What are you reading these days? - YouLookFab Forum

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What are you reading these days?

Anonymous

I always love to hear what Fabbers are reading. What's on your night stand these days?

I'm reading Flaneuse: Women Walk the City in Paris, New York, Tokyo, Venice, and London, by Lauren Elkin. It's an intense meditation on what it means to be a woman walking around in the world. The historical insights and literary references are quite fascinating to me. I love it because I love walking in big cities, and this makes the experience a larger one.

Just finished: Girl Waits With Gun, by Amy Stewart. This was a fun novel based on the true adventures of one of America's first female crime fighters. Very enjoyable.

Up next: The Men in My Life, by Patricia Bosworth. A memoir of love and art in 1950s Manhattan. Can't wait to curl up with this one.

Anyone else have book news or views to share?

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50 replies

Latest reply was from jill58

Sisi

Veteran

My yoga manual!

A book that I recently read and really enjoyed is "The Elegance of the Hedgehog" by Muriel Barbery. For a long time I refused to buy it (too praised, I suspected it was yet another commercial operation) but then I had to change my mind. I recommend it.

Anonymous

Sisi, I read the Elegance of the Hedgehog at my book club. I absolutely loved it. Others were lukewarm, thinking it too sad. Beautiful writing.

The yoga manual sounds like it might be a little thin on plot, but very life-enhancing!

kkards

Veteran

"The Good Father" by Noah Hawley....I really liked it, but not as much as his book "Before the Fall" which I read this summer. both books deal with families that are not quite what they seem, or maybe they are...and we just don't know what to look at.

"the Orphan Train" by Christina Baker Kline. a quick read, but interesting and somewhat thought provoking

I have tried 3 or 4 time to read "My Brilliant Friend" by Elena Ferrante, but I just can't seem into it.

I'm going to add the "hedgehog" to my list, this is the 2nd or 3rd time I've heard good things about it

Anonymous

Kkards, I really enjoyed Before the Fall, it was hard to put down. I had to find out how everything played out on that plane!

I've heard good things about The Orphan Train, I'm glad to hear you liked it. Interesting story.

Ledonna N.

Veteran

Hmmmm more like study.

What to expect when expecting
What to expect the 1st year.

And a trashy vampire romance

Anonymous

Heh, Ledonna! Are you reading stories to Nugget? I guess vampires are way too scary for little babies.

MsMary

Veteran

I loved The Orphan Train.

I just finished Dinner with Edward for book club. It was a quick read and I enjoyed it. Now I am just starting The Warmth of Other Suns, which is about African American migration from the American South to the North. Very interesting so far.

rachylou

Veteran

Right now I'm reading a torridly boring YA rip of Twilight - only Alice in Wonderland has been substituted for Vampires and Werewolves. Tried to find a better book yesterday, but no luck. I'm waiting for the next Split Worlds book to be published... more of my favourite Social Science Fiction. It's all suffragettes and oppressive patriarchy and rapacious capitalism in the form of the Gentle Folk. But it's interesting because it's not simplistic. It accounts for the difficulties of responsibility.

Still trash tho, hehe.

UmmLila (Lisa)

Veteran

I read Fates and Furies and Let the Great World Spin last week. Now I'm waiting for two Rachel Cusk books to arrive.

Anonymous

For the first time in about ever, I'm in between books -fiction- for the moment. Waiting on quite a few from the library. But in the meantime, I am so enjoying this cookbook : Scandinavian Comfort Food. I haven't made anything from it yet, but have ear-marked a lot. I'm about halfway through reading it - and savouring the photography and the quality of the entire package.

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Ledonna N.

Veteran

Xtabay i read the what to expect books to her. Then i laugh at how silly most of it sounds and take naps inbetween.

I mostly play music and talk to her right now. I have this dual headphones that my sister got me off ebay so we listen to the same music.

Gaylene

Veteran

Just finished "Do Not Say We Have Nothing" by Madeline Thien and "By Gaslight" by Steven Price for my book clubs. Really liked the Thien book--a fascinating, morally complex, look at two families of musicians during China's Cutural Revolution in the 60s and ending with the Tiananmen Square protest in 1987. The Price book was interesting, but very long at over 700 pages-- good writing and intriguing plot involving the detective William Pinkerton in Victorian London.

For pleasure reading, I'm finishing up Guy Gavriel Kay's recent "Children of Earth and Sky" (historical fantasy fiction set in Venice, Turkey, and Croatia), and have Penelope Lively's "Consequences" in the wings along with Paulette Jiles ""Stormy Weather". The latter two were recommendations from my favorite bookseller. She and I have very similar tastes, so I'm expecting a good read.

I also have the final book in the "My Brilliant Friend" quartet to finish. I enjoyed the first three, but had to stop before finishing the last one because of book club reads.

ClaraT

Veteran

The Underground Railroad is excellent. Well-written, compelling, and important and heartbreaking. Lest we forget the horror of slavery that this country is built upon (and the present-day ramifications of slavery and its aftermath).
Born a Crime by Trevor Noah is an account of his upbringing in South Africa. Not great literature but interesting.
Just starting The Tsar of Love and Techno (because I loved A Constellation of Vital Phenomena).
I also just re-read Lonesome Dove because sometimes I need to escape and not think too much. I know! I'm not proud of it, but there it is.

PS I trudged through My Brilliant Friend and I *do not* get the Elena Ferrante buzz/love.

UmmLila (Lisa)

Veteran

I read all the Elena Ferrante books in January, obsessively. And I loved them.

I've heard great things about Trevor Noah's book.

Anonymous

The Split World series sounds intriguing, rachylou. Dynastic families feuding across the ages! Monsters protecting the innocent! Evil faeries! And some people just trying to drink their tea in peace. Whew, it's a lot!

lisap, that cookbook sounds like the perfect book to see you through the waning days of winter. Bon appetit! I love cookbooks, and sometimes "read" them when I can't sleep.

Gaylene, your books all sound wonderful, and I'm especially interested in the Victorian detective novel, in spite of its daunting length.

Clara T, Lonesome Dove is such a good read, and so fun to get lost in. Some books are so good they have to be read over and over. I just read Hemingway's A Moveable Feast for the upteenth time. I will never get tired of that book.

Ummlila and Ms Mary, thanks for sharing your book selections! I'm putting them on my list of possible future picks.

elpgal

Veteran

Can someone recommend some uplifting non-fiction, please?

I finished reading 'When Breath becomes air'. Lovely book about cancer. I am currently reading 'The Gene', it is very dense and voluminous so I doubt I'll finish it before the new book rental period is up.

rachylou

Veteran

I really like Guy Gabriel Kay. Very detailed writer.

anne

Veteran

My newest author discovery is an Australian writer called Joan London. I particularly enjoyed her Gilgamesh (set in rural Australia, London and Armenia) and The Golden Age (in a polio convalescent home). She has won several prizes.

viva

Veteran

I've been reading a lot lately, and a mishmash of things.

Recent fiction I have no trouble recommending: Swimming Lessons (mystery, family, loss - a good read), Imagine Me Gone (devastating, about mental illness and its legacy); The Wonder (by the author of Room, strange but compelling tale of religious fervor).

Recent fiction that is not for everyone: Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders, whom I love -- extraordinary, intriguing, sort of experimental fiction that will not be everyone's cup of tea. But I continue to be just blown away by his imagination.

Uplifting Nonfiction: Insomniac City -- by Bill Hayes, about his experiences in NYC and his relationship with Oliver Sachs, the renowned neuroscientist. It's written in an elliptical style and is really a series of love letters/poems to New York, with occasional insight (not very deep) into his relationship with "O." Interesting glimpses into O's friendship with Bjork, which totally surprised me. Also, great street photographs by Hayes. Very enjoyable.

Two books I dip in and out of:

Uppercase Compendium of Craft and Creativity, edited by Janine Vangool -- nonfiction collection of short pieces on creative people and what they make/do. Inspirational and gorgeous.

Consolations: The Solace, Nourishment and Underlying Meaning of Everyday Words by poet David Whyte -- nonfiction collection of short essays on the meaning of words. Powerful and provocative. Great as a meditation companion.

Laura (rhubarbgirl)

(website)

Veteran

elpgal, I'm listening to The Gene on audiobook in the car right now. I'm really enjoying it, but yeah, I am definitely going to have to renew my copy before I finish it

I try to keep up with the cookbook of the month at Chowhound and for March they're doing Gjelina. Normally I look askance at very chef-y cookbooks but this one is a nice balance between interesting and achievable. Very SoCal, but in a good way. Also have been reading How Not to Die, which is an accessible review of evidence-based nutrition advice, written by a physician.

elpgal

Veteran

Thanks Viva and Laura. I"ll add them to my list.

Anonymous

A shout out to viva, for being a power reader, along with Gaylene! You make me want to read more. Here at South x Southwest, there are women walking around dressed like the women in The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood, so I was inspired to pick up a copy while I was out shopping this afternoon. (I think the costumed women are to advertise the fact that Hulu has produced a film version of the book.)

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viva

Veteran

That picture is extraordinary!

I go through periods of heavy reading. This is one.

Thanks for this thread - I know I will be back for reading ideas.

JAileen

Veteran

I recently bought a copy of the Handmaid's Tale, too. It was so chilling when I read it. There was an essay by Margaret Atwood in the NYTimes last week:

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/0.....hone-share

UmmLila (Lisa)

Veteran

I just bought the two most recent books by Rachel Cusk (Outline and Transit.)

Anonymous

I haven't read any Rachel Cusk yet, Ummlila, but she's going on The List. It's so great to get recommendations from Fabbers, who of course have the best taste. Anne, I'm putting Joan London on there, too. Since elpgal and Laura like The Gene so much, I'll be having a look at that one, too. I'm going to have to put my movie-watching on hold, I think!

Laura (rhubarbgirl)

(website)

Veteran

I'm not sure I'm emotionally ready to read The Handmaid's Tale again - it made quite the impression on me as a burgeoning feminist teenage girl. It'd be interesting to engage with it again, though, especially since I'm now at the end of my reproductively-possible years, rather than the beginning.

Lauren Graham's biographical book that came out last year in time for the Gilmore Girls revival is really readable and fun, for anyone who's looking for something a little lighter!

kkards

Veteran

just wanted to say that i love these posts....i love to read, although lately it seems mostly what I have been reading is romance novels because when i get home from work all I want is a happy ending!

Anonymous

I know what you mean, Laura. I've been putting off reading it all these years because it sounds pretty harrowing. But I think I have the thicker skin now to take it on. It sounds like it made a very strong impression on you at that young age. I don't think I'll read it right before I go to sleep.

Thanks, JAileen for that interview link. Margaret Atwood is an author I greatly esteem, and I look forward to reading that.

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