What are you Reading (Part 2)?

[Alachantal]

Right now Church Of Lies by Flora Jessop. Fantastic read, even if it is terribly sad for the first few chapters.

[DutchMommy]

I have just read Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman, and I loved it!! Are his other books this good as well?
I also listened to the BBC Radio 4 adaptation of Neverwhere right here.

[RabbitKM]

Finished The Light Between Oceans.  I liked the storyline, but the writing left something to be desired.  The dialogue was cliche somewhat, and there could have been more context.

Now I am reading How the Garcia Girls Lost their Accents and I'm on the fence about it as well.

[RosyDaisy]

"What Stands In a Storm" by Kim Cross. It's stories of the April 27, 2011 tornado outbreak told by survivors, victimsl families, meterologists, and storm chsers. It's a tear jerker.

[catlady]

I'm reading The Cheerleader and its two sequels, by Ruth Doan MacDougall.  I just started the third one on Saturday.

[LilMissMetaphor]

I just finished Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister.  It's my second Gregory Maguire; I didn't like Lost very much so I thought I'd try one more of his.  He's a good storyteller but he needs a lot of editing.  In both books he kept describing the color of things in food terms to the point that it was very distracting.  The first few times it was cool, then it just got annoying.  

sky the shade of skimmed milk

hair like golden butterscotch

building the color of coffee

etc.

[nickelodeon]

On 3/3/2016 at 10:07 AM, DutchMommy said:

I have just read Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman, and I loved it!! Are his other books this good as well?
I also listened to the BBC Radio 4 adaptation of Neverwhere right here.

Gaiman is great! He tends to re-use the same plot (hapless everyman accidentally swept into a magical adventure) so I find it's not ideal to read a bunch of his novels in a row. Neverwhere is my favorite, but I recommend Coraline and his short story collections Smoke and Mirrors and Fragile Things.

[theinvisiblegirl]

I stayed up until 3 AM finishing up Holly Madison's book Down the Rabbit Hole: Curious Adventures and Cautionary Tales of a Former Playboy Bunny. I absolutely loved it.

32 minutes ago, LilMissMetaphor said:

I just finished Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister.  It's my second Gregory Maguire; I didn't like Lost very much so I thought I'd try one more of his.  He's a good storyteller but he needs a lot of editing.  In both books he kept describing the color of things in food terms to the point that it was very distracting.  The first few times it was cool, then it just got annoying.  

sky the shade of skimmed milk

hair like golden butterscotch

building the color of coffee

etc.

If you want to give him another chance, try the Wicked series? I really enjoyed those books.

[Imaginary_Wonderland]

I just finished reading Dark Places by Gillian Flynn. I didn't find it the same kind of page turner as Gone Girl, which I loved. I think I had a bit of a disconnect with it as I was reading it in small bits ,maybe once a week or so, over a few months. I can't believe I started it way before Xmas. 

I used to an avid book and carry a book with me everywhere, and fly through them in a few days or a week at the most. Lately though, my reading habits have been on a go slow. But I keep seeing great books and buying them, so now I have a huge stack of them to catch up on.

Yesterday, I started The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins, while on a long coach trip to a dentist in another city. I've not got too far into it yet but I'm already hooked. I am sure it will be a good one and hopefully do the trick to get me out of this reading slump!

[RandomTrivia]

Working on the second book in the Phryne Fisher series, recommended by a friend.  Flapper-era mysteries, with a female detective, that are apparently also a television series.  The first book was set in Australia, not sure if the location changes in later books or not.  Downton Abbey seems to have got me on an early-20th-century kick.

Started a biography of Gertrude Bell, but the library needed it back, so I'll have to check it out again later.  She sounds like a pretty impressive woman - traveled alone in the early 20th century, worked for the British government during the war, very accomplished as far as travel, linguistics, that kind of thing. 

I did finish Travels with Zenobia, based on the travel journals of Rose Wilder Lane and her friend Troub (aka Helen Boydston, author of the Sue Barton books).  They drove from Italy to Albania in the 1920s.  And I really seem to be reading a lot of books set in the 1920s.  To counteract that, I've also recently read Kitchen Confidential, a book by one of the actors from Big Bang Theory, and a couple of kids' books (trying to find something for my son to read).

[motelmum]

On 3/11/2016 at 6:13 AM, theinvisiblegirl said:

I stayed up until 3 AM finishing up Holly Madison's book Down the Rabbit Hole: Curious Adventures and Cautionary Tales of a Former Playboy Bunny. I absolutely loved it.

I have just recently read this too. I read a few reviews before I started it ( on goodreads) gosh some of them panned it ,but you know I actually thought it was rather good.

ETA:

Just about to start Thief's Magic by Trudi Canavan. I haven't read any of her books in years but I loved them when I was younger.
 

Edited March 16, 2016 by motelmum

[sparkles]

I just finished the unabridged audio version of Doris Kearns Goodwin's "Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft and the Golden Age of Journalism." Excellent book and it was astonishing to see just how much HASN'T changed from the early 1900s til now. I'm always bummed when I reach the end of a book I really enjoyed.

Now I'm listening to "Reading Lolita in Tehran." I think next up will be Ron Chernow's "Hamilton" (recommendation from my mom).

[Elvis Presby]

On March 6, 2016 at 7:10 AM, RosyDaisy said:

"What Stands In a Storm" by Kim Cross. It's stories of the April 27, 2011 tornado outbreak told by survivors, victimsl families, meterologists, and storm chsers. It's a tear jerker.

My father was found dead in his house on April 26, 2011.  He probably died on Easter, April 24th, but that is beside the point.  His funeral was on April 29, 2011.  To get to the cemetery, we had to drive through a swath of destruction (Rome, GA) and I was just dumbstruck by all the huge trees that had been snapped like toothpicks.

 

I am wondering if I will ever finish The Scarlet Letter.  It's taking forever!

Edited March 16, 2016 by Elvis Presby

[RabbitKM]

I just finished How the Garcia Girls Lost their Accents by Julia Alvarez.  It wasn't really my favorite.  It was somewhat disconnected and also I couldn't really tell each of the girls apart, ie they didnt really have a distinctive voice.  

Next up is The Life We Bury by Allen Eskins for my book club.

[violynn]

On 3/11/2016 at 1:07 PM, nickelodeon said:

Gaiman is great! He tends to re-use the same plot (hapless everyman accidentally swept into a magical adventure) so I find it's not ideal to read a bunch of his novels in a row. Neverwhere is my favorite, but I recommend Coraline and his short story collections Smoke and Mirrors and Fragile Things.

American Gods and Anansi Boys are also amazing.  Cannot recommend enough.

 

Finishing the last the chapters of The Executioners Song by Norman Mailler, then I'm starting Triumph by someone Jessop, another NF.  She left the FLDS cult.  I am really enjoying reading so many non-fiction books this year.

[lynn0810]

On March 16, 2016 at 0:57 PM, sparkles said:

I just finished the unabridged audio version of Doris Kearns Goodwin's "Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft and the Golden Age of Journalism." Excellent book and it was astonishing to see just how much HASN'T changed from the early 1900s til now. I'm always bummed when I reach the end of a book I really enjoyed.

Now I'm listening to "Reading Lolita in Tehran." I think next up will be Ron Chernow's "Hamilton" (recommendation from my mom).

I was apparently living under a rock and just discovered the Hamilton musical. I just picked up the book today and was reminded of why I never bought it before...it is a doorstop. I am bound and determined to read it this year. It may take me til Dec. 31st, but it will happen! It was frequently recommended to me in my book selling days. 

I am currently reading "A Gathering of Shadows" by V.E. Schwab and a short story collection called "American Housewife". 

[violynn]

1 hour ago, lynn0810 said:

I was apparently living under a rock and just discovered the Hamilton musical. I just picked up the book today and was reminded of why I never bought it before...it is a doorstop. I am bound and determined to read it this year. It may take me til Dec. 31st, but it will happen! It was frequently recommended to me in my book selling days. 

I am currently reading "A Gathering of Shadows" by V.E. Schwab and a short story collection called "American Housewife". 

That was me in January!  I loved the book though, it doesn't read like the old, pokey history book.  Listen to the soundtrack while reading the book.

[clueliss]

Just finished the unabridged audio version of Lisa Scottoline's Accused.

I wanted to like this book.  Really I did.  However the LOUD voice of one character along with other annoying voices made me crazy.  Add to that wacky hi-jinks in a novel I wasn't expecting wacky hi-jinks in (and that I felt were there to 'fill out' a story that was otherwise lacking) and an ending that I felt didn't play fair with the reader (Blame Nancy Pickard's teachingfor my awareness of Dame Agatha Christie's rules of fair play).  

[RabbitKM]

Just starting Me Before You by JoJo Moyes.  It is being made into a movie soon, and it has amazing reviews, so naturally I had to wait weeks to get it from the library.  But I have it now, and I am a few pages in.

[EyeQueue]

I just started reading Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere (someone mentioned it upthread). How I missed this book (being a complete sci-fi/fantasy nut) I have no idea. I vaguely recall reading the first couple of chapters several years ago, but why I did not continue is a mystery, because I'm fairly devouring it right now.

Before that, I read A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay. I had never read anything by this guy before, but the book was on special on Kindle, so I bought it.

It was very interesting. A kind of meta horror tale told through the perhaps faulty memories of a young woman looking back at a traumatic event that happened to her family when she was 8 years old, which then became the subject of a reality TV series (and the Dad went kind of Catholic fundie, so there's that connection).

It's all about the girl's older sister who starts behaving in very strange ways that are either mental illness or demonic possession (which is the subject of the reality show). There is an interesting parallel commentary/meta-commentary throughout the book about the horror genre and reality TV.

Some disturbing demonic possession-y moments that are somewhat graphic. Altogether, I thought it was pretty good and hella creepy in some parts.

[CTRLZero]

On 3/29/2016 at 4:40 PM, EyeQueue said:

I read A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay. I had never read anything by this guy before, but the book was on special on Kindle, so I bought it.

In the bright summer months, I love to read this sort of thing while I lounge in the sun.  It was still on special, so I added it to my collection.  Thanks for the recommendation!

I found The Gargoyle published in 2008 by Andrew Davidson in a bargain bin.  Talk about your intense opening chapters!  This book was very well written (and apparently well researched, though I'm no expert).  Anyway, it's about an injured man, a mysterious woman who comes to his aid in a big way, and includes some interludes back through time (though not a time travel novel), some history and a pinch of Dante's Inferno.  Not sure why, but it reminded me of Byatt's Possession (maybe writing style and timeline treatment).

 

[violynn]

7 minutes ago, CTRLZero said:

In the bright summer months, I love to read this sort of thing while I lounge in the sun.  It was still on special, so I added it to my collection.  Thanks for the recommendation!

I found The Gargoyle published in 2008 by Andrew Davidson in a bargain bin.  Talk about your intense opening chapters!  This book was very well written (and apparently well researched, though I'm no expert).  Anyway, it's about an injured man, a mysterious woman who comes to his aid in a big way, and includes some interludes back through time (though not a time travel novel), some history and a pinch of Dante's Inferno.  Not sure why, but it reminded me of Byatt's Possession (maybe writing style and timeline treatment).

 

That sounds really, really interesting.  Hits on my history and Dante buttons so YAY! new book time  

[Elvis Presby]

I started The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Steadman a few days ago.  I haven't gotten very far yet, but I really am loving her gift for descriptive language.  From the very beginning, I was engaged in the story instead of reading the words while also thinking about something else.

 

[Kailash]

I'm reading John Connolly's Charlie Parker's series. They are actually quite violent and gory and yet I can't stop reading them. I find the main character fascinating, with all his quirks and flaws. I'm intrigued by his encounters with ghosts (angels?), visits from the other side. Plus, I've never been to Maine and I'm enjoying his descriptions of it.

I'm also reading Sun Storm by Asa Larsson. I have Midnight Sun by Jo Nesbo checked out from the library as well.

 

[violynn]

On 4/2/2016 at 9:21 AM, Kailash said:

I'm reading John Connolly's Charlie Parker's series. They are actually quite violent and gory and yet I can't stop reading them. I find the main character fascinating, with all his quirks and flaws. I'm intrigued by his encounters with ghosts (angels?), visits from the other side. Plus, I've never been to Maine and I'm enjoying his descriptions of it.

I'm also reading Sun Storm by Asa Larsson. I have Midnight Sun by Jo Nesbo checked out from the library as well.

 

The Charlie Parker series is one of my top five favorites, and I have a *LOT* of series I read.  Charlie drives me bugnuts sometimes, but I cannot love Louis and Angel more, and Jackie and his diabolical friends the Brothers are something else too.  All my favorite books have really interesting not-quite-main characters who could easily be the subjects of books themselves.  How far in to the series are you so far, @Kailash?