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2023 Independent Challenges
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Ioana's 2023 Independent Challenge
Lea wrote: "So far, I'm loving The Priory of the Orange Tree, but fair warning, I've been reading since 2/11 and I'm only 36% in (311 pages)."800+ pages, I'd be reading if for 8 months...I think I would get the book, print out the glossary + map, then listen to the audiobook ;-)
I'll wait for you to finish though, and I'm happy you're enjoying it.
Ioana wrote: "800+ pages, I'd be reading if for 8 months...I think I would get the book, print out the glossary + map, then listen to the audiobook ;-)I'll wait for you to finish though, and I'm happy you're enjoying it."
Not to mention how tired my hands are from holding that brick! :-)
I do have return the library book on Saturday and I'm not going to finish. So, it will be a little bit before I finish the book myself.
Lea wrote: "I do have return the library book on Saturday and I'm not going to finish. So, it will be a little bit before I finish the book myself."I hate when this happens, and with popular new books you can't even extend the lending period 😢
The Space Between Worlds. This was not bad, but I had higher expectations. Interesting premise, but there were a lot of holes and contradictions in the book. If I noticed them, I guess Lea has an entire list by now...The story had potential, and this was just a debut work, so I hope things will get better in the next book, but while I was interested in what happened and why and how (the why and how needed more details), I was not invested in any of the characters. This wasn't my main complaint; the holes in the story and the threads left unfinished were the things that bothered me most, but I'll read the next one in the series when it comes out. 3 stars.
Bill wrote: "Alondra wrote: "Ioana wrote: "Alondra wrote: "I can't believe you delved into this weirdness. Good for you!!! LOL"Not only that, but I liked it! Much better than vampires 🤣"
Cool beans. The movi..."
I have watched the mini series too, not as good as the film
Desley (Cat fosterer) wrote: "I have watched the mini series too, not as good as the film"Good to know. Everyone agrees that the film is good, so that's the one I'll look for!
Lea wrote: "Not to mention how tired my hands are from holding that brick! :-)I do have return the library book on Saturday and I'm not going to finish. So, it will be a little bit before I finish the book myself."
I had the same problems when I read this book. I did enjoy it, but it took me a while to get through it.
Anne wrote: "I had the same problems when I read this book. I did enjoy it, but it took me a while to get through it."Do we know how many books are expected in this series? I have bad memory, I need to read these series back to back, so I'll wait...
Ioana wrote: "The Space Between Worlds. This was not bad, but I had higher expectations. Interesting premise, but there were a lot of holes and contradictions in the book. If I noticed them, I guess Lea has an entire list by now...The story had potential, and this was just a debut work, so I hope things will get better in the next book, but while I was interested in what happened and why and how (the why and how needed more details), I was not invested in any of the characters. This wasn't my main complaint; the holes in the story and the threads left unfinished were the things that bothered me most, but I'll read the next one in the series when it comes out. 3 stars."
I agree, this is a Swiss cheese book. (My way of saying the story has lots of holes in it!) I'm only 67% of the way through, and I'm pretty sure that there's absolutely no way the author can retcon this one. It's got a great premise and it is lots of fun, but I'm not invested in any of the characters and things keep happening which seem to contradict the "rules" of the world. I'll finish soon, Ioana. (I'm thrilled not to be done first this time!)
Ioana wrote: "Anne wrote: "I had the same problems when I read this book. I did enjoy it, but it took me a while to get through it."Do we know how many books are expected in this series? I have bad memory, I need to read these series back to back, so I'll wait..."
So, it takes the author three years to write each book and she has other books she wants to write in between. So, instead of being like some authors (view spoiler), she has decided she is only going to write stand alone books in this world. The characters may be descendants or ancestors of existing characters, but each book can be read as stand alone. The second book in the world is a prequel and just came out 2/28/2023.
Lea wrote: "she has decided she is only going to write stand alone books in this world. The characters may be descendants or ancestors of existing characters, but each book can be read as stand alone."Ohh, I really like this! Thanks for letting me know 🤗
Lea wrote: "It's got a great premise and it is lots of fun, but I'm not invested in any of the characters and things keep happening which seem to contradict the "rules" of the world."Sadly, true. You can't setup rules in a new world, then break them.
Ioana wrote: "Ohh, I really like this! Thanks for letting me know 🤗"Yes, and there is a list of characters in the back of even the first book, in case you forget who somebody is or how they are connected. I like that a lot!
Lea wrote: "Yes, and there is a list of characters in the back of even the first book, in case you forget who somebody is or how they are connected. I like that a lot!"I wish all books would lots of characters would have this. Especially fantasy books, because I think that's my problem. Lots of characters, unusual names and bad memory, can't keep track of them.
The Last Orphan Book #8 in the series, and I'm up to date. This is another fast paced, entertaining series and if any more will be published, I'll make sure to read them.Sweet Thursday I love Steinbeck's writing, but this book was too similar to Cannery Row. Still, a good read and I'm glad I've read it.
American Predator: The Hunt for the Most Meticulous Serial Killer of the 21st Century OMG, what a monster! Recommended to all true crime fans here, you know who you are.
Looks like I need to read American Predator then. :-) You are on a roll, look at all the books you're finishing.
Lea wrote: "Looks like I need to read American Predator then. :-)"Fascinating to see how these psychopaths function. Unfortunately, there will be lots of questions left unanswered to which we will never get the answer... scary to see how he planned it all, and what a major part luck played in both his actions and the investigation.
Mod
[book:Swe..."
I have these series on my TBR, and will add this last book. True Crime is really stranger than fiction and ofttimes more brutal. Great update.
Alondra wrote: "I have these series on my TBR, and will add this last book. True Crime is really stranger than fiction and ofttimes more brutal."Orphan X is a great series, I think you'd like it. Think a Joe Ledger who works alone in our world, with no crazy viruses or zombies, but still hunted by many.
The Girl with No Shadow This was #2 in the Chocolat series that I read some years ago and enjoyed. This one was not bad, bad...too similar in concept and story to the first one (just a different generation) and the narrator was not good. I could not tell who was talking...all the characters sounded the same. That was frustrating, and there were not that many characters...
An Untamed State. I am having a hard time rating this book. This is not really a spoiler, most of it it's in the book's blurb. Mireille Duval, the daughter of a rich Haitian business man is kidnapped for ransom. Normally all these kidnapped are just business transactions: the family pays, the person is returned unharmed. But in this case, her father refuses to pay afraid of what that means for the rest of his family (same approach as US policy not to negotiate with terrorists.)Because of this refusal to pay, Mireille is kept by her kidnappers and suffers horribly for almost 2 weeks. In the end the father pays, but she is not who she was anymore, and the road back some sort of normal life is long and arduous.
It's impossible not to feel with and for Mireille, and the range of feelings is wide: compassion, rage, hate, hope, desperation, this book puts you through all of it, so I should rate it high, right?
The problem is I did not like Mireille, did not like her husband, did not like her parents...pretty much did not like any character in the book, and I thought the writing was just ok. Or maybe I just did not like any character because the writing and the dialogues were so simple/bad/corny?
I'm just catching up on some posts. You may have convinced me to read Demon Copperfield. I am not fond of Kingsolver, but I've only read one of hers so maybe I should try another. I'm reading David Copperfield now, but it's slow going which I always do with the big books. It is working it's way to being one of my favorite Dickens.
Martha wrote: "I'm just catching up on some posts. You may have convinced me to read Demon Copperfield. I am not fond of Kingsolver, but I've only read one of hers so maybe I should try another. I'm reading David..."If you get to read Demon Copperhead, I'll be very interested in how the story compares to David Copperfield, which I hope to read soon. We can trade thoughts/impressions after that :-)
All the President's Men There's not much I can say about this book that hasn't been said before. It stood the test of time and the journalistic work was amazing. In a time with no computers, no google and no cell phones, they worked slow and steady, followed the money, and the results were amazing. Wow!
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Totally agree with you.
Mod
Orphan X is a great series, I think you'd like it...."
I have the first book on my TBR. I think I will like it, too.
Alondra wrote: "I have the first book on my TBR. I think I will like it, too."Can't wait to hear what you think of it, happy reading!
Fairy Tale Not my favorite SK book, but very enjoyable with a most fitting title. 4 starsBlack Like Me. Interesting experiment, although with what we know now the results were not surprising at all. John Griffin, a journalist in the mid 1950s, decides to use medical ways to darken his skin and live what it means to be a dark colored man in the South. Needless to say, it was not easy, and he even had to cut short his experiment. I wonder what such an experiment with show today...
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Black Like Me. Interesting experiment, although with what we know now the res..."
I've never read Black Like Me.. Think there was a movie too but I might be wrong. Interesting topic.
Bill wrote: "I've never read Black Like Me.. Think there was a movie too but I might be wrong. Interesting topic."I've had it on my TBR for a few years now, and I'm trying to read some of the older books just sitting there. I've had some nice surprises.
A movie, huh? I have to look into that.
Mod
I've had it on my TBR for a few years now, and I'm trying to read some of the old..."
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057889/...
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Black Like Me. Interesting experiment, although with what we know now the res..."
Hey, it's 4 stars; so it may not be your favorite, but you liked it! LOL
Alondra wrote: "Hey, it's 4 stars; so it may not be your favorite, but you liked it! LOL."Exactly, it was fun and an easy read. A fairy tale, after all 😉
Ioana wrote: "Alondra wrote: "Hey, it's 4 stars; so it may not be your favorite, but you liked it! LOL."Exactly, it was fun and an easy read. A fairy tale, after all 😉"
Maybe not the best SK but a great dog.
Michelle wrote: "Maybe not the best SK but a great dog."I have to agree. I've always wanted a German Shepherd, so you know I loved Radar.
Wellp, even if it wasn't the best SK, I think I'll have to read it. Black Like Me sounds very interesting.
An American Sickness: How Healthcare Became Big Business and How You Can Take It Back. I think this was my first 5 stars this year. Fascinating read, with a ton of information and sadly, very depressing. Elisabeth Rosenthal thinks that us, informed consumers still can turn this around and reclaim a fair cost for our health care / health insurance. I don't think so...I think that ship has long sailed.Recommended to everyone who wants to understand the million cogs that all work together to inflate the cost of what we pay for medical care.
It is a few years old, so a lot might've changed since 2017 when it was published, but the essence remains.
A few quotes:
“ECONOMIC RULES OF THE DYSFUNCTIONAL MEDICAL MARKET More treatment is always better. Default to the most expensive option. A lifetime of treatment is preferable to a cure. Amenities and marketing matter more than good care. As technologies age, prices can rise rather than fall. There is no free choice. Patients are stuck. And they’re stuck buying American. More competitors vying for business doesn’t mean better prices; it can drive prices up, not down. Economies of scale don’t translate to lower prices. With their market power, big providers can simply demand more. There is no such thing as a fixed price for a procedure or test. And the uninsured pay the highest prices of all. There are no standards for billing. There’s money to be made in billing for anything and everything. Prices will rise to whatever the market will bear.”
“To get products approved, firms had to create applications to prove that medicines were ‘”safe and effective”, meaning more effective than doing nothing at all. That standard was never refined to include the more modern question: Is the product more effective than the dozens of other treatments for a particular conditions that are already on the market? Equally important, the FDA yardstick for approval did not include any consideration of price of cost-effectiveness – a metric that virtually all other countries now use as they consider admitting new drugs to their formula.”
“Collectively, the medical industry has become the country’s biggest lobbying force, spending nearly half a billion dollars each year. In 2015 the oil and gas industry spent $130 million, securities and investment firms about $100 million, and the defense/aerospace industry a mere $75 million.”
Wow this one sounds like one of your nonfiction must reads.
Michelle wrote: "Wow this one sounds like one of your nonfiction must reads."Yes, it is. And if you haven't read it yet, here is another one: Deadly Spin: An Insurance Company Insider Speaks Out on How Corporate PR Is Killing Health Care and Deceiving Americans.
Mod
read it! I know most aren't fantasy-heads like me; but the first part is just a great story. The 2nd part almost reads like a YA-novel; but in a good way. I loved the adventure.
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I agree Ioana. That ship has definitely sailed. The entire infrastructure is shot. From the lowliest single physician office, to big money pharmaceutical companies. Healthcare is big business. As someone who works in healthcare, its a scam.
Consumers need to ask?? Why do I pay $400 - 800+ per month, to end up with a $75 co-pay; unaffordable medications, and piss-poor care from physicians?? Until consumers step up, it won't change.
Alondra wrote: "That ship has definitely sailed. The entire infrastructure is shot. From the lowliest single physician office, to big money pharmaceutical companies. Healthcare is big business. As someone who works in healthcare, its a scam."This is a very depressing thing, Alondra...
And I do't think consumers will step up. We need some French blood 😉
Mod
We need something. Just because we have always done something a certain way, doesn't mean its correct, right or beneficial. Everyone who needs healthcare should get it. Period.
Alondra wrote: "Everyone who needs healthcare should get it. Period."For a reasonable cost. There should be no bankruptcy because of medical bills, no need to choose between feeding your children or taking your medication.
I Who Have Never Known Men was a very interesting read. And weird. And bleak...and I really enjoyed it. It poses a lot of questions about what it means to be human and free, questions about rules we make, rules and control that are imposed to us, who we are when all these disappear. Short, easy read, recommended.
Solid 4 stars.
“I was forced to acknowledge too late, much too late, that I too had loved, that I was capable of suffering, and that I was human after all.”
The Kind Worth Saving. I did not expect a sequel to The Kind Worth Killing, but here it came and I had to read it. It was fine, entertaining, an easy read, but not as good as the first one. Still, I'd read the next one in this series, if it ever gets written.3.5 stars, rounded up to 4.
Mod
I have that first one on the tbr, like everything else. At least book 2 is readable.
Alondra wrote: "I have that first one on the tbr, like everything else. At least book 2 is readable."Ohh, it's even more than readable. Just not as good the 1st one, but still entertaining.
On The Same Page
Books mentioned in this topic
The Winners (other topics)Gai-Jin (other topics)
The Armour of Light (other topics)
Gai-Jin (other topics)
An American Sickness: How Healthcare Became Big Business and How You Can Take It Back (other topics)
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Do you think I'd like The Priory of the Orange Tree?"
So far, I'm loving The Priory of the Orange Tree, but fair warning, I've been reading since 2/11 and I'm only 36% in (311 pages). Also, fair warning, just go ahead and get the print book because the character glossary and the map of the kingdoms and the lands and where things are located are super useful. If you're anything like me, you'll be referring to them all the time. There's plenty of time in this book for it to take a hard turn, and for me to change my mind, but so far, I'm hugely invested and so I'd say, it's one definite maybe at this point. :-) :-) :-)