Weekly Reading Thread: Nov. 26- Dec. 2

I finished a YA "The Art of Being Normal" by Lisa Williamson (finally, after a musical tech/show hiatus). It was a good read from the perspective of two high school kids struggling with gender identity and acceptance.

I'm also reading (in pieces) "Trust No Aunty" by Maria Qamar, which is a super fun comic/graphic pop art satire. www.npr.org/2017/08/02/539598311/maria-qamar-dishes-up-desi-pop-in-trust-no-aunty

I'm dipping in every couple of days to Eve Ewing's poetry collection "Electric Arches." www.haymarketbooks.org/books/1129-electric-arches

And, full on reading Scacchi Koul's book of essays "One Day We'll All Be Dead and None Of This Will Matter."

Great interview with Koul and Qamar on Another Round podcast here: www.wnyc.org/story/episode-108-toronto-live-with-scaachi-koul-and-maria-qamar

I finished three books this week.

The Keeper of Lost Causes by Jussi Adler-Olsen.  This is the first in a mystery/police procedural series set in Denmark.  Someone here may have recommended it or I may have heard about it somewhere else.  I didn't love it, but I liked it well enough to put the second book on reserve at the library

Two Kinds of Truth by Michael Connelly.  An excellent addition to the Harry Bosch mystery series.

Hallelujah Anyway: Rediscovering Mercy by Anne Lamott.  I didn't like this one.  The author just seemed to ramble all over the place. 

That Broken Earth trilogy was the best trilogy I've ever read. It was SO DAMN GOOD, and the best part (and I'm still processing, too) was that the third book finished so strong. Sometimes trilogies just get so tiresome by book 3 (looking at you Mockingjay), but this was just amazing throughout.

I need to read her other work now.

I read The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer. It started slow for me . I wasn't enjoying the first third of the book. By the last third of the book I was invested in the story and enjoyed it. 3.5/5 stars for me. (I would give it 4/5 if it had captured me earlier. I almost quit reading it and I hardly ever quit a book.)

Now I am starting The Dry which is definitely standing up to all the high praise the peas have lavished on it. I am 10 chapters in and do not want to put it down!

I don't usually participate here but am hoping to get some ideas for books to read/listen to. I'm currently listening to The Secrets She Keeps and it is good.

I finally finished Behind Her Eyes. Loved it! Starting When We Were Worthy, recommended here! By leannec? So far I like it!

I’ve been waiting for this thread!!

I
FINALLY
FINISHED
THE
STAND

My goal was to finish it by the end of the year.
I was sucked in right until the very end.

Now I’m not sure what to do with myself. I started An American Sickness by Elisabeth Rosenthal but it’s only around 300 pages—practically a short story!

I was challenged by one of my 5th graders to try the first book in the Reckoners series. The book was Steelheart and, although it was not my usual genre, I really enjoyed it. Set in Chicago (now Newcago) the city is run by Epics, people with extraordinary, but evil, powers. A small group of rebels vow to fight and bring down the Epics. It's full of action and hyberpole and it was a fun read.

I moved onto a completely different genre in His Bloody Project. This book was a Man Booker Prize finalist in 2016. Through several documents such as a diary, autopsy reports, neighbors' accounts, and court transcripts, it tells the story of a troubled boy who has killed three people in the village. Because the perspective is always different, you see several sides of the events leading up to the murder. The setting is a small village in the Scottish Higlands and, although both the story and town are fictional, it is based on a real village. Excellent.

I thought this was really good as well, had me on the edge of my seat at the end.
I'm currently listening to another of his books "Life or Death" and am enjoying that as well.

I only finished one last week. It is a middle grades book called The Thing About Jellyfish by Ali Benjamin. It is about a girl who struggles when her former best friend drowns. She becomes obsessed with jellyfish and the thought that it might have been a jellyfish sting that killed her. It was a good read that got better as I went along.

Yes!  I always read before bed, and I am usually half asleep, so it takes me a long time to read and I don't remember what I read the night before.

I read the trilogy and liked all three books - the last book was actually my favorite.