April 2017 - Ocean Setting Theme

[Peggy]

If those two chosen group reads are not to your liking, feel free to read another book that is set on or under the ocean.

Please discuss your book in this thread.

In order to receive a badge you must:
1. have completed the book before or during April 2017
2. discussed it in this thread. Discussion must be more than "I read the book and I liked it". Discussion requires something more substantial and analytical of what you read, for example, thoughts, opinions, impact it had on you, what was your favourite part, was it what you expected it to be like etc. You may also like to review the book and post a link to the review in this thread.
3. Report that you have read AND discussed the book in the reporting thread (including a brief summary of what you thought of the book).

General Rules:
1. Please mark your spoilers with the spoiler tags along with mentioning what stage of the book you are at so other's don't get a nasty shock.

[Peggy]

I started my book yesterday already, The Maracot Deep. I had a lot of train time to kill and was in between books, and I was not looking forward to reading this (but it also fits my year long challenge where I answered 'undersea' so it just has to be done), so I figured I just start on it right away to get it over with. But it's actually not bad at all! I expected something boring and hard to follow, but it's quite entertaining and I don't mind reading it. I'm even wondering about the things that will happen.

[Janice, Moderator]

It sounds interesting Peggy. I'm intrigued by all things "Atlantean", so will be interested in your comments on this book.

[Cherie]

You might want to edit the first part of your message to remove the "lost" theme and change it to "on or under the ocean", Peggy.

I am waiting for my book from the library. Aubrey/Maturin #16.

[Peggy]

Oops! Thanks Cherie! I thought I had changed everything. I'll do it on my computer tomorrow.

[Cherie]

I want to know about your book too, Peggy. Yo've made pretty fast progress. I have it on my TBR list now. If my library book doesn't come through, I might switch. I may have read it years ago, but don't remember.

[Peggy]

I finished this afternoon. It was a quick read and much more enjoyable than I expected. I gave it 3 stars. I would never have read if I hadn't needed an undersea book for the year long challenge. The writing was sometimes a bit more complicated than more modern books and I had to reread a couple of sentences, and there was some technical and biological stuff that I didn't care so much about and didn't feel like looking up, but overall it was an engaging story. Not as action packed as modern adventure or SF books I think (not sure, not my genre really) but still plenty of stuff happening to keep turning the pages and wanting to find out how it all ends.

[Cherie]

Awesome, Peggy! I definitely have to check it out. I am interested in the science stuff - just to see what Doyle wrote.

[Peggy]

I never read Sherlock Holmes, partly because I thought the writing would be stuffy, but I'm more willing to give it a chance now.

[Cherie]

Those slacker readers at my library finally finished my "ocean" theme book, so I will be listening to The Wine-Dark Sea as soon as I download it to my iPod.

[Trudy]

I read Shadow Divers for this month's theme. What a book! This book had everything. WWII military (U-boat) history, which I would normally find tedious, was fascinating. The descriptions of the techniques and extreme skills and dangers of deep sea diving and shipwreck diving were powerful and often had me holding my breath. The lives of the characters (and competitiveness between them) were told in sufficient depth to give life to the story and care what happens. There was mystery and intrigue, obsession, and sadness. This is a very readable nonfiction book. I give it five enthusiastic stars.

[Tejas Janet]

I'm glad you enjoyed Shadow Divers so much, TrudyAn. It was a five star read for me, too. But I'm not up for discussing it beyond this general comment. I'll get around to rereading it sometime possibly so I can enjoy it all over again! Just wanted to voice my agreement.

[Peggy]

Great that you read a 5-star book TrudyAn!

Don't forget to also report in the reporting thread for a badge :)

[Lynn]

So I've read Into the Deep

I honestly would not have picked this book up if it wasn't for this group read and needing an undersea book for the yearly challenge. I spent hours searching for undersea books but nothing really caught my attention. In the end I decided to go down the 'easy' route and read a YA mermaid book.

In some ways I suppose it was easy, there was nothing complicated about the story. However I found it hard to get through because I just wasn't interested. I've avoided Mermaids stories up until now because we all know the story right? Girl at 16 discovers she's a mermaid and has one year to decide if she wants to stay human or mermaid for the rest of her life ..... oh and throw some romance in the too.

That was pretty much this book, with a YA classic love triangle thrown in there too. Ugh.

It wasn't terrible but it definitely wasn't for me.

[Cherie]

If anyone wants to read/listen to some wonderful stories about those great old sailing ships, pick up the Aubrey/Maturin Series written by Patrick O'Brian. There are 21 books, starting with Master and Commander. I am listening to #16. All of them have been narrated by Simon Vance. I believe Simon Pebbles narrated them too. All of them have been available on Overdrive from my library, and most of them are also available in CD too. The Surprise and her crew and another ship, The Franklin have just managed to survive an underwater volcanic eruption in the Pacific Ocean, not far from the Hawaiian Islands.

I finished The Wine-Dark Sea. It was Patrick O'Brian's first book on the best seller list in America. It was a great story. I love learning all about the names of the parts of the ships and the different names of the sails. It is always interesting to find out the different kinds of injuries the Doctor had to contend with due to different conditions at sea, and the aftermath of battles.

[Peggy]

I was in the exact same position as you Lynn. Sorry to hear it didn't turn out that well for you.

[Lori Z]

I too read Shadow Divers for this month's theme and also for my yearly challenge. I have to agree it was an excellent read. Its really an amazing story of finding the sub and then the lengths that they went to identifying it was nothing short of incredible. I really admire their tenacity in not letting go until they had their answers. I also admire how they respected the final resting place of the men on board the sub. It was very moving. I think one of my most favorite parts was (view spoiler)[ the bromance that develops between Chatterton and Kohler when they started out as arch rivals. (hide spoiler)]. The history of U-boats and the facts about deep sea and shipwreck diving were fascinating. I also found their research process very interesting and the final answers very surprising.

[Peggy]

Glad you enjoyed it Lori! It's one of those books that doesn't appeal to me if I read the blurb, but of which I hear only positive things.

[Peggy]

Last day of the month tomorrow already! Don't forget to report having read a book in the reporting thread in order to get your badge.