May 2018 Goodreads Update
Get a snack and a drink and get comfy. This is a long one. I apparently got a bit carried away with my Goodreads TBR this month. I think I'm looking forward to the end of grad school.
Love and Ruin by Paul McLain - I really liked her book about Ernest Hemingway's first wife. This one is about his second marriage to Martha Gellhorn. These books are historical fiction.
Educated by Tara Westover - This is a memoir about a girl who was raised in rural Idaho by parents who didn't believe in doctors or schools. Now she has a PhD from Cambridge.
Force of Nature by Jane Harper - The first one in this series came out last year. I haven't read that one either, but it's on my TBR. The books sound really great. They are mysteries about a detective called Aaron Falk.
Auntie Poldi and the Sicilian Lions by Mario Giordano - This is a cozy mystery about a woman who retires to Sicily on her 60th birthday. She plans to while away her final days, but she gets involved in a murder investigation.
I Was Anastasia by Ariel Lawhon - This is a bit of revisionist history. Set in 1920 Germany, it is about a woman who is pulled from a freezing canal, but won't say why she is there. After hospitalization and questioning, she says she is Anastasia Romanov. I read a book about the Romanov's last year, so I am interested to see how this plays out.
The Female Persuasion by Meg Wolitzer - I almost bought this yesterday, but I haven't read her last one that has been on my shelf since 2013. This one is about women's rights activists. I love a good friendship story.
Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata - This book in translation features a woman named Keiko. When she was 18 she got a job in a convenience store in Tokyo. 18 years later, she doesn't understand why everyone wants her to do more with her life when she loves her job.
Clock Dance by Anne Tyler - I love Anne Tyler. Her stories are always interesting. This one is about a woman who flies across the country to help her son's ex-girlfriend and presumably his daughter after she has been shot.
What We Were Promised by Lucy Tan - This is about a Chinese family who moved to America and climbed the corporate ladder. When they move back to China, they are coddled rich Americans rather than Chinese.
Murder to the Metal by Annie Hogsett - This goofy mystery series started with a woman who was almost kidnapped and then rescued a hot guy from a crosswalk who just happened to have a winning lottery ticket. In this one, they've set up a detective agency. What could go wrong?
MI5 and Me: A Coronet Among Spooks by Charlotte Bingham - Her dad was the model for George Smiley, John LeCarre's British spy. So she joined up. Supposedly, it's hilarious.
Damnation Island: Poor, Sick, Mad, and Criminal in 19th Century New York by Stacy Horn - Roosevelt Island used to be Blackwell's Island. It was supposed to be a model of government care. There was a mad house, a prison, a hospital, and a poor house on the two mile piece of land.
#NeverAgain: A New Generation Draws the Line by David Hogg and Lauren Hogg - The authors are students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School that was the setting of a mass shooting on Valentine's Day this year. These kids are making adults take notice. This is the future of America and I'm okay with it.
Agatha Christie: A Mysterious Life by Laura Thompson - Agatha Christie was an interesting woman. I want to know more, but there aren't a lot of biographies out there. If you know of a better one, let me know.
Undead Girl Gang by Lily Anderson - Mila and Riley are besties. Riley and a couple of snotty popular girls from school end up dead in an apparent suicide pact. But Mila knows that doesn't make sense. So she does a spell to bring them back to see who the killer is. The girls don't remember their murders, but they have other fish to fry. Mila has to keep these undead teens in line while she tries to figure out who killed them.
The Girl With All the Gifts by M.R. Carey - Melanie is growing up in a cell. She's special. Her doctor calls her a genius. But the guys who transport her to meals don't laugh when she jokes that she won't bite. What is really going on? I hear this is awesome and hilarious.
Ok. How are you doing? Hanging in there? Maybe refill your drink. Take a small break. Here we go!
These books are on the BookRiot list of the top Books About Books from 2017, so of course I need to add them to the list:
The Art of Death: Writing the Final Story by Edwidge Danticat,
Reading with Patrick: A Teacher, A Student, and a Life-changing Friendship by Michelle Kuo,
Printer's Error: Irreverent Stories From Book History by Rebecca Romney,
Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries by Kory Stamper,
Talking Back, Talking Black: Truths About America's Lingua Franca by John McWhorter,
Nabokov's Favorite Word is Mauve: What the Numbers Reveal About the Classics, Bestsellers, and Our Own Writing by Ben Blatt,
The Book Thieves: The Nazi Looting of Europe's Libraries and the Race to Return a Literary Inheritance by Anders Rydell,
The Written World: The Power of Stories to Shape People, History, Civilization by Martin Puchner,
Inside My Pencil: Teaching Poetry in Detroit Public Schools by Peter Markus
And on we go with more books!
My Lady's Choosing by Kitty Curran - This is a choose your own adventure romance novel. Fun!
The Late Show by Michael Connelly - This is the first in a new series starring a lady detective. I'm here for it.
Ms. Marvel, Vol. 6 by G. Willow Wilson - This is the new Marvel superheroine who is a teenaged Muslim girl. Very cool.
Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan Maguire - My daughter already read the whole series. I better get on it. This is about a school for kids who have been to other worlds through portals, like Narnia or Wonderland or whatever, but for whatever reason they have returned to this world and can't really cope.
The Victorian City: Everyday Life in Dickens' London by Judith Flanders - I think I made my mom give this to my sister for Christmas, but I want to read it too.
Jane Austen: A Life by David Nokes - New Jane biography? Yes, please.
The Mars Room by Rachel Kushner - I got this from Book of the Month. This is about a woman in prison, comparing her former life to her new reality.
The Ensemble by Aja Gabel - This is like a the-band-gets-back-together, but the band is a classical string ensemble. I'm down. I could read that.
You Think It, I'll Say It by Curtis Sittenfeld - I've read some of her other work. Some of it I couldn't get through. We'll see what I think about this. These are short stories about people living adult life today.
A Date With Darcy by Tiffany Schmidt - I don't think I really have to explain this, but it's about these 3 girls that transfer to Reginald R. Hero High School where they are courted by fictional heroes. Fun!!
Ok. I'm done. For Now. What is new on your reading list?