Read several exceptional books recently Archived Message
Posted by DT on March 11, 2024, 16:23:18, in reply to "Been a while since we had a book thread - The Secret Hours by Mick Herron"
The House on Via Gemini is a book by Italian writer Domenico Starnone. Really powerful and compelling story of his childhood, focused on the dominating and violent but also magnetic character of his father. Was filed in with fiction at my library, so I was 2/3 of the way through before I realized it was a memoir and not a first person novel, which threw me for a loop. The father character didn’t seem like a real person, but maybe some of that was because the story was told through a boy’s eyes? Not sure. A really good book, though, although not a comforting read. Won the Strega prize, Italy’s top literary honor. The Years is a major work mixing history and memoir by French nobelist Ernaux. Mostly told in the collective voice with interludes focusing on her personal experience from her birth in 1941 through to 2010 or so. Really great work, and she does an excellent job maintaining distance and objectivity about her generation while still telling her/their story with sympathy. Doubles as an insightful work about postwar European society. And Klan war, a nonfiction book about the struggle between the federal government and the Klan during Grant’s presidency. I only knew the really brief HS thumbnail version of reconstruction, and had no idea how violent it was. The South basically engaged in a wide scale terrorist insurgency that was ultimately successful at reimposing white supremacy for another 80 years after the North grew tired of the continuing fight. Previous Message Not a Slough House novel, but gives backstory on some Slough House characters. Obviously not the place to start if you haven't read Herron. The latest entry in the Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells, System Collapse. It's exactly what you would expect, recommended for any sci-fi fans. The End of the Wasp Season by Denise Mina. police procedural set in Glasgow, one of a series. Mina is an excellent writer, I think these are among the best in the genre. I also have been rereading the original Uplift trilogy by David Brin, still find them enjoyable.
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Message Thread:
- Been a while since we had a book thread - The Secret Hours by Mick Herron - larue33 March 11, 2024, 15:51:54
- Troubled by Rob Henderson is a solid memoir* - Potomac March 12, 2024, 12:45:09
- Loved Cloud Cuckoo Land. Better than his previous, which won the Pulitzer, I think.* - cpsteine March 12, 2024, 10:32:25
- Recently read Killers of the Flower Moon, in preparation for seeing the movie - theBard March 12, 2024, 7:52:19
- Way Overdue for me; Breakfast of Champions - timmer March 12, 2024, 5:37:33
- The Road Home by Jim Harrison. Like it a lot so far.....100 pages in to it* - MtHoodIllini March 11, 2024, 19:30:24
- Elsa Morante’s Lies and Sorcery, THANK YOU DT* - Jackie March 11, 2024, 17:08:23
- About 200pp into Burner, one of the more recent Gray Man novels* - bjl63 March 11, 2024, 16:49:25
- I recently re-read Startide Rising. I thought the writing was kind of painful* - gvibes March 11, 2024, 16:46:03
- Read several exceptional books recently - DT March 11, 2024, 16:23:18
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