November 2014 - Number/s In the Title Discussion

[Cherie]

Lisa wrote: "It certainly is all consuming Cherie! It's very immersive. The writing is really good, it kind of feels like an ode to all the great Victorian gothic literature. Have you read any of her other book..."

I picked up Bellman & Black on the for sale shelf at my library last night for $3.00.

[Cherie]

Gail wrote: "I just have difficulty with auditory processing and multi-tasking because I have Asperger Syndrome, so listening to a story is always hard work for me, no matter how much I practise..."

Ah, Gail, I get it. Thank you and I will shut up now. :) I was in Tae-Kwon-Do with a young boy with Asperger. He was an amazing kid and I loved him to death, once I understood his limitations. I took my Black Belt test with him and he is in College now.
I do not mean limitations in a bad way. I have read a lot about Asperger and understand it affects different people in different ways. I understand what you are saying about audiobook listening.

[Lisa]

Bargain Cherie! :)

Would you fancy doing a buddy read of it at all? Maybe not this side of Christmas and New Year but early next year perhaps?

[Cherie]

Lisa wrote: "Bargain Cherie! :)

Would you fancy doing a buddy read of it at all? Maybe not this side of Christmas and New Year but early next year perhaps?"

Sure! Next year sounds great. Maybe it will fit into our next yearly challenge from Janice. ;)

[Gail]

I know what you mean, Cherie - there are limitations and there are strengths. Well, I guess everyone has limitations and strengths, but when one's limitations and strengths are different from the norm, they stand out more! So if I have difficulty following the subtleties of a casual chat, people find that strange and hard to believe, and if I remember the details of a book I read as a child, they find that strange and hard to believe too! But if someone finds it easy to follow a chat and doesn't remember details of books they read in childhood, those particular strengths and limitations are not seen as strange or hard to believe because they are the norm.

[Cherie]

Gail wrote: "I know what you mean, Cherie - there are limitations and there are strengths. Well, I guess everyone has limitations and strengths, but when one's limitations and strengths are different from the n..."

Yes it is unfortunate that we focus on limitations too much and not on strengths. Khalid is a sweet boy and an amazing artist. He loved to talk about superheros and make up costumes but he could not be quiet in class and used to get us all in trouble for talking to him in class. He was always full of energy and could not sit still in the evening classes, especially when his medication wore off. I could always tell and get him to mind because I raised my ADHD granddaughter (She is 22 and still lives with me). I became his mentor in the upper TKD classes because he did not seem to be able to get along with the kids his own age. They had no patience with him.

[Lisa]

Cherie wrote: "Lisa wrote: "Bargain Cherie! :)

Would you fancy doing a buddy read of it at all? Maybe not this side of Christmas and New Year but early next year perhaps?"

Sure! Next year sounds great. Maybe ..."

Great! I will look forward to that. It will be really good if it does fit into 2015's yearly challenge! Shall we wait and find out what the yearly challenge is and then reconvene in a few weeks and decide on a start date?

[Cherie]

Lisa wrote: "Cherie wrote: "Lisa wrote: "Bargain Cherie! :)

Would you fancy doing a buddy read of it at all? Maybe not this side of Christmas and New Year but early next year perhaps?"

Sure! Next year sounds..."

I guess we have time to decide when to read it and it is always fun to get to the gophering for the yearly challenge, so let's wait to see what we will be doing before setting a date, if it is all the same to you. ;)

[Lisa]

Sounds like a plan Cherie :)

[Suzanne]

I finished Ready Player One for the alternate Group Read for November. Loved it!

[Dawn]

I listened to 4:50 from Paddington by Agatha Christie. I love Agatha and think this is one of her best mystery stories.

[Camilla]

I'm over halfway through 2012: The War For Souls and it's gotten a bit wierd, but I'm goign to finish it anyway. Not as good as I thought in the beginning.

[Jannene]

I just finished The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership. It was a good book but I find it hard to believe that you as a leader has to follow 21 rules. There was respect, trust, timing, adding value to employees, sacrifice, vision, momentum, intuition, legacy, and many more. It was very informative but a little exhausting. If someone wants to be a good leader finding 21 "laws" may be hard to accept and fulfill.

[Gail]

I finished reading 600 Hours of Edward yesterday, although I haven't yet marked it as read here on Goodreads, because I am still thinking about what I will write in a review.

It was a nice little story, although very predictable, with a bit of an unrealistically perfect ending. And I do get a bit fed up with books about characters with Aspergers where the narrative is constantly along the lines of:

'I woke up at 7:23am, which is three minutes earlier than the average time I have woken up so far this year, for the previous 233 days I've counted, and recorded in my data. I know this because turned my head a ninety degree angle to see the numbers on the clock when I woke up. Later I went for a walk, along the same route I walk every day, and I encountered a woman with too much make-up, and she said 'hello', which discombobulated me, because this was a deviation from my regular routine.'

I seriously don't know anyone with Aspergers who constantly thinks like this - we're not robots! And what is it with Asperger male characters always having an opinion on the amount of make-up a woman should wear? I have quite a few Aspie male friends and this doesn't come into their thinking. But, to be fair, a lot of the external behaviour and situations the character got into are pretty believable, and the author did a good job of showing some of the misunderstandings and frustrations that can happen, and also showed that the character cared about other people. I'm glad I read it, but I don't particularly want to read the next one in the series - one was enough.

[Tasha]

I won't be getting to my numbers book this month.

[Elsbeth]

I finished my number-book: Six Degrees of Isolation by Craig Emmel. It was weird, funny and shocking!
Here you can find my review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Pragya]

I finished reading For One More Day by Mitch Albom. I love Tuesdays with Morrie by the same author. I have also read The Five People You Meet in Heaven but can't remember what I thought of it, it's been too long.

Well, going by the blurb, I thought I needed this book right now. To spend a day with loved one you have lost, such an interesting premise. But even though this book didn't handle the subject as I thought it would. It did make for a good read nevertheless. It has been a while since I have become more sensitive to my mother's words and needs. Although I do falter every now and then, I try to make up for it. I don't think I am still doing my best though. This book conveyed in a few words what all a mother does for a child and how easy it is for the child to brush it off until much later when it's too late to make amends. I like the themes Mitch Albom picks up, they are relevant and heartfelt and you end up with a message, something to learn and live by. His writing is simple and precise. The book is of just the right length, neither too short nor too huge. I gave it 3 stars, I liked it.

Has anyone in here read his books? What do you think?

[Cherie]

Pragya wrote: "Has anyone in here read his books? What do you think?..."

I did not have the first one on my TBR list, but will add it. I have the other two on my list, but no time to seek them out or read them yet. Thanks for the review, Pragya. They do look worth looking into. I just checked and saw that I have one other on my list and added still another. I might have to have a Mitch Albom read-a-thon.

[Pragya]

Cherie wrote: "Pragya wrote: "Has anyone in here read his books? What do you think?..."

I did not have the first one on my TBR list, but will add it. I have the other two on my list, but no time to seek them o..."

Lol, that sounds like fun, Cherie. I would say start with Tuesdays with Morrie, it's the one I find myself going back to again and again.

[Cherie]

Pragya wrote: "Cherie wrote: "Pragya wrote: "Has anyone in here read his books? What do you think?..."

I did not have the first one on my TBR list, but will add it. I have the other two on my list, but no time..."

Oh, thanks! I will start with that one first then. Actually, that is the one I have heard of the most, but I have no idea what it is about. I like the title. It makes me think of a TV show. ;)

[Casceil]

I'm still reading Ready Player One. I got to it a bit late for the buddy read, but now that I am about 3/4ths through, I will have to go back and recheck the buddy read thread now that I can read more of the spoilers. It's a funny thing about this book. When I am actually reading it, it's hard to put down. But once I have put it down, it's easy to go days or even a week without picking it up again.

[Sarah]

Casceil wrote: "I'm still reading Ready Player One. I got to it a bit late for the buddy read, but now that I am about 3/4ths through, I will have to go back and recheck the buddy read thread now t..."

Do add your thoughts on the book over in the buddy read thread - we all enjoyed it so much that we'd happily carry on talking about it!

[Cathie]

I loved Ready Player One! One of my all time favorites :-). But, alas, I am doing a re-read of it beginning Dec. 1st for a Buddy Read in another group so I didn't pick it up for this challenge. I should have. Reading Ready Player One 2 times, back to back, would have kept my interest probably more than Tenth of December, which is what I did read.

isn't a bad book, it's just...just...very depressing I found. George Saunders is very "emo-ish"; everything rains on his parade (or his life). Still, though, he tries to put on the happy face, face life squarely, and suck up the feelings of "what's this all worth?".

Every. Single. Story. was like that. There are a few heart-tugging moments but mostly I thought about taking a happy pill (I didn't) everytime I picked this book up to read it. I just knew I was going to feel depressed when I put it down, but I kept reading hoping for something better to come about. Which is how Sanders leaves his book...with a main character hoping that living on will produce smiles in his family. Hope is good; it's even great, but I sort of felt like I needed something more than just hope in the end.

I gave it 3 stars.

[Casceil]

Cathie, I'm interested in your comments on Tenth of December. I was supposed to read it with another group a few months back, and even bought a copy, but I suspected it might be depressing and I never actually read it. Now, I'm glad I didn't.

[Cathie]

Casceil, it got rave reviews on the New York Times. In fact they listed it as the best book of 2014 sometime back in February (???) when there were 200+ more days of 2014 to come!

It might just be me; there is a lot of very dry humor in it. My review of is here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

At the bottom of my review I have a link to Open Culture, a website that lists 10 of George Saunders short stories that you can read for free, including 3 from this book.

You could always read a couple of his stories online and see if his writing appeals to you :-)

[Casceil]

I finished Ready Player One for the buddy read. Here is a link to my review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Lori Z]

I read Top Secret Twenty-One. I love this series! I've seen some reviews where people are getting tired of it, but to me it doesn't get old. I love spending time with these characters and all the laugh out loud moments.

[Cherie]

Lori Z wrote: "I read Top Secret Twenty-One. I love this series! I've seen some reviews where people are getting tired of it, but to me it doesn't get old. I love spending time with these characte..."

I have read them all but this one. I did not care for #20 much at all. I love the characters too, but they can never move on. They are stuck in a timeless loop doing the same things over ond over again.

[Lynn]

I was hoping to read Six Years for the group read but I've run out of time :(
(I do think I'll get round to it next month).

However I have recently read

This was my second Jojo Moyes after reading Me Before You at the beginning of this year and I had kept putting off reading another because I was convinced that I would be disappointed after loving that one so much.

However I wasn't disappointed, in fact I thought it was great. The books was full of wonderful imperfect-perfect characters with quirky humour set alongside a simple but lovely story.

[Camilla]

I finished my book 2012: The War For Souls yesterday. I ended up giving it three stars, although the book definitely deteriorated towards the end. Maybe 2.5 stars would have been more accurate.

[Almeta]

I thought I would be reading Ready Player One for this and that did not happen within the time frame.

Instead, I read 10 Books That Screwed Up the World: And 5 Others That Didn't Help.

Almeta's Review of Books that Screwed Up the World

[Canadian Dragon]

Hi Kat. I think I was missed I read REady Player oNe

[Kat]

Tasha wrote: "Hi Kat. I think I was missed I read REady Player oNe"

No, I got you :) https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/... - unless this is not you?

[Canadian Dragon]

Thanks I see it now :)