Jun 04, 2018 - But I digress... What are you curious about reading?
Next up on my list is Educated, a memoir by Tara Westover. It’s about the author’s journey from growing up with a religious, survivalist father who didn’t believe in education to graduating from Cambridge University, and it’s supposed to be amazing. You?
Kim France
I was born in Houston, Texas in 1964 and have lived in New York City since 1988. I had a long career in magazines, working at Sassy, Elle, New York, and Spin, and in 2000, I founded Lucky magazine, which I edited for ten years.
I am nearing the end of The Overstory by Richard Powers (fiction)
Up next is God Save Texas by Lawrence Wright (non-fiction)
Then The Weight of Ink by Rachel Kadish (fiction)
Followed by The Art of Misdiagnosis by Gayle Brandeis (memoir)
“Loulou and Yves” by Christopher Petkanas, an oral biography of Loulou de la Falaise, my favorite fashion icon.
I finished it last weekend. It was amazing!! Such a great read &hard to put down.
Next up for me is The Largesse of the Sea Maiden by Denis Johnson (published posthumously)
I am looking forward to reading Educated as well. The cover art is phenomenal – I do judge books by their covers.
Yes, both of those are my list!
Also want to re read Goodbye Columbus. Rip Phillip Roth
I would read “The plot against America” but I’m not sure I have the stomach for it…
Am in the middle of “exit west” by mohsin hamid. It’s pretty swell so far.
The Plot Against America is fantastic – and terrifying…Read it!
I loved Exit West.
He has become one of my favorite writers.
I’ve avoided “The Plot Against America” as “American Pastoral” was a major slog for me, but I loved “Indignation.” — the movie of that is great, too and “The Human Stain” is my favorite post WW II American novel.
Educated is on my list, too. I find those sorts of books fascinating, probably because I had ideological parents as well (though their particular ideology was very different).
I just finished Natural Causes by Barbara Ehrenreich, which wasn’t as good as I’d hoped it would be, and I’ve been slogging my way though Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now by Jaron Lanier, which just flat-out sucks (he actually thinks Trump would be a better, nicer person if he only quit Twitter. Yes, seriously.). After that I dunno what the hell I’m reading. I have a bunch of books laying around waiting for me to pick them up, so I guess I’ll just spin in a circle and read whichever one I end up pointing at.
Ahhh Educated was pretty amazing. So well-plotted as a memoir–I didn’t want to put it down.
The Female Persuasion, by Meg Wolitzer, and Mrs. Fletcher: A Novel, by Tom Perrotta — two consistently satisfying writers.
Yup. Want to read these too..
I really enjoyed Educated. A page turner of a memoir. About to start “Heart Berries” by Terese Marie Mailhot, a memoir of working through childhood abuse.
Can’t say enough about Heart Berries.
Kristin Hannah’s The Great Alone is the perfect summer read. Also recommend What We Lose.
Just finished Morgan Jerkins’ This Will be My Undoing and think it is important, necessary reading.
Educated and The Female Persuasion are high on my list. Also, Roxanne Gay’s newest and the Zora Neale Hurston title.
Love the other suggestions here, thanks for this post, Kim!
I loved Educated, read it in two days! I just finished Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan. It was a great story, unusually good on the sex scenes:) Also a good NY novel, all about the ports in the 40’s. Strong characters and good, engrossing plot.
This thread is very dangerous for me. I have promised myself that I am not buying any new books until the end of August (I have enough on my Kindle to last me for two years). So, They Widows of Malabar by Sujata Massey, Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk, and Celeste Ng’s Little Fires Everywhere.
Treat yourself to a library card – all the pleasure, none of the pain.
Lillian Boxfish was a fun read!
LOVED Little Fires Everywhere. So good.
I work in a bookstore. Educated and The Heart’s invisible Furies are the two best books I have read this year About to start the new Barbara Kingsolver novel which comes out in October – advance copies are one of my job’s big perks!
I just read Rules of Civility by Amor Towles – loved it very much. Currently reading The Rules Do Not Apply by Ariel Levy. I want to read Educated too.
Love the suggestions here, always love a good what are people reading post!
Thank you!
I loved Rules of Civility! I had a much harder time getting into A Gentleman in Moscow and let it expire on Overdrive. I’m currently reading the Female Persuasion and liking it so far. Next on my TBR is The Fair Fight by Anna Freeman.
I can’t wait to see what everyone else is reading so I can start making my summer reading list!
A Gentleman in Moscow didn’t really look to appealing to me either!
I really (really!) enjoyed The Rules Do Not Apply!
I’m reading book three — Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay– of the Neopolitan Novels by Elena Ferrante… I’m really enjoying the series. Also reading The Fall by Noah Hawley and The Dud Avocado by Elaine Dundy. The latter makes for a fabulous summer read!
I loved The Dud Avocado!
How to change your mind by Michael Polan about new research on psychedelics is fantastic. Re-reading Jonathan Strange and Mister Norel and wishing that Susannah Clarke comes up with the promised sequel soon.
The Idiot by Elif Batuman.
my son highly recommends it so i feel obliged to read it.
I recently finished The Presidency in Black and White by April Ryan–loved it. I’m currently reading The List by Amy Siskind. It is an amazing week-by-week documentation of all the not-normal actions and behaviors of the current occupant, his supporters, and the majority party since the 2016 election. It will be a great roadmap for finding our way back to democracy and civility. I have Laura Lippman’s Sunburn in the on-deck circle. I’m really looking forward to it! I’d like to read Madeleine Albright’s recent book, too.
Everyone should have a copy of The List. Seriously. What Amy Siskind is doing for us is so important. She also keeps The List on her web site and I’ve heard she’s in the process of making a podcast.
Agreed! I’ve followed Amy on Twitter since about week 9, so I basically read the whole book by the time it was published. My sister and I got to hear her speak at a book festival–and get our books signed! She is documenting history pretty much as it happens. The combination of Amy’s tweets and a new list each week is helping me keep my sanity, as well as hope that we’ll be able to find our way back to normal once we evict the orange trashball squatter in the White House.
Just finished Calypso, by David Sedaris. So good, highly recommend – genius at weaving heartbreak and humor.
I just finished The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas. Its a YA book which I usually don’t really like but this was so, so good!
Loved this book! A tough read but really good and an important topic. Lots of good YA books out there right now that tackle tough topics in a thoughtful and well written way.
One of the best books I have ever read is “A Gentleman in Moscow” – what a lovely, lovely read. I am currently reading “The Ensemble” and so far, pretty good!
very enjoyable read, even if I initially couldn’t stand the protagonist.
Just started Sing,Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward.
Just finished An Unrestored Woman by Shobha Rao, a collection of 12 related short stories about women whose lives were upended during the 1947 partition of India and Pakistan. Beautiful writing, so absorbing I missed my stop on the metro while reading it.
My book-snob husband has been bugging me to read that for MONTHS. I read the first couple pages and put it aside. But now that I’ve been seeing it everywhere, I feel like I should give it another go.
Books about the California music scene in the 60’s & 70’s are my comfort reads, and I just finished Joel Selvin’s “Altamont,” in which he makes The Rolling Stones seem pretty cheesy and places the blame for the festival’s failures on them.
So now I’m curious to read Saul Austerlitz’s “Just a Shot Away,” which comes out in July, because it sounds like he places all the blame on the Grateful Dead and goes way more into the details of Meredith Hunter’s life.
Educated was good. I didn’t love it as much as The Glass Castle, but it was highly readable. It was kind of mind boggling how many opportunities she was given and is a good illustration of white privilege.
I LOVE these lists! Love reading about what people are reading. Always get a really good suggestion or three.
The Rachel Cusk trilogy of novels, starting with Outline, then Transit (both absolutely amazing), and soon to read her newest, Kudos.
I’m finishing Ron Chernow’s Grant biography. It’s a great read but at 950 pages it’s been slow going. I love how fond Chernow is of his subjects … he brings them alive.
I just finished Dietland (loved), and now am on The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah. After that I want to tackle Pachinko and then Half the Sky by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn.
love this thread!!!!
And I just started watching Dietland.
Planning to read Manhattan Beach.
On my bedside table, courtesy of the library which of course had them come in all at once (balancing my holds is a part time job, and I took my eye off the ball):
Jackie, Janet and Lee by J. Randy Taraborelli
Wallis in Love by Andrew Morton
Emergency Contact by Mary HK Choi
Other People’s Houses by Abbi Waxman
Heather, the Totality by Matthew Weiner
We Are Never Meeting in Real Life by Samantha Irby (I went to a reading at my local library and she was a delight! She has a book club on FB called bitches gotta read. Come join us!)
I need to go through every post and add them to my Goodreads “to-read” shelf.
I’m currently about two chapters in to Emily Wilson’s translation of the Odyssey, notable for being the first woman to publish a translation of it. So far I really dig the wry tone, especially when discussing men and their journeying ways.
I’m almost done with The Real Jane Austen: A Life in Small Things, which was incredibly soothing for me during a rough two weeks of life. Nothing like a well-written biography for illuminating history from a woman’s perspective.
Next up is Kelly Sue DeConnick’s Captain Marvel, in preparation for the movie, because I feel like Marvel’s direction is going to be a huge indicator for where our American culture is heading next.
I’m on thé library waitlist for “Educated” now, and came home with The Mars Room by Rachel Kushner. I’ve been off novels recently, but word of mouth and a Nan Goldin photo on the cover sold me.
A friend just handed me “Lilac Girls” by Martha Hall Kelly which I am saving for vacation in a couple of weeks (we all plowed through “The Nightingale” by Kristin Hannah and “All the Light We Cannot See” by Anthony Doerr last summer). Am going to come back to this post for my library list – have committed to renewing my card this summer to keep the book buying under control now that I’ve worked through my Kindle backlog.
I loved All the Light We Cannot See… hoping they bring it to the big screen!
I am working my way through “Seeing Like A State.”
I got 3/4 through “The Female Persuasion” & not sure I will finish it. Meg Wolitzer is always just a BIT too slick for me. But it’s a good read if you don’t stop to think.
I have 3 older memoirs on deck: The Color of Water, Lit and Pete Hamill’s A Drinking Life.
Oh Lit and A Drinking Life are so wonderful, thank you for the reminder. (And if you want to add another to your list for an alcoholic-writer-memoir trifecta I highly recommend Drinking: A Love Story by Caroline Knapp.)
Love and Ruin: A Novel by Paula McLain.
Historical fiction about Martha Gellhorn (war reporter and Hemingway’s 3rd wife)
I’m excited to read Spencer Wise’s The Emperor of Shoes (fiction) about a Jewish family’s shoe factory in China and Lauren Groff’s Florida!
Favorites I’ve read lately are Sing Unburied Sing, Can We Talk About Something More Pleasant, and You Can’t Touch My Hair. Currently reading Etched in Bone, Daughters of the winter Queen, and Girls Burn Brighter. Up next are The Girl Who Never Read Noam Chomsky, Children of Blood and Bone, and Four Queens: the Provençal Sisters Who Ruled the World. And now have a whole mor lot to add to my list. Love this post!
I just finished reading Ronan Farrow’s War on Peace, and now I want to read about Lawrence of Arabia. I’m now very interested in diplomacy (as it used to be) and espionage. I’m also reading the Dr Siri Palboun murder mystery series (written by Colin Cotterill) which are HILARIOUS and wonderful.
I’m currently listening to and enjoying “The Happiness Curve” – why life gets better after 50.
Instead of being a pithy self-help book, it’s more of an erudite intellectual discussion of the 40s suck for most people. It provides some practical insights as well.