What are you reading currently?

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  • Catfish_Fan
    Catfish_Fan Posts: 514 Member
    Allies by Alan Gratz
  • Catfish_Fan
    Catfish_Fan Posts: 514 Member
    Divided in Death (#18) by JD Robb
  • FitMary202
    FitMary202 Posts: 1,472 Member
    The Two Hearts of Kwasi Boachi by Arthur Japin
  • Catfish_Fan
    Catfish_Fan Posts: 514 Member
    Boy's Life by Robert R. McCammon
  • Catfish_Fan
    Catfish_Fan Posts: 514 Member
    Five stars for Boy's Life by Robert R. McCammon for me. I finished it this afternoon, narrated by George Newbern. It is a great coming-of-age story with fantasy elements.

    I'm now reading Ban This Book by Alan Gratz, a book that is in the news because a Florida school district banned it. I'm with the Banned and oppose censorship.

    Alan Gratz said about the ban, "The big theme of 'Ban This Book' is that nobody has a right to tell you what book you can or cannot read, except your parents," he said. "If the book is removed, then I can't let my daughter read that book — you've already chosen for me that my kid can't read it."
  • FitMary202
    FitMary202 Posts: 1,472 Member
    I'm going to have to get Ban This Book. Sounds interesting!

    I finally got started on Help Wanted by Adelle Waldman. Needed the W for my alphabetical list...
  • Catfish_Fan
    Catfish_Fan Posts: 514 Member
    edited June 22
    I read Child 44, a thriller by Tom Rob Smith, and Farewell Summer (sequel to Dandelion Wine) by Ray Bradbury, now reading: Besieged (Iron Druid Chronicle #9) by Kevin Hearne
  • Catfish_Fan
    Catfish_Fan Posts: 514 Member
    Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
  • PinUpGirlAtHeart
    PinUpGirlAtHeart Posts: 138 Member
    @Catfish_Fan It was a library book. I think I was on my last renewal at the time. I am waiting for the library to get the next book Winter Lost by Patricia Briggs that just came out last week. I just finished Proven Guilty by Jim Butcher and am starting the next book of that series called White Night. Also am reading two manga series. One is called The Way of the Househusband and the other is called One Piece.
  • Catfish_Fan
    Catfish_Fan Posts: 514 Member
    Spencer's Mountain by Earl Hamner Jr. was a novel that was the basis for the television show The Waltons. I have been watching the show on FreeVee and I recently finished season 4, a large time sink as each season is about 25 episodes long. Spencer's Mountain was good, and is followed by a Christmas story called The Homecoming which went back in the storyline to 1933. I finished Spencer's Mountain tonight and probably will finish The Homecoming as well (it is more of a novella).
  • FitMary202
    FitMary202 Posts: 1,472 Member
    Blasting through The Librarianist. So different than what I expected, but in for a penny, in for a pound...
  • FitMary202
    FitMary202 Posts: 1,472 Member
    edited June 27
    Can't understand why The Librarianist got published? The author is talented, but too quirky for prime time and the book is patched together out of bits and pieces that don't make a coherent whole. Now I've started Ban this Book by Alan Gratz. Looks like it will be a quick, satisfying read.
  • Catfish_Fan
    Catfish_Fan Posts: 514 Member
    FitMary202 wrote: »
    Can't understand why The Librarianist got published? The author is talented, but too quirky for prime time and the book is patched together out of bits and pieces that don't make a coherent whole. Now I've started Ban this Book by Alan Gratz. Looks like it will be a quick, satisfying read.

    Glad to read the review. I will bump the book down or off my giant list.

    I'm blasting through book 3 of The Grail Quest by Bernard Cornwell, Heretic. It's historical fiction about the Hundred Years' War.
  • FitMary202
    FitMary202 Posts: 1,472 Member
    @Catfish_Fan I really enjoyed Ban this Book! Spunky young heroine, righteous cause, all's well that ends well. Glad you mentioned it.
  • Catfish_Fan
    Catfish_Fan Posts: 514 Member
    I finished my book and get to pick a new one! Happy Day!
  • PinUpGirlAtHeart
    PinUpGirlAtHeart Posts: 138 Member
    In the middle of volume 5 of The Way of the Househusband manga series, Volume 7 of the One Piece manga series, White Night by Jim Butcher (book #9 of The Dresden Files series), and Winter Lost by Patricia Briggs (book #14 of the Mercy Thompson series). 😅
  • Catfish_Fan
    Catfish_Fan Posts: 514 Member
    I didn't like the book Last Shot: A Han and Lando Story (Star Wars) by Daniel Jose Older very well. I did like the movie novelization of Solo by Mur Lafferty quite a bit though. Movie tie in books are very hit or miss.

    In between I read (or rather listened to) The Great Courses series installment of Great American Bestsellers: Books that Shaped America by Professor Peter Conn. These were a series of college lectures exploring the topic. It was very informative, and I rated it 5 stars. Only the last lecture dealt with recent bestsellers such as John Grisham, Danielle Steele, Stephen King, and the like, the other lectures were about historical bestsellers and I have added several of them to my TBR list, such as The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck.
  • Catfish_Fan
    Catfish_Fan Posts: 514 Member
    1356 by Bernard Cornwell.
  • Btrflydog
    Btrflydog Posts: 1,477 Member
    I finally picked up the book I had been reading when I took an impromptu break from reading back in May. Finished it last night. Mystic Tea by Rea Nolan Martin. I really did enjoy it -it was not the reason I took my little break. Started watching some shows on TV and just found couldn't stay awake long at night. I started going back to the gym beginning of May. Going 3 days a week, and at first it just really made me want to take more naps. Been doing it long enough now that I finally feel like I have more energy.

    So next up It Ends With Us - Collen Hoover. Has been on my TBR for quite a while.
  • Catfish_Fan
    Catfish_Fan Posts: 514 Member
    I have been alternating between listening to my audiobooks and watching/listening to The Waltons on FreeVee over Bluetooth headphones during my exercising. I've been doing great, last week I averaged 11,500 steps per day for the entire week, higher than I ever had done before. I've gone from 211 pounds to 205.1 in the past few weeks, I am trying to get to 199.9 so I can say I am in Onederland by the time I get to my physical exam in August. I won't be that weight in the doctor's office because of clothes, it is too much to ask to get about 5 pounds below that weight by that date. I have a ways to go before I am no longer considered "obese" at 5 foot 8 inches tall.

    However, even after walking for many weeks now almost every day, I am having issues with my feet. I have a turned foot on my right, a "duck foot", it is actually a turned leg at my hip from birth. It has contributed to my lifelong weight issues, as I can't run, can't play sports, etc. Now I am having trouble on that foot with blisters. They are covered in blister bandages, and I have new shoes too, but I'm having trouble with the toe box being too narrow on these New Balance shoes, they changed them. I've been shopping online for different new shoes and found that New Balance has discontinued all the models that I normally purchase, they are only selling the ones that are pinching me toes or very expensive models. I find that shoes last about 6 months for me before I wear a hole in the insole on the right foot where my weight pushes on my big toe, so I don't want to pay around $400 a year for 2 pair of shoes! I'm looking and looking at different models and now different brands, reading reviews, etc. I don't know why New Balance needed to redesign all their inexpensive shoes and discontinue most of them? Maybe the less expensive cross trainers in size E would fit better, I have yet to try that?

    Today I used the stationary bike for 30 minutes (at 17 mph, with resistance, it wasn't too hard but almost all cardio range heartbeat according to Fitbit), and I got 4000 steps which is the minimum I will accept in a day. Shaking things up with exercise will help me avoid plateau, so it is not all bad. Eventually the blisters will heal and I will be back at walking.

    That's a long explanation incorporating weight loss (the goal of this site) with reading. I'm enjoying 1356 by Bernard Cornwell.
  • Btrflydog
    Btrflydog Posts: 1,477 Member
    Thanks for sharing all that and great job on losing weight. I too am gearing towards the number on the scale for my next doctor's visit the beginning of November. If I can lose another 12 pounds or so I will only be overweight and not obese. As for your search for well-fitting affordable shoes. Last year I could barely go on a walk because of my Achillies heal hurting so much. I got a pair of Vionics. They can be expensive. Bought a second pair at Amazon. Sometimes the Vionics site has clearance or coupons. And Amazon Prime days are just around the corner - try watching for deals there.

    Glad to hear you are enjoying the book.
  • Catfish_Fan
    Catfish_Fan Posts: 514 Member
    I'm reading the second book in the MaddAddam trilogy by Margaret Atwood, The Year of the Flood. In my workout time I am enjoying the YA books by Alan Gratz. They are easy reads and easily listened to on audiobook format while I put in my steps. Something Rotten was good, Ground Zero was very good, and I'm into Two Degrees today.

    My shoe solution was the New Balance model I have been wearing in size W, or 2E. I never knew that size existed, I have only ever seen 4E or D widths in stores. Amazon stocked them and my size was only $57. They fit great! I'm averaging 11,000 steps per day this week.
  • FitMary202
    FitMary202 Posts: 1,472 Member
    @Catfish_Fan That's an inspiring story, especially in light of the problems finding a decent fit in shoes! Well done. Good luck reaching Onederland! I'm sure you've got that in you by August!!

    I finished No Live Files Remain by Andras Forgach by the dissident writer who learned that his parents were both informers in Soviet Hungary. It was a tortured story, of course, so in contrast The Ministry of Time: A Novel by Kaliane Bradley has been a real blast to read...

    Good to be home after time away visiting family in cool Colorado!
  • Btrflydog
    Btrflydog Posts: 1,477 Member
    @Catfish_Fan - Glad you got your shoes!

    Finished It Ends With Us - Colleen Hoover 4 *

    Next up Coraline - Neil Gaiman
  • Btrflydog
    Btrflydog Posts: 1,477 Member
    Finished - Coraline - Neil Gaiman 4 stars on Goodreads

    Rereading The Firm by John Grisham next before I read the sequel. I first read it back in my late teens early 20's. Will see if I enjoy it as much as I did then.
  • Catfish_Fan
    Catfish_Fan Posts: 514 Member
    I read Margaret Atwood's second book in the MaddAddam trilogy The Year of the Flood and found the music and singing to be just weird. The whole book had a strange feel to me, but the singing was over the top. I really liked book one, Oryx and Crake.

    Then I read the Kwame Alexander trilogy The Crossover including The Crossover, Booked, and Rebound and liked that quite well for the age group it was aimed at. As an adult I generally don't read a lot of middle grade books but these were short and I finished them all in a day.

    I'm currently finishing The Iron Druid Chronicles with Scourged by Kevin Hearne. I am ready for this series to end, but I have read this far so I will read book 10. That talking dog stuff is not fun anymore.
  • FitMary202
    FitMary202 Posts: 1,472 Member
    Finished The Ministry of Time, which was fun, though she went off the rails toward the end. I absolutely LOVED This is Happiness by Niall Williams and will look for another book by him at the library very soon. Also reading Slow Noodles by Chantha Nguon and about to start Stoner by John Williams.
  • FitMary202
    FitMary202 Posts: 1,472 Member
    Finished Stoner, working on Slow Noodles, and getting ready to find another Williams novel and Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow for a Z author.
  • Catfish_Fan
    Catfish_Fan Posts: 514 Member
    I'm reading a book off the list I created from the Great Courses lecture series I listened to about Great American Bestsellers. I picked a classic, Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. I have never even heard a summary of the story before I had listened to that lecture.
  • FitMary202
    FitMary202 Posts: 1,472 Member
    Finished Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow so I'm looking for another book. I got several from the library, including The History of Rain by Niall Williams, so I hope there will be another winner there. Summer is wonderful!