EVERYONE Has Read This but Me - The Catch-Up Book Club discussion
FOR FUN!!!
>
The Last Book I Read Was...
recently finished Fevre Dream by George RR Martin, an enjoyable gothic tale.https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
My last read was The Vegetarian and I loved it as much as I was disturbed by it! It really makes you question a lot of things about society. It isn't as focused on vegetarianism as the title implies.
I have finished these books: 
And today I finished
Kim, I LOVED the Vegetarian because of it's symbolic underpinning. Such a scary and profound read.
After putting it off for decades, I finished
The Rape of Nanking by Iris Chang. The first half of this nonfiction book was a difficult read and it may be hard to purge one's mind of just how barbaric the events were. But this book is still a relevant and important read, as it can provide insight into the modern relationship between Japan and China (and other neighbors by extension).
My review - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I just finished reading
which was a fun adventure story that involves WW2, changing timelines and an AI character named Bob. A fast paced book..I'm also reading
which is a nonfiction account about the Donner party. It was recommended to me by a friend as he saw I read
... So far there is some truly fascinating stuff in here. Like the fact years ago Malaria was in Illinois??! I thought that was a tropical disease? What's it doing in Illinois?
Her Name Was Rose by Claire Allanhttps://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...
Wasn't as good as I thought it'll be...
I have finished these two books recently:
Just finished
The Ninja Daughter by Tori Eldridge. Set in noir-ish Los Angeles, this crime fiction features a 25-year old vigilante protector of women.I'm looking forward to this debut novel's sequel.
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I finished three books this week: 
Acceptance by Jeff VanderMeer
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
A Drink Before the War by Dennis Lehane
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Mort by Terry Pratchett
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
And I started reading:
The Girl in the Tower by Katherine Arden
A Little Yellow Dog by Walter Mosley
Apex by Ramez Naam
I just read
, finished it yesterday. I couldn't put it down, I read it in 2 days. Honestly it was very interesting, it pulled me right in and at the same time was tragic at times.
I finished this book yesterday:
It's hard sci-fi.
Finished Out of the Dark by Gregg Hurwitz and Pafko at the Wall by Don DeLillo, currently reading On the Beach by Nevil Shute
The British Are Coming: The War for America, Lexington to Princeton, 1775-1777
Rick AtkinsonThis is a really good history of the beginning of the war. Atkinson continues to yield the inciteful and thoughtful extra comments and information that I have found in his other books.
I am just disappointed that I could not read through to finish the whole war - but I hope it will come - this is book one of a planned three book trilogy.
But the maps, although good, were a bit lacking and I supplemented the book with maps from A Battlefield Atlas of the American Revolution by Craig Symonds which gave more maps still not perfect but it does contain single long page summaries of the battles included and this was, for me a good overview as then as Atkinson was expanding details of the battles I had a better perspective - but maybe for others it would not be so helpful.
A Battlefield Atlas of the American Revolution
If you are interested in this war I recommend the book
It took me nearly 3 weeks to finish nonfiction
The Outlaw Ocean: Journeys Across the Last Untamed Frontier. It was a NY Times journalist's accounts of lawlessness in the high seas.My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I finally got my hands on my last unread thriller of a 13-book series by Zoe Sharp -
Road Kill. It was really good and the last thing to tide me over until #14 gets written, if ever.My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Shadow Divers is a nonfiction deep sea adventure that came complete with chills, suspense, and death. The story was also presented as a Nova episode, "Hitler's Lost Sub." An interesting, quick read. My review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
It's been awhile since I posted here last!This week (the past 7 days) I have finished:
The Venom trilogy is fun for anyone who likes fantasy. And Island gives you a lot to think about in terms of society, education, bullying, enlightenment and lots of other subjects.
The book I liked the least was the Lake Monsters one.
Colleen wrote: "Loved Shadow Divers on audio!"I liked that Kurson had conducted an interview with Chatterton and Kohler after the book had been published.
The narrator did a pretty good job injecting the dramatic elements.
I finished Marie Arana's 
Silver, Sword, and Stone: Three Crucibles in the Latin American Story. It's a memoirist's approach to defining the Latin American character by looking over 600+plus years of history. It was a dense nonfiction to read.My review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I finished:
A Little Yellow Dog by Walter Mosley
Rating: 4 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
and I started reading:
The Vengeful Virgin by Gil Brewer
and
To Walk the Night by William Sloane which is the first book in the collection:
The Rim of Morning: Two Tales of Cosmic Horror by William Sloane
I finished Up At The Villa by Maugham. 3 stars.
I finished
Babylon's Ark: The Incredible Wartime Rescue of the Baghdad Zoo. This was about the daring rescues of the animals during the Coalition Forces' Invasion of Iraq in 2003. I know very little of Iraq beyond the headlines, so I was interested in reading a bit more about it. The active combat definitely increased the tension.My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I have finished these:
All of these are for the Popsugar challenge.
The first book has a pretty cover but I found it rather dull. Wish Club was fun and Devil's Gate made me cry but it was also fascinating yet very tragic.
I read my first graphic novel in eons - The Complete Persepolis
. This was Satrapi's memoir of growing up in Iran at the time of the revolution and under the Islamic Regime.It was fascinating. My review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I have finished these:
Beauty Queens was a group read and the others are for the Popsugar challenge and black history month.
The King in YellowA collection of stories by Robert William Chambers. The first four stories are about the famous King in Yellow. He would later make a return with the help of other writers and become a part of the Cthulhu Mythos, as Hastur. After that we get love stories some better than others. I felt disappointed, it start great but after the fifth it lost the supernatural elements.
I finished
Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland. This nonfiction begins with the unsolved disappearance of a widowed mother of 10 from her Belfast home in 1972. It was gripping, haunting, and tragic and I couldn't stop reading once I had reached page 100.My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I finished:
I really loved this second book in the series, which is a fast moving plot with vampires and werewolves. Mercy is a walker (skinwalker) who turns into a coyote and she faces her biggest challenge. I liked this book better than the first.
this is a historical fiction set in India. It's the story of a young British lady Adela who has a frightening experience inside a cave and the local Indian doctor Aziz who gets blamed. The book comes in 3 sections and I liked the middle part the best. It's a good story but the end (epilogue) really dragged.
I think this is the first graphic novel I read this year. It's a nice change of pace from reading the classic up above. It's the creepy story of a young girl who finds herself caught up in the world of the supernatural.. ancient creatures are after her and want to eat her, because someone "gave" her to them.
The last book I read was After Long Silence by Helen Fremont. Two sisters after many years wonder if their parents who raised them Roman Catholic are really Jewish. An excellent book in the tradition of Stephen Dunbar.
In the last few days I finished:
The Vengeful Virgin by Gil Brewer
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
To Walk the Night by William Sloane - the first book in the collection The Rim of Morning: Two Tales of Cosmic Horror
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
The Pilgrimage by Paulo Coelho
Rating: 2 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
and I started reading:
The Lady in the Lake by Raymond Chandler
The Edge of Running Water by William Sloane - the second book in the collection The Rim of Morning: Two Tales of Cosmic Horror
Moneyball by Michael Lewis
The Woman Who Smashed Codes: A True Story of Love, Spies, and the Unlikely Heroine who Outwitted America's Enemies This biography was an interesting & long overdue look at a female hero of the US military intelligence / counter-espionage efforts during both world wars. I also felt that it set history straight regarding some others - in particular, J. Edgar Hoover.
My review - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper. This isn't a true crimes account but a book about the lives of the five victims and 1880s London. Grim Dickensian conditions but interesting.My review - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I had also finished
Running with Sherman - which is a much lighter and fun read.My review -
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
EVERYONE Has Read This but Me - The Catch-Up...
Books mentioned in this topic
Penguin Power: Dodger Blue, Hollywood Lights, and My One-in-a-Million Big League Journey (other topics)A Witch's Guide to Magical Innkeeping (other topics)
Veil of Lies (other topics)
Cup of Blood (other topics)
The Tudor Bride (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Ron Cey (other topics)Sangu Mandanna (other topics)
Jeri Westerson (other topics)
Joanna Hickson (other topics)
Christina Lauren (other topics)
More...
The Innocents Abroad: Or the New Pilgrim's Progress by Mark Twain
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
and I started reading:
The Pilgrimage by Paulo Coelho