What are you reading in 2025?

Currently reading the Home front Sleuths series by Anna Elliott and Charles Veley, set in a quaint English village in 1940. Evelyn Harris is having a bad time even by London in during the blitz standard. Her RAF pilot husband of a few months is killed in action, her beloved nana dies, and she loses her job as an Air Raid Warden when she's badly injured when her apartment is bombed with her still in it. She inherited a tea shop from her nana, and moves to the village of Cofton Green with a change of clothing and a vague idea of what happens next.

Her return becomes major news in the village with some welcoming her with open arms and remembering her last visit in 1913, to the village constable who thinks she a German spy. That is until the next morning when the Air Raid Warden, a not very popular lifelong resident, is found murdered in the Church ground.

Members of the village team up to help her solve mysteries

It's a fun cosy read, mostly stand alone with a longer arc that builds in later books. Just started book 6 of 7.

1929 by Andrew Ross Sorkin about the Wall Street Crash. He also wrote Too Big Too Fail about the Great Recession.

A Walk in the Park by Kevin Fedarko. A memoir by the author of his grueling journey with a friend through the Grand Canyon. Really interesting so far.

My October reading list:

• All the Broken Places by John Boyne - this was actually quite good, although perhaps not a page-turner. I would recommend reading The Boy in the Striped Pajamas first, since this is a sequel, and I think the reader would lose some context if not familiar with the events in the first novel. Both books are about Nazi Germany in WW2, but the sequel focuses on a minor character from the first book and her life after the war, with themes of guilt, culpability, atonement, forgiveness and redemption.
• Lula Dean's Little Library of Banned Books by Kirsten Miller - this was a good read, addressing some heavy subjects in a very approachable way leavened with humor.
• Nature's Best Hope by Douglas Tallamy (NF) - an excellent book that addresses the current threats to the natural world, and how we can all play our own small part in improving the situation. "Homegrown National Park" is his vision of a solution, if each of us did what we could to support nature in our own backyards or even balconies or window boxes.
• The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters (recommended by Kay) - this was a good read about a native American child kidnapped and adopted by a white family. It was narrated by her brother near the end of his life as he is dying of cancer. The whole time I was reading it, I could not help but think of how much the narrator reminded me of TMS, having his affairs in order and appearing to face death with calm acceptance.
• A Calamity of Souls by David Baldacci - definitely a page-turner, this was the story of an innocent black man being framed for the murders of a elderly white couple in Virginia in the sixties. The main character is the small-town southern lawyer that defends him, and his quest for justice. It reminded me of Just Mercy and The Sun Does Shine, although this one was fiction.

My internet was down for a day so I had to read a book.

Searching for Sylvie Lee is by Jean Kwok who wrote Girl in translation, the latter a solid novel of an immigrant’s experience in the U.S.

But Searching for Sylvie Lee just made me mad. It was great at telling about various experiences of the characters in settling in New York and Amsterdam, but it descended into melodrama with character interactions.

okay---i am following the Royals. Not the KC ball club, but the ones over in England. Yup. It's like a tv series, to an extent. But yeah---i'd liketa read a book that gives an overview of the monarchy, to put things in perspective. So anyway---i did not know that QE2 had four offspring. I figured just the two that made all the tabloids. Makes me feel ignorant, which I'm not. But anyway---any book suggestions?

okay----here's a guy who wrote a famous play, called "Death of a Salesesman".(see photo) It was also made into a movie. The guy married a mooo-vveeeee star---blond, too. But, I seriously doubt if he could get a job as a lirrrraraaaian; he only had a BA in journalism or whatever from University of Michigan. Yup.Attachment 6596

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Originally Posted by littlebittybobby

okay---i am following the Royals. Not the KC ball club, but the ones over in England. Yup. It's like a tv series, to an extent. But yeah---i'd liketa read a book that gives an overview of the monarchy, to put things in perspective. So anyway---i did not know that QE2 had four offspring. I figured just the two that made all the tabloids. Makes me feel ignorant, which I'm not. But anyway---any book suggestions?

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Bobby, I am somewhat into the current British royal family and their woes. The formerly-known-as-Prince Andrew debacle is quite bad for them.

You only know about Queen Elizabeth's two children, the King and Andrew, because they are the ones making the news.

The Princess Royal, Anne, is a very hard working woman who completes 500 engagements a year. She is the daughter of Queen Elizabeth. She is the one the British citizens have the most quiet respect for, after the Queen. Anne pretty much stays out of the tabloids; her own children have refused the royal titles they are entitled to, Prince and Princess.

The Queen's youngest son, Edward, is solidly married with children and has never ruffled feathers of society. He and his wife also quietly do the work of royals which is representing the crown by making many public appearances opening hospitals, leading charities, that sort of thing.

There are a bazillion books about them so I don't know of just one to recommend. I am currently reading the newly released biography of Andrew and his former wife Sarah Ferguson called Entitled: the rise and fall of the House of York by Andrew Lownie.

but here is a list of books to consider

.https://www.townandcountrymag.com/le...hoCbhEQAvD_BwE

The Hunter by Tana French. A murder mystery set in Ireland. Good so far. I'm knocking off a chapter occasionally in the book Insect Epiphany, which is fascinating. It is mostly about how humans have used insects to produce some of our consumer goods through history. The chapter on silk was interesting. Napoleon had a pair of socks made from spider's silk. I'm on the chapter on color now. Cochineal bugs.

Rogar: I liked The Hunter. I think French's work really stands out in the mystery genre as being of higher literary quality than most.

The insect book sounds interesting, but I'm currently at my limit with non-fiction.

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Originally Posted by iris lilies

Bobby, I am somewhat into the current British royal family and their woes. The formerly-known-as-Prince Andrew debacle is quite bad for them.

You only know about Queen Elizabeth's two children, the King and Andrew, because they are the ones making the news.

The Princess Royal, Anne, is a very hard working woman who completes 500 engagements a year. She is the daughter of Queen Elizabeth. She is the one the British citizens have the most quiet respect for, after the Queen. Anne pretty much stays out of the tabloids; her own children have refused the royal titles they are entitled to, Prince and Princess.

The Queen's youngest son, Edward, is solidly married with children and has never ruffled feathers of society. He and his wife also quietly do the work of royals which is representing the crown by making many public appearances opening hospitals, leading charities, that sort of thing.

There are a bazillion books about them so I don't know of just one to recommend. I am currently reading the newly released biography of Andrew and his former wife Sarah Ferguson called Entitled: the rise and fall of the House of York by Andrew Lownie.

but here is a list of books to consider

.https://www.townandcountrymag.com/le...hoCbhEQAvD_BwE

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I have a free trial of Kindle Unlimited and I read the Entitled book, or parts of it, anyway. I always knew Randy Andy was weird, but the stuffed animal thing?

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Originally Posted by Tradd

I have a free trial of Kindle Unlimited and I read the Entitled book, or parts of it, anyway. I always knew Randy Andy was weird, but the stuffed animal thing?

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Right, the teddy bear stuff is ridiculous.* i had heard about it years ago. One of his security officers, now retired, spilled the beans on several of Andy’s stupider habits. Mainly that guy was furious that Andy kept subverting security measures and putting everyone in the palace grounds at risk because he would insist on letting unknown people through Palace gates.

*Teddy Bears: Andrew has 50 teddy bears on his bed that MUST be placed in specific positions each morning when the housemaids make his bed. There is a chart that shows where each bear goes on the bed.

The teddy bear thing is weirder than weird! And to think that DH is sometimes annoyed by my decorative pillows - of which I have very few, I might add!

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Originally Posted by Tradd

I have a free trial of Kindle Unlimited and I read the Entitled book, or parts of it, anyway. I always knew Randy Andy was weird, but the stuffed animal thing?

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the British people are as a whole, not sympathetic as to what happens to Andrew and his former wife, Sarah Ferguson.But they ARE extremely concerned about what happens to the corgis, the queen’s two corgi dogs.

the story put out on media is that Queen Elizabeth did not want more corgis after her last one died because she knew she was elderly and wouldn’t live a long time, and she would not outlive any puppies. But Sarah and Andrew got her two corgis anyway with a promise they would take the dogs when the queen expired. it has been cattily suggested that Andrew and Sarah made this move just to stay close to the queen.

When it was announced Andrew would be leaving Royal Lodge and moving to Adelaide cottage which is still on the grounds of Windsor Great Park, the Palace said tersely that the dogs would remain with family members. But now that Andrew has been banished out of London into the countryside I’ve not heard about the fate of the dogs. Sarah isn’t going with him so who gets the dogs?

I know the dogs will be fine because the British people will see to it that they are.

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Originally Posted by iris lilies

the British people are as a whole, not sympathetic as to what happens to Andrew and his former wife, Sarah Ferguson.But they ARE extremely concerned about what happens to the corgis, the queen’s two corgi dogs.

the story put out on media is that Queen Elizabeth did not want more corgis after her last one died because she knew she was elderly and wouldn’t live a long time, and she would not outlive any puppies. But Sarah and Andrew got her two corgis anyway with a promise they would take the dogs when the queen expired. it has been cattily suggested that Andrew and Sarah made this move just to stay close to the queen.

When it was announced Andrew would be leaving Royal Lodge and moving to Adelaide cottage which is still on the grounds of Windsor Great Park, the Palace said tersely that the dogs would remain with family members. But now that Andrew has been banished out of London into the countryside I’ve not heard about the fate of the dogs. Sarah isn’t going with him so who gets the dogs?

I know the dogs will be fine because the British people will see to it that they are.

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Corgis are actually my favorite breed. I was happy to hear family members will be keeping the dogs.

okay----here's a book i am NOT reading at the moment, but maybe one o' you kids could skim through it and let me know if it's any good.(see photo). But yeah---I'd hope they have detailed chapters on the destruction of not only Mary, but Rosemary, and Mary Jo and Marilyn and Martha and the Bessette sisters plus too many others to list here. Yup.Attachment 6609

Just finished Madame Fourcade's Secret War by Lynne Olson. Fourcade was a young mother of two and estranged from her husband when France was invaded by Germany. She created what became France's largest and most successful spy network, The Alliance, and like many women spies and resistance members fell into obscurity after the war. She was Germany's most wanted woman and had a huge bounty on her head. With everyone questioning her along the way because she's a woman.

Olson interview one of Fourcade's children and other primary sources in addition to researching the MI6 archives.

Granted Fourcade through her estranged husband had connections to several French generals and her sister was friends with Yvonne de Gaulle. So setting up a spy network was easier for her.

Great reading about how ordinary people served their country while under foreign occupation. Was a bit confusing at time when Olson uses MI6 agent's real names instead of their cover names at times, and MI6 gave resistance fighters a three letter and two digit code name and Fourcade gave her agents animal names.

Olson writes about ordinary people who did extraordinary things when their country, neighbors, or anyone needed them.

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Originally Posted by littlebittybobby

okay----here's a book i am NOT reading at the moment, but maybe one o' you kids could skim through it and let me know if it's any good.(see photo). But yeah---I'd hope they have detailed chapters on the destruction of not only Mary, but Rosemary, and Mary Jo and Marilyn and Martha and the Bessette sisters plus too many others to list here. Yup.Attachment 6609

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I read that hit piece book by Maureen Callahan because I enjoy dirt on the Kennedy family, they just annoy me and always have but I don’t recall the specifics of Mary Kennedy‘s problems other than she married into that family

These were my November books:

• No Two Persons by Erica Bauermeister - this was an interesting story, that was almost more like a series of stories, based on the idea that no two persons read the same book. It goes from the author writing the book, to various people who read it and how it affects them, and some of the characters circle back and become interconnected by the end.
• When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi (NF) - this was a somewhat emotionally difficult read, but very moving and well done. Paul was a young neurosurgeon who was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. He describes grappling with the diagnosis, the impact on him and his loved ones, undergoing treatment, acceptance and how he managed to live his shortened life with as much meaning as possible.
• Anxious People by Fredrik Backman - I really loved A Man Called Ove, but I didn't care for this one at all. It felt very contrived, the characters were two-dimensional, and I was relieved when I was done with it.
• A Friend Like Henry by Nuala Gardner (NF) - True story by the mother of a profoundly autistic young boy, and how the adoption of Henry the golden retriever made an amazing difference in developing his ability to interact with the world and live his best possible life.
• Notable DNF (Did Not Finish): Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig - I really wanted to like this one, but I threw in the towel at about page 260. It was a tedious philosophical discourse on the definition and nature of "quality," occasionally relieved by the story of the author's motorcycle trip with his young son.

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Originally Posted by rosarugosa

These were my November books:

• No Two Persons by Erica Bauermeister - this was an interesting story, that was almost more like a series of stories, based on the idea that no two persons read the same book. It goes from the author writing the book, to various people who read it and how it affects them, and some of the characters circle back and become interconnected by the end.
• When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi (NF) - this was a somewhat emotionally difficult read, but very moving and well done. Paul was a young neurosurgeon who was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. He describes grappling with the diagnosis, the impact on him and his loved ones, undergoing treatment, acceptance and how he managed to live his shortened life with as much meaning as possible.
• Anxious People by Fredrik Backman - I really loved A Man Called Ove, but I didn't care for this one at all. It felt very contrived, the characters were two-dimensional, and I was relieved when I was done with it.
• A Friend Like Henry by Nuala Gardner (NF) - True story by the mother of a profoundly autistic young boy, and how the adoption of Henry the golden retriever made an amazing difference in developing his ability to interact with the world and live his best possible life.
• Notable DNF (Did Not Finish): Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig - I really wanted to like this one, but I threw in the towel at about page 260. It was a tedious philosophical discourse on the definition and nature of "quality," occasionally relieved by the story of the author's motorcycle trip with his young son.

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I read When Breathe Becomes Air and it was beautiful and sad.

Art ..Morotcycles..book Is an old popular classic and I probably started it at one time over the decades, but have no memory of it. I know I didn’t read it

Yeah, I decided I'm not going to read When Breath Becomes Air.

As for Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance,, I read it years ago and loved it.

I just finished Stone Yard Devotional and I found it quirky, but beautiful. Charlotte Wood writes with incredible clarity. The quirkiness comes from the little tableaus she weaves into the plot.

Joined the local library’s new “Thriller” book club. The first book is The Housemaid by Freida McFadden. It was an easy read that kept my attention! Dec 19 it comes to the theaters. Will be interesting to see how the movie deviates from the book.

I read that one, pretty creepy, would make a good movie.

These were my December reads:

• The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver - really good story of an obsessed preacher missionary who brings his wife and daughters to Africa circa 1960, their trials and tribulations, political upheavals, transformation of relationships, etc.
• Evil Eye by Etaf Rum - somewhat similar to her first book, but I liked them both. Story of a woman who is the daughter of Palestinian refugees in the US and the cultural oppression she struggles against.
• Burn by Peter Heller - a really gripping page-turner of a book. I can't say much without spoilers, but I guess you could call it somewhat of a post-apocalyptic novel. I could not put it down!
• Snow in the Kingdom by Ed Webster (NF) - Beautifully illustrated book by a climber who attempted Everest 3 times. Amazing photography!
  Honor by Thrity Umrigar - decent read about a US based, but Indian-born woman who returns to India to cover a story about a horrible crime against a woman. There was a predictable romance, but the local color of the story made it enjoyable.

I read 61 books in 2025. My hands-down favorites:

• Such Kindness - Andre Dubus III
• Horse - Geraldine Brooks

I jus finished "Witness at Sand Creek". It's a collection of 25 letter written by Silas Soule collected from his descendants, military archives, etc. I don't know if the Sand Creek Massacre is common knowledge around, but most people here know a bit about it since it happened in eastern Colorado. It's widely considered one of the most atrocious military actions in US history. A politically ambitious colonel lead troops to brutally attack a peaceful Indian village that had moved closer to Fort Lyons under the auspices of protection by the military. Most of the braves were hunting, so the village was only occupied by women, children, and old men, plus a few white traders. The mutilations were unspeakable. 1864.

Captain Soule refused orders to attack and ordered his company to hold fire. He gave testimony to a military inquiry and shorty afterwards was assassinated by a disgruntled trooper. Every year there is a pilgrimage to his grave by whites and Native Americans where they burn sweetgrass and say prayers. I would like to make a pilgrimage this year. Col. Chivington was never punished but lived his remaining days in disgrace. My friend says it's a good place for bird watching, too.

It's a recent book by a local author and I bought it before any of the current issues around not following illegal orders. There are remote similarities. It was one of those what would you do thought problems. You're some sort of weapons operator. Two men are clinging to a disabled boat and they are quite likely poor fishermen getting paid a lot by the cartel to smuggle drugs, but hardly narco terrorists. Or some low level operative. You are aware of the legalities from training. The order comes through, kill them. It just made me think more.

The massacre site is a National Monument. I've half way though Trump might try to cancel culture it as part of our shared history.

I only recently learned of Sand Creek so will look into that book since I like history.
I am making my way through How Not to Invest which is enlightening as it focuses on human nature and behavior. Can be applied to all things but in this case, investing. Basically, we're stupid which I kind of suspected:)

I finally finished Tom Lake by Ann Patchett and surprise, surprise, it really delivered! Originally, I had taken my SIL's recommendation to read it based on the fact that a core theme is the play Our Town. I was in it in high school, and it was a very meaningful, formative experience (hence my autosignature). But for some reason, the first couple of chapters didn’t hook me. Maybe I was just too busy at the time.

Then I used an Audible credit for the audio version, and while I was super impressed that Meryl Streep was the narrator, it was almost distracting. Sometimes you want to imagine the voices of the characters in your own head.

Also, I have a habit of listening to audiobooks when I go to bed—which means I fall asleep and then I don’t remember the last thing I heard when I was conscious, so it’s hard to keep the flow going. Anyway, in spite of all those barriers, a couple of nights ago, I FINALLY finished the audio book.

I LOVED that book. It was a perfect book for me on so many levels. I really connected with it. The Our Town focus, the sense of place that the juxtaposed plot lines with her past and present provide, the respect for nature and rural life, the narrator's foray as a seamstress in NYC theatres, the love affair with the “worldly” bad boy… I’m tempted to buy the book now and actually read it. That book was written for me.

That was my first experience with Tom Lake too, Catherine. Returned unfinished. Maybe someday I'll give it a shot audibly.

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Originally Posted by pinkytoe

I only recently learned of Sand Creek so will look into that book since I like history.
I am making my way through How Not to Invest which is enlightening as it focuses on human nature and behavior. Can be applied to all things but in this case, investing. Basically, we're stupid which I kind of suspected:)

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Ben Nighthorse Campbell just died. He was our state senator and representative and was the one who had the site designated as A National Historic Site, I think in the '90's. So it's been in the news. I went past a flag at half mast today and had to think why, as it seems like it's alway a half mast anymore. I'm sure it was for Campbell.