What books are you reading now? (2020) Showing 951-1,000 of 2,222

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

Chrissie wrote: "It is suppose to be a satire, a spoof on religion....and more, according to the prologue!"

Sounds simply awful.

[Chrissie]

Nigeyb wrote: "Two stars? Ouch"

Two stars is supposed to mean the book is OK, and that is what it was for me. Yeah, it was funny and there are clever lines Even if there are people like the two so-called friends drawn in the book, they are rather extreme.

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

Chrissie wrote: "Two stars is supposed to mean the book is OK, and that is what it was for me. "

I think most people do not use the GR scale. For me, 2-stars is sub-par, a book that I didn't hate, and one that has lots of flaws.

[Nigeyb]

I define it as Elizabeth has above


My ratings go something like...

5 stars - Wonderful
4 stars - Good
3 stars - Enjoyable but not exceptional
2 stars - Below par/flawed
1 star - Poor/terrible

I didn't know there was a GR scale

[Chrissie]

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Chrissie wrote: "Two stars is supposed to mean the book is OK, and that is what it was for me. "

I think most people do not use the GR scale. For me, 2-stars is sub-par, a book that I didn't hate,..."

I use the rating system established at GR from the start. I have been a member from practically the start. To change how I rate would make comparisons difficult. Moreover, I am not rating to help Amazon or any other book dealer sell books or to make them seem better than they are. Reading as much as I do makes me picky. If a person gives a high rating to many books that rating looses its value.

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

I became a GR member in Feb 2009 - not the start, but early. It was at least 2 years before I knew there was a GR scale. I just used common sense. Neither am I trying to help Amazon - I've never rated there and my accounts are not linked. What I rate and review here, stays here. But I completely disagree that a number of 4- and 5-stars loses value. I think most people intend to choose books that they'd like - why would anyone go out of their way to read a book they didn't expect to like? So it seems both likely and reasonable that a person's ratings would tend toward those ratings. That said, I don't use the average rating on a book as an indicator of whether *I* would like a book.

[Roman Clodia]

Chrissie wrote: "As a book of satire, yes, it is amusing, but as a whole it wasn't a winner for me. I still appreciate the recommendation."

I'm not completely surprised that this wasn't really for you, Chrissie - for me, it's far more than merely a satire - still, glad that you gave it a try!

[Nigeyb]

Oh yes - a lot more than a satire. But we all notice different things in books.


Chrissie wrote: "I use the rating system established at GR from the start"

Have you got a link to this system Chrissie?

I had no idea there was an official GR rating system

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

Nigeyb wrote: "Have you got a link to this system Chrissie?"

Just hover over the stars when you rate.

[Nigeyb]

Ah. OK. Thanks. Never noticed that before


I'm a bit confused though - it seems to be a very similar definition to what I/we outlined above...

5 - it was amazing
4 - really liked it
3 - liked it
2 - it was ok
1 - did not like it

I'd still still have 2 as a negative rating - the rater is not saying she "liked it", just that "it was ok" which to me is the same as below par, flawed etc. In short, a bit meh

[Brian E]

i know the Goodreads system but was used to how I rated books and don't follow it. I've long thought that Chrissie is one of the few who use the true Goodreads rating. Most, including me, rate more like a school grading system with:

5 stars - A
4 stars - B
3 stars - C
2 stars -D
1 star - F

For us, 3 stars means average or OK and 2 stars means below average. Under the Goodreads and Chrissie system, their C grade, or "just OK" rating - is 2 stars rather than 3 stars.
I've also found that a book's Amazon rating is generally about .2 or .3 points higher than it's Goodreads ratings.

[Chrissie]

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Chrissie wrote: "It is suppose to be a satire, a spoof on religion....and more, according to the prologue!"

Sounds simply awful."

Laxness got the Nobel for literature in 1955 so I figured why not try him. I like to test different writing styles. I am not blown away so far. What is drawn is absurd. It is hard to know if it is the fault of the translation or the writing itself.

[Chrissie]

Nigeyb wrote: "Ah. OK. Thanks. Never noticed that before


I'm a bit confused though - it seems to be a very similar definition to what I/we outlined above...

5 - it was amazing
4 - really liked it
3 - liked it
..."

Elizabeth answered your question to me! Now you know.

You're right there are not huge differences! I explain in my review my thoughts.

[Chrissie]

Please accept that not everyone has to love a book you love yourself.

[Chrissie]

Roman Clodia wrote: "Chrissie wrote: "As a book of satire, yes, it is amusing, but as a whole it wasn't a winner for me. I still appreciate the recommendation."

I'm not completely surprised that this wasn't really for..."

Thanks for understanding. I agree that the prose is observant, clever and witty . I do think the character portrayal come across well, albeit both are extreme. I prefer realism. The message though gives me trouble. One may be most alive when rushing towards one's death, but then what? Dead, you can do nothing. Furthermore, it is interesting to note that it is now Reva who has become more detached, and did she have any other choice than to (view spoiler)[jump< (hide spoiler)]?!

[Hugh]

The only Laxness I have read is Independent People, which was very powerful but remorselessly bleak.
I have to admit that my ratings err on the side of generosity, but I like to think I choose books I am likely to enjoy. There is no objectivity in ratings whatever GR may suggest, and in any case a review is far better.

[Chrissie]

Hugh wrote: "The only Laxness I have read is Independent People, which was very powerful but remorselessly bleak.
I have to admit that my ratings err on the side of generosity, but I like to think I choose boo..."

I like bleak. The day Independent People becomes available to me I will read it, regardless of how I react to the book of his I am reading now. Most authors have good and bad books.

When I go into a book I don't know what I will think. Book descriptions focus predominantly on plot, which is only one of the many elements that make a book what it is.

Also I do like trying books outside my comfort zone.

[Roman Clodia]

I tried Laxness' The Fish Can Sing which was quietly charming but it didn't wow me. Maybe one of the bleaker books would be more to my taste.

And to echo Hugh, all book ratings are completely subjective, of course, and can even vary in the same reader according to our mood, age etc.

[Judy]

I just read a mini book Half-truths and Semi-miracles: A Short Story by one of my favourite authors, Anne Tyler. I thought this was a great, bitter-sweet short story, but was very glad to have borrowed it from the elibrary rather than buying, as it was very short and only took about 10 minutes to read.

I am keen to read Tyler's new novel, Redhead by the Side of the Road, but will wait until I have finished one or two other books first. I will probably have to buy that one as the elibrary doesn't have it, but I do usually end up buying Tyler's books anyway!

[Susan]

I am not always keen on books outside my comfort zone, but I did feel like something different recently - a little less linked to reality, I suppose. Having floundered with Titus Groan previously, I am enjoying it on a second outing. So, sometimes books do deserve a second try and you may not just be in the mood, or - perhaps - at the right moment, for it to speak to you.

[Roman Clodia]

Chrissie wrote: "The message though gives me trouble. One may be most alive when rushing towards one's death, but then what?"

I think Moshfegh captures a certain millenial malaise and the alienation of western late capitalism: all idealism has been exposed as illusion, we're made to worship the surface and superficial, we're surrounded by things and more things and have to aspire to even more things to keep the engine of capitalist growth moving... the book asks can we reset, even at an individual level, and achieve even a moment of authentic liberation and life? That's what it said to me, at least ;)

[Nigeyb]

That's it in a nutshell RC - and stated more articulately than I could manage. I love your contributions and insights.

[Roman Clodia]

Aw, shucks {blushing} :))

[Chrissie]

Roman Clodia wrote: "I tried Laxness' The Fish Can Sing which was quietly charming but it didn't wow me. Maybe one of the bleaker books would be more to my taste.

And to echo Hugh, all book ratings ar..."

Totally agree on the subjectivity of reviews.

Re: Under the Glacier and Laxness--it is totally weird, absurd, the opposite of bleak. It is meant to be funny. One gets a mix of science fiction, philosophy, humor, allegory and fable. If it were not short, I would quit it. I doubt it will turn around. The writing is messy, lurching between different styles and topics. It switches back and forth from third to first person narrative. Characters go by several names. It's bizarre.

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

Chrissie wrote: "Laxness got the Nobel for literature in 1955 so I figured why not try him. I like to test different writing styles. I am not blown away so far. What is drawn is absurd. It is hard to know if it is the fault of the translation or the writing itself.
"

It wasn't that it was Laxness. You said it was "a satire, a spoof on religion" which is the part I thought sounded simply awful. I say that because, though I am an atheist, I think making fun of religion is beyond the pale.

[Joy D]

Short poetic book about loss and friendship:

Another Brooklyn by Jacqueline Woodson - 3 stars - My Review

[Chrissie]

My review of Under the Glacier by Nobel laureate Halldór Laxness: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Now I am going to go back to another by Émile Zola. This time --The Beast in Man.

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

I hope you like that one, Chrissy. It was a 5-star read for me.

[Chrissie]

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "I hope you like that one, Chrissy. It was a 5-star read for me."

Sounds good. I need a really good one now, after my last two books!

[Chrissie]

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Chrissie wrote: "Laxness got the Nobel for literature in 1955 so I figured why not try him. I like to test different writing styles. I am not blown away so far. What is drawn is absurd. It is hard ..."

You didn't explain. There was no way of knowing what you meant.

Humor being good or bad depends on how it is done and you don't know that until you have read the book.

[Jan C]

Started 3 books this week (at least) - Anne Morrow Lindbergh: A Gift for Life, Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President and The Lost Detective: Becoming Dashiell Hammett.

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

Those sound good, Jan. I have read the Millard.

[Jan C]

A friend on FB was talking about reading it and I noted that I had it but hadn't read it. So after much searching I finally located it, after locating the other two books of hers that I have (Hero of the Empire: The Boer War, a Daring Escape, and the Making of Winston Churchill and The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey).

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

I read The River of Doubt first, and then realized I really like the way she writes. I should try to get to Hero of the Empire, too.

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

I'm wrong. I haven't read Destiny of the Republic. I was thinking about a different book.

[Roman Clodia]

I've started re-reading Beloved by Toni Morrison - it's so intense and harrowing that I'm going to need something light-hearted as a companion piece. But wow, Morrison just never makes a wrong step. Are there other fans here?

[Brian E]

Two days ago I finished Hero of the Empire: The Boer War, a Daring Escape, and the Making of Winston Churchill. I liked it, but probably enjoyed her Destiny of the Republic more because of its revelations about President Garfield and his assassination, a subject I mistakenly thought I knew about.
I did enjoy all 3 of Millard's books, just a bit less than I enjoy Hampton Sides' books. What both Sides and Millard do well is describe "treks." Millard does it in 2 of her three books:
Hero of the Empire: The Boer War, a Daring Escape, and the Making of Winston Churchill: Winston's escape from Boer prison;
The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey: Teddy's travel up an Amazon tributary;
and Hampton Sides' in his books:
In the Kingdom of Ice: The Grand and Terrible Polar Voyage of the USS Jeannette; and
Ghost Soldiers: The Epic Account of World War II's Greatest Rescue Mission;
and to a lesser extent in:
On Desperate Ground: The Marines at The Reservoir, the Korean War's Greatest Battle,
Hellhound on His Trail: The Stalking of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the International Hunt for His Assassin and
Blood and Thunder: An Epic of the American West, set in New Mexico but also has Kit Carson's travels

With these books, because of the trek/travel, I find myself often looking at the maps in the front of the book. It seems I enjoy having maps to follow the action.
I like both Millard's and Sides books better than the late period David McCullough. I am currently reading his The Pioneers: The Heroic Story of the Settlers Who Brought the American Ideal West.
NOTE: Sorry to drone on about Sides here when he has his own thread.

[Chrissie]

Jan, Elizabeth and Brian, Candice Millard is such a god author. I recommend all three of her books. My favorite was The River of Doubt, which I gave five stars! The others I gave four. The feel of the Amazon really grabbed me.

[Chrissie]

I have had no computer for the last couple of days!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HORRIBLE!

[Kathleen]

Roman Clodia wrote: "I've started re-reading Beloved by Toni Morrison - it's so intense and harrowing that I'm going to need something light-hearted as a companion piece. But wow, Morrison jus..."

Morrison fan? Absolutely. She just knocks me down. I read Beloved a long time ago now, but still remember many of the details. My favorite of hers is Song of Solomon. Her writing is so magical!

[Roman Clodia]

Thanks, Kathleen. I'm amazed at myself not having read any other Morrison as Beloved is just beyond superlatives - but so distressing, I've had to take little breaks to recover.

[Kathleen]

Roman Clodia wrote: "Thanks, Kathleen. I'm amazed at myself not having read any other Morrison as Beloved is just beyond superlatives - but so distressing, I've had to take little breaks to recover."

Understandable! I need to read that again, but must say, I am more than a little afraid.

[Joy D]

Set in Nazi-occupied France in WWII:

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein - 3 stars - My Review

[Chrissie]

Here is one for lovers of Émile Zola and train entusiasts-- The Beast in Man.

My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I have begun Absolution by Patrick Flanery.

R.C. has recommended it.

[Joy D]

Published in 1975 and set in the mid-1960's, this is the story of an obsessive captain and a crew of many nationalities on a sea turtle fishing voyage:

Far Tortuga by Peter Matthiessen - 4 stars - My Review

[Tania]

I've started reading William by E.H. Young. I have loved everything I've read by her so far, particularly Chatterton Square.

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

Tania wrote: "I've started reading William by E.H. Young. I have loved everything I've read by her so far, particularly Chatterton Square."

Have only read Miss Mole by her. I had another couple of my wish list and have now added Chatterton Square. Now I only have to find myself in front of them!

[Tania]

I loved Miss Mole, she was such an interesting character. Hope you enjoy the others when you find the time.

[Roman Clodia]

Chrissie wrote: "Here is one for lovers of Émile Zola and train entusiasts-- The Beast in Man."

Can't say I'd define myself as a train enthusiast but Zola does use them as a great symbol of the speedy pace of modernity.

I hope you like Absolution more - one of my good bookfriends hated it, while I loved it.

[Roman Clodia]

Kathleen wrote: "Understandable! I need to read that again, but must say, I am more than a little afraid"

Which is surely how we *should* feel, no? So many terrible things, and yet such beautiful writing and a sense of hope.