Finished Girl on the Train -3 stars.

Now reading My Best Friend's Exorcism - Grady Hendrix.

I'm doing book #2 of the Snow Like Ashes trilogy by Sara Raasch, Ice Like Fire. It's a YA fantasy and easy reading.

Reading In Memory of Memory by Maria Stepanova. It's a quirky, slow, meditation on family history and our own stored reminiscences. Not for everyone, but I'm enjoying it.

Jinlynn1954 wrote: »

Just finished reading "The Last Bookshop In London" by Madeline Martin. It is set during WW2 and I enjoyed it very much.

Read it a few weeks ago and loved it, so realistic and well-written!

nossmf wrote: »

nossmf wrote: »

I'm about to start reading the Game of Thrones series...just to dip my toe in the water so to speak.

Not quite finished with the book (at over 800 pages, it's not a "read in one day" adventure!), but at 3/4 through I'm already planning on going back to get the remainder of the series. The first two chapters in were rather intimidating, as I felt convinced I wouldn't have a prayer of remembering who all these different characters were, their relations to each other, etc. But the author is very adept at cycling between characters each chapter, telling the story from a variety of points of view, reinforcing how each person relates to the others, referencing prior events to keep alive in the memory what transpired before so you realize the implications of now... very well written, IMHO.

My wife (?!?) actually suggested we get the TV series to watch together. She's normally a crime-scene, mystery sort of person, so this is a huge departure for her. It's in our queue to watch, but now I'm debating what order I want to experience the story... book first, or TV first. Considering how we tend to binge watch series, we'll easily finish a season far faster than my current pace of reading the books, so either I need to read faster or delay watching for a LONG while lol.

The TV version diverged more and more from the book version as the series progressed. Keep in mind that the book series was never completed and now probably never will be because GRRM painted himself into a corner, having to make future books different from the TV series in order to stay consistent with the existing books. Having already written a story for TV that is not consistent with his books, I doubt if he is highly motivated to rewrite the story to fit into the book series.

Momo by Michael Ende (5*)
Orphan girl in poor village is the only unaffected person who can save the world from the dehumanizing take over by a sinister cabal of time bandits who are conning people out of their allotted time by preying on their greed and foolishness. It is a very original and creative story that is also a thoughtful allegory about the erosion of human value as modern life grows more hectic and materialistic. It's supposedly a kid's story and although they might enjoy the fantasy tale, I doubt if they would get the allegorical tale. It seem pretty philosophical for a children's book, but as an old lady reader, I really enjoyed it.

Reading The Slynx by Tatiana Tolstaya. Not normally my cup of tea, but I'm sticking with it.

Finished My Best Friend's Exorcism - 3 stars.

Now reading Stern Men - Elizabeth Gilbert

NOS4A2 by Joe Hill. It's by Joseph King, Stephen's son, who goes by a pen name. This one is a horror.

Vision in Silver (The Others, #3) by Anne Bishop was 4 stars from me. A fantasy book series.

Wildwood Dancing by Juliet Marillier. YA fantasy set in Transylvania (Romania).

Got two more Pulitzers under my belt--48 down and 46 (+ 4 not yet awarded) to go!

Less by Andrew Sean Greer (5*)
This is the prize winner that book snobs are most likely to put down as not worthy of a Pulitzer, but I loved it. It is a story about a middle-aged, close-to-broke, less-than-successful gay author whose ex-lover is marrying another. In order to avoid the pain of attending the wedding, he organizes his many invitations to travel around the world in various low-paying engagements for motley groups that can't afford a famous guest author. The story is told with warmth, sweetness, humor, and wisdom as he and his mid-life crisis encounter various misadventures and relive the memories of his life that brought him to this point. It is clearly-written, well-organized, enjoyable, fast-moving, and without weird or dragged-out, so that's probably why the elitist book-snobs judge it so harshly.

The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich (5*)
This is a fictionalized 1953 story of the author's grandfather, who struggled to protect his tribe during a very difficult period in their history, as the federal government sought to seize the best reservation land and resources and cut the Indian Affairs expenses involved in keeping the treaties by dissolving the treaties and reservations, leaving most of the people homeless, broke, and without means of survival. It has a lot of characters and bounces around several secondary and tertiary subplots about the troubles of many other tribe members, that often made an unwelcome interruption when the main story was getting interesting. This one is dragged-out, since I personally found the diversions excessive, but the central story about this amazing man is wonderful and makes wading through all the other stuff worthwhile.

Hollywood Dead (Sandman Slim, #10) by Richard Kadrey. I don't know why I like these books, but something appeals to me. They are easy reads but not stellar content. However I am on book 10 out of 12 so I will probably continue the series.

I finished my last two books and enjoyed both.

I've now started The Last Camel Died At Noon by Elizabeth Peters. It's the sixth book in the Amelia Peabody series.

Catfish_Fan, I understand the appeal of light, easy, fun reads. They are "feel good" reads.

nossmf, good luck on your second book!

The Guide by Peter Heller. This one is a sequel to The River and is a psychological thriller.