Constant Reader discussion

Time to start a new thread for discussions of what you're reading during the last two months of the year! I'll be closing the Sept/Oct thread to new posts soon, but the posts will still be available to read after the thread is closed.

Please continue your discussions in the new thread.

My reading has been so slow this year. But I just started listening to the audio of The Women by Kristin Hannah.

I know this is going to be a tough read for me. My husband stepped on a land mine in Vietnam and he often speaks about the nurses who treated him.

Wow BC. That will make it so personal for you. Let us know what you think.

I really enjoyed this book. The writing was beautiful
The Ferryman and His Wife by Frode Grytten
In the spirit of Amor Towles and George Saunders, the renowned, bestselling Norwegian author Frode Grytten takes listeners on a quietly epic ferry driver Nils Vik’s last route along the fjord, on what he knows will be his last day alive.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Maureen wrote: "I really enjoyed this book. The writing was beautiful
The Ferryman and His Wife by Frode Grytten
In the spirit of Amor Towles and George Saunders, the renowned, be..."

Looks wonderful! I've put it on hold in my library. Thanks for recommending it.

I read The Furies by Natalie Haynes.
Unlike her other novels which are re-tellings of Greek myths, Natalie Haynes sets this novel in contemporary London and Edinburgh. A young theatre director, grieving over the untimely death of her fiancee, goes to Edinburgh to teach drama therapy to dysfunctional children. The outcome is not what she expected.
I enjoyed the novel, especially the parts showing the teenagers engaging with classical Greek tragedies.
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I just finished The Escape Artist: The Man Who Broke Out of Auschwitz to Warn the World. It's a lot, and the well researched details are utterly heart breaking. But it's somehow also a page turner that's hard to put down.

I re-read In This House of Brede, by Rumer Godden, over 50 years after my first reading. It is a very quiet novel, taking place largely in a cloistered Benedictine monastery. No cliff-hangers here; a rather old-fashioned, elegiac book that I found somewhat soothing in this fraught moment in time.

Glad to hear that, Mary Ellen. I’ve not read In This House of Brede but it’s on my short list.

Mary Ellen wrote: "I re-read In This House of Brede, by Rumer Godden, over 50 years after my first reading. It is a very quiet novel, taking place largely in a cloistered Benedictine monastery. No cliff-..."

Maybe it’s time for me to reread that too!

Ruth wrote: "Mary Ellen wrote: "I re-read In This House of Brede, by Rumer Godden, over 50 years after my first reading. It is a very quiet novel, taking place largely in a cloistered Benedictine m..."

You know, the Classics Corner nominations will be coming up sometime next week. Maybe one of you should consider nominating This House of Brede!

While You Were Out – Meg Kissinger – 5*****
Subtitle: An Intimate Family Portrait of Mental Illness in an Era of Silence. Growing up in the 1960s in the suburbs of Chicago, Meg Kissinger was one of eight children of loving parents. To all around them, the Kissingers seemed a happy, boisterous, pleasant family. But behind closed doors their mother was medicated and suffered from anxiety and depression. Their father was manic and prone to violent outbursts. And two of Meg’s siblings succumbed to untreated mental illness, committing suicide. This is a brutally honest look at the cost of silence.
LINK to my full review

So far, I'm really liking Hannah's book The Women. Have been listening to the CDs in the car and when I first started it, Hubby and I were together one day and I asked if it was okay if I listened to the book (don't usually do this when he's in the car with me). I told him it was about an Army nurse in Vietnam, so it might be disturbing, but he agreed to listen.

He is now reading the book and loving it. But he comments frequently about how "close to home" it's hitting.

Rumer Godden is one of my authors that I've read nearly everything she wrote. In This House of Brede just sounds perfect given the madness out around us lately. In fact her books are in one of those boxes that are sitting in my "library awaiting the next step in clearing and unpacking for my new shelves.

Dottie, it is a very soothing book, in a way. Very gently, kindly written and the problems are so, so far from the craziness we are hearing about every day. If you are a fan of Rumer Godden, I am sure you'll like this book,

I'm reading A Separation by Katie Kitamura for my in person book club. An interesting choice.

I read Mona's Eyes by Thomas Schlesser; translated from the French by Hildegarde Serle. It is the story of ten-year-old Mona's excursion into the world of art under the guidance of her grandfather. I enjoyed the analysis of some of the art works, but the story of Mona and her family was disappointing and far-fetched for a number of reasons.
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Mary Ellen wrote: "Dottie, it is a very soothing book, in a way. Very gently, kindly written and the problems are so, so far from the craziness we are hearing about every day. If you are a fan of Rumer Godden, I am s..."

I will definitely reread and be around if this book is selected. It has been many years since I last read it.

Hi everyone--I've not posted for quite a while (I've been reading, of course!) I very much enjoyed The Women too, though it was bleak reading at times. I thought Hannah did an excellent job of conveying what life was like for some women who served at that time.

I've just finished reading William Boyd's Any Human Heart. So good! I love books written in that intimate journaling voice, and this writer's life, loves and losses were told so well, with the calamitous backdrop of the twentieth century unfolding in the background. Any other fans?

This is a beautifully written book about a Buddhist monk that probes the nature of time. I always enjoy books that immerse me in different cultures of the world (in this case it is set in Mongolia):
When I'm Gone, Look for Me in the East by Quan Barry - 4* - My Review

This is one of the best books I’ve read about complicity. The storyline portrays both those who know they are doing wrong and passive bystanders who benefit from wrongdoing without directly participating. This is a masterfully constructed story. It is not a comfortable read, and not for anyone who needs likeable characters, but I found it fascinating.
The Impostor by Damon Galgut - 5* - My Review

Every now and then I come across an author whose writing style speaks to me. Eleanor Shearer is one of those authors. Her prose is lyrical. She crafts a story that flows well and is satisfying in the end. I previously had read her debut (River Sing Me Home) and was extremely impressed. This, her second book, is equally impressive. It is due for publication in Feb 2026.
Fireflies in Winter by Eleanor Shearer - 5* - My Review

Joy D wrote: "I previously had read her debut (River Sing Me Home) and was extremely impressed...."

Thanks for the comment about River Sing Me Home, Joy. It's our Reading List selection for December and I'm looking forward to discovering Shearer's writing then.

I'll try to remember to follow along with the December discussion.

I read By the Lake by John McGahern. I know somebody on this list recommended the author. I'm sorry, but I can't remember who it was. Thank you so much for recommending him.
I will read more of his writing. I just loved the novel. As I said in my review, it is simply beautiful and beautiful in its simplicity. Thank you, again.
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Tamara, I read lots of McGahern when I was younger, he probably was my first modern Irish writer, a group that still appeals. Have you read Amongst Women?

Sheila, this is my first McGahern novel. But it won't be my last. I have Amongst Women on hold in the library. I'm looking forward to it. I love the quiet way he writes.

glad you are enjoying his work. Just in case you haven't read it here us a link to his obituary in The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/news/2006...

Thank you for sharing that, Sheila. It was interesting. What he suffered in life filtered through to his writing--a sort of stoic persistence in the face of adversity.
I'm putting a couple more of his novels on my TBR.

Something weird is happening. I just put That They May Face the Rising Sun on my TBR and what comes up is By the Lake and the review I posted of that novel. Does anyone know if they are the same book but with different titles? Or is this a goodreads glitch?

Unusual and creative novel that simultaneously tells a story and of the author’s composition of the story:
Democracy by Joan Didion - 4* - My Review

Tamara, the link worked for me.

Joy D wrote: "Unusual and creative novel that simultaneously tells a story and of the author’s composition of the story:
Democracy by Joan Didion - 4* - My Review

Tamara, the link worked..."

Thanks for checking, Joy.

I did a bit of research and discovered that By the Lake is the same book as That They May Face the Rising Sun. The former is the title used in the US. The latter is the title used in Britain and Ireland. Mystery solved!

We really enjoyed the film of That They May Face the Rising Sun; actually had no idea it had come from a novel, though.