manage that for me at all.

I recently finished the Captive Prince trilogy - uneven but fun if you like fantasy adventure and/or gay romance. And I just devoured Alan Cumming's memoir in audiobook (read by himself) - his father was abusive to him and his brother as children, but it's much more than a typical 'recovering from an abusive childhood' story.

I've got a bunch of books out from the library right now; not sure what I'll tackle next. Armada, the next in the Ready Player One series. Simon Winchester's new book Pacific. Garth Risk Hallberg's City on Fire, which has gotten a lot of good recs.

ClaraT

Veteran

Elon Musk. Fascinating (but just started it). Super interesting guy.

ma

Veteran

I literally just picked up Fates and Furies last night from the library...haven't started it yet, but I am bummed to hear its not good... I also borrowed The Friends You Keep...I feel like I've heard things or read things about it but not sure.

chouette22

Veteran

Love these threads, huge reader here.

Deb, I also enjoyed The Thirteenth Tale a lot.

Marble, I had some expectations for Fates and Furies as well, but ended up giving it only 2 stars (on Goodreads, where I record all the books I read and want to read).

Lisap: I have a hold on The Nest at my library.

Recent standouts for me:

-A Little Life, Hanya Yanagihara. This book really blew me away for about 500 pages (it's 720 pages long). The writing is absolutely brilliant and I thought for sure, that I would give it 5 stars. However, in the end, it did lose one star for me. It is devastating and harrowing, but also oddly uplifting and beautiful. Definitely not a light book for the beach! Who else has read this book?

-When Breath Becomes Air. 5*

-Being Immortal. 5* Everybody should read this book in my opinion.
-I just finished My Name Is Lucy Barton. I love everything by Elizabeth Strout. 4*

-Blackout, by Sarah Hepola. 4*

-I also just finished In Other Words, by Jhumpa Lahiri. This is more an essay on writing and languages. I did find it interesting because of my profession, but it definitely is not everyone's cup of tea.
I could go on and on...

Oh, a quick final word: I am in the middle of The Nightingale, which has an incredibly high rating on Goodreads, thus my expectations were up there. I will finish it, but with difficulty, as I don't like it at all. I find the writing and story terribly clichéd, melodramatic and trite.

Jane

Veteran

Lovely to read what everyone is reading. I'm on The Perfect Affair by Claire Dyer.

Claire is coming to our book group at work, as we all know her husband well as he does a lot of work for us.

It is slightly strange knowing Claire's husband well and then reading about the intimate aspects. And I do also find the title slightly off putting!

But story line is good and there is a poignancy to the writing which makes it soothing to read, and indeed entirely understandable as to how the affair has arisen.

Claire's lead character is a male author and it's quite interesting to hear about she describes the loneliness of being a writer.

I've enjoyed Nick Hornby books and also Alexander McCall smith. The no 1 ladies detective agency series I found had a charm and sweetness to them. I was amazed at how the writer managed to write from the perspective of such a different character to himself.

Laurinda

Veteran

(Really) late to the party: "Gone With The Wind"
It's a good read!

Laura (rhubarbgirl)

(website)

Veteran

Laurinda, I've never gotten around to reading Gone with the Wind either. So often I am disappointed when I finally read well-known classics; it's a bummer.

Chouette, I got partway through The Nightingale myself, and something really overwrought happened - it's set in WWII France so it's not like horrible things didn't happen all the time, but it just felt like it was included for pathos rather than to move the plot along - and I stopped reading. I might go back, but I doubt it.

A couple more I've read this year that I thought of: Hold Still, by Sally Mann - she's a photographer and it's half memoir, half family history. Very singular. McCullough's The Wright Brothers, excellent. An Ember in the Ashes, another of those dystopian YA fantasies but really engaging.

UmmLila (Lisa)

Veteran

i recently read In Other Words and Ember in the Ashes as well.

Liked the Italy aspect but found both somewhat unfininished.

Style Fan

Veteran

I like Alexander McCall Smith. I am slowly working my way through the #1 Ladies series.
Other books I am reading or have read recently:
The Reason You Walk - A Memoir by Wab Kinew
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
Gillian Flynn's novels

retailgirl

Veteran

Laura...you wouldn't be disappointed in Gone with the Wind! My favorite, all time. (And I love to read...former English Major) And if you've seen the movie, the actors were perfect for their parts. (Although they left some of the book out of the movie.)

Laurinda

Veteran

One caution about Gone With The Wind is that it represents the era of slavery in the US and can be disturbing reading. The characters and circumstances are better explained than in the movie (but the movie is worth watching too!).

@ Rabbit: Thank you for the audiobook recommendation. Maybe we need an audiobook thread? With a good narrator, an audiobook can be a different experience than reading silently, and can be shared rather than solitary, i.e. on a long car trip.

Aquamarine

Veteran

I have to add that Gone With the Wind really brought the Civil War alive for me as a teen, unlike any history class ever could. Highly recommend.

Sal

Veteran

I cried after reading Gone with the Wind for a whole day (I was 17). I loved it and my DH just read it and found it fascinating. We then rewatched the film.

In 2016 I have read

Atonement
Girl on a train
The Girl you left behind (Jo Jo Moyes - easy read)

I would definitely recommend all three although not new releases. All different genres with Atonement being the most literary and beautifully written (and poignant).

I am about to start a new book after finishing Atonement yesterday. Yet to decide which one:)

heather.enhui

Oooh some great ideas for books to add to my list, particularly interested in Uprooted!

This is what I'm reading right now/recently
Non-fiction:

The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu: And Their Race to Save the World's Most Precious Manuscripts by Joshua Hammer

Fiction:

The Witch's Daughter by Paula Brackston

A Death in Sweden by Kevin Wignall

The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin

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