What Are We Currently Reading?

[Qoass]

I just gave up on Stacey D'Erasmo's Wonderland.  If I'm not into it after four days and 50 pages, it's time to pack it in.  Instead, I'm back on a book of short stories from my college days so if anybody asks, I can say I'm reading Hemingway, Twain, Fitzgerald...  Of course nobody ever asks except when I'm halfway through some trashy novel I'm hiding the cover of.

[AuntiePam]

Nora Webster by Colm Toibin (don't know how to put those little marks above the "i" in his name).  A newly-widowed Irish woman with two young sons is putting her life back together.  His writing -- sentence structure -- is a bit clunky.  I don't know if it's just his style or if the book needed a proofreader.  Is "appal" a word?  As in "knowing this would appal her"?  I'm familiar with someone being "appalled", but I've never seen "appal" used this way.  And shouldn't it be "appall"? 

 

Finished Station Eleven and absolutely adored it.

[shapeshifter]

Nora Webster by Colm Toibin (don't know how to put those little marks above the "i" in his name).  A newly-widowed Irish woman with two young sons is putting her life back together.  His writing -- sentence structure -- is a bit clunky.  I don't know if it's just his style or if the book needed a proofreader.  Is "appal" a word?  As in "knowing this would appal her"?  I'm familiar with someone being "appalled", but I've never seen "appal" used this way.  And shouldn't it be "appall"? 

It's the British (and other non-North American) usage: http://grammarist.com/spelling/appal-appall/

So, since it was published in Wexford Ireland, appal would be correct.

[OakGoblinFly]

I liked Station Eleven but I didn't think it was as amazing as the reviews on Amazon, Goodreads, and here made it out to be - perhaps my expectations were too high.

 

Based on a Goodreads recommendation, I picked up Shadow and Bone (The Grisha #1) and thus far I am really enjoy it (so much so I might pick up the next two books in the series and read this long holiday weekend) 

Edited December 29, 2014 by OakGoblinFly

[EllieH]

 

I'm reading The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith (JK Rowling). I'm still at the beginning, but so far, so good. I'm so glad this series has given me back my JK Rowling love.

 

I'm about halfway through this one, listening to the audiobook.  Did you finish it, GaT?  What did you think?

[AuntiePam]

I've dumped Nora Webster.  Ordinarily I like character studies, slice of life, and I don't need a riveting plot (or any plot) or even a likable character to keep me reading, but damn, this was a chore.  It wouldn't have been so bad if the writing had flowed better, but it was clunky, disjointed. 

 

And then it got silly.  Recently widowed Nora goes back to work, in an office where she worked before she married.  Her immediate superior is a woman holding a grudge from a trick Nora played on her twenty years before.  The woman is a shrew who treats everyone badly.  We've probably all encountered a boss like that but in most cases, the boss would have had some value to the company -- a reason for staying -- efficiency, bringing in new business, even sleeping with the owner.  But nope, this gal is useless, yet is still given authority.  The situation was too silly and unbelievable.  It reminded me of a bad SNL skit. 

 

Stay away from this book.

[GaT]

I'm about halfway through this one, listening to the audiobook.  Did you finish it, GaT?  What did you think?

Yes, I finished & liked it. It's a good series, & I plan on reading whatever comes next.

[Snow Apple]

How to be a Victorian by Ruth Goodman. Very interesting. I found parts of it boring and too long-winded but that's only because I wasn't really interested in the topic, like grooming. I enjoyed the topics like schooling and food.

 

At the same time, I'm reading A Little Something Different by Sandy Hall. A cute YA about a couple seen thought the eyes of about a dozen others (including a squirrel). The only POV you don't get is the actual couple. Somehow it works. A good book to read when you just want something light and relaxing and not think too hard.

[emma675]

I'm on a historical kick right now, so I'm in the middle of The Romanov Sisters by Helen Rappaport and Liar Temptress Soldier Spy by Karen Abbott. I'm also finishing the Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries series, which I adore.

[DimaTheRussian]

        Three Wishes,a book about the strange reproductive habits of east coast lady journalists and here is my review of it.

         

            Various species of parasitoid wasp lay their eggs in paralyzed victims; a horrific and disgusting method of reproduction. The mating habits of the female east coast journalist (species name: scriptor oriens femina?) require a similarly strong stomach to bear with eyes wide open; New York Times reporters being considerably lower on the food chain than most species of parasitic wasp. Fortified by my scientific training, several high quality tweed suits, a monocle to peer over disapprovingly, an ample supply of powerful narcotics, and with the assistance of this book I'm able to study the habits of this exotic creature, like a modern day Stephen Maturin.

 

            The basic mating strategy seems to consist in going to lots of worthless classes, espousing monstrous political tropes guaranteed to frighten away any males with functioning gonads, "dating" many inappropriate men, waiting until the very last minute, purchasing Harvard educated sperm, telling everyone about it, then browbeating the first male desperate enough to cock his eyebrow at the idea into knocking her up the old fashioned way. Using a diaphragm shaped like a funnel also seems to help. Of course, rather than noticing the pedestrian sociology of this dynamic process, supernatural powers of fertility are attributed to the vials of Harvard educated sperm. Personally, I think they're too clever by half to actually believe this, and the supernatural sperm theory is just trotted out to blind the credulous to the fact that they mostly did it the old fashioned way: they egregiously lowered their absurdly unrealistic standards.

 

              The book is written by the three women in individual overlapping sections, documenting what they did, and how they did it in what is more or less chronological order. The parts that aren't horrifying are generally tedious pregnancy tales (which I assume are like war stories are to men, though maybe they're just boring).                                                                                                      

 

The cast of characters:

 

          Carey started the whole lady odyssey, and seems to be the alpha female of the bunch, both for being oldest, and the most demonstrably fertile, with two larvae completely spawned. Her husband is by far the creepiest of the three, and her ... "you'll do" attitude towards him the most mercenary (to be fair; he was much the same way).

 

          Beth is the best writer of the three, though as an admitted divorce tick, former new age huckster and harlot, the least sympathetic. She blames her husband for the divorce which spawned her, um, "journey" but ... based on her habits of taking up with the proverbial pool boy on the rebound, I'm not convinced this is entirely true. Her eventual husband, while a crashing bore is the most likely to have been a fun guy to drink beer with before his soul was surgically extracted. He's also the most likely to punch me in the mouth for writing this review, which is a not unrelated fact.

 

             Pam is the most sympathetic of the lot, being one of those "eternal ingenue" types. She she got her husband the closest thing to the old fashioned way: by stealing someone else's. I found her the least readable of the three; I kept picturing her bouncing on the knee of an affable uncle and playing with frilly dollies when her dialog was in play. Her husband seemed like an OK guy, I guess, if a bit of a layabout.

 

            While I think this book is badly written, dripping with galloping narcissism, status anxiety, plenty of early 21st century political madness and an utter lack of anything resembling introspection, I have to give them credit for at least having a modicum of understanding as to how the biology of female fertility works. Reproduction is inherently amoral, and even though the lot of them are horrible people, I confess some admiration for their single minded devotion to passing on their genes ... and their shameless ability to brag about it afterwords. I'd imagine a sea shad would tell a similar story of their swim upstream. I give this book two thumbs up for naturalistic interest; any man dating a professional woman over the age of 35 should read it and understand that a lot of soulless harpies think this way. I'd also give this book to anyone who was ever contemplating donating sperm; passing fancy I once had, but gave up on once I realized my relations would be raised by monsters.

Edited January 3, 2015 by DimaTheRussian

[Spiraling]

Motherless Daughters, by Hope Edelman. It's non-fiction and is about exactly what it sounds like. It was a bad idea to take it into a restaurant with me for a solo lunch today--it's too sad.

[Danny Franks]

Just read Our Man in Havana by Graham Greene. Took a day to read it, and I guess the best word to describe it would be 'insubstantial'.

 

Sure, it's barely 200 pages, but it just feels so light and inconsequential, from start to finish. A satire that feels very dated now, though it is still funny. But everything gets resolved too easily and with too little jeopardy, and the characters are paper thin.

Edited January 5, 2015 by Danny Franks

[Plaid]

I'm reading:

The Lost Art - by Simon Morden

Earth's civilization is forcibly thrown into a second Dark Age. The new rulers of the world forbid the use of technology and have locked away what was left.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies - by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith

Basically the original story line with a zombie problem rather eloquently thrown into the mix.

[bmasters9]

Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express from 1934 (2011 reprint; part of a 3-book set that includes that, And Then There Were None from 1939, and The Body in the Library from 1942, and also includes a guide to Agatha's life and career, and several of her short stories)

 

[Sharpie66]

I love And Then There Were None, and equally love the 1970s movie adaptation of Murder on the Orient Express, although I've never read the book itself. I'll have to read that one to get caught up--it's been a long time since I've read Christie, even though I read a lot of her back in junior high and high school (we belonged to an Agatha Christie book of the month club, and Mom still has the black leather bound books on her shelf).

[benteen]

I'm going to be starting Golden Sun by Pierce Brown, the second book of the Red Rising series.

[Darian]

Just started Purple HIbiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie because I read and loved Americanah so very much. 

[AuntiePam]

Across Spoon River, autobiography of Edgar Lee Masters.  I think I read Spoon River Anthology at about the same time that I read Peyton Place.  They're similar, exposing small town hypocrisy. 

 

Masters comes across as a bit of a whiner, shallow, a self-professed ladies man, very conscious of social status, and scattered in his enthusiasms.  It's a good read though, especially his descriptions of growing up in the midwest in the late 1800's, and life in Chicago in the early 1900's. 

[panthergirl13]

Just started The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell. Couldn't get into Cloud Atlas although I know other people loved that one, but this is very good so far and much more accessible (to me).

[bmasters9]

Purchased earlier from Barnes and Noble: 2-volume set of the earliest Peanuts strips from 1950-54 (these are the budget releases, so they don't have indices in the back, but, IINM, all the comics are there, and that's what counts, in my opinion)

 

 

[Etta Place]

 

Just started The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell. Couldn't get into Cloud Atlas although I know other people loved that one, but this is very good so far and much more accessible (to me).

I had the opposite experience - I loved Cloud Atlas and found The Bone Clocks only okay. I guess the conclusion is that they're pretty different books. :)

[idiotwaltz]

I liked Station Eleven but I didn't think it was as amazing as the reviews on Amazon, Goodreads, and here made it out to be - perhaps my expectations were too high.

 

Based on a Goodreads recommendation, I picked up Shadow and Bone (The Grisha #1) and thus far I am really enjoy it (so much so I might pick up the next two books in the series and read this long holiday weekend) 

 

Me too. I was so excited to borrow it from the library and then got bored with it about 1/3 of the way in. 

[AuntiePam]

The Southern Reach trilogy by Jeff Vandermeer, originally published in single volumes, my copy was three-in-one.  A mysterious event has affected an area on the southern coast, nicknamed Area X.  Expeditions have been sent in to explore, the expeditions come back changed, or not at all.  The story follows several characters, some identified only by their function (job titles), and the story hops back and forth in time.  There are long periods where the characters speculate about what's going on, with a few scenes of intense violence.  Questions are raised but not answered.  At least not in a way that I could understand.  It's a compelling story, the writing is fine, but the book is basically unsatisfying.  The highest praise I can give is that it does make you think. 

 

It's sort of a cross between H. P. Lovecraft and Neal Stephenson -- other wordly and long-winded. 

 

Next up is The Fade by Chris Wooding.

[Etta Place]

Finished Station Eleven a couple of days ago and thought it was pretty solid. I had a quibble with a major plot development, but was able to talk it into possibility with my husband. Overall, I liked where the focus of the novel was, specifically not on the scary stuff, but rather on how we would get on with things after a pandemic.

[ApathyMonger]

I listened to the audiobook of Patton Oswalt's new memoir, Silver Screen Fiend. I didn't find the stuff about his "film addiction" all that interesting, but there's a few great stories in there, such as the chapter on his live reads of "The Day The Clown Cried" and his memories of the early days of The Largo.

 

Maybe the core of the book would be more appealing to someone who's a bigger fan of classic cinema, but I mostly just found it insufferable, even more than I think is intended.

Edited January 18, 2015 by ApathyMonger

[glowlights]

        Three Wishes,a book about the strange reproductive habits of east coast lady journalists and here is my review of it.

         

 

That review was a thing of beauty. :) Will you please take on Elizabeth Gilbert?

[GaT]

I'm currently reading Feed by Mira Grant. It's the first book in the Newsflesh trilogy, & I have to admit, I'm not connecting with it like I thought I would. Mira Grant is the pseudonym for Seenan McGuire, & I like her October Daye & Incryptid books, but I'm about 1/3 of the way through Feed & my mind seems to be wandering a lot when I read it. I already have the other 2 books, so hopefully my interest will grow as I read it.

[ApathyMonger]

I liked most of Feed, but I didn't care for the ending. I still might read the other two, but I'm not as interested in as I would have been if Feed had a different ending.

[GaT]

I liked most of Feed, but I didn't care for the ending. I still might read the other two, but I'm not as interested in as I would have been if Feed had a different ending.

Ugh. I don't know for sure what the ending is, but I read the backs of the other two books, so I'm guessing that 

Georgia (and possibly Buffy) dies since the backs of the other two books only talk about Shaun..

if that's what it is, I am not going to like that ending at all.

 

Edited: Just want to add to my possible ugh :-) 

I started to think that Buffy was a little shady, & then what do you know, she betrays them & dies. So I guess I was right about her being dead, now I have to wait & see about Georgia. Oh, and I'm beginning to wonder about Senator Ryman.

Edited January 25, 2015 by GaT

[LADreamr]

Based on recommendations from here, I'm about halfway through Mr Penumbra's 24-hour Bookstore. There's definitely a lot in it that's original and interesting, but a couple of things I'm finding annoying are (without giving anything away) how many things he's getting away with which are, at the very least, major violations of trust. Also that the girl he's working with is beyond brilliant, and he does give her credit for that, but he just keeps going back to his sexual attraction to her. Maybe it's just something that bugs me, but it seems a lot of times that male writers don't give interesting women in their books the time of day unless they are also someone they want sex with. I just find it as boring and annoying as women writers who focus only on finding a man, and we hardly know anything else about them, as if anything else in their lives is just there to kill time while they wait for their prince. For me, it diminishes other things about the book. Could just be me, though.

I'll finish it, but I'd be interested to hear other readers' take on it, overall.

[Danny Franks]

About 50 pages into Little Brother by Cory Doctorow. The first one of his books I've read, and so far it seems very promising. There's some terminology that already feels dated, just six years after writing, and the sentiments expressed really don't seem to be at the fore of political and societal discussion at the moment.

 

The story is interesting though, and the main character promises to be sympathetic and layered enough. I like near-future speculation, and the surveillance dystopia beginning to emerge in this book is ominous and intriguing.

[Athena]

Based on recommendations from here, I'm about halfway through Mr Penumbra's 24-hour Bookstore. There's definitely a lot in it that's original and interesting, but a couple of things I'm finding annoying are (without giving anything away) how many things he's getting away with which are, at the very least, major violations of trust. Also that the girl he's working with is beyond brilliant, and he does give her credit for that, but he just keeps going back to his sexual attraction to her. Maybe it's just something that bugs me, but it seems a lot of times that male writers don't give interesting women in their books the time of day unless they are also someone they want sex with. I just find it as boring and annoying as women writers who focus only on finding a man, and we hardly know anything else about them, as if anything else in their lives is just there to kill time while they wait for their prince. For me, it diminishes other things about the book. Could just be me, though.

 

This was a brillant novel, but it wasn't because of its characterzations. Only two characters mattered, the protagonist and the book shop owner. Everybody else was just part of that journey, but not the main focus. I think the relationship between the protagonist and the girl was apt by the end of the book. I agree with you that she was mostly one-note, but I think, like the protagonist, I was obsessed with the mystery more than anything else.

[ApathyMonger]

I liked the first half of Mr. Penumra's... a lot, but got annoyed when it started to turn into an advert for how cool it is to work at Google.

 

Has anyone read the prequel novella, Ajax Penumbra: 1969?

[Hybridcookie]

I'm currently reading The Circle the first book of The Engelsfors Trilogy in anticipation for the English version of the third book which is released this week.

 

The series is about a group of girls discovering they are 'Chosen Ones'/witches and are fated to fight an ancient evil which is hunting them.

[GaT]

That sounds interesting Hybridcookie, I've never heard of it, but maybe I'll give them a try.

[Inquisitionist]

The Boys in the Boat, by Daniel James Brown, for an upcoming public library discussion group.  Had not heard of this book until picking it up at the last meeting a couple of weeks ago, but I'm thoroughly engrossed.  It's about the US rowing team's victory at Hitler's 1936 Olympics, but so much more as well. 

[Qoass]

I'm really struggling through Tim Johnston's Descent.  A review made it sound so good but with the story told by five or more viewpoints, random flashbacks and a refusal to call the characters by name, I'm frustrated with it.  Usually I like distinctive writing styles but here, I think it's getting in the way of the story.

[LADreamr]

I'm waaaay behind, but I just finished Gone Girl. I thought it was great, well written and paced and for a book that's not short, I think it's the fastest I've ever read (a day and a half). I know a lot of people hated the ending, but in a way I thought it was very much in keeping with the tone of the rest of the book, and was maybe as tragic as it could have ended. I'm going to watch the movie this weekend, because I had heard they changed the ending for it, but haven't been spoiled (amazingly). I searched the topic here to see if there had been any discussion, but couldn't find any. Just wondering what readers here thought of it?

ETA: Huh. Never mind. Same ending.

Edited January 30, 2015 by LADreamr

[Darian]

Just wondering what readers here thought of it?

I read it when it first came out, having read and loved Flynn's earlier books, so I hadn't heard anything about it. I loved it, ending and all. I love her (imo) unlikable narrators. 

 

I just finished Chris Bohjalian's Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands, which surprised me. I've read 2 or 3 of his books and they left me cold. I wasn't going to bother, but a friend to whom I'd recommended The Girl with all the Gifts, which is fantastic, swore I'd like it. And I did, even as I registered flaws that would normally bug me. It's weird--at times I wasn't convinced by the narrator's voice (first person, teenage girl) and yet I felt I knew her and I cared about her. I think I read it at the right time or something. Now opening The Shining Girls   by Lauren Beukes, with a few short story collections waiting after that.     

[Danny Franks]

Just finished Little Brother by Cory Doctorow, and I maintain that there were some dated references. I also got the feeling that Doctorow was trying too hard to write the 'wannabe coolness' of teenagers that it came across as the author himself trying to look cool and hip.

 

But the story was very well written, and the sense of anger at the dictatorial authorities was really bubbling under by the last act. Marcus was a layered character, but also had that shallowness and callowness that felt authentic for the character. I've got the sequel, Homeland, which I'll get started on soon.

[Mars477]

Just finished Cibola Burn and am rereading Caliban's War, which is still the best book in The Expanse series.  Cibola Burn was alright for the themes that it had, but Holden still kinda sucks, Naomi was locked in a prison cell for most of the book, and dear god Elvi was creepy and insufferable for half the book.

 

I've heard it elsewhere and cannot get it out of my head, but the crew of the Rocinante are basically a (upgunned) poor man's Serenity and crew.

 

I'm very happy that 

Bobbi

looks to be coming back in a major way in Book 5.  She's great, and the series needs a female point of view whose primary characterization doesn't involve her gender.

[Rick Kitchen]

Reading Private:Berlin by James Patterson and Mark T. Sullivan.  I love the Private books, as well as most Patterson books, so I'm enjoying this one.

[AuntiePam]

Finished The Fade by Chris Wooding.  Not sure if it should be classified as fantasy or SF.  It's set on a moon in a solar system with two suns.  So maybe it's SF.  Most everyone lives underground, and a war's been going on for generations.  The main character is a female assassin.  I haven't read those other books with female assassins so I can't say if this is different, worse, better, the same.  But I really liked it.  The world-building was excellent, no clunky exposition explaining every little thing. 

 

Almost finished with Growth of the Soil by Knut Hamsun, set in Norway, the story of a farmer, his family, neighbors.  I think it's set in the late 1800's -- there's mention of a telegraph being installed for the first time.  If you like being immersed in the details of life, you'd like this.  It's like peeking through a window.  It won the Nobel in 1920. 

 

Also started Rebecca by Daphne duMaurier, for a group read.  Saw the movie, haven't read the book. It's kinda Gothic, and I haven't read Gothics for 50 years.  I'm remembering now why I liked them so much -- the romance, the mystery.  Picturing Laurence Olivier as Maxim deWinter helps too.   Yum.

[Danny Franks]

Just finished Cibola Burn and am rereading Caliban's War, which is still the best book in The Expanse series.  Cibola Burn was alright for the themes that it had, but Holden still kinda sucks, Naomi was locked in a prison cell for most of the book, and dear god Elvi was creepy and insufferable for half the book.

 

I definitely thought Cibola Burn was the weakest of the series. It seems like the authors are reaching for a little too much, and it's not quite working. I much preferred the mix of claustrophobia and emptiness that marked the first books in the series. And the first one, Leviathan Wakes, is my favourite. The mystery and the body-horror stuff and the burgeoning friendships amongst the crew were what hooked me on the series.

 

Holden was less insufferable early on, but he just seems to be caught in a repetitive pattern of 'outrage makes me do honest but really stupid things. Damn the consequences'. He needs some character growth. I understand that he's supposed to be the one incorruptible man in a world of compromise, but that doesn't make for a particularly sympathetic protagonist, sometimes.

 

As for female points of view, I wouldn't say Avasarala's character is defined by her gender. Or Naomi's. Both are competent, smart and resourceful. They just happen to be women.

[Mars477]

Avarsala isn't, and she's awesome.  I'm really hoping that the tv show stays true to the spirit of Angry UN granny.  That said, I doubt she'll be stepping in to handle things directly the way she had to do in Caliban's War, which is why I'm glad Bobbie is getting back into the game.

 

Naomi always toes the line with being "The Girl" of the Rocinante though, being the empathatic one, the hero's (for a time disapproving) girlfriend, and the perennial damsel in distress, rather than being the ship's Engineer.  It doesn't help that she doesn't have a PoV of her own, so her story is told from the perspective of men around her (most frequently Holden).

[glowlights]

Any Nancy Drew fans here? Every now and then I take a break from my regular reading and curl up with a Nancy Drew mystery. Couldn't get enough of this series as a kid, and enjoy them in a different way now. The manic pacing and breathless dialogue never fail to amuse, not to mention how much exposition "Carolyn Keene" could fit into one or two sentences. Still, Nancy kicks butt! Today's fare: The Hidden Staircase.

[Sharpie66]

The Hidden Staircase is a real classic! I haven't read those books since my pre-teens, but they might be worth another look. I moved from Nancy Drew straight to Agatha Christie around the age of 12, and it was a nearly seamless shift.

[ebk57]

I have the entire Nancy Drew series with the yellow spines (stopping when I stopped reading them, so technically it's not the entire series, I guess) in the bookcase at the top of the stairs.  Whenever I go into a used bookstore, I head straight for the children's book section to see if there are any rare copies that I might want.  And yet, I haven't cracked one to actually read in...years.  Lots o' years.

 

What a great idea!

Edited February 5, 2015 by ebk57

[ccphilly]

Anybody read Red Rising by Pierce Brown?  It was the Hunger Games on crack.    I loved it and and immediately read the second book, Golden Son (which I liked even better than Red Rising!).  

[Qoass]

I just gave up on Miranda July's The First Bad Man after 100 pages.  

 

For somebody who loves to read, I sure am having trouble finding a good book these days.