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Read, Reading Now and Reading Next (2015)
Read:
~ ★★★
~ ★★★
~ ★★★
~ ★★★Listened to:
~ ★★
~ ★★★Reading:
Listening to:
Read Next:
The Ocean in the Closet by Yuko Taniguchi – 4**** This beautifully written, poignant novel tackles the aftermath of war and how those aftereffects ripple through multiple generations. I feel I learned a little of the Japanese mentality by seeing things from Hideo and his wife’s points of view. I thought Taniguchi captured the way in which a child thinks, the kind of logic a child would use in piecing together an explanation for what is going on around her. . I loved Helen – her tender heart, her courage and resilience. And Hideo’s quiet strength, endurance and healing heart. And while there is no clearly happy resolution, the novel’s ending looks to the future with hope.
Link to my full review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier – 4**** A wounded soldier walks away from the hospital, determined to return to his love on Cold Mountain. Meanwhile that young woman, raised to be a flower of Southern womanhood, is finding her way alone, with the help of a homeless waif with reserves of strength and the knowledge to survive. The novel moves back and forth between Ada/Ruby and Inman, giving different perspectives on this time during the Civil War. What I loved most about the novel was the relationships between and personal growth of the women – Ada and Ruby. Charles Frazier read the audio version himself. This was a mistake. Were I evaluating the book based on the audio it would get only 2 stars.
Link to my full review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis – 4**** I love the way Curtis writes. I totally believe in Kenny as a narrator, and was charmed by him. I am all too familiar with the events in Birmingham during this period in America’s history, but the horrific events were no less horrific for my knowing what was coming. Children who are not so aware of those happenings may feel the impact of the story to an even greater extent.
Link to my full review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee – 4**** What most resonated with me about this novel is how Jean Louise comes to realize that the father she adored as a child actually has some significant faults, and that his tumble off the pedestal on which she has kept him is perhaps more painful to her than to it is to Atticus. Lee puts the reader smack dab in the middle of this setting. Her prose brings the culture, the physical heat, the townspeople, the smells, sounds, tastes and sights of Maycomb to life. Reese Witherspoon does a marvelous job performing the audio version. From the beginning I felt as if Jean Louise, herself, was telling the story.
Link to my full review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Mod
★★★;
★★★;
★★★;
★★★; 
★★★★★;
★★★Reading:
on audio, reading
Read:
~★★★
~★★★★★
~★★★★★Listened to:
~★★★Reading:
Listening to:
Read Next:
Mod
Ezinwanyi~the Impish Angel wrote: "I loved Mercy Falls Wolves series, but the two leads in Sinner were the characters I had the hardest time with"Cole and Isabel kind of grew on me in the last book, but I'm not a huge fan of the series. I'm trying to finish the series so I can check it off my list.
I like the writing, but I am not invested in any of the characters and that's what makes a great book for me and the books are a little slow for my taste.
Mod
I finished:
★★★★★
★★★★
★★★.5
★★★Currently Reading:
Going to start next:
Mod
why was On Dublin Street just 3-star? What didn't you enjoy?
thoughtless was very angsty
Uhm, well I didn't like the main character so much. She annoyed me so much at times, I know she'd been through a lot and had a bad past, etc. I've read books with a character who'd been through similar things who I could relate to better. I did enjoy a lot of moments though, and the secondary characters were better. I will continue the series, as I know it will be new MCs in the next book. I read Samantha Young's book Hero last month, and really enjoyed that one, and thought it had more depth in the story. I gave that 4 stars, so I thought it was only fair to give this book one less star.
Mod
see, I didn't like Hero, but I loved On Dublin Street. It was very angsty.
The Kashmir Shawl by Rosie Thomas – 2.5** When her father dies, Mair discovers an exquisite shawl that had been kept wrapped in tissue by her mother. She figures it came from her maternal grandparents who had been missionaries in India, but cannot fathom how they would have the means to purchase such a work of art. So she goes to India to find out the story. This is a romantic epic that weaves two stories, present-day Mair and the historical story of her grandmother in India in the 1940s. Parts were interesting, but on the whole I found it melodramatic.
Link to my Full Review
Mod
?
Mod
Ezinwanyi~the Impish Angel wrote: "BC, have you read ?"I haven't, but I really liked The Husband's Secret, so I'm adding more of her books to my tbr. Thanks for the notice!
Mod
?"I haven't, but I really liked The Husband's Secret, so I'm adding more of her..."
I liked that one too.
Lotería by Mario Alberto Zambrano – 2.5** Eleven-year-old Luz Castillo sits and deals the cards of her Lotería deck, writing in her notebook the thoughts and memories each card evokes. This is a tragic story born of crushed hopes and poverty, and resulting in alcohol abuse, and violence. There is great promise in this idea for a novel, and there were some scenes where I saw the writer Zambrano may become. But Zambrano doesn’t give me a believable 11-year-old Luz. I kept hearing the male author telling the story, rather than the girl.
Link to my Full Review
Mod
Dee wrote: "I'm listening to 
and reading 
"Is this your first read of Kitty Dee? I read the first one and enjoyed it. Love to continue the series. How do you like the radio show? Love it.
This is the first time. It's been on the mountain (tbr) for a few years. I had to break down and buy them in audio since I haven't had many minutes to sit and read. The narrator is good, always a plus.
The Inspector and Mrs Jeffries by Emily Brightwell – 2.5** In Victorian London, Mrs Hepzibah Jeffries is the housekeeper for Inspector Witherspoon … and his secret weapon. I like cozy mysteries … they are my “comfort food” of reading. This is a decent example, though I found the Inspector a bit TOO clueless and bumbling. Still it’s a decent opening gambit in a series that has had much success over the years
Link to my Full Review
The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown – 4**** At the 1936 Olympics nine working-class boys from the University of Washington in Seattle took the gold medal in eight-man crew at the Berlin Olympics. This is their story, but particularly the story of the man in the #7 seat – Joe Rantz. It’s a marvelous story, inspiring and heartfelt, and Brown does a superb job telling it. The late Edward Herrmann is a marvelous narrator and does a superb job of the audio version.
My full review: HERE
2nd Chance by James Patterson with Andrew Gross – 2** The hyperbole of the jacket is indicative of the quality of the writing. I didn’t feel any tension or suspense. The interaction between the women was what (barely) saved the first book for me. Not so this time. Melissa Leo and Jeremy Piven do a good job of performing the audio version. I’d given them 4**** for their skill as voice artists and pacing. But they had terrible material to work with.
My full reviewHERE
Read:
~★★★
~★★★Listened to:
~★★★
~★★Reading:
Listening to:
Read Next:
Mod
Sinner: Isabella and Cole were so cantankerous
I'm Listening to
and reading
and
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie – 3*** This is a variation on the “locked room” murder – a house full of people with various motives for wanting Ackroyd dead, a missing ne’er-do-well nephew, and clues that don’t quite match up. At least not until the vacationing, retired Hercule Poirot employs his “little gray cells.”
My full review: HERE
Ezinwanyi~the Impish Angel wrote: "I loved Flat Out seriesSinner: Isabella and Cole were so cantankerous
I'm Listening to
and reading ..."I do love the Flat Out series! I'm not sure if I love Flat Out Celeste as much.
Sinner was a disappointment. Not much happened and I missed the pretty lyrical language.
The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper – 3.5*** The second (and most popular) of the Leatherstocking Tales is set in 1757, during the French and Indian wars. It’s an adventure novel and romance with a loner hero, “noble savage” trusted companion, lovely heroines in danger, and a plot full of chases and epic battles. William Costello does a fairly good job of reading the audio version, though his slow pace at the beginning made me reconsider whether I wanted to keep listening. I think, however, it was more due to Cooper’s style of writing, than to Costello’s skill as a performer.
My full reviewHERE
One Amazing Thing by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni – 3.5*** I was immediately caught up in the “present day” story of these nine people trapped in a basement. I liked the way that the author revealed their strengths and weaknesses as they acted / reacted to the situation. But when they begin telling “one amazing thing” from their lives, the story arc lost momentum, and it became more of a collection of short stories. I don’t mind this too much, because I love short stories, and Divakaruni writes them well. However, this sort of hybrid between a short story collection and a novel seemed a little awkward.
Full Review HERE
Mod
I love the movies
Mod
and
Reading next
Listened to
Currently Reading
Listening to Next
Mod
Currently Reading
Listening to Next
"No romances, eh?
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt – 3.5*** There is much about this novel to like, and quite a few things not to like. In the end I’m struggling with how to rate it because of these conflicting issues. I like the way Tartt writes, particularly the way she so vividly depicts the scenes in this book, but I thought the book needed stronger editing. How often must we read about their drunken episodes to get the point? And I was really unhappy with the ending. David Pittu does a superb job narrating the audio version of this novel. He has great pacing, and his skill with voices made the characters come to life. He’d get 5* for his performance alone.
Full Review HERE
Mod
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt – 3.5*** There is much about this novel to like, and quite a few things not to like. In the end I’m struggling with how to rate it..."
I don't think I'd like that book
Finished:
★★★★★
★★★★.5
★★★★
★★★
★★.5
★★Currently reading:
Next up:
Not sure yet. Too many choices.
I have read
. I am currently reading
. I will be reading
and
next.
Mod
To read
Dee, is the Veil Series good?I just downloaded the first one yesterday as it was a freebie.
Anita wrote: "Dee, is the Veil Series good?I just downloaded the first one yesterday as it was a freebie."
It is good!!
Murder Must Advertise by Dorothy L Sayers – 2.5** Book #10 in the Lord Peter Wimsey mystery series. I’ve never read any of this series before, and though I see the potential (a likeable main character – witty, wealthy, smart, charismatic) I just wasn’t captivated by the story. It seemed to take forever to get interesting, and I was bored with much of it. I finished only because it fulfilled a book group challenge.
Full Review HERE
Ezinwanyi~the Impish Angel wrote: "Book Concierge wrote: " The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt – 3.5*** I don't think I'd like that book ..."
I don't think you would like it either, Ezi ...
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The Challenge Factory
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Authors mentioned in this topic
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At 9:00 a.m. on a sunny June morning, nine-year-old Trish is in the backseat of her mother’s car cuddling her doll. At 10:00 a.m. she’s lost in the woods. I loved Trisha McFarland! She’s resilient, intelligent, and brave. The noises and violence of nature can be frightening and shocking to anyone; it’s easy to imagine boogie men and monsters lurking in the dark. King does a masterful job playing on those fears. As for Anne Heche’s performance on the audio - She knocked it out of the park! 5**** for her narration.
Link to my full review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...