What Are You Reading?

[Carrie]

I have recently discovered G. A. Aiken ' s Dragon series. I am really enjoying the mixture of fantasy and romance

[Karen]

I just finished "The Line" by J. D. Horn. It's about a family of witches living in Savannah. It's the first in a series. Nice mix of magic and mystery.

[Kaitlin]

I am a couple of pages into Pretty Deadly #1. It's my first graphic novel. It's sort of a western/horror mix. It has all the elements I like. I'll let you know more when I finish it!

What I'm really excited to read in the near future is Dark Triumph and Mortal Heart. I read Grave Mercy this time last year, and loved it! According to Netflix, I'm a big fan of the strong female lead - and that series is all about it. Lots of action and just enough romance for me.

[Jordan]

I am currently reading The Beginning of Everything by Robyn Schneider. It's starting off kind of slow, but I have heard that it takes a while to get into it... we'll see!

[Julie]

I just finished an audiobook called "Columbine", about the Columbine high school shooting. It was not something I would usually read or listen to, but I saw a recommendation on it so I decided to try it. I thought it was very good. It debunked a lot of the myths you hear about this tragedy; and covered both when it happened and what happened/what has been learned in the years since. This was "nonfiction that reads like fiction". There is also a book version.

[Donna]

I just started "Leaving Before the Rains Come" by Alexandra Fuller. It is the third installment in a series of memoirs about her early life growing up with an unconventional European family in Africa and her present married life in the United States.

[Dawna]

Someone recently gave me a copy of "Pippi Longstocking," explaining that the title character reminded him of me. As a child, I adored the 1988 film, so I decided to read the source material. I'm still only in the beginning chapters, but I'm pleased to find that Pippi is just as sassy and fun-loving as I'd hoped she'd be.

[Suzanne]

The latest selection for my classics book club is Catch-22. I am about 50 pages in and I DO NOT like it. It is boring and slow and only vaguely amusing.

I did discover a trilogy by Joe Abercrombie. The first one is Half a King and I really enjoyed it. I am eagerly looking forward to the second book, which is due out in February.

I also just finished the first Odd Thomas book by Dean Koontz. I liked it so much I already have the second one.

[Shannon]

Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell on audio. And The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath. So far, both are slow. But I'll keep you posted since I just started :)

[Deema]

Creeker; A Woman's Journey and The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet, both recommendations of co-workers (a BIG perk of working in a library!) I can't wait to check out some of the books mentioned in these comments, too.
I am further along in Creeker and am really enjoying it. It is the memoir of an Appalachian lady of great strength and humor. She is reminding me of my grandmother.

[Donna]

The book that I can't wait to get is ""The Girl on the Train" by Paula Hawkins. There is a lot of press on this newly released fiction and a lot of comparisons to "Gone Girl". Looking forward to seeing it come in on my holds list!

[Jordan]

I just want to update my status and say that The Beginning of Everything is wonderful. I can't put it down.

[Chelsea]

I've been reading the Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire series since mid-August, and I'm hooked. Before reading them I was afraid that they might drag the way some high fantasy novels tend to, but every installment is a page turner. I'm over half way through A Dance With Dragons, and I'm devastated that George R R Martin has pushed back the release date for The Winds of Winter. At least the show is starting back up soon!

[Emily]

I just finished Eleanor & Park. A good book whose characters have stayed with me even a week later.

[Shannon]

I finished Eleanor and Park too! Only took me a couple days. Wonderful characters, like Emily said. Great story.

[Julie]

I really enjoyed A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman. I think it will be one of those "sleeper" books which gains in popularity as people discover it. It is the story of a curmudgeonly man who resents the intrusion of people (and animals!) into his routine life. Of course, you know people are going to start bugging him and it is fun to see his reaction. It is a heartwarming story with a satisfying ending.

[Barb]

I loved "Knight in Shining Armor" also!

[Tracey]

I just finished The Mason List and loved it! I also have Untainted (The Photographers Series.). Currently on on Black Rain. All 3 books are complete page turners. Enjoy!!

[Shannon]

Loving A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Housseini and Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides right now :)

[Donna]

I just finished A Spool of Blue Thread
by Anne Tyler. It took awhile for me to settle in to the slower pace but this story unwinds in typical Anne Tyler fashion and tells one family's story to perfection.

[Chelsea]

I've finally gotten around to reading "The Perks of Being a Wallflower," and Charlie reminds me so much of Holden Caulfield!

[Edward]

Just finished "The Martian" and loved every page. I was amazed the Andy Weir kept the science so accessible.
Currently into "Orange is the New Black". I enjoyed the beginning where Piper detailed how she ended up in prison. That was a good true adventure story. Now that she is slogging through her time day by day it's bogging down a bit for me. Plenty interesting to keep me reading however.

[Chelsea]

I just finished Watership Down. The animated movie traumatized me as a child, so I wasn't expecting to like it as much as I did.

[Jordan]

Chelsea wrote: "I just finished Watership Down. The animated movie traumatized me as a child, so I wasn't expecting to like it as much as I did."

Chelsea!! I have said for years that the animated movie of Watership Down is terrifying, and people always look at me like I have three heads. I agree with you 100% -- that movie is freaky. I'm glad to know the book is good, though I probably will never read it. That movie was truly, truly the most terrifying thing I ever remember watching. Maybe aside from the animated version of The Hobbit, where Gollum is super freaky.

[Kathleen]

I read Watership Down when it was first published (yeah, that dates me, doesn't it!) and found it wonderful, but agree with you both that the movie was dreadful and frightening. It's NOT a story for children, and I think that's what people expected of an animated film about rabbits.

[Barb]

I also read Watership Down years ago when it was first published and loved the book! I have never seen the movie, and now that I have read your reviews of it, I'm happy that I missed it. The author had a 2nd book called "The Plague Dogs" about the adventures of dogs who escape from a scientific laboratory. I have started it several times, but can't get through it. Has anyone read it? Should I try again to finish it?

[Kathleen]

Barbara, yes, I also read The Plague Dogs, and in my opinion, it is definitely worth finishing, even though some parts of it are tough to read and to imagine. Richard Adams also wrote a book called Shardik, which I absolutely loved, and have re-read several times -- but I have yet to find anyone else who has heard of it, much less read it. Anybody out there...?

[Barb]

Thanks! I will give Plague Dogs another try. I haven't heard of Shardik. I'll start looking for it.

[Edward]

Loved both Plague Dogs and Shardik. Glad I saw these posts. I've been looking for my next book. I think I'll start reading through Richard Adam's other books, starting with The Girl in a Swing. Sounds intriguing. Especially since I'm from Florida and spent a lot of time in Gainesville.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gir...

[Edward]

A bit shameless, sure, but I'd like to recommend my own novel. It has just been added to the BCPL catalog. Give it a try please. http://catalog.bcpl.org/POLARIS/searc...

[Julie]

I just finished the audio version of Miller's Valley by Anna Quindlen. I always like her books, and this was no exception. It starts out with an 11 year old girl who lives on a farm in Miller's Valley. The Valley is being threatened at being replaced by a reservoir project. The book follows her and this threat throughout the girl's life. It is very true to life and I enjoyed it immensely.

[Julie]

I just finished the audio version of The Secret Place by Tana French. I had seen it recommended somewhere and Ms. French's books always seem to get good reviews, so I decided to try one. Am I glad I did! The story is set at a girls school in Ireland (and I love audiobooks with accents, so I was in heaven!). A boy from a neighboring school had been murdered on the school grounds about a year ago and the crime was never solved. Something new happens to bring detectives back to the school. The story goes back and forth from current day and one of the detective's talking; and then back in time leading up to the murder, from the point of view of the girls who might be involved. I wanted to find out what happened, yet I didn't want it to end. I will definitely try more books from French.

[Kathleen]

I just finished the audio version of Thrice the Brinded Cat Hath Mewed, the newest in Alan Bradley's Flavia De Luce series. The reader is, as always, superb -- and it's been interesting to hear her characterization change as the character of Flavia matures. If you've followed this series, you know that Flavia inevitably manages to be the one to first stumble onto the scene of a grisly murder. Her keen powers of observation and her knowledge of chemistry always are key factors in solving the crime, much to the chagrin of Inspector Hewitt, the local police chief, whose own investigation is frequently a few steps behind Flavia's. This tale follows the usual pattern, and also encompasses some major events in Flavia's personal life.

[Julie]

I agree with you that the narrator of the audiobook versions of this series is excellent. She is so good that I have only listened to this series and never read a hard cover.

[Kathleen]

Julie wrote: "I agree with you that the narrator of the audiobook versions of this series is excellent. She is so good that I have only listened to this series and never read a hard cover."

Amen! I read the first one in hard cover and then discovered the audio. I'm totally hooked.

[Donna]

Julie was the one who recommended the audio to me after I read the first book. There was no going back! Once you hear it read, it's so perfect. There is an award winning juvenile book, The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley and it is also read by the same narrator, Jayne Entwistle. Her voices are spot on and made what could have been a very good children's fiction into an excellent adult listen, taking place in England during WWII.

[Julie]

I was just thinking about getting War That Saved My Life as an audio, as I knew you liked it so much. Then another audio came in and I decided to go ahead with that. I will do "The War" soon, as I love that narrator, Jayne Entwistle.

[Donna]

I'm getting back into the Flavia de Luce mystery series. Book 7 is Thrice the Brinded Cat Hath Mew'd . The narrator is Jayne Entwistle and she is fabulous. Flavia is back to her sleuthing at Buckshaw and along with her faithful bike Gladys she has found a corpse and will do what it takes to solve the case, even with all of her digressions and quirky characters along the way. She's back and I forgot how much i missed this spunky little girl.