The Reader’s Nook - The N&G Book Thread

Begging everyone to read Michelle Zauner's (Japanaese Breakfast) Crying in H Mart. Easly my favorite and most moving book I've read this year. And they just announced that MGM has the rights for a movie as well. Should be great.
I'm about 3/4 of the way through it right now. I have to admit, I feel a lot more mixed about it than most. For one, I might simply be struggling with the book because it is a very direct, apt description of watching someone close to you die. My wife lost both her grandparents a year ago, and the descriptions of that in-between, logistically-detailed yet completely-detached space one lives in are very apt.

I do also think the focus is on Zauner's experience and her grief, to the extent her father and even her mother are a bit less shaded in than I'd prefer; but I think that's simply due to the book being an exploration of the grief, not necessarily a description of her family.

Definitely a good book, one I'd recommend with caveats.
 
I'm about 3/4 of the way through it right now. I have to admit, I feel a lot more mixed about it than most. For one, I might simply be struggling with the book because it is a very direct, apt description of watching someone close to you die. My wife lost both her grandparents a year ago, and the descriptions of that in-between, logistically-detailed yet completely-detached space one lives in are very apt.

I do also think the focus is on Zauner's experience and her grief, to the extent her father and even her mother are a bit less shaded in than I'd prefer; but I think that's simply due to the book being an exploration of the grief, not necessarily a description of her family.

Definitely a good book, one I'd recommend with caveats.
It is heavy, there's no denying. I'd probably tell somebody having a hard time that they should probably wait on it. But then again it could be a very cathartic experience. Either way, it's an intense and affecting read.
 
Finished Franzen's 'Freedom' last night. Man alive, that guy writes 'Jo/sephine Schmo' America like no one else. I'd loved his earlier 'The Corrections' but this just stopped me dead in it's brutally raw depiction of the American Dream, the American Way, The American Family Unit and all the flaws that they beget. Can't wait for his upcoming, 'Crossroads'. Such a good writer.
 
Finished Franzen's 'Freedom' last night. Man alive, that guy writes 'Jo/sephine Schmo' America like no one else. I'd loved his earlier 'The Corrections' but this just stopped me dead in it's brutally raw depiction of the American Dream, the American Way, The American Family Unit and all the flaws that they beget. Can't wait for his upcoming, 'Crossroads'. Such a good writer.

It's been a while but I really really liked that one too. Also, Walnut Surprise is Uncle Tupelo and you can't convince me otherwise. Franzen grew up a hop and a skip away from them too.
 
It's been a while but I really really liked that one too. Also, Walnut Surprise is Uncle Tupelo and you can't convince me otherwise. Franzen grew up a hop and a skip away from them too.

I wouldn't dare to convince you otherwise not knowing that scene at all!!! He does reference Tweedy as a 'Walnut' fan I believe at some point though if I remember rightly.
 
After a decade or so of using the site, I decided to delete my Goodreads completely (after downloading all that sweet, sweet data, of course). It's kind of nice just opening or finishing a book and feeling no need to broadcast that fact to anyone.
I use it more as a reference for myself. Helps me keep track of what I’ve read and the books I own. I wish it had a better interface and made it easier to get errors on listings corrected. Not great if I am wishing it was more like Discogs.
 
Finished Franzen's 'Freedom' last night. Man alive, that guy writes 'Jo/sephine Schmo' America like no one else. I'd loved his earlier 'The Corrections' but this just stopped me dead in it's brutally raw depiction of the American Dream, the American Way, The American Family Unit and all the flaws that they beget. Can't wait for his upcoming, 'Crossroads'. Such a good writer.
I absolutely adored The Corrections; it's one of the few books I've reread in my adult life. But I hated Freedom oh so very much; where The Corrections had some affection for its emotionally broken family of outcasts, it felt like Franzen was pointing to the family in Freedom and saying "look at these gentrifying-ass dipshits and their dumb bicycle pants." The early passage from the wife's diary was especially dire for me. I wonder what I'd think of it now, ten years removed.
After a decade or so of using the site, I decided to delete my Goodreads completely (after downloading all that sweet, sweet data, of course). It's kind of nice just opening or finishing a book and feeling no need to broadcast that fact to anyone.
I also like it as a method for tracking what I read and what I want to read. But I also think it's an absolute cesspool and the gamified nature of the user reviews, combined with the grind of seeking approval from the publishers which sent you the free books in the first place, really makes it impossible to get a bead on what books are worth your time and why.

It's a long way off, and I'll share it when I get anywhere complete with it, but a personal coding project of mine has been to make my own letterboxd clone, but for book reviews and ratings. Unlike goodreads, letterboxd does a great job of putting personal enjoyment first, and does all these little things (and big things like eschewing ads or promotional tie-ins) to put connection through enjoyment forward. Goodreads has this franticness from top to bottom, a very reactionary jitteriness over the future of the publishing industry, whereas letterboxd is more like "saw Moby Dick last night. Mitchum owns."
 
This is how I use it as well.
Same. I'll only ever take a glance at the reviews once I'm finished a book (and then mainly the 1 star ones for the comedy value), but other than occasionally seeing one of my friends read or want list an interesting book I don't really care about the social aspect of it. Same with Letterboxd for movies.
 
I use it more as a reference for myself. Helps me keep track of what I’ve read and the books I own. I wish it had a better interface and made it easier to get errors on listings corrected. Not great if I am wishing it was more like Discogs.
like librarything?
 
Just got a book in the mail today that I"m really excited to start reading this weekend at the beach.

Enola Holmes And The Black Garouche


I'm not sure how / where this book fits into the series which I have not read yet.

Books 1-6 came out in 2008 through 2010.

Enola Holmes was made into a Netflix film that was released in 2020. I quite enjoyed the film.

This book is the first adventure since the treakout Netflix movie turned the 10+ year old series into a bestseller.

I think this book picks up where the Netflix movie leaves off, but I'm not sure to be honest.

And I don't know if the movie fits in to any or all the books or not.
 
I genuinely don’t know if this is referring to the age of the books or their reading level?

edit: also meant to say that starting a series with book #7 is absolutely the most chaotic-borderline-psychopathic thing I’ve ever read in the books thread.

this new book is not a book 7 in the series as far as I can tell. No place lists it as book 7. I think it’s more of a reboot.

And yeah, I was referring to the age of the books
 
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