paigepea
Drama Llama
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Posts: 5,609
Location: BC, Canada
Jun 26, 2014 4:28:55 GMT
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Post by paigepea on Jul 20, 2014 17:18:13 GMT
Hi Peas who Read!!
I'm sorry to say I didn't finish my book, but it is really good so I'm recommending it anyway. I'm reading THE ORCHiD HOUSE by Lucinda Riley and I'm really enjoying it. It is reminiscent of the books by Kate Morton.
What is everyone else reading?
Paige.
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Post by ShesaRenegade on Jul 20, 2014 17:32:56 GMT
I finished reading Sally Ride: America's First Woman in Space and it was really good. As a scientist I really loved reading about all of the NASA bureaucracy associated with the space program, especially how astronauts were chosen.
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Post by brina on Jul 20, 2014 17:43:25 GMT
I read All the Light We Cannot See - which I loved.
I am now reading The Giver series. I have finished book 1 and about a quarter of book 2.
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linda~lou
Pearl Clutcher
Keep calm and eat crumpets
Posts: 2,744
Location: Motown but my heart is in San Francisco
Jun 25, 2014 21:57:08 GMT
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Post by linda~lou on Jul 20, 2014 17:45:36 GMT
I gave up on Outlander. I love history, however not that era. I'm reading The Ice Cream Queen of Orchard Street and loving it. It takes place in early 1900's when this Jewish family comes to America.
It spans time to current. The heroine of the book is hysterical. Love the writing. Someone here recommended it!!!! Thanks!!!!
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Post by freecharlie on Jul 20, 2014 18:26:46 GMT
I finished Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King. I enjoyed it, but it wasn't a typical King novel (are any of his lately?) but more a crime mystery novel.
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Post by donna on Jul 20, 2014 18:41:46 GMT
I finished Ship of Destiny by Robin Hobb and I am now reading Dangerous Inheritance by Alison Wier.
I need to read something light and fun next because these books were both serious books.
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GiantsFan
Prolific Pea
Posts: 8,456
Site Supporter
Jun 27, 2014 14:44:56 GMT
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Post by GiantsFan on Jul 20, 2014 18:45:31 GMT
I read The Beach House by Georgia Bocklove. I heard about it from this thread last week. It's set in Santa Cruz where I grew up. It's one of those books that try to cover everything in 300+ pages - Death, divorce, good kids, bad kids, sexual tension, etc. It wasn't bad, but not a must read. And it was only $1.99 on Kindle.
On audio, I listened to The Vessel by Taylor Stevens. Its a novella (3 hours long) that finishes her last book The Doll. Now I'm all primed and ready to start The Catch that was released this week. Looking forward to my commute.
I just started Dark Witch by Nora Roberts. I'm 10% in and liking it.
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The Great Carpezio
Pearl Clutcher
Something profound goes here.
Posts: 2,983
Jun 25, 2014 21:50:33 GMT
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Post by The Great Carpezio on Jul 20, 2014 18:54:15 GMT
I read Ordinary Grace. It was excellent. He is a Minnesota author, so I recognized a lot of the setting, but it is wonderfully descriptive no matter your familiarity. It takes place in the summer of 1962 and narrated by a man looking back at his 14 year old self. A series of deaths occur in a small town along the banks of the Minnesota River. Heartbreaking, redemptive, mysterious and well written---it might be my favorite book if the year so far. (And I've read over 40).
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Judy26
Pearl Clutcher
MOTFY Bitchy Nursemaid
Posts: 2,971
Location: NW PA
Jun 25, 2014 23:50:38 GMT
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Post by Judy26 on Jul 20, 2014 19:15:13 GMT
I finished The Ship of Brides by JoJo Moyes. It was a very good book and I recommend it highly. 4/5 Then I read All Fall Down by Jennifer Weiner. It's about a mother who becomes addicted to pain meds. I like this author but this was not my favorite book by her. It was still good, just not as engrossing as some. 3/5
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tuesdaysgone
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,832
Jun 26, 2014 18:26:03 GMT
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Post by tuesdaysgone on Jul 20, 2014 19:22:50 GMT
A very good reading week for me.
The Final Solution (Chabon) This very short detective story is set in England during WW II and focuses on a young Jewish boy and his parrot. Chabon is one of my favorite authors. He is an amazing writer and you'll want to re-read his sentences just because they are so complex and well written.
The Moonflower Vine (Carleton) This novel was written in 1962. Yes, sometimes the book feel a bit dated but it is a wonderfully complex story. It follows the lives of five members of a farm family in rural Missouri. You first meet the family when the children are grown and the parents in retirement. You don't have a lot of connection to the family at first, but as the story unfolds you come to understand and sympathize with them. It's a story about how family shapes us in both positive and negative ways. Very good read!
Between the Assassinations (Adiga) This is another of my favorite authors. This book is a lot different from his others (White Tiger is my favorite of his books). It is a series of vignettes about different people in an Indian city. It started out slow but did grow on me.
One Summer: American 1927 (Bryson) I'm about to finish this and read it based on a recommendation from last week's thread. Fantastic book! The author takes significant social/political/sports events from 1927 and weaves them into a great narrative. Many thanks to the Pea who passed along this title.
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*~*amanda*~*
Junior Member
Posts: 51
Jul 11, 2014 10:50:16 GMT
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Post by *~*amanda*~* on Jul 20, 2014 19:28:05 GMT
I just finished Hollow City by Ransom Riggs. It's the 2nd in the Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children. Loved both of them!
I started Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn and really liking it so far!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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Post by birukitty on Jul 20, 2014 19:30:46 GMT
I'm taking a break from Outlander 1 and 2 (was waiting on Book 3 to show up on my porch from Amazon) and picked up this book from my bookshelf that I bought at Barnes and Noble awhile ago "The Man who broke into Auschwitz-a true story of World War 2" by Denis Avery. It's a slim volume compared to the doorstop Outlander books so I'm getting through it fairly quickly. So far the man the book is about is in the desert fighting the Italians. It's interesting because to be honest I have read so much about WW2 and the European side (my mother was born in Germany in 1939) but nothing about the fighting in Africa.
Anyway, this book is about the author (a British solider) getting captured and being a POW and at some point he is in Europe and decides to switch places with a Dutch Jew from Auschwitz. They swap uniforms and in he goes. He wanted to see the horrors for himself. I can't imagine the courage or the thinking he must have had at this point. He was a young solider and youth does give one ideas of immortality, but by this time he'd already seen his best friend blown to pieces next to him, so I don't think it was the typical youthful idea of being invisible. I don't know what his thinking was, but it's interesting enough to me to find out.
I hope I haven't given to many spoilers away to those who might want to read this book.
Debbie in MD.
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Post by zoeybug on Jul 20, 2014 20:04:25 GMT
Hi Refupeas Who Read!
I read two this week, both by Lisa See and they were a set of two. First up was Shanghai Girls. It is (obviously) set in Shanghai and the story starts in 1937, right before the Japanese invasion . The two main characters, May and Pearl, are sisters from a prominent well-to-do family. See does a great job of describing how glamourous Shanghai was in this era (she refers to it as "the Paris of Asia"). The sisters are frequent models for a "calendar" artist and known as "beautiful girls." Then, the story starts to really move when you find out that their father has sold both girls off to Chinese-American brothers to settle a debt. After a lot of harrowing action and events, the sisters wind up in Los Angeles with their husbands and a new baby.
The second book , Dreams of Joy, picks up immediately where the first one left off and Pearl winds up back in China, now communist, trying to find the "baby" who is now an idealistic 19 y o who has gone to the New China to help build the country. It's very interesting and has been one of my favorite books I've read this year.
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anniebeth24
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,716
Jun 26, 2014 14:12:17 GMT
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Post by anniebeth24 on Jul 20, 2014 20:25:29 GMT
Just finished Revenge Wears Prada, sequel to The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger. Even though it was incredibly popular, I had somehow just gotten around to reading the first one a few weeks ago. I hadn't heard about a sequel, so I was surprised to see this on the library shelf and it was a fun read. Andy was one of those characters that worked well in a follow-up story - it starts ten years after the original. Now I need to see the movie. Wondering if there'll be a movie of the new one?
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anniebeth24
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,716
Jun 26, 2014 14:12:17 GMT
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Post by anniebeth24 on Jul 20, 2014 20:30:49 GMT
I read two this week, both by Lisa See and they were a set of two.
If you enjoy those, be sure to read Lisa See's Snow Flower and the Secret Fan.
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Post by SockMonkey on Jul 20, 2014 20:32:08 GMT
Just finished Revenge Wears Prada, sequel to The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger. Even though it was incredibly popular, I had somehow just gotten around to reading the first one a few weeks ago. I hadn't heard about a sequel, so I was surprised to see this on the library shelf and it was a fun read. Andy was one of those characters that worked well in a follow-up story - it starts ten years after the original. Now I need to see the movie. Wondering if there'll be a movie of the new one? I actually hated Revenge Wears Prada, but didn't mind the first book. I think Weisberger should have just left it be. I found Andi to be soooo annoying and terrible in the second book. Yuck. I liked nothing about her.
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Post by SockMonkey on Jul 20, 2014 20:36:34 GMT
I'm listening to Casebook by Mona Simpson, which is okay so far.
I just finished One Plus One by Jo Jo Moyes and that was very... Jo Jo Moyes. Light, easy read. Fun, but predictable.
I'm just starting Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein.
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Post by MommyofTriplets on Jul 20, 2014 20:39:58 GMT
I finished The Natural Order of Things by Kevin Keating. Dark tales centered around a Jesuit high school. I really enjoyed this one and how each of the character's stories intertwined. Started All the Light We Cannot See. Anthony Doerr is one of my favorites so I'm sure I'll enjoy this one, especially after all the good reviews here.
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lisasahm
Junior Member
Basement cat is easily annoyed.
Posts: 81
Jul 10, 2014 23:08:59 GMT
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Post by lisasahm on Jul 20, 2014 20:45:24 GMT
I'm reading Alaska by James Michener. I'm actually rereading it, it's that good!
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GiantsFan
Prolific Pea
Posts: 8,456
Site Supporter
Jun 27, 2014 14:44:56 GMT
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Post by GiantsFan on Jul 20, 2014 21:01:03 GMT
..... One Summer: American 1927 (Bryson) I'm about to finish this and read it based on a recommendation from last week's thread. Fantastic book! The author takes significant social/political/sports events from 1927 and weaves them into a great narrative. Many thanks to the Pea who passed along this title. That was me. I'm glad you enjoyed it.
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newlywoods03
Pearl Clutcher
Blessed Beyond Measure
Posts: 2,828
Jun 26, 2014 3:09:09 GMT
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Post by newlywoods03 on Jul 20, 2014 21:04:09 GMT
I just finished Rooms by James L. Rubart last night. It was SO good! Need to figure out what to read next.
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Mystie
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,300
Jun 25, 2014 19:53:37 GMT
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Post by Mystie on Jul 20, 2014 21:13:18 GMT
I read two books this week that I think everyone else on the planet has read before me: Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn and Defending Jacob by William Landay. I REALLY enjoyed Gone Girl, just loved the twisted humor of it all. It reminded me of The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith--with an anti-hero (in this case two) that you still rooted for in some perverse way.
I didn't enjoy Defending Jacob as much, but it was still a real page-turner and well-written. Very somber and grim, though.
I also read The End-Of-The-World Running Club by Adrian J. Walker, which I found browsing around at Amazon--it's 99 cents for Kindle right now and well worth a read if you like post-apocalyptic fiction. It's about a young husband and father in Scotland who becomes separated from his family after a catastrophic meteorite strike hits the northern hemisphere, and the journey he takes to try to find them across the ravaged UK. Quite good--I imagine runners would especially like it.
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Post by Blind Squirrel on Jul 20, 2014 21:21:25 GMT
I finished Sycamore Row by John Grisham. I really enjoyed it. This was the first book of his that I've read. I'm starting The Last Letter From Your Lover by JoJo Moyes thanks to pea recommendations.
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neffijer
Shy Member
Posts: 36
Jul 2, 2014 23:20:16 GMT
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Post by neffijer on Jul 20, 2014 21:46:56 GMT
I've just finished reading Girl in Translation, by Jean Kwok, and I really enjoyed the story. Next I'm going to read The Last Letter from Your Lover, by JoJo Moyes, as it seems to be popular here.
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gottapeanow
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,817
Jun 25, 2014 20:56:09 GMT
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Post by gottapeanow on Jul 20, 2014 23:08:48 GMT
I had an excellent reading week because I was on vacation for a few days.
First up, was an ARC copy called The Book of Strange New Things by Michael Faber. This was a fascinating premise. It was about a group of people travelling to another planet. The story focuses on one man, Peter, who travels to the new planet, and his wife, Bea, who stays behind in the U.K. Peter is a Christian and a missionary to the natives of the new planet. However,the book is not religious. At all. I felt that some of the behaviors of both Peter and Bea were not really true with what I would expect. But overall, I thought it was quite well done. Without giving away anything, I wasn't that thrilled with the ending. 3/5 stars. Really, 3.5 out of 5 stars.
Next up, The Reader by Bernhard Schlink. Wow. This was breathtakingly beautiful. Loved it. 5/5 stars.
Third, I found a book by Greg Iles called Third Degree at the thrift store. The only book I have read of his was Natchez Burning. To say that he has drastically improved as a writer is a gross understatement. I almost didn't finish this but muddled through. Iles tries to portray the protagonists as heroes. In the end, the "villain" might be the only hero. 2/5 stars. I will keep reading Iles but will stick with his newer stuff.
And finally, I found a beautiful gem by a new author, Laura McBride. I was absolutely mesmerized by the title, We Are Called to Rise. Once I started reading, I couldn't stop. McBride tackles PTSD and divorce and the meaning of family and the child care system and even more against the backdrop of Las Vegas. Each chapter was told from the perspective of one of four people, and eventually, all of their lives intertwined. This was tragic but full of hope. 5/5 stars. I loved it and highly recommend it.
Lisa
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akathy
What's For Dinner?
Still peaing from Podunk!
Posts: 4,546
Location: North Dakota
Jun 25, 2014 22:56:55 GMT
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Post by akathy on Jul 20, 2014 23:23:46 GMT
I'm reading The Fault In Our Stars and can't really get into it. I want to like it because so many Peas did but frankly I don't like it much.
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lambchop
Junior Member
Posts: 83
Jul 7, 2014 18:50:47 GMT
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Post by lambchop on Jul 21, 2014 0:02:27 GMT
I didn't get to read much this week so I am still working on The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer. Enjoying it, just not much time to read this week.
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Post by snappinsami on Jul 21, 2014 0:21:01 GMT
I'm slowly getting through The Rose Garden by Susanna Kearsley. My mom really enjoyed it, and while I like it, so far (and I'm around 20% into it) it's not making me feel like I MUST grab my kindle. I'll stick with it, though.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Oct 5, 2024 17:36:53 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jul 21, 2014 0:27:45 GMT
I'm reading, "Blink, The Power of Thinking Without Thinking" by Malcolm Gladwell. It's a collection of studies on decision making and why we think and do the things we do. I'm enjoying it and looking forward to his "David and Goliath" next.
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bhune
New Member
Posts: 4
Jun 26, 2014 19:19:49 GMT
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Post by bhune on Jul 21, 2014 0:29:33 GMT
Listening to on CD "Where did you go Bernadette?" ok to listen to but I would think it would be a battle to get through reading it.
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