So... whatcha reading?

amother

Slategray

Tue, Apr 09 2019, 9:59 pm

2 more non fiction/memoirs

The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls. A girl growing up in a dysfunctional home. It"s also an incredible movie included with Amazon prime.

Not Without My Daughter by Betty Mahmoody. An American woman marries an Iranian man who has lived in the USA for 20 years. He was a medical doctor. In 1984 she travels with him and their 5 year old daughter to visit his family in Iran. He hides their passports and forces her to stay there. She is trapped in an oppressed country at war where women have no rights and works to find an escape route for herself and her daughter. It's an amazing book. I was going to suggest it for the next imamother book club.

Laiya

Wed, May 22 2019, 10:47 am

Bumping this again. Any suggestions for good reading over a 3 day y"t, preferably non-fiction?

amother [ Apricot ] wrote:

More non -fiction--
The Arrogant Years by Lucette Lagnado
Three Minutes in Poland (forgot the author)
Both are Jewish themed.

Thanks for these suggestions. Hard reading, but--wow.

Scotty

Thu, May 23 2019, 12:02 pm

Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall and Bringing Up The Bodies (not read-for-hours material, but lush and magnificent Booker Prize masterpieces)

Still gonna hold out on Going Postal by Terry Pratchett for most perfect book ever written (fiction)

FranticFrummie

Thu, May 23 2019, 12:08 pm

I'm reading the Sally Lockheart Mystery series by Phillip Pullman.

I am loving the stories. They are set in Victorian England, and are very clean. No zex, no swearing. There is a bit of description of the hero fighting with the villain, but the mild violence serves the plot, and is not gratuitous.

What is extra fun, is that Pullman weaves a lot of history into his stories, mentioning news headlines, new inventions, famous people, and other things that the characters might encounter along the way.

While clean, the stories are in no way childish. The mysteries are page turning, and don't insult the reader's intelligence.

BatyaEsther

Thu, May 23 2019, 12:20 pm

Just starting (page 18) The Song of the Jade Lilly by Kristy Manning .
Just finisher the Alice Network and before that was Beneath a Scarlet Sky.

Clearly a have a very distinct genre of literature.

gingertop

Thu, May 23 2019, 1:16 pm

Educated by Tara Westover
Memoir of a Mormon girl with a bipolar, conspiracy theorist father.

Accident by Danielle Steele
Touching story and eminently forgettable (I decided to read some Danielle Steele after that Glamour profile)
and
Catch 67 (in Hebrew) by Micha Goodman

Also rereading some of my Jewish favorites including Guardian of Jerusalem, Scent of Snowflowers, The Unconquerable Spirit.. I went to the bookstore after the Jewish favorites thread. Spent nearly 1000 shekels and I'm just started Smile

tigerwife

Thu, May 23 2019, 2:02 pm

Scotty wrote:

I’m in middle of Going Postal as per your recommendation and really loving it!

PinkFridge

Thu, May 23 2019, 3:29 pm

Scotty wrote:

Coming from you, these are major endorsements. Just put them on my hold list. (I have a line of books already coming in, staggered, from the local library.) Thanks!

PinkFridge

Thu, May 23 2019, 3:35 pm

Laiya wrote:

Bumping this again. Any suggestions for good reading over a 3 day y"t, preferably non-fiction?

Thanks for these suggestions. Hard reading, but--wow.

I can't remember the first few pages, but do you want Judaica? Are you up on biographies? There are some marvelous ones.

imasinger

Thu, May 23 2019, 9:00 pm

Maybe You Should Talk to Someone; A Therapist, Her therapist, and Our Lives Revealed, by Lori Gottlieb.

An excellent read.

Laiya

Thu, May 23 2019, 9:10 pm

PinkFridge wrote:

I can't remember the first few pages, but do you want Judaica? Are you up on biographies? There are some marvelous ones.

Sure, any non-fiction! I'm going to read through the suggestions in this thread again.

youngishbear

Thu, May 23 2019, 9:15 pm

Scotty wrote:

Loved Wolf Hall, but it was not light reading. Also, knowing very little about British history when I started, I came across some relevant historical info elsewhere and it felt like a spoiler. LOL

I'm working my way through Discworld. I wish my library had all the books in the right order available when I need it. Sigh.

youngishbear

Thu, May 23 2019, 9:23 pm

What I'm actually reading now is London, by Edward Rutherford. I think someone on here suggested it. It's a novel about the city of London. I'm enjoying the journey through the history of a city I've always been fascinated by.

I also began reading the Arthurian stories, trying to compare the different versions of the legend as far back in literary history as I can. For now, that's The Once and Future King by T.H. White and Le Morte D'Arthur by Thomas Malory. If anyone can help me on this quest, I'd be glad to take suggestions.

penguin

Thu, May 23 2019, 9:36 pm

Quote:

I also began reading the Arthurian stories, trying to compare the different versions of the legend as far back in literary history as I can. For now, that's The Once and Future King by T.H. White and Le Morte D'Arthur by Thomas Malory. If anyone can help me on this quest, I'd be glad to take suggestions.

Mary Stewart. I don't know if libraries still carry her books, I get mine on ebay.

youngishbear

Thu, May 23 2019, 9:47 pm

penguin wrote:

Quote:

Mary Stewart. I don't know if libraries still carry her books, I get mine on ebay.

My library actually has the Merlin trilogy in their system. Thanks Smile

amother

Apricot

Thu, May 23 2019, 9:53 pm

Most of Mary Stewart's books have been reprinted recently. Though I prefer her thrillers to the Merlin series....
Loved The Once and Future King when I read it years ago. If you like Arthurian mythology, you might like The Dark is Rising young adult series by Susan Cooper. The first book was just meh, but she said she wrote it on a whim and never thought it would actually be published. The story line really takes off in the second book. Those books are definitely still in print, I think one won a Newbery medal and one was a Newbery honor book.

tigerwife

Thu, May 23 2019, 10:29 pm

youngishbear wrote:

Gerald Morris’s books (Squire’s Tale series) are a light and very funny read. They are a compilation of many Arthurian tales, mainly told through the viewpoints of his fictional characters.