I finished We Have Always Lived In The Castle, by Shirley Jackson and thought it was really good. I knew it was considered a classic but I was put off reading it because I really did not enjoy The Haunting of Hill House by the same author. I found Castle much more interesting. I loved the main character Merricat and I wonder if the author based this character on herself as I gather she was quite a recluse. There was a lot of symbolism within the book which normally goes over my head but I did seem to notice more themes within this book. I think this book would be great to study as part of a book study for an English course.

I started The Tattooist of Auschwitz, by Heather Morris on the train into work this morning but haven't got very far with that.

On the graphic novel front I read volumes 3 to 5 inclusive of Saga, by Brian K Vaughan. I am still enjoying the series. New characters are constantly added to the story and they all seem very interesting. I got volumes 6 to 8 out the library and will read those over the next couple of weeks. I started The Best We Could Do, by Thi Bui and I am about halfway through. The story is very interesting and whilst it is bleak in places it's not relentlessly bleak which I was worried it would be.

Edit: Typo. Meant to put "Tattooist" rather than "Tattooish"...

Finished

the Tattooist of Auschwitz, by Heather Morris enjoyed this one. Not the most in depth story about war but a touching one nonetheless.

Lolita, by Vladimir Nabokov a truly beautifully written book with a rather worrying plot.

Artemis, by Andy Weir Haven't read the martian but have seen the movie and enjoyed it. Got this purley on that alone. It was a fun quick story. Nothing too special. Feels like its begging for a movie to be made. I think i would have enjoyed the martian more. Will have to read it to find out.

just started

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, by Philip K. Dick only tree chapters in but so far really enjoying it.

Finished:

Becoming by Michelle Obama

Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel

I really enjoyed Becoming, even though I'm not into politics at all. There wasn't a whole lot of political stuff until the last quarter of the book. I enjoyed her writing style and the story of her life. It was really interesting to hear about the details of living in the White House. I learned about things they go through I never would have thought about.

Station Eleven was okay. I mean I enjoyed the story. But it wasn't great.

Next up is either

The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris

or

Circe by Madeline Miller.

I've been on the wait list for both books FOREVER and am really looking forward to reading both.

I finished The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris. It wasn't very good unfortunately, you could tell it had been expanded from a screen play.

Currently reading The Stand by Stephen King. About 400 pages into this brick and absolutely loving it! I'm hooked.

And still chugging along with War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy. 2/3 of the way through now. I'm still enjoying it but I'm glad the end is in sight. 3 months is a long time to be reading the same book.

I finished The Sellout, by Paul Beatty. I do not tend to enjoy reading satire so wasn't sure I would like it. I was enjoying it at the start and it genuinely is funny. However after I got to halfway I was getting a bit bored with it and was more than ready for it to end.

I also finished Saga Volume 1, by Brian K Vaughan and Saga Volume 2, by Brian K Vaughan which are graphic novels which I really enjoyed. The art work is excellent and the artist makes great use of what I call "splash pages" where you turn the page and there is a full page painting of a new monster/alien or a battle scene. I got the next 3 volumes from the library so I will get through those this week.

I started Ringworld, by Larry Niven which has been on my list for a while. I am about halfway through and I am definitely enjoying it. The characters are interesting and the descriptions of Ringworld are very imaginative and made me feel that I was exploring Ringworld like the characters were. I googled Ringworld and found there is a huge online community dedicated to Ringworld and it was nice to see some artwork of the characters and locations in the book.

I expect to finish Ringworld in the next couple of days then I will start The tattooist of Auschwitz, by Heather Morris as my local library has a copy available which I will pick up tonight if it isn't snapped up before I get there.

In Cold Blood, by Truman Capote

The Tattooist of Auschwitz, by Heather Morris

I finished The Tattooist of Auschwitz, by Heather Morris which has received good reviews both critically and via word of mouth. It was a love story rather than an account of life in Auschwitz but I did learn a few things about Auschwitz. I don't really do love stories so can't say I enjoyed it as much as most people. It was very dialogue heavy which made it a quick an easy read. The author says at the end she initially wrote it as a screenplay which makes sense. I didn't really like the main character I thought he was a bit of a sleazebag lol.

I started Storm Front(The Dresden Files, #1), by Jim Butcher after hearing good things about it on this subreddit. I didn't know anything about as I enjoy going into books blind. When I read the main character was a wizard I groaned a bit as I thought the book might involve him just magicing himself out of situations but there seem to be some limits on his magic. I'm about half way through and I am enjoying it so far.

I finished the last couple of chapters of Another Day in the Death of America by Gary Younge. It was interesting but the chapters often felt very same-same.

Next I read Carrie by Stephen King. I'd never read it and didn't know any of the plot. It was so sad! I wish it had been longer and you got more backstory, but still a good read.

Last was The Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maugham. Beautiful book. This was a reread for me, but still wonderful. I actually think I might prefer the movie though - it feels blasphemous to say that! The film provides a lot more detail, and the ending is more satisfying too.

Almost halfway through The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris. Apparently it started as a screenplay. The story is fascinating but the authors writing style is very choppy. I think someone else could have told Lale's story better.

Finished The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris. I chewed through it in 2 days on my commute and loved it. It was very sad, and after I finished it I did some more research on the main character, Lale Sokolov. It turns out he and his wife emigrated to my city (Melbourne, Australia) and his son still lives here. Melbourne has a pretty large jewish population and many of them came from Europe after the war, having being in concentration camps.

I started The Fishermen by Chigozie Obioma today. It's meant to be very good but some of the dialogue is hard for me to follow- I'm putting it down to cultural differences between my western upbringing and African storytelling. I'm really intrigued because the plot sounds excellent. Hoping to finish it quickly so I can jump on some of my other library books!

Edit: Update! I just finished Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, by Gail Honeyman, and loved it.

I finished How I Became A North Korean by Krys Lee and loved it. My only complaint is that the ending felt a little rushed and half baked.

I also finished The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis. I read this as a child and have recently wanted to read the whole chronicles of Narnia from start to finish.

I started reading The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris today. So far its excellent, and I can tell I'm going to love it- I'm a big nerd for historical lit about Nazi Germany or the Holocaust. Suggestions welcome!

Finished Never Caught: The Washingtons' Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge, by Erica Armstrong Dunbar

Started and finished The Tattooist of Auschwitz, by Heather Morris

Going to start To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before tomorrow, plus two more books are waiting for me on my library’s hold shelf.

Finished:

The Good Divide, by Kali VanBaale I read this as part of my personal read a book from every state challenge. Great character study about a woman in Wisconsin, her life, her inner workings and some other drama thrown in. Trigger warning: self-harm.

Every Heart a Doorway, by Seanan McGuire This may not be a popular opinion, but this book was such a tease. It could have been great if it was just fleshed out more. It felt rushed and a bit like a tween book that they added some curses and sexual references to in order for it to seem more mature. Don't know if I'll pick up the next in the series.

The Blessings, by Elise Juska This one had me feeling all the feels. Maybe because I can relate having come from a large, enmeshed family or from being married into one as well. This book follows the Blessings family over a span of 20 years, with each chapter told from the POV of a different family member. I really loved it.

Attachments, by Rainbow Rowell This was cute. Nice fluffy read about finding yourself and romance in your late twenties/early thirties. There are some things that you may not appreciate if you were not already an adult during the Y2K period.

Started:

The Tattooist of Auschwitz, by Heather Morris (audio narrated by Richard Armitage) This narrator is excellent. I have read a lot of WWII books, however, and am anxious to see where this is going. A love story set at Auschwitz??? Don't know if I'll be able to handle if it it's that trite.

Parable of the Sower, by Octavia Butler Only 30 pages in or so, and can't wait to see where it goes. I love Octavia Butler.

Slogging Through:

Becoming, by Michelle Obama (audio) Okay, so I'm enjoying the content of the book, but she talks SOOOOOO slow. Even on 1.5 I still have 15 hours to go.... ack. Looking to see if a friend has a print copy so I can just read this on my own.

Finished:

The Tattooist of Auschwitz, by Heather Morris (audio narrated by Richard Armitage) The narrator is excellent. That's the only nice thing that I have to say about this book. I read a lot of WWII books, there are much better told stories than this out there. The writing was not good and it was very superficial and "Hollywood" for lack of a better term, which makes sense because the author is a screenwriter. Bleh. Disappointing.

The Rules of Magic, by Alice Hoffman This was a super fun read and I can't wait to pick up Practical Magic as I have never read it (only saw the movie a long time ago).

Started:

Sourdough, by Robin Sloan (audio)

Stalled on:

Becoming, by Michelle Obama (audio) Okay, so I'm enjoying the content of the book, but she talks SOOOOOO slow. Even on 1.5 I still have 15 hours to go.... ack. Looking to see if a friend has a print copy so I can just read this on my own.

Parable of the Sower, by Octavia Butler Only 30 pages in or so, and can't wait to see where it goes. I love Octavia Butler.

Finished:

The Library Book, by Susan Orlean. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I'm not usually a reader of nonfiction, but I was enthralled the entire time. I loved how Orlean was able to weave the magic of the library into the compelling history of the LA Public Library.

The Tattooist of Auschwitz, by Heather Morris. Such a quick read and I enjoyed it regardless of any historical errors. Highly recommend.

Started:

The Girls, by Emma Cline. I have heard varied reviews of this book and am looking forward to reading it.

Finished Sapiens and I really liked it. It wasn't "life-changing" as some people described it, but it was really interesting. I'll definitely read Homo Deus at some point.

Started The Tattooist of Auschwitz, by Heather Morris. A pretty quick read, I'm already almost at halfway through and I started it yesterday. It feels kind of... rushed? The writing isn't that strong either, but I'm still liking it actually.

Finished:

The Tattooist of Auschwitz, by Heather Morris

Where'd You Go, Bernadette, by Maria Semple

Started:

Spinning Silver, by Naomi Novik

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