Albany Public Library discussion

Welcome to week three! Thanks for sticking with us, and we hope you’ve been enjoying your summer reads so far! We've loved reading about the books you've all been sharing to beat the heat. Unlike Hannah, I’m living it up in my air conditioned apartment, which gives me an excuse to stay inside and read. (Sorry, Hannah. 🙃)

This week we’re featuring books about people whose experiences likely differ from most, from wandering the Pacific Crest Trail in Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail to discovering the roots of a young Black girl’s family back to the Kingdom of Ndongo in West Central Africa in The 1619 Project: Born on the Water. A few more recommendations to consider, if you’d like!

How I Became a Pirate, by Melinda Long
Pride: The Story of Harvey Milk and the Rainbow Flag, by Rob Sanders
Watercress, by Andrea Wang
Those Kids from Fawn Creek, by Erin Entrada Kelly
The Last Mapmaker, by Christina Soontornvat
All My Rage, by Sabaa Tahir
We Are the Scribes, by Randi Pink
Thirst: 2600 Miles to Home, by Heather Anderson
Lake of the Ozarks: My Surreal Summers in a Vanishing America, by Bill Geist

How are your reading challenges going so far? Do you have any recommendations for your fellow readers? I've just started Andrew Joseph White's sophomore novel, The Spirit Bares Its Teeth, a YA historical fantasy horror set in 1800s England told through the eyes of an autistic trans protagonist. (I love a good genre mashup!)

I read Wild a while ago and didn't like it very much because I thought the author was really stupid. Like who goes on a months long hike without first trying on their backpack?

Agree! I know a lot of people love this book, and I admire her for doing this hike and turning her experiences into a bestseller, but she irritated me.

Susan wrote: "I read Wild a while ago and didn't like it very much because I thought the author was really stupid, ha, ha. Like who goes on a months long hike without first trying on their backpack?"

Diane Brown wrote: "Agree! I know a lot of people love this book, and I admire her for doing this hike and turning her experiences into a bestseller, but she irritated me."

I'm so glad to hear your impressions of Wild! I've had a copy on my bookshelf for years and have yet to find the motivation to read it, even though somewhere along the way it became one of those books I felt like I was supposed to read. Maybe one day.... 😄

Elise wrote: "Susan wrote: "I read Wild a while ago and didn't like it very much because I thought the author was really stupid, ha, ha. Like who goes on a months long hike without first trying on their backpack..."
If you want a hiking book, I much preferred Bill Bryson's A Walk in the Woods.

Susan wrote: "If you want a hiking book, I much preferred Bill Bryson's A Walk in the Woods."

Oh, I've heard good things about Bill Bryson! This book does sound like something I'd be more interested in--thank you for the recommendation!

I loved the Bill Bryson book. I laughed out loud at a few passages. Although I enjoyed the first half better than the last half.

I finished several that fit the bill-- first Gloria Buenrostro Is Not My Girlfriend features a male protagonist who gets the opportunity to learn about a mysterious popular girl. I love that it provides a fresh take for realistic fiction for teens (I read a lot of YA!) A Sign of Affection, Vol. 1

And same for Northranger that's a play on Jane Austen that the author mentions in the afterword but it's a gay teen romance set on a ranch in Texas with an underlying mystery too. (And he's a horror movie lover which adds to his building nervousness about what's happening on the ranch).

Plus A Sign of Affection, Vol. 1 which was originally going to be called Fingertips and Affection because it's a romance between two eighteen year olds, one of whom is Deaf.

I recently read The Bandit Queens:A Novel; it was terrific. The story resolves around the plight of women in a smallIndian village. With humor and empathy, chaos and murder ensue. I highly recommend.

I just finished Stolen Focus: Why You Can't Pay Attention- and How to Think Deeply Again by Johann Hari. Johann Hari discusses how over time our ability to focus and pay attention has waned and he gets very specific as to why. The specificity is really welcome because he doesn't paint broad strokes but provides evidence to his theories. One reason has to do with lack of sleep. Also he discusses how book reading rates have plummeted for men and women and how sustained book reading varies greatly from the more superficial and cursory act of screen reading. With book reading being more linear, focused and inviting of the flow state than screen reading, which is more manic, and rushed resulting in fast and loose comprehension. Check this book out. It's a fascinating read.

Diane Brown wrote: "I loved the Bill Bryson book. I laughed out loud at a few passages. Although I enjoyed the first half better than the last half." Yes, I still remember some of his friend's antics from the beginning of the book even though I read it years ago.

ED wrote: "I just finished Stolen Focus: Why You Can't Pay Attention- and How to Think Deeply Again by Johann Hari. Johann Bari discusses how over time our ability to focus and..."

Thanks. I have this book on my "to-read" list, but your description has moved it towards the top. I can starkly see how I have lost focus over the past couple of decades. The sleep thing makes a lot of sense.

Alicia wrote: "I finished several that fit the bill-- first Gloria Buenrostro Is Not My Girlfriend features a male protagonist who gets the opportunity to learn about a mysterious popular girl. I ..."

I loved A Sign of Affection! I had an e-galley of the first volume and I've been looking forward to reading the rest of the series. (I read a lot of YA too!)

ED wrote: "I just finished Stolen Focus: Why You Can't Pay Attention- and How to Think Deeply Again by Johann Hari. Johann Bari discusses how over time our ability to focus and..."

To echo Susan, your synopsis of this book has me intrigued! Definitely adding to my list.

While it is a quick read, The Crossroads of Should and Must: Find and Follow Your Passion by Elle Luna really provides excellent activities for you to complete to analyze the "should" activities of your life-the things we have been programmed to do by outside forces- and the "must" activities--the tasks that speak to our souls, our passions and our lives' work. I was pleasantly surprised. I will definitely give it another read.

I just went on a long trip by train and got through another Brandon Sanderson epic, Warbreaker. Such original magic systems he has, anchored in realistic politics!

Kathleen wrote: "I just went on a long trip by train and got through another Brandon Sanderson epic, Warbreaker. Such original magic systems he has, anchored in realistic politics!"
My husband has been reading those books, so I know that must have been a very long trip. Hope it was fun!

I finished the autobiography, My Love Story, by Tina Turner. I was moved to read more about her since she passed this year. Turner was truly a remarkable individual.

This morning, I completed Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty. The narrator for the audio version is Caroline Lee, who has delightful Australian accent and has narrated every Moriarty audiobook I have ever listened to. She definitely adds a certain something to books that are already excellent.

This morning I finished The Fountains of Silence by Ruta Septys. Historical fiction set during Franco's dictatorship in Spain. I love all her books.

I finished three books this week. Kiwi Strong by Roselind James and Instant Gratification by Lauren Blakely. The third was after last week's recommendation, The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula Le Guin. It was a different story but thought provoking. I am enjoying the Kiwi series from Roselind James -- I am now on book 4, Kiwi Gold. Also working on audiobooks.

Somehow I missed the start of the summer reading program!

My name is Jennifer and I am married and have a 13 year old son and a mutt named Fergus.

I mostly read mysteries and contemporary fiction with the occasional historical fiction novel or memoir thrown in. That said, I’m currently reading “Be a Plant-Based Woman Warrior,” which is a cookbook and I’m enjoying it very much.

Earlier this morning I finished, “A Stolen Child,” which is the latest book in a series about how an American detective who is now living and working with the Garda in Ireland.


working with

I actually finished my book group's 450 page choice this week: Fifty Words for Rain! It was a faster read than I thought it would be.

I also finisehd The Teachers: A Year Inside America's Most Vulnerable, Important Profession, which didn't tell me a lot that I didn't already know or suspect, but the author did a good job of pulling everything together by interweaving the stories of three teachers with the narrative.

This one is on my Kindle.

good news, everyone! I've officially read 10 books as of last night, when I finished Ill Will, which was chilling and fun. I got stuck in a couple of airports with delays while on a work trip, managing to finish The Dark Fantastic: Race and the Imagination from Harry Potter to the Hunger Games and Hideous Gnosis: Black Metal Theory Symposium 1 which I'd stalled out on for a while, as well as Sundial, which I didn't like as much as I'd hoped to.

I cracked Matrix last night and I'm hopefully going to track down How to Read Lacan and Psychology and Religion this week.

Hideous Gnosis was annoyingly philosophical and navel-gazey for my taste, The Dark Fantastic is a must-read for anyone doing research on children's/teen sci-fi and fantasy, and I'm not usually a fan of historical fiction, but Matrix is drawing me in so far.

if you want a more fun anthology on black metal theory, try Black Metal Rainbows

Mirkat wrote: "This morning, I completed Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty. The narrator for the audio version is Caroline Lee, who has delightful Australian accent and has narrated every Moriar..." Oh, I enjoy LIane Moriarty books, and they seem like they would lend themselves well to audiobooks. Will keep this in mind the next time I am searching for an audiobook for a trip.

Rose wrote: "good news, everyone! I've officially read 10 books as of last night, when I finished Ill Will, which was chilling and fun. I got stuck in a couple of airports with delays while on a..."

I have the Dark Fantastic in my pile.

I’m going to count The Covenant of Water by Verghese as done at 73% since it’s 736 pages or 30 hours long and Libby took it back. I loved this book and will finish it when it becomes available again. I listened to 21 hours of it. I only listen to one book a year of that length. It’s beautiful and funny.

I’ve read a few books that take place in India and I’m taken to a completely different world in each.
I’ve started Loot by Tania James. Also India. I highly recommend The Age of Vice by Deepti Kapoor for a completely different view of India. Gangsters, crime families, drugs, vice, the prison system…it blew me away.

I just finished All My Rage from the list above. It was very good and quick, but not exactly a beach read because most of the story was a downer until the end.

For Week 3, I read The End of Everything by Katie Mack. Highly recommend if you enjoy physics/cosmology, but, like myself, struggle through the heavy handed concepts…the author does an excellent job bringing it down in an informative and entertaining way.

Susan wrote: "I just finished All My Rage from the list above. It was very good and quick, but not exactly a beach read because most of the story was a downer until the end."

Nope, certainly NOT a beach read!

Finished Loot by Tania James. Sooo good!

Rich wrote: "For Week 3, I read The End of Everything by Katie Mack. Highly recommend if you enjoy physics/cosmology, but, like myself, struggle through the heavy handed concepts…the author does an excellent jo..."

I really enjoyed this book! They do an amazing job at conveying complex topics that aren't always easy to follow.

Hello, I only finished one book this week: An Abolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green. I think this gives me eleven books. I still have others in process. A

The Blind Owl by Hedayat is gorgeous reading. A Persian Ulyssean odyssey of the dream world.