Friday Reads 11-8-19
What a week! I had surgery on Tuesday on my knee. It is getting better, and I'm getting around better, but my butt is sore from sitting all the time, and I'm only just getting to where I can concentrate on reading for longer than 5 minutes.
Also, my birthday was this week and I got a ton of books from my wishlist for gifts! That is a fantastic feeling. So here is what I'm reading, plus the books I got for my birthday!!
Fortune's Children by Arthur T. Vanderbilt II - I've read almost 100 pages of this and so far, so good. The first section was about The Commodore who borrowed $100 from his mother and built the Vanderbilt empire. He was a hot mess. I've started the second section about his son who does things differently, but is so far doing it well.
The Memory Police by Yoko Ozawa - I'm really enjoying this. It's the perfect suspense type book for me. It's told very quietly. But weird stuff is happening.
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern - This is the book club book for November. I just remembered that we moved the November book club meeting to the 4th Friday because our host will be out of town on the third Friday. This is one of my favorites!
Now for my birthday haul! My sisters spoiled me!
Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors by Sonali Dev - Firstly, I have to common on the use of the Oxford Comma in the title of this book. I'm not sure I could have read it this if it had been left out. I have strong feelings about the OC. Also, this is a re-telling of my favorite book set in an Indian family living in San Francisco. I predict it will make me hungry for Indian food.
Unmarriageable by Soniah Kamal - Another book that will make me hungry. This one is a Pride and Prejudice re-telling set in Pakistan. I am so excited about all the P&P re-tellings happening in other cultures!
The Flatshare by Beth O'Leary - This one is a little out of my regular reading, but the premise is fascinating. It's a romance between two people who share an apartment and a bed, but have never met. I love the idea that they fall in love without knowing what the other person even looks like.
Bunny Mellon: The Life of an American Style Legend by Meryl Gordon - This might seem like it's out of my wheelhouse because I don't care much about "style legends". But Bunny Mellon was a character in The Swans of Fifth Avenue which I loved so much I have gone on and done other research on the people that book was based on.
Quietly In Their Sleep by Donna Leon - This is the 6th book in the Commissario Brunetti series. I haven't necessarily been reading them in order, but I have read the first 5 in the series. When I opened it, my kid said, "Oh Donna Leon!" I didn't realize she paid attention to what I read. Hmmm.
White Houses by Amy Bloom - I didn't love the last book by Amy Bloom that I read. But, that one was a bit magical realism. This one is historical fiction. It's about Eleanor Roosevelt and her relationship with Lorena Hickok. Both of these women are fascinating in their own rights, but together! How captivating!
That Churchill Woman by Stephanie Barron - This book represents the culmination of two interests of mine. First, the titular woman is Winston Churchill's mother who began life as Jennie Jerome, heiress to an American fortune. She was one of the wealthy American young women who married English lords, giving themselves a title and boosting their husbands' coffers. Win-win. Second, Stephanie Barron wrote the Jane Austen Mystery series that I loved.
And then lastly, I pre-ordered a book that just happened to be released the day before my birthday, so I effectively bought myself a gift.
The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern - This is the second book by Morgenstern and the people who read advance copies say it's great. I know almost nothing about what it's about. And I'm okay with that.
Thank you birthday fairy sisters!