Goodreads Choice Awards Book Club discussion
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Your Reads - currently reading or finished (2020)
Bridget wrote: "I'm currently reading Les Miserables, which is a bit of a slog, and The Two Towers, which I'm loving. I'm a huge LOTR fan and this is my first time reading the trilogy...."Hi Bridget!
I love Lord of the Rings, but have never taken the time to read the books. What's the difference between the movies and books? Usually the book is always better than the movie. What are your thoughts?
~Lesley
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Just started The Night Swim. It's a difficult subject, but I'm enjoying the writing so far.
Lesley wrote: "Bridget wrote: "I'm currently reading Les Miserables, which is a bit of a slog, and The Two Towers, which I'm loving. I'm a huge LOTR fan and this is my first time read..."I'm halfway through the last book now and I've loved all of them. The movies are fairly accurate. Obviously there are some changes here and there. There's somethings that I prefer in the books and some that I prefer in the movies. The movies are not ruined for me, which I'm grateful for since it's my favorite movie series. The beginning of the first book is a little dry, I honestly wasn't that into it until they got to Moria. If you like the movies, I would highly recommend reading the books. They're fairly quick reads, each has only taken a few weeks and I'm only reading about two chapters a day. There is some old timey language used, but they're very easy reads.
i just finished 28 Summers by Elin Hilderbrand. I loved this book. i have read several by her but this may be my favorite so far It's about two people who meet through the main character's brother. They agree to meet at the same beach house every summer no matter what. This gets complicated over the years as you can imagine. It's such a sweet story. I would give it 10 out 10. I love to hear about others thought of this book.
Karen wrote: "i just finished 28 Summers by Elin Hilderbrand. I loved this book. i have read several by her but this may be my favorite so far It's about two people who meet through the main character's brother...."I have that book up next. I can't wait! I recently found this author and I have loved every thing she has written!
I just started The Book Thief. No opinion yet.
I loved book thief I love any book written about wwII
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Tam wrote: "Thanks Lynn! It was and it's a joy to discover an author that can really craft a story. I loved What the Wind knows. It made me go research Michael Collins and that period of time in Ireland. I kne..."Same here. I also read another novel with Michael Collins as the inspiration after reading this and tried adding him into a nanowrimo I was attempting (failed.)
Tam wrote: "Thanks Lynn! It was and it's a joy to discover an author that can really craft a story. I loved What the Wind knows. It made me go research Michael Collins and that period of time in Ireland. I kne..."another (hard to find and older ) book I read about Michael Collins after researching him from reading Amy Harmon's book was
Unique and fun read.
Mervat wrote: "I'm currently reading The Silent Patient. It's about a woman who killed her husband. So far so good."I agree. It sucks you in from the very first page. I hope the momentum continues. . .
I'm currently reading "Tender is the night" by F.S.Fitzgerald. I'm into the atmoshere of that epoch. I enjoy the author's style of writing, poetic in some way.
I'm almost halfway through "The Nickle Boys" for one of the group reads this month.I'm curious if anyone has tried the Once Upon a Bookclub subscription box. I just got my first one and the book is The Daughters of Foxcote Manor. I'm not too far into it but so far am enjoying it.
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Now, I'm back to The Lake House, which I'm also enjoying, and starting The Coast-to-Coast Murders.
My review of Don't Look for Me: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
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My Coast-to-Coast Murders review
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I am starting Bird Box. It seems like it will be a good Halloween-time read.
I'm also starting Shadow Sands for a review. It is the 2nd book in the Kate Marshall series. I just finished the first book, Nine Elms, and really enjoyed it. I liked the main characters so I look forward to seeing where Bryndza goes with their stories.
I am currently reading Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrel. Anf its so well written and so engaging.Also, Homo Deus, which is not as entertaining as Sapiens but definitely gives you food for thoughts.
And lastly, Positive discipline, and so far I am finding it very useful.
I just finished The Revenant and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and then binged the new Netflix series Ratched, which is a prequel to One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.I'm currently reading The Book of Two Ways and The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper. I intend to start Phantom very soon.
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I need to look into Ratched. A friend just mentioned to me yesterday that she also binged it and she loved it.
What do you think of The Five so far? I have it from the library, but haven't had time to start it.
I've read the Five... the author focuses on the victims more than the killer and you will learn how these women were not just victims of jack the ripper but also of a cruel time when the worst thing that could happen to you would be to be born as a poor women who made a few bad choices... it's a very interesting dynamic...oh and btw, i have been puzzling to understand how you can read more than one book at a time? do you read different genres wen you do that to avoid confusion?? I've never tried to this out of the fear of confusion...
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My husband says the same thing. He is a one book at a time reader. I always have at least two books going, one physical and one audio. Sometimes I will have more than that, but then I feel like I don't make much progress because I have to split my time up too much amongst the books so two is my preference.
I don't necessarily have to stick to different genres, but occasionally themes will overlap too much. It is rare, but when books are too similar I put one aside until I can finish the other, then I go back to the one I put aside.
I am also worried that if I read two books simultaneously and I give more preference to one because I like it better, I might feel guilty about the other... :)Nevertheless, I might try this over one the weekends, when I have more time to read and see if it works for me...
thanks Kristie... :)
Finished reading:1. A Practical Guide to Productivity: Work Smarter, Not Harder;
2. The Prophet;
3. Parvathy's Well & other stories
Currently reading:
1. The Girl with the Silver Star;
2. A Practical Guide to Emotional Intelligence: Get Smart about Emotion;
3. Gone Girl - No idea why I am never able to complete this book, dying to read and finish this book for once...Feedback without spoilers needed if anyone has read this book as I really don't like to keep books on the DNF list
Gunit Kaur Kalada wrote: "I've read the Five... the author focuses on the victims more than the killer and you will learn how these women were not just victims of jack the ripper but also of a cruel time when the worst thin..."I usually have at least 3 books going. I have my monthly Audible book, one actual book for home, and one book for work. Having that separation of when I'm reading, or listening, helps me to differentiate the books.
Bridget Limeburner, I do the same. But with one audible, two books for home and one for work that I never count cause it's on algorithms or such
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This definitely does happen to me sometimes! I don't feel guilty though, just read the one I'm i the mood for. :) Good luck!
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This was not a favorite of mine. In retrospect, I think I could have left it on the DNF list and been fine with it. I really don't understand what all the hype was about. 🤷♀️ I think I gave it 3 stars and that might have been generous. That's not really the popular opinion though.
Kristie wrote: "Apurva wrote: "3. Gone Girl - No idea why I am never able to complete this book, dying to read and finish this book for once...Feedback without spoilers needed if anyone has read this book as I rea..."Phew!! Thanks a lot. Now I am happy and not guilty of being the only one with this feeling while reading the book.
Thank you once again! However, will try to read and finish this one for once.
Gone girl was a 3 stars for me too (more like a 2.5). I found it predictable (it's difficult to wow me with twists), utterly dark and unhealthy (not in a good way), and characters were unlikeable to me.So you shouldn't feel bad for not liking this book.
About reading several books at the same time. I can't do it unless they are very different and even then, I end up reading one after the other. The only exception is when it comes to reading one book and listening to another. That works for me. :)
Savanes wrote: "Gone girl was a 3 stars for me too (more like a 2.5). I found it predictable (it's difficult to wow me with twists), utterly dark and unhealthy (not in a good way), and characters were unlikeable t..."Thank you Savanes! I really needed true feedback for this book.
I try to read non-fiction early in the morning, fiction during the day and short stories at night, so that I can manage to sleep peacefully without any suspense!
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That's a good plan, Apurva. I never considered reading different genres at different times of day.
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Gunit Kaur Kalada - Let us know if you try to read multiple books over the weekend and how it goes for you.
Even I used to be a compulsive reader i.e. only 1 book at a time, however, reading different types at different times of the day is helping me read more books in less time. Kristie, I believe you have super listening skills as I can never think of listening to Audiobook, I always feel that I am losing to listen to few important points which I need to remember to be on track of the story.
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Kristie - Thank you for sharing your experience! I will try to start with some easy Audiobooks in the coming days. I will let you know my experience with it then! :)
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They're nice if you're going for a walk. :)
I also don't do audio books for the same reason that Apurva mentioned... I don't think I'll be able to focus... there is a book on my WTR list which I haven't picked because it's only available in audio format... I am planning to give it a shot soon n see if it works for me... And yes, I will try the multiple books at once strategy and let you know how it fares...
I was the same. I thought audiobooks were not books (same debate as real paper books versus ebooks). One day, we had a very long trip by car, so my husband and I decided to try an audiobook and we loooooved it. We almost forgot to stop to put gas because we were so in the story (I think it was a connelly). And then I had to walk and commute a lot more so I started listening to books while running errands and reading books at home. I find certain genres are not suited to that format: epic fantasy and books with many characters in general.
I love to listen to mysteries/thrillers, fiction, historical fiction and chick lit.
ya well I think have evolved from the real paper books vs ebooks debate... so I should definitely give audio books a try too... memoirs might also make a good audio book I think...
Only during this lockdown, I started reading ebooks from Kindle and even though I still don't prefer ebooks completely over physical books, at least I have finished 3-4 ebooks. So I believe I must give a chance to Audiobooks too, will try first with non-fiction audiobooks then some audiobooks which I have already read, and then start with new audiobooks related to fiction, mystery, and suspense.
Gunit Kaur Kalada wrote: "ya well I think have evolved from the real paper books vs ebooks debate... so I should definitely give audio books a try too... memoirs might also make a good audio book I think..."Yes memoirs are a good idea
Just finished Eat a Peach...I am now going to pick two books... Let's see how much progress I make on this...
The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek and Run Away
**Fingers crossed**
I find that audiobooks help me exercise more. If I have a good one I will stay on the elliptical longer. It is a win win. I also figured out the library system for audio books so that is even better!
I have just finished my first experience with Beatriz Williams. The Summer Wives was a great visit to the 1950s, and there were enough family secrets to keep me entertained the entire time!
Kristie wrote: "Good luck, Gunit!"Thanks Kristie!
So I made my first attempt at reading 2 books simultaneously. 1. Run Away, a mystery thriller
2. The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek, a historical fiction
Firstly, I have only finished Run Away yet and I am at 60% for The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek.
But I can happily say that it was a good experience. Because of the different settings/genres of the two books, the stories/characters did not get muddled like I thought they would. The best part was having the option to switch to another book depending on your mood.
For this reason, now that I am done with Run Away, I have picked up The Power of Six, a young adult fiction, along with the rest of The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek.
**Fingers crossed**
Gunit Kaur Kalada wrote: "So I made my first attempt at reading 2 books simultaneously. 1. Run Away, a mystery thriller
2. The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek, a historical fiction
Firstly..."
That's great... I hope you enjoyed you second try!!
Goodreads Choice Awards Book Club
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The Book of Lost Names I've only just begun, but I immediately like the writing style.
The Whisper Man is very creepy and foreboding.
The Orphan Collector is sad and atmospheric. I'm having some difficulty connecting with the adult MC, which I suppose is intentional. I can understand her loss and the grief she is going through, but her prejudice is still hard to handle.
Believe is my least favorite at the moment. The blurb said it was "full of humor and wonder," but it is not. I'm at 27% and the focus is really more grief and loneliness. I was hoping there would be some humor to lighten the mood, but so far the author has not delivered in that area.