What Are We Currently Reading?

[Hanahope]

I recently read The Giver because my 7th grader was reading it in school.  I had seen the movie some years ago, so I knew the general plot.  I thought the book much better is explaning the sameness that didn't quite make it in the movie, and especially the denial of feelings.  I also thought it was a reference to how pre-teens start to have all these overwhelming feelings and the difficulty they have talking about them to their parents.  And of course, there is something to be said for sameness, no one goes hungry, or gets more than someone else, or less, there's no real discrimination, but with the sameness, there's no creativity either.

So after I finished, I learned there were 3 more books in the series.  I read Gathering Blue and then Messenger. Even though Messenger was written 15years ago, it was earily prescient about wall building, imo.  

I'm now going to read Son the final book in the series.

[GaT]

4 hours ago, LucindaWalsh said:

Have you read any other Ruth Ware books? There are several available for download from the library and I am debating The Woman In Cabin 10. She is compared in reviews as a modern day Agatha but since I was disappointed with the Sherlock comparison of Horowitz in The Word Is Murder I am hesitant to start with Ware books. 

Nope, Westaway was the first (and only) book of hers I've read. No plans on reading any others.

[catlover79]

[dubbel zout]

That guy looks like Ricky Martin, lol.

[ursula]

I just finished reading The Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo.

Apparently there was a twitter storm over the content warnings? Which people ignored because despite the repeated reminders that it was not a YA book, a lot of YA readers expected it to be YA-esque?

It was a good read.

Spoiler

But the sequel hook wasn't necessary. 

[GaT]

9 hours ago, ursula said:

I just finished reading The Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo.

Apparently there was a twitter storm over the content warnings? Which people ignored because despite the repeated reminders that it was not a YA book, a lot of YA readers expected it to be YA-esque?

It was a good read.

  Reveal spoiler

But the sequel hook wasn't necessary. 

I have this in my "to be read" pile, why did everyone think it was a YA book?

[ursula]

8 hours ago, GaT said:

I have this in my "to be read" pile, why did everyone think it was a YAbook?

The writer is popular for their YA series called Grishaverse. 

[Spartan Girl]

I read Tidelands, the new series by Philippa Gregory, and I have to say I liked it more than I thought I would. I didn't think I'd be into it as much as her Tudor books but I'm interested enough to see how it goes.

[BlackberryJam]

Just finished This Will Only Hurt a Little by Busy Phillips. It’s an easy read memoir. Not that she is in anyway on par with Carrie Fisher, but she acknowledges the same desperate need for attention, validation, and love. Her first sexual experience, and her confusion about it, I thought was really powerful. It said a lot to me about consent, what it is, how we give it or revoke it, how we see ourselves and how we deal with all of that resulting emotion.

She is absolutely over dramatic and she acknowledges that and I imagine any sort of relationship with her would be exhausting. It felt like a more modern take on a lot of the issues I’ve read in other female celebrity memoirs. Busy is, like so many women, dealing with using her own voice. 

It (and she) didn’t have the depth of MacKenzie Phillips’ High on Arrival. But all in all, I enjoyed it.

[DearEvette]

Just finished reading The Flastshare by Beth O'Leary.  I've been in a light and easy reading material mood and this hit just right.  I really enjoyed it.

[OperaLover1229]

Just started Michael Connolly’s new book The Night Fire. Harry Bosch is digging for those missed details with the help of offbeat Detective Ballard. Connolly dedicated the book to Titus Welliver (sp) who plays Bosch in the Prime series. 

[catlover79]

[kathyk2]

I recently got out of the hospital and I did lots of reading. I loved The Innocent Man by John Grisham. It's a true story about Ron Williamson an Oklahoma man who was on death row for a murder he didn't commit. I also loved The Last Mile by David Baldacci. It's the story of a college football star who was convicted of killing his parents until another man confesses to the crime. I know this is an unpopular opinion but I hated Good Omens. I thought the plot jumped around too much and the characters weren't sympathetic.

[MaggieG]

On 10/25/2019 at 6:31 PM, ursula said:

I just finished reading The Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo.

Apparently there was a twitter storm over the content warnings? Which people ignored because despite the repeated reminders that it was not a YA book, a lot of YA readers expected it to be YA-esque?

It was a good read.

  Reveal spoiler

But the sequel hook wasn't necessary. 

I'm debating on getting this, would you recommend it?

[Minneapple]

The Ninth House is also on my list. I'm intrigued by the Grishaverse books but don't know if I should add them to my list.

[ursula]

3 hours ago, MaggieG said:

I'm debating on getting this, would you recommend it?

It is, but not if you're expecting Grishaverse For Grown-ups. Not mocking but most of the (not many) negative reviews on Goodreads seem to be from people who picked up the book and expected it to be more of the same, and were disappointed that an Adult book had Adult themes and scenes. 

31 minutes ago, Minneapple said:

The Ninth House is also on my list. I'm intrigued by the Grishaverse books but don't know if I should add them to my list.

I'd recommend Six of Crows/Crooked Kingdom duology. The first 3 books are hit-and-miss for me personally.

And the Six... duology and the first 3 books can be read separately without either spoiling the other (too much). 

[GaT]

Just started The Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo, so far, so good even though I have no idea what's going on.

[catlover79]

[helenamonster]

Just finished: Drowning With Others by Linda Keir. I found the parts of the book that focused more on the interpersonal relationships (Andi and Ian, Andi and Dallas, Cassidy and her parents) to be very compelling, especially the saga of Andi and Dallas's relationship. I'll never think it's ok for teachers to date their students, but I thought the authors did a good job of slowly peeling back the layers; it may have all seemed (relatively) harmless at first, but any truly responsible and well-meaning adult would never get into that situation in the first place.

As far as the who-killed-Dallas plot went,

Spoiler

I appreciated the intent of the authors to use the story to talk about the hazy ethics of entrenched institutions and the privileged class. But it all felt too rushed...maybe if they had spent some more time laying the groundwork it would have had more of an impact, but as it was I felt underwhelmed.

Also, what was the point of the whole "selling the old liquor" subplot? I thought maybe there was going to be some metaphor about age in there but it never went in that (or any) direction.

Next up: The Whisper Man by Alex North.

[starri]

Start in on Find Me, the mostly unneeded sequel to Call Me by Your Name.  No opinion on it yet.

[aradia22]

I dithered on choosing an October Amazon First Reads book and didn't end up getting one so this time I just went with In The Dark just so I don't miss out again.

In terms of what I'm actually reading, I had good luck with memoirs/essays recently. I finished Heart Berries by Terese Marie Mailhot a while ago. Recommend. And I'm finishing up Nothing Good Can Come from This which I really enjoyed. Sometimes you just click with someone's writing. I don't mind slogging through the classics but when it comes to contemporary stuff and especially humor I've realized I don't like reading 5 pages at a time just so I'll be able to talk about the bestseller everyone else has read.

[Wiendish Fitch]

Woke up at 4:30 a.m., couldn't get back to sleep... then I remembered that The Witches Are Coming, Lindy West's latest, was released today, and therefore was on my Kindle. I got some coffee and go to readin', and guys? Ms. West does not disappoint.

[Hanahope]

Finished Son the fourth book in the Giver series.  Nice ending to the story.

[catlover79]

[catlover79]

[partofme]

I just finished The Chain, which was recommended by a coworker, it was a good, quick read, if a bit unrealistic.  

[catlover79]

[catlover79]

[Melgaypet]

@catlover79, do you have anything to discuss about these books whose covers you keep posting? What do you like or dislike about them? Would you recommend them to other people?

ETA: I just finished Busman's Honeymoon, the last Lord Peter Wimsey novel by Dorothy L. Sayers. Anything following Gaudy Night was probably bound to be a letdown, granted, but I still felt vaguely unsatisfied. This story was originally written as a stage play, and I can see how that would work better. My favorite part was the prologue, which was written in epistolary style. I have a huge fondness for that particular trick.

Edited November 10, 2019 by Melgaypet

[GaT]

1 hour ago, Melgaypet said:

ETA: I just finished Busman's Honeymoon, the last Lord Peter Wimsey novel by Dorothy L. Sayers. Anything following Gaudy Night was probably bound to be a letdown, granted, but I still felt vaguely unsatisfied. This story was originally written as a stage play, and I can see how that would work better. My favorite part was the prologue, which was written in epistolary style. I have a huge fondness for that particular trick.

I haven't read my Lord Peter books in so long that I have no idea what you're talking about LOL. I probably should read them through again.

I'm just finishing up Shattered Bonds by Faith Hunter, the 13th book in the Jane Yellowrock series. I'm not sure how I feel about it, it takes place in a new location, & people who have been part of the story all along aren't in this book, so it feels different.  

[Crs97]

I have a soft spot for Busman’s Honeymoon simply because we get more information about Bunter.

[BlackberryJam]

I’m more interested in a person’s thoughts and opinions on a book than a photo of the cover, so please, catlover, tell us what you think.

I’m currently reading Rich People Problems. I skimmed most of China Rich Girlfriend because I couldn’t get over the fact that a woman died in a horrific car accident in the beginning and I was supposed to find it a comedy. I just wanted to scream at those characters about life and pain and a family losing a member and it just...I couldn’t.

RPP seems better and I enjoy the audio.

[catlover79]

I'm sorry about that. Yes, I post pictures of the covers of the books I am reading at the time but it just didn't occur to me to say what the books were about. I'll change that with my next post. 

[TiffanyNichelle]

I'm currently reading When Brooklyn Was Queer by Hugh Ryan. It explores Brooklyn mostly around the Navy Yards from about the 1850s to about WWII. It's pretty interesting. I'm learning a lot about people I'd never heard of before. And he makes an effort to mention that a lot of LGBTQIA history usually centers around white gay cisgender men. He tries really hard to bring in lesbians and people of color even when there isn't a lot of stuff leftover from that time to draw upon (if that sentence even makes sense!).

[peacheslatour]

I'm about half way through. Question for others who have read The Death of Mrs. Westawy:

Spoiler

Why the hell did Hal put up with being stuck in what basically was a prison cell when there had to be at least ten bedrooms in that house? Did that bother anyone else? 

[Minneapple]

Currently reading The Fountains of Silence by Ruta Sepetys, a YA historical fiction set after the Spanish Civil War. I'm about 150 pages into the book and it's intriguing so far. 

I've got When We Believed in Mermaids, The Family Upstairs and Ninth House on my list of books to read. Oh, and the Queen of Nothing, Holly Black's final in the Folk of the Air trilogy. Good cozy reading ahead!

Edited November 11, 2019 by Minneapple

[Dani-Ellie]

1 hour ago, Minneapple said:

I've got When We Believed in Mermaids, The Family Upstairs and Ninth House on my list of books to read. Oh, and the Queen of Nothing, Holly Black's final in the Folk of the Air trilogy. Good cozy reading ahead!

Ooh, please let us know how The Family Upstairs is! I've read a few of Lisa Jewell's other books and enjoyed them, and I was eyeing that one in the store the other day.

[WritinMan]

Currently reading Extinction Machine by Jonathon Maberry, the 5th book in his Joe Ledger series. 

These books are so much fun to read. Like a great action movie, but with the added bonus of all the extra, little details you get from a book, if that makes sense. Very hard to put down and do the variety of other things I need to get done during the day.

[BlackberryJam]

4 hours ago, Minneapple said:

Currently reading The Fountains of Silence by Ruta Sepetys, a YA historical fiction set after the Spanish Civil War. I'm about 150 pages into the book and it's intriguing so far. 

I've got When We Believed in Mermaids, The Family Upstairs and Ninth House on my list of books to read. Oh, and the Queen of Nothing, Holly Black's final in the Folk of the Air trilogy. Good cozy reading ahead!

I’ve read When We Believed in Mermaids. It was...okay. It filled an afternoon, but didn’t really engage me and I didn’t care about the ‘found’ sister at all.

[peacheslatour]

I'm reading (slowly) The Death of Mrs. Westaway. Question for those who have read it:

Spoiler

Why does Hal put up with being given that prison cell to sleep in when the house probably has at least ten bedrooms and she basically owns it now?

[surreysmum]

I'm re-reading Oliver Twist (it's been about 30 years...) and the grime and cruelty of the first chapters are hitting me hard. As a counterbalance, I have The Complete Father Brown loaded up on my Kindle. In my Canadian Lit bag that goes to work with me, I have just finished Miriam Toew's A Complicated Kindness (beautifully observed but in the end rather depressing story about a rebellious female teenager whose family is completely torn apart within the Manitoba Mennonite community she grows up in).  Next up on that front: Nino Ricci's Lives of the Saints, which also looks to be about the effects of religiosity on everyday lives, although in a completely different context. Will know more once I read more than the title and the blurb!

Just in on my e-Library account (why yes, I do read too many books at once) is the first in Anne Perry's new (and non-Victorian) mystery series, Death in Focus. I have hopes for this one, as I think the William Monk series has been showing signs of being tapped out for a while.  About to be returned from that same e-Library account: The Scarlett Letters, an absolutely delightful collection of Margaret Mitchell's correspondence during the time that Gone With the Wind was being filmed, and then released. The subject matter of the letters gets a bit tedious, because Mitchell took a stance that she wished to leave the filming entirely in the hands of Selznick and his film-makers, and flatly refused to get involved in screenwriting, casting, etc. (and spent a lot of time scolding various PR people about the way she was misrepresented in the press).  But she's a wonderfully verbose and witty correspondent, and the sheer variety of people she wrote to is a wonder to behold. Lots of good explanatory notes for context, too.  

[GaT]

2 hours ago, peacheslatour said:

I'm reading (slowly) The Death of Mrs. Westaway. Question for those who have read it:

  Reveal spoiler

Why does Hal put up with being given that prison cell to sleep in when the house probably has at least ten bedrooms and she basically owns it now?

I've read the book just a short time ago &

Spoiler

I don't remember who Hal was or what house you're talking about, so even though I can't answer your question, you probably have a good idea about how much I liked the book LOL

[peacheslatour]

On 11/12/2019 at 1:10 PM, GaT said:

I've read the book just a short time ago &

  Hide contents

I don't remember who Hal was or what house you're talking about, so even though I can't answer your question, you probably have a good idea about how much I liked the book LOL

The one by Ruth Ware? Hal (Harriet) is the protagonist who reads Tarot cards on the pier in Brighton.

Edited November 16, 2019 by peacheslatour

[GaT]

3 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

The one by Ruth Ware? Hal (Hester) is the protagonist who reads Tarot cards on the pier in Bristol.

Yes, the one by Ruth Ware. Still not remembering the name, but I remember the pier LOL

[Snow Apple]

I'm reading a YA short story collection called Hungry Hearts. It's connected stories that takes place in one neighborhood and center around food. Each story stands alone but you also get glimpses of characters from another story in passing.

I like most of them. Some more than others. There was only one so far that I hated.

[peacheslatour]

5 minutes ago, GaT said:

Yes, the one by Ruth Ware. Still not remembering the name, but I remember the pier LOL

Hal:

Spoiler

Inherited Mrs. Westaway's estate in Cornwall. It's an old, unheated pile and the evil housekeeper Mrs. Warren makes Hal sleep in a attic room with bars on the windows and a door has bolts on the outside.

[GaT]

Just now, peacheslatour said:

Hal:

  Hide contents

Inherited Mrs. Westaway's estate in Cornwall. It's an old, unheated pile and the evil housekeeper Mrs. Warren makes Hal sleep in a attic room with bars on the windows and a door has bolts on the outside.

AH HA!!!!! She's the main character, & I couldn't remember her. Yeah, great book.

[peacheslatour]

3 minutes ago, GaT said:

AH HA!!!!! She's the main character, & I couldn't remember her. Yeah, great book.

Did the part I spoilered in my OP bother you too?

[Was-MArsenault]

I haven't started this yet, but it's called Just As Long As We're Together by Judy Blume:

[GaT]

4 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

Did the part I spoilered in my OP bother you too?

I'm guessing no just because I couldn't remember it. Maybe it bothered me when I was reading the book, but it's a valid question.