Watership Down, audiobook version
Peter Capaldi is the reader
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Well, I had mentioned 3 books I had lined up, but ended up having several others come in as soon as Iād posted and they all supersede the original list.
I finished Last NIght in Montreal by Emily St John Mandel. Iām not sure if it was her first book, but it was written before Station Eleven. Parts of it, especially at the start, seemed like the book of a beginner - like she was very consciously making sure each verb had an adverb and each noun had an adjective. But once it got started it was pretty good though and drew you in. Then I thought it got strained again at the end, too. There were two reveals in the last 1/4 of the book, but neither was really a surprise at all. Or maybe they were just meant to be reveals to the characters. Either way, you expect it for most of the book. And, having read a few other of her books, I expected there to be no happy ending and thatās the case here, too.
Next, unless even more arrive, are The NIckel Boys and Where The Crawdads Sing.
Finished The Way of Kings. I liked it enough to read the next in the series, maybe in November/December in between fluff books. (I tend to read a lot of holiday themed books, and then I get tired of them.)
Need to finish French Braid this week. I canāt really tell where itās going, if anywhere, but itās short and Iāll probably finish.
Next up is One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle.
I suppose I should mention what the plot of Last Night in Montreal is. A young girl gets kidnapped by her father and they spend years on the run, living in cars or cheap motels and never staying anywhere for more than a few days. When the dad finally decides to settle down, the daughter doesnāt. The main characters are the girl, a boyfriend who she has left, a private detective who has been searching for her, and the daughter of the private detective.
Finished āA Peopleās History of the United States.ā Pretty good. now reading another book which is slightly more libertarian in bent called ā33 questions about American history or not a supposed to ask.ā Iām not as thrilled with it at the moment.
I also enjoyed a Peopleās History when I read it last year. Every country has negative aspects to its history that should be told and Zinn has an engaging style.
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I didnāt finish my very short book over the weekend and tomorrow I get my pre-order of the next Taylor Jenkins Reid, Carrie Soto Is Back.
Decisionsā¦
Well I forgot that I need to read my book club book before next Thursday: The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner.
Going to finish my current listen, then book club book (fairly short), then Carrie Soto.
So, it took me about 5 weeks to finish āA Peopleās Historyā 600 pages, well worth it.
Dominant theme is āThe US Government has always been about enriching the rich, and both parties have always been a party to it.ā So, a bit of a Socialist bent.
Finished ā33 questions about American history youāre not supposed to askā in a day. Not really worth it. Written by a Mises follower.
So, two history books that are ānot your school textbooks,ā telling āsecretsā that ātheyā donāt want you to know. But from the extreme opposite points of the political spectrum.
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That reminds me, just been going through a bit on the Gilded Age/Progressive Era history stuff.
Great stuff on the development of going from spoils system & laissez-faire to civil service set-up & much more formal regulatory, anti-trust legislation (and actual judicial cases), etc.
And, of course, I laugh every time The Jungle is brought upā¦ trying to have people be made aware of working conditions, and what they focus on is the condition of the meat.
It was this set of lectures:
Can often find it through library systems ā got it through hoopla myself through the Westchester County library system, but as Iām a Wondrium subscriber, I could also have gotten it from there. I highly recommend. Takes it from the post-Civil War to World War I.
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One Italian Summer was just not that great IMO. I found the protagonist whiny. Also it had a weird āmoving around in timeā thing that took forever to be explained even though the book was super short. Also her mother dies just before the start of the book and she decides she is ājust not that intoā her husband.
The lovely things she sees on her Italian vacation are nice though.
Carrie Soto Is Back is as good as I imagined. A fun thing about this author is thatāalthough her novels are standaloneāsheāll have a character from one of her prior novels make a cameo appearance. It makes me want to go back and read all her novels in order.
Just finished Piranesi on audibook and wish it was longer (7 hours)
Picked up American Gods yesterday. Never read Gaiman and not sure what to expect.
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I finished The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead. Itās a dramatization about a smart and straight black teen who, through he did no wrong, gets sent to a now-infamous juvenile home in panhandle FL, where the white kids are exploited and mistreated, the black residents are exploited, mistreated, and often killed.
Iām not that keen on dramatizations and this one is no different. Part of the problem is that you anticipate the horrors, mistreatment, and racism of the juvenile home before you even start to read the book. I think that makes a dramatization less effective than just a novel with the same issues. Making it sort of (but not really) about the place takes away from what strictly person-centric story could have been. Having it be about the place makes it less personal imo.
I havenāt looked to see whatās in the queue.
finished both Helter Skelter and Gorky Park last night.
i need to look at my list to see whats next.
next genre Literary Fiction. To me that means, just a story and comtemporary (to the author)
I chose
Extremely Loud And Incredibly Close
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Just finished up the audiobook Watership Down ā Peter Capaldi was the reader. Highly recommend
I see why people said they found it disturbing as children (the cartoon or the book), but if youāre a farm child or dealt with animals in a regular way, the only really disturbing bit was the one warren with the poet/prophet Silverweed ā¦ yeah, that bit is super-creepy.
But romanticizing the lives of animals is not great, and the book doesnāt really do that. Itās an interesting take, with the very short-term perspective of rabbits, etc.
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You probably know this by now butā¦ weird. Expect weird. Lots of symbolism & mythology that went over my head. And yetāintriguing.
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i googled much while reading
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Just put this in my queue.
I canāt remember if I read this or not. Iāve realized with audiobooks I donāt look at the cover much so Iām less likely to remember.