What are you reading the week of April 10, 2021?

I'm between one third and halfway through The Landmark Xenophon's Hellenika. Hoping to find more time to read this week.

I've been reading The Empire of Gold all through this month and finished with that yesterday; or is that it finished with me! Currently reading China's Good War and will then read Yugoslav Fighter Colours. After that, we'll see, the library-hold fairy has just come up with A Desolation Called Peace for me, which I know I won't get a renewal on but which I'm not yet in the right frame of mind to read.

Before reading Martine I'm going to knock off Westmoreland's War first.

Still reading The Trials of Koli, Sinners and Saints, and Moonflower Murders.

I'm continuing the Dark Tower series with Song of Susannah by Stephen King. It's nice to be back with everyone again!

Finished listening to the marvelous The Sea, The Sea.

Next up for listening is a novella by Denis Johnson, Train Dreams.

starting this audiobook via hoopla ~

Tell No Lies: A Novel (A Quinn & Costa Thriller, 2)
by Allison Brennan

I finished Anxious People, a story about the anxieties, and motivating past that plague us all, which we find so hard to communicate to others, all done with a bit of humor and suspense . The coincidences may be more than believable but the story's message doesn't suffer for it.

Finished Sinners and Saints by Jennifer Roberson. Comfort read.

Added The All-Girl Filling Station's Last Reunion by Fannie Flagg to my rotation.

Well, that was fun. Just finished Match Game, by Beverly Brandt, which leans more toward screwball comedy than to romance.

Started The Play's the Thing for LTER, which is apparently going to be light-hearted time-travel. Good. I don't need anything difficult at this point!

>8 seitherin: And thanks, seitherin -- I just put The All-Girl Filling Station's Last Reunion on my TBR list!

The Johnstown Flood
David McCullough
5/5 stars
This is the fascinating look at a flood that devastated Johnstown, Pennsylvania in 1889. Johnstown was a small town with mostly workers that worked at the coal/steel plants. It also was the site of a resort that had many famous industry members including Andrew Melon and Andrew Carnegie. Unfortunately, the resort had a dam and that dam was not well maintained and on May 31, 1889 it burst open killing thousands and opening up an investigation into what happened and who was responsible. McCullough does wonderful job relaying the story of the people of the area and what happened after the tragedy.

This week I
1) listened to an audiobook: Monster by Steve Jackson. - extremely good.
2) read two books
Woman Last Seen in her Thirties by Camille Pagan - easy reading, a lot deeper and more intelligent than the title suggests.
The Feather Thief by Kirk Wallace Johnson - fascinating tale about a heist of historic feathers from an English museum, perpetrated by a young man wanting to make the perfect fishing flies.

Don't know exactly what to read next, but probably Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler.

Finished listening to the fantastic mini-epic, Train Dreams.

Next up for listening is my first Inspector Rebus read, Knots and Crosses by Ian Rankin.

Secretariat – William Nack
4****

Subtitle: The Making of a Champion

I think everyone knows about this horse and his extraordinary Triple Crown victory. Nack followed the horse from early on and was present at the track and at the farms to observe his workouts and races. He did extensive interviews with the people involved: owner Penny Tweedy, trainer Lucien Laurin, jockey Ron Turcotte, and groom Ed Sweat, as well as the many others surrounding the horse.

I have always loved horse racing and have read many books about famous thoroughbreds, but for some reason had never gotten around to reading this one. I saw the movie adaptation and it was fantastic, but the book is much more detailed, and paints a slightly less favorable picture of Penny Tweedy.

This starts slowly, going back generations to expound on the history of the people and the horses that ultimately led to this one spectacular animal and his human team. But once he begins racing, the book really takes off. I remember watching those races. My husband was at Belmont for the final leg of the Triple Crown and saw that extraordinary performance in person. Nack makes the telling of the races almost as nail-bitingly exciting as they were to watch.

The book was originally published in 1988. The 2010 edition I read included a new forward that spoke about the movie, as well as additional notes and updates on the horse’s death in 1989 and his legacy as a sire of broodmares.

I’ve finished my reread of Beloved and was once again absolutely blown away by the emotional power of Morrison’s writing. I’m close to halfway through The Scapegoat and have almost finished Barbara Pym’s Less than Angels. I’ll be picking up Pym’s No Fond Return of Love next and then Ishiguro’s The Buried Giant.

My wife and I just got back from an 8-day van camping trip to the area near Sequoia National Forest (southern California). I was about a quarter of the way through Sgt. Mickey and General Ike, Michael McKeogh's memoir of his time spent as Dwight Eisenhower's orderly before and during WW2. A day into our trip, I realized I'd left the book at home. So then I started Rashomon Gate, the second book in I.J. Parker's Sugawara Akitada Mysteries series about a crime solving lower rung nobleman in 11th century Japan. I got almost halfway through that book during the trip, and was enjoying it, but then we got home and waiting for me at the post office was this month's book group book, The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race by Walter Isaacson. 500 pages! And how long do I have to read it? Until this coming Sunday. So now I've set Akitada aside as well and started the Isaacson, which I have to say, Introduction and 30 pages in, seems fascinating and very well written (I've not read any of Isaacson's other works). Anyway, wish me luck!

15> Good luck, indeed! I'm mostly a monogamous reader, but understand how circumstances can lead one to having several on the go at once!

In fact, I finished two books today -- The Play's the Thing, a fantasy time-travel book that was an LTER, and The Odds, by Stewart O'Nan, who just keeps knocking them out of the park for me.

Next up is Abbi Waxman's I Was Told It Would Get Easier, to be followed by the next LTER book, Whitecaps on the Lake

Started this OverDrive audiobook ~

California Gold: A Novel
by John Jakes
(30-hr saga)

I just finished The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend by Katarina Bivald. I really enjoyed the book...liked the characters, the situations and settings, and definitely the ending. However, when I read reviews from other people, many hated the book. Many gave it one star whereas I gave it four (and maybe even five). I love the idea of this book store, this thoughtful but lonely girl from another country, a town who rallies around....I found the characters, setting and situations interesting and entertaining.

>18 lamplight: - I gave The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend a C+, but it's been about 5 years since I read it, didn't do a full review, and can't remember at this point why I didn't rate it higher. I took a look at some of the LT reviews, and think fyrefly98 was right on -- "one of those books for people who love books that always feel a little bit like they're pandering ... (Hey, you like reading? Here's a book all about how wonderful reading is! You should read it!)".

Yeah. As if that was all it takes to satisfy us. I recall it as being a bit simplistic. Having lived most of my life in various small towns with struggling small-town business districts, I know it's not simple to revive a dying village with spunk and positive thinking. Still, there are worse books to spend a few days with.

Just finished I Was Told It Would Get Easier, and enjoyed it. As the survivor of a rocky mother-daughter relationship, I could totally identify with Jessica, who wants only that her 16-year-old daughter be happy, but who wants her to be happy ***the way Jessica thinks she should be happy***. Trust me, that's a recipe for lots of loud "discussions", slammed doors, and shots straight to the heart.

Waxman keeps it real but never dreary, and by the end you suspect everyone is going to survive Emily's adolescence just fine.

Just finshed listening to My Lover's Lover.

Next up for listening is #16 in the Maisie Dobbs series, The Consequences of Fear by Jacqueline Winspear.

The new thread is up over here.