What are you reading and why? June 2013.

[Chrissie]

Janice, I started the June thread, but maybe you have to close the May one?

I found English Creek even better than Dancing at the Rascal Fair
Review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

Then I continued on with Ellis Peters's fabulous Cadfael series.
Monk's Hood
My review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
followed by
The Virgin in the Ice
My review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

I tried to download from Downpour A Constellation of Vital Phenomena, but it failed, so I will read Fever first..... while they fix the problem.

[Ratri]

I'm reading this because I hope the story with relate to my life :) And it reminds me of Taylor Swift's song.

[Esther]

I am still reading my E book: Gardens of the Moon. I had put it aside to read the towel challenge. I also started Notorious Nineteen a library loan.

[Chrissie]

I am absolutely loving Fever! I totally empathize with Mary Mallon. This book shows you how she felt. I read another review of this book and that person said she found Mary disagreeable! I am wondering how this is possible. Is it that she read the paper book and the narrator of the audiobook, Candace Thaxton, changes one's perception completely? I feel sorry for Mary. She is lonely, she misses her "husband"/boyfriend, she is given no clear explanation of all the tests being done to her. Jeez, I just want to punch the people around her. Also Candace Thaxton's Irish accent is fabulous. Not too much accent to make it difficult to understand and not too little, just perfect!

[Jennifer]

Finished Something Dangerous last night. It's the second book in a trilogy that follows an English publishing family and their American counterparts from around 1910-ish to wherever the third book winds up. :-) The one I just finished ends right after the Second World War. So far the books have been enthralling. (Dumb titles though. Sat here this morning thinking about posting this and couldn't remember the name of the book!)

These books are also so long that I'm getting woefully behind on my goal!

[Jess :)]

Jennifer wrote: "These books are also so long that I'm getting woefully behind on my goal! ..."
Maybe you should go by pages read, not # of books ;)

I have never heard of this series before and it looks very interesting. Thanks for sharing!

[Sarah]

Just finished The Painted Man today and it was amazing. Just bought The Desert Spear which is the second book in the series but can't decide whether to go straight ahead and read that or read my L book (Lost Souls) which I had planned on reading. Decisions, decisions!

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Sarah wrote: "Just finished The Painted Man today and it was amazing. Just bought The Desert Spear which is the second book in the series but can't decide whether to go straight ahead and read that or read my L ..."

really glad you read this. My partner, Lexx, was bullied... should I say "bullied"... into buying it by our local secondhand bookshop owner. He's now waiting on number 3.

[Janice, Moderator]

I started A Geography of Blood: Unearthing Memory from a Prairie Landscape for my Alphabet challenge and also for another group's Cross Canada Challenge.

Thanks for starting the thread, Chrissie!

[Chrissie]

Janice, it is just b/c I am in Europe, so I need the thread sooner than others! I am glad I could help.

[Janice, Moderator]

Chrissie wrote: "Janice, it is just b/c I am in Europe, so I need the thread sooner than others! I am glad I could help."

I was going to write something to that effect. You see the beginning of a new month about 7 hours before I do. :)

[Chrissie]

Adding it is no problem!

[Ann]

Jennifer wrote: "Finished Something Dangerous last night. It's the second book in a trilogy that follows an English publishing family and their American counterparts from arou..."

I just finished that a few weeks ago and I loved it! I really do enjoy those family saga stories even though they are usually so very very long! I can't wait to read the first and the third of this series.

[Anna]

I started 2 books today Bluestockings The Remarkable Story of the First Women to Fight for an Education and Little Lord Fauntleroy for our scrabble challenge

[Dem]

Just finished and really enjoyed Ordinary Grace
This is my review www.goodreads.com/review/show/605538171

[Jennifer]

Ann wrote: "Jennifer wrote: "Finished Something Dangerous last night. It's the second book in a trilogy that follows an English publishing family and their American count..."

I loved the first book. Probably read the third VERY soon!

[Kimberly]

Anna wrote: "I started 2 books today Bluestockings The Remarkable Story of the First Women to Fight for an Education[bookcover:Bluestockings The Remarkable Story of the First Women to Fight for an Education|669..."

Bluestockings looks like an interesting read Anna

[Kimberly]

I'm starting

[Anna]

Kimberly wrote: "Anna wrote: "I started 2 books today Bluestockings The Remarkable Story of the First Women to Fight for an Education ...

Bluestockings looks like an interesting read Anna "

It is very interesting book. I knew that women had to fight for the rights for an education but somehow I didn't thought how hard it was for the first ones and how strong was/are prejudices.

[Marnie]

I just finished Inferno.
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

I kept waiting for someone to read this and assure me this was better than The Lost Symbol- and thankfully it was.

[Sarah]

Marnie wrote: "I just finished Inferno.
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

I kept waiting for someone to read this and assure me this was better than The Lost Symbol- and thankfully it was."

Pleased you enjoyed Inferno. I really want to read it as I've read all the others in the series. Waiting for the price to drop on kindle!

[Lisa]

Marnie wrote: "I just finished Inferno.
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

I kept waiting for someone to read this and assure me this was better than The Lost Symbol- and thankfully it was."

Sounds pretty good Marnie! I am so glad to hear that it is better than The Lost Symbol. That was one disappointing book!

[Lisa]

I just finished The End of Mr. Y. This was a really unusual book, quite unlike anything I have read before. It wasn't perfect but I enjoyed it a lot and gave it a 4 star rating. Here is my review:

http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

Next I will be reading The Perks of Being a Wallflower. This has been on my TBR for a while now so I thought I would finally start it today. Looking forward to seeing what it is like.

[Chrissie]

I really liked Fever. Good from start to finish! Think if all historical fiction was this good. Excellent narration too.
My review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

I will start A Constellation of Vital Phenomena. By my definition this too is historical fiction, even though it describes events not yet fifty years in the past. Will it be as good?

[Anna]

Lisa wrote: "Next I will be reading The Perks of Being a Wallflower. This has been on my TBR for a while now so I thought I would finally start it today. Looking forward to seeing what it is like..."

It's awesome.

[Dem]

I just finished Love Is the Easy Bit
This is my reviw www.goodreads.com/review/show/629167360

[Anna]

I just finished Little Lord Fauntleroy my thoughts http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

Yesterday, I read a freebie Prisoner 374215
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

[Kimberly]

I'm going to start because my current read is just horrible but I'm halfway through so I have to finish it but I need a break.

[Pragya]

Kimberly wrote: "I'm going to start because my current read is just horrible but I'm halfway through so I have to finish it but I need a break."

Oops, Kimberly. I thought Wilbur Smith books were good. Hmm.. Can't wait to see what you think of Icons.

[Chrissie]

I finishedA Constellation of Vital Phenomena, which so many like....except me, it seems. I explain why in my review:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

I have begun Americanah, because I have liked other books by the author. Set in Nigeria primarily.

[Ann]

I've started for the monthly read and am reading as my "A" title in the alphabet challenge and I just started which I keep in my purse for when I have to wait somewhere.

[Kimberly]

Pragya wrote: "Kimberly wrote: "I'm going to start because my current read is just horrible but I'm halfway through so I have to finish it but I need..."

I like his writing usually but it seems like this book is a dud he's overly detailed and the writing is robotic.

[Anna]

I'm reading The Further Adventures of An Idiot Abroad and The Catcher in the Rye

[Pragya]

Kimberly wrote: "Pragya wrote: "Kimberly wrote: "I'm going to start because my current read is just horrible but I'm halfway through so I have to fini..."

Oh. Haven't read any of his work yet.

[Kimberly]

I've read one other book by him and that was and I absolutely loved it. I read about 3/4 of one of his historical fiction novels but got distracted by another book (you know what that's like) and never picked it up again but loved that one too. I think he was just trying to be a little to relevant to today's other thrillers. This one is one of those books where it reads more as a summary. Theres a lot of "this happened. then this. He said this. She said that. Then this thing happened here" type of writing. Plus his characters are very one dimensional and he struggled with getting the dialogue down. He had a 19 year old party girl talking like and old school marm. Needless to say I won't be recommending this one but I recommend however they can be a little gruesome.

[Lisa]

I finished The Perks of Being a Wallflower. I really enjoyed it and gave it 5 stars.

Next I will be reading Stardust which is the first book I will be reading for this month's Toppler.

[Dem]

I just finished TransAtlantic this is my review www.goodreads.com/review/show/632037619

[Kimberly]

I started

[Chrissie]

Tricky isn't it, when popular authors come out with new books?! Will they be as good as the ones we have loved.

I finished Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.
My review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
Who hasn't read Half of a Yellow Sun? Just about everybody. For me that was a five star book.

And who hasn't read either The Kite Runner or A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini?! They are both must reads. Now I have begun his newest: And the Mountains Echoed.
I am listening to the audiobook.

[Chrissie]

I have completed And the Mountains Echoed
My review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

Now I need a non-fiction book. The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt. If I like it, I will be happy b/c it is the first of a trilogy. Will it be as good as Mornings on Horseback?

[Lisa]

I read Stardust and Forbidden for the toppler. I loved both of these books and gave them 5 star ratings. Forbidden is one of my favourite books of all time, it was amazing! Here is my review:

http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

Now I am reading Lolita which is also for the toppler.

[Kimberly]

I finished and it started off well but in the end it wasn't all that great.
Now I'm reading I read the first book a couple years ago and really enjoyed it so I'm hoping this is just as good.

[Chrissie]

Lisa, I never thought I would like Lolita. It is very, very good!

[Dem]

Just finished Wonder
This is my review;
www.goodreads.com/review/show/614695942

[Kimberly]

I finished 3 stars.

I'm starting .

[Chrissie]

I have finished Marco Polo: From Venice to Xanadu
My review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

Now I will start One Fourteenth Of An Elephant. Learning more about the Burma-Thailand Railway is fascinating, and of course gripping. It being a biography draws me.

[M.A.]

Linda Prather's absolutely fabulous mystery.

[Lisa]

I finished Lolita and The Silver Linings Playbook today for the toppler. I really enjoyed 'Lolita' and gave it 5 stars, it was brilliant and I gave 'The Silver Linings Playbook' 4 stars because it was good but there were a couple of things about it that I wasn't so keen on.

Now I am starting Jamaica Inn which is my J read for the alphabet challenge.

[Chrissie]

Lisa wrote: "I finished Lolita and The Silver Linings Playbook today for the toppler. I really enjoyed 'Lolita' and gave it 5 stars, it..."

One is surprised how good Lolita is. Frenchman's Creek is, I think, better than Jamaica Inn.....

[Lisa]

Chrissie wrote: "Lisa wrote: "I finished Lolita and The Silver Linings Playbook today for the toppler. I really enjoyed 'Lolita' and gave i..."


Thanks for the recommendation of 'Frenchman's Creek' Chrissie. I have added it to my TBR.

I really was very surprised by how much I liked 'Lolita'. It was not how I had imagined it to be at all. I am looking forward to seeing the 1997 film adaptation now. It's been sitting in my DVD pile for a while but I wanted to read the book first. Hopefully it will do the book justice.