What Are You Reading: April 2014

[Sacramento Public Library]

What are you reading this month? Share with the group and help someone find their next great read!

[Carolyn F.]

The Rake, a linked book.

[Susan]

I've just started The Monuments Men. So far it is a bit overly detailed for me. I am not sure how I am going to be able to keep everyone straight.

[Cindy]

Whistling past the Graveyard! Just starting it... And loving it so far!

[Angie]

I'm reading the Martian by Weir and it is awesome!!! I like science, so that doesn't bother me. The main character is so funny and engaging that it isn't hard to follow the science stuff. And it is so suspenseful. After I finish reading it, I plan to listen to it on audio, b/c the narrator does a great job at the main character's voice. PS if you do not like cursing, this is not the book for you.

[Brendle]

I just finished Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson for our library book group and quite enjoyed it. It's a tale of mature romance and the clash of tradition and modernity in a small English village. It's a great selection for a book group but also just a rewarding and enjoyable read.

[Chip]

I'm in the middle of Image of the Beast by Phil José Farmer. Even though I read a lot of SF when I was younger, I've never read Farmer… and this doesn't exactly fall into the SF category. It was published in the late 60's by Essex House, which was an attempt at producing porn with a more literary style. The book is a weird miss-mash of detective fiction, SF, horror and the supernatural, and, yes, an occasional explicit sex scene. And since I've never read Farmer before, I don't know if the writing style, which I find a bit awkward and amateurish at times, is characteristic of his other works or not. All in all, an interesting read, but not anything I'd recommend to anyone unless they were really interested in reading such an offbeat work. Set in a dystopian LA, with smog so bad people have to wear gas masks to walk outside - very late 60's. It's quite a curiosity of the times and the genre.

[Carolyn F.]

I'm reading Lost Lake

[John]

I'm finishing up "The Outcast," by Louise Cooper and starting "Neuromancer," by William Gibson. I'm also on the last few chapters of "Sparkling Cyanide," by Agatha Christie, in audiobook.

[Carolyn F.]

I just finished Lost Lake and loved it! If you like contemporary fiction, you'll enjoy it.

Next I'm reading Three Wishes

[Annemarie]

I started "Dust" by Patricia Cornwell and still trying to finish Catherine Coulter's "The Final Cut." Otherwise I am busy with finishing up 2 exams and a paper on Babylonian Literature before Spring break!

[Francie]

I just finished Jojo Moyes' "Me Before You" and Daniel Silva's "The Fallen Angel," and loved both.

[Susan]

Finished Monuments Men am am starting The Wives of Los Alamos. Guess I am stuck in a WW2 phase.

[Carolyn F.]

Francie wrote: "I just finished Jojo Moyes' "Me Before You" and Daniel Silva's "The Fallen Angel," and loved both."

I'm in queue for Me Before You Francie!

I finished Three Wishes, another 5 star book for me.

I'm now reading That Touch of Magic

[Francie]

Carolyn F. wrote: "Francie wrote: "I just finished Jojo Moyes' "Me Before You" and Daniel Silva's "The Fallen Angel," and loved both."

I'm in queue for Me Before You Francie!

I finished [book:Three ..."

I found Me Before You on the Lucky Day shelf at the Carmichael library, Carolyn. It's wonderful and definitely worth the wait!

[Carolyn F.]

That's where I picked it up Francie!

Finished That Touch of Magic - 3 stars

Now reading The Mulberry Tree

[Elizabeth]

I'm reading Still Alice by Lisa Genova. It's about a woman with early onset Alzheimer's disease. Very good so far.

[Francie]

Still Alice is one of the most powerful novels I've ever read and it's still resonating with me years later. I have a later novel by Lisa Genova on my Kindle but it hasn't made it to the top of my to read list yet.

[Brendle]

I've just discovered a fun new contemporary romance series by Virginia Kantra. I read the first, Carolina Home, all at once last night. If you enjoy small town, family centric romances like those by Kristan Higgins, Bella Andre or even some of Nora Roberts' book series (like the Chesapeake Bay series) you will definitely enjoy the Dare Island series.

[Elizabeth]

Francie wrote: "Still Alice is one of the most powerful novels I've ever read and it's still resonating with me years later. I have a later novel by Lisa Genova on my Kindle but it hasn't made it to the top of my..."

What's the book called? I really enjoy her style of writing.

[Steven]

Divergent trilogy, Abhorsen trilogy, and maybe some Andre Norton.

[Francie]

Elizabeth, the book by Lisa Genova waiting to be read on my Kindle is "love anthony."

[Susan]

Finished The King. Now starting in on This Is Where I Leave You.

Requested Still Alice after all the good comments. Sounds like it is going to be an emotionally rough read but worth it!

[Chip]

I just started reading The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath. All the women I knew were reading this back when I was in college in the early 70s. I knew Plath's story and assumed the book was some morose feminist tract. I'm surprised to find how fresh and funny it is. In fact, Esther almost reminds me of Holden Caulfield in some way. Really enjoying it so far.

[Carolyn F.]

The Mulberry Tree was okay - 3 stars.

I'm now reading Shadowdance

[❤Marie]

I just finished Matched by Ally Condie and will start Crossed soon. I just started Delirium by Lauren Oliver. And, the kids and I have been reading My Big Fat Zombie Goldfish by Mo O'Hara.

[Francie]

I just finished Daniel Alarcon's At Night We Walk in Circles, which is thought-provoking and distressing in parts and cause for smiles in others. Now I'm reading Still Life with Bread Crumbs by Anna Quindlen. I can't think of two more different novels to read back to back, and I'm glad that I read Alarcon's first since Quindlen's story is more optimistic and serves as salve for the painful parts of At Night We Walk in Circles.

[Karisa]

I am finishing up Hoffman's Museum of Extraordinary Things. It's good but a bit muddled at times.

I just finished Red Rising and it is a MUST READ for anyone who liked Hunger Games and Ender's Game. It's set in a dark, interplanetary future in which the elite model themselves after the ancient Romans while the lower class toils deep below the surface of Mars. It's not for kids though as half way through it takes on Game of Thrones tones. I'm not describing it well--it's brilliant! It's the best thing I have read in a long time.

[Brendle]

Over the weekend I finished reading Savage Harvest: a tale of cannibals, colonialism and the tragic disappearance of Michael Rockefeller by Carl Hoffman. It's a engrossing story, not only about the disappearance of Rockefeller but about a culture that enabled survival in a harsh environment. Hoffman invites the reader to consider the effect of colonialism on that culture for better or for worse. This book is part travelogue, part anthropological study, part adventure. All of it is fascinating.

[Susan]

Oh! Completely forgot to update this! Finished [i]This Is Where I Leave You[/i] (just okay) and now catching myself up on Laura Childs' Scrapbooking Mystery series. Definitely not high brown literature, but between the New Orleans food references and random scrapbooking tid bits, it is a fun read.

[Julie]

I just finished we are water and it was okay . I had read him many years ago, and this time I didn't feel it. Also I am reading Nash ( marked men #4) and the bride wore chocolate :)

[Susan]

Bride Wore Chocolate?? that sounds tasty!