Henrico County Public Library discussion
What Are You Reading?
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What Are You Reading: February 2018
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I'm currently reading One More Thing: Stories and Other Stories by BJ Novak. It started off well, but has become a bit redundant with rambling stories with no point, that now isn't getting that end of story chuckle. I recommend reading the first 25%, and then moving on. I'll finish it, but hoping I won't be too begrudging in doing so.I'm also listening to 1st to Die by James Patterson, which is one of my 3 go-to authors, when I want to ensure that the story will be good. I'm new to audiobooks, and so far have enjoyed this one.
I just started We Are Never Meeting in Real Life by Samantha Irby on audio and I was giggling all the way to work! Wonderful cultural commentary with a good dose of humor.My current hardcopy read is Topaz by Beverly Jenkins which is both a western and a romance and absolutely delightful.
This morning I started American Fire, about the recent Eastern Shore arson spate. Really digging it. The opening scenes, at a blaze, remind mo of one of Larry Brown's later books, On Fire. Also: Ready Player One because it constantly appears in lists of books that I should like! And it's going to be a movie, right?
Going to finish listening to Dumplin' by Julie Murphy, and I completely dig it. It's about Willowdean, a chubby high schooler, and her former beauty pageant mother. Willowdean struggles to reconcile the fact that she loves who she is, but that everyone around her judges her for her body, so she decides to enter the local beauty pageant because WHY NOT? If you like Dolly Parton even a little bit, then you will enjoy this book because there are plenty of Dolly song references. The book is also being made into a movie, so that's why I moved it up my list. Also reading the print anthology Robots vs. Fairies which is a LOT of fun. Authors include Catherynne M. Valente (LOVE her), John Scalzi, Ken Liu, Seanan McGuire, Delilah S. Dawson, etc. Each author had to select an "allegiance" and determine who would win in a battle to rule humanity, so each story centers either around a robotic plot or a fairy plot and the author gives their reasoning for their selection when the story is finished. So if you dig YA SF/Fantasy, or Adult SF/Fantasy, you would enjoy this book!
I thought We Are Never Meeting in Real Life looked good! Glad to hear a positive review. Thanks for sharing, Barbie!Lisa, I am dying to read American Fire. Glad to hear it's good. Yes, Ready Player One is going to be a film this year.
Lindsey ~ I personally enjoy his earlier books. The main reason is that it was before he co-wrote with other writers. I just feel that I get more of the pure "Patterson" experience in my read!
"A Fool and His Monet"...just for the title! (Free Friday Nook Book)
"Advice Not Given, a Guide to get Over Yourself"
I’m reading No Summit Out of Sight: The True Story of the Youngest Person to Climb the Seven Summits by Jordon Romero and Linda LeBlanc. It’s both terrifying ( I’m deathly scared of heights) and empowering. Jordon realizes at 9 that he wants to climb all Seven Summits. I started reading this because I was chatting with a patron about the difficulty of finding travel memoirs for kids. I am loving it.
"Advice Not Given, A Guide to Getting Over Yourself" ~ A third of the way in, and I'm calling it quits. It's super rare for me to abandon a book. The helpful bits are too buried in a lot of self back-patting. Author sure wants you to know who he's met and who he's taught with, and learned from. Feels not in line with the title at all. Moving on to more pleasurable reading.
Started reading Something Must be Done About Prince Edward County by Kristen Green. It hits very close to home, because I'm from Farmville, and I know the people she talks about in the book. In fact, the author and I know members of each others' families. The story told in this book is sort of the dark secret about school desegregation in my hometown, and I never knew the full story, so this is interesting, to say the least. I'm sad because I left my copy at home today! Crossing my fingers for an Overdrive copy so I can read more at lunch...
Also listening to The Richest Woman in America, a biography about Hetty Green, an eccentric woman who competed against the likes of J.P. Morgan, Rockefeller, et al. in the world of investments, and ended up being the wealthiest woman in the U.S. Her net worth when she died was 2.5 billion in today's money. And she did this with her own fortune -- she never invested anyone else's money. Men didn't take her seriously, and women thought she was weird because she didn't behave like a typical Victorian woman. So far, really interesting.
My husband is listening to Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell, and he won't stop talking about it, so I will have to read that next. :)