What are you reading this weekend?

[SiouxsieSiouxStiletto]

I'm reading Blood & Beauty by Sarah Dunant as recommended by another MNer.

What are you reading and is it any good?

Yellowface by Rebecca Kuang.

Good so far.

Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult.

I’ve heard good reviews of her other books. It’s the first of hers I’ve read and I’m not enjoying it at all. But I sort of want to know what happens and I’m over halfway through it now, so will begrudgingly finish it.

Yellowface is on my to-read list!

I finished Maggie Smith's (Not the wonderful ageing English actress - this MS is a poet from Ohio) You Could Make This Place Beautiful. A series of notes reflecting on how she started cooking to teens with her divorce - she distills her conclusions, what she boils various thoughts down to, in a series of metaphors - it's writerly and arty which I appreciate BUT I'm conflicted by the decisions she made about writing this book - I feel a bit mean saying that for a "book" it was a bit "spineless" - I feel short changed, I feel like she bottled it and didn't tell the whole story - she continually brings this up throughout the book - why she decided not to go into the deep emotional details - in which case - why try to write the book in the first place? Firstly, it's therapy, good therapy I find, to actually put hard to define experiences and feelings into words - it's often hard but I've done this many times in my own "real life based" creative writing and find it a very effective way of sealing off difficult posts of my life (not too many thankfully, just a few biggies) - I often return to what I wrote about things instead of having to go back through all the emotional raw material, anyway - I think she would have benefited more from writing with this in mind. Secondly, it didn't feel satisfied at all at the conclusion (more a petering out) when finishing the book. Quite late on she sends to be saying that she didn't know why her husband left and what, if anything could have been done to see this coming or to change the course of events, or what their respective parts were.... she didn't make it clear from the outset that you really wouldn't get an insight into any of this... it was mentioned that litigation over the divorce dragged on and her husband did cause certain things to be redacted on the book... maybe this played more if a part in what the book became (she tried to suggest other reasons)... anyway - I'm disappointed as the previous book Keep Moving was so purposeful, insightful and life affirming. Can you tell - I'm disappointed!

Loved that book!

Hoping to finish Lessons In Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus this weekend, im more than half way through and am really enjoying it so far. Next on my TBR list is The Maidens by Alex Michaelides. I really enjoyed The Silent Patient so i have high hopes for this one.

I would really recommend Whale by Cheon Myeong-Kwan. Really unusual but so good.

I’m halfway through Dumplin’ by Julie Murphy. Liking it so far.

I rarely read fiction but it doesn’t stop me from reading reviews and articles in the guardian’s book webpages - any story about an unappreciated classic, a little known gem always reels me in. Only about 10 pages in but at under 200 pages it’s a weekend read.

Persuasion - a many times over re-read. Small, and yet perfect.

Once I'm done with that, Now All Roads Lead to France - the last years of the poet Edward Thomas.

I finished A Certain Hunger last night and I'm not sure what to read next.

I've got three books on the go atm:

Claire Tomalin's biography of Thomas Hardy: Time Torn Man

The Collected Letters of Ted Hughes

A Handful of Dust by Evelyn Waugh

That is the only Waugh novel I've never read, so am curious to see what it's like. I've got a passion for literary biographies atm. After the Hardy biography, I might read Tomalin's biography of Dickens, and Peter Ackroyd's biography of Blake. I'm also building up a collection of Harold Bloom's books. I plan to read the lot in chronological order (but what I plan and what I do aren't the same thing).

Finally finished American Dirt last night, absolutely loved it.

Now starting Sea of Tranquility by Emily St John Mandel which is off to a very promising start, loved Station Eleven

Three Women by Lisa Taddeo, it’s my first actual proper book in ages, I normally read using my Kindle. It’s lovely to feel a book in my hands.

The Poisonwood Bible is a wonderful read, recomended to me by my penfriend. So many layers to it, and it stayed with me for a long time afterwards

Oh wow! I am envious - the idea of reading these for the first time again would be exceptional! Although I imagine you may well know a lot of the plot already?