It's Monday, April 24th! This is What I'm Reading. How About You?

Hosted by The Book Date

What have I finished reading?

Last week was both Book Club #2, followed closely by Book Club #1. As luck would have it, and for different reasons, I missed both although I did finish the chosen books.

A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles was read for BC#2. I, borderline, loved this book. It was the second novel in the last few I have read set in Russia so I was more acclimated to similar sounding character names. The story begins when the main character, in his early twenties, is sentenced by the Bolshevik government to live out his remaining years on house arrest in a famous Russian hotel for being an aristocrat. He is warned that he will be shot on sight if he ever steps foot outside its confines. His world narrows as does his living quarters, which change from a luxurious suite to one hundred square feet of space. His closest friends become the staff and returning guests of the hotel. He manages to thrive and find a certain happiness in his reduced circumstance mostly because of the relationships he develops and cultivates. 

If you loved Rules of Civility like me, this is a wonderfully told tale like that! Read it!

Love Medicine by Louise Erdrich was read for BC#1. I love her. Her writing is so, so good and so meticulous. Her characters are always raw and flawed and authentic feeling. Have you read Olive Kitteridge where characters weave through multiple story lines, but the each truly is a separate short story? This was a similar experience. All of Erdrich’s novels are set in North Dakota Indian Territories. She lives there and knows the culture well, both Native American Indians and other nationalities living in close proximity to the local reservations. It is fantastic as is she.

What am I currently read?

Today I start Imagine Me Gone by Adam Haslett. While I have had it on loan since last summer and have wanted to read it even longer than that, he is coming next weekend to the Chicago Humanities Festival’s Spring Event to speak about the book and I would like to be finished by then. Here is what Goodreads has to say about this book.

I am still listening to Edgar and Lucy. Still about halfway through the almost twenty hours of narration. Still loving it, but there is only so much time I can be in the car or walk around with earbuds in.

What will I read next?

I really need to alternate participating in these two groups. 

Book Club #1 has chosen Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders for our next read. I have already read it so, YIPPEE, I have some free choice time for reading with no idea what I will read next! How freeing! 

Any suggestions?