What are you reading? - 2020 Showing 1,351-1,400 of 1,457

[Sandra, Moderator]

I finished Rebecca yesterday, which I though it was exceptional like the previous book I read by Daphne du Maurier, My Cousin Rachel. I already planned to read Jamaica Inn in 2021.

I'm starting today Offering to the Storm, last book in the Baztán Trilogy, which fits the month challenge.

[PattyMacDotComma]

Sandra wrote: "I finished Rebecca17899948] yesterday, which I though it was exceptional like the previous book I read by Daphne du Maurier, My Cousin Rachel. I already planned to read Jamaica Inn in 2021."

I read those three, Sandra, and really enjoyed them, and today I've just nominated Frenchman's Creek as a possible monthly read in another group!

[PattyMacDotComma]

Ian McGuire's highly acclaimed novel, The North Water, is the brutal story of a nineteenth-century whaling expedition that goes terrifyingly wrong. It is also brilliant!
5★ Link to my North Water review

[Peggy]

I recently finished Once Upon a River (which I loved) and People of the Book (which I didn't like so much).

I'm now reading Blood of Dragons.

[Ayacchi]

Just finished Anxious People. I remember voting it for GCA even before reading it, lol. Love the story, 5 stars from me.

[Don]

Finished reading The Man With No Face, by Peter May, interesting book, here is a link to my review
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Jayme, Moderator]

I finished Winter Cottage and will start Luster today. I twisted my ankle and have a hairline fracture on my foot, so I have been spending the last week reading what I want - no challenge reading and I am really enjoying it. I am planning on doing more of that in 2021.

[Sandra, Moderator]

Oh, Jayme, it sounds painful! I hope you get better soon.

[Kristie, Moderator]

That's my goal too, Jayme. Hope you heal and feel better quickly.

[Jayme, Moderator]

Thanks Sandra and Kristie. It's more of a nuisance really. Thankfully I had finished decorating for the holidays that day. The funny thing is that I did it putting the book I was reading on the nightstand and when I reached to turn off the light I lost my balance and I landed on my ankle and rolled it. I have a reading injury!! lol

[Janice, Moderator]

Ouch! Heal quickly, Jayme.

[Kristie, Moderator]

Jayme wrote: "I have a reading injury!! lol."

Ouch!! We think reading is a safe activity and then something like this happens. lol

[Renee]

I am having a hard time finishing anything. My seasonal blues have combined with my pandemic blues to make it hard for me to read, Combine that with usual pain I am just miserable. I do have a new kitten picked out. She is just too young to come and help me find any joy.

I have 8 books going but none are holding my interest

[Jayme, Moderator]

Renee wrote: "I am having a hard time finishing anything. My seasonal blues have combined with my pandemic blues to make it hard for me to read, Combine that with usual pain I am just miserable. I do have a new ..."



Your kitty will be home soon to bring you tons of holiday spirit and to wish you a happy new year. I have found that I am really only able to read light warm lovely stories right now. Do whatever you need to take care of yourself.

[Janice, Moderator]

Change of plans for the remainder of 2020. Only light fun books.

I finished Blood of Dragons on audiobook. Tomorrow, I will start Lover Mine. I need some steamy vampires to fog up my glasses.

I'm dumping Remember Us: My Journey from the Shtetl Through the Holocaust. It's too disturbing talking about the extermination camps in Poland. Instead, I will start Hurricane Force. I saw one review that said Ida Belle had the reader laughing for 5 minutes.

[PattyMacDotComma]

I've just finished Amy Stewart's delightful Miss Kopp Just Won't Quit, the third in this wonderful historical fiction mystery series, based on a real lady cop. New Jersey in 1916. I'm sure glad she won't quit!
5★ Link to my Miss Kopp Just Won't Quit review

[Ayacchi]

I just started Agatha Arch Is Afraid of Everything, not a premise I wish for. I hope it'll get better.

[PattyMacDotComma]

Richard Russo's characters always seem like people I'd recognise. In Chances Are, three guys and the girl they all (secretly?) adored were in college together during the draft for Vietnam. The guys are now 66, having a reunion, but where's Jacy?
4.5★ Link to my Chances Are review

[Gavin]

A bit late, but yeah haven't posted much. Also, do get back to Dune; it's really good.

Anyway, I'm reading Seveneves

[Sandra, Moderator]

I finished Gone with the Wind. It took me 6 months to read, but it was fantastic. 5 stars.

Now I'm going to reread Chronicle of a Death Foretold. I was struggling to decide what to read. This one is short and I know I'm going to like it, although I read like 25 years ago.

[Kristie, Moderator]

I'm reading even more slowly than usual right now, but I have started The Unwilling. I am planning to start Heartbreak Bay next. It is the last book I need for my yearly challenge.

[Roz]

I finished reading We Are All the Same in the Dark today. It was so good. More of a mystery than a thriller although there were some thrilling parts. Half way through I got a bit of a plot shock I wasn't expecting. The characters are terribly flawed but they refuse to be defined by their deficiencies or defects.

[Shirley]

Roz wrote: "I finished reading We Are All the Same in the Dark today. It was so good. More of a mystery than a thriller although there were some thrilling parts. Half way through I got a bit of..."This sounds so good, I ’ve put it on my TBR . Thanks for the recommendation

[Shirley]

Sandra wrote: "I finished Gone with the Wind. It took me 6 months to read, but it was fantastic. 5 stars.

Now I'm going to reread Chronicle of a Death Foretold. I was struggling to deci..."
Love love love Gone with the Wind. One of my goals next year is to reread some of my favourites so that’ll definitely be on the list. I’ve read Chronicle of a Death Foretold too but can’t remember it very well, so maybe that’ll have to be on the list too.

[PattyMacDotComma]

Lucky's by Aussie author Andrew Pippos may have struck me on a bad day. Perhaps I wasn't paying enough attention - I got confused.
3.5★ Link to my Lucky's review

[PattyMacDotComma]

Terrific book by Eleanor Levenson, illustrated by Paul Boston, that is just what is says it is: World Politics in 100 Words: Start conversations and spark inspiration. I give the list of words and share some of the illustrations about how the world works.
5★ Link to my World Politics review with illustrations

Great for adults - not just for kids!

[Peggy]

Sandra wrote: "I finished Gone with the Wind. It took me 6 months to read, but it was fantastic. 5 stars.

Now I'm going to reread Chronicle of a Death Foretold. I was struggling to deci..."

Yay! I'm glad you loved it. I'm not sure why I started reading it, I was sure it couldn't be my cup of tea and then also such a long book, and old. But I loved it too :)

[Margo]

Sandra wrote: "I finished Gone with the Wind. It took me 6 months to read, but it was fantastic. 5 stars.

..."

Well done Sandra! I recently bought it on audio and it's 47 hours long. I read it in print years ago an loved it but I'm nervous about starting it.

[Jayme, Moderator]

I'm currently reading The Empire of Gold the third book in The Daevabad Trilogy.
I know some of you are planning to buddy read the 1st book in the series in 2021. My recommendation is that if you like the series to go ahead and try and read all 3 books as soon as you can, if you can. There are a lot of people in the books and I had read the second book in Jan 2019 and I was lost beginning the 3rd. The story finally came back to me, but I had to keep rereading the glossary and there isn't a big recap.

I was going to start this book in 2021 because it fits a task in the 2021 annual challenge, but it's due back to the library Jan 2 and I don't think I can read 700+ pages in a day and a half lol

[Janice, Moderator]

Margo wrote: "Well done Sandra! I recently bought it on audio and it's 47 hours long. I read it in print years ago an loved it but I'm nervous about starting it.."

I've got one that is over 60 hours (Shōgun) and another that's 54 - The Mists of Avalon. The latter is slotted for the Arthurian legend task for next year. I could have put Shogun in too but decided to space them out.

[Sandra, Moderator]

Shirley wrote: " I’ve read Chronicle of a Death Foretold too but can’t remember it very well, so maybe that’ll have to be on the list too. "

It is wonderful , Shirley. I almost finish it. It is short and every word is perfectly placed.Nothing wasted. It is amazing how you know from line 1 what is going to happen and still you feel nervous as the moment gets close, and even upset and confused when it finally happen. I mean, I shouldn't be surprised. Gabriel García Márquez was a fantastic writer.

[Sandra, Moderator]

Regarding long books, it took me 6 months to read Gone with the wind. I needed breaks from Scarlett. She is too intense to me. She is a fantastic character, but oh my God, how do I needed breaks from her from time to time! And of course I wanted to read other books, finish challenge and book club books on time, etc. But it worked perfectly. I didn't have any problem following the story even with the breaks and I think I will approach other long classics this way in the future. It feels like too huge a commitment to read them all at once. I might go with Les Miserables next, or something like that.

[Renee]

I am finishing a book for a book group. The Firelight Girls. I am not enjoying it. It is too predictable

[Margo]

Janice wrote: "Margo wrote: "Well done Sandra! I recently bought it on audio and it's 47 hours long. I read it in print years ago an loved it but I'm nervous about starting it.."

I've got one that is over 60 hou..."

Wow, 60 hours of audio is massive! I own The Mists of Avalon too Janice.

[Janice, Moderator]

Margo wrote: "Wow, 60 hours of audio is massive! I own The Mists of Avalon too Janice...."

I gave the wrong times. Shogun is 54 hours and Mists of Avalon is 50. Still - mega long!

[Peggy]

A friend gave me her copy of Mists of Avalon many (I'm guessing about 7) years ago. Still haven't read it. Don't think it will happen in 2021 either.

[Shirley]

Sandra wrote: "Shirley wrote: " I’ve read Chronicle of a Death Foretold too but can’t remember it very well, so maybe that’ll have to be on the list too. "

It is wonderful , Shirley. I almost finish it. It is sh..."
Yes I agree. Both Love in the Time of Cholera and One Hundred Years of Solitude are fantastic.

[Renee]

I have been meaning to read both of those books. Thank you for the comment on how good they are. I will help me make choices

[Sandra, Moderator]

I started yesterday Great Expectations as my next classic on the go.

I also started Blood Lure. This is the book I got in my book club book exchange last week. We do it every December, and the only rule is the book has to be from your own bookshelves, no buying allowed. And yes, we managed to do a book exchange via zoom! :D One of my friends played Santa's helper and went around all the houses getting the wrapped book from one porch and leaving another. We then opened our gifts during the zoom. It was great. The friend who gave this book to me said fantastic things about it, and I also liked what I read about the series here in GR, so it is potentially a series I might start if it turns out good. This one is #9. I know, I know. I also like to start the series in #1, but sometimes it happens like this...

[Kristie, Moderator]

That sounds like a great work around to the problem of not meeting in person, Sandra! Very creative and fun solution.

I hope you love the book you got. (Seriously! She gave you #9? lol)

[Sandra, Moderator]

Kristie wrote: "(Seriously! She gave you #9? lol)"

She did. Lol. It is the only one she read also. It seems you don't really need to read them in order and each book is set in a different state park in the US.

[Christina ❤️M❤️]

@Sandra that is so Awesome.

[Peggy]

I love that idea Sandra!

[Kristie, Moderator]

Sandra wrote: "Kristie wrote: "(Seriously! She gave you #9? lol)"

She did. Lol. It is the only one she read also. It seems you don't really need to read them in order and each book is set in a different state pa..."

Oh! Very good, they probably all have different characters then, so you don't miss any changes in relationships and such.

[Esther]

Sandra wrote: "Kristie wrote: "(Seriously! She gave you #9? lol)"

She did. Lol. It is the only one she read also. It seems you don't really need to read them in order and each book is set in a different state pa..."

There are background stories that revolves around Anna and her family/friend. You may spoil yourself for earlier book events but not so much as to be annoying.

[Sandra, Moderator]

Esther, that is what I guessed would be the case. The same thing happened with the Ruth Galloway series. I read #7 first because I needed a book with "ghost" in the title for a challenge, I liked the series and started it at the beginning. I'm in #6 now so the next one will be the first book that is a complete surprise regarding the back story.

[PattyMacDotComma]

Sandra wrote: "Esther, that is what I guessed would be the case. The same thing happened with the Ruth Galloway series. I read #7 first because I needed a book with "ghost" in the title for a challenge, I liked t..."

Like you, I try to read a series in order, but sometimes it doesn't work that way. Lots of GR friends will let you know whether or not you really need the back story to appreciate a particular book. Thank goodness for all of us, eh?

[PattyMacDotComma]

Jane Harper's Tasmanian coast in The Survivors is just as compelling as her outback in The Dry and The Lost Man. Evelyn Bay is such a small town that it's almost a locked room mystery. Loved it! These are NOT part of a series. They are all individual novels.
5★ Link to my Survivors review

[Janice, Moderator]

I finished Lover Mine. This was much better than the book preceding it.

I'll be starting Farthing tomorrow. It's the oldest book on my audiobook tbr.

[Janice, Moderator]

I finished Hurricane Force last night. There were lots of good laughs and chuckles in that adventure.

I'll start Death in August later today. It has a pretty low rating (3.3 avg). One way or another it will be off my tbr. I'll either finish it or abandon it. I received it several years ago as a giveaway from an author. It wasn't even THE author who wrote the book. It was another. Maybe she'd received it to review it and this was the way she decided to pass it on.