Recent Books I Have Read

“There are worse crimes than burning books. One of them is not reading them.” 
― Joseph Brodsky

     Along with my art and my travels, I have been reading.  I usually have two or more books going at a time.  I belong to two book clubs so I have those two each month.  Then I have my own choices to read and I almost always have an audio book going....sometimes book club books, sometimes my own choice.

1. The Marriage of Opposites- By Alice Hoffman   I love Alice Hoffman and this book did not disappoint.  Set in Saint Thomas in the early 1880's and covering nearly a century, a fascinating story of the artist, Camille Pissarro's mother....and eventually about him.  I love her descriptions of locale and times...with unforgettable characters. *****

2. Being Mortal - By Atul Gawande  A Bookclub Choice- Non fiction written by a doctor.  I had trouble getting into this book, but I found it in my library's list of audios and enjoyed listening to it. I enjoy listening to  documentaries and TED talks, so I found this to be of similar genre. It focuses on end of live decisions for the elderly and their families...sounds bleak but is very informative.***

3. Future Home of the Living God - by Louise Erdrich  A very different work for Erdrich. A dystopian work that was not up to her usual standards, in my opinion...Religion, babies born out of wed lock, fighting the system....all great subjects, just not her best. **

4. Killlers of the Flower Moon by David Grann  Subtitle: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI.  Another bookclub selection...about the Osage Indians in Oklahoma, early 1900's and how they were robbed of their wealth and murdered by some very ruthless men...also the first National Case the FBI handled under the new leader, J. Edgar Hoover.  A riveting tale which made me angry at how, once again, we were monsters to the Native Americans...not just the murders, but in many other ways. *****

5. Women of the Silk by Gail Tsukiyama  A fascinating story of the women who were worked to create the silk which was a commodity of China in the early 1900's, how they came to be in the business and how they bonded to survive.   I really enjoyed this book and have heard she has a sequel out so we can follow the main character further in her life. "The Language of Threads" *****

6. The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah   I read this a few months ago but am not sure I ever reviewed it.  France 1939-WWII, espionage.  Great characters! This is my first book by Kristin Hannah but it won't be my last....really enjoyed it!****

7. Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly  Another WWII historical fiction, based on the lives of real people...New York socialite working in the French consulate office in NY; Polish girls in a Concentration camp where experimental surgeries are performed on them; an ambitions female German doctor working in the same camp...how their lives are intertwined during the war and after.  Really good!! ****

8. The Whistler by John Grisham  I had not read a Grisham in quite awhile and although this is not a new book, it was one I hadn't read.  And he has not lost his touch!  Keeps the reader involved to the last page. ****

9. The Whole Town's Talking by Fannie Flagg  Again, I had not read anything of Fannie Flagg's for a long time and this was very typical of her early works. Actually this was published in 2016 but somehow I had missed it. Fun characters...real down-home, small town folk!  Growing up in a small town, I could really relate to many of the situations!  This book covers about 100 years of the development of a town in Missouri to its modern day life...and after life. Reminesent of "Spoon River Anthology"! ****

And I am currently reading "A Gentleman from Moscow" by Amor Towles for one of my bookclubs.

I am just barely into it, but it begins interestingly...I will report on it for my next book review blog.