March is national reading month so we did a book swap at work :) I could have also grabbed the new Emily Henry but I was a dolt and thought I already read it 😂
March is national reading month so we did a book swap at work :) I could have also grabbed the new Emily Henry but I was a dolt and thought I already read it 😂
You could hardly err on a book about a book, or a library, or better yet both. And if it entertains the idea that manuscripts don't burn - you have it all. Though they do burn, or drown, or get eaten by mice. But stories survive and get retold. Bulgakov's Woland has more flair with that, but Doerr's Zeno Ninis feels closer to us, mere mortals, with his humility and humanity. And with his story
“Why can‘t healing happen as quickly as wounding?” What a phenomenal book about the trajectory of time, memories and the steadfast heart of human nature. READ THIS IF YOU HAVE THE CHANCE!! top of my favorites now
LibraryThing's Book Psychic (https://www.bookpsychic.com/) recommended Cloud Cuckoo Land for me- so far, it's a match! 🔮
I am going to look for him at football games. His students are so lucky! Go Blue! 💙💛
1. ☝️
2. The interwoven stories, the tone, the true-feeling emotional lives of the characters.
3. Los Angeles (a recent-ish development that was quite a surprise to me).
Thanks for the tag @The_Penniless_Author !
@Eggs #WondrousWednesday (a day late)
Finally! I‘m not sure what is says about me that I will sit on a book for months (years) after anxiously awaiting its release but here we are. I really enjoyed all the characters and plot lines in this one. I am glad each story was told in a linear fashion otherwise it might have been confusing. 4.5 🌟 2nd book finished for #JubilantJuly and #4 of my hardback #14books14weeks list.
Joining in #JubilantJuly with high hopes to finish all these books plus keep up on a couple of buddy reads.
As always, I love this choose your own goals readathon.
Characters felt believable but the atmosphere was a bit too depressing for me.
I loved the very beginning but soon this started to feel sad and threatening. And this dragged a lot. I thought that the ending would be amazing and worth going through all pages before it but this didn't deliver that.
This had two interesting storylines but two totally unnecessary ones and one that could have been edited shorter.
Thanks for the tag @Klou!
1. Cloud Cuckoo Land (sorry @BarbaraJean I thought I read it last year but it was my first for 2023)
2. A Symphony of Echoes
3. Covenant of Water - Abraham Verghese
4. I have no idea 😂
5. The Starless Sea - Erin Morgenstern - slogging through and not loving it
6....
Cloud Cuckoo Land is an ode to the librarians—those who guard the books and share their immense, beautiful world of fact and fantasy to young people. I found hope in this novel, that the most lonely and forgotten people—an orphan in 15th century Constantinople, a plow driver broken by war, a child left alone on a spaceship—will make contributions experienced centuries later, when they dedicate their lives to protecting the stories they love most.
Wasn‘t as good as previous works like All the Light We Cannot See, but still a very good book.
1-6 June 23 (audiobook)
Such a great book. I regret listening rather than reading but have been trying to clear my TBR pile in anticipation of the Booker longlist.
Set across three different timelines, Doerr‘s novel pays homage to books and the importance of stories. It is beautifully told and highlights many issues - animal cruelty, education of women, the environment, dealing with difference. It is impossible to do it justice here but I loved it
Beautiful holiday Monday to enjoy the sunshine and some relaxation.
It takes a solid 100-150 pages to feel like your following the multiple story lines. It all starts to pay off around page 500 or so when the author eloquently intertwines the stories. A beautiful piece of art
The message is simple enough - yet quite profound if you truly grasp its full potential. Your story - as it is - is important. Almost a year later, I finally finished this book. Amidst a pandemic reading slump, the monotony of daily life, and my own suffering, this book of big and small questions was important, though never easy, for me to read.
🖋: LAMY 2000 Makrolon Black 14K BB Architect
🩸: FWP Atlas Iron Ore • Atlas Stationers Exclusive
This book was perhaps the most imaginative and best written book I‘ve ever read. The author Anthony Doerr wrote this as a “paean” for books- basically in praise of books. This book follows characters in 3 points in history- thousands of years apart- in Ancient Greece, present day Idaho and in the far future aboard a spaceship, all reading the same book “cloud cuckoo land”. Brilliant
I loved this so much. Made all the better by Marin Ireland‘s narration.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Up next: I haven‘t heard anything about this one but I‘m a sucker for anything narrated by Marin Ireland.
This did not work for me. It felt over-explained (eg the first scene in a spaceship at pains to tell us it‘s in the future) & preaching the message that books are good & can be life-changing. Action slowly unfolds in nicely written scenes with no dramatic tension. Favours written books over oral story-telling traditions. Ending felt contrived. Too earnest for my taste. Many have loved it so don‘t let me put you off. 😉
A breathtaking, heartbreaking, timescaping adventure, and yet, not, because most of the characters' real journeying leading to growth is internal, is a recognition of the immutability of their paths and at the same time, the value of them as such. Escapism vs acceptance.
As much about the emotional connection each person made to a certain recurring text, as the contents of the book itself. 1/?
Yep, this is a good one. Much as I expected from the author of All the Light We Cannot See, Doerr brilliantly weaves together storylines stretching over vast distances of space, time, and understanding. I alternated between audio and print on this one, which helped with some of the Greek and gave me a chance to hear Marin Ireland again, someone who's fast becoming a favorite audiobook narrator for me.
Who WRITES such things? The use of language, the discussion of etymology, I'm hooked.
Were it not for the fact that basically every character in this book is in jeopardy, I would be having a wonderful time! 🙎🏼♂️
And people WONDER why I don't want to go to space! 🫣
Hands down the tagged. Best read of the year so far. For March: it‘s my birthday month! It‘s been yet another year where me and my partner wonder what minor deities we‘ve offended. It‘s just been hit after hit. But we are still blessed in this universe and Spring is coming. I plan to read a lot and take part in all the readathon. And hike and camp in eastern WA State‘s beautiful desert, watch sand hill cranes, see the first flowers. ⬇️
I didn't audiohike today, but I did listen to the tagged on the drive to and from the trail. And I have the print book to enjoy while I wait for my kid at his class this afternoon.
Five star read for me. I loved how Doerr wrapped all the story lines together perfectly. Loved the themes of choosing life on earth over “in the clouds” despite the grief and hardship that comes with love and beauty. I loved how the novel reflected the power of words and story and how they have helped people over millennia weather life and make sense of it. The power of handing stories down and the value of libraries! ⬇️
I am sucked into this novel!! I love a novel about the power of story and word. Can‘t wait to see where this one goes! A good companion with a glass of wine on a day that has been a rough transition from vacation back to the home world.
I wanted to love this but I struggled with the disconnect between storylines for most of the book. Zeno's story was the only one I felt truly invested in throughout. I will say I loved how the pieces came together but still felt like I needed more from the ending and the characters' destinies. Overall, I'd still recommend.
2/2023
This is a speculative fiction book that takes time to read. Multiple views with multiple timelines. A book within a book. None of this was my cup of tea. I can, however, appreciate the talent of the author weaving this all together. 3 🌟 I almost did not finish, but i got wrapped up in 1 or 2 of the storylines, but they ended vaguely. I still say it's a pick, though.
There are five different stories in this tale the very human need for stories and for the people who cherish and pass them through the ages. The different threads take a while to come together but they eventually do, rewarding the reader who perseveres with a complex and ambitious novel. Full review at http://booknaround.blogspot.com/2022/12/review-cloud-cuckoo-land-by-anthony.html...
3 stars: meh, but still worth reading.
I have been so excited about this book for so long, but ultimately, it was a disappointment. The story follows 5 characters, and there were only 2 I was truly interested in fully. The ending is not well explained (it appears the author did not himself know what happened) and the book that the book centers on is not as all-encompassing and epic as I would have hoped.
This has been on and off of my TBR since it came out. Hubby promised to buy me a book since he needed to pick up one while I was at work. I was able to convince him to wait, but he kept his promise of buying the book. 2 trusted bookish friends have recently said it was better than All the Light We Cannot see, so I decided to see for myself. ☁️
Finished last night. Excellent . ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.
I‘m loving this book. I‘m nearly finished. Much has struck a chord with me, but this particularly said “ isn‘t that the truth” .
I almost DNFed this, but it grew on me. It became a so-so for a while, as it was incredibly strange & it took way too long to connect all of the characters. However, I ended up caring about each character so much that I wanted to know what happened in their individual stories only to be more & more delighted by the end. Ultimately, it‘s a scholarly, fantastical, beautiful ode to stories & how they connect us all. The narrators were fantastic too.
I couldn't put this down! At times it absolutely broke my heart but I couldn't stop reading. I love this man's writing. Beautiful, thoughtful, just wonderful. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I had a good long walk through parts of the Botanical Gardens I didn't know existed, and now coffee and my amazing book.
In random order:
🌾 Braiding Sweetgrass
✊🏾 Why We Can‘t Wait
🌞 The Hill We Climb
🐠 Unfamiliar Fishes
🏴☠️ Born to Be Hanged
🔪 A Good Girl‘s Guide to Murder & Good Girl, Bad Blood
👻 Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts
🧠 The Institute
🚪The Ten Thousand Doors of January
🦻🏻 Book of Extraordinary Tragedies
🧙🏼♀️ The Change
🌊 The House in the Cerulean Sea
☁️ Cloud Cuckoo Land - my favorite of the year
🎺 Wild Women and the Blues
Here are my #Top22of22. It was a great reading year, but even though I read the most books I've ever read in a year, I didn't have too much trouble choosing my favorites. @Cinfhen
#12Booksof2022 June was a great reading month. I enjoyed many of my books that month, but this one was by far the standout. I am not much of a rereader, but I know I will revisit this one. @Andrew65
I also read my #February favorite with my book club.
This might also be my favorite for the year.
#12BooksOf2022
Thanks for asking @Andrew65 !
This was a strange book with multiple time periods. It was sometimes tough to follow, but I enjoyed how Doer pulled all of the stories together.