Around the Year in 52 Books discussion
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What are you currently reading?
I want to read it, so I hope it is going to pick up in the end!Since I won't be able to complete our challenge plus the 2016 Popsugar challenge, I decided to start the later early. I'm currently reading The Handmaid's Tale (sci-fi) and listening to Red Dragon (recommended by a family member).
Oh and I still have to finish House of Leaves for the 2015 challenge (my last book!), but it's taking ages.
Ha sorry! It is good. I don't want to turn anyone off to it. So far I'd say it's a 3.5 and if it picks up a bit it could end up being a 4. I think because it's a book about a book, a librarian, a mermaid, a carnival etc I just wanted it to be 5 stars, lol. How are you liking The Handmaid's Tale? I read it years and years ago (I think I was still in High School and I'm old!) and I still consider it to be one of my favorites.
I'm reading a bunch of stuff! A Clockwork Orange for my last book in the Popsugar Fall challenge, Charlotte's Web I'm reading to my daughter. I'm also reading Norwegian Wood and listening to The Fellowship of the Ring. I have nine other books on my "Currently Reading" shelf, but most of those are currently abandoned, although I might read a little bit of My Man Jeeves.I can't wait for the 2016 challenge - I have so many books on there that I'm looking forward to reading.
I'm reading The Long Way Home by Louise Penny. Yes, yet another murder mystery. But I am seriously in love with Inspector Gamache so I make no apologies :).Also listening to Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner in my car. This is a Pulitzer Prize winner and a good candidate for audio in my opinion.
Also lurking on my "Reading" list is The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling . I try to read about 20 pages a day. I'm over half way through so I refuse to give up. It's not that it's a bad book, but VERY wordy with convoluted sentences. So I'm struggling a little with it.
Amanda, I don't even have read 20% of The Handmaid's Tale, but I'm already hooked. I love how she brings the explanation of what happened and what's going on in this world bit by bit, teasing the curiosity, but giving just enough not to be frustrated. I never read any book by Margaret Atwood, but I don't know why I know she's going to become one of my favorite authors. I had the exact same feeling with Gaiman and it definitely confirmed...
Amanda and Sophie, I read The Handmaid's Tale this summer, and I was hooked. Margaret Atwood catapulted from never-read to favorite status. Glad to see others are enjoying her, too! I am currently reading The Color Purple, and it is blowing my mind! I waited for a long time for a copy from the library and it was all worth it. After all, it is the book for my personality type... :)
I remember stealing and reading a bit of my mothers The Color Purple when I was way too young (middle school). Maybe I will add it to my 2016 plan somewhere.
Oh, my reading list is over 20 books long... But the one I'm currently currently reading (before jumping to another one again) is the second Corinna Chapman novel, Heavenly Pleasures.
I'm so glad you're loving it, Marta. It's such a wonderful book! It took me completely by surprise this year - I really didn't think I'd love it.
I also read The Handmaid's Tale this year and loved it! I just finished Life of Pi this morning. I loved it at first, but found it dragged on too long.
I have two more at home to read: August: Osage County and The Last Ship. Not sure which I'll start next.
I'm reading "Notes from the Internet Apocalypse" by Wayne Gladstone. So far, so good! Can any of us imagine going back to a world without the internet?!
I also read The Color Purple and The Handmaid's Tale this year and absolutely loved both!I'm currently reading How to Teach Filthy Rich Girls which I originally put on my challenge list for next year, for a book I'm embarrassed to read in public, but as I've just read two very serious and heavy books I felt like I needed to read something light and silly. So I've moved it to this years challenge and replaced it for next years challenge. So far I'm enjoying it as it's a lot of fun. I was a big fan of Privileged (the TV series that was made of it) and it was one of my guilty pleasure shows which I was gutted about when it got cancelled.
I'm reading The Providence of Fire (very interesting but big), The Fifth Season (very good but the begin wasn't interesting) and Statisticity (a bit too heavy on the tech stuff for my tastes, sadly). I'm trying to finish them before starting another book, so I'm side-reading short stories.
OK, it sounds like I need to finally read The Handmaid's Tale. I'm embarrassed to say that I've never picked it up even though I majored in English and lived in the same city as Atwood for most of my life.I just finished reading The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness and found it really eye opening. I'm currently trying to get through the massive (~800 pages!) Pulitzer winner The Goldfinch. I started it in March and have picked it up and put it down repeatedly. It's very slow moving, but can at times be engrossing. I hope to finish it by the end of the year.
You're not alone Michael in not reading it. It's amazing for me as I'm mainly a dystopian reader. I'll read Atwood in 2016 and The handmaid is scheduled.
I'm still trying to finish my 2015 challenge. The trilogy is really killing me. I'm taking my now third stab at it with Graceling. I'm also reading The Demon's Lexicon for a book I own but have never read. It's been on my Kindle for ages.I'm not far enough in either to say how much I care for them but I'll check back later. I'm getting kind of Supernatural/Winchester brothers vibe from The Demon's Lexicon so that can't be bad, right?
Emm the Elf wrote: "I'm still trying to finish my 2015 challenge. The trilogy is really killing me. I'm taking my now third stab at it with Graceling. I'm also reading The Demon's Lexicon..."Thank you for that beautiful gif! *swoon*
*swooning with you Francesca* ;)Michael, I just finished The Handmaid's Tale and loved it, you should definitely try and fit it in next year's challenge!
Michael- keep going on Goldfinch! I found it very slow at first but it picked up and was one of my favorite books of the year!!I just finished Gone Girl and was disappointed. I'd heard such good things and I just wasn't into it. Currently in the middle of Skipping Christmas (John Grisham) and also just started Inferno (Dan Brown). Finishing these two will complete my 2015 challenge!
(Sorry for not linking...I'm on my phone app and don't know how from here.)
Currently reading What's Eating Gilbert Grape and Hamlet. These are for the 2015 challenge which I have been doing on my own. I didn't discover this group until very late in the year. I'm getting down to the wire on my 2015 challenge though. Still have 6 books left in addition to the two I am currently reading. Thank goodness for audio books!
I went through some slow reading periods in 2015 so for 2016 I want to be more consistent in my reading to stay on track with the challenge better.
Angela, I thought Gone Girl was crap. I didn't find it enjoyable at all! I'm glad to find someone else who wasn't that into it.I'm working on a few at the moment - I've finished all of my 2015 challenges, so I'm just reading whatever. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is my main squeeze right now, although it's not particularly enthralling. I've picked up Coco Chanel: The Legend and the Life again to try & finish it off (I started it in 2013 ...) but again, it's not really enthralling, which presumably is why I stopped reading it in the first place. I'm listening to The Fellowship of the Ring which I'm finding way more enjoyable than when I tried to read it. I'm also reading At the Mountains of Madness which is SO DULL, and reading an all-time favourite Charlotte's Web to my daughter at night.
Francesca wrote: "I also read The Color Purple and The Handmaid's Tale this year and absolutely loved both!I'm currently reading How to Teach Filthy Rich Girls which I orig..."
I've been looking for a book that I'm embarrassed to read and may add How to Teach Filthy Rich Girls. I work at a private school where a lot of San Diego's most privileged teens attend so it may be interesting in more ways than one.
Jody wrote: "Angela, I thought Gone Girl was crap. I didn't find it enjoyable at all! I'm glad to find someone else who wasn't that into it.I'm working on a few at the moment - I've finished a..."
Gone Girl to me was ehhh. I think it was my last book of 2014 or I read it over the New Years holiday. I remember trying to finish it up quickly because my husband wanted to watch the movie. I know I was in the minority camp where I was not disappointed by the ending. I did enjoy Girl on a Train more.
I'm on my last book of the 2015 challenge, The Cosmic Landscape, but I've been procrastinating because it has a ton of endnotes which I find difficult to click on on my phone ( I started reading it on my kindle but my kindle broke). I'm also reading The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, which is not as good as I expected it to be. Finally, I just started Between the World Me, with the intention of finishing it after the new year as my first 2016 book.
I am currently on my last book of the 2015 challenge, Les Miserables. Hugo is very long winded. I m also reading "Code Breakers" for my book club, "The Signature of all Things" as well as a vampire thriller which I can not remember the name of. I needed a book to break up Les Mis.
I am half way through Les Mis and almost finished Christmas gifts, just some sewing left. I am going to be done by the 31st. :)
I'm reading 2 books- "The True Adventures of Charley Darwin" (really good mid-school level book) and "The Falls" by Carol Joyce Oates (my first book by her).
I've made a mini-resolution not to start any new books until 2016, so I've now finished off The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Coco Chanel: The Legend and the Life (which took me two years to finish!) and The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry. Still trudging through Lovecraft, but it's like reading a bloody geology textbook - I DON'T CARE WHAT THE ROCKS LOOK LIKE. Just get to the good part!
I just started Kamikaze Kangaroos!: A trip around Oz in a van called Rusty and I find it so funny! I recommend it to all of you who struggle to find a book about a road trip for the 2016 Popsugar Challenge. It's really quickly read, light, fun and a nice way to discover Australia.
I'm finishing up my last two 2015 challenge books: Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood and Northanger Abbey.
Sophie wrote: "I just started Kamikaze Kangaroos!: A trip around Oz in a van called Rusty and I find it so funny! I recommend it to all of you who struggle to find a book about a road trip for the..."Looks fun, Sophie! I'm adding it!
Pam wrote: "I'm reading 2 books- "The True Adventures of Charley Darwin" (really good mid-school level book) and "The Falls" by Carol Joyce Oates (my first book by her)."Pam let me know if you like The Falls. I've had it on my bookshelf for like 10 years (maybe I'm exaggerating) but have never picked it up. I've enjoyed her other books I've read. I'm trying to clear my IRL bookshelves as well as my TBR during this challenge. If it's worth reading I might try to fit it in.
Kathy wrote: "Sophie wrote: "I just started Kamikaze Kangaroos!: A trip around Oz in a van called Rusty and I find it so funny! I recommend it to all of you who struggle to find a book about a ro..."Me too!
Pam wrote: "I'm reading 2 books- "The True Adventures of Charley Darwin" (really good mid-school level book) and "The Falls" by Carol Joyce Oates (my first book by her)."How are you enjoying "The Falls"? During 2015 I read "We Were The Mulvaneys" and I can't say I enjoyed it at all. I wasn't sure whether to try something else by this author or not.
I just finished "What's Eating Gilbert Grape" (just OK...depressing). And now I've started Firestarter by Stephen King. This is part of my personal challenge to re-read all of his books in chronological order. I haven't set any time limit for completing this challenge. I just work several in to my reading list each year.
I have just finished Rebecca and loved it! I just started reading The Christmas Train, and that will be my last book for the 2015 challenge. I should have time to start another book, and I plan on reading one of the books for the 2016 Popsugar challenge.
I'm working on finishing Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee. It was on my list in 2015 and I picked it up 2x and put it back down. I felt like the first part made it hard to hook me in. I'm more than halfway now and am enjoying it a bit more.
Angela wrote: "Michael- keep going on Goldfinch! I found it very slow at first but it picked up and was one of my favorite books of the year!!I just finished Gone Girl and was disappointed. I'd heard such good ..."
Angela, I finished reading the The Goldfinch. You were right, it was worth it. However, I still think it was far too slow moving and needlessly descriptive.
I've moved onto Seveneves for a refreshing change of pace. Has anyone read it or added it to their TBR?
Started Donners of the Dead last night and it's freakin' awesome so far! Karina Halle is one of my all time favorite authors and no one combines horror and romance like she does :)
Mod
I started
last night. After that I'm finally getting to
. that should bring me to the end of the year!
last night. After that I'm finally getting to
. that should bring me to the end of the year!
I loved Gone Girl. I thought she did a brilliant study of psychopathy. I guess it is one of those either love or hate books...I am reading The Brothers Karamazov and The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. One is a rather heavy - and long - classic that is a brilliant study of human nature; the other is a young adult novel that is much lighter but also quite brilliant in examining the human condition - in a very different setting. It is nice to vary it up. Enjoying both.
I finished the 2015 challenge a couple days ago. Yeah! Now I'm reading The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up and The Christmas Secret by Anne Perry.
Kathy, how are you finding The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up? I was tackling the idea of reading it during the holiday, so it may help me organize my home a bit...
Sophie, I'm not too far in but it's an easy read. I haven't gotten to the meat of her ideas yet.
Sophie wrote: "Kathy, how are you finding The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up? I was tackling the idea of reading it during the holiday, so it may help me organize my home a bit..."
I've read it and it and it's um, interesting lol :)
I've read it and it and it's um, interesting lol :)
Right. I can't quite imagine being tidy. Too many books...
Kathy wrote: "Right. I can't quite imagine being tidy. Too many books..."
It's a bit of an odd book-the author believes everything has 'spirits' and she talks to her clothes, household items etc and thanks them for the work they do for her etc etc. Not what I was expecting lol.
It's a bit of an odd book-the author believes everything has 'spirits' and she talks to her clothes, household items etc and thanks them for the work they do for her etc etc. Not what I was expecting lol.
Around the Year in 52 Books
Books mentioned in this topic
The 5th Wave (other topics)Twilight (other topics)
Pride and Prejudice (other topics)
The Devil in the White City (other topics)
Hotel Honolulu (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Louise Penny (other topics)Wallace Stegner (other topics)
I'm about 130 pages into The Book of Speculation by Erika Swyler. I was really excited to read this book when it was first featured here on Goodreads. I mean what book lover wouldn't be excited to read something with that cover? The first chapter sucked me in but now I'd say it's just ok. I like it but I'm not in love with it. Is anyone else reading it or have you read it?