Very close to perfection. The best book I‘ve read in a couple of years. Transportive.

Page-turner but really graphic and I had to skim a lot of the violence. Also somewhat predictable. But it did keep me reading and I liked the main character.

Great read! It might be my imagination but Veronica played a little softer In This one....and it was a good turn by Raybourn I thought. Only quibble is I wish there were more scenes with just the two of them. Love stoker and Veronica. Now how long do I have to wait before the next book?

This book is a legacy of bravery to the author‘s children. There is a lot of anger here—-and why not? Maybe too angry for me... but this was Julie‘s truth and kudos to her for her expression. Some profound moments amid all of this in her search to tell her story and find meaning.

How did other people like this book? It was a tad repetitive but honest inward look. And yet, he seems pretty confident he‘ll reach 230. I kinda think he‘s got some rose colored glasses on there.

1. 43 F
2. David Sedaris
3. Sudoko

@heidisreads #toreadtuesday

I liked this but I am a slow reader, and there were too many characters that were not distinct enough for me to keep track of. Beautiful descriptive prose, and an interesting story. It dragged a little for me in the middle.

Part history, part science. Readable and full of relatable anecdotes. The future in cancer care is exciting!

Wonderfully different.

A little different spin on the “road trip as metaphor” tale.

1. A tie between this one and “The Kite Runner”
2. Buy
3. I ambien texted a co-worker late at night way past her bedtime and didn‘t remember AT ALL
4. An old Victoria‘s Secret lotion called “gardenia” that I wore in high school. Smelling anything similar really takes me back. Lots of fond memories :)
5. Gray Becoming
#friyayintro

I liked this novel well enough, although subtlety was not its strong suit. The first half was a little dull but the second half was pretty exciting and I enjoyed the plot twist. My first by this author. Not as lyrical as “warlight” but I found the main character rather entertaining.

Quick, riveting read. Solidly written. Recommend!

Lovely narrative of a Jesuit priest who works with gang members in LA. For me, best read in increments, almost like a devotional. Inspirational way to start my day—I‘m on to his next book.

Meh. I guess it‘s a page turner and lush descriptions of the marsh abound....but the dialogue, where it is, and even inner voice of kya is so cliche and cheesy I just couldn‘t get past it. And the poems. Um, just no. Interesting denouement tho makes the book not exactly a “pan”.

Dreamlike, intricate story. A man attempts to piece together his life immediately after World War II and what happened to all the characters. There‘s a lot going on here. Beautiful story with lots of mystery. I loved it.

Finally finished this one. A tour-de-force which took like 6 weeks at least to get through. I enjoyed it but definitely could have used a little editing. And the kindle version has the family tree in the back which would have been nice to have throughout the book. I didn‘t even know it was there until I was finished. Sooooo many characters in this one.

Not the best thing I‘ve read lately....but it moves. Lots of loose ends, if you don‘t mind that. A bit out of the ordinary if you‘re in the mood for something different. I wasn‘t a real fan of the German trio and their storyline kind of bogged down the book for me.

Interesting read, more so if you have children, but some keen insights to adult deep reading as well. Only touches on reading for pleasure but raised some good questions on the importance of reading to our democratic ideals. Did not convince me to give up reading on my kindle, but I‘m definitely more self aware after reading this.

Not sure why I have four books going at the moment. Three are library books and not sure I will get them finished. Reader problems!

I think it is an injustice to keep describing this book as a new version of “Antigone”; that intimidated me at first from picking this up. I can‘t describe what this book did to my heart. Absolutely loved it.

I really didn‘t love this and I‘m not convinced the author has truly extricated herself from this dysfunctional family. That she did so at all is amazing considering her complete submersion in her fathers delusions and no exposure to the outside world. But she kept going back there and her life and time in Idaho is very hard to read. Her time in college is really interesting tho so I waded through the rest.

I almost bailed after the threesome chapter—-not because I was offended but because I could not relate. But I kept with it and glad I did. A hodgepodge of anecdotes and tidbits which made me nod and laugh. Some chapters were misses but I mostly was entertained and even learned a little.

Started this last night. Can someone assure me I‘m not just re-reading The Glass Castle?

One of the most beautiful books I have ever read.

This book was actually very clever. The gimmick wore a little thin but overall entertaining.

Dayum. Welllllll....as a twisty compulsively readable page-turner, this novel works. I didn‘t guess the ending. HOWEVER. Serious downgrading for the oversexualizing of 13 year olds. I realize Flynn is not condoning this but OMG enough was enough. Definitely cut into my enjoyment of the book.

Book A!

Selin is the most self-conscious college student I‘ve come across in literature. Some of the email exchanges between her and Ivan went over my head...but otherwise liked this read. Her adventure in Hungary is particularly entertaining and I laughed out loud several times. Rozsa was a great, well-drawn character.

Excellent read. Echoes of “The Bright Hour” and even “When Breath Becomes Air”. The author is living with stage IV cancer and her insights are poignant and funny. A Christian perspective, but not preachy. For anyone, but especially people with loved ones with cancer.

Loved this little gem of a book. Recommend for fans of News of the World.

So I‘m about 50% through this. I just want to know has anyone finished this, and is it meant to be allegorical? I really can‘t figure it out. Do people really talk like this—like Selin and Ivan?

This book was a little different than the first three books in the series. A nice departure, but still with some familiar characters.

As others have said, a love letter to libraries. Ali Smith‘s writing I do not always find accessible. But there are gems in this book, enough to make it worthwhile.

Elsewhere there are no borders. Elsewhere nobody is a refugee or an asylum seeker whose worth can be decided about by a government....elsewhere poems cancel imprisonment. Elsewhere we do time differently.

One of these times Ruth Ware is going to hit it out of the park. This is not one of those times. This story is a pick because the mystery kept me guessing with little clues here and there and I really enjoyed the buildup. But the denouement was a huge miss. The way everything was revealed to the MC made no sense and one huge inconsistency. As a reader it was really confusing so I‘m surprised no editor picked up on it. But a very enjoyable read.

Touching and funny.

Sedaris is the closest thing to a sure bet. Always entertaining, always tender talking about his family. They are a riot and I want to be a sedaris!

Not a novel in the conventional sense—these are short stories all with a common character Olive Kitteridge. Many slices of life in this book. I enjoyed her imperfect character immensely. The stories were somewhat depressing, realistic, but always with a shimmer of hope. If you haven‘t tried Elizabeth Strout, try this or MY Name is Lucy Barton. That book shattered me with its spare prose.

A mystery, translated from the German, set in Sicily. One of those books where the setting‘s culture, architecture, and topography are all characters. Quirky, charming.

Truth!

Introvert
Sleep!
Movie
Cook
When I don‘t know what to read a good mystery usually pulls me out of a slump :)

The is extraordinary. Can‘t finish right now because it‘s due back at the library and there are a million holds. Fairly easy to follow but very dense subject matter and I am not a fast reader. It‘s mind blowing.

What to read next. Not much love (or hate) for either of these reads on Litsy.

Nothing wrong with this book. It‘s a nice story that‘s unpredictable and fairly interesting. Good palate cleanser. Between a so-so and a pick.

I really savored this book, and like A Gentleman in Moscow, I didn‘t want it to end. So engrossing. I can honestly say I will read anything Towles writes. Never sentimental, always engaging. A joy to read.

Wow! So much here to love. Not everything hit it out of the park, but when it worked it really worked. Smith is brutally honest here, and so erudite sometimes hard to follow. I read this over a period of about three months and learned a lot about artists and authors and architects and comedy. Don‘t skip the Justin Beiber essay...very enlightening and profound. So many truths I recognized in these essays.

Baroque boredom

This was good! At times I thought it was a little too much magical thinking for me—but the denouement was extremely satisfying. Not so much the murder mystery but the mystery surrounding the detectives, which has been a thread throughout the series.