Spinoff from wrkbrk's thread for kids,...let's have one for adults!
I'm in a serious reading slump. What good books have you read lately?
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Becoming - Michelle Obama
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I’ve really been loving Louise Penny’s Inspector Gamache series. Mysteries aren’t usually my cup of tea, but these are excellent.
Similarly, I never read romance novels, but Richard Armitage is one of my favorite actors and I couldn’t pass up Wanderlust because of his narration. That’s not just romance, it’s erotica. But it was actually quite fun to listen to.
I just began re-reading Watership Down. It’s probably in my top 5 all time favorite books.
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@ChitownRo: I just read it too! So good!
Killing Commendatore, the latest Haruki Murakami. I loved it. If you’ve never read Murakami, I highly recommend Kafka on the Shore, it’s one of my very favorite books.
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@ChitownRo: Yes! Would love to discuss it. I’m almost finished and so inspired by what I’ve read.
I recently read Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine and liked it.
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I also really loved Becoming.
I just finished The Great Alone, by Kristen Hannah, and loved it. I keep remembering that I’m finished and being disappointed that there isn’t more to read.
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Exit West by Mohsin Hamid is my recent favorite. It is beautifully written and deals with the immigrant experience in a really fresh way. Plus it’s a quick read, which feels like the only kind of read I have time for.
I would also second @lamariniere:’s recommendation of the new (or any) Murakami. The Wind Up Bird Chronicle is my personal favorite, but you really can’t go wrong. He has such a unique and colorful style. If you’re not already in the Murakami cult and you want to test the waters before committing to a full 400 page novel, The Strange Library is a novella that is a little creepier than most of his work, but would give you a window into his style.
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I’m maybe a little late to the game but I just finished The Hate U Give. Really good.
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Another Becoming fan on the list, I got a few laughs out of it
Other books include
Between Shades of Grey by Ruta Sepetys (nothing to do with the 50 shades of grey series) about a teenage girl who is rounded up by Stalin's men and sent to a gulag in Siberia due to her father's political activities
Code Girls: The Untold Story of American Women Code Breakers in WWII by Liza Mundy
I also really enjoyed the Throne of Glass series and the Court of War and Roses series both by Sarah J Maas.
My adult tastes lean historical fiction and memoirs my YA taste leans fantasy/dystopia for a nice well rounded reading list. -
A Man Called Ove
Circe (by Madeline Miller)
The Keeper of Lost Things -
Lethal White, the latest in the Cormoran Strike series by Robert Galbraith (JK Rowling). Great books
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Agree with Becoming - I am almost finished with it and it is really wonderful.
Recently I have also liked:
Educated
Little Fires Everywhere
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine
Station ElevenI found the new Liane Moriarty book (Nine Perfect Strangers) to be a bit disappointing, but still pretty entertaining.
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My recent reads, all really good.
City of Mirrors is the 3rd book in the Passage Trilogy (which I haven’t finished yet).
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@jape14: another vote for Station Eleven! It’s not often that a book grabs me and I read 50 pages at a time without realizing it but this one has stuck with me for a couple months now.
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@jape14: Good to know about the new Liane Moriarty! I also just finished Little Fires Everywhere and really enjoyed it.
Station Eleven is being added to my list!
@josina: I loved The Passage trilogy! Have you seen the show on FOX? It looks SO SO different from the books, but I'll probably give it a try.
@winter_wonder: Besides the ones mentioned above, I also just finished Fates and Furies - which was really good.
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I just finished reading Dopesick about the opioid epidemic in the US - it was really eye opening, a great read.
Before that I read The Great Alone and recommend it too. -
I recently dove into urban fantasy for the first time.
The Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews is really fun, full of action, suspense, magic, mythology all set in Atlanta, Georgia. Kate's also just a fun character. Plus, it is done at 10 books! And I personally think it had a great ending.
I also loved Patricia Brigg's Mercy Thompson series. It isn't done yet, but I'm eagerly awaiting the next one. Traditional vampires, werewolves, fae all living in plain sight in modern-day Washington state.
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@winter_wonder: Hi! Let me add my 2 cents since you all helped me SO much on my kids' thread!
The best books I have read BY FAR in the last few years are:
When Breath Becomes Air
Being Mortal
Proof of Heaven
(Sense a theme?! IDK why haha)
and finally -
The Idle ParentI have "kono'd" everything in my house but kept these to read again....
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@hellobeeboston: I have not seen the series yet but will have to check it out once I'm finished!
Its really hard to pick a favorite from the ones I posted but I loved What Alice Forgot enough to share it. It's so relatable, whether you're a wife, mom, pregnant, struggling to become pregnant, best friend - it made me really want to look at where I was 10 years ago and if I would still be happy with where I am today.
Also loved the twist in The Wife Between Us. Thought I had it all figured out and then Bam, nope.
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@josina: I loved What Alice Forgot too. I first read it while extremely mad at DH (with good reason), and it made me stop and rethink my anger and my approach to our disagreement a little. Re-read it recently, and enjoyed it just as much because now I was focusing more on all the other stories in the book.
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Im reading the woman in the window right now and it’s great.
Then she was gone
Educated
This is how it always is (oh my gosh I loved this)Anything Liane Moriarty
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It’s been awhile since I read it but Heavier then Heaven about Kurt Cobain. If you can get past the terrible editing and writing, Cracked Not Broken about a Golden Gate Bridge jumping survivor.
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@winter_wonder: ancillary justice by Anne Lechie
It’s science fiction and the first of a trilogy
Also I’m reading “we were 8 years in power” by ta-nehesi Coates and it’s fantastic so far
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@lamariniere: oooh I wanna read the new murakami!
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@Mrs. Champagne: I loooooved This Is How It Always Is!
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@Silva: yes! I am obsessed with that series! I cannot wait for the next one, and I hope she doesn’t keep us waiting for years.
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@lamariniere: I knowwww. I’m already in withdrawal. I read somewhere that she has plans for 10 more! Have you read tana French?
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@Silva: 10! Wow. I really hope the next one picks up on the same day where Lethal White left off, I’m dying to know what’s gonna happen with the plot! I haven’t read Tana French. What should I start with?
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@lamariniere: there are 6 books in the Dublin Murder Squad series- I think the first one is called In the Woods. I tore through them all, there are definitely ones I liked more than others
Jane Harper is another great author to check out if you like what I snobbily call “literary mystery/thriller”
(well written, psychologically/character driven)
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@wrkbrk: I LOVED ‘when breath becomes air’. So good. You might also like ‘Every patient tells a story’ about weird medical diagnoses. There’s a column in the NYT called Diagnosis written by the same author I believe. Being Mortal is also on my list! Love medical memoir type books!
@lamariniere: @Silva: I really want to get into this series but I’ve had trouble with the first bit of ‘Cuckoos Calling’...does it get better if I stick with it?! I’ve checked it out of the library twice now and couldn’t get much past when he grabs her boob to stop her falling down the stairs ha it seemed kinda cheesy? But I hear everyone loving the books so much!
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@muffinsmuffins: Checking it out right now! Doubly so because the name is a play on a Rod Stewart song
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I think my three favorites I read last year were The Heart’s Invisible Furies, A Prayer for Owen Meany and Only Child.
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@ChitownRo: yes! I'm about 2/3 of the way through, and it's so good. Though, I have to say, depending on your politics, also very depressing because she and their whole family are such a stark contrast to the horrible-ness currently in the white house.
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@muffinsmuffins: the medical book sounds interesting. I love the diagnosis column.
I recently read Simon Versus the Homosapien Agenda. It was a really good easy read. I also highly recommend The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. It's one of those books that I stayed up way too late to finish reading. -
@muffinsmuffins: I think you have to get into them a bit. I keep coming back for the 2 main characters and they get better and you learn more about them with every book. I can’t wait to see what happens next.
@wrkbrk: I always consider When Breath Becomes Air, and I first heard about it on Cup of Joe a few years ago, but I’m afraid it will be too depressing. Thoughts?
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@Chuckles: If you liked Simon you should try Leah on the Offbeat - it’s the same characters.
@lamariniere: It was sad, but not depressing, if that makes sense? It was beautiful and affirming but not grim.
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@lamariniere: It’s not depressing per se. It’s heavy. But so beautiful. I read it then started following their story - the wife does TED talks now. I really think it’s worth it.
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Pachinko
I Should Have Honor
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine
All You Can Ever Know
Everything I Never Told You -
So many great options to add to my list. Thanks, guys!
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@Silva: I finally got around to trying Tana French and I tore through the first 2 books in about 5 days! I’m definitely going to continue the series. It was a great recommendation!
(well written, psychologically/character driven)
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