What Are We Currently Reading?

[Mars477]

I am so late on this, Rick Kitchen!  Yes, I've read "Gone Baby Gone," sort of. I was reading it, life got in the way, and it came up overdue at the local library. I paid my overdue fine and attempted to recheck it out. They wouldn't let me re-check it for another two weeks! Libraries by Pawnee apparently. Just kidding, they probably have their reasons.I'll finish it, I promise.

 

Reading GBG I realized that it was the third in the series and felt like I needed to catch up. Spoiler-free assessment: a lot happens to those two before that novel even starts! Plus, I've since found out that Moonlight Mile is something of a sequel to GBG. 

Mind you, Moonlight Mile is terrible.  Not only does it have one of the worst characters in the series returning in the worst possible way, and the ending is extremely anticlimactic, Angie is barely in this book.  I thought that the first three in the series, A Drink Before the War, Darkness Take My Hand, and Sacred, are much better.

 

Gone Baby Gone is a good example of the still recurring "Hollywood female leads are useless" phenomena, especially where it come to film adaptations of other works.  Angie Gennaro is pretty badass, and of the two of them she's the gunslinger.  Just prior to the final confrontation it's her who puts a bullet into the big bad that kills him.  That's not something you'd know from just watching the movie.

Edited March 2, 2015 by Mars477

[AltLivia]

Finished Mystic River. Figured it out far too quickly 

as soon as Brendan's mute brother and friend walked through with hockey sticks. Not to mention the kid freaking out unnecessarily at his older brother's grief.

But the novel did a great job at establishing false leads.  Dave's true self was terrifying. And Jimmy's  morally grey conscience was an amazing read. Seems the proverbial shoe ended up on the other foot, police persecution-wise. Didn't care for the Sean's ex-wife subplot. At least, not the lengthy, angst-laden stuff. Bogged the narrative down.

Edited March 6, 2015 by AltLivia

[truthaboutluv]

Just finished John Green's Looking for Alaska and I am utterly underwhelmed. My streak of disappointment in books continues. And just as with the others, I was genuinely excited to read this. The premise sounded interesting and this is a book that got raves, won multiple book prizes and made TIME Magazine 100 Young Adult Books You Must Read.

 

And yet, I was left completely and utterly underwhelmed. I think Green was going for something deep and moving that never truly came together very well. The main character was okay but becomes incredibly insufferable and annoying in the latter part of the book and Alaska, never interests or fascinates me the way Green clearly meant for her to. I actually just found the main character's fascination with her kind of annoying.

Edited March 7, 2015 by truthaboutluv

[idiotwaltz]

Just finished John Green's Looking for Alaska and I am utterly underwhelmed. My streak of disappointment in books continues. And just as with the others, I was genuinely excited to read this. The premise sounded interesting and this is a book that got raves, won multiple book prizes and made TIME Magazine 100 Young Adult Books You Must Read.

 

And yet, I was left completely and utterly underwhelmed. I think Green was going for something deep and moving that never truly came together very well. The main character was okay but becomes incredibly insufferable and annoying in the latter part of the book and Alaska, never interests or fascinates me the way Green clearly meant for her to. I actually just found the main character's fascination with her kind of annoying.

 

I've always found John Green's novels to be underwhelming in general, not to mention repetitive. 

[Enigma X]

I am currently reading The Song of Achilles. It is the best book that I have read in a very long time. Although I love the classic mythology stories, one does not have to enjoy them to like this book. It is not a retelling of any of those stories, anyway. 

[GaT]

I'm reading Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel. I'm about 1/3 of the way through, & it's become an effort to push myself to read it. It's about the world after a pandemic wipes out our way of life, but it spends a lot of time in the past before the pandemic, following the life of some actor. These are the parts that are really dragging things down for me. I thought this was going to be a sci-fi novel & that there was a place called Station Eleven. Turns out that Station Eleven is 

the name of a graphic novel written & illustrated by one of the actor's ex wives.

, which turns out to be a big disappointment. 

[Danny Franks]

I decided to reread some Terry Pratchett books, and started Reaper Man yesterday. Man, it's funny. I've not read it for years, and I'm only 60 pages in, but there are some cracking jokes and so many memorable characters popping up.

 

I think this might end up being the first of many Discworld books I reacquaint myself with over the next couple of months.

[Sharpie66]

I'm down to the last 100 pages of my map history book that I've been reading off and on for the past several months.

 

What I'm looking forward to starting ASAP after finishing that, though, is the newest Ishiguro book, The Buried Giant. After I heard that his latest was set in Anglo-Saxon England with lots of Fantasy elements, I was definitely going to be buying that one (I'm a huge medieval geek!). It should be waiting for me at the apartment complex office tonight.

Edited March 16, 2015 by Sharpie66

[EllieH]

At the moment, I'm reading The Girl on the Train and listening to the audiobook of Little Big Lies, both of which I am really enjoying!  But I'm only about halfway through each, so we'll see how I feel at the end.

[ApathyMonger]

At the moment, I'm reading The Girl on the Train and listening to the audiobook of Little Big Lies, both of which I am really enjoying!  But I'm only about halfway through each, so we'll see how I feel at the end.

 

I just read Liane Moriarty's previous one, The Husband's Secret. I liked Little Big Lies (just called Little Lies here for some reason), but I wasn't a fan of The Husband's Secret. A bit too predictable, and not very enjoyable.

[Qoass]

Loved Girl on a Train.  If you're paying attention, you know who did what way ahead of time but it was just son engaging.

 

I'm currently slogging through The Marriage Game by Alison Weir.  Why, oh, why are so many historical fictions about the Tudor era written for people with short term memory loss?  Like anything by Philippa Gregory, Weir just repeats the same concept over and over and over.  For 400 pages.  I'm only finishing it on the tiny chance that I may learn something new.

[proserpina65]

I'm currently slogging through The Marriage Game by Alison Weir.  Why, oh, why are so many historical fictions about the Tudor era written for people with short term memory loss?

 

That's interesting.  Her non-fiction work doesn't generally have that problem.  Good to know.

[AuntiePam]

Reading a biography of Florence Harding, William Harding's wife -- quite a woman, definitely the power behind that throne.  Also reading http://www.amazon.com/Kings-Earth-Jon-Clinch/dp/1481175408/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=&qid= -- not sure if the coding works, Kings of the Earth by Jon Clinch.  It's the kind of book I've seen referred to as "white fringe", stories of people most of us pity and/or avoid but wonder about.  "How can they live like that?"  It's wonderful.

[Qoass]

I've got 80 pages to go on Andrew Pyper's The Damned.  It's one of the better Stephen King novels Stephen King didn't write.  I just hope this one doesn't punt the ending as so many of SK's books have.

[JayKay]

I've been trying and failing to get into Robert E. Howard's works because of the Lovecraft connection but it hasn't gone well. Conan is just not my jam.

Picked up some random used books from a little shop in December and only recently started one. It's called "Jirel of Joiry" by C.L. Moore and it's the answer to my prayers. I had no idea that it's basically a sword-and-sorcery tale from the same era but with a female lead. Super old school but still fresh and genuinely moving at times. I love it so far. I think it's five "Weird Tales" collected together which makes me feel better about giving up on Howard.

[Darian]

I've got 80 pages to go on Andrew Pyper's The Damned.  It's one of the better Stephen King novels Stephen King didn't write.  I just hope this one doesn't punt the ending as so many of SK's books have.

I just read that and ended up skimming through the last scenes. It did sort of fall apart for me. I liked it for the most part, except that the narrator named every street, every business. He never just went home; he always named the neighborhood or street. Because I live near Boston, it became obvious he Googled to make it seem authentic (the main character talked about leaving a bookstore and going two door down to a cafe that is actually inside the bookstore, and is only a counter and a couple of tables, so you cannot go to the back...er, yes, I go there often). I am usually pretty forgiving about that kind of thing, especially if it serves the narrative, but it was distracting even before the silly, pointless errors. But he could never just walk into a cafe or restaurant. They all had to be named.   

 

I'm just starting Return to Oakpine by Ron Carlson. I've loved everything I've read by him, but I'll probably need something light and breezy after it. 

Edited March 24, 2015 by Darian

[Sharpie66]

JayKay, you are going to looooooove CL Moore!! I first read her in my feminist lit class in college (we read all SF written by women, starting with Frankenstein), and she is really the only one from that class that I still read regularly. "Black God's Kiss", Jirel's first story, is so fantastic.

However, if you haven't read it yet, you must check out "Shambleau", which is considered to be Moore's masterpiece. It is hard to believe it was written in 1933, because it truly modern in style and tone, a real standout from the usual stories found in magazines like Weird Tales.

[hendersonrocks]

I'm on a bit of a nonfiction kick. I tore through Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay (love.her) and just finished The Unspeakable: And Other Subjects of Discussion by Meghan Daum.  In the former I pretty much loved alllll the essays; in the latter there were a few essays I really loved, but a few that I really disliked and had to grit my teeth through. 

 

I just picked up The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace this afternoon after a sizable library wait and less than 20 pages in can already tell it's going to rip my heart out.

[JayKay]

However, if you haven't read it yet, you must check out "Shambleau", which is considered to be Moore's masterpiece. It is hard to believe it was written in 1933, because it truly modern in style and tone, a real standout from the usual stories found in magazines like Weird Tales.

Wonderful, thank you! I am so excited to read this. Being completely unfamiliar with Moore (I bought "J of J" because it was $1.50 and had a beautiful cover ha) I'm blown away that these stories are from the 1930's. I have a hard enough time finding contemporary fantasy stuff that's as stimulating to me as Black God's Kiss. Will be looking for Shambleau asap!

[Sharpie66]

I just googled Shambleau and found someone has put a recording of CL Moore reading it on YouTube! I know what I will be listening to tomorrow night.

If you can find it, the collection of her stories that my teacher used back in the mid-80s is called The Best of C.L. Moore, edited by Lester del Rey, published in the mid 1970s. In the mid 90's, I got into a short lived habit of hitting all of the local libraries' booksales, which were all taking place within a month of each other. One I didn't get to until Saturday afternoon, meaning that the selection was really picked over. I still browsed around, ending my search by scanning the table of hardcover fiction on my way out the door. The title of that Moore collection jumped out at me from the middle of the spines of books lining that table, and I literally squealed in delight, getting some startled looks at my strange noise. My best used book sale find EVER!

Edited March 24, 2015 by Sharpie66

[GaT]

I'm reading The Grendel Affair by Lisa Shearin, & I'm enjoying it. It's an Urban Fantasy book, first in a series about a CIA/FBI like agency call SPI. It's got some humor & snark & various type of supernatural creatures. 

[Qoass]

 

Because I live near Boston, it became obvious he Googled to make it seem authentic

 

That ruined Zadie Smith's On Beauty for me because she writes of a family going to see the Boston Symphony play on Boston Common then the bunch of them caught a cab home to the suburbs.  So wrong!  Concerts are held on the Esplanade and the only place you'll be able to grab a passing cab that can carry more than 2 or 3 people is at the airport.

 

And yeah, the ending of The Damned was definitely skim-worthy.

Edited March 24, 2015 by Qoass

[Rick Kitchen]

I'm reading "NYPD Red" by the James Patterson stable.  Not bad for a light reading with short chapters.  It's the first of a series, of course, not unlike his "Private" books.

[Snow Apple]

I'm starting The Sound of Music Story by Tom Santopietro because........it's the story of The Sound of Music.

[Hybridcookie]

I'm reading Cinder by Marissa Meyer. A little bit fluffy for my taste, but it's a nice quick read, and I like the character of Cinder

[wanderingstar]

Just finished Nemesis, the fourth Harry Hole novel by Norwegian crime writer Jo Nesbø. It's the third novel in this series I've read, and I've loved all of them (The Red Breast and The Devil's Star were the others). I just enjoy Nesbø's writing style and his intricate plotting. Harry is a bit more bearable in this book, but that may be because I'm now used to his slovenly antics. 

 

I think I'll have to go back to the beginning of this series, since the earlier books have now been published in English. 

Edited March 27, 2015 by Gillian Rosh

[Mars477]

I'm reading "NYPD Red" by the James Patterson stable.  Not bad for a light reading with short chapters.  It's the first of a series, of course, not unlike his "Private" books.

They're alright.  There's a serial plot regarding the main guy and his partner's not-relationship that is incredibly annoying, though, in how it goes absolutely nowhere throughout multiple books.

 

I just worked my way through the Kate Daniels series by husband and wife team Ilona Andrews.  Pretty good, refreshingly non chick-lit urban fantasy, with a snarky first person protagonist who, thank your relevant gods, doesn't think leather pants, halter tops, and heels are appropriate battlefield attire.  It's a lot like The Dresden Files.

[HoodlumSheep]

I'm currently reading 'The Thornbirds' by Colleen McCullough.

All the scandal!!!!

[Qoass]

I just finished My Sunshine Away by M.O. Walsh and loved it.  I thought it was going to be an amateur detective story as a young boy tries to figure out the perpetrator of an assault against his friend.  It was more of a reflection of growing up in the south and how life is never as innocent as it seems even for little kids.  Well written and wonderful.

[OakGoblinFly]

Based on a recommendation, I picked up Child 44 (by Tom Rob Smith) a novel set in the Soviet Union in 1953 and follows Leo Demidov as he deals with a serial murderer. 

[Skyline]

 

I just finished My Sunshine Away by M.O. Walsh and loved it.  I thought it was going to be an amateur detective story as a young boy tries to figure out the perpetrator of an assault against his friend.  It was more of a reflection of growing up in the south and how life is never as innocent as it seems even for little kids.  Well written and wonderful.

 

Such beautiful writing. 

Edited March 30, 2015 by Skyline

[ApathyMonger]

Based on a recommendation, I picked up Child 44 (by Tom Rob Smith) a novel set in the Soviet Union in 1953 and follows Leo Demidov as he deals with a serial murderer. 

 

I liked that book, but more for the setting and general writing rather than the murder plot, which I wasn't a huge fan of.

 

I could really have done without that ending twist.

[Qoass]

Yeah, I dumped Child 44 pretty early in.  It was too inescapably grim.  Maybe the movie will be better for me.

Edited March 30, 2015 by Qoass

[partofme]

The Stranger by Harlan Coben. Just got it out of the library, excited to read it.

[AuntiePam]

Shards of Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold.  Science fiction, been hearing about it for years, hesitated because it's the first in a series and if I like it, I'll have to buy the others.  Mixed blessing.  Too early to say what it's about -- story starts on a planet other than Earth and there are conflicts.  Humans!  Can't take them anywhere!!

[Qoass]

I just finished The Kind Worth Killing by Peter Swanson.  I don't read a lot of books in this genre but I really enjoyed it.  If someone else has read it 

do you think the ending opens up the chance of a sequel in which Lily gets her mother to stall the development just long enough for her to get out of jail and knock off the new neighbor?

[Danny Franks]

Homeland by Cory Doctorow. The follow up to Little Brother, and I think it's an improvement on the first book. The writing seems improved, and the pace is quicker. But man, I wish Doctorow wouldn't go off on tangents every chapter, and spend paragraphs 'educating' the reader on his own pet interests, such as the wonders of real coffee, mathematical sequences or the scale that measures the heat of chili peppers. I don't care about that stuff.

[Snow Apple]

The Great Beanie Baby Bubble: Mass Delusion and the Dark Side of Cute, by Zac Bissonnette. 

 

I remember those days and it was such madness. I remember news stories and the lines(!) for McDonald's beanie happy meals. It seemed fun and funny at the time, but looking back, there was definitely something sad about it all.

[Qoass]

Dead Wake by Erik Larson.  It's fine but after reading three of his books I just don't have that burning lust for this author that critics seem to have.

[Cobalt Stargazer]

Homeland by Cory Doctorow. The follow up to Little Brother, and I think it's an improvement on the first book. The writing seems improved, and the pace is quicker. But man, I wish Doctorow wouldn't go off on tangents every chapter, and spend paragraphs 'educating' the reader on his own pet interests, such as the wonders of real coffee, mathematical sequences or the scale that measures the heat of chili peppers. I don't care about that stuff.

 

I just finished 'Pirate Cinema and also found Doctorow kind of preachy, but in an enjoyable way, if that even makes sense. Given the subject matter, it was fairly light-hearted, even though it didn't really have a totally happy ending.

[Skyline]

Halfway done with the much hyped A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara. 

 

This book is devastating. I suggest reading the synopsis before taking it on. I had no idea what I was getting myself into. 

 

However, I doubt I'll come across a better book this year. 

[Jazzy24]

I just started reading A Tale of Two Cities

[Jac]

I hardly ever get to read for pleasure these days but I am presently reading Between The Assassinations by Aravind Adiga which is a very good read, It is a anthology of short stories branching off from a single, ingenious framing device (that you as the reader are visiting the fictional city in the book and visiting various locations as recommended by a Lonely Planet style travel guide). The book is set in early 1980s India and looks at class, religious conflict and changing values during the period. 

[AuntiePam]

The Winter People by Jennifer McMahon -- supernatural/haunted place/old mystery, etc.  The writing is very simple and straightforward -- almost too simple -- everything's right there on the page.  But a couple of scenes gave me goosebumps and I like goosebumps. 

[Black Knight]

If you read Jennifer McMahon books too close together, some repetition becomes obvious, but her Don't Breathe a Word was so creepy that it made me pull an all-nighter finishing it, because I knew otherwise I would have real problems sleeping. I haven't read The Winter People.

 

Currently reading Kate Atkinson's Life After Life, and so far I'm not seeing what all the praise is about. However, I'm only midway through, so I remain hopeful. I've liked or loved her other books - I've read all the Jackson Brodie ones and most of her standalones.

[Danny Franks]

Started The Emperor's Blades by Brian Staveley. Book one of yet another fantasy trilogy. I'm about 100 pages in, and so far, so good. I like all three protagonists, and some of the secondary characters, and the world that's been built so far is interesting. There's definitely a Byzantine Empire feel to it, which I like.

 

What's also good? So far, there's a delightful lack of magic and wizards.

[AltLivia]

Currently working my way through Kate Atkinson's Case Histories. First thought it a collection of short stories - it surprised me when they linked up. The back cover offered no synopsis. Where I'm reading, the Michelle vignette hasn't linked up in any way to the Land sisters'/Jackson's story. I figured Michelle's portion was pretty much standalone

since her husband was so young when she murdered him. No way could he have murdered Theo's daughter, either.

Still pretty stumped as to why Blue Mouse was in that drawer!

Edited April 12, 2015 by AltLivia

[Black Knight]

That's par for the course with Akinson's Jackson Brodie series - much of the mystery is in how all the stories will link up eventually.

 

I just finished her Life After Life. It did start packing more of a punch as the book went on, getting me to tear up occasionally. On the other hand, there were parts I found frustrating, rather claustrophobic actually - which I rather suspect given the Nietzsche quote at the beginning was precisely her intention, so props to her for accomplishing it so effectively, but it certainly wasn't an enjoyable experience. And I'm befuddled by the end. I'm not sorry I read the book, but I need to think on it more.

 

Now reading Jean Thompson's The Witch: And Other Tales Re-Told. As you might expect from the title, it's a collection of short stories that are reworkings of fairytales. I'm always a sucker for that.

[ApathyMonger]

Currently working my way through Kate Atkinson's Case Histories. First thought it a collection of short stories - it surprised me when they linked up. The back cover offered no synopsis. Where I'm reading, the Michelle vignette hasn't linked up in any way to the Land sisters'/Jackson's story. I figured Michelle's portion was pretty much standalone

since her husband was so young when she murdered him. No way could he have murdered Theo's daughter, either.

Still pretty stumped as to why Blue Mouse was in that drawer!

 

I haven't read Case Histories, but I did enjoy the TV series based on it. Jason Isaacs plays Jackson Brodie.

[Qoass]

Dennis Lehane's latest World Gone By.

 

It's the third installment in the Coughlin family saga and as with many series, I like each book a little less than the one that came before.  I'm halfway through and so far, I might as well be reading about a kid on his paper route as there is very little story arc, just the recounting of a gangster's day to day visits to fellow crooks.  Yawn.  Good thing it's short.