Weekly Reading Thread - Week of December 7

I finished Leaving Time and I really liked it. I have liked all her books so no surprise. Now I am reading Stephen King's Revival

Leaving Time is on my to-read list. But I won't get to it until after the first of the year.

I have so little reading time right now. Ugh!!!

I finished In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. It was well-written. One of the most interesting aspects to me was the controversy about the death penalty even in 1960!! I gave it 3/5 stars.

Lisa

Oh yeah - the book is called When I Found You.

I finished The Bean treesby Barbara Kingsolver. She is an excellent author and this book did not disappoint.

Now I am on to reading the last 3 books in the Miss Julia series by Ann B. Ross. They are light, funny, and just an easy, good read!!

I finished All The Light We Cannot See. I have not idea why but it took me FOREVER to read. I liked the book but I think it lost something since it took me three weeks to read it. I did enjoy the story overall.

After having a book that took me forever to read I wanted something that would probably be quicker. Also, I am doing a challenge on Goodreads and needed a book that is by a debut author in 2014. So I started a book called, That Time I Joined the Circus by JJ Howard. It is about a girl who lives with her dad and when he dies she is forced to look for her mom who ran off to join a circus. Well, early on I will say I think it will be a quick read, but after reading a book that was so beautifully written a less well written book really suffers. I will finish it but I am not expecting to come back next week to say it is the best book I read this year.

I think Leaving Time will be next on my list. Has anyone read the short story Picoult put out in conjunction with this book? I am wondering if I should read it before I read the book.

I'm almost done with The Big Book of Christmas Mysteries. This has been a great "before bed" book, where I can just read a story or two at a time.

I attempted a YA book called Jackaby, but I need to just accept that YA fiction is not my cup of tea. This one was about a Sherlock Holmes-type protagonist and his young female assistant--with some paranormal stuff--it was recommended on one of those end-of-the-year lists (Book Riot) but nope, not my thing.

I am slowly reading another book called Big History, which is an overview of history from the Big Bang to the present day. It's another one I have to read in small bits, but I am enjoying it. My brother, who is a chemist, recommended it.

Finished reading The Paris Wife by Paula McLain. It's historical fiction about Ernest Hemingway's 1st wife Hadley. It's mostly set in Paris in the 1920's and it was fascinating to read about their lifestyle and literary friends. Hemingway seemed like a giant a$$hole, but he had an overbearing mother, dumped by his first love, and definite PTSD while serving in WWI. There was a lot of craziness in their 5 or 6 years of marriage.

paigepea I've only read House Rules by Jodi Picoult and was NOT a fan of how she portrayed Aspergers. Probably more annoyed by how the mother chose to parent her child. I haven't read any others.

Up next is Night Shift by Stephen King, then Tenth of December by George Saunders.

I'm reading Virals by Kathy Reichs. So far, so good. It is the first book in a series. I didn't realize this author also wrote the books that the TV series Bones is based on either.

Melissa

This week I listened to The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd.
This one has already been talked about multiple times, so I won’t go over it much…just that it’s the story of two women, one black and one white in the South at the start of the 1800s. Much of the story is based in fact and Sarah Grimke and her family were all real. Beautifully written and a story that will stay with me for a long time
The narration of this was brilliant; I think I got more out of listening than I would have reading. Jenna Lamia who narrates the character of Sarah gave her an empathy and a softness...I think if I had “read’ these words she would have come across as harder and a bit preachy in my head, but the narration made me appreciate her struggles and her motivations.
5 stars from me.

Currently half way through Five Days Left by Julie Lawson Timmer.
Two main characters, Mara a woman with a terminal illness who decides it’s her time to die (not a spoiler – the book starts with this) and a Scott who has been looking after a young boy when his mother goes to jail for a year, but now she’s out and he’s going back to live with her. Both have 5 days left to spend with the ones they love before they say goodbye.
So far this reminds me of Me Before You by JoJo Moyes and like that book I think how the illness and its effects on the person have been sensitively handled and comes across as genuine and not just as a deliberate attempt at a ‘tear jerker’. I’m definitely caught up with both of these characters so far.

Goodreads also released its “Reader’s Choice – best books of 2014” list.
Of all the categories I’ve only read 3 of the books voted as ‘best’ (Landline / All The Light / We Were Liars).
I plan to read The Martian and The Romanov Sisters, but that’s all from the other category winners.
I think the majority of people simply vote for the book they read rather than having read multiple books in the category and voting for the best.
Still it's always an interesting list and I always add several new books to my 'to read' list from it.

I read another of Stuart MacBride's Logan MacCrea series -- Shatter the Bones. The publisher's blurb at the back cracked me up -- Bloody. Brilliant. MacBride. I just love these books, although I'm sure they're not everyone's cup of tea. Gruesome doesn't even begin to describe them. How he manages to couple that with a wicked sense of humor is just brilliant.

I finished three books this week.

Gray Mountain by John Grisham.  I generally like Grisham's writing, but I didn't like this one - it is definitely my least favorite Grisham book. The characters all felt like caricatures - the poor, helpless Appalachians, the noble Appalachian lawyers, the too busy New Yorkers. The story was too "preachy" and I happen to agree with his stance. 2/5

Finn by JonClinch.  I started this one several years ago and gave up on it.  I happened upon it again while browsing the audio books at the library and decided to give it another try.  I'm glad I did - I thoroughly enjoyed it.  It's the story of Huck Finn's father.  Excellent book and the audio had an excellent narrator.  5/5

The Book of Strange New Things by Michel Faber.  Peter is a Christian missionary who is sent to a far off planet; his wife stays on earth where things are falling apart.  It's the story of Peter's relationship with the aliens and with his wife.  I really liked this one.  5/5

I read a Debbie Macomber book mentioned on here called Mr. Miracle. It was horrid. I usually like her books as a quick happy read but this had no real plot, was boring and the ending sucked. I turned the page expecting a new chapter and the book was over. A total waste of an hour and a half of my life 0/5.

I then read another book mentioned here. It was about a man sent to a prison located at a former hospital for polio patients. Many patients remained at the site. It was a really good book that I would highly recommend. 4.5/5.

Right now I'm reading the murder mystery based in NYC The Last Taxi Ride: A Ranjit Singh Novel by A. X. Ahmad and loving it!

I read The Brief History of the Dead several years ago.  I still think about it occasionally.