What Are We Currently Reading?

[Haleth]

12 hours ago, Darian said:

I just finished Graham Moore's The Last Days of Night, which I loved (and made me want to read at least one of the nonfiction books he cites as research

I just picked that up from the library yesterday.  Read a few pages last night.

I loved, loved To the Bright Edge of the World.  IMO the best book I've read in ages.  

I finally finished slogging through Middlemarch.  It was torture.  I hated just about everything about it, but now I can say I've read it.  Well, most of it.  There were a lot of paragraphs I skipped.

Edited February 15, 2017 by Haleth

[Qoass]

Quote

  13 HOURS AGO, DARIAN SAID:

I finally finished slogging through Middlemarch.  It was torture.  I hated just about everything about it, but now I can say I've read it.  Well, most of it.  There were a lot of paragraphs I skipped.

Thanks for this honest response.  I hated it too.

[Darian]

6 hours ago, Haleth said:

I just picked that up from the library yesterday.  Read a few pages last night.

I loved, loved To the Bright Edge of the World.  IMO the best book I've read in ages.  

Oh, good. Will start that tonight! Thanks.

Hope you enjoy The Last Days of Night. 

[Mabinogia]

I just finished re-reading Brave New World. I had read something recently that sales of Orwell's 1984 have risen since the election but that Brave New World is what we should be reading, I forget where I read that, it's just something I happened over, probably on FB (which is pretty ironic now that I think about it) and it stuck with me.

I see a lot of what he was satirizing in todays world. Our obsession with being happy and amused at all times distracts us from important things. It's a weird book and I do have some trouble with it, mostly I feel the "main" storyline is a bit all over the place,  but the view of society is terrifyingly believable.

[Melgaypet]

On 2/6/2017 at 9:43 AM, Sgt Pepper said:

I'm currently reading Outlander. I am 100 pages in, and Not sure if I want to go on.  I'm not really intrigued by the story.  

I have this whole series. Outlander was a first novel, and in retrospect, it shows. If you're not totally turned off, I'd recommend at least giving the next book, Dragonfly in Amber, a try. It's a little more ambitious and has a stronger plot.

[helenamonster]

Just finished: While You Were Sleeping by Kathryn Croft. It's about a woman who wakes up naked in bed next to her murdered neighbor with no recollection as to how she got there, and the ensuing investigation of the murder and how she's involved. I was about to toss it when I felt like I'd solved the whole mystery about a third of the way through, but I'm glad I stuck with it because I turned out to be completely off. The ending was fine; I think mystery is one of the hardest genres to write because it's so hard to come to a conclusion that's somewhere between totally obvious and pulled out of your ass. The only thing I didn't like about the book was that so many of the characters were constantly lying, only to admit they were lying and then just tell another lie, over and over and over. It got tedious.

Next up: All the Missing Girls by Megan Miranda.

[Splishy Splashy]

I am reading my finally reading assignment for my Senior Year English Class The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood.

[luna1122]

Finished Amy Schumer's The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo (funny, honest, sometimes poignant. Not terribly well written, but that's not really the point). Also read 'The Couple Next Door' in a day. It's not good or well written, but it DID keep me turning the pages til I was finished, so...I guess it did its job. Just began "The Woman in Cabin 10'.

[Danny Franks]

On to The Truth, by Terry Pratchett. A book I've not read in years, but it's about the foundation of the free press in Ankh-Morpork, so it seems rather appropriate at the moment.

[aradia22]

My main book right now is Chris Gethard's A Bad Idea I'm About to Do. I like it. I don't have the best luck with humor books because I don't like audiobooks so they're delivered in whatever the cadence is in my head. I think this means the writing actually has to stand up on its own without the delivery of the performer. This does it for me. It's not hilarious exactly but it's amusing and he's a good writer. It's also very readable. The book is like 250 pages and I've been reading 50 to 100 pages each sitting. Sometimes it's nice to read something that isn't a struggle.

I'm also dipping back into Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde and Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates when I'm on the train. I like her work but it's choppy as you'd expect a book of essays to be so I like reading it in pieces. Whereas Between the World and Me is a bit of a struggle. The writing isn't my favorite thing and I'm not totally there with the argument so I have some resistance there. But mostly it's feeling like one long, rambly statement and I could use some breaks or at least some organization. It's going back to the library soon so I'll probably have to go back to it later. 

[hendersonrocks]

Digging Everything You Want Me to Be by Mindy Mejia right now. It's a murder mystery in small town Minnesota, with a female high school senior as the victim. 

[helenamonster]

Just finished: All the Missing Girls by Megan Miranda, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Mystery/thriller is my favorite genre and yet I find it so difficult to be sufficiently satisfied by books that fall into this category. I think because so many of them have a good premise based on the description but then the whole thing completely falls apart in the prose, the ending doesn't fit, or it's just completely derivative. This one, however, was really something. The plot revolves around two separate cases of young women going missing in the same town, about ten years apart. The story surrounding the more recent case is told mostly in reverse chronological order (some of the reviews compared it favorably to the film Memento, which I agree with), while the older case is told in flashbacks in which the main character reveals a little more information each chapter, in between scenes about the more recent case. The whole thing holds together really well, and was a pleasure to read. The main character was compelling and the setting (backwoods smalltown North Carolina) was so rich in detail...I could picture everything perfectly. I flew through it this weekend, it was really excellent.

Next up: Right Behind You by Lisa Gardner.

14 hours ago, luna1122 said:

Finished Amy Schumer's The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo (funny, honest, sometimes poignant. Not terribly well written, but that's not really the point). Also read 'The Couple Next Door' in a day. It's not good or well written, but it DID keep me turning the pages til I was finished, so...I guess it did its job. Just began "The Woman in Cabin 10'.

I enjoyed The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo. I enjoy stream-of-consciousness writing when it's done correctly, and I think it was with Schumer. I thought it struck the right balance between genuinely funny and poignantly sad.

I was not impressed with The Couple Next Door. This is the sort of boring, paint-by-numbers mystery that makes wading through the genre (which when it's good, is SO good) such a slog. The husband got on every last one of my nerves (literally who the fuck is that desperate) and I thought the titular couple next door were mostly inconsequential to main story until the final plot twist which was...well by that point I really did not care.

[Qoass]

I just finished Lincoln in the Bardo after reading two rapturous reviews and found it... totally worth the hype.  Which probably wrecks it for anybody seeing this post.  I'm now on to Joyce Carol Oates' A Book of American Martyrs.  So far, so good and it's giving my biceps a workout.

[Hanahope]

I just finished Corrupted by Lisa Scottoline and I was disappointed.  First, I found it a bit unbelievable that Bennie would have an affair with the uncle of the boy who got her 12 year old client into jail/juvie during her representation of the kid.  Bennie knew that the boys hated each other and the families each blamed the other kid for causing the problems.  Why on earth would she risk her client's representation on an affair.  The case was happening so fast, surely she could have waited a couple of months to resolve the case, then date the uncle, if she still wanted to.  As it is, her affair completely ruined the case the kid, got her fired, and then the kid had no one representing him.  I know that obviously Scottoline, who wanted to use the real life Kids for Cash background in her case, couldn't actually change history by having her fictional attorney be the one to discovery the scandal, but I thought she made a bad choice in writing this story as part of Bennie's history, it was way out of character.  I swear I kept expecting the uncle to be in on the scam, who was hired to seduce/deflect Bennie from helping the kid and discovering the scandal because it seemed so unbelievable that this affair would just happen organically.

Then, when Scottoline brought the story forward to the present, we got so little about the current case.  It was Bennie getting hired again by the kid, now 25, for murder of the enemy boy, a very brief initial investigation, then fast forward 6 months to trial with apparently almost no investigation done in the mean time.  Then on the last day of trial, last 50 pages of the book, Bennie's badgering of her own client on the witness stand finally got the surprise, heretofore unnamed/unknown key witness to come forward with the truth.  I hate last minute witnesses/evidence that completely solve the mystery.  Its seems so unfair to the reader. And there's no reason why this key witness had to be unknown, even cursory investigation would have revealed that person's identity to Bennie, who clearly should have (and I think would have) interviewed that person well in advance and found out the truth.

It definitely was not one of Scottoline's better stories.  

[alias1]

9 hours ago, Qoass said:

I just finished Lincoln in the Bardo after reading two rapturous reviews and found it... totally worth the hype.  Which probably wrecks it for anybody seeing this post.  I'm now on to Joyce Carol Oates' A Book of American Martyrs.  So far, so good and it's giving my biceps a workout.

Wait.  Lincoln in the Bardo.  You did find it worth the hype?  Or you didn't find it worth the hype?  I was confused because you said your comment might wreck it for someone else.  I'm trying to get my library to order this book.

[AltLivia]

Just finished : The Circle by Dave Eggers. Liked some of it, but then the book nosedived into preachy (and worse, predictable) garbage. Technology is evil, it makes people self-congratulatory while not actually making real change or communicating. Meh. The characters were so flat that when they became intolerable,  I didn't feel a thing. But the fact that I forced my way through it just for...that, makes me angry.

 

I always have three books going at the same time, so here goes. Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris, The Astronaut Wives Club - Lily Koppel and because my book club is again obsessed with YA, If I Was Your Girl -Meredith Russo. If I Was Your Girl is a cool choice, given its discussion of transgender identity, but it's incredibly eye-roll inducing otherwise. Of course, everyone at school instantly believes that the protagonist is hot. Of course, her boyfriend turns out to be a candidate for sainthood, supporting his impoverished family. Of course, she is immediately absorbed by the popular crowd, who are (surprise!) majorly religious

[helenamonster]

6 hours ago, Hanahope said:

I just finished Corrupted by Lisa Scottoline and I was disappointed.  First, I found it a bit unbelievable that Bennie would have an affair with the uncle of the boy who got her 12 year old client into jail/juvie during her representation of the kid.  Bennie knew that the boys hated each other and the families each blamed the other kid for causing the problems.  Why on earth would she risk her client's representation on an affair.  The case was happening so fast, surely she could have waited a couple of months to resolve the case, then date the uncle, if she still wanted to.  As it is, her affair completely ruined the case the kid, got her fired, and then the kid had no one representing him.  I know that obviously Scottoline, who wanted to use the real life Kids for Cash background in her case, couldn't actually change history by having her fictional attorney be the one to discovery the scandal, but I thought she made a bad choice in writing this story as part of Bennie's history, it was way out of character.  I swear I kept expecting the uncle to be in on the scam, who was hired to seduce/deflect Bennie from helping the kid and discovering the scandal because it seemed so unbelievable that this affair would just happen organically.

Then, when Scottoline brought the story forward to the present, we got so little about the current case.  It was Bennie getting hired again by the kid, now 25, for murder of the enemy boy, a very brief initial investigation, then fast forward 6 months to trial with apparently almost no investigation done in the mean time.  Then on the last day of trial, last 50 pages of the book, Bennie's badgering of her own client on the witness stand finally got the surprise, heretofore unnamed/unknown key witness to come forward with the truth.  I hate last minute witnesses/evidence that completely solve the mystery.  Its seems so unfair to the reader. And there's no reason why this key witness had to be unknown, even cursory investigation would have revealed that person's identity to Bennie, who clearly should have (and I think would have) interviewed that person well in advance and found out the truth.

It definitely was not one of Scottoline's better stories.  

Oh man, the thing with the uncle drove me nuts! What I have always loved about Scottoline (especially regarding her core series with Mary/Judy/Bennie/Anne) is that she writes stories about extremely intelligent, competent, hardworking female lawyers who always put their clients' interests ahead of their personal problems, like it's not even a question. She's never been afraid to have her main characters sacrifice personal relationships because of their work and I've loved it, especially because these characters are always taking on cases where they are literally the only person who can help. But this was a weird misstep for her, especially with Bennie. Anne, maybe Judy I could see pulling shit like that but never Bennie.

I agree that in general Corrupted really fell short of Scottoline's other works. Of the four recurring characters, Bennie has always been my least favorite so I was sort of predisposed to not enjoy it as much, but it was a pretty big misstep. It did get me to learn more about the Kids for Cash scandal, which I had never heard of before.

Apropos of almost nothing, I met Scottoline at a book signing once (I'm from the Philly area and she always does a ton of appearances around here) and she was so unbelievably nice.

[Qoass]

Quote

You did find it worth the hype?  Or you didn't find it worth the hype?  I was confused because you said your comment might wreck it for someone else. 

I DID find it worth the hype.  I don't know about you but frequently when I read or watch something because it's supposed to be so fantastic, I find that it doesn't live up to my high expectations; the raves can color my experience.  Whatever your tastes or expectations, I sincerely hope you love it as much as I did.

Edited February 22, 2017 by Qoass

[Hanahope]

11 hours ago, helenamonster said:

Apropos of almost nothing, I met Scottoline at a book signing once (I'm from the Philly area and she always does a ton of appearances around here) and she was so unbelievably nice.

Oh yes, me too.  I try to get to at least one book signing a year and have her sign the other books I've bought during the year and couldn't get to the signing.  I've also met her daughter at a signing.  I love her summer anthology series with Francesca. Both are incredibly nice people.  I'd love to go to one of her open houses, but I don't belong to a book club (I don't have time).  But she is one of the few authors I still buy actual paper books (because I can get them signed).

I also agree that Bennie is my least favorite too, and I think she works better as the 'boss' character for the other attorneys' stories.  Even her twin stories are a bit 'out there', but they weren't as bad as this one.  I hope Damage(d?) is better.

How did you live in Philly and not hear about Kids for Cash?  Major scandal in the papers. 

Speaking of Philly area authors, I also recently read Fool Me Once by Harlan Coben, which I liked because the different twist he put on the story.  I kept trying to figure out how her husband faked his death.  The one thing I didn't like was how he had a character travel from North Jersey to Philly via the PA turnpike (from Jersey) and then the 476.  I'm reading that going, what the hell, that's a pretty roundabout way of getting to Philly, there are plenty of much more direct routes, even on major highways.  Ah, the more you know sometimes.  I got to meet him at a book signing once too, many years ago.  Haven't seen him do a book signing in Philly in years.

[helenamonster]

23 hours ago, Hanahope said:

Oh yes, me too.  I try to get to at least one book signing a year and have her sign the other books I've bought during the year and couldn't get to the signing.  I've also met her daughter at a signing.  I love her summer anthology series with Francesca. Both are incredibly nice people.  I'd love to go to one of her open houses, but I don't belong to a book club (I don't have time).  But she is one of the few authors I still buy actual paper books (because I can get them signed).

I also agree that Bennie is my least favorite too, and I think she works better as the 'boss' character for the other attorneys' stories.  Even her twin stories are a bit 'out there', but they weren't as bad as this one.  I hope Damage(d?) is better.

How did you live in Philly and not hear about Kids for Cash?  Major scandal in the papers. 

Speaking of Philly area authors, I also recently read Fool Me Once by Harlan Coben, which I liked because the different twist he put on the story.  I kept trying to figure out how her husband faked his death.  The one thing I didn't like was how he had a character travel from North Jersey to Philly via the PA turnpike (from Jersey) and then the 476.  I'm reading that going, what the hell, that's a pretty roundabout way of getting to Philly, there are plenty of much more direct routes, even on major highways.  Ah, the more you know sometimes.  I got to meet him at a book signing once too, many years ago.  Haven't seen him do a book signing in Philly in years.

I was 13/14 when the Kids for Cash scandal was unfolding and wasn't paying much attention to local news (I forgot to mention I am wayyyy outside the target demographic for Scottoline's books; I read my first one of hers when I was 14). I'm sure I saw reports of it on NBC10 or something but I have no recollection of it. My parents were probably aware of it but we never talked about it as far as I can remember.

I also agree that Bennie works best as a secondary boss character for the other ones. I kind of like the stuff with her twin. It's outside of Scottoline's usual fair but those books always entertained me.

I liked Damaged. Just as I'm a little predisposed to not like Bennie books as much because she's my least favorite, I'll handwave a lot of stuff for Mary books because she is my favorite. I actually like all the other characters best when they're in Mary books because they're most interesting through her eyes; I do applaud Scottoline for being able to change her narrative voice for each of these characters and give them distinct personalities and points of view.

[Hanahope]

36 minutes ago, helenamonster said:

I was 13/14 when the Kids for Cash scandal was unfolding and wasn't paying much attention to local news (I forgot to mention I am wayyyy outside the target demographic for Scottoline's books; I read my first one of hers when I was 14). I'm sure I saw reports of it on NBC10 or something but I have no recollection of it. My parents were probably aware of it but we never talked about it as far as I can remember.

Ah, that's understandable then.  I was the same.  I don't think I paid attention to anything outside my bubble until I went to college.

Good to hear about Damaged.  I like Mary the best too, especially because it gives me a viewpoint of Philly that I don't get from anyone I know. I'm a transplant to Philly as an adult about 15 years ago, so I know very little about all the various "personality" of the areas.

[OtterMommy]

On 2/7/2017 at 10:35 AM, luna1122 said:

I have very intense and mixed emotions about this book, and i'm uncertain I can even explain them all, so I won't try. I found it riveting, tho, and Wavy Quinn haunts me. Please let us know what you think once you've finished.

 

Regarding All the Ugly and Wonderful Things.  

I have to say that I have a lot of conflicting emotions about this one--there were parts of it I loved and parts I found beyond disturbing.  I'm discussing it tonight at book club, so we'll have to see how that goes.

I did start my next book club selection, Hillbilly Elegy last night.  I didn't get far, thanks to nothing more than exhaustion, but I think that this one is going to be fascinating.

I'm also reading Lisa Jewell's forthcoming I Found You.  I've liked her books in the past, but it seems like she's on the Paula Hawkins train now (and I did not like The Girl on the Train, but I have enjoyed other books in that vein) so the jury is still out for me.  I am glad, though, that I am reading it before its publication.  I've found that, with thrillers, I have more success if I read them before the hype gets out.

[rove4]

I have three books going at the moment, which I don't normally do. I'm about two thirds of the way through Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, about at the halfway mark with A Curious Beginning (sort of a historical mystery, I guess, though not much actual sleuthing so far), and just started Harmony Black (urban fantasy) on audiobook.

Edited February 23, 2017 by rove4

[alias1]

1 hour ago, rove4 said:

I have three books going at the moment, which I don't normally do. I'm about two thirds of the way through Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, about at the halfway mark with A Curious Beginning (sort of a historical mystery, I guess, though not much actual sleuthing so far), and just started Harmony Black (urban fantasy) on audiobook.

I really enjoyed the BBC America version of Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell.  I know the book is really long and I'm not sure I'd want to tackle it.  But it's only $1.99 right now on Amazon for the kindle edition (til the end of the month).

I just read The Hike (Drew Magary) and hated it.  I felt like a 10 year old wrote it.  Lots of 5 star reviews on Amazon.  Absolutely not my style.

I also read Tuesday's Gone (Nicci French) the 2nd in the Frieda Klein series.  I thought it was excellent.  Better than the first book.

[rove4]

I'm looking forward to watching the BBC version once I'm done with the book. I'm curious to see what they managed to keep.

[raven]

On 2/23/2017 at 3:52 PM, SierraMist said:

I really enjoyed the BBC America version of Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell.  I know the book is really long and I'm not sure I'd want to tackle it.  But it's only $1.99 right now on Amazon for the kindle edition (til the end of the month).

I loved the book and thought the BBC version was excellent.   So I say go for it!

Currently reading The Lost City of the Monkey God by Doug Preston.   It is a true account of an expedition to find a "lost city" in the Honduras.  I am usually all for this sort of thing and this one is fairly interesting. 

On 2/23/2017 at 3:52 PM, SierraMist said:

I just read The Hike (Drew Magary) and hated it.  I felt like a 10 year old wrote it.  Lots of 5 star reviews on Amazon.  Absolutely not my style.

Interesting to hear (I've enjoyed some of his columns) and have been debating about this one.  I know that I don't usually agree with the 5 star reviews either so maybe not.

[AuntiePam]

After those three Pat Barker books that took me through two world wars, I picked up a 2014 collection of anecdotes from Debbie Reynolds, stuff she says she hadn't included in her previous memoirs.  It was fun.  After that, it was on to Instant Mom by Nia Vardalos -- the Kindle version is $1.99.  Focus is on Nia's attempts to become a mother, first through fertility treatments and then via adoption.   The book is chatty and funny but also full of helpful information and insights about kids in general, not just adopted kids.  I think it'd be a great resource for any parent, but especially for anyone thinking of adoption, or who has adopted. 

Next up is The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry.  Roseanne McNulty, an Irish woman, 99 years old and a patient in a mental hospital, looking back on her life.  Barry's writing is so poetic, I can hear the Irish accent, the rhythm.  But it's not too poetic -- I hate flowery prose.  If a writer is described as "lyrical", I look elsewhere.

[Haleth]

On 2/15/2017 at 2:06 PM, Darian said:

Hope you enjoy The Last Days of Night. 

I did!  I finished it yesterday.  That was a really intriguing story about two brilliant inventors/corporate giants duking it out.  

Spoiler

It was pretty ironic that in the end none of it mattered anyway.  Edison was out, Westinghouse had a better design, and it wasn't in the interest of either company to bankrupt the other.

My son (same age as Paul) is in his last semester of law school so I'd been filling him in on the legal aspects of the story which he found interesting and is going to read up on.  I think I might check out the biographies of these people, the ones cited by Graham Moore. 

[luna1122]

Finished 'Woman in Cabin 10", it was okay. Also read 'The Statistical Improbability of Love at First Sight" which is a little TOO YA for me, probably, tho I'll still likely see the film version whenever it comes out, if Dustin Lance Black and Hailee Steinfeld are still attached. Now reading "The Perfect Girl". Interesting, so far.

[helenamonster]

1 hour ago, luna1122 said:

Finished 'Woman in Cabin 10", it was okay. Also read 'The Statistical Improbability of Love at First Sight" which is a little TOO YA for me, probably, tho I'll still likely see the film version whenever it comes out, if Dustin Lance Black and Hailee Steinfeld are still attached. Now reading "The Perfect Girl". Interesting, so far.

I'll be curious what you think about the ending of The Perfect Girl. I generally thought it was an interesting read as well.

[alias1]

I finished The Dry (Jane Harper) and found it engrossing while I was reading it.  I was ready to give it very high marks, and then Bam! The End.  Upon reflection, the characters were not really well drawn, either.  The atmosphere she created in the book did seem authentic to me, but, while I "felt" the drought, I wondered if "the dry" is really a term they use in Australia.  I'm probably being very picky here.  It was a good read, until it was over (if that makes sense).  

I'm now reading Still Life With Crows (Agent Pendergast #4).  I have The Lost City of the Monkey God on my kindle.  I hope I get to it before it has to go back.

And The Nix (Nathan Hill) just became available to me.

[raven]

11 hours ago, Haleth said:

I think I might check out the biographies of these people, the ones cited by Graham Moore. 

I also really enjoyed The Last Days of Night.  I had heard of Nikola Tesla but did not know much of what was revealed in this book.  I thought using Paul as a way into the story was a smart decision, since Paul was a real person, though Moore did fill in some details if he didn't have facts.

I've also read Moore's The Sherlockian, which was not bad (it's fiction; interesting mystery and premise, dull lead character); I liked TLDoN better though.

[Melgaypet]

I've finished the first two books in Ellis Peter's Brother Cadfael historical mystery series: A Morbid Taste for Bones and One Corpse Too Many. (Great titles!) I enjoyed them a lot, the premise and settling is interesting and the mysteries engaging without being too obvious or convoluted. Cadfael himself teeters on the edge of being too perfect - I don't think he's been wrong yet - but he's smart, kindhearted and a little snarky, which makes up for it.

[GaT]

I just finished Tell No One by Harlen Coben, & I have to admit, I didn't enjoy it much. I love his Myron Bolitar series, so I'm reading his non series books from the beginning & they just aren't connecting with me. I don't know if it's because they're his early works, or if it's the actual stories, but they're hard for me to get through. I have the next book, Gone For Good already, so I'll read it, but that may be the last one.

[proserpina65]

On ‎02‎/‎27‎/‎2017 at 8:11 PM, Melgaypet said:

I've finished the first two books in Ellis Peter's Brother Cadfael historical mystery series: A Morbid Taste for Bones and One Corpse Too Many. (Great titles!) I enjoyed them a lot, the premise and settling is interesting and the mysteries engaging without being too obvious or convoluted. Cadfael himself teeters on the edge of being too perfect - I don't think he's been wrong yet - but he's smart, kindhearted and a little snarky, which makes up for it.

I love the Brother Cadfael books.  The main characters feel like real people to me, and I'm fascinated by the political background of the time.  I owe my knowledge of the Empress Maud to having read the books, and thus knew an answer on Jeopardy as a result.  I was so disappointed when that aspect of the novels was severely cut from the television series after the first four parts.  (Well, that and the role of Hugh Beringar being recast for some unfathomable reason.)

[nodorothyparker]

I really like the Brother Cadfael series too.

I'm halfway through The Man in the High Castle although I can't really articulate my reasoning for reading it.  As much as I typically enjoy anything dystopian, I've mostly been avoiding the genre altogether the last couple of months.   But I needed a palate cleanser after wallowing too long in too many books about Tudor England lately.  So far the book seems to be bogged down on an awful lot of seemingly inconsequential minutia for a pretty big historical what-if in which Germany and Japan won World War II and divided the continental U.S. up among their colonial spoils as world powers.  I'm assuming there has to be more to it or I really can't imagine how Amazon has gotten a couple of seasons of a show out of it.

[Danny Franks]

22 minutes ago, nodorothyparker said:

I really like the Brother Cadfael series too.

I'm halfway through The Man in the High Castle although I can't really articulate my reasoning for reading it.  As much as I typically enjoy anything dystopian, I've mostly been avoiding the genre altogether the last couple of months.   But I needed a palate cleanser after wallowing too long in too many books about Tudor England lately.  So far the book seems to be bogged down on an awful lot of seemingly inconsequential minutia for a pretty big historical what-if in which Germany and Japan won World War II and divided the continental U.S. up among their colonial spoils as world powers.  I'm assuming there has to be more to it or I really can't imagine how Amazon has gotten a couple of seasons of a show out of it.

Not to spoil it for you,  but if this is your opinion halfway through, it's unlikely to improve by the end. I was disappointed by the book, when I read it a few years ago. It just felt very light on anything approximating a narrative.

I'm now onto The Fifth Elephant, again by Terry Pratchett. I've not read this one for a long time, and I'd forgotten almost everything about it. It's really bloody good.

[nodorothyparker]

It's a hell of a premise.  And the little bits you do get about the political situation are tantalizing.  I just keep thinking there has to be more to it than this and so far there really has't been.

I think I've started and stopped Pratchett's The Color of Magic two or three times now because everyone keeps insisting that his sense of humor and mine are a natural fit and that it's just criminal that I haven't read him.  What I did read was some pretty amusing world building but I can't seem to stay in for whatever reason.  It's also been suggested I might want to skip ahead a book or two in Discworld and see if any of those take better.

[Hanahope]

I agree that High Castle left a lot of threads hanging and I wasn't terribly impressed with the ending, though agree that some of the details were pretty interesting.  I hear the show on Amazon is pretty good, so I'll probably give it a go.

[ZootSuitWyatt]

7 hours ago, nodorothyparker said:

It's a hell of a premise.  And the little bits you do get about the political situation are tantalizing.  I just keep thinking there has to be more to it than this and so far there really has't been.

I think I've started and stopped Pratchett's The Color of Magic two or three times now because everyone keeps insisting that his sense of humor and mine are a natural fit and that it's just criminal that I haven't read him.  What I did read was some pretty amusing world building but I can't seem to stay in for whatever reason.  It's also been suggested I might want to skip ahead a book or two in Discworld and see if any of those take better.

It might just not be your thing, but I would definitely try another one before deciding. It's been a long time since I read it, but I agree that Color of Magic isn't bad but it isn't really anything special. 

[Danny Franks]

13 hours ago, nodorothyparker said:

It's a hell of a premise.  And the little bits you do get about the political situation are tantalizing.  I just keep thinking there has to be more to it than this and so far there really has't been.

I think I've started and stopped Pratchett's The Color of Magic two or three times now because everyone keeps insisting that his sense of humor and mine are a natural fit and that it's just criminal that I haven't read him.  What I did read was some pretty amusing world building but I can't seem to stay in for whatever reason.  It's also been suggested I might want to skip ahead a book or two in Discworld and see if any of those take better.

This is always my advice for anyone starting to read the Discworld books: Don't start with The Colour of Magic. It's a very rough book, and feels like a string of set pieces that reference fantasy tropes, rather than an actual story. Terry Pratchett was still finding his feet as an author when he wrote it. It does take him a few books to find his voice, and figure out what the Discworld is going to be, as a series.

Some people recommend Mort (boy becomes apprentice to Death) as a good place to start, or Wyrd Sisters (kind of Macbeth, told from the point of view of three very sensible witches), and they're both good. But I always tell people to start with Guards! Guards! To me, it's the most accessible book, because it presents itself as a crime caper, in the vein of cop movies and TV shows, and most of its references are based on well known things. It introduces a set of characters that are amongst the most popular in the series, and it's based entirely in the city of Ankh-Morpork, which is practically a character in itself. It's where I think Pratchett finally irons out all the kinks and understands what he wants his books to be.

Edited March 2, 2017 by Danny Franks

[Mabinogia]

Thank you so much Danny Franks. I've wanted to read something from the Discworld series for a while but had no clue where to even begin. It is such a monster! I was like, how do I know which mini-series I should start with. I think I'm going to give Guards! Guards! a try then. Sounds like it could be fun.

[Danny Franks]

51 minutes ago, Mabinogia said:

Thank you so much Danny Franks. I've wanted to read something from the Discworld series for a while but had no clue where to even begin. It is such a monster! I was like, how do I know which mini-series I should start with. I think I'm going to give Guards! Guards! a try then. Sounds like it could be fun.

The City Watch books are my favourite of the mini-series. And as I say, I think they're the most accessible books that Pratchett wrote. If you've watched a few cop movies or TV shows in your time, you'll get a lot of the references.  But there's lots of traditional fantasy stuff as well. 

Guards! Guards! is also the only book I've ever read where someone tries to arrest a dragon.

Edited March 2, 2017 by Danny Franks

[Mabinogia]

43 minutes ago, Danny Franks said:

Guards! Guards! is also the only book I've ever read where someone tries to arrest a dragon.

Oh, that's it, you sold me on it! Can't wait to see how that plays out. I love the combo of normal daily life (cops, arrestings) and fantasy (dragons).

[nodorothyparker]

Thanks for the recommendations.  To be honest, I'd never really looked into it enough to even know there are different series within the DIscworld series.  I just saw there were something like 40 books that are part of the same universe and figured you start at the beginning.   I have no idea how soon I might get to this as my current to read list is a monster and I tend to skip around as the mood suits.

[helenamonster]

Just finished: Right Behind You by Lisa Gardner, about two siblings who are put into the foster system and separated after the brother, defending the sister, kills their father with a baseball bat. Eight years later, he goes on a shooting rampage, and the sister's adoptive parents are the criminal profilers brought in to help catch him. I thought the premise sounded interesting the first half is pretty solid. It goes into the psychology of spree/rampage killers, which I find really fascinating (I didn't even know "rampage killer" was a designation, but it's kind of a catch-all for people who don't exactly fit the spree killer or mass murderer profiles), and also details methods used by search-and-rescue teams, which I knew absolutely nothing about and found super interesting, to the point that I'm keeping an eye out for any other books (fiction or nonfiction) that go into the process more. But then about halfway through it somehow turned into a mob story, which I usually like but that just felt completely forced in this narrative. Also, I had trouble buying that some criminal kingpin's main area of operation was Portland, Oregon, of all places. The ending was blah and just didn't resemble what the book had been in the beginning. Also, the author was really repetitive in the way she constantly reinforced characters' personalities traits with their profession/circumstances. He's a search-and-rescue volunteer, so he always has to think like the person he's tracking. He's a criminal profiler, so he always has to think like a criminal. She grew up in the foster system, so her capacity for love and affection are limited. Like, we get it.

Next up: Before I Go To Sleep by S.J. Watson.

[proserpina65]

I'm currently reading The Crow Trap by Ann Cleeves.  It's her first mystery to feature Vera Stanhope, and it's been quite interesting so far, although there was a draggy bit which went into far too much detail about a main character's affair.  I am surprised, however,

Spoiler

at how far into the book I was before Vera Stanhope actually showed up.  Aside from a brief appearance early on, when she's not identified, it's about 1/3 of the way through the book.

[SherriAnt]

I just started "Eleventh Grave in Moonlight" by Darynda Jones. This is such a good series, but you really do have to start at the beginning, with "First Grave on the Right". It's a new take on the whole Heaven Hell God Satan mythology, with angels who are bad and demons who are good. It has a fantastic sense of humour, awesome world building, and lovable and relatable characters.

In 4 days I'll be getting book 6 in the most amazing urban fantasy series I've read in so long, "Magic for Nothing" in the Incryptid series by Seanan McGuire. Everything she writes is so good, she also does the October Daye and Wayward Children series, and they're all fantasy, with a big dose of humour, and characters so real you feel like you know them. If you don't believe me, just look up Aeslin Mice, lol.

[Haleth]

I finished Truly, Madly, Guilty by Liane Moriarty last night.  I usually don't care for contemporary dramas but this was very good.  It's about 3 couples who are dealing with the fallout from an event that happened 2 months earlier.  The narrative alternates between present day, when the people are all wracked with guilt, anger, depression and interact very awkwardly, and the day of the party, with a tense build up to the pivotal event.  It isn't until you are about 3/4 through the book when you finally learn what happened.  I thought it was well written.  Each character sees the events of the day a little differently, through the haze of their own emotional baggage, and each tries to reconcile what happened to their own situation.  It may all be tied up too neatly in the end for some readers, but I found it satisfying.

[Qoass]

@Haleth, I enjoyed it too and since I don't have HBO, I'm now reading her Big Little Lies which has a similar structure.  It's terrific.