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What Are We Currently Reading?


Rick Kitchen
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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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!"

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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!

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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. 

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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 by stewedsquash
wrong title
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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...

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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.

 

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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.

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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.

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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.  

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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.

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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. 

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OK.  I finished Hemingway's Hemingway's Farewell to ArmsPerhaps English majors can applaud this bookbut 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. 😎

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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.

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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.  

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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.

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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 by peacheslatour
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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. 

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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. 

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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. 

 

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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".

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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 by GussieK
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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.

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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.   

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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.

 

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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.

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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).

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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.

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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.

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