Leeds August 12, 2021 Share August 12, 2021 16 hours ago, grommit2 said: OK. I am trying Hemingway again. This time: A Farewell to Arms. I'll finish it (because I have "gotta finish it" syndrome. It is not curable.) Can someone tell me why this is supposed to be a gigantic contribution to literature? While they're at it, perhaps they can explain Prince of Tides. 4 Link to comment
peacheslatour August 12, 2021 Share August 12, 2021 2 hours ago, Leeds said: While they're at it, perhaps they can explain Prince of Tides. And Eat, Pray, Love. 1 5 Link to comment
Haleth August 12, 2021 Share August 12, 2021 5 hours ago, peacheslatour said: And Eat, Pray, Love. A study in narcissism? 3 7 Link to comment
proserpina65 August 13, 2021 Share August 13, 2021 On 8/11/2021 at 7:07 PM, Haleth said: I hated A Farewell to Arms. The female love interest (Kathy? Katherine?) is the most insipid, bubbleheaded character in literature. She constantly annoyed me with her childish blather. If you think that one's bad (and it is), do not read The Old Man and the Sea. It's interminable, and other than showing off his ability to cram religious symbolism into practically every sentence, I can't for the life of me figure out why Hemingway wrote it. P.S. I hate Hemingway as a author. HATE. On 8/12/2021 at 10:09 AM, sugarbaker design said: Suffer from the same syndrome. Simultaneously a curse and a blessing. I used to suffer from it. White Teeth cured me of it. God that book was so boring. 4 Link to comment
Katy M August 13, 2021 Share August 13, 2021 Just now, proserpina65 said: If you think that one's bad (and it is), do not read The Old Man and the Sea. It's interminable, and other than showing off his ability to cram religious symbolism into practically every sentence, I can't for the life of me figure out why Hemingway wrote it. I was supposed to read this for school. It was the one book the teacher would assign each year with no class discussion (read on your own and figure out the symbolism for yourself). Do you have any idea how lost I was? I didn't even finish it. He gave me a very generous D- on the essay test. 2 Link to comment
BlackberryJam August 13, 2021 Share August 13, 2021 On 8/12/2021 at 10:09 AM, sugarbaker design said: Suffer from the same syndrome. Simultaneously a curse and a blessing. I got over it by just skipping to the last three chapters of things. It was so freeing. 4 Link to comment
Leeds August 13, 2021 Share August 13, 2021 26 minutes ago, BlackberryJam said: I got over it by just skipping to the last three chapters of things. It was so freeing. You're more forgiving than me! I've been known to skip to the last page. It took me a while to let go of the guilt. I love my local library. 2 Link to comment
cherrypj August 14, 2021 Share August 14, 2021 Speaking of having to finish a terrible book, I just finished The Bourne Identity. I've read it before. I've seen the movie. Only God knows why I slogged through this re-read--it's horrible. The action is good, but the writing is not. Definitely filed in the "Movie is better" column. (I'll not read the other 15 (!!) books in this series. Take that, Ludlum.) Am re-reading Contact by Carl Sagan. This one is filed in the "Movie and Book are both great!" 6 Link to comment
GHScorpiosRule August 14, 2021 Share August 14, 2021 2 hours ago, cherrypj said: Speaking of having to finish a terrible book, I just finished The Bourne Identity. I've read it before. I've seen the movie. Only God knows why I slogged through this re-read--it's horrible. The action is good, but the writing is not. Definitely filed in the "Movie is better" column. (I'll not read the other 15 (!!) books in this series. Take that, Ludlum.) I'm just the opposite. I LOVED the original trilogy (well except for how the third ended, so anticlimactic), and hated the first movie--because all they took from the book was its title--and changed everything else. I'm a fan of Ludlum's other books and I read a lot of it during my 20s and 30s. 1 1 Link to comment
Haleth August 15, 2021 Share August 15, 2021 22 hours ago, cherrypj said: Am re-reading Contact by Carl Sagan. This one is filed in the "Movie and Book are both great!" Yes to both book and movie! 3 Link to comment
helenamonster August 15, 2021 Share August 15, 2021 Just finished: The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah, about a family in the '70s who move to the backside of beyond in Alaska to homestead and live off the land. Really compelling stuff--Alaska is high on my list of places to visit, and I can't help but admire people who manage to build their lives there. The way the beauty and danger of the region interplay with each other was fascinating--I enjoyed this a lot more than the other Hannah book I read, The Nightingale, which I thought was pretty good. Next up: I've got a week of doing nothing but laying on the beach ahead of me so I picked out a doorstopper, The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson. 1 1 Link to comment
stewedsquash August 16, 2021 Share August 16, 2021 Who Is Maud Dixon? by Alexandra Andrews is a terrible book. So terrible that I am thinking about getting a twitter account just to torment the author about how terrible she is as an author of books. 4 5 Link to comment
SusieQ August 16, 2021 Share August 16, 2021 20 minutes ago, stewedsquash said: Who Is Maud Dixon? by Alexandra Andrews is a terrible book. So terrible that I am thinking about getting a twitter account just to torment the author about how terrible she is as an author of books. A million times yes -- it was terrible (but I wouldn't go as far as tormenting the author). So incredibly farfetched. And it had so many great reviews. I've been bitten quite a few times lately with authors I respect giving great blurbs to mediocre or just plain lousy books. 2 Link to comment
GaT August 16, 2021 Share August 16, 2021 I'm currently reading Faithless In Death by J.D. Robb # 52 in the In Death series. I'm really enjoying this one, since I waited for the paperback, I would have been disappointed if I waited & then didn't like it. 1 Link to comment
Scatterbrained August 16, 2021 Share August 16, 2021 I recently read The Remainders by Val Emmich. It follows two main characters, “a girl who can’t forget, and a guy who’s desperate to remember”. I think the Serenity Prayer is a good summation of the story arc. I liked that it was different, and thus contained bits that were unexpected. The characters seemed fairly believable and real. Trigger warning: death and personal loss is a big part of the plot. I also read What You Wish For by Katherine Center. This is the second book of her’s I’ve “read”. (I listened to The Bright Side of Disaster on audio.). Both books are PG romances with happy endings. Light and easy. Link to comment
Scatterbrained August 16, 2021 Share August 16, 2021 Speaking of books we’ve hated… I became interested in Dave Eggers after reading a children’s book he authored. I TRIED to read A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius and also You Shall Know Our Velocity, but I could not tolerate his story-telling style (it’s like ADD on crack, or something) and do not understand why some people lauded his works so highly. Ugh! 2 Link to comment
stewedsquash August 16, 2021 Share August 16, 2021 10 hours ago, SusieQ said: A million times yes -- it was terrible (but I wouldn't go as far as tormenting the author). So incredibly farfetched. And it had so many great reviews. I've been bitten quite a few times lately with authors I respect giving great blurbs to mediocre or just plain lousy books. Yeah, I was engaging in a bit of hyperbole with the torment. I had to do a double check to make sure it wasn't on the horrible Reese recommends list because it was so horribly written. I want to email my local county library and have them add on a rating option for books that have been read by patrons. It was like she downloaded a spreadsheet for NovelforDummies, then pasted in the spaces with disconnected scene or as a class writing project where the students would pick pre-written sentences and just paste them on a pages that said "next scene". It was flimsy and flat in making the reader connect. 7 hours ago, GaT said: I'm currently reading Faithless In Death by J.D. Robb # 52 in the In Death series. I'm really enjoying this one, since I waited for the paperback, I would have been disappointed if I waited & then didn't like it. I was on a 19 or more week wait list for the above Maud book, it popped up much sooner and I was excited and thought people must have been racing through it because it was so good. I now think they just gave up and returned it. I read at least half of it, trying to give it a chance and I finally just quickly skimmed through the pages getting the jist of what was happening then just returned it. I am blaming Reese's recommendation site, Amazon's author thing, Goodreads (owned by Amazon), Bookbub, and other self publishing businesses for the dreck that is making into the world of books. Link to comment
stewedsquash August 16, 2021 Share August 16, 2021 (edited) I have (book books not Kindle) Nigella Lawson's Cook, Eat, Repeat and am off to the library to pick up Vivian Howard's This Will Make It Taste Good They are recipe books but written as stories. Oh, and the library lady emailed me that she ordered Kwame Onwauchi Notes from a Young Black Chef: A Memoir and Ed Lee Buttermilk Graffiti for me. All of these types of books are ones I just read to fill in spaces of time. I have The First Husband Laura Dave The Plot Jean Hanff Korelitz and Anxious People Fredrik Backman on hold. I really hope The Plot doesn't disappoint Edited August 16, 2021 by stewedsquash wrong title 1 1 Link to comment
OtterMommy August 17, 2021 Share August 17, 2021 I finished Jennifer Weiner's That Summer today. I didn't have high expectations for it since it is in the same universe as Big Summer, and I really didn't enjoy that one. However, TS worked far better for me. I think there is a trilogy going on--you don't need to read Big Summer before reading That Summer, but my spidey-sense is leading me to believe you will probably need to read both before reading Last Summer, which comes out next year. I started Black Water Sister by Zen Cho. I'm not far into yet, but it's pretty much a girl haunted by her dead grandmother. I'm intrigued... Link to comment
Haleth August 17, 2021 Share August 17, 2021 20 hours ago, stewedsquash said: Anxious People Fredrik Backman on hold I liked this one a lot but many readers can't get through it. It's like Ove on steroids. Spoiler Instead of one cranky, unpleasant person there is a whole cast. But like Ove, once you learn who they really are they become endearing. 1 Link to comment
stewedsquash August 17, 2021 Share August 17, 2021 That is useful @Haleth to know. I keep coming across the Ove books but I can't make myself want to download it. When I saw Anxious People and then saw that it was by the same author I hesitated. But the description and the few pages I read kind of tugged me in, more than the Ove did. I am going to give it a shot. I just hope it isn't syrupy. 1 Link to comment
Luckylyn August 18, 2021 Share August 18, 2021 I’m reading Claimed by JR Ward. It’s a another spin off from The Black Dagger Brotherhood. She’s adding werewolves to that universe. Wolves were referenced in one of the prison camp books. So far I haven’t liked the prison camp books as much as the Black Dagger books. I am enjoying Claimed more than the prison books. It’s slower paced but I feel like the romance is developing better. For this book, a woman who works at a nature preserve is determined to protect the wolves who live there while dealing with threats from people endangering the animals. A new employee with his own secret agenda works with her to protect her from those targeting her . There’s also a subplot featuring Xhex from the Black Dagger Brotherhood. One thing I appreciate about the series is that the characters don’t stay static after they fall in love. Ward revisits the characters as they experience ups and downs. They continue to evolve throughout the series. 1 Link to comment
GaT August 18, 2021 Share August 18, 2021 I'm reading The Shadow Wing by Sarah Painter, the 6th book in the Crow Investigations series & I am not enjoying it as much as the first 5 books. Basically, different versions of the same scene keep happening, & I'm really bored with it. I'm hoping it stops soon, because I'm half way through the book & the only thing that has really happened is this same scene. Link to comment
WinnieWinkle August 18, 2021 Share August 18, 2021 (edited) On 8/4/2021 at 9:48 AM, WinnieWinkle said: Valerie Wolzien was a cozy mystery writer I got into years ago and then lost interest when I moved past the cozy mysteries genre. Anyway I came across her Susan Henshaw mysteries for free on kindle unlimited and decided to give them another look. Well I'm half way through the first one Murder at a PTA Luncheon and I am really enjoying it. Dated, for sure, but I can see why I liked her books back in the day. I've reached the 10th book in the series, liked some better than others but enjoying them so far but the weird thing is with the exception of the first title I don't remember any of the books! I mean it's like I never read them and I know I certainly read most of them. I know I definitely overdosed on cozies back in the day but you'd think I'd remember some of the plots at least a little! Eminently forgettable stories I guess. Edited August 18, 2021 by WinnieWinkle Link to comment
cherrypj August 18, 2021 Share August 18, 2021 On 8/16/2021 at 11:02 AM, stewedsquash said: Ed Lee Buttermilk Graffiti I really like Ed Lee. He’s great on Top Chef and in this book. Link to comment
stewedsquash August 19, 2021 Share August 19, 2021 6 hours ago, cherrypj said: I really like Ed Lee. He’s great on Top Chef and in this book. When I watched him during his season I really didn't get much from him. Afterwards seeing him on different chef shows (Mind of a Chef and some others) I really took a liking to him. It makes me want to rewatch his season and view it from an "I like this guy" angle. 2 Link to comment
grommit2 August 19, 2021 Share August 19, 2021 OK. I finished Hemingway's Hemingway's Farewell to Arms. Perhaps English majors can applaud this book, but I cannot. It was touted as a new approach to fiction, "modernism", featuring tight, concise prose, unlike the predecessor style (Victorian?) that featured lots of dialogue signifying nothing. I found Hemingway's prose to feature either lengthy paragraphs, or short dialogue. Neither seemed to match the humanity grinding of WWI, or the depth required of a love interest. Only the very last sentence really punched home. Anyway, what's wrong with Victorian literature? I found Pride and Prejudice to be a worthwhile read (although it took awhile to unravel who was proud and who was prejudiced). Yes, the first movie was painful, and did feature lots of superficial conversations. The second, more recent movie, was pretty good. But the best movie of all was Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. Now, that was a true work of art. 😎 1 1 2 Link to comment
EtheltoTillie August 19, 2021 Share August 19, 2021 On 8/15/2021 at 11:40 PM, stewedsquash said: Who Is Maud Dixon? by Alexandra Andrews is a terrible book. So terrible that I am thinking about getting a twitter account just to torment the author about how terrible she is as an author of books. It is terrible. ITA!!! I often get sucked into buying these popular summer thrillers. This was one of the inducements. Awful. 1 Link to comment
Ohiopirate02 August 20, 2021 Share August 20, 2021 16 hours ago, grommit2 said: Anyway, what's wrong with Victorian literature? I found Pride and Prejudice to be a worthwhile read (although it took awhile to unravel who was proud and who was prejudiced). Yes, the first movie was painful, and did feature lots of superficial conversations. The second, more recent movie, was pretty good. But the best movie of all was Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. Now, that was a true work of art. 😎 Jane Austen was writing and died before Queen Victoria was conceived. She is not a Victorian writer. 1 5 Link to comment
sugarbaker design August 20, 2021 Share August 20, 2021 1 hour ago, Ohiopirate02 said: She is not a Victorian writer. Austen's period is considered Regency England, when the future George IV was named regent in place of his mentally ill father III. Two of my favorites, Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins, among others, are Victorian writers. 1 5 Link to comment
peacheslatour August 20, 2021 Share August 20, 2021 (edited) 1 hour ago, sugarbaker design said: Austen's period is considered Regency England, when the future George IV was named regent in place of his mentally ill father III. Two of my favorites, Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins, among others, are Victorian writers. Plus Conan Doyle and Oscar Wilde. Would Louisa May Alcott be considered Victorian? Edited August 20, 2021 by peacheslatour Link to comment
grommit2 August 20, 2021 Share August 20, 2021 2 hours ago, Ohiopirate02 said: Jane Austen was writing and died before Queen Victoria was conceived. She is not a Victorian writer. But...you did like my little joke about the Zombies movie, didn't you? Eh? Pretty darn funny, wouldn't you agree? Hooboy, I'm so funny. 1 1 Link to comment
sugarbaker design August 20, 2021 Share August 20, 2021 (edited) 1 hour ago, peacheslatour said: Plus Conan Doyle and Oscar Wilde. Would Louisa May Alcott be considered Victorian? Wouldn't 'Victorian' imply a British writer? Edited August 20, 2021 by sugarbaker design 1 Link to comment
peacheslatour August 20, 2021 Share August 20, 2021 5 minutes ago, sugarbaker design said: Wouldn't 'Victorian' imply a British writer? It would also imply Victorian Era? Do appellations like The Me Generation only include Americans? 1 Link to comment
sugarbaker design August 20, 2021 Share August 20, 2021 2 minutes ago, peacheslatour said: It would also imply Victorian Era? Do appellations like The Me Generation only include Americans? The term 'Me Generation' doesn't include a reference to a specific monarch. I wouldn't feel comfortable calling Tolstoy or Zola Victorian writers. YMMV. 1 Link to comment
grommit2 August 20, 2021 Share August 20, 2021 Ok...Victorian Era authors: Bronte(s), Trollope, DICKENS, Gaskell, Eliot, Lewis Carrol, Stevenson, Oscar Wilde, Hardy, Collins, Thackeray...are considered the biggies. Some Victorian era authors came from countries other than England: Poe!, Stanton, Zola, Dickinson, Nightengale, Allen, Stowe, Henry James (agh!), Melville, Twain!, Hawthorne, Sojourner Truth, Anthony, Victor Hugo. There are a few others who overlap with Victorian era: Doyle, Kipling, HG Wells, Bram Stoker (Dracula!), Conrad. There are more authors, but these are the most notable. As we know, the Victorian era spanned Queen Victoria's reign (1837-1901). Some historians stretch it back a bit further. 2 Link to comment
Tom Holmberg August 21, 2021 Share August 21, 2021 With everything going on in Afghanistan, now is a good time to reread "Flashman" by George MacDonald Fraser. Sums the situation up perfectly. 17 hours ago, grommit2 said: Some Victorian era authors came from countries other than England: Poe!, Stanton, Zola, Dickinson, Nightengale, Allen, Stowe, Henry James (agh!), Melville, Twain!, Hawthorne, Sojourner Truth, Anthony, Victor Hugo. I read a lot of Balzac in the 80s because they related perfectly to that era. I'd suggest starting with a good translation of "Pere Goriot". 2 Link to comment
Madding crowd August 21, 2021 Share August 21, 2021 I agree the Maud Dixon book was not good. Just finished Billy Summers by Stephen King and I loved it. Also read The Anthropocene Review by John Green and thought it was boring. Next up The Wicked Sister by Karen Dionne. Link to comment
Tom Holmberg August 21, 2021 Share August 21, 2021 On 8/14/2021 at 8:06 AM, cherrypj said: Speaking of having to finish a terrible book, I just finished The Bourne Identity. I've read it before. I've seen the movie. Only God knows why I slogged through this re-read--it's horrible. The action is good, but the writing is not. Definitely filed in the "Movie is better" column. (I'll not read the other 15 (!!) books in this series. Take that, Ludlum.) Am re-reading Contact by Carl Sagan. This one is filed in the "Movie and Book are both great!" I really liked this book when it originally came out, but when a tried to reread it a few years ago I couldn't get past the first few chapters. Shows how tastes change. 2 Link to comment
peacheslatour August 21, 2021 Share August 21, 2021 Quote With everything going on in Afghanistan, now is a good time to reread "Flashman" by George MacDonald Fraser. Sums the situation up perfectly. I remember reading The Kite Runner. Now, I'm going to read A Thousand Splendid Suns by the same author. 1 Link to comment
JustHereForFood August 21, 2021 Share August 21, 2021 6 hours ago, Tom Holmberg said: I read a lot of Balzac in the 80s because they related perfectly to that era. I'd suggest starting with a good translation of "Pere Goriot". We had this as assigned reading in high school and I hated it so much! It was bleak and boring and I ended up jumping forward on some parts, because it felt like such a drag. But to each their own, of course. Link to comment
Luckylyn August 22, 2021 Share August 22, 2021 I’m reading Carry On by Rainbow Rowell. This book involves characters at a magic school with danger and political intrigue with a focus on the character Simon and his roommate/nemesis Baz. The chosen one sets on a course to solve a mystery but his magic skills are wildly inconsistent. He’s powerful but his spells have the potential to cause more damage than help. I’m getting a “What if Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy were roommates vibe.” I’m finding it very entertaining. Link to comment
EtheltoTillie August 22, 2021 Share August 22, 2021 (edited) I got roped into buying the audiobook of The Turnout, by Megan Abbott. I thought it would be a fun thriller. It is just terrible. Kind of sick. I wish someone would give me a spoiler since I can’t flip ahead with an audiobook. Maybe I will try listening to the end. Has anyone else read this or her other books? Would love to hear any opinions. Edited August 22, 2021 by GussieK Link to comment
GaT August 22, 2021 Share August 22, 2021 So, I finished The Shadow Wing by Sarah Painter, & decided I hated it. The main character of that book is named Lydia. I decided to read Claimed by J.R. Ward next, & I'm about 3/4 of the way through & I'm not enjoying it. Guess what the name of the book's main character is? Yep, it's Lydia. 2 books in a row that I don't like & they both have main characters named Lydia. I'm checking character names before I start reading the next book, because I am definitely not liking Lydias at the moment. 4 Link to comment
Luckylyn August 22, 2021 Share August 22, 2021 8 hours ago, GaT said: So, I finished The Shadow Wing by Sarah Painter, & decided I hated it. The main character of that book is named Lydia. I decided to read Claimed by J.R. Ward next, & I'm about 3/4 of the way through & I'm not enjoying it. Guess what the name of the book's main character is? Yep, it's Lydia. 2 books in a row that I don't like & they both have main characters named Lydia. I'm checking character names before I start reading the next book, because I am definitely not liking Lydias at the moment. Claimed took time to get going. I liked it but got a little frustrated waiting for a werewolf to finally appear. It’s the beginning of a new series so the ending resolves some things but has a cliffhanger. I do like it more than the prison camp spin off. In the Black Dagger books Spoiler pharmaceutical companies have been referenced before because they kidnapped and experimented on vampires to develop treatments for humans. Claimed more directly follows through that storyline. This time we have human beings with illnesses which could be possibly cured by studying supernatural beings. The books showed the horror of vampires being tortured by these experiments. This book shows another angle to the story of people who are sick and desperate for a cure. Can humans, wolves, and vampires work together to help each other? Despite the humans desperate situation the kidnapping, torture, and deaths in the labs were wrong and the books make it clear that vampires who survived are traumatized. Could vampires voluntarily help if someone reached out for help instead of using force? I feel like this book is branching off the series into a interesting direction. Link to comment
Luckylyn August 22, 2021 Share August 22, 2021 Regarding Carry On, although the Harry Potter similarities are there it is an interesting world on it’s own. I really like getting to know these characters. The book’s romance is compelling because Spoiler They always believed they had to be enemies destined to battle with only one of them surviving. There’s a twist where Spoiler Simon “the chosen one” is inadvertently causing the problem he’s supposed to be saving everyone from. Also there’s this prophecy and a character who got tired of waiting for the prophecy to happen and decides to make it happen because he wants to make drastic reforms in the magical world and believes revolution is the only way. The villain believes he’s saving the magical world but he’s ridge and ruthless. Link to comment
Tom Holmberg August 23, 2021 Share August 23, 2021 On 8/21/2021 at 5:10 PM, JustHereForFood said: We had this as assigned reading in high school and I hated it so much! It was bleak and boring and I ended up jumping forward on some parts, because it felt like such a drag. But to each their own, of course. I like Balzac better than Dickens because his protagonists aren't prissy goody-two-shoes. 2 1 Link to comment
smittykins August 23, 2021 Share August 23, 2021 I ordered the three books recently published about the end of the Trump presidency: Landslide(which I’ve finished), I Alone Can Fix It(which I’m reading now), and Frankly, We Did Win This Election(which was on back order and I should get sometime today). 3 Link to comment
Tom Holmberg August 23, 2021 Share August 23, 2021 1 hour ago, smittykins said: I ordered the three books recently published about the end of the Trump presidency: Landslide(which I’ve finished), I Alone Can Fix It(which I’m reading now), and Frankly, We Did Win This Election(which was on back order and I should get sometime today). I'm trying to forget all this. 6 2 Link to comment
Luckylyn August 24, 2021 Share August 24, 2021 I’m reading the nonfiction book In Broad Daylight by Harry Maclean. A man named Ken McElroy terrorized the people of Missouri for decades. One day he is murdered there should have been several witnesses but the people of the town refuse to help find the killer. Based on what I read so far this is a situation where I can understand how people can turn to vigilante justice. 1 Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.