I had a good time this evening catching up with Christine and our Foreign Authors book group. We discussed The Yacoubian Building by Alaa Al Aswany. The last book we’d read that was set in Egypt was a few years ago so it was nice to “visit” the country again. Now we are all wondering about the film version and if/when it will be released nationwide. Anyway, you can read some of my thoughts on the book here. Next month we’ll be reading The Dancing Girls of Lahore.
I did get to the bookstore a bit early of course to browse around and saw three books on the “new & noteworthy” shelves that caught my attention: The Beautiful Things that Heaven Bears by Dinaw Mengestu, Innocent Traitor by Alison Weir, and Astrid & Veronika by Linda Olsson. Anyone read these books and can recommend them?
Now I’m off to finish a very entertaining whodunit.
Last night was fun and I did enjoy the discussions. Maybe we can have a group night out if the film ever makes its way to dallas!
I need to pop over to Half Price Books to see if I can find a copy of The Dancing Girls of Lahore.
I read Astrid and Veronika last month. I posted here and here. I picked it up from the library’s New Paperbacks shelf, and hesitated to return it. I’ll be getting myself a copy before long.
I miss my book groups. I had to stop going when school got crazy. Glad you enjoyed yourself!
Christine – I agree, we need to keep our eyes open and see if the movie makes it here & we can have a film night with the group. Did you find the other book?
Andi – Don’t you hate it when other things get in the way 🙂
I am just finishing up ‘Astrid and Veronika’, although its an earlier edition and under a different title!
Its quite good. Subtle but sweetly written. I hope you write a review when you are done!
Mengestu and Olsson are both near the top of my list, which means I should be getting to them in the next few weeks. We’ll have to compare notes!
What a great concept for a book club! You always seem to do the most interesting book-related activities.
I haven’t read any of the books you listed, but I’ve enjoyed what I’ve read of Alison Weir in the past. I’m off to Amazon to look up her latest one!
Well, turns out I already have! I went to add Innocent Traitor to my wishlist but Amazon informed me it was already there. Turns out I saw it mentioned in PAGES (I hate that they won’t be publishing anymore!) back in December.
You’ll have to let us know what you think of Dancing Girls of Lahore. I thought this sounded interesting when it first came out!
I reviewed Olsson on my blog. That said, don’t be put off, you might adore it!
This sounds like another one for the list!
Kate – I’ll check out your review for sure! I’m wondering why the title change. Interesting.
Mindy – Sounds like a plan. I can’t wait to hear what you think of those.
Lesley – What can I say, even my social life revolves around books. ha,ha. I’m glad to hear you’ve enjoyed Alison Weir’s previous novels. I know, still mourning the demise of Pages.
Danielle – You bet. I just hope it’s not as sad as I’m imagining it to be.
Jenclair – Especially since you’ve read Palace Walk I think you’d enjoy Yacoubian. It’d definitely be a good way to compare past/present.
I think you’ll like Innocent Traitor. I wasn’t sure how I’d feel, given her switch from non-fiction to fiction, but Weir carries it off. The biggest “issue” I had was Jane’s very precocious thinking — I don’t know if she really was, if this was common to that era, or if Weir took liberties.
Lazygal – Cool! Glad to hear you enjoyed it. I just looked on amazon and didn’t realize she had already written a lot but in non-fiction. Interesting why she went to fiction this time around.