A Sense of Wonder by Rachel Carson. Also stumbling through Hang the Moon by Jeanette Walls (Glass Castle).
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A Sense of Wonder by Rachel Carson. Also stumbling through Hang the Moon by Jeanette Walls (Glass Castle).
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This was a great read. The first time in awhile where I was making time every day to sit down and grab it.
I read his My Own Story and finished it. Rare lately.Quote:
Originally Posted by Simplemind
I've added this one to my list. I really loved Cutting for Stone.Quote:
Originally Posted by Simplemind
It's All Too Much by Peter Walsh, which is an interesting organizational book.
Well, I had to abandon yet another novel. I was 200 pages plus into the 435 page I have some questions for you by Rebecca MAKKAI. It is billed as a literary thriller. It’s neither literary nor thriller. And that’s fine, because I dont read thrillers much. A murder serves as the plot device for “here’s what happened to me at prep school, looking back.”
Such a slog. Not recommended.
Finally, I read a funny little novel that I enjoyed. It’s only 100 pages., I listened to the audiobook version. Enjoyed it very much, and I do not like audiobooks.
Comfort me with apples by Catherine Valente. Audiobook version.
if you try it, I highly recommend not reading any reviews and going into it cold. It’s an other worldly tale that is intriguing, and as it reveals itself, you’ll know it’s familiar tale.
I finished The Unexpected Mother by Susan Ring. It is a true story about the author’s experiences as a surrogate mother while living in California.
Her first surrogate experience was for a couple she didn’t especially like, but that experience went smoothly. When the baby was six months old they wanted her to start another pregnancy for them, this time, twins. Her instinct told her these were not nice people, but she went ahead and did it. It all went wrong.
First thing to go wrong: against doctors recommendations they had him implant three embryos, thinking that it would be unlikely three would survive. Three DID survive. She had to have a “selective reduction “i.e. abortion at 14 weeks, and that experience haunted her.
And then much to her horror at around 30 weeks, the couple told her they didn’t want the babies after all. They were getting a divorce. The woman in the pair was not biologically involved. The father had donated and his sperm, so the twins were legally his.
The father was found to be bipolar and unable to take care of himself, and he did not want the children then, but after they were born, he had the expectation that eventually he would get them. He wanted them to go into the care of child protective services. These two babies were perfectly healthy.
The Surrogate mother was horrified by this and court actions took place. Long story short, she got full legal rights to the twins. She chose a nice young couple to be their parents, and at three months of age the twins left her home to live with their permanent parents.
this book showed one way out of many that surrogacy can go wrong. However, the author went on to be a surrogate parent at least three more times. she liked being pregnant and bringing life into being.
The Other Mother a novel about a young man finding out the truth about his early life
Say Anarcha nonfiction about a slave woman experimented upon by the "father of modern gynecology"
Thanks for the recommendation. Just got the ebook from my library.Quote:
Originally Posted by pinkytoe
Wow, I think I can relate more to the alien from outer space in my most recent read (Project Hail Mary), than I can to this serial surrogate. Sounds like an interesting read though.Quote:
Originally Posted by iris lilies
There had been a waiting list at the library, but I finally got Regrow Your Veggies by Melissa Raupauch. I've already been doing this with my celery and romaine lettuce, but want to see what more there is.
These were my July reads:
Nomadland by Jessica Bruder - I think the movie if not the book has been discussed here. It was an interesting read. It's frightening to think of all those seniors living so precariously, some in their cars, and working such awful jobs (e.g. Amazon warehouse jobs).
Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger - excellent read about a boy in a small town and life, love, murder, all that messy human stuff in the hands of a skilled writer.
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir - this is the guy who wrote The Martian, which I did not read but I really enjoyed the movie. I absolutely loved this book! I wouldn't say SciFi is a favorite genre of mine, but I don't think you have to particularly dig SciFi to enjoy this book (kind of like you can enjoy Lonesome Dove even if you aren't a fan of Westerns).
A Boy and his Dog at the End of the World by C. A. Fletcher - a decent read about a post-apocalyptic world, with an interesting premise on how mankind died out.
When the Emperor was Divine by Julie Otsuka - a brief but good book about the incarceration of Japanese-Americans during WW2. It was starkly evocative without being wordy.
Re-reading one of my old favorites, "Animal Dreams," by Barbara Kingsolver.
Jeff Goodell, The Heat Will Kill You First.
Goes into the subject of human diseases that are aggravated by hot weather. Urban planners have taken some measures here and there, so it is not entirely a story of gloom and doom.
I have a slight fascination with reading about religious cults/groups so working on two books now based on real life - Forager and When the World Didn't End. It just amazes me how people can so easily be led down that path or any path by a charismatic leader.
I am reading a climate change policy/economics book called "Alligators in the arctic and how to avoid them". It probably goes without saying that books like that are dense and not really pleasure reading, but I wanted to read it.
I have a tendency to select either meaty non-fiction I have to slog through, or airy fiction I could read at a sitting.Quote:
Originally Posted by ApatheticNoMore
We Were Once a Family about the two women who drove off a cliff killing themselves and their six children
That must be a story.Quote:
Originally Posted by Yppej
Sigh.. I’ve had two books given to me in the last two weeks by the authors. I suppose I will have to read them.
Yes, nonfiction so life is stranger than fiction.Quote:
Originally Posted by JaneV2.0
Was that the couple from Oregon? I remember that; so sad and awful.Quote:
Originally Posted by Yppej
Yes. Originally from Minnesota where they had come under some, but insufficient, scrutiny so they moved and when CPS started looking into them in Oregon they did the murder, suicide.Quote:
Originally Posted by KayLR
Demon Copperhead....Oh, such a dreary, horrible situation. I'm skipping lots of sections. I'm disappointed so far. I'll keep dancing through it as it is a book club selection. I read the end so at least I know...
i skimmed summaries of their case. Sicks fxxks they were, apparently.Quote:
Originally Posted by Yppej
The Man in the Lifeboat by Mitch Albom. I enjoyed it.
An interesting read...Stolen Focus by Johann Hari. About how and why we are sucked into social media and the internet.
Hey jeppy,Quote:
Originally Posted by Yppej
how does the book explain the missing body of the son who is in the car with everyone else? I read a brief explanation that said the body was never found, but probably the book goes into more detail.
Hi, on yppej's reccomendation, I just read it, and I don't think it addressed that. A lot of the book is about the birth families and how terribly they were treated by the system--it's about the racist foster care system as much as about the murders.
Once We Were Slaves, by Laura Arnold Liebermn, subtitled "the extraordinary journey of a multiracial Jewish family." The racial mingling took place in Barbados, against the backdrop of the brutal cane sugar trade.
At the time of publication they had not found the body.Quote:
Originally Posted by iris lilies
Lone Women a western/suspense/horror novel all in one. Not my usual genres but I like it.
Found The Pocket Book of Short Stories, copyright 1941. Includes storied by Hemingway, Maugham, Tolstoi, Poe, Twain, Parker, and many others. I'm really enjoying the stories.
August reads:
The Searcher by Tana French - good mystery set in Ireland. I usually do enjoy her books.
Later by Stephen King - not one of his best, but a fast and entertaining read.
Alys Always by Harriet Lane - I really enjoyed this one by the author of Her, which had some similarities, but was also good.
The Overstory by Richard Powers - I believe this was recommended here. I thought it was a really good book, with an important message about protecting trees, the planet and ourselves. I did find it a bit slow going at times, but still worth the effort.
It's funny, but I definitely avoid short stories. I consider them the "one night stands" of literature. That being said, there are magnificent short stories that I absolutely adore, so I should probably read them more often!Quote:
Originally Posted by happystuff
The Transcendent Brain by Alan Lightman. I like this little book as it is a scientist's exploration of why being agnostic makes sense to him.
Definitely "one night stands", but I find I am really enjoying them, especially because they are short but extremely well-written. I can't remember ever having read The Devil and Daniel Webster by Stephen Vincent Benet, but it is in this little book and I really enjoyed it! The writing techniques and styles to paint a story with such clearness AND brevity. It's been pleasantly surprising me the talent some people have to be able to do that.Quote:
Originally Posted by rosarugosa
That short story book looks really good, happystuff! I'll have to see if I can get it free on kindle or through the library.
I'm still reading that book about Alexander von Humboldt--The Invention of Nature by Andrea Wulf. It's a long book. I woke up in the middle of the night the other night and spent 2 hours reading it. So interesting, and she's a fantastic writer--she's able to weave in his biography with nature and so many social/policital events of the 18th and 19th centuries.
She has written other books I hadn't heard of, but once I finish this one, I'll definitely go on to one of the gardening-in-history books. Her latest book, Magnificent Rebels, looks good, too.
https://www.andreawulf.com
I'm reading The Widows of Eastwick, having just finished the Witches of Eastwick.