It's good to find another Ann Patchett fan. I think she's so underrated as a writer. However, I tried to read her most recent book of essays, These Precious Days, and I couldn't get through it. I don't even think I got to the 50 page mark. Of her other books, I enjoyed Bel Canto, The Dutch House, and Truth & Beauty the most. JennW mentioned State of Wonder, which I liked, but I thought it was a little weird. I don't know how else to describe it.
I haven't read as much this year, so far. I really enjoyed The Tenth of December by George Saunders. Another favorite of mine is Donna Tartt. I love The Secret History and The Goldfinch. I haven't read her middle book, yet. At the moment, I'm reading The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro and enjoying it.
Ooh, thanks for those ideas. I read Bel Canto years ago, so I’ll have to try these others. Ishiguro is such a unique writer--for me, he never dazzles at the sentence level, nor even at the paragraph, but instead builds up his impact very slowly over pages and pages. I have to be in the right place for that, I find.
This is the first Ishiguro I've read. I agree that he builds slowly. I don't know about his other books, but in this one, I feel like he has captured the voice of the main character perfectly.
I 100% live by the 50 page rule. I'm with you, if you don't have me by then, I'm not going to continue. A couple of years ago I read an Ann Patchett book that I really liked. State of Wonder. You mentioned a couple of hers so I thought I'd throw it out there. Do you have a goal of # of books to read each year?
I’ll check out State of Wonder--I need a guaranteed good one, because I just finished a real clunker--Verity, by Colleen Hoover. It still had me at page 50, but I could see the fault lines at 100 and I should have stopped ... but no, I gutted it out to the end and it’s left a bad taste in my mouth. Oh well.
Your poll does not include "listening" which all I do these days ... I was attracted to the title "Wolf in White Van" because of your ongoing story and it was a rich listen to the end ... which is also a plug for our library app Libby!
It's good to find another Ann Patchett fan. I think she's so underrated as a writer. However, I tried to read her most recent book of essays, These Precious Days, and I couldn't get through it. I don't even think I got to the 50 page mark. Of her other books, I enjoyed Bel Canto, The Dutch House, and Truth & Beauty the most. JennW mentioned State of Wonder, which I liked, but I thought it was a little weird. I don't know how else to describe it.
I haven't read as much this year, so far. I really enjoyed The Tenth of December by George Saunders. Another favorite of mine is Donna Tartt. I love The Secret History and The Goldfinch. I haven't read her middle book, yet. At the moment, I'm reading The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro and enjoying it.
Ooh, thanks for those ideas. I read Bel Canto years ago, so I’ll have to try these others. Ishiguro is such a unique writer--for me, he never dazzles at the sentence level, nor even at the paragraph, but instead builds up his impact very slowly over pages and pages. I have to be in the right place for that, I find.
This is the first Ishiguro I've read. I agree that he builds slowly. I don't know about his other books, but in this one, I feel like he has captured the voice of the main character perfectly.
Agreed. You should really try Klara and the Sun--it’s really stuck with me, very beautiful book.
Ok, I've added it to my list.
I 100% live by the 50 page rule. I'm with you, if you don't have me by then, I'm not going to continue. A couple of years ago I read an Ann Patchett book that I really liked. State of Wonder. You mentioned a couple of hers so I thought I'd throw it out there. Do you have a goal of # of books to read each year?
I’ll check out State of Wonder--I need a guaranteed good one, because I just finished a real clunker--Verity, by Colleen Hoover. It still had me at page 50, but I could see the fault lines at 100 and I should have stopped ... but no, I gutted it out to the end and it’s left a bad taste in my mouth. Oh well.
I liked Verity actually. It kept me entertained. But I wouldn't recommend it necessarily. It was different enough to what I had been reading.
Your poll does not include "listening" which all I do these days ... I was attracted to the title "Wolf in White Van" because of your ongoing story and it was a rich listen to the end ... which is also a plug for our library app Libby!
Cool, I’ll check it out