WWW Wednesday, March 4, 2020

Currently, I am reading Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson.  I am moving pretty swiftly through this one and am enjoying the story.  I can kind of guess what is going to happen, but will be pleased if I am right or I am wrong.  From Goodreads: In Laurie Halse Anderson’s powerful novel, an utterly believable heroine with a bitterly ironic voice delivers a blow to the hypocritical world of high school. She speaks for many a disenfranchised teenager while demonstrating the importance of speaking up for oneself.

Also, I am currently listening to Nobody’s Fool by Richard Russo.  This book has been on my TBR for a while, and since I enjoyed Straight Man by Russo so much, I decided to give this one a listen.  Very entertaining, likeable characters, funny – but not nearly as funny as Straight Man.  From Goodreads: Richard Russo’s slyly funny and moving novel follows the unexpected operation of grace in a deadbeat town in upstate New York—and in the life of one of its unluckiest citizens, Sully, who has been doing the wrong thing triumphantly for fifty years.

I recently finished reading Bel Canto by Ann Patchett, which I enjoyed.  I found some of the book to be a bit wordy, but found the read to be enjoyable.  The book was about terrorists taking over a birthday party being held at the Vice President’s house in a South American country.  The prisoners are held captive for some time while the terrorists wait for their demands to be met. Over the course of months, they develop relationships.  Something’s gotta give and does.  Good read!

Before that I read Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly which is about three different women during WWII.  A concentration camp prisoner, a concentration camp doctor and a New York socialite all intertwine paths in this story based off the life of a real World War II heroine.  Like other concentration camp stories, this one is hard to read at times but good story.

I also listened to Calypso by David Sedaris.  I thought Sedaris’s essays were so enjoyable, so funny that at a recent book fair I went searching for his works and thankfully found a couple I am excited to get to.

I finished reading The Witch Elm by Tana Finch as well.  This was a suspense novel where at times, I found myself thinking anyone of the characters were capable of doing the very worst.  I felt the end fell a little flat.  But until then, very good.

I also finished listening to Naked Came the Florida Man by Tim Dorsey.  This was the first in a series, I do believe, yet I don’t think I will be reading or listening to anymore.  It was okay.  I was a little distracted by the voice actor’s voice and found the main characters vengeful acts a little less funny and a little more disturbing.