I always wanted to read this but now I remember I mostly like fiction.

Re-read this for the 50th anniversary. Still a page-turner. Those kids had it coming. Be nice.

It was good, as predicted. But too long. Couldn‘t this story have been told in 400 pages rather than 715? Enjoyed learning more about leprosy and the Communist movement in India.

This was a quick and fun read, but not quite sure about the sci-fi sister in the trunk. I enjoyed it but wouldn‘t pass it on.

Wow just finished this 600+ page wonder and still absorbing all the relationships and … the ending!?! Captivating, going to be an amazing movie. Imelda, Dickie, Frank, the garage, the secrets. Great.

Another terrific book by Naomi Alderman. Tech billionaires leaving the rest of us behind. Great surprise ending. Can‘t wait for her next one.

Another book about the Kentucky Packhorse Library of the WPA! A young British woman marries into a KY coal family. It‘s awful of course but she finds her people with the librarians. Sad for it to end.

This was an amazing book. Reads like a thriller even though you know the good guys win. So many villains. Loved it. P 111
He presents as a man at home within himself, whose waters run deep but whose surface is no less real.

Really captivating, what is up with Barbara? And Walter, her shithead German(?) husband? Surprises/unpeeling all the way to the end and then - bam -it‘s done. Still thinking about it. Is Barbara dying? The disabled secret child? Was Walter Russian too? Is Barbara? Who is Bernd‘s father? Ugh the Germans. Maybe I should read it again!

So interesting and memorable. Blue-skinned people of Kentucky, Kentucky Pack horse library of the 1930s—not that long ago and yet another world. Loved it.

Memorable story about abject poverty and impact of the pandemic in the poorest of countries. Fair warning for climate change—people will do anything when they are desperate. Still not nearly as good as The Art of Hearing Heartbeats.

A worthy set-up to the Hunger Games, and leaves us ready for a sequel.

Another lovely installation by Elizabeth Strout. I love the pandemic-timeliness, the love story of Lucy and William, all the recurring Maine characters.

Borrowed this from Mom-historical fiction about the Martin Handcart Company, a group of zealous European Mormon immigrants. Disastrous. Memorable.

So fun and timely. Really clever, loved the science and the wonderfully smart dog (6:30). Of course it‘s going to tv.

Terrific. Shockingly, the MoFos are dying, the result of their screen addiction. Mother Nature always wins. Told by a crow (ST), this is one of the best books I‘ve read in 2023.

All that I expected. What a great author. Loved it!

A beautiful story about two French priests in New Mexico. Beautiful.

Wow. Unforgettable. I read these books snd they‘re sort of dystopian and then it‘s just like Fox News and the crazy nationalist xenophobia stuff. Her best book by far. Also a nice ode to poets!

What a read, what a talent, by the author of Women Talking. Funny, clever, memorable story of a girl who‘s been suspended from school and her grandmother and their trip to California. Loved it. Must read everything by this author.

Fun read, in the spirit of “Where the crawdads Sing” about growing up poor and persecuted in North Carolina .

P4: The last 40 years on the land were revolutionary and disrupted all that had gone before for thousands of years—a radical and ill-thought-through experiment that was conducted on our fields.

This was terrific. Finally got me to try vegan yogurt and it‘s terrific. 66 BILLION farm animals slaughtered each year.

The depravity of the Nazis and frankly, in this book also the Poles who enabled them, still shocks. Would that we had advanced as humans. Never forget.

Spectacular. So many things to know about horse racing and the slaves who built the industry, and were then forced out of it in emancipation. Also, a true story about the horse Lexington. A masterpiece.

Didn‘t realize this was a collection of her essays. She‘s a terrific writer and I enjoy them in the Times, but not so interested in a book of previously published work.

Foster care, opioids, then a big political message at the end about hillbillies and the extraction economy. I thought it might be too much of a downer but it was laugh out loud funny sometimes (Jesus Christ on a stick) and almost exhilarating at the end. Glorious.

Gorgeous. Georgia after the Civil War, two freed brothers, gay soldiers…completely unexpected and a beautiful story.

Funnier than when I read it in college. What a classic.
Vardaman: My mother is a fish.

Another lovely and pointed story about rural Kentucky and a bachelor barber who makes a life. Is there time to read everything by Wendell Berry?

I loved this book. It was less about the extractive nature of the Plains than I imagined, but his story was compelling. “The American West is the playground for the country‘s obsession with exploitation and destruction, with most extractive economies near Native American reservations…Violent people who mimic the violence done to the land.”

Love this author. This one was fun, too—kind of fantasy but mostly a story about living your best life and finding love.

I thought I‘d enjoy this but found it tedious and depressing. Couldn‘t finish.

Another well-written, easy to read book by Liz Carlisle about food policy. Terrific.

Really fun. “The Kid” in this book is not Billy! Going to be a terrific movie, can‘t wait.

Timely and important, but I must remember I prefer fiction. Bailed.

This one was fun. Bored unhappy housewife becomes spy.

Terrific. Lots of space, but in an accessible way much like trees were in the Overstory. Sad ending but what else was going to happen? Loved it.

“Whenever I don‘t know what to do, I watch what I am doing.” (P 161)
It‘s starting to feel like I need to read all her books back-to-back because the characters keep returning and I can‘t remember them. Great story telling.

…and I tell them that it matters—to earn one‘s own living, to work hard, and to consider oneself an individual, with rights and privileges and responsibilities—the most vital of which is self-realization. (P 183)

I waited so long to read this. Loved reading the names of all the foods and the extraordinary mother. Sad.

Another great read by this author. The Dust Bowl was so awful and so were the Californians. It is so hard to see the humanity in others. Loved it.

Terrific story about a long-shot presidential campaign run by people who believe in something. Interesting and believable characters and the Las Vegas setting was a nice change of pace from the typical DC political story. Loved it.

Amazing, unforgettable, awful, how come they didn‘t teach us ANY of this? She‘s a magnificent author, makes me like nonfiction. Couldn‘t put it down

Maybe it was the wrong time, but I couldn‘t get into it. A talking cat, an orphaned boy, “saving” the books. Bailed.

Parallel story of a Cuban family—drug addict daughter, grandmother still in Cuba, unlikely unaccompanied minor tossed in. It was ok but I didn‘t feel like the characters connected in any meaningful way. Easy read so I finished it.

One of her best books in awhile. The books set in Chile, like this one, feel most authentic. Violeta tells the story of her life — and his birth — to her grandson, Camilo. The regular themes: strong, empowered female characters, passion, corruption, dictatorship. “Sometimes our fates take turns that we don‘t notice in the moment they occur, but if you live as long as I have they become clear in hindsight.” (P254) Delicious.

So fun, Steves book club book. Great set up as a series of “interviews.” I truly thought it was a real band. Loved it.

So charming and magical children and a phoenix and a gnome. Hated for it to end.

Maybe COVID brain kept me from being able to focus enough to enjoy this. Also I don‘t love books with only male characters where the women are only either whores or mistresses. Maybe The Feast of the Goat was the only Vargas Llosa book I really liked. Gave up at about page 50.