What Are We Currently Reading?

[Mindthinkr]

2 hours ago, MargeGunderson said:

I love the entire series, but I enjoy the ones set in the village more than the 2 books that are in other locations. The town is like its own character in the series.

That’s what drew me to it in the first place. 

[RealityCheck]

I have just finished C S Harris's Why Kill The Innocent, the 13th book in the Sebastian St Cyr historical mystery series.  The books are set during the regency period in England and the protagonist, Sebastian St Cyr, Viscount Devlin, is an heir to an earldom.  I've read the books/listened to the audiobooks (Davina Porter is an exceptional narrator) of the prior 12 books in the series.  If you do decide to read these books I would strongly recommend reading them in order.  I found Harris skillful in describing the different social conditions, the grinding poverty of the common people vs the excesses of George IV, as she reveals the threads of the mystery.  I liked that Harris provided a post-story commentary at the end of each book describing the historical events and characters on which the story is based and where she took literary license.

I've just started A Death of No Importance by Mariah Fredericks, which is a standalone historical mystery set in New York City in 1910.  It's the first book I'm reading by this author and I am enjoying it.

[partofme]

I'm currently reading A False Report, a True Story of Rape in America.   I don't normally read nonfiction but I first heard about this case on 48 Hours Mystery and was outraged by it.    It's about what happened when an 18 year old girl in Washington state reported her rape to the police.

[Spartan Girl]

Just finished Circe by Madeline Millar, and OH MY GOD. If you loved Song of Achilles and/or revisionist femininely mythology retellings, don't walk, RUN to this book

[helenamonster]

Just finished: The Flight Attendant by Chris Bohjalian. I was a little wary of this book before I started because I'm getting tired of the "alcoholic protagonist witnesses a crime but due to the aforementioned alcoholism, blacks out and forgets everything until she (it's always she) doesn't" trope, but this wasn't that at all. For starters, the book's not even really a whodunnit (you find out in chapter two), it's more of a whydunnit and a rumination on how normal people can end up in batshit crazy circumstances just because of who they know or come across. I'm not entirely sure I understood the ending, but I applaud the author for going for something different. The one thing I couldn't stand, as usual in these types of books, was the dumbfuck decisions the protagonist makes. I get it, she's a drunk, but do people this self-destructive exist in real life? How do they function? It just seems like a lazy character trait for your protagonist to have when you haven't raised the stakes in a few pages, like how the old adage of curing writer's block by introducing a character who comes in and points a gun at everybody to get things moving again.

Next up: After Anna by Lisa Scottoline.

[Joe]

14 minutes ago, helenamonster said:

 the old adage of curing writer's block by introducing a character who comes in and points a gun at everybody to get things moving again.

 

Hey, don't knock it until you try it. A bit of lead flying across the page can work wonders for the imagination. :)

[starri]

On 4/11/2018 at 10:56 PM, Joe said:

I see what you mean there, and somewhat agree with you. I feel that the quote doesn't apply to somewhat flowery stuff like say Lord of the Rings, but more like Cormac McCarthy's the Road. Maybe it's a good story, but I found the style completely unreadable.

I frequently find McCarthy's writing irritating, but I found the Road to be highly enjoyable.

Now, in terms of serious dystopian writing that I disliked from writers I adore, PD James' Children of Men was a tough one.  I had actually read it prior to the film being released, and I thought it was one of those rare adaptations that improves (by quite a bit) the source material.

[Danny Franks]

Speaking of irritating writing, I'm reading 11.22.63 by Stephen King. I've tried to read a couple of his books in the past, and really disliked his writing style. I'm enjoying this book, but man, is it long-winded!

250 pages in, and the narrator hasn't even reached Dallas or 1960 yet! I watched some of the mini-series adaptation, so knew there was plenty of preliminary stuff to the JFK assassination, but it'd be nice if King had felt just a touch more urgency.

[Crs97]

That reminds me of when my mother was reading James Michener’s “Hawaii.”  I asked her about it and she said she was on page 300 and the volcanoes were just being formed that would eventually erupt to form the islands.  Still makes me chuckle (and stay away from his books). 

[Mondrianyone]

31 minutes ago, Crs97 said:

she was on page 300 and the volcanoes were just being formed that would eventually erupt to form the islands

So funny.  I read Hawaii when I was a teenager (don't do the math!), and this was what I loved about the book.  Talk about giving the full background!

[Katy M]

3 minutes ago, Mondrianyone said:

So funny.  I read Hawaii when I was a teenager (don't do the math!), and this was what I loved about the book.  Talk about giving the full background!

I love most of Michener's books.  They're just so descriptive and beautiful.  I hated The Drifters and didn't particularly care for Sayonara, but his epics are masterpieces, IMO.

[Haleth]

18 hours ago, Mondrianyone said:

So funny.  I read Hawaii when I was a teenager (don't do the math!), and this was what I loved about the book.  Talk about giving the full background!

Ha!  Me too.  The Source was my other favorite.  

[ChuckWagon]

The Hanging Tree (Peter Grant #6) .... which I found from recommendations on this thread.  Love this series! 

[Mindthinkr]

19 hours ago, Katy M said:

I love most of Michener's books.  They're just so descriptive and beautiful.  I hated The Drifters and didn't particularly care for Sayonara, but his epics are masterpieces, IMO.

Funny, The Drifters was the book that woke up my wanderlust that has shaped my life. I will say that it is heavy in wordage and a bit tough to get into. I’ve enjoyed most of his books too. 

Anyone here ever read Clive Barker? 

[Joe]

1 hour ago, ChuckWagon said:

The Hanging Tree (Peter Grant #6) .... which I found from recommendations on this thread.  Love this series! 

I love that series. Aaronovitch is my current favourite living author.

47 minutes ago, Mindthinkr said:

Funny, The Drifters was the book that woke up my wanderlust that has shaped my life. I will say that it is heavy in wordage and a bit tough to get into. I’ve enjoyed most of his books too. 

Anyone here ever read Clive Barker? 

Yes, I've read Weaveworld, Books of Blood 4 - 6, and Imajica and listened to the Hellbound Heart once each. Never been able to get into them a second time. Weaveworld I remember being a particularly slow and boring start, but improved after about the first hundred pages. I really should give it another go, but too many things compete for my attention these days. Why do you ask?

[MaggieG]

On 4/17/2018 at 11:22 PM, helenamonster said:

Just finished: The Flight Attendant by Chris Bohjalian. I was a little wary of this book before I started because I'm getting tired of the "alcoholic protagonist witnesses a crime but due to the aforementioned alcoholism, blacks out and forgets everything until she (it's always she) doesn't" trope, but this wasn't that at all. For starters, the book's not even really a whodunnit (you find out in chapter two), it's more of a whydunnit and a rumination on how normal people can end up in batshit crazy circumstances just because of who they know or come across. I'm not entirely sure I understood the ending, but I applaud the author for going for something different. The one thing I couldn't stand, as usual in these types of books, was the dumbfuck decisions the protagonist makes. I get it, she's a drunk, but do people this self-destructive exist in real life? How do they function? It just seems like a lazy character trait for your protagonist to have when you haven't raised the stakes in a few pages, like how the old adage of curing writer's block by introducing a character who comes in and points a gun at everybody to get things moving again.

Next up: After Anna by Lisa Scottoline.

I'm putting this in spoiler tag

Spoiler

The ending kind of threw me. We know Cassie is a drunk and sleeps around. She slept with three guys around the same time (Alex, Buckley and Enrico). How is she sure that Alex is the father of her child? And now she's what, a double agent? I'm still not sure if I liked it or hated it.

 

https://www.amazon.com/article/read-the-world

If anyone has a Kindle and is interested in free books!

[Mindthinkr]

5 hours ago, Joe said:

Yes, I've read Weaveworld, Books of Blood 4 - 6, and Imajica and listened to the Hellbound Heart once each. Never been able to get into them a second time. Weaveworld I remember being a particularly slow and boring start, but improved after about the first hundred pages. I really should give it another go, but too many things compete for my attention these days. Why do you ask?

I asked because I’ve read a lot of the same ones that you have. I agree that the first 100 pages are tough slogging but then like the rug, the world (book) opened up to me. If you get a chance try Cabal. It was pretty good from the start. To me Imajica was where he began to change his way of writing.  I asked because I don’t recall anyone here ever mentioning reading Clive Barker and even though it was some time ago, I really enjoyed where his books took my imagination. Just wondering if someone else had. Thanks for your reply. 

[luna1122]

Finished Jane Harper's The Dry. Really good. I'm not big on book series, (and so far, there are only two books in this particular series) but I'm likely to also read Forces of Nature, based on how much I enjoyed this one.

Also read:

• Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore by Matthew J Sullivan. Quirky, dark and really nicely written.
• Trying to Float: Coming of Age in the Chelsea Hotel by Nicolaia Rips. I have a minor obsession with all things Chelsea Hotel, and tho this memoirist is still a teenager, I was also minorly obsessed with this little book. Funny, sad, charming, artistic, bohemian, weird....delightful.
• Keeper of Lost Things, by Ruth Hogan. lovely but just way too twee and precious and sentimental for me, ultimately.
• Today Will be Different, by Maria Semple. I loved Where'd you go Bernadette? but if that one bugged or frustrated you, you'll probably find this one especially maddening. I relate to chaotic, scattered heroines, which Semple specializes in, but I can understand those who find her characters baffling and irritating. I liked it, tho not nearly so much as Bernadette.
• Thru Hiking Will Break Your Heart by Carrot Quinn. I'm the laziest couch potato on earth, but I love to read about hiking the PCT or climbing Everest. These books in no way inspire me to follow suit, nor do I read them aspirationally or enviously or even vicariously, there's no part of me that want to DO these things, but still, I'm wild (ha, see what I did there?) about reading them. Quinn is someone with a lot of emotional baggage (tho she knows how to pack light for the trail) and her maturity levels, especially when it comes to relationships, reads more like a teenager than a 30 year old woman, but I still just loved this one.
• The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes. Slim and compelling and it sent me scouring lots of sites to help interpret the ending. Still not sure I've got it nailed down. Fascinating, in a very dry, elegant way.

Currently reading Lie to Me by J. T .Ellison. A little too literally 'Gone Girl' so far, but very readable.

[AngelKitty]

22 hours ago, ChuckWagon said:

The Hanging Tree (Peter Grant #6) .... which I found from recommendations on this thread.  Love this series! 

I put this on my want to read list. If you want another wizard detective in London, I recommend the Alex Verus series by Benedict Jacka.

Right now I'm halfway through Dead Heat-Alpha & Omega series by Patricia Briggs, with Magic Burns on deck and Broken Angels waiting in the wings.

[helenamonster]

20 hours ago, MaggieG said:

I'm putting this in spoiler tag

  Reveal hidden contents

The ending kind of threw me. We know Cassie is a drunk and sleeps around. She slept with three guys around the same time (Alex, Buckley and Enrico). How is she sure that Alex is the father of her child? And now she's what, a double agent? I'm still not sure if I liked it or hated it.

 

I...didn't even think about that part. So many elements of the ending just seemed to come out of nowhere and I don't think I fully understood it so that little detail completely passed me by.

Spoiler

The thing is, I was really with the book until the last few pages. I was into Buckley being a spy trying to figure out what Cassie knew...and then his whole "don't call your people, call these people" thing is where I felt it fell off the rails. Like, was Cassie supposed to have been a double agent the entire time? It felt like that might have been what the author was going for but then there were some sentences in the epilogue that hinted otherwise. And if she was suddenly becoming a double agent at the end, why? I get they made the point several times that she just became a flight attendant because she didn't have anything else going for her, she was completely rudderless with no sense of career, so was being a double agent supposed to give her purpose? Why would she want to keep being involved with this lifestyle, especially now that she's a single mother?

I liked the book better when it seemed to be about an average person (as average as a blackout drunk can be) getting wrapped up into shit just because of who she was involved with. Between Alex, the flight attendant who actually was a double agent, and her brother-in-law, it looked like the book was shaping up to pin a lot of stuff on her just based on her dumb luck of knowing all these people. That interested me and made things really thrilling, because really any of us could get caught up in this kind of thing by accident. Making her a double agent too seemed to cheapen what I thought was a real strength of the book.

[ChuckWagon]

On 4/21/2018 at 6:40 AM, AngelKitty said:

I put this on my want to read list. If you want another wizard detective in London, I recommend the Alex Verus series by Benedict Jacka.

Right now I'm halfway through Dead Heat-Alpha & Omega series by Patricia Briggs, with Magic Burns on deck and Broken Angels waiting in the wings.

I read Fated right before The Hanging Tree...good stuff! Will continue the series after I plow thru Monster Hunter Inc. and the Innkeeper series.  

Simultaneously anxiously awaiting and dreading the last Kate Daniels...while all good things must come to and end, just sucks this good thing is at its end.

[DearEvette]

On 4/20/2018 at 8:05 AM, ChuckWagon said:

The Hanging Tree (Peter Grant #6) .... which I found from recommendations on this thread.  Love this series! 

Oh... I adore the Peter Grant series.  Also the audiobook versions are great.

41 minutes ago, ChuckWagon said:

Simultaneously anxiously awaiting and dreading the last Kate Daniels...while all good things must come to and end, just sucks this good thing is at its end.

While not quite as awesomely awesome as Kate Daniels, their Hidden Legacy series is pretty good and they just announced they have signed a contract for three more books in the series.  And their Innkeeper series is insane fun.

[Mindthinkr]

I finished City of the Monkey Gods by Douglas Preston. It was nonfiction and began as an archeological adventure. That part was great. The ending: (worth reading) 

Spoiler

Was about how the author (and most of his accompanying team) caught a disease named Leishmaniasis and then went onto into his treatment. The stats on the illness going into the U.S. are frightening. Think Zika on steroids  

I also read the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society which is coming out as a movie. 

[Minneapple]

Finished The Wife Between Us and it's....okay. Not really worth the hype. The big twist, revealed halfway through, was easily guessed if you've read enough books. This may be one of the rare books that makes a better movie if they do the casting and script right and all that (I'm assuming the movie rights have already been sold). It actually reminds me a bit of Big Little Lies without the sly dark comedy bits (which was one of the best parts of Big Little Lies).

Next up: The Loyal League series of novels by Alyssa Cole. Historical romance!

[nodorothyparker]

I'm part way through Ben Winters' speculative fiction/alternative history Underground Airlines, where Lincoln being assassinated on his way to the inauguration staved off the Civil War and led to a constitutional compromise that left it up to the individual states to keep or abolish slavery as they saw fit.  The action is all set in the modern day where four states still have a highly industrialized version of it that the rest of the country is left to grapple with, as the U.S. is not a world leader but a heavily sanctioned pariah state as a result.  Some of it's pretty thought provoking imaging the ripple effects that this would have had on the last 150 years of American history and culture (many famous black Americans are instead famously vocal defectors in other countries) and some of it's really awkward and uncomfortable reading, as it seems like it should be, in mirroring real-life discussion about mass incarceration and the modern police state.

[truthaboutluv]

On 3/13/2018 at 3:29 PM, Minneapple said:

I got lucky and found a copy of The Woman in the Window at my local library (my library actually puts stickers on bestselling novels that say "Lucky Find!"). Finished it yesterday. Its...OK. Honestly I find these types of narrators tiring. Always being drunk and in a daze and making bad decisions. I get that it's part of the story but it's so tiresome. It's also become par for the course with these types of novels at this point. I wasn't really too surprised by the ending, but the other twist did get me.

Just saw this comment and I recently got done reading it. I agree with your general assessment, especially how exhausting it is to follow a character that essentially always in a fog. I actually did figure out both twists.

 

I knew like in the first five chapters that the main character's husband and child were both dead because the story just didn't make sense, that they'd up and move somewhere else while the woman was so clearly debilitated. I also quickly assumed that whatever happened was likely part of why she became home bound. It took me a little longer to figure out the son was guilty but I knew it wasn't the dad, just because he was so obvious. I even suspected the grandmother that suddenly popped up in the chat was a fake.

So I'm curious to know which one got you. 

Edited April 25, 2018 by truthaboutluv

[Irlandesa]

1 hour ago, Minneapple said:

Finished The Wife Between Us and it's....okay. Not really worth the hype. The big twist, revealed halfway through, was easily guessed if you've read enough books. This may be one of the rare books that makes a better movie if they do the casting and script right and all that (I'm assuming the movie rights have already been sold). It actually reminds me a bit of Big Little Lies without the sly dark comedy bits (which was one of the best parts of Big Little Lies).

I finished this one recently as well and I agree.  I think the first half of the book, before the obvious twist is revealed, was so slow.  It led me to do some skimming (especially since the book was due back at the library soon).  The second half was faster but by then I was in the skimming mode and I think I missed something. 

Spoiler

I get that Kate was the first wife but who was she in relation to the second wife?  The therapist?

And because my speculation about how they could pull off the movie is probably too much information if people would rather remain unspoiled...

Spoiler

I'm not sure how they could pull off the twist in a movie or TV show since the wives aren't that far apart in age.  The only twist they could probably preserve is the fiancee's revelation.

 

I also guessed the twist in The Woman In The Window.  That could be done in a movie. I guessed most of the twists except the last one but I also wasn't totally shocked either. 

[Minneapple]

1 hour ago, truthaboutluv said:

 

  Reveal hidden contents

I knew like in the first five chapters that the main character's husband and child were both dead because the story just didn't make sense, that they'd up and move somewhere else while the woman was so clearly debilitated. I also quickly assumed that whatever happened was likely part of why she became home bound. It took me a little longer to figure out the son was guilty but I knew it wasn't the dad, just because he was so obvious. I even suspected the grandmother that suddenly popped up in the chat was a fake.

So I'm curious to know which one got you. 

I actually didn't get that 

Spoiler

The husband and kid were dead right away. My first theory was that they never existed.  

 

@Irlandesa for The Wife Between Us

Yes, 

Spoiler

Kate was the therapist and the first wife as well, but it's easy enough to miss. This is one of the things that irked me about the book. The writers spent the first half setting up Nellie/Vanessa and Richard so slowly and carefully, and then ripped off the Band-Aid and rushed through the second part of the book. They could have spent more time developing Emma, too, because the twist with her was just kind of randomly thrown in at the end there.

None of these thrillers are bad books, necessarily, but the genre is overcrowded right now so they all kind of blend together. And I probably make it harder on myself to review them honestly because I go through phases and I've been going through a thriller phase lately. 

[truthaboutluv]

4 minutes ago, Minneapple said:

I actually didn't get that 

Ah, yeah I can see that. I think I went back and forth at first with

thinking they didn't exist or they were dead. Once they mentioned the accident, I figured they died in the accident.

[Danny Franks]

So I finished 11.22.63, and actually enjoyed it a lot. But it was too damned long. I was ready to be wrapping up when there were still about one hundred and fifty pages left. King is just too verbose, and spends far too long on repetitive sequences, and things that just don't matter. The pacing wasn't great either.

Over seven hundred pages, and the actual climax to the main plot was crammed into twenty or so, following an interminable chapter where the protagonist has amnesia and can't remember what he's supposed to be doing.

Edited April 25, 2018 by Danny Franks

[proserpina65]

I'm currently reading The Wilderness of Ruin by Roseanne Montillo, about Jesse Pomeroy, the US's youngest serial killer.  I don't usually read stuff about serial killers, but I picked it up because Pomeroy was featured in an episode of The Alienist.  It's interesting enough for the most part, although I do have a problem with his classification as a serial killer, given the number of actual victims.  My biggest problem with the book, however, is that I'm currently stuck in an extended aside about Herman Melville, and I can't figure why he's being profiled in such detail.  I guess it will eventually be explained, but at the moment it seems pretty fricking pointless.

Edited to note that the Melville digression is pointless.  If you choose to read this book, skip that whole section.

Edited April 27, 2018 by proserpina65

[Mindthinkr]

 Chestnut Mare, Beware by Jody Jaffe. It is an Equestrian based mystery novel set in Charlotte, N.C. Quite nice and an easy read. If you enjoy Dick Francis (the author) you’ll definitely like it. Now onto The Quest by Nelson DeMille. 

@PaulaO

Edited April 27, 2018 by Mindthinkr

[SmithW6079]

Just finished The Woman Who Smashed Codes, about Elizebeth Smith Friedman, who, along with her husband Willuam Friedman, basically created codebreaking in the US. For decades, Elizebeth's accomplishments were buried, either because of national security or sexism. 

From an overview:

Quote

In The Woman Who Smashed Codes, Jason Fagone chronicles the life of this extraordinary woman, who played an integral role in our nation’s history for forty years. After World War I, Smith used her talents to catch gangsters and smugglers during Prohibition, then accepted a covert mission to discover and expose Nazi spy rings that were spreading like wildfire across South America, advancing ever closer to the United States. As World War II raged, Elizebeth fought a highly classified battle of wits against Hitler’s Reich, cracking multiple versions of the Enigma machine used by German spies. Meanwhile, inside an Army vault in Washington, William worked furiously to break Purple, the Japanese version of Enigma—and eventually succeeded, at a terrible cost to his personal life.

Now I'm reading Daughters of the Winter Queen, about Elizabeth Stuart, daughter of James VI and I of Scotland and England, and granddaughter of Mary Queen of Scots, and Elizabeth's daughters during their exile in Holland after Elizabeth and her husband were deposed as King and Queen of Bohemia. 

[Hanahope]

I just finished reading Trumpocracy: the Destruction of the American Republic by David Frum.  The book does a good job laying out all the publically known information of trump's connection to russia, including a lot of his pre-presidential business relations, and how he ignored American protocols, traditions and practices that Presidents had generally followed over the last several decades, without any consequences.  I'd say that anyone who regularly watches MSNBC's nightly programs knows most of this information already, but the book does a nice job of collecting it all and organizing it into various topics.  But if anyone is interested in a fairly neutral recitation of information, the book covers it well, at least up to a few months ago.

Going to read some fluff for a bit, I've got the last two Janet Evanovich books 22 and 23 to read next.

[aradia22]

I haven't been reading a lot of books cover to cover lately. Too many distractions. I'm slowly chugging through "Things No One Will Tell Fat Girls" which is a terrible title but a pretty good read. It's mostly focused on body positivity but touches on mental health, feminism, racial equality, etc. as well and I think the author's professional background and interests help make it more interesting than the typical blogger/professional writer book. As these books of essays go, I think she does a pretty decent job. The voice is warm and lighthearted without trying so hard to be funny. Yes there's some white lady feminism but she actually makes a real effort at inclusion in her writing, and most notably, by including guest essays throughout the book. Half way through it's better organized than a lot of these books tend to be. Sure, there are some things that are a little fluffier but a book can't be all things to all people. It's easy to breeze through the parts that don't speak to me as much. 

Amazon May first reads. I'm torn between Never Stop Walking which feels like the book I should read and Matchmaking for Beginners which is a book I'd normally breeze past as the bad kind of chick lit but something about it is appealing to me. Maybe it's the cover, which is very cute.

[Haleth]

The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah.  Sooooooo good!  It's about a family that escapes to wilderness Alaska and has to survive nature and inner demons. It's told (mostly) through the eyes of the teenage daughter. I liked this one better than her The Nightingale.  Beautiful and heart wrenching. 

[PrincessPorkchop]

Hi! I’m a long time lurker, first time posting. Want to thank everyone for book suggestions, I come here monthly to see what everyone is reading. I just finished Sometimes I Lie by Alice Feeney. Not sure how I feel about the ending m, made me question what I had read. I liked the story (I read it really fast, only 1 day) but I’m kinda confused by the ending. Anyone else?

[truthaboutluv]

Recently completed Every Day by David Leviathan. It's been on my "to read" list for a few years now. Didn't disappoint. I liked the casual style of the writing and that while Leviathan was clearly using the character of A to comment on and discuss a number of social issues - sexism, racism, fat shaming, transgender, gay, etc., I felt he managed to achieve this fine balance of never making it get too preachy. I really enjoyed it and am curious to see how it's adapted in the movie that's supposed to be out this year. I also realized that there was a companion book that looks at the same story through Rhiannon's perspective and I'm curious to read that one. 

I am currently reading Goodnight, Nobody by Jennifer Weiner. Not exactly award winning storytelling so far but it's a fun and easy read. 

[OtterMommy]

3 hours ago, truthaboutluv said:

I am currently reading Goodnight, Nobody by Jennifer Weiner. Not exactly award winning storytelling so far but it's a fun and easy read. 

Have you read other books by Jennifer Weiner?  The reason I ask is that particular book is not one I normally recommend.  It's not bad, it's just not her best--or even in the top half of her books.  I did listen to an audio version of it (I had previously read it) and I found it worked far better for me in that format.

[truthaboutluv]

Just now, OtterMommy said:

Have you read other books by Jennifer Weiner?  The reason I ask is that particular book is not one I normally recommend.  It's not bad, it's just not her best--or even in the top half of her books.  I did listen to an audio version of it (I had previously read it) and I found it worked far better for me in that format.

I have actually. I read All Fall Down and Good In Bed, both of which I really enjoyed and Best Friends Forever, which to be honest, I kind of hated. So it's been a see-saw relationship with her books for me. 

[OtterMommy]

1 minute ago, truthaboutluv said:

I have actually. I read All Fall Down and Good In Bed, both of which I really enjoyed and Best Friends Forever, which to be honest, I kind of hated. So it's been a see-saw relationship with her books for me. 

I also really enjoyed All Fall Down and Good in Bed and I think Best Friends Forever may be the one I haven't read yet (although I'm sure it is sitting on my kindle!).  Her books tend to fall into either the "wow!  This woman totally gets it!" or the "eh..." category for me.  I think my favorite of hers remains In Her Shoes, although I hear that she has a new adult novel coming out in the not-so-distant future.

[ratgirlagogo]

On 4/2/2018 at 10:31 PM, Spartan Girl said:

And I just finished White Houses by Amy Bloom. Eleanor Roosevelt was one of the greatest First Ladies in history, and it was fascinating to discover that part of her personal life. Can't believe that relationship was hidden for so long. If it happened today, it would be trending in seconds...

I loved this book.  I don't know if Lorena Hickok was actually like this, but boy I hope she was.  Beautifully written.  And while yes, it's annoying (to say the least) that only Eleanor's women biographers (like Blanche Wiesen Cook and Hazel Rowley) were willing to acknowledge even the possibility of a lesbian relationship between Eleanor and Lorena - the press kept many secrets back then that they might not keep today.   FDR's stable of mistresses, for one, and of course  the severity of FDR's paralysis.  If you can find it (in a library, probably)  you'd probably be interested in reading FDR's Splendid Deception: the moving story of Roosevelt's massive disability - and the intense efforts to conceal it from the public:

https://www.amazon.com/FDRs-Splendid-Deception-Roosevelts-Disability/dp/0918339502

Edited May 8, 2018 by ratgirlagogo

[Zola]

"The Haunting of Hill House" - Shirley Jackson

First published in 1959, and later turned into a classic horror film "The Haunting" in 1963, I was very keen to buy this book while browsing my local second-hand book shop.

Some say the book is far superior than the film in terms of narrative; whilst other share the opposite view. But both book and film bring out the best in  taut psychological writing without the necessity to add true visceral horror to proceedings. 

Plus, reading the book adds far more backstory to some of the key players that the film omits, purely for timing reasons. 

This is not the sort of book to read at bedtime!

[Minneapple]

Just finished The Elizas by Sara Shepard, author of Pretty Little Liars. I didn't have high expectations for this one, well, because PLL. But it was actually pretty good and entertaining. It's a book-within-a-book.  Good mystery, good mindfucking as Sara Shepard does. I just kept waiting for A to show up and start fucking with everyone.

Up next: something quite a bit heavier. Carry Me Home: Birmingham, Alabama: The Climactic Battle of the Civil Rights Revolution by Diane McWhorter.  I will probably have to read it over a period of time. I also have Sophia of Silicon Valley by Anna Yen on hold at the library, one I'm really excited to read. I'm hoping my hold for The Royals, the new one from Rachel Hawkins, comes through before Harry and Meghan's wedding!

[OtterMommy]

33 minutes ago, Minneapple said:

Just finished The Elizas by Sara Shepard, author of Pretty Little Liars. I didn't have high expectations for this one, well, because PLL. But it was actually pretty good and entertaining. It's a book-within-a-book.  Good mystery, good mindfucking as Sara Shepard does. I just kept waiting for A to show up and start fucking with everyone.

I read this recently and enjoyed it more than I expected.  True, I had no clue what was going on for most of the book but, in this case, that was a good thing.

I just (FINALLY) finished Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult...and it will be the last Jodi Picoult book that I read.  I would have abandoned it as soon as I realize that it seemed all her research came from watching Law and Order, but it was for my book club so I felt obligated to finish it.  Seriously, I have never read such a preachy, overly sensational book in my life...

[Epeolatrix]

Just started Marvel Comics' Civil War and the Age of Terror: Critical Essays on the Comic Saga. "This collection of new essays explores the Civil War series and its many tie-in titles from the perspectives of history, political science, sociology, psychology, literary criticism, philosophy, law, and education. The contributors provide a close reading of the series’ main theme—the appropriate balance between freedom and security—and discuss how that balance affects citizenship, race, gender and identity construction in 21st-century America." I love academic press books about pop culture, so I bought this and Assembling the Marvel Cinematic Universe: Essays on the Social, Cultural and Geopolitical Domains. The second one has a website with a bunch of links to relevant articles, plus info about the book itself.

[aradia22]

I recently went on a trip and was able to read Mrs. Caliban by Rachel Ingalls from start to finish on the flight. I bring it up because I think this is a book that is best read in one sitting. At the most, 2 or 3. It's very contained, like a movie, and you don't really get a sense of big time jumps or natural places to stop reading. 

It's not the best thing I've ever read but I really enjoyed it. In content, it's A LOT like The Shape of Water but I think having the main character be a married woman makes this book a lot more interesting than that movie. It's pulpy in a different way. There is fish sex, or frog sex, but it's less about that and more soap opera-like in the marital drama and affairs and that kind of thing. I appreciated what social commentary was there but I feel like it was really light and it's not a book that holds up well to closer scrutiny with the aim of greater exaltation. Whether it's the loss of a child or the feminist issues or sexual abuse by authority figures or issues of equality and discrimination/prejudice/persecution or mental health or substance abuse, etc. the book uses a light touch and if you really consider it, it seems afraid to expose itself fully to a vulnerable/earnest position or a more incisive, deeply political stance. One thing that caught me off guard is how funny it was. There were laugh out loud moments I was not expecting at all. The ending is a sharp drop off as sadly so many book endings are. I'm not even that bothered at the lack of resolution. 

Spoiler

She keeps going back to the beach but Larry never returns. 

It just feels like a sloppy way to close things like the author had all these ideas and then didn't know what to do with everything she was juggling and just let all the balls fall. 

Spoiler

Like, well conveniently her husband and his young mistress (I wasn't quite sure if she was pregnant or not) are dead and we also don't have to worry about them exposing Larry. Or pick up any of the issues around their marriage or the loss of her children which is kind of tied up in her relationship with Larry in a weird way that's never fully discussed. And she never has to make the choice between Larry and her husband. And apparently her friend Estelle was having an affair with Dorothy's husband the whole time, which doesn't bother me so much as the way she reacts when the truth comes out. I thought they had a pretty solid female friendship and then the way Estelle acts it feels like this huge deception where she actually hated Dorothy that doesn't feel true to the character as written up to that point at all. The way the book ends it feels like Larry was just a plot device to come in and lead to all the secrets being revealed and knock out the baggage so Dorothy would be free to get a job and move on with her life after losing her children and emotionally disconnecting from her husband. But that's not true because the book actually does a decent job of building up all these issues and giving them some depth. It's just like Ingalls either didn't know where she wanted to go with it or wanted to stick to a novella length and then just started knocking out characters. 

The other book it reminds me of is The Stepford Wives. It's less of a mystery and more about keeping the frog man hidden but there's a similar kind of pacing and way that daily life just goes on in spite of this huge thing. Neither book is that interested in the weirdness as much as in how the people interact with each other so it's not that sci-fi/fantasy, etc. And it felt very similar to the rushed ending in that book where suddenly there's a big chase.

To circle back to the frog sex, that's where The Shape of Water has the advantage. It's been a while since I read it but I feel like Tarzan had sexier descriptions than Mrs. Caliban does. He's big and green and muscular and there are times when the book focuses on what he looks like, notably when you first see him. But otherwise she could be having an affair with the pool boy. It's mostly not treated as scandalous frog sex but again, it's more about relationships. Also, he can talk so that changes things. He feels mostly human but every so often the book reminds you he's a human-like giant amphibian.

[Stenbeck]

I've been stuck on The Four Agreements for two months. It's interesting but it did not grab me as much as other similar books.

Just finished Radiant Angel by Nelson DeMille. I didn't like it at all. This is my first book from DeMille, and from the reviews Radiant Angel is one of his worst novels. 

[helenamonster]

Just finished: After Anna by Lisa Scottoline. I appreciate that she's been playing with her own formula for her stand-alones lately, and for the most part I liked the twist of this book (I called it a few chapters before it happens, I think because it's a twist that's been appearing in a lot of books I've been reading lately, but it still worked), but then I felt she went off the rails with it at the end. She got back into one of the bad habits that I hoped she'd shed for good--introducing new characters and plot points that haven't even remotely been part of the story in the last few pages. It ruined what I felt was an otherwise interesting premise, and overall weakened the book for me.

Also just finished Now That You Mention It by Kristan Higgins, which I enjoyed a lot. It's much lower stakes than books I normally read, but I love stories about people from small towns who make it in "the big city" only to have to eventually return to their small towns and face all the unfinished business they left behind, I think because I can relate to them a lot. It was a very cozy, feel-good read, and sometimes you need that. The only thing that I couldn't stand about it and that made me cringe each time it came up was the protagonists bizarre obsession with Harry Potter. Yes, I get it, it's an essential cultural touchstone for the millennial generation, but the constant obsessing and referencing to it was this weird combination of completely over the top and too shallow. It felt like the author had never actually read any of the Harry Potter books herself, but had had the first three movies explained to her by someone who had watched them on cable while recovering from a cold. There's a part where the protagonist and her friends (who are as creepily obsessed with Harry Potter as she is, for reasons that elude me!) go back and forth with HP pick-up lines that have been floating around the internet for at least ten years. It added nothing to any of the characters and was actually really embarrassing.

Now reading: I'm about halfway through Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell and finding it rather boring. I'll stick with it to the end--maybe it will surprise me, but I doubt it.

[hendersonrocks]

I'm about a third of the way into Pachinko by Min Jin Lee and I love it so far. (A nice change from the last few books I've read, which I've slogged through. The Lost Girls of Camp Forevermore was not my jam and the new Tiger Woods biography, creatively called Tiger Woods, could have been subtitled Not a Nice Guy, Not Much New Here, The End and saved me some time.)