Welcome back to our weekly discussion thread, a place to share ideas and get to know each other.
On Tuesday, I’ll be publishing my February Bar\Heart Book List, featuring the forthcoming books I’m most anticipating. Ahead of that, I’m curious what books you’ve loved recently — or maybe that you felt conflicted about.
I’m currently reading a bunch of Midwestern history books for research and am trying to finish Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo. That’s going slower than I’d like, and I don’t know why. But I can’t figure out what else I want to read — even though there were 18 books on my January list.
So tell me: What you are reading and why do you like it? (Or not!) Feel free to ask for recommendations, too. Someone in this community might have just the right thing.
Congrats on the library card! It's one of my favorite things. When I was 8 or 9, my family was having a really hard year, and my mom got me a library card for Christmas with the promise that I could go every week. It cost nothing but gave me everything. ❤️
Last year, I read The Cherry Robbers by Sarai Walker and loved the first third and the last third. But the middle third left me ... confused. It was like there were two separate books happening. But I couldn't stop thinking about it, so I made a number of friends read it just so we could talk about it. They felt like they were slogging through. But the story still stuck with us. So is that a successful book, if you can't stop thinking about it -- even if you didn't exactly love it?
Two of my top reads from last year are:
1. Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt. Read it just for the curmudgeonly giant octopus, Marcellus. You get to hear directly from his brain and it's brilliant. (https://bookshop.org/a/81582/9780063204157)
2. Creatures by Crissy Van Meter. It's a father-daughter story, a coming of age story, and so much more all set on a fictional island off the coast of Los Angeles. I loved it.
Just this morning I finished reading Folk Music: A Bob Dylan Biography in Seven Songs, by Greil Marcus. When I saw the binder in the library, it only read the words Folk Music, along with the author's name. I didn't look at the cover until I was walking to my car in the parking lot, immediately thinking to myself, "Jeez, I can't get away from this guy!" I probably own around 75 books on, about and by Bob Dylan. I hated the most famous book Greil Marcus wrote about Bob Dylan, Invisible Republic. However, I wound up liking this book. The one chpter on his cover version of the old folk song "Jim Jones" makes up for any of the book's failings. It has been said of Greil Marcus that "everyhing reminds him of everything else," and it takes him 35 pages in this chapter to mention the song in question, but those 35 pages are steeped in folk music history that I was unaware of and grateful to have read. It made me realise that. to be fair, I never would have obtained Harry Smith's reknown collection The Anthology Of American Folk Music had it not been for Invisible Republic. So, not only did I learn more about folk music, but was forced to make a reassestment about Greil Marcus as a major Dylanologist.
A month or so ago I read, in The New York Times Book Review, about a recent biography on Kathy Acker. In it I discovered that it was the second biography about her. I tried ordering either of them through the Suburban Library Service but, as I highly doubt that they have any of her novels to begin with, they wouldn't and don't have a biography on her. So I ordered the first biography. I met her after a reading she did at the Detroit Institue of Arts, I believe on Valentine's Day in '86, giving her some of my poetry and getting her London address. The one time that she wrote back she gave me encouragement, saying that she liked it, which remains the sole encouragement I've ever received on my work from a published author. Perhaps it will help me to access what is biographical and what is fantasy in her novels. Just knowing more about her life is of interest to me.
In the meantime, I believe I'll peruse a history book about Detroit that my mother found at a garage sale, or something like that. I'll read anything I can about Detroit, which is how I came to read a book about a certain house called Matilda.
I haven't read anything on Dylan or many musician biographies. But that is a big area of interest for Friend Shana. I think because I deal in nonfiction so much professionally, that in my off hours of reading I end up veering toward fiction. But I'm always glad to have interesting biography recommendations for those moments when I want that! Thanks. And now I know how you found me :-)
I just finished Celeste Ng's "Our Missing Hearts," which was beautiful, terrifying, and heartbreaking. I also quite liked Emma Straub's "This Time Tomorrow" - it's a time travel book, with a lot of great NYC detail and lovely 1980s/90s vibes as well. The protagonist is flawed but not in an annoying way. I'm currently reading "The Villa" (Rachel Hawkins), which is moving back and forth in time between the present and the 1970s, with writers and musicians as protagonists who are spending time in the same villa in Italy at different points in time. It's engaging so far. Ah, Italy! How I wish I were there right now.
I haven't read either -- but I've got This Time Tomorrow on reserve at the library. I'm so grateful that I have access to The Bestie's library cards in Brooklyn and Manhattan because they have a lot more copies of books than the Detroit Public Library, so I have more shots at getting something quickly.
I'm with you on Italy... and now The Villa goes on my TBR pile right next to a new nonfiction book about climate change migrants in the Midwest. A little of this ... a little of that...
I am very slowly reading The Spook Who Sat by the Door by Sam Greenlee. "a strong comment on entrenched racial inequities in the United States in the late 1960s."Main character is a guy who joins the CIA, and then after he's trained he drops out to train young Black Chicagoans to combat racism as "Freedom Fighters." The slowness of the read is about me, and not the book.
I've heard about that one several times, but haven't ever picked it up. Maybe it's about time.
Something lighter but in the same vein is Lauren Wilkerson's novel, American Spy. Modern (not French Resistance) women spies are uncommon in fiction -- especially Black women.
I'm reading In Defense of Ska. I'm not entirely sure why. I just finished The World We Make by N.K. Jemisin, which I cannot say enough good things about. Weird and funny and so, so good.
This is NK Jemisin's bio: In her spare time, she is a gamer and gardener, and she is also single-handedly responsible for saving the world from King Ozzymandias, her dangerously intelligent ginger cat, and his phenomenally destructive sidekick Magpie.
Just finished Robert Caro's memoir-ish book, Working: Researching, Interviewing, Writing. Appreciated how he freely credits his wife Ina as co-researcher on his books. Too often the non-public-facing partner's contributions to a creative's success are overlooked. These two clearly make a great team.
On topic of memoir, Kate Beaton's Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands is heartbeaking for all the harm caused by this ill-conceived endeavor to pull even more fossil fuels from the ground. The cost to the land, the air, the water, and all living things can never be justified. This destruction of spirit extends to the workers living in these camps.
Appleseed by Matt Bell is a brilliant weaving of tales that speak to humans' fraught relationship with our home planet. This is a book best approached without reading reviews or summaries--just jump in and experience it. Bonus--the author is a Michigander.
Fellowship Point by Alice Elliott Dark is a compelling story of friendship between two older women. It's a refreshing change from the more common focus on protagonists who are either under-50 and/or male.
And, a shout out to Detroit Hustle. Thank you for writing with such honesty and compassion. Waiting for your next book!
Love all of this. Great recommendations! Thank you. Caro’s book is staring at me on my desk — and this might be the push I need to finally prioritize it! I’d heard of Appleseed and was sort of meh on it. But I like your description so I may have to give it a go. And you’re so right about who gets stories told about them; Fellowship Point sounds like a good antidote. Thanks again!
I’ve finished two non-fiction books (not my usual genre) that have stuck with me. The Woman They Could Not Silence by Kate Moore tells the story of a woman who found herself committed to an insane asylum in Illinois in the 1860’s for “having her own thoughts”, that is, disagreeing with her husband. Elizabeth Packard was a force to be reckoned with and a source of strength and perseverance that one has to admire.
The Warmth of Other Suns by Pulitzer Prize winner Isabel Wilkerson is another book full of facts, but also presented in a well written narrative. It is the story of the Great Migration (of Black Americans) from 1915-1970 (yes, 1970!). It tells the life stories of three Southern migrants who took the overground railroad to New York City, Chicago, and Los Angeles, respectively. It tells an important part of America’s history that those of who did not experience Jim Crow will find revealing and reviling. A must read.
Oh, yes, The Warmth of Other Suns is spectacular. Such great storytelling and impeccable research. Have you read her next book, Caste? I haven't heard of The Woman They Could Not Silence, but I'll have to look that one up now. Sounds both terrifying and important. Thanks for commenting!
Off to a great start this year. In January, I read:
"Greenlights": Not a huge Matthew McConaughey fan, but his narration of his memoir is a hoot. Insightful, funny, inspiring, interesting.
"Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story": Perhaps this would have been better on audio. I really liked it, but coming off "Greenlights," this just didn't have the magic. Worth reading as a U2 fan, though.
"A World of Curiosities" by Louise Penny: I think this is the best installment in the Inspector Gamache series.
"Spare": Another memoir listened to on audio, narrated by Prince Harry. His ghostwriter (J.R. Moehringer of "Tender Bar" fame) is spectacular and certainly elevates the story. I appreciated Harry's honesty and insights and gained a deeper understanding of the nefariousness of the British media. At its heart, though, it's a story of a boy who lost his mother.
"Lessons in Chemistry" by Bonne Garmus: Really liked this. The cover makes it seem like a rom-com, chick-lit book, and it is not. While it's a bit heavy-handed on every stereotype of a working woman in the 1960s, the story is important and I get why Garmus took that approach. And the dog.
Reading now: "Age of Vice" and so far it's worth the hype. Big goal of the year is to read "Demon Copperhead" and "David Copperfield" as a comparative study.
You really are off to a great start! Wow! I wondered how Greenlights would be -- though I do like me some MM, especially in Lincoln Lawyer. And you read Spare! I've only met people who've read about Spare, but who haven't actually read it. And I didn't realize that J.R. was his ghostwriter. That makes it more interesting to me. I can't wait to hear about your comparative study. That is a fantastic idea.
Ahhhh, yes, Lessons in Chemistry. It was a huge fave of mine from last year. And Bonnie talks about how frustrated she was by the cover and how it positioned her smart book as just puff. The paperback version is better, though not as eye catching.
Glad to hear that Age of Vice is worth the type. It was on my book list last month, but it hasn't come up on my library holds yet.
Congrats on the library card! It's one of my favorite things. When I was 8 or 9, my family was having a really hard year, and my mom got me a library card for Christmas with the promise that I could go every week. It cost nothing but gave me everything. ❤️
Last year, I read The Cherry Robbers by Sarai Walker and loved the first third and the last third. But the middle third left me ... confused. It was like there were two separate books happening. But I couldn't stop thinking about it, so I made a number of friends read it just so we could talk about it. They felt like they were slogging through. But the story still stuck with us. So is that a successful book, if you can't stop thinking about it -- even if you didn't exactly love it?
Two of my top reads from last year are:
1. Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt. Read it just for the curmudgeonly giant octopus, Marcellus. You get to hear directly from his brain and it's brilliant. (https://bookshop.org/a/81582/9780063204157)
2. Creatures by Crissy Van Meter. It's a father-daughter story, a coming of age story, and so much more all set on a fictional island off the coast of Los Angeles. I loved it.
https://bookshop.org/a/81582/9781643750835
Just this morning I finished reading Folk Music: A Bob Dylan Biography in Seven Songs, by Greil Marcus. When I saw the binder in the library, it only read the words Folk Music, along with the author's name. I didn't look at the cover until I was walking to my car in the parking lot, immediately thinking to myself, "Jeez, I can't get away from this guy!" I probably own around 75 books on, about and by Bob Dylan. I hated the most famous book Greil Marcus wrote about Bob Dylan, Invisible Republic. However, I wound up liking this book. The one chpter on his cover version of the old folk song "Jim Jones" makes up for any of the book's failings. It has been said of Greil Marcus that "everyhing reminds him of everything else," and it takes him 35 pages in this chapter to mention the song in question, but those 35 pages are steeped in folk music history that I was unaware of and grateful to have read. It made me realise that. to be fair, I never would have obtained Harry Smith's reknown collection The Anthology Of American Folk Music had it not been for Invisible Republic. So, not only did I learn more about folk music, but was forced to make a reassestment about Greil Marcus as a major Dylanologist.
A month or so ago I read, in The New York Times Book Review, about a recent biography on Kathy Acker. In it I discovered that it was the second biography about her. I tried ordering either of them through the Suburban Library Service but, as I highly doubt that they have any of her novels to begin with, they wouldn't and don't have a biography on her. So I ordered the first biography. I met her after a reading she did at the Detroit Institue of Arts, I believe on Valentine's Day in '86, giving her some of my poetry and getting her London address. The one time that she wrote back she gave me encouragement, saying that she liked it, which remains the sole encouragement I've ever received on my work from a published author. Perhaps it will help me to access what is biographical and what is fantasy in her novels. Just knowing more about her life is of interest to me.
In the meantime, I believe I'll peruse a history book about Detroit that my mother found at a garage sale, or something like that. I'll read anything I can about Detroit, which is how I came to read a book about a certain house called Matilda.
I haven't read anything on Dylan or many musician biographies. But that is a big area of interest for Friend Shana. I think because I deal in nonfiction so much professionally, that in my off hours of reading I end up veering toward fiction. But I'm always glad to have interesting biography recommendations for those moments when I want that! Thanks. And now I know how you found me :-)
Friend Shana here. I'm unlikely to read about Dylan ( no disrespect, just deeply not my bag ) but the recent bio of Charlie Watts is excellent.
I assumed you read all musician biographies any time. I'm learning the limits of the genre :-)
I just finished Celeste Ng's "Our Missing Hearts," which was beautiful, terrifying, and heartbreaking. I also quite liked Emma Straub's "This Time Tomorrow" - it's a time travel book, with a lot of great NYC detail and lovely 1980s/90s vibes as well. The protagonist is flawed but not in an annoying way. I'm currently reading "The Villa" (Rachel Hawkins), which is moving back and forth in time between the present and the 1970s, with writers and musicians as protagonists who are spending time in the same villa in Italy at different points in time. It's engaging so far. Ah, Italy! How I wish I were there right now.
I haven't read either -- but I've got This Time Tomorrow on reserve at the library. I'm so grateful that I have access to The Bestie's library cards in Brooklyn and Manhattan because they have a lot more copies of books than the Detroit Public Library, so I have more shots at getting something quickly.
I'm with you on Italy... and now The Villa goes on my TBR pile right next to a new nonfiction book about climate change migrants in the Midwest. A little of this ... a little of that...
I am very slowly reading The Spook Who Sat by the Door by Sam Greenlee. "a strong comment on entrenched racial inequities in the United States in the late 1960s."Main character is a guy who joins the CIA, and then after he's trained he drops out to train young Black Chicagoans to combat racism as "Freedom Fighters." The slowness of the read is about me, and not the book.
I've heard about that one several times, but haven't ever picked it up. Maybe it's about time.
Something lighter but in the same vein is Lauren Wilkerson's novel, American Spy. Modern (not French Resistance) women spies are uncommon in fiction -- especially Black women.
https://bookshop.org/a/81582/9780812988284
Yes, I read that one. Probably from your recommendation. I enjoyed it! If I ever finish this Greenlee novel you are welcome to borrow it.
Thanks! And since you're just around the corner, it's easy to come get it. With bourbon :-)
That may be just the incentive I need -- like a gold star on a reading chart, but better :)
I'm reading In Defense of Ska. I'm not entirely sure why. I just finished The World We Make by N.K. Jemisin, which I cannot say enough good things about. Weird and funny and so, so good.
This is NK Jemisin's bio: In her spare time, she is a gamer and gardener, and she is also single-handedly responsible for saving the world from King Ozzymandias, her dangerously intelligent ginger cat, and his phenomenally destructive sidekick Magpie.
Can we go be her friend now?
Yes. But you deal with the cats. The headbutting and biting from the Overlord are plenty for me.
Just finished Robert Caro's memoir-ish book, Working: Researching, Interviewing, Writing. Appreciated how he freely credits his wife Ina as co-researcher on his books. Too often the non-public-facing partner's contributions to a creative's success are overlooked. These two clearly make a great team.
On topic of memoir, Kate Beaton's Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands is heartbeaking for all the harm caused by this ill-conceived endeavor to pull even more fossil fuels from the ground. The cost to the land, the air, the water, and all living things can never be justified. This destruction of spirit extends to the workers living in these camps.
Appleseed by Matt Bell is a brilliant weaving of tales that speak to humans' fraught relationship with our home planet. This is a book best approached without reading reviews or summaries--just jump in and experience it. Bonus--the author is a Michigander.
Fellowship Point by Alice Elliott Dark is a compelling story of friendship between two older women. It's a refreshing change from the more common focus on protagonists who are either under-50 and/or male.
And, a shout out to Detroit Hustle. Thank you for writing with such honesty and compassion. Waiting for your next book!
Love all of this. Great recommendations! Thank you. Caro’s book is staring at me on my desk — and this might be the push I need to finally prioritize it! I’d heard of Appleseed and was sort of meh on it. But I like your description so I may have to give it a go. And you’re so right about who gets stories told about them; Fellowship Point sounds like a good antidote. Thanks again!
I’ve finished two non-fiction books (not my usual genre) that have stuck with me. The Woman They Could Not Silence by Kate Moore tells the story of a woman who found herself committed to an insane asylum in Illinois in the 1860’s for “having her own thoughts”, that is, disagreeing with her husband. Elizabeth Packard was a force to be reckoned with and a source of strength and perseverance that one has to admire.
The Warmth of Other Suns by Pulitzer Prize winner Isabel Wilkerson is another book full of facts, but also presented in a well written narrative. It is the story of the Great Migration (of Black Americans) from 1915-1970 (yes, 1970!). It tells the life stories of three Southern migrants who took the overground railroad to New York City, Chicago, and Los Angeles, respectively. It tells an important part of America’s history that those of who did not experience Jim Crow will find revealing and reviling. A must read.
Oh, yes, The Warmth of Other Suns is spectacular. Such great storytelling and impeccable research. Have you read her next book, Caste? I haven't heard of The Woman They Could Not Silence, but I'll have to look that one up now. Sounds both terrifying and important. Thanks for commenting!
Off to a great start this year. In January, I read:
"Greenlights": Not a huge Matthew McConaughey fan, but his narration of his memoir is a hoot. Insightful, funny, inspiring, interesting.
"Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story": Perhaps this would have been better on audio. I really liked it, but coming off "Greenlights," this just didn't have the magic. Worth reading as a U2 fan, though.
"A World of Curiosities" by Louise Penny: I think this is the best installment in the Inspector Gamache series.
"Spare": Another memoir listened to on audio, narrated by Prince Harry. His ghostwriter (J.R. Moehringer of "Tender Bar" fame) is spectacular and certainly elevates the story. I appreciated Harry's honesty and insights and gained a deeper understanding of the nefariousness of the British media. At its heart, though, it's a story of a boy who lost his mother.
"Lessons in Chemistry" by Bonne Garmus: Really liked this. The cover makes it seem like a rom-com, chick-lit book, and it is not. While it's a bit heavy-handed on every stereotype of a working woman in the 1960s, the story is important and I get why Garmus took that approach. And the dog.
Reading now: "Age of Vice" and so far it's worth the hype. Big goal of the year is to read "Demon Copperhead" and "David Copperfield" as a comparative study.
You really are off to a great start! Wow! I wondered how Greenlights would be -- though I do like me some MM, especially in Lincoln Lawyer. And you read Spare! I've only met people who've read about Spare, but who haven't actually read it. And I didn't realize that J.R. was his ghostwriter. That makes it more interesting to me. I can't wait to hear about your comparative study. That is a fantastic idea.
Ahhhh, yes, Lessons in Chemistry. It was a huge fave of mine from last year. And Bonnie talks about how frustrated she was by the cover and how it positioned her smart book as just puff. The paperback version is better, though not as eye catching.
Glad to hear that Age of Vice is worth the type. It was on my book list last month, but it hasn't come up on my library holds yet.
anything about recent archeology (and archeologists) done in recent times in british isles and particularly new jersey