What Are You Reading? - 2018 Showing 1,751-1,800 of 2,032

[Sandra, Moderator]

That is a shame, Margo. The blurb sound quite interesting. MB are hit or miss for me.

[Lisa]

Margo wrote: "I am nearly finished Normal People and I am sorry I bothered! It reminds me why I don't read books from the MB short list :-("

Man Booker nominees are hit and miss for me too. Actually, they are normally more "miss" than "hit". There have been a few I have really enjoyed but everything else was either middle of the road, disappointing or I had to abandon. It's very rare that anything truly good or accessible makes the cut and if it does, it doesn't win, His Bloody Project: Documents Relating to the Case of Roderick Macrae being a case in point. How it didn't win is beyond me.

[Renee]

I am not a fan of the MB list They seem to have much different taste then mine

Margo wrote: "I am nearly finished Normal People and I am sorry I bothered! It reminds me why I don't read books from the MB short list :-("

[Kristie, Moderator]

I finished Paper Wife: A Novel yesterday. It was really good. I like Laila Ibrahim's writing.

I just started Where the Crawdads Sing. So far it's good. I'm not in love with it yet, but I'm just at 14% so I'm still getting to know the characters.

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Yup. Man Booker and I have a love hate relationship. When they are good, they are mind blowing. But the others are ... ... so many feelings that can't be expressed in a PG manner.

[Janice, Moderator]

I finished Tower of Thorns. It was almost a 5 star read. I sure am being stingy this year with those 5 stars.

I may start the last book in the trilogy, Den of Wolves. I haven't decided just yet.

[Jannene]

I finished Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman. I really liked the book.

I am working on A Shadow Bright and Burning and Wolfsbane both for my yearly challenge.

[Travis]

Finished Shōgun 52 hrs long but was worth it. Probably a 5 star

Started Insomnia I've been meaning to read it due to it's dark tower connection. Decided not to look up the connection to see if I could find it. The Crimson King. Problem is now I can't exactly remember the Crimson Kings role in dark tower. Lol. Oh well at least I recognized the connection

[Margo]

Travis, 26 hours of Insomnia will be a breeze after Shogun! I must get around to Insomnia soon.

[Janice, Moderator]

You should be able to google Crimson King. I believe there is a Dark Tower Wiki.

I have Shogun to read sometime too - all 52 hours of it.

[Margo]

I just finished Heartburn. It wasn't a great book and and the audio, by Meryl Streep, was a bit of a train wreak in parts.

Only 1 book left for me to complete badge 3 of the ZZ. And to think I was giving up a few weeks back! I'm 60% through The Summer Queen.

[Janice, Moderator]

Great job, Margo!

I've decided to startThe Anubis Gates for the time travel task in the Zodiac challenge. It's highly doubtful I will complete badge 3.

[Kristie, Moderator]

I haven't been keeping track of if my books fit the zodiac because I didn't think I'd make it to badge 3. November & December are so busy that I wasn't sure how much time I'd have for reading.

[Dem]

Finished Milkman.

My review: www.goodreads.com/review/show/2595070487

[Peggy]

I started At the Water's Edge. I don't have very high expectations for it, but you do what you gotta do to finish the zz challenge.

[Sandra, Moderator]

@Peggy, I crossed Sarah Gruen off my list after reading LIKE WATER FOR ELEPHANTS. I didn't enjoyed it.

[Sandra, Moderator]

WATER FOR ELEPHANTS, should say.

[Tricia]

Sandra wrote: "@Peggy, I crossed Sarah Gruen off my list after reading LIKE WATER FOR ELEPHANTS. I didn't enjoyed it."

So sorry you didn't enjoy it, Sandra. I actually liked it a lot, but then I read it at a time when my own grandfather was struggling with some similar things; not being able to do things he once could, getting confused sometimes, feeling lonely because other people's busy lives sometimes got in the way of visiting with him as much as they should have. It was a tough time, and I think the book resonated with me because of that and my liking for it had little to do with the MC's circus life which, of course, made up the bulk of the story.

[Lisa]

I finished my re-read of The Absolutist. Once again it made me 😢. Thanks John Boyne!

I'm now starting To the Bright Edge of the World.

[Peggy]

Oooh one of my two favourites books this year Lisa! Curious to hear what you think.

[Lisa]

Peggy wrote: "Oooh one of my two favourites books this year Lisa! Curious to hear what you think."

I will let you know, Peggy. It was you that prompted me to buy it 🙂.

[Sandra, Moderator]

@Tricia, I can see why it resonated with you. I love when that happens. For some reason I didn't care for it or it's characters.

[Travis]

Finished Insomnia. If I hadn't read the dark tower I don't think it would have made sense. Seems like it could have been a book in the series there's so many connections. And I think some foreshadowing to It as well but I've never read that. Although it appears It may have several ties to Dark Tower as well. Looking online there is ties of It to Dark Tower and It to Christine which gives Christine ties to Dark Tower as well. And now I'm thinking if I read It, Christine may make more sense. I thought Christine was pretty cut and dry but now I have an idea what possesses the car. Man what a world of work the literary career of King has been. And there's haters who think King isn't even a real author just one of those mill writers that pump out trash year after year because he writes so fast

Anyway

I started the Gunslinger. After finishing Insomnia I feel a need to reread the series. Already on second time through the Gunslinger is coming easier. Was more foreshadowing than I could have picked up on the first time

[Margo]

Oh bum! I thought Insomnia was a standalone. I haven't read much of Kings newer stuff including The Dark Tower series.

[Margo]

I've started to read Educated on my kindle, with narration added. So far, (10%), so good.

[Travis]

Insomnia is a stand alone Margo. Several of Kings books are tied to Dark Tower. I'm not saying it wouldn't make sense by itself but I do feel like being familiar with the dark tower brought a better sense to some of the references and supernatural type stuff

Janice read it before dark tower maybe she has an opinion. Or maybe she doesn't really remember

It is a stand alone though

[Janice, Moderator]

Travis sivarT wrote: "Janice read it before dark tower maybe she has an opinion. Or maybe she doesn't really remember.."

I read Insomnia years ago. All I remember is that it didn't make much sense to me at the time. I might have to go back and read it now that I've read The Dark Tower series.

Sometimes, the connections between the stand alone books to The Dark Tower series are pretty vague. They may contain "easter eggs". You can certainly read any of the connected books without reading the series and not feel that you are missing anything.

Having said that, the series may give an added nuance to Insomnia that may make it more cohesive.

Travis, are you rereading the series? I loved that series and would like to reread it someday. That and The Passage series.

[Janice, Moderator]

I finished In the Month of the Midnight Sun for the zodiac challenge. I started The Husband's Secret for the monthly challenge.

[Travis]

Apparently I am Janice. Wasn't anything planned just kind of read Insomnia and picked up so many things I was like I'm gonna read dark tower series agaib and began

[Sandra, Moderator]

I will make a note about Insomnia and The Dark Tower series. Thank you.

[Jude]

I'm currently reading "Fifteen Dogs" and I highly recommend it to anyone in Canada (due to places mentioned in the book) but anyone else can read it too :)

[Margo]

Janice wrote: "Travis sivarT wrote: "Janice read it before dark tower maybe she has an opinion. Or maybe she doesn't really remember.."

I read Insomnia years ago. All I remember is that it didn't make much sense..."

Thanks Travis and Janice for sharing your thoughts on Insomnia. I might listen to it later rather than sooner 😄

I have all the books of The Passage series so if anyone fancies a buddy read I'm in!

[Margo]

I am happy to say that I have finished reading the final book for the ZZ challenge 😊

I finished The Summer Queen. Eleanor was such a facinating woman. This story was good but not great. I prefered Captive Queen: A Novel of Eleanor of Aquitaine as a story but that does not touch on her life pre-Henry. Can anyone recommend a good, readable non-fiction acvount of her life. I understand much is unknown of 12th century history but I would like to learn more about Eleanor.

I will report my final 2 ZZ reads tomorrow (probably) and claim the badge 😁

[Peggy]

Woohoo! Congrats Margo!

[Sandra, Moderator]

Awesome, Margo! Congrats! Can't help with Eleanor, though.

[Tricia]

Nice job, Margo, and with a whole month and a half to spare.

[Janice, Moderator]

I baled on The Anubis Gates. It was too much of a struggle for me to get into. That meant I had to find something else for the zodiac challenge, so will start The Violets of March. I'm in the middle of downloading the audiobook from Hoopla.

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Janice wrote: "I baled on The Anubis Gates. It was too much of a struggle for me to get into."

Oh thank god it's not just me.

[Janice, Moderator]

Not just you. :) Even Bronson Pinchot couldn't narrate it into something palatable.

[Cherie]

Rusalka wrote: "Janice wrote: "I baled on The Anubis Gates. It was too much of a struggle for me to get into."

Oh thank god it's not just me."

Not just you. I started reading it once and put it away for another time.

[Janice, Moderator]

You are the third person to say that today, Cherie. I'm glad I'm not alone. I thought I was missing something because the ratings are quite high.

[Lisa]

I'm bailing out on To the Bright Edge of the World but not for the reasons you may think. I was enjoying it but the print in this paperback edition I have is pretty small and it has been giving me really bad headaches every time I read any of it ☹️. I'm putting it back on my TBR for now and I will buy a different edition and come back to it, although it may not be until next year.

[Peggy]

Oh, that's such a shame Lisa!

[Peggy]

I finished At the Water's Edge which wasn't all that great. I'm starting Uprooted next.

[Lisa]

Peggy wrote: "Oh, that's such a shame Lisa!"

I know! I was going to buy it in hardback originally but went for the paperback because it was cheaper. Obviously I should have just stuck with the hardback. My fault for not checking properly before I purchased it, I guess. I will definitely come back to it once I get a new copy though. I really enjoyed what I managed to read of it.

[Renee]

The Anubis Gates This book had so much promise. I read the blurb. I saw all the award it won. But something didn't work for me. It also didn't really stick in my mind so I cant say why I disliked it. I disliked it enough to put the author on my never again list

Janice wrote: "You are the third person to say that today, Cherie. I'm glad I'm not alone. I thought I was missing something because the ratings are quite high."

[Margo]

Of Lisa, such a shame about To The Bright Edge of the World. Hope you come across a more readable copy.

[Margo]

I am reading The Poppy War. The first half was great but at the moment (70%) it is not interesting me.

[PattyMacDotComma]

Lisa wrote: "I'm bailing out on To the Bright Edge of the World but not for the reasons you may think. I was enjoying it but the print in this paperback edition I have is pretty small and it has..."

You might enjoy an e-book more, Lisa. I know they don't look as pretty or smell like books, but it is just wonderful being able to change the font and the size and the lighting! I love them and rarely read a little paperback these days. The big ones are hard to hold, too.

[PattyMacDotComma]

This brand new children's picture book, My Friend Sleep by Laura Baker, could help youngsters deal with with some sleep problems. I've included lots of Hannah Peck's artwork.
4★ Link to my review with illustrations