Books on the Nightstand discussion
What are you reading August 2014
Linda wrote: "Finished listening to 
Under the Wide and Starry Sky and have replaced it with 
Landline"Kate, I can sympathize. I had total hip replacement (is there partial?) in late May and without books, what would I have done??
Also, the Beach Blanket Bingo has been fun and helped pass time as I did my figuring. reading Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend to satisfy the Booktopia author square.
Started
plus working on
as an escape book. I had vowed NOT to read another WWII/ Nazi/ concentration camp book ... but here I am. What can I say?
Gee I lost notifications from GR. Quoting Steve Mc Queen from one if my favorite films, WHAT THE HECK HAPPENED. PS Name that film .
I just finished
, which was an amazing and emotionally exhausting read. Now I am reading
for the first time, and re-listening to
for my book club.
That happened to me for a few months with the WWII / Nazi books, too, Cindy! I think I may have finally broken free - although I do have Code Name Verity in the audiobook queue...Cindy wrote: "Started
plus working on as an escape book. I had vowed NOT to read another WWII/ Nazi/ concentration camp book ......"
Just finished BYRD by Kim Church (Booktopia Asheville) and it's stunning. I can't recommend this one enough.
The VacationersJust finished the vacationers! Trying to finish up The Wind Up Bird Chronicle (so dreamy) and then get to some more books to finish up my bingo board!
Just finished
One More Thing: Stories and Other Stories. Loved it, and I don't usually like reading short stories.Now I'm on
The Goldfinch,
The Book of Life, and
The Weight of Blood.My library "New Release" requests seem to pile them on all at the same time!
Cindy, I've had the same fight with WW II. I love it! But you can't go wrong with the new Doerr. It's so good.
Good to hear! I was intrigued, but on the fence. Kalen wrote: "Just finished BYRD by Kim Church (Booktopia Asheville) and it's stunning. I can't recommend this one enough."
Finished Everything Beautiful Began After
, have now begun Hidden In Paris
.
Listening to The Martian on audio and really liking it--finally discovered how to enjoy audiobooks! This morning finished The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry. One more Booktopia Asheville book to finish.
Melissa wrote: "Feeling guilty because I am not loving The Fault in Our Stars."I was so-so on it too. I'm not sure if it's because I'm not a teenager...but even some of my friends have LOVED it. I thought it was good but not something I would rave over.
Debbie: "Listening to The Martian on audio and really liking it--finally discovered how to enjoy audiobooks!"
I loved The Martian. I listened to it too, and the narrator really captures Mark's tone--full of humor and attitude. A middle-grade's book that's really good on audio is The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom.
Sue wrote: That happened to me for a few months with the WWII / Nazi books, too, Cindy! I think I may have finally broken free - although I do have Code Name Verity in the audiobook queue...
Code Name Verity was one of my favorite books last year. I hope you give it a try.
Melissa wrote: "Feeling guilty because I am not loving The Fault in Our Stars."I was meh with it, I know I was in the extreme minority so I just stayed quiet lol
Oh I have to interrupt this month's reading as 2 books came in from reserve at the the Hennepin Co. Library: Peter Heller's The Dog Stars andAll the Light We Cannot See. Geesh! I'm all over the place, thanks to your recommendations and posts, GoodReaders!
Ugh! I couldn't do it! I couldn't get through Hidden in Paris and I don't know why!Pick up M R James Ghost Stories of an Antiquary shortly after. Right off the bat, I'm loving it!
Should I get the new Murakami in print or audio? Has anyone seen the illustrations and are they "not to be missed"?
I am reading (I am a book polygamist):• The Lady And The Unicorn
• Mrs. Hemingway
• Bittersweet
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
• The Circle
• The Cuckoo's Calling
• The Invention of Wings
Melissa W wrote: "I am reading (I am a book polygamist):• The Lady And The Unicorn
• Mrs. Hemingway
• Bittersweet
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
..."
I love it. I'm a book polygamist as well.
Becky wrote: "Melissa wrote: "Feeling guilty because I am not loving The Fault in Our Stars."I was meh with it, I know I was in the extreme minority so I just stayed quiet lol"
Melissa, don't feel guilty! I think this can happen when there's so much hype about a book that might not deserve it. I thought it was sweet, that's all. I felt meh about We Were Liars, I think because there were such great reviews.
I say this in all sincerity because I know that words don't always come across correctly on the internet due to lack of body language, intonation, etc. and I don't mean to offend anyone. I loved both The Fault in Our Stars and We Were Liars. When someone says they didn't like them what would really be helpful to me is a suggestion of a similar book that was better written. Certainly the fact that you didn't like it is your opinion and you're entitled to it but it really isn't helpful to others who are looking for great books to read.
Among other things, I'm reading this:
Just got a gig to play Charlie in a stage production next summer.
Just got a gig to play Charlie in a stage production next summer.
I saw the movie, which was incredibly intense and well-acted, but didn't read the book. Good luck with the part!Eric wrote: "Among other things, I'm reading this:
Just got a gig to play Charlie in a stage production next summer."
Melissa W wrote: "I am reading (I am a book polygamist) ..."I love this description! I am one, as well. My husband and friends think it's weird that I read more than one book at a time. I tell them, do you watch the same TV show all day every day? I read what my mood dictates at the particular time that I feel like sitting down to read. I always am bouncing back and forth between a fiction and a nonfiction, at the very least.
Currently I'm reading:
Carl Sagan: A Life by Keay Davidson
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
Temptation by Douglas Kennedy
Eric wrote: "Among other things, I'm reading this:Just got a gig to play Charlie in a stage production next summer."
Eric, I wish I could see you in this play. We were fortunate enough to see the first run in Chicago with Stacy Letts' Father playing Beverly Weston just before his passing away. Best of luck and have fun with your production.
Janet wrote: "I say this in all sincerity because I know that words don't always come across correctly on the internet due to lack of body language, intonation, etc. and I don't mean to offend anyone. I loved bo..."I think the critique with some of books is less about how they are written and more about whether or not the reader connected with the story and characters. I have definitely read books that were well written, but fell a bit a short for me in plot, character, theme, impression, etc., thus I ended up classifying them as 2 or 3 star books rather than 4 or 5 star ones. The beauty of the individual reader is: we all read through different lenses and with different expectations. And I enjoy hearing differing opinions, partly why I love my book club so much, that and they are great gals!
Janet wrote: "I say this in all sincerity because I know that words don't always come across correctly on the internet due to lack of body language, intonation, etc. and I don't mean to offend anyone. I loved bo..."Personally I don't think it has much to do with a book that may be "better written", a book can be beautifully written but yet I don't get a connection or a feeling to the story….I loved The Goldfinch, many of my friends did not or they said it was "too long"-that is something I just don't get,( I love long books) but…..I read what I like, I say if I enjoyed it or not & I don't feel I need to explain overly to someone why I did not like a book, it could be as simple as where my frame of mind was on a certain day of reading….good thing there are so many books for us to pick from!!!
& yes, I was in the minority of not liking The Fault In Our Stars, not saying anything about the writing or the story, I just didn't go all gaga for it…..
My feeling is that if I don't know someone personally, I need to give them more than an "I didn't like it". But everyone participates in their own way. I guess I just feel more of an obligation to try to be helpful to this community of readers as I am always looking for something great to read myself and appreciate the recommendations.
If I don't like a book, I always articulate why. I think it's important to be able to articulate your opinions and to back them up with reason.
However, if I don't like a book, I don't think it's incumbent upon me to recommend another, better book. But, that having been said, if you want to find out about books I've liked and why I liked them, just look through my reviews.
However, if I don't like a book, I don't think it's incumbent upon me to recommend another, better book. But, that having been said, if you want to find out about books I've liked and why I liked them, just look through my reviews.
Now Eric, I would never have read Look Homeward, Angel if you hadn't told me that I "had" to so you do recommend books, not because it was "better" than another but because it might enrich a related experience.
Janet, I try to say how I feel in my reviews but I don't feel obligated to expand upon that, like I said, it could be a person's mind set at a certain time , it isn't always an easy cut & dried answer as to why someone does not like a book….I felt I was especially careful with my review of The Fault In Our Stars because it was SO popular & I didn't feel I needed to defend my view….& I am certainly not going to feel like I have to recommend another book to someone….after reading that particular book, I have no interest in reading another of his books, does that make someone else's view right & mine wrong? or vice versa? No, it is a to each his own kind of thing….
No it doesn't make your views wrong. I seldom read reviews unless a link is provided. But when people come here and just say they didn't like a book that was very well received and then others chime in and say they didn't like it either without giving reasons, it just seems more like commiseration than opinion.
Well, like i said, I was trying to be respectful to people who loved it, I have my reasons which I did not even put in my review….& I was just letting a fellow reader know that she was not alone in her feelings…But I can certainly list the reasons I didn't "love" the book, I just don't see any reason to at this point, you read it, you loved it so it really seems like a non issue lol
Here is the link to my review for the book I was talking to Melissa about….https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...I guess I did not know there was a protocol in place for conversation with others on liking or not liking a book….
Becky wrote: "Here is the link to my review for the book I was talking to Melissa about….https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...I guess I did not know there was a protocol in place for conversation wit..."
I can see I offended you and as I said previously, that really was not my intent. I apologize.
Sometimes I write a review to let others know that I am not with the majority opinion, because I sometimes look for this support when I am struggling with a book. Eg...The Goldfinch. First, I love long books, my very favorites are tomes. But, this author spent way too much time getting to the plot. I read 80 pages (I think) and the boy was just getting out of the museum. I was so frustrated that I wasn't enjoying all the "side" talk and descriptions. I have tried again but no success. Then I read some reviews that say it doesn't get any better and that it is overall depressing and that gives me the impetus to give up! So,I guess I am looking for commiseration, but not a recommendation for another book.
When I've had a hard time with books that others have loved, I usually write a review and that brings out the commiserators. But they usually comment on my review and not in the public forum. I really like to make and receive recommendations. After I read the Goldfinch, I told a ton of people that I liked it but I didn't think it was nearly as good as The Secret History (by the same author). This is what I mean by trying to be helpful. There's always the chance that Donna Tartt is just not your cup of tea but there is a reason why she is a well respected writer and I think it's worth the effort to figure out why.
It could be considered helpful to steer someone away from a book they wouldn't like.
Eric wrote: "It could be considered helpful to steer someone away from a book they wouldn't like."But would you base that on your personal knowledge of the reader or your opinion of the author? I think most of us who participate here don't know each other well enough for the former.
It would be based on their reading of my review. If I didn't like it for reasons they may also not like it, I may have done them a service.
I'm scratching my head a bit here...if somebody read and disliked a book you loved, why would you want them to recommend something else for you to read? When I see that somebody didn't like a book that I did (especially if it is a book that I utterly loved), I assume that their tastes are just different from mine. Which is fine. But that is an indication to me that we probably won't share an affinity for the same books/authors--that what resonates with me just doesn't resonate with you. So I wouldn't run out to pick up another book that you recommend. I don't need to hear a detailed explanation of why you don't like the book--just hearing "I don't like the book" gives me a lot of the information I need.
Because I'm always looking for a great 5-star read. Just because they didn't like one book that I liked doesn't mean that I condemn their taste forever...maybe they know something that I don't. For example if the genre was historical fiction and they panned a Philippa Gregory book about the Tudors but Jean Plaidy wrote a book about the same era that they really enjoyed, I'd be interested in that recommendation. Maybe I would like the Jean Plaidy more also. I don't generally find that my reading tastes align EXACTLY book for book with anyone else's.
Along these lines, I like to use the "compare books" feature here on Goodreads because I think it's interesting to see what others think of books that we have read in common and I like to see who might be simpatico with me.
Victoria wrote: "Along these lines, I like to use the "compare books" feature here on Goodreads because I think it's interesting to see what others think of books that we have read in common and I like to see who m..."Thanks for suggesting this feature. I didn't know it existed. I find I'm often alone among my reading acquaintances on my likes and dislikes, especially dislikes of wildly popular titles (e.g., The Goldfinch, Gone Girl, The Sparrow, and Wolf Hall, to name a few) or my love for other ones (e.g., Language of Flowers, A Constellation of Vital Phenomena, The Orphan Master's Son), so I find it difficult to get recommendations from like-minded readers I know in person.
Melissa wrote: "Feeling guilty because I am not loving The Fault in Our Stars."Yay! Two of my recent favorites. Did you know Ridley Scott optioned the rights to The Martian, with Matt Damon to star?
Books on the Nightstand
Books mentioned in this topic
We Were Liars (other topics)Storm Front (other topics)
Skin Game (other topics)
Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands (other topics)
Crapalachia: A Biography of a Place (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
C.S. Lewis (other topics)Rudyard Kipling (other topics)
E.M. Forster (other topics)
Keay Davidson (other topics)
Charles Dickens (other topics)
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Meant to include Robert Crais also.