Love to see you trying out JCO, Middle Age was so good, maybe influenced a little by one of her idols (DH Lawrence) in tone/style. I'm excited to read babysitter her new one but damn the queue is long at the libary and the hardcover is so expensive! Hopefully I'll get it soon. Hope you'll try russell banks sometime if you haven't I really feel like you'd like him also... sweet hereafter is so great as well as rule of the bone

@CurtisBooksandFilms

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It is so good. I never thought of Lawrence (who used to be one of my favourite writers) but I can sort of see it now. Banks is now on my list.

And yeah William is mentioned a lot in My Name is Lucy Barton and Anything is Possible. In My Name, he's the one who calls Lucy's mom to to stay with her in the hospital while he watches the girls and she goes a little into his backstory in both books.

@CurtisBooksandFilms

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Yeah I need need need to read them again.

So many people seemed upset that Oh William made the Booker short list that it’s good to hear a positive opinion of the book. Enjoyed your Harry Potter chat Curtis as although I was too old- or considered myself so- to read them when they came out, I have seen and enjoyed all the movies (and yes, I’ve been told by those who have read the books that the books are better 😉) Have only read a few JCO, one I enjoyed, one was meh but it’s so easy to find her books in charity shops that I have a pile, Middle Age isn’t one of them though so look forward to seeing if it continues in a positive vein.

@CurtisBooksandFilms

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You would expect an author as prolific as JCO to have at least some duds -- I was obviously lucky to pick out a gem. Read about 50 pages more this morning and it only gets better!

I have an e-copy of Olive Kitteridge that I've never gotten around to reading. You make me want to pick it up but I am stuck in Russia at the moment. Russian books that is. Modern Russian books. I discovered Mikhail Shishkin back in the spring and read his Calligraphy Lesson. He does not presently live in Russia but his books are about Russia. I came to him after having read The Brothers Karamazov earlier in the year. I disliked TBK so much, I was drawn to more modern Russian literature in order to compare the outdated nineteenth century view to life to the twentieth/twenty-first century attitudes. Two or three years ago I read a group of short stories, A Werewolf Problem in Central Russia, by Victor Pelevin and loved the insight it gave concerning Russian life nowadays. Much more different from what is presented in Dostoevsky's book. So, keeping with my quest to read more modern Russian literature, I am presently reading In The First Circle by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. It's amazing. It clocks in at 742 pages but I have learned so much about the Russian way of life during the early fifties while Stalin was in power. In The First Circle is one of those books you can only read in small increments. The subject matter (it takes place in a Soviet prison) does not invite extended dives in the book. I'm halfway through the book and am majorly enjoying it. The existential and generally philosophical discussions in the book are extremely thought-provoking. Before the year's out I may spring for a copy of Shishkin's book, Maidenhair. It's quite interesting to read about communist Russia as well as modern day Russia in light of what Putin is doing in Ukraine. Have you ever read any Solzhenitsyn, Curtis? He's a great writer. I eventually hope to read his novel, Cancer Ward. I read the first translation of The First Circle back in the early seventies but it was a self-censored version. Solzhenitsyn knew as originally written the book would not get published in Russia. After he left Russia, he allowed an uncensored version of In the First Circle to be published. That's the translation I am currently reading. If you feel adventuresome or would like a challenge in your reading life, anything Solzhenitsyn has written would be worth the time and effort to read them.

@CurtisBooksandFilms

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I haven't read Solzhenitsyn but I have a few books of his on my shelf, including a nice old hardback of Cancer Ward. I've heard great things! Love to read about your Russian reading journey. I hope to be returning to Dostoevsky soon. Thanks SB

I like Elizabeth Strout a lot too. Haven't read Oh, William yet, but I actually decided to do a reading project and reading all her novels in order, meaning the "series" in order, but the stand alones in order of publication. Does that make sense?

@CurtisBooksandFilms

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It does. Can't remember if I said this in the video but wouldn't it be nice to have a couple of omnibus editions for the Barton and Kitteridge novels one day?

@ameliareads589

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@@CurtisBooksandFilms Absolutely! I was surprised when I checked last week, that nothing like that is available so far.