smginaz Suzy
Pearl Clutcher
Je suis desole.
Posts: 2,606
Jun 26, 2014 17:27:30 GMT
|
Post by smginaz Suzy on Jan 4, 2018 2:41:00 GMT
TroubleBoys (Bob Mehr) because...The Replacements. Petty (Warren Zanes) because I had to read it again after his death
|
|
|
Post by Neisey on Jan 4, 2018 3:26:27 GMT
Books I really disliked: Beartown, ugh - hockey hockey and more hockey. I had to give up after 2 hours This is not helping me in my quest to finish tonight...and I actually like hockey!
|
|
Mystie
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,299
Jun 25, 2014 19:53:37 GMT
|
Post by Mystie on Jan 4, 2018 3:33:42 GMT
birukitty I just read The Jane Austen Project the other day. I enjoyed it quite a bot. I also read that Lucy Worsley Jane Austen book five or six months ago. Might you also be an Austenphile? I also read Time and Time Again this summer and really liked it. Maybe we recommended it to each other on the reading threads!
|
|
finaledition
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,896
Jun 26, 2014 0:30:34 GMT
|
Post by finaledition on Jan 4, 2018 3:43:50 GMT
Books I really disliked: Beartown, ugh - hockey hockey and more hockey. I had to give up after 2 hours This is not helping me in my quest to finish tonight...and I actually like hockey! A blogger, Stephanie Howell, posted her best of round up for the year. I like what she wrote about this book: "Before I start this review, I need to disclose that I love Fredrick Backman. A Man Called Ove is one of my all time favorites. That said, his writing style takes a little getting used to. He is Swedish and I’m not sure if that has something to do with the different cadence and at times dry and abrupt structure of his sentences. But listen to me here- STICK WITH IT. Ostensibly this book is about hockey. Which I know zero about. Zero. In reality it is about so much more. Love, fear, loyalty, loss, desire, family, good, and evil. It is about whether “boys will be boys” is an excuse and if “locker room banter” is acceptable. It’s about standing up for what you believe in…and so much more. Some of it is quite dark and some of it probably needs a trigger warning. Listen to me here…Backman’s books are a slow burn. He wants you to KNOW his characters inside and out before you get to the action. He wants you to work for it and think about it. Always read carefully because there are gems scattered along the way. 5 stars."
|
|
|
Post by ~summer~ on Jan 4, 2018 4:04:47 GMT
My favorites were:
Pachinko Homegoing The Sympathizer White Fang and Call of the Wild Everything I Never Told You The Little French Bistro It Ends With Us
|
|
|
Post by pjaye on Jan 4, 2018 4:44:23 GMT
Before I start this review, I need to disclose that I love Fredrick Backman. A Man Called Ove is one of my all time favorites. That said, his writing style takes a little getting used to. I agree about Ove, I loved it and loved the writing. I don't agree about Beartown, I started it twice, the first time I thought I just wasn't in the mood so I put it away for a bit. The second time I gave it a decent try, 2 hours of an audiobook. Not only was I bored by the hockey talk, I was bored by the characters and their obsession with hockey. I also don't agree that if you love one book by an author you need to slog through the second one because you'll love it too. Ove was exceptional & I loved it right from the start, I also finished his next book My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry which I didn't like either. Maybe Beartown has lots of deeper meanings, but if (like me) you are bored stupid by the relentless Hockey talk...then the those readers are never going to get to them. I had the same problem with The Nix and also Commonwealth I get it that authors want to convey a certain obsession that a character/s has/have in an attempt to describe that character more fully, but when it involves constant mentioning of it in the story when a reader isn't at all interested in the thing being focused on, then it's going to be a dealer breaker and a DNF (did not finish) for many of us. I wasn't initially put off by the idea of it being about Hockey...just the opposite, I like to learn about new things, but I just couldn't buy into this entire town being so focused on one aspect of life and it being a part of every single character. It was just all too much for me.
|
|
gottapeanow
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,760
Jun 25, 2014 20:56:09 GMT
|
Post by gottapeanow on Jan 4, 2018 7:02:33 GMT
I think my favorite book of the year was A Fine Balance. It's so incredibly well done. I read some negative reviews of it. All the comments said that it was depressing. Agreed. I have to laugh because so much literature is depressing.
My next favorite book was The Alice Network followed by While We Were Yours.
Others that I loved: The Orphan's Tale Jenoff From Sand and Ash Harmon Glory Over Everything Grishom A Dark and Broken Heart Ellory
An honorable mention goes to A Constellation of Vital Phenomena. This was not only beyond depressing but was incredibly violent, so it did not make my "best of" list. Even so, the writing. Oh my, the writing. It's amazing. I will def be reading more of Marra.
I could not finish Lincoln in the Bardo or The Alchemist.
Lisa
|
|
luckyexwife
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,067
Jun 25, 2014 21:21:08 GMT
|
Post by luckyexwife on Jan 4, 2018 18:29:12 GMT
My best:
Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom The Sixth Window by Rachel Abbott Pretty Girls by Karen Slaughter All the Missing Girls by Mega Miranda Genuine Fraud by E Lockhart
I generally read fiction, but some of the non-fiction suggestions on this thread sounds very interesting. I might have to branch out in 2018 and read some nonfiction.
|
|
gottapeanow
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,760
Jun 25, 2014 20:56:09 GMT
|
Post by gottapeanow on Jan 4, 2018 19:28:24 GMT
My best: Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate The Kitchen House by Kathleen GrissomThe Sixth Window by Rachel Abbott Pretty Girls by Karen Slaughter All the Missing Girls by Mega Miranda Genuine Fraud by E Lockhart I generally read fiction, but some of the non-fiction suggestions on this thread sounds very interesting. I might have to branch out in 2018 and read some nonfiction. Glory Over Everything is the follow-up book. I liked it even better than The Kitchen House.
|
|
|
Post by needmysanity on Jan 4, 2018 19:30:54 GMT
I really enjoyed Before We were Yours by Lisa Wingate and A Man Called Ove.
While I wouldn't say it was a "favorite" I did find A Thousand Lives: The Untold Story of Jonestown very interesting. I was young when it happened so really only knew "drink the koolaid" came out of the murders.
|
|
pudgygroundhog
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,643
Location: The Grand Canyon
Jun 25, 2014 20:18:39 GMT
|
Post by pudgygroundhog on Jan 4, 2018 20:02:19 GMT
I think my favorite book of the year was A Fine Balance. It's so incredibly well done. I read some negative reviews of it. All the comments said that it was depressing. Agreed. I have to laugh because so much literature is depressing. My next favorite book was The Alice Network followed by While We Were Yours. Others that I loved: The Orphan's Tale Jenoff From Sand and Ash Harmon Glory Over Everything Grishom A Dark and Broken Heart Ellory An honorable mention goes to A Constellation of Vital Phenomena. This was not only beyond depressing but was incredibly violent, so it did not make my "best of" list. Even so, the writing. Oh my, the writing. It's amazing. I will def be reading more of Marra. I could not finish Lincoln in the Bardo or The Alchemist. Lisa A Constellation of Vital Phenomena is one of my favorites. His follow up book, The Tsar of Love and Techno, is also great. It's a series of connected short stories and not as violent as his first, so you would probably like it. His writing and characters are fantastic. I hope he has another book soon.
|
|
janeliz
Drama Llama
I'm the Wiz and nobody beats me.
Posts: 5,633
Jun 26, 2014 14:35:07 GMT
|
Post by janeliz on Jan 4, 2018 20:24:45 GMT
My favorite reads from 2017 (though not necessarily 2017 releases) were:
Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman Tell Me Three Things by Julie Buxbaum Truly, Madly, Guilty by Lianne Moriarty The Wildling Sisters by Eve Chase Small Admissions by Amy Poeppel
ETA: forgot to add The Dry by Jane Harper. Also, I’m struck by the fact that all of my 5 star reads from 2017 were by female authors.
|
|
|
Post by scrappersue on Jan 4, 2018 21:32:00 GMT
My top favs this year: The Alice Network Little Fires Everywhere There were several others I enjoyed, but I can’t say they were great. I think these were my favorites also.
|
|
Deleted
Posts: 0
Jun 3, 2024 3:58:53 GMT
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 4, 2018 21:42:41 GMT
I think you'd like The Visitors by Catherine Burns...not the same sort of book exactly but also quite dark. Another that I liked but find "like" a hard word to use about these sort of books. This one was also creepy on a whole other level. Thanks, I'll look out for this. I do enjoy a bit of dark and creepy.
|
|
|
Post by meridon on Jan 4, 2018 23:03:32 GMT
birukitty I just read The Jane Austen Project the other day. I enjoyed it quite a bot. I also read that Lucy Worsley Jane Austen book five or six months ago. Might you also be an Austenphile? I also read Time and Time Again this summer and really liked it. Maybe we recommended it to each other on the reading threads! WAit--what?! There's a Lucy Worsley Jane Austen book?! How did I miss this? Must go investigate!!!!!! I have watched about a billion Lucy Worsley documentaries and I've listened to her Fresh Air interview at least three or four times. Edited to add:AAAAHHHHH!!!!! I've just found my Friday night plans! Lucy Worsley Jane Austen documentary
|
|
|
Post by kckckc on Jan 5, 2018 0:58:00 GMT
I read 122 books last year. This is my top ten fiction list: Last Days of Night by Graham Moore Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas Beartown by Fredrik Backman Pachinko by Min Jin Lee Setting Free the Kites by Alex George The Heart's Invisible Furies by John Boyne Lucky Boy by Shanthi Sekeran All the Ugly and Wonderful Things by Bryn Greenwood The One-in-a-Million Boy by Monica Wood My top nonfiction list: Just Mercy: A Story of Mercy and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond Felicity by Mary Oliver Love your list. I'm read The Heart's Invisible Furies next and looking forward to it. Just Mercy and Evicted are two books I think everybody should read (and they are making Just Mercy into a movie). I think about those books often and I especially loved Evicted for his nuanced approach to a complex problem and the blend of data and personal stories. You also have a great list - I think I have read 14 of the books on your list, and most of the others are on my want-to-read list! I hadn't heard about the Just Mercy movie - hopefully that will broaden the audience - I think it is a story everyone should hear.
|
|
|
Post by SunnySmile on Jan 5, 2018 1:23:16 GMT
save, thanks everyone!
2017 was not a good year for reading for me, I can't even think of one book I read, but I plan to do more this year. I never want to repeat 2017 haha
|
|
|
Post by birukitty on Jan 5, 2018 2:18:49 GMT
birukitty I just read The Jane Austen Project the other day. I enjoyed it quite a bot. I also read that Lucy Worsley Jane Austen book five or six months ago. Might you also be an Austenphile? I also read Time and Time Again this summer and really liked it. Maybe we recommended it to each other on the reading threads! I do really love Jane Austen, and I really love time travel books too. Do you normally like time travel books or was this your first one?
|
|
|
Post by birukitty on Jan 5, 2018 2:23:30 GMT
Books I really disliked: Beartown, ugh - hockey hockey and more hockey. I had to give up after 2 hours This is not helping me in my quest to finish tonight...and I actually like hockey! Pjaye, I'm glad to read your review of this book. I got about 1/4 of the way into Beartown and gave up on it. Like you said it was all about hockey. Hockey to me is Boring! with a capital B. So many people loved this book this year but if that is all it was about (and yes I get there were underlying themes) but if that is what the majority of the book was about I had to toss it aside and move on to some of the many other books that were calling my name.
|
|
|
Post by birukitty on Jan 5, 2018 2:31:16 GMT
birukitty I just read The Jane Austen Project the other day. I enjoyed it quite a bot. I also read that Lucy Worsley Jane Austen book five or six months ago. Might you also be an Austenphile? I also read Time and Time Again this summer and really liked it. Maybe we recommended it to each other on the reading threads! WAit--what?! There's a Lucy Worsley Jane Austen book?! How did I miss this? Must go investigate!!!!!! I have watched about a billion Lucy Worsley documentaries and I've listened to her Fresh Air interview at least three or four times. Edited to add:AAAAHHHHH!!!!! I've just found my Friday night plans! Lucy Worsley Jane Austen documentary Yippee! Thanks so much for this Meridon! I never would have thought to go looking for this on youtube. Now I've got a lovely hour to watch. The book mentioned is a biography that came out last year. "Jane Austen at Home" by Lucy Worsley. I put it on my 5 star list of favorites for the year. It was such a wonderful book! I'm sure you'll love it.
|
|
|
Post by ~summer~ on Jan 5, 2018 2:34:44 GMT
So many of these books I haven’t read yet because I am on the hold list at the library — Little Fires Everywhere I started at like number 120 on the list - I think I’m now at like 40 lol
|
|
psiluvu
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,217
Location: Canada's Capital
Jun 25, 2014 22:52:26 GMT
|
Post by psiluvu on Jan 5, 2018 2:46:01 GMT
My fave book of the year was Ravensbruck: Life and Death in Hitler's Concentration Camp for Women by Sarah Helm which I read because it was recommended here. I don't have a lot of time to read so it took me forever to finish but it was well worth it.
My second favourite was The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America. I think that was also a recommendation from here.
Third was House of Secrets by Lowell Cauffiel,
|
|
|
Post by jackie on Jan 5, 2018 2:47:43 GMT
I read seven books in 2017 that I rated 5 stars. They are:
The Alice Network by Kate Quinn Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate Behind Her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough What She Knew by Gilly Macmillan End of Watch by Stephen King I Liked My Life by Abby Fabiaschi The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See
|
|
luckyexwife
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,067
Jun 25, 2014 21:21:08 GMT
|
Post by luckyexwife on Jan 5, 2018 3:07:52 GMT
So many of these books I haven’t read yet because I am on the hold list at the library — Little Fires Everywhere I started at like number 120 on the list - I think I’m now at like 40 lol I actually just finished that book yesterday, I really enjoyed it! When I put my name on the hold list at the library, it was over 200!
|
|
|
Post by birukitty on Jan 5, 2018 3:19:54 GMT
So many of these books I haven’t read yet because I am on the hold list at the library — Little Fires Everywhere I started at like number 120 on the list - I think I’m now at like 40 lol I actually just finished that book yesterday, I really enjoyed it! When I put my name on the hold list at the library, it was over 200! For this book I'm at number 87 for "Little Fires Everywhere" . For "Before We Were Yours" I'm at number 117.
|
|
luckyexwife
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,067
Jun 25, 2014 21:21:08 GMT
|
Post by luckyexwife on Jan 5, 2018 15:22:03 GMT
Shamelessly bumping this back to the top, I know we have more readers!!
|
|
|
Post by ~summer~ on Jan 5, 2018 15:50:39 GMT
I actually just finished that book yesterday, I really enjoyed it! When I put my name on the hold list at the library, it was over 200! For this book I'm at number 87 for "Little Fires Everywhere" . For "Before We Were Yours" I'm at number 117. I just checked - I’m 150 for Before We Were Yours - that’s my highest number.
|
|
Mystie
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,299
Jun 25, 2014 19:53:37 GMT
|
Post by Mystie on Jan 5, 2018 15:55:11 GMT
birukitty I just read The Jane Austen Project the other day. I enjoyed it quite a bot. I also read that Lucy Worsley Jane Austen book five or six months ago. Might you also be an Austenphile? I also read Time and Time Again this summer and really liked it. Maybe we recommended it to each other on the reading threads! I do really love Jane Austen, and I really love time travel books too. Do you normally like time travel books or was this your first one? I love time travel, it's always fascinated me. If I could have any "super power," it would be the ability to time travel! I've read other books in the genre, but the titles escape me at the moment. January is always my Jane Austen month. I don't know why. I guess I'm looking for comfort in January, and I find her books, and other people's books about her, comforting. Thankfully, there are TONS of books about her! ETA: I also meant to mention how much I love The Hiding Place. I first read it as a child and it has stuck with me through many re-readings over the years.
|
|
|
Post by Bitchy Rich on Jan 5, 2018 16:02:01 GMT
For this book I'm at number 87 for "Little Fires Everywhere" . For "Before We Were Yours" I'm at number 117. I just checked - I’m 150 for Before We Were Yours - that’s my highest number. My library has a line of 5 holds, but 4 copies. Ha ha.
|
|
|
Post by ~summer~ on Jan 5, 2018 16:04:05 GMT
However “The People We Hate at the Wedding “ arrived so I’ll be picking that up later today...👍
|
|