What book are you reading?

[GreenieL43]

I’m taking a historical fiction break and reading H.W. Brands’ Dreams of El Dorado. Also, listening to Educated by Tara Westover.

[Sunnny]

Mayvenne, your post made me even more excited about reading The Lincoln Highway. Until recently, I had no idea Amor Towles had published another book. Apparently, it came out in October of 2021. Thank you for sharing all the fine praise you have heard about it!

CA4Now, I am delighted to know that Breakfast at Tiffany's is such a fabulous read! Hooray! It appears I have selected 2 good ones.

GreenieL43, Dreams of El Dorado: A History of the American West sounds very interesting. Educated sounds like a winning pick as well. Please let us know what you think of them. I am adding both to my reading list.

[jbgusa]

I just finished The Klondike Fever: The Life and Death of the Last Great Gold Rush by Pierre Berton. The book is definitely worth reading. This finishes a trio of Berton's book, comprising of The Great Lakes and The Impossible Railway by Pierre Berton and Klondike Fever. Let me explain why I call it a trio; Berton has written widely but most focus on the building of the CPR, and on the Gold Rush. He is an amazing writer.

Many readers don't have the background on Canada to really appreciate these books. He really tries hard to explain the country, and mostly succeeds for those that have a true interest. Another fact about the author. He was born in Yukon in 1920, 22 years after the gold rush peaked, and spent his growing years in Dawson. Much of the material in the book comes from talking to people who were there, including but not limited to his father.

Turning now to the book itself, he calls it, and I paraphrase, one of the most purposeless mass movements of people in history, and yet explains well the personal and even spiritual growth experienced by many of the miners. He likens the struggle to get there, largely on foot, from Skagway through the Chilkoot Pass and then, after climbing the pass down the Yukon River to the climb of Everest. It seems an apt comparison. He contrasts Canada's focus on "peace, order and good government" to the "Wild West" atmosphere of Skagway, Alaska. As an objective writer he does a good job of laying out the potential and actuality of corruption that comes from too much government. I just can't get enough of this author.

[Mayvenne]

I finished Such a Fun Age and thought it was ok but I had to really push myself at points. It wasn't a very big book so it worked. ( Had it been much bigger I probably wouldn't have finished). I gave it between 2 and 3 stars and am amazed at the very good ratings it has on goodreads. It was a very current book but it just seemed like the author was trying too hard to be really cool and savvy. It just didn't work for me.

I am going to start The Guncle next.

[ladyvibrant]

Originally Posted by Mayvenne

I don't usually go for series, but obviously many people like that. Sounds interesting-@loves2read


@Ladyvibrant, I 'd love to know about the Amy book. I really loved her and was so sad when she passed.
(can you not do those huge book covers like the Seven Kinds of People? It makes reading this thread like a picture book and I so prefer to hear even if it's just I enjoyed or I couldn't finish.


I just finished The Warmth of Other Suns about the Great Migration of blacks in this country, within. It was very interesting,and I learned a lot. It was presented as telling the story of a few people so it wasn't straight non fiction. It did go on in more detail and towards the end I tired of it but it was a very good book.

In April 2018, I bought a wondrous first edition of this book that was titled Before Frank from Amoeba Music Hollywood. I decided to read this edition (on loan from the public library) to see how the editions differed. The second edition is fuller with more interviews, which I love. I still wish Amy Winehouse had lived and never looked at drugs. Such a beauty.

We have to agree to disagree. I enjoy seeing large pictures of the books everyone reads. It adds vitality to the thread.

[ladyvibrant]

I started this tome earlier tonight. Frida Kahlo stands imperial with me so I decided to read it.




I anticipated revelling in this memoir. I didn't relish it much. I did enjoy his chapters on Brazil which proved too brief. I'll give the follow-up book a chance.

[Melpomene]

Just finished The House with a Clock in its Walls by John Bellairs. Next up is John Adams by David McCullough, which had been lent to me by my boss.

[Mayvenne]

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/...k_in_Its_Walls

I was curious as this was totally new to me. I checked on goodreads which is my usual way to look up books. I don't read the reviews or much of the summary but I like to see the overall rating and the relative number of reviews ( just for me personally if I see it has very few reviews I am a bit more suspect).
This one has over 18000 ratings and pretty decent at that. (also it's under 200 pages which is a big draw..._) . I just checked and it's available at my library ( kindle too!). Defnitely going to add it to my list.
Thank you

[ladyvibrant]

Sherry Argov defines a ***** as "a strong woman who has her own identity and is secure with who she is." That's honorable.

[Melpomene]

Originally Posted by Mayvenne

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/...k_in_Its_Walls

I was curious as this was totally new to me. I checked on goodreads which is my usual way to look up books. I don't read the reviews or much of the summary but I like to see the overall rating and the relative number of reviews ( just for me personally if I see it has very few reviews I am a bit more suspect).
This one has over 18000 ratings and pretty decent at that. (also it's under 200 pages which is a big draw..._) . I just checked and it's available at my library ( kindle too!). Defnitely going to add it to my list.
Thank you

You're welcome. You'll find it in the children's section of the library. I've been trying to get one of my young nieces to read more, so I thought we'd read this book and watch the film adaptation afterwards.