Albany Public Library discussion

Good afternoon APL readers!

Welcome to Week#2 of Summer Reading- APL Book Club Picks . Some titles you may recognize or have previously read in one of our book clubs:

Searching for Sylvie Lee
The Midnight Library
The Hazel Wood
Separation Anxiety
One Last Stop
The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle
The Revisioners
The Thursday Murder Club
Darkly Dreaming Dexter
The Vanishing Half
The Great Gatsby
Murder on the Orient Express
How Y'all Doing?: Misadventures and Mischief from a Life Well Lived

Comment below on what you are currently reading, or if you enjoyed any of the titles listed above. Also, if you have any suggestions for future book club reads, please let us know that too!

Happy reading!

I really enjoyed The Thursday Murder Club! It’s a fun read with appealing, surprising characters.

finished The Book of Longings by Sue Monk Kidd

My book club just read The Patron Saint of Second Chances, which would make a great summer beach read. It's a lighthearted farce with some romance on the sides!

Geri wrote: "I really enjoyed The Thursday Murder Club! It’s a fun read with appealing, surprising characters."

Hi Geri! The APL book club Novels After Noon will be reading The Thursday Murder Club in October, so I am glad you enjoyed it! I always like a book with good characters in it.

Kathleen wrote: "My book club just read The Patron Saint of Second Chances, which would make a great summer beach read. It's a lighthearted farce with some romance on the sides!"

Hi Kathleen,

That does sound like a great summer read- thanks for sharing!

I am currently reading Last Summer at the Golden Hotel for the APL book club Novels After Noon . The story revolves around two families struggling to maintain a summer resort in the Catskills. It has a lot of family drama and reminds me of the movie Dirty Dancing . A great beach read!

Geri wrote: "I really enjoyed The Thursday Murder Club! It’s a fun read with appealing, surprising characters."

I found a free copy of book #2 at a giveaway. Looking forward to reading it. I like the fact that the book has older characters who aren't too cute or precious and are highly underestimated.

I have already read most of the books on this list, so I am still chipping away at my Week 1 choice.

Probably a good one for those self-improvement geeks like me in a book club of one. I finished The Earned Life: Lose Regret, Choose Fulfillment which was well-presented and easy to follow.

I have read a few on that list. I read Searching for Sylvie Lee and Jean Kwok’s other books. I love how she writes about families.

I’m hitting the final stretch on 3 books. True Biz by Sarah Novic, listening to the Husbands by I forgot, and Lightning Strike by William Kent Krueger. I’m enjoying all of them. In a week it will be a book desert.

I finished my dark beach read, Bad Things Happen Here--juicy and angsty! Perfect for fans of Pretty Little Liars, Veronica Mars, etc.

Total tone switch, but earlier this week I also read all three of the The Tea Dragon Society graphic novels for middle-grade readers. Very cute series; feels like Studio Ghibli, especially Kiki's Delivery Service or Nausicaa. Available on Hoopla!

I just finished North (Scott Jurek) and Wild (Cheryl Strayed) this week. Both were good, but I enjoyed North more.

Alicia wrote: "Probably a good one for those self-improvement geeks like me in a book club of one. I finished The Earned Life: Lose Regret, Choose Fulfillment which was well-presented and easy to ..."

Hi Alicia- You are not alone! I am also a self-help geek myself. I just read the summary for The Earned Life and it is going on my list ASAP- thanks for sharing! A self-help book that I really enjoyed was Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones.

Victoria wrote: "I just finished North (Scott Jurek) and Wild (Cheryl Strayed) this week. Both were good, but I enjoyed North more."

Hi Victoria,

Along similar lines to the books North and Wild, I really enjoyed reading Finding Ultra: Rejecting Middle Age, Becoming One of the World's Fittest Men, and Discovering Myself. You don't have to be a runner to enjoy it, it can be for anyone who appreciates an inspirational story!

We are a little more than midweek, so I wanted to remind everyone to make sure you comment on what you are reading so we can count your titles towards the Summer Reading prize at the end. For those who have already commented this week, keep up the good work!

If you are just joining us now, welcome! It is never to late to join the APL Summer Reading Challenge (accept maybe on the last day!). Just let us know in the comments your name, username, and your preferred branch so we can make you official.

Thanks everyone and keep on reading!

I’m finished with True Biz. Absolutely loved it. A deaf boarding school where ASL is the language

Also just finished Lighting Strike by William Kent Krueger. I seem to read a lot of coming of age books lately. Beautifully written prequel to his series.

I just finished Under Lock and Skeleton Key by Gigi Pandian. I really wanted to like this one, but it was too slow and not as engaging as I wanted it to be.

I'm reading I'll Show Myself Out by Jessi Klein. I'm not loving it but it's a light "bathroom read". I'm also reading This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger. It's the first book I have read of his and I'm really enjoying it. I guess I'm not as fast a reader as some other people. I don't think I fly through as many books.

Just finished This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub for the book club this week!

This week I finished The Huntress by Kate Quinn and Here’s to us by Elin Hilderbrand

Simona wrote: "I'm reading I'll Show Myself Out by Jessi Klein. I'm not loving it but it's a light "bathroom read". I'm also reading This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger. It's the first book I have read of hi..." You are probably just busy and/or savor every word. I find William Kent Krueger's writing as something to be savored.

I just finished Summer Island, not my favorite by Kristin Hannah. I've moved on to The Girls Weekend by Jody Gehrman - I have a feeling this will be a quick read. I'm already 10% in from one sitting.

Heather wrote: "Alicia wrote: "Probably a good one for those self-improvement geeks like me in a book club of one. I finished The Earned Life: Lose Regret, Choose Fulfillment which was well-present..."

Definitely read that one and I liked how accessible and easy that one was presenting the information AND how he hopes you can use it!

I finished the audiobook of Amy Bloom's In Love: A Memoir of Love and Loss which I can see a lot of book clubs reading. It's the memoir of novelist Bloom's travels to Switzerland with her husband who is going to end his life using Dignitas after an Alzheimer's diagnosis.

Diana wrote: "I finished my dark beach read, Bad Things Happen Here--juicy and angsty! Perfect for fans of Pretty Little Liars, Veronica Mars, etc.

Total tone switch, but earlier this week I als..."

Diana, I always add everything you've read to my TBR pile!

For this week, I read The Archive of the Forgotten by A. J. Hackwith. Although I liked the previous book in this series more, I liked the ending of this one more and I added the next book into my TBR pile

For Week 2 I read Thirst by Benjamin Warner. Very intriguing premise (what happens if all water on planet suddenly disappeared), but unfortunately the character development was extremely lacking.

All books up until this point have been counted- keep them coming!

I finished A Curious Beginning last night, which was the APL Mystery Book Club's pick for LAST month, but better late than never.

Susan wrote: "I finished A Curious Beginning last night, which was the APL Mystery Book Club's pick for LAST month, but better late than never."

Did you like it, Susan?!

Anne C wrote: "Susan wrote: "I finished A Curious Beginning last night, which was the APL Mystery Book Club's pick for LAST month, but better late than never."

Did you like it, Susan?!"
I liked the beginning - I thought it was an interesting premise - but it did drag on a bit, and I am not sure how I feel about the two main characters. What was the group response?