The Great Carpezio
Pearl Clutcher
Something profound goes here.
Posts: 2,920 
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Post by The Great Carpezio on Mar 21, 2016 1:54:50 GMT
Hello readers!
I'm feeling like I'm not much of a reader lately. I do read almost every day, but we've just been running so much.
What did you read this week?
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Post by RobbyKay on Mar 21, 2016 2:45:56 GMT
Hey Readers!
I finished up Lisa Lutz' The Passenger - think Izzy Spellman turns to the darkside. It was a good read, and intense in places, but it was also quite far-fetched.
For a palate cleanser, I read Cheryl Strayed's Brave Enough. It's just a book of quotes for some of her publications. It was a nice confidence booster and a quick blow-through book. It would make a nice gist for a Cheryl Strayed fan, or for a non-reader who really liked the movie Wild, but just wouldn't ever read the book.
I'm currently cruising to the end of Boris Fishman's newest title, Don't Let My Baby Do Rodeo. It's about an immigrant couple from New Jersey who adopt a baby born in Montana. As the birth parents drop off the baby at the adoptive parents' home, the mothers have a discussion, and the birth mom makes the new mom promise to not let her baby do rodeo. Eight years later, the boy is intensely drawn to nature, and his city-slicker parents make a journey to Montana to find out why. It explores themes including nature vs. nurture, adoption, and immigrant culture. So far, it's pretty good.
Next up is We love You, Charlie Freeman, about a family who adopt a chimpanzee as part of a science experiment. It's by Kaitlyn Greenidge, and I'm looking forward to it.
Happy reading!
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Deleted
Posts: 0
May 3, 2024 12:49:59 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Mar 21, 2016 3:02:59 GMT
I'm about 1/4 way thru Pastal Orphans by Gemma Liviero - I'm very intrigued on where it's going
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Post by PolarGreen12 on Mar 21, 2016 3:07:30 GMT
I just started The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker. Only about 60 pages in and it's got me. Really different premise. It's the authors first book, hope she writes more.
Overview
Chava is a golem, a creature made of clay, brought to life by a strange man who dabbles in dark Kabbalistic magic. Ahmad is a jinni, a being of fire, born in the ancient Syrian Desert. Trapped in an old copper flask by a Bedouin wizard centuries ago, he is released accidentally by a tinsmith in a Lower Manhattan shop.
Struggling to make their way in 1899 New York, the Golem and the Jinni try to fit in with their immigrant neighbors while masking their true selves. Meeting by chance, they become unlikely friends whose tenuous attachment challenges their opposing natures, until the night a terrifying incident drives them back into their separate worlds. But a powerful menace will soon bring the Golem and the Jinni together again, threatening their existence and forcing them to make a fateful choice.
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Post by annabella on Mar 21, 2016 3:30:05 GMT
PolarGreen12 that sounds interesting! I've added it to my to read list. I'm reading two books, one fiction and one a beauty guide. Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple Your Beauty Mark: The Ultimate Guide to Eccentric Glamour by Dita Von TeeseDon't know much about Dita, but her book is huge! It's a 400 page coffee table sized book. She discusses the history of beauty and her secrets - did you know she does her own hair and makeup.
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marianne
Pearl Clutcher
Not my circus, not my monkeys. . . My monkeys fly!
Posts: 4,176
Location: right smack dab in the middle of SC
Site Supporter
Jun 25, 2014 21:08:26 GMT
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Post by marianne on Mar 21, 2016 3:31:19 GMT
Haven't got much reading time in this week. I'm still into Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania by Erik Larson. I'm about half-way through and enjoying it very much. Fascinating anecdotal reading about what life was like for the passengers and crew of both the Lusitania and the German submarine that sank it.
I just started 24 Hours, a thriller by Greg Iles. I had to do the software update on my Kindle overnight so I did a quick random pick from the library and downloaded to my Fire Kindle so I'd have something to read last night! lol
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Post by hollymolly on Mar 21, 2016 3:45:15 GMT
Hi Readers!
I'm finally reading again. I think I've learned my lesson about trying to make myself finish books that make reading a chore. I finally skimmed enough of the two Jack Finney books (Time After Time and Time and Again) to get them off my nightstand and into my giveaway box.
I also finished The Actor and the Housewife by Shannon Hale. It's about a Utah housewife and mother of three who, while big pregnant with #4, sells a screenplay, goes to Hollywood for a meeting, and meets an actor who just happens to be her biggest celebrity crush. They hit it off and become best friends. Part 1 was actually a little boring, where it was just trying to give the reader a feel for the friendship and lay the groundwork for what was to come. It got much better in parts 2 and 3, as their separate lives, as well as their friendship, grow and change. It was very predictable in places, but then very unexpected in others. I'm torn about the ending. Without spoiling anything, it was probably the right ending, but I didn't like it. I don't know what I wanted, but it felt a little unsatisfying. All in all, it was an ok book. Not necessarily one I would recommend, but better than I thought it was going to be.
Last night I started I Never Fancied Him Anyway by Claudia Carroll. It's set in Dublin, about a 20-something psychic who is unlucky in love because of her ability. She can see the future break-up so always ends things before it happens. I'm not very far in, but I like the characters so far and it is really holding my attention. I'm home this week, so hoping to get a lot more reading done.
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Post by AussieMeg on Mar 21, 2016 4:19:53 GMT
I just today finished reading “The Woman Who Stole My Life” by Marian Keyes. I so love her books. They are easy to read and always hold my attention, I don’t want to put them down. Usually it would take me weeks to finish a book, but it’s only taken me one week. I have been waking up half an hour earlier every morning so I can read for a while before getting up for work.
I haven’t decided what to start on next. It might be the second Robert Galbraith / JK Rowling novel, The Silkworm. Or I might read another John Rebus novel by Ian Rankin, I haven’t read one of his for ages and I have quite a few to go.
Some other choices waiting on my Kindle for me (feel free to offer critiques of any of these):
Never Saw it Coming – Linwood Barclay
Leaving Time – Jodi Picoult (I’m not a huge fan so I doubt I’ll read this one until I’m desperate)
The Girl with No Past – Kathryn Croft
Silent Scream (1st novel in the Kim Stone series) - Angela Marsons
My FIL has suggested that I try P D James novels. He has recently started reading them all, in order. The first one is called Cover Her Face and it was written in 1962!
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finaledition
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,896
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Post by finaledition on Mar 21, 2016 4:40:33 GMT
I finished The Invisible Bridge. It was about the lives of 3 Jewish Hungarian brothers during WWII, mainly focusing on the middle brother who is an architecture student in Paris. I've enjoyed many historical fiction pieces during this time period and while I did enjoy the book it probably doesn't rank among my favorites.
Then I started Beryl Markham's memoir West With the Night. I'm listening to this right on the tails of Circling the Sun and was really looking forward to it. I'm only about 1/2 way through. It is beautiful-the language is quite lyrical, the kind you have to pause and reflect what you read. But as far as the story, I'm glad I had some background info. It goes into great depth about incidents, but does not necessarily connect them. I will finish it, but I don't think it will rank above Circling the Sun for me.
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Post by pjaye on Mar 21, 2016 4:44:23 GMT
One big disappointment for me this week  The Bronze Horseman by Paullina Simons. Ugh I can't say enough bad things about this! basically set in Russia in the early 1940s the two main characters are Tatiana and Alexander. Tatiana is a very naïve 15yo and Alexander is an older soldier in the Red Army she meets one day on the bus. Except he already knows her family because...he is dating her sister Dasha. It gets worse from there, as they sneak around behind her sister's back, the first half of the book is a detailed description of food rations and everyone slowly starving to death and dropping dead in the street or wherever they happen to be at the time. The second half is Tatiana and Alexander arguing and having sex. Unrealistic sex at that. Her first sexual experience and Tatiana goes from "oh it's so big it will never fit" and blushing and hiding her eyes and five minutes later she's all "let me give you a blow job and you can cum in my mouth" This made me contemplate if the author was actually a woman. These are two of the most unlikeable, self-centred, misogynistic fictional characters ever to survive a war. I said to a friend the other day, "if these two don't get bombed soon, I'm going to build a fictional time machine and go and kill them myself". Not one I would ever recommend, and there's another two books after this that I will never read. I gave it one star.
Luckily my next selection is helping to erase the bad memories  I am almost finished with Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier and I'm really enjoying this...not sure how I missed it (and the movie) all of these years. There's a bit of a 'twist' to the story that caught me completely by surprise (that's how I know I didn't see the movie either, because I would have remembered that). For those who don't know the story - set in Cornwall in the UK, around the 1930s, on impulse a dashing widower marries a young woman he meets while she is working as a companion to an older lady. He takes her back to live in his large country estate "Manderley". There she has trouble adjusting to her new life because his late wife, Rebecca was so beautiful and well loved by everyone and she feels inferior. Dark and a bit creepy, a true 'gothic' novel, with some lighter moments. My favourite line is "You're not starting an infant are you?"...I'm planning to use that in the future if I think someone is pregnant I've got about 30% left but I think this will be a 5 star listen for me, I'm loving it.
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Post by pjaye on Mar 21, 2016 4:56:29 GMT
just started The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker. Only about 60 pages in and it's got me. Really different premise I loved The Golem and the Jinni...it was a 5 star listen for me. I hope you enjoy it just as much. |
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gottapeanow
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,742
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Post by gottapeanow on Mar 21, 2016 5:58:34 GMT
pjaye, I just read Rebecca in the past year or two as well. That twist - oh my. And the ending. Oh my. No spoilers from me!  I rated it 4/5 stars. I read two this week. First up, The Storied Life of A.J. Firkey, which has been commented on and reviewed her several times. 4/5 stars from me. I also reviewed a book that I edited, Following the Rabbi by Daniel Skillman. Basically, it's about what it took to be a rabbi, the goal of Jesus and what our goal should be as Christians. I truly loved this. And I *am admittedly biased. If you want something quick and thought-provoking to read this Easter week, check out this gem. 5/5 stars. I am officially 2/3 of the way through with Gone with the Wind. It is getting more interesting to me the longer I read.  Even so, I am taking a little break to read another book for a few days. Lisa
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Post by chrissypie on Mar 21, 2016 9:39:29 GMT
Luckily my next selection is helping to erase the bad memories I am almost finished with Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier and I'm really enjoying this...not sure how I missed it (and the movie) all of these years. There's a bit of a 'twist' to the story that caught me completely by surprise (that's how I know I didn't see the movie either, because I would have remembered that). For those who don't know the story - set in Cornwall in the UK, around the 1930s, on impulse a dashing widower marries a young woman he meets while she is working as a companion to an older lady. He takes her back to live in his large country estate "Manderley". There she has trouble adjusting to her new life because his late wife, Rebecca was so beautiful and well loved by everyone and she feels inferior. Dark and a bit creepy, a true 'gothic' novel, with some lighter moments. My favourite line is "You're not starting an infant are you?"...I'm planning to use that in the future if I think someone is pregnant I've got about 30% left but I think this will be a 5 star listen for me, I'm loving it.
Oh I loved Rebecca! It was one of my first "big people" books, when I was about 15 or 16. I would not recommend the 'sequel', though! Mrs deWinter is not by the same author (written in the 90s!) and is mind-numbingly boring! After a long reading drought (broken by a desperate trip to the library when I realised that not reading was putting quite a downer on my overall mood!) I am currently reading JoJo Moyes' The One Plus One. Meh, it's nice to be back in a book, but it's nothing special. AussieMeg, I also borrowed Leaving Time, but I'm not sure if I'll even bother to read it! Like you, depends if something better comes along. After way too many Piccoults, I'm finding her a bit formulaic. |
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tuesdaysgone
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,832
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Post by tuesdaysgone on Mar 21, 2016 10:22:57 GMT
Just one for me this week. I read A God in the Ruins which follows up the Kate Atkinson book I read last week. The premise is different in this novel, but you still get the same panoramic view of the character's life thru flashbacks. While Life after Life focused on the early 20th century, this novel is set post WWII and into the later part of the century. It was easy to fall into this book because the same characters I loved in the previous book were back. It's interesting because now you are seeing most of them in a new perspective.
Excellent story telling!
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Post by AussieMeg on Mar 21, 2016 10:48:23 GMT
After way too many Piccoults, I'm finding her a bit formulaic. Yes, I came to that conclusion after reading only 2 of her books!  One big disappointment for me this week  The Bronze Horseman by Paullina Simons. Ugh I can't say enough bad things about this! My Aunty lent me her copy of this book, it is one of her favorites. It took me about 2 years to read past the first page. I tried again only because a friend of mine RAVED about it, said it was the best book she'd ever read, and she couldn't wait to read the next one. I think I got through the first chapter or 2, then had to give up. I hated all the characters. |
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Deleted
Posts: 0
May 3, 2024 12:49:59 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Mar 21, 2016 11:35:52 GMT
I read 4 this week that I really enjoyed:
Obession falls by Christina Dodd. I started this one on cd in my car but couldn't stand waiting so long to finish and read it all the same day. The reader is really good if you have the patience to listen.
Another easy read: The readers of broken wheel recommend. katarina bivald
Her 2ND book: The Golden-Son- Shilpi-Somaya Gowda ....loved both of them
Confess. Colleen Hoover. Really, really liked. Going to get some more of hers.
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desertgirl
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,646
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Post by desertgirl on Mar 21, 2016 12:49:14 GMT
I, too, loved The Golem and the Jinni, PolarGreen12 . I have given it as a gift to many friends. Glad someone else likes it! Reading Ruth Reichl's newest book, my kitchen year, about her year following the demise of Gourmet magazine. A poem, a recipe, and a vignette about why she was making that recipe at that time in her life. It's true story plus poetry plus food - my kind of book. |
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purplebee
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,726
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Post by purplebee on Mar 21, 2016 12:57:00 GMT
Another who read The Storied Life of AJ Fikry. Quick read, kinda predictable, but I enjoyed it.
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pudgygroundhog
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,643
Location: The Grand Canyon
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Post by pudgygroundhog on Mar 21, 2016 13:16:54 GMT
I read:
When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi. 5/5 stars. Beautiful read by a young neurosurgeon diagnosed with cancer, contemplating what it means to live and die.
Vanessa and Her Sister by Priya Parmar. 4/5 stars. I won this one in a Goodreads Giveaway. Historical fiction about Vanessa Stephen Bell, the painter, and her sister Virginia Woolf. I did not know much about these women or the Bloomsbury group and it was interesting (and drama filled!).
One Good Turn by Kate Atkinson. 4/5 stars. This is the second Jackson Brodie book and I think these lean more towards novel than mystery. It was similar to the first book in structure (range of characters and how their paths cross) and I liked this one too.
Currently reading What is Not Yours is Not Yours by Helen Oyeyemi. On deck: Dreamland (been saying that for awhile, need to get to this one!), Refund, My Name is Lucy Barton, and Sisi:Empress of her Own (I really enjoyed the Accidental Empress by Allison Pataki and was so happy to see a follow up!).
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Post by GamGam on Mar 21, 2016 14:05:31 GMT
Thanks to a suggestion on another thread last week about recent good reads, I started the Magic Strings of Frankie Presto by Mitch Albom, and am really enjoying it! The protagonist is a fictioinal guitarist whose life intersects with a lot of well known musical artists. Told from the perspective of Music, there's a mystical element to the writing that is very captivating.
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Post by kellybelly77 on Mar 21, 2016 14:37:51 GMT
Due to all my work traveling as of late I only managed to get some reading in on the plane. I only read 2 books in like 3 or 4 weeks which throws me off my pace!!
Call The Midwife by Jennifer Worth. Story of a young training midwife in the 50's in London. I actually listened to this one on the place and in shuttles, etc. Because I listened I probably wasn't paying full attention to the story but I did enjoy it. Not enough that I want to read the others in this trilogy. But again, I wasn't paying full attention so maybe that's not fair on my part!
The Last Girl by Joe Hart. I actually got this book as part of the Kindle First program. Amazon Prime members get one free book a month a few weeks before it is actually released to the public. They post several books and you just pick one. I actually really liked this book, but it was creepy as heck! It tells the story of a "disease" that reduces the population of baby girls, from a birth rate of 50% to 1%. Almost all babies being born as males so females in child bearing years are worth a hefty amount. But the Govt has kidnapped many of them and is holding them in a medical facility in the Pacific Northwest region and trying to impregnate them so that they can replenish the supply of girls. War breaks out against the Govt and the girls are held and when 21 they are impregnated. If they are pregnant with boys the babies are aborted and they try again. Very dystopian. It was a great story but I just wonder how do people dream this stuff up!!
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Post by kellybelly77 on Mar 21, 2016 14:41:13 GMT
Also, does anyone participate in Kindle Unlimited? I learned about it through the Kindle First program. Come to find out, I have been enrolled and paying for it for the last year. I am not sure how that happened because I know I would have remembered doing it!! But the charge goes to my credit card with all my other Amazon charges so I just never knew it was there.
At any rate, you pay $10 a month and there are a ton of books available. Lots that were on my list that I wanted to read but didn't want to have to buy and weren't available at my library in e reader format. So I started with one a few days ago. I'm loving this!! Well worth $10 a month! I don't have a Kindle but I use the app. The books do go to my dd's Kindle so I do have to be a little careful on what I download!!!
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Post by debmast on Mar 21, 2016 14:41:45 GMT
I was on Spring Break this past week so got several books read.
The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend ~ this was a slow start for me, but I ended up liking it a lot!
The Quality of Silence ~ this one was okay. Some of the storyline seemed a bit far fetched
I Didn't Come Here to Make Friends ~ someone posted about this on the Bachelor thread, as it is written by a former Bachelor contestant (? right word?). It definitely gave a lot of insight on what we do NOT see on the Bachelor
Beautiful Redemption and Beautiful Sacrifice ~ books 2 and 3 of the Maddox Brothers Series. Definitely chick-lit but good for Spring Break reading!
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Post by kckckc on Mar 21, 2016 19:52:40 GMT
I finished 4 books in the last couple of weeks.
Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff. Basically the story of a long marriage, the first half of the books is told from the husband's point of view, the second half from the wife's point of view. This one received a lot of critical acclaim. I thought it was just okay.
On My Own by Diane Rehm. Rehm is a radio host on NPR. This is her story of her life after her husband became severely disabled with Parkinson's and basically killed himself by refusing all food/drink. It is a story of her grief, her fears and her joys. She has now made a commitment to legalizing physician assisted suicide in all states. This was a really short book and even at that it was a little repetitive, but I am glad I read it.
Red Rising and Golden Son by Pierce Brown. These are the first two books in the Red Rising trilogy. I reread these (which is something I don't often do) before starting the third book Morning Star which was recently published. I really have enjoyed these.
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Mystie
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,299
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Post by Mystie on Mar 21, 2016 20:15:05 GMT
One big disappointment for me this week The Bronze Horseman by Paullina Simons. Ugh I can't say enough bad things about this! basically set in Russia in the early 1940s the two main characters are Tatiana and Alexander. Tatiana is a very naïve 15yo and Alexander is an older soldier in the Red Army she meets one day on the bus. Except he already knows her family because...he is dating her sister Dasha. It gets worse from there, as they sneak around behind her sister's back, the first half of the book is a detailed description of food rations and everyone slowly starving to death and dropping dead in the street or wherever they happen to be at the time. The second half is Tatiana and Alexander arguing and having sex. Unrealistic sex at that. Her first sexual experience and Tatiana goes from "oh it's so big it will never fit" and blushing and hiding her eyes and five minutes later she's all "let me give you a blow job and you can cum in my mouth" This made me contemplate if the author was actually a woman. These are two of the most unlikeable, self-centred, misogynistic fictional characters ever to survive a war. I said to a friend the other day, "if these two don't get bombed soon, I'm going to build a fictional time machine and go and kill them myself". Not one I would ever recommend, and there's another two books after this that I will never read. I gave it one star.
Luckily my next selection is helping to erase the bad memories I am almost finished with Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier and I'm really enjoying this...not sure how I missed it (and the movie) all of these years. There's a bit of a 'twist' to the story that caught me completely by surprise (that's how I know I didn't see the movie either, because I would have remembered that). For those who don't know the story - set in Cornwall in the UK, around the 1930s, on impulse a dashing widower marries a young woman he meets while she is working as a companion to an older lady. He takes her back to live in his large country estate "Manderley". There she has trouble adjusting to her new life because his late wife, Rebecca was so beautiful and well loved by everyone and she feels inferior. Dark and a bit creepy, a true 'gothic' novel, with some lighter moments. My favourite line is "You're not starting an infant are you?"...I'm planning to use that in the future if I think someone is pregnant I've got about 30% left but I think this will be a 5 star listen for me, I'm loving it.
Oh, you always make me laugh with your reviews! I did not like The Bronze Horseman either, and I thought I was the only person who didn't! It was long enough ago that I don't remember the specifics, but I definitely remember hating the main characters! And Rebecca is one of my very favorite books, it's just so beautifully written. Enjoy! |
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Post by stine on Mar 21, 2016 21:00:49 GMT
I of course just put 5 on hold at my library and only read 2 so my pile grows even bigger! After reading The Revenant last week which I really enjoyed I went with fluff for this week. I read The Royal We which is loosely based on William and Kate but I don't follow them much so for me it was just a cute story. And I forced myself to finish The Choice by Nicholas Sparks-ugh, I had enough of the syrupy writing 2 chapters in.
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Post by cadoodlebug on Mar 25, 2016 18:32:30 GMT
I finished All the Light We Cannot See yesterday. After seeing it at number one on the Best Seller's List for so long, I decided I needed to read it. Honestly, for me, it was like seeing a movie that everyone in the world has raved about and when you finally see it, you are slightly disappointed. I enjoyed it well enough but didn't love it. For historical fiction I enjoyed The Nightingale and The Auschwitz Escape a lot more. Hopefully not loving this book won't get me banned from these weekly threads.  |
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I rated it 4/5 stars. 
Even so, I am taking a little break to read another book for a few days. 
