What are you reading?

[Frelga]

Are we going to read it now? Frelga, did you start?

Not yet. I got an audio book, but I already had How to Behave Badly in Elizabethan England, so I started that first. Non-fiction does not always work well on audio, but this one is great, an easy and engaging listen.

I've given up on listening to The Sword Defiant. The narrator is great, but the book is slow, and even though it's uncomplicated in plot and characterization, my brain can't quite deal with it. I will try it on page.

[RoseMorninStar]

DOGE cuts may affect the LIBBY reading app, and libraries & museums in general. The Institute for Museum and Library Services Was Just Gutted (Bookriot) and the ALA (American Library Assoc.) is suing.

[WampusCat]

Well, if everyone else is reading “Lessons in Chemistry,” I believe I’ll do the same.

[Alatar]

I've given up on listening to The Sword Defiant. The narrator is great, but the book is slow, and even though it's uncomplicated in plot and characterization, my brain can't quite deal with it. I will try it on page.

I loved the book but my wife bounced off it first time. She's back reading them now and enjoying it more.

[narya]

I've got 22 books downloaded to my phone, including Lessons in Chemistry. I can start anytime, or wait if that's better for some people.

I was off camping this past week with a pre-loaded library on my phone (via Libby) and looking forward to wandering in the woods while listening to various books. That worked the first day, then Libby quit for no discernible reason. Luckily, I had Hoopla as a backup. Meltdown averted.

*I do not have bibliomania. Really.*

[Inanna]

I just finished “Lessons in Chemistry”!

It’s great. Very well written.

[RoseMorninStar]

You must be a fast reader Inanna!

I was surprised when it showed up in my Libby today, as just a few days ago it said there was a 6 week wait. Maybe I'll start it later.

[narya]

Sounds like we all have it available, or finished, so I'll listen to my copy - it's a 12 hour book.

[Frelga]

I started The Lessons in Chemistry audiobook, but I was entirely unprepared for a graphic rape scene as I was listening on the commuter train. I had expected something much more lighthearted.

[Inanna]

Oh lord. I can’t imagine listening to that. I skipped significant parts of the book.

It’s not a lighthearted book… it’s very well written. And very matter of fact about some *things*

[Maria]

I'm glad I wasn't even considering that one.

[narya]

Thanks for the warning - I haven't started it yet - and I'm now rethinking starting it.

[Impenitent]

Narya, it's worth reading. There are several enraging scenes, and deliberately enraging.
But also some deliciously subversive bits that are very satisfying.
And, as Inanna said, very well written.

[Inanna]

Yes, deliberately enraging is the right phrase. But also very deeply satisfying bits.

I can’t imagine listening to it. But I think reading it would be fine. I want to be clear that I cannot handle any books that are upsetting. Since a few years now. But there is something about how this book is written, and even those scenes are written, that it wasn’t upsetting for me.

[RoseMorninStar]

I have to start reading it tonight. I'm a few days behind. Hopefully it's no worse than a scene in the first 'Outlander' (by Diana Galbadon) book.

[narya]

OK, I'll start tonight, too. I'm in the middle of They Spy Who Came In From The Cold right now, but it can wait a few days.

[WampusCat]

I’m most of the way through listening to “Lessons in Chemistry” and have enjoyed it. I particularly liked listening in the car, because I was free to pause the narration and yell in rage at the blatant misogyny she faced. I also laughed a lot, though.

[Alatar]

This isn't so much a recommendation as, I dunno... a warning? If you have the stomach for it right now, the Booker Prize winning "Prophet Song" by Irish Author Paul Lynch is an important book. Hard read though.

[Impenitent]

Alatar I'll put it on m list for when my heart is stronger.

[RoseMorninStar]

I'm about 1/3 the way into 'Lessons in Chemistry'. It's well written. It's funny how parts are written from the perspective of the dog. So far, some joy, some mystery, quite a bit of sadness at the moment.

When I hear about people/women allowing rights to be taken from them, I cannot help but feel they don't have a very good grasp of just how hard people/women have worked for those rights over the decades, centuries. It wasn’t until 1974, when the Equal Credit Opportunity Act passed, that women in the U.S. were granted the right to open a bank account on their own/without a male signature. That's in my lifetime. It's mind-blowing.