What are you reading currently?
Replies
-
When the Moon Hits Your Eye by John Scalzi was weird but had a point at the ending. It was a stand alone book but he considered it in the trilogy of The Kaiju Preservation Society and Starter Villain. The books are not related at all, but his next book is about aliens and spaceships so he lumped these three as a kind of set.
I'm taking some time and tackling another Michener novel, Hawaii. It is 1500 pages and will take me some time, but I am not intimidated by the length.
2 -
Ooo, can't wait to hear your verdict on Michener! I mean, I can wait, obviously, cuz 1500 pages will take even @Catfish_Fan a few days…😉
BTW I'm really enjoying I Capture the Castle. Thanks for the inspiration @Btrflydog !
2 -
My kindle reading streak hit a milestone, on my birthday to boot, and also 365 consecutive weeks of reading on my kindle. Kind of weird… I wish there was a prize for that many days.
2 -
@Catfish_Fan HAPPY BIRTHDAY AND CONGRATULATIONS!!!
2 -
The Michener book was different than I expected, as expected. I had previously read Centennial and I really liked it (5*), Hawaii was 4*. It was very long and some portions were a little dull but with the audio companion (52 hours long) I slogged through them.
Currently reading a light book that rates very high, and was recommended: Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman. This starts a series and I am not sure I will continue it because all of the books are similar (I have been told) and all of the audiobooks are sold only by Audible, making continuing the series kind of expensive. It is light and humorous and a good change of pace from Michener.
1 -
@Catfish_Fan - nice job on the streak and Happy Birthday! I have When the Moon Hits your Eye in my TBR - glad to hear that it has a point. I was wondering just how weird it would be after the talking cats in Starter Villian.
@FitMary202 - glad you are enjoying I Capture the Castle - it was really good in my opinion.
I finished Weyward by Emilia Hart - Was a nice change of pace from the Dubliners. I gave it 5 stars it was probably 4.25 or 4.5 stars.
Tonight I start The Underground Railroad - Colson Whitehead. It has been in Mt. TBR for quite awhile, and is included in one of the extra challenges on Good Reads so time to tackle this one.
2 -
Looking forward to hearing your opinion about The Underground Railroad @Btrflydog I loved Nickel Boys, but Underground Railroad was DNF for me. Still enjoying Capture the Castle too!
0 -
DCC was only a 3* book for me and I won't be continuing the series…
I'm starting an epic series by Tad Williams today, The Witchwood Crown is book 1 in The Last King of Osten Ard fantasy series. Tad Williams never met a word he didn't write, I think, his books are epic and very long (but also so good).
2 -
Finished I Capture the Castle, which I certainly enjoyed. I only learned at the end of the book that she was also the author of 101 Dalmatians!
Friends last night suggested I read Blue Ruin so I'm bumping that to the head of the line unexpectedly.
1 -
@Catfish_Fan - "Never met a word he didn't write" cracked me up. I hadn't heard of Tad Williams, but may need to investigate his works.
@FitMary202 - Glad you enjoyed I Capture the Castle as well. I don't know how far you got with The Underground Railroad. I had trouble getting into it the 1st few pages and after one very graphic scene had to step away from it for a day. I'm now into it over 130 pages and as horrifying as some of the details are I am curious to see just where this story is going to go. Will let you know what I think of it after I finish it. Glad to hear you enjoyed his book the Nickel Boys. This is the 1st Colson Whitehead book for me and there are some others of his that I am interested in reading as well. Looking forward to hearing what you think of Blue Ruin. I hadn't heard about it before.
2 -
I finished reading The Underground Railroad - Colson Whitehead. 5 stars. It was hard to get into at first, but it ended up being a story well told. I don't know that I would say I enjoyed it - it's tough subject matter. I will say I'm not sorry I read it.
Now reading Making Rumours - Ken Caillat. I was a teenager when it came out. Fleetwood Mac is one of the best bands ever in my humble opinion. I'm only 12 pages into it, but it seems like the author writes well, so will be interesting to hear the inside stories.
@Catfish_Fan - hope you can find a copy that's not so costly somewhere - if you don't mind used and a real book over your Kindle, keep an eye out on Amazon. Sometimes I find good deals from their 3rd party sellers.
2 -
I found it available on the Hoopla app in a sort of e-book format, I can read it on my Fire tablet sometime. I really enjoyed Mick Fleetwood telling the story of the band (Play On), from inception to present, in his own words. I like old Fleetwood Mac too, Peter Green was a founding member who left the band due to mental illness but his influence was phenomenal. Danny Kirwan and Bob Welch were great too, before Lindsey and Stevie. I have all of their albums on CD and listen to deluxe editions online, and some live performances too. They are a true Super-band. Let us know how Making Rumours is when you finish it. “It’s only right that you should play it the way that you feel it.”—Stevie Nicks
I’m 60% finished with The Witchwood Crown. I have slowed down somewhat due to gardening season, harvesting and working on that in my free time. Audiobooks still keep me occupied while exercising and while enjoying the Tigers games on TV (sound off in general) but this is a pretty long book (38 hours).
1 -
Running to catch up everywhere, and by the time I get to open one of my own books, I'm sleepy. I'm reading Men in the Sun, but it's slow going with just a few pages at night…
2 -
@FitMary202 - I know those days all too well. I work full time and there are days I get home and just want to disappear into my book only to fall asleep 5 pages in. Hang in there.
Let us know what you think of Men in the Sun. i don't know much about that part of the world, so it might be interesting
1 -
Men in the Sun was quite short but very powerful, and, as it's about forced migration, it's heartbreaking too. But as @Btrflydog mentioned with Underground Railroad, I'm glad I read it. I've started Blue Ruin and finding it absorbing so far. It's a pandemic novel so that makes it timely and interesting, and it appears there will be drama and intrigue.
Best to all!
2 -
I just read the NYT book review of Blue Ruin earlier this week. Still not sure if I am ready for pandemic literature, so I'll be interested to hear your take on this one @FitMary202.
So far I am really enjoying Making Rumours. I had to stop and listen to some of the music they were talking about the other night. Such a talented group of people.
2 -
I ran into an issue with the Tad Williams novel that I have not had for a long while: concentration. There are several storylines going on and many characters, and although the book is very good I was getting very confused and missing details, a couple of the storylines I found myself lost in and wasn’t sure what was happening. So I backed up and tried again, because this is book 1 of 4 so far (I am not sure if book four is the conclusion?). I can not read this book as audio while exercising and keep my place, that was a part of my concentration issue. I am strictly immersion reading it more slowly now and following better.
I read Holly by Stephen King and really enjoyed that one, it was a much easier read. I was unaware that it was the third continuation story about Holly Gibney following the Bill Hodges trilogy because I read no reviews or anything before digging in. The Outsider is in kindle unlimited and the audio is available at libraries, so I am reading that now also, book one following Hodges as the story of Holly continues as I understand it. Serves me right for reading out of publication order. I have read King through 2015 (all of them) and jumped into Holly skipping many books. I’m still jumping around a bit.
2 -
@Catfish_Fan "serves me right for reading out of publication order" 🤣🤣🤣 I felt the same thing recently when I suddenly learned something about Donna Leon's detective Guido Brunetti that was key to the series!
@Btrflydog I loved the pandemic beginning to Blue Ruin, but now it's become a bit of a slog. Is it just me or do more and more novels nowadays have enchanting beginnings that they can't sustain. Hmmm… Probably me. Three of my younger friends loved the book. To be continued.
2 -
I really enjoyed Making Rumours - even though it could have used some serious editing. It's Santa Barbara, not Santa barbara - really. But still worth the read. I found out that there is a second book by Ken Caillet about the recording of Tusk. So I imagine I'll be reading that soon enough.
Next though I am starting Last Night in Twisted River - John Irving. This has been in my TBR for long enough - time to tackle it.
2 -
Hahaha @Btrflydog ! A born proofreader… I recognize myself in that comment! 🤣🤣🤣
1 -
Dragged myself to the end of Blue Ruin. Can't for the life of me figure out why my colleagues liked it. The setup was great—a guy runs into his former love when he delivers her groceries during the pandemic… But that was the only thing interesting about the entire book. Everything else—the empty plot, the unpleasant characters, the unbelievable "artists"—was a letdown. Color me unimpressed. Sorry not to have better news!
2 -
Book let down is real. Sometimes the hype is hype. Hoping the next book is more enjoyable 📚
2 -
I'm reading Comedy in a Minor Key about the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands by Hans Keilson. It's very interesting, but heavy so I'm also starting Dr. No by Percival Everett for balance.
1 -
I finally finished everything I was reading. The Tad Williams book was 39 hours long and I needed to reread a few parts. It was excellent and I am excited to begin book two, but taking a quick (10 hour) break to read a Douglas Preston/Lincoln Child Special Agent Pendergast series novel for a kindle challenge. Who knows what else I might feel like reading between books one and two of the Tad Williams series, they are very long?
2 -
I neglected to add the title of the book I am reading, it is called Crimson Shore and it is book 15 in the Pendergast series. Special Agent Pendergast from the FBI is always solving paranormal type crimes against people that involve murders and such. The series is very character-centric, the characters develop as the series progresses which is really cool.
The next Tad Williams book is The Empire of Grass. It is 36 hours on audio and as always, almost all of my reading is immersion reading with the audiobook and the text copy. I read that hearing a book out loud stimulates different parts of your brain than reading alone, which would account for why I retain what I read better that way using both print and audio (as many books as I read, I still get details that I can't remember from book to book in a series with long gaps between books, but it is better than just seeing the words on the page. Yes, it slows me way down compared to simply reading, I am no speed reader at all.)
1 -
@Catfish_Fan Love the idea of audio immersion reading. I also heard the Uzbek writer Hamid Ismailov describe the improvement in comprehension and depth he found when forced to turn to audio books after his eyesight started to fail. I'm still looking for the best way/time to use audio books. Listening while sitting just results in me falling asleep and my exercise time is either walking the dog while talking to neighbors or taking fitness classes. To be continued I guess…
2 -
I finished the Holly books by Stephen King, The Outsider and If It Bleeds, after reading Holly out of order (book 3). They were both good. Holly was read by an new-to-me female narrator (Justine Lupe) and all the others were read by Will Patton, who read the character totally and completely differently. Patton defined Holly, and it appears that Justine Lupe did not listen to Patton's narration before she picked up the character. Holly is a weird person who has neurotic tendencies and Patton captured that. Lupe missed it altogether and read her as a regular female character, it seems she completely recovered from those neurotic tendencies in Holly and was not peculiar at all. She did come a long way in her "recovery" from book 1 of the Bill Hodges trilogy to Holly (book 6 with her in it) but the startling change of narration was like miscasting an actor in a movie to me.
I'm now reading Revival by King, but I don't think I will try to finish up my reading of King all at once. I have eleven books left by him to read I believe, after this one to be current. That is very many Stephen King books over very many years. I'm ready to move on from this author for a while after this novel.
2 -
Can't manage more than a couple pages at the end of the day, but I'm really enjoying Dr. No by Percival Everett. It's a challenging read with lots of wordplay and references to math, but also quite funny. So glad a friend recommended it!
Best to all for the my last summer weekend before classes start again! 💃💞💞
2 -
Let me see, what have I been reading…
Currently Survivor in Death (book 20) by Nora Roberts writing as JD Robb. I also read The Color Purple by Alice Walker (5*), and Heir to the Jedi (Star Wars novel) by Kevin Hearne (3*). Oh yeah, 14 by Peter Clines was a weird scifi (3*) and The Quest was a good thriller by Nelson DeMille (4*).
Been busy with tomato harvest, we made a huge pot of chicken and tomato soup today using 5 pounds of tomato. I have 7 pounds of sauce tomato on the counter waiting for me to make more paste (very tasty). Some of my harvest work includes audiobooks and downtime babysitting cooking for reading.
2 -
That all sounds great, especially the homemade soup! Still making my way through Dr. No. It's weird, but funny!
2
