| Author |
Message |
Uncle_ricky
Member
07-02-2007
| Tuesday, April 10, 2018 - 3:57 pm 
I'm jealous that you're getting to read another Towles book - I'm waiting my turn for my library copies of his two other books to come in!
Last night I finished I Can't Breathe: A Killing on Bay Street by Matt Taibbi. Boy, was that a toughie. It's extremely well-researched and written, but I can't recall feeling so much anger (which grew progressively worse and worse as the chapters unfolded) while reading a book. The story of Eric Garner, prior to his murder at the hands of the Staten Island Police, the murder itself, and the aftermath are all captured brilliantly. The anger stems from the fact the police officer who killed Garner has never been (and likely never will be) punished in any way.
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Heckagirl631
Member
09-08-2010
| Tuesday, April 10, 2018 - 7:34 pm
Just finished "Beartown" by Fredrik Backman. Such a different book from "A Man Called Ove". It was good, but in a different way. Liked Ove better.
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Sugar
Member
08-15-2000
| Tuesday, April 10, 2018 - 8:00 pm
I really disliked Beartown I thought I read that his next book also about Beartown or has some of the same characters, I hope not.
I've enjoyed his other work, my favorite Backman book is My Grandmother Asked Me To Tell You She's Sorry.
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Tresbien
Member
08-26-2002
| Wednesday, April 11, 2018 - 10:16 am
Although I'm a bit squeamish about reading novels with physical abuse, I enjoyed The Great Alone's characters and the remote wilderness setting.
Am so glad that Ric found Less on the WashPost's 2017 best books list. I'm a huge fan of comic novels, and this one is exceptionally good.
Took another look at that list and wanted to suggest a dystopian novel there called The Power by Naomi Alderman.
Another hard to book down thriller I just finished is Linwood Barclay's Never Look Away.
Put Amor Towles on library waitlist, and in the meantime reading another of Sue Grafton's novels. Also, a friend just handed me Eowyn Ivey's The Snow Child that she recommended. Alaska locations seem to be calling to me so that is next up.
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Rieann
Member
08-26-2006
| Monday, April 16, 2018 - 12:56 pm
Just finished The Last Mrs. Parrish by Liv Constantine. Oooh... there's so much I want to say, but I won't. 
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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Monday, April 16, 2018 - 7:05 pm
I finished the Lisa Genova novel.
Really close to her heart. The director? If the movie from her book, Still Alice suffered from a form of ALS that let hi walk but not talk.
He used devices and brought the movie in. He also taught Lisa a lot about ALS.
He died the day Julianne won the Oscar for best actress, playing Alice.
Lisa worked with quite a few ALS patients and has lost must Not them, so she is passionate about the subject.I
Starting a book, Ubered: My Life as a Rideshare Driver.
So far, it is interesting, does NOT tempt me to drive And his stories of driving after smoking pot and peeing in streets to avoid bathrooms.. are not so impressive to me.
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Tresbien
Member
08-26-2002
| Tuesday, April 17, 2018 - 5:58 am
Andrew Sean Greer's Less has won the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Well deserved!
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Jimmer
Moderator
08-30-2000
| Tuesday, April 17, 2018 - 6:49 am
You drive so much Sea, you could be an Uber driver. 
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Mamie316
Member
07-08-2003
| Tuesday, April 17, 2018 - 9:36 am
Rieann, wasn't it good?!
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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Tuesday, April 17, 2018 - 11:01 am
Jimmer, reading his book, no way!
I drive people who are verified by doctors to be in treatment for cancer. ACS also has insurance to add to mine.
And I get to choose where I drive. And when.
And my car is not large. Prius C.
This guy drive first to Lyft, then both services.
Lyft required black cars, at least when he drove. He was in Minneapolis St Paul.
Haven't finished the book yet.
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Rieann
Member
08-26-2006
| Tuesday, April 17, 2018 - 11:11 am
Mamie, yes it was!
Spoiler
Click below to view spoiler | I had such an evil grin waiting for Amber to get her due.  I also loved how you had no idea Jackson was such a monster in the beginning. Delicious revenge for Daphne |
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Mak1
Member
08-11-2002
| Wednesday, April 18, 2018 - 1:30 pm
A Gentleman in Moscow was delicious!
I just finished The Stars Are Fire by Anita Shreve. It started out really good, but I got bored about halfway through and really didn't enjoy the rest of it.
Next up - Still Me by Jojo Moyes.
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Uncle_ricky
Member
07-02-2007
| Wednesday, April 18, 2018 - 10:55 pm
Excellent news, Mak - now I'm really looking forward to reading it!
Tonight I finished Eddie Izzard's relentlessly marvelous Believe Me: A Memoir of Love, Death, and Jazz Chickens - itself a peculiar title since never once does he discuss jazz chickens!
Anyway, as memoirs go, this is one of the very best I've ever read. He really is an amazing man. He practically willed himself to become a stand-up comedian despite not seeming to know ANYTHING about how to go about it. Who does that??? He had a fear of flying. So what does he do? He learns how to fly an airplane! What??? Yes, it's true.
My favorite section, by far, because ultramarathon running is so close to my heart, is where he explains how he decided to -- out of the blue -- run across the United Kingdom to raise money for charity and then, later, to run all across South Africa to honor Nelson Mandela (and to also raise additional money for the Sport Relief charity in the U.K.). And how much ultramarathon running experience did he have prior to embarking on his run across the U.K.? You guessed it: zero, zip, zilch, nada! Absolutely incredible.
Izzard is one of the most interesting people you'll ever get to know.
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Uncle_ricky
Member
07-02-2007
| Tuesday, April 24, 2018 - 12:05 pm
Last night I unshackled myself from the ball/chain that Lovers and Tyrants turned out to be. Written in 1976 by Francine du Plessix Gray, this novel was tedious, tedious, tedious. Tina Brown mentioned it in her Vanity Fair Diaries (because Ms. du Plessix Gray was the stepdaughter of Brown's boss at Conde Nast).
Brown's description of the book made it sound interesting, so I checked out the sole copy in the entire L.A. Public Library system. The first half seemed to move okay - it was the second half that proved monstrously deadly. By then I was too far invested to stop. And like the total dingleberry that I am, I finished the wretched thing. No more du Plessix Gray books for me! 
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Jimmer
Moderator
08-30-2000
| Tuesday, April 24, 2018 - 12:31 pm
Well if it's any consolation, you made me LOL over your persistence finishing it. I know what that's like.
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Uncle_ricky
Member
07-02-2007
| Tuesday, April 24, 2018 - 6:15 pm
I'm glad I was able to bring mirth to your day! Mirth is definitely something you will NOT find in that book - not a trace!
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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Tuesday, April 24, 2018 - 6:18 pm
I will rush out and not download that book!
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Rieann
Member
08-26-2006
| Wednesday, April 25, 2018 - 12:35 pm
OMG! I just heard they have a suspect in custody for the Golden State Killer case. I mentioned the book I read upthread. I am THRILLED that they caught this guy after 40 years.
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Dogdoc
Member
09-29-2001
| Wednesday, April 25, 2018 - 1:49 pm
I guess reading a bad book is like waiting on hold.
If you don't finish the book, the time you spent reading it is wasted because you don't know how it ends.
If you are on hold and hang up instead of waiting it out, you totally wasted your time.
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Sugar
Member
08-15-2000
| Wednesday, April 25, 2018 - 7:06 pm
I just "finished" the latest Alexander McCall Smith 44 Scotland Street series, A Time Of Love And Tartan. As I really only enjoy one of the characters, 7 year old Bertie, I only read the chapters that pertained to him.
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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Wednesday, April 25, 2018 - 10:00 pm
Sugar, true, but sometimes you have to cut your losses.
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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Thursday, April 26, 2018 - 4:42 pm
I finished Ubered and learned that what I already thought was correct.. NO WAY would I drive for them.
Some interesting stories, but the writing is sub par and the author fairly irritating, profanity that didn't enhance anything..
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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Thursday, April 26, 2018 - 4:44 pm
Starting The Story of My Father: A Memoir by author Sue Miller.
Her father had Alzheimer's.
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Uncle_ricky
Member
07-02-2007
| Saturday, April 28, 2018 - 6:03 pm
I finished another of Allison Winn Scotch's novels, The Theory of Opposites, a charming little love story involving a woman who must choose between her husband and an old flame. The characters were nice and quirky (and fun). I really like her books!
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Uncle_ricky
Member
07-02-2007
| Tuesday, May 01, 2018 - 3:34 pm
We've all heard, all too often, that oft-used phrase, "There's no one like ___________; he/she is truly one of a kind."
Well, I want to assure you that comedian Tiffany Haddish totally makes that statement wildly inadequate. Last night I finished her flamboyant and outlandishly entertaining memoir, The Last Black Unicorn.
I'm in complete awe of her amazing life and the almost-impossible-to-believe stages of her development (she'll be 39 in December). I knew next to nothing about her, other than that she hosted "Saturday Night Live" late last year and was the first African-American woman to do so.
Her memoir is an even mixture of hysterically funny and extremely sad/painful events. Her writing style is so warm-hearted (and rough when it needs to be) and totally lacking in guile. I wish all memoirs were as fun to read as hers is. You just have to experience it yourself to fully appreciate how utterly unique she is.
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