What are you currently reading? Showing 7,601-7,650 of 10,128

[Brigid ✩]

Yeah, I'm on the fence about that one. I've enjoyed some of Cassandra Clare's books but I know a lot of people have accused her of plagiarizing Harry Potter and the plot of this one doesn't seem to help her much with that reputation. :P And I've only read one Holly Black book which I really didn't like. So ... ehhh, I don't know.

[Ashley Marie]

Cassandra Clare is one of the few authors whose work I go out of my way to ignore. I read Holly Black's Tithe series a few years ago and really liked it, but it's been ages so I need to reread it and get a better grasp of where I stand on those.

has become a chore for me to read, but I'm really intrigued by right now.

[Heidi]

I do not read Clare's books (way too much like fan fiction) but I loved Holly Black's White Cat series

[Heidi]

Ha Ashley! I felt the same way about Maze Runner - it was a chore!

[Heidi]

Please give some suggestions for our Dec. read https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

[Kristen]

Done :)

[Heidi]

Yay! Thanks :)

[Heidi]

Poll is up for next months read. Please vote! https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/1...

[[deleted user]]

[Heidi]

If anyone has any ideas of how we can improve/mix up the monthly group read to make it better please let us know here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Thanks!!

[Jenny]

Hi everyone, I haven't been on here in a bit!! How are you all doing? I'm doing great, except for winter hitting way too early!

Since we've talked I've read

my daughter wanted me to read this, she loves these books! Very MG and cute, and I love Shannon Hale! Enjoyed it, 4 stars!

which was a very different zombie take, but overall I enjoyed it, 4 stars! Its very long, and actually is a bunch of politics, great world building, really good twists, and just a really brave author to do what she did!

which I loved, great final book of the trilogy--4 stars

which was just okay 3.5 stars

which I really enjoyed this one, very fun read! 4 stars

which I LOVED 5 stars!! Had a great gothic feel.

which I liked even better than Miss Peregrine, 5 stars

which a fan fic novella by David Estes on Rysa Walkers Chronos Files series. I LOVED this one, takes place during the Salem Witch Trials.

which was fun, and easy read, 4 stars

which I really loved, 5 stars! Loved this one just as much as Anna.

which was really fun, loved the historical feel to it, 4 stars

which was very different than I was expecting. I excepted more of a MG Rick Riordan style book, this was definitely more YA and a little darker, but I still liked it! 4 stars

really fun as a graphic novel 4 stars!

Novella from the Darkest Minds trilogy, 4 stars. This one was really really sad, I had trouble getting through it actually because the things these poor kids go through...

which I read all in one day! Enjoyed it, 4 stars. It had a few issues, but overall I was hooked with the mystery element and the creepiness factor.

Whew! That was a lot of books! Pretty good reading lately!

Now reading which is so good so far, and rereading which I love :)

[Heidi]

Ok that's it. I need to put a hold on Isla! I was putting it off because I have like 4-5 cozy mysteries from the library but I want to read it. Now! So happy people are reading the Monstrumologist - thanks to David for re-starting that book around (I think he was the first to read it recently?) I really like Shannon Hale as well so I am looking up that series. Her books are usually good on audio so if my library has the audio I might give the first book a listen.

[Jenny]

LOL Heidi! Yes, you definitely need to read Isla!! I hope you enjoy Ever After High, I think its really fun, and I love the message in it! And yes, thanks to David for getting us all on the Monstrumologist! So far I've loved every one of his suggestions he's given me to read :)

[Becky]

I've enjoyed most of Shannon Hale's books. I will also have to look this one up.

[Heidi]

I checked my libraries and they don't have the audiobook for the first book in the series. I am bummed. I listened to the sample narration and it sounded good.

[Ashley Marie]

currently...


on audio and loving it. STILL not sure whodunnit and it's making me mad lol. I'll probably finish this sometime in the next day or so.

still slogging away with this one, although I took a good-sized break from it for awhile there. Had hoped to have it finished last month, but other things got in the way. It's very good and very well-researched, and I should finish it tonight.

reading this for a BR in the Series Readers Anonymous group and still not sure how I feel about it yet. I've seen a lot of iffy reviews tending toward negative, so I'm trying not to let that settle in my head but it's difficult! I do like that the authors aren't afraid to give her brother a disability though, that's refreshing.

[Heidi]

Yay Ashley! Isn't the Strike series so much fun and the narrator just makes that series so much better. Love it. I really dislike that some people just seem like haters and have all of a sudden disliked the series when they found out JK wrote it. Almost all the reviews for the first book were positive until it was announced JK was the author. Guess that happens when someone is popular.

[Ashley Marie]

No way man, these books are brilliant. If you don't like this series that's fine, but don't blame it on the fact that JKR wrote it. I can imagine people hating on it because she "ought to stick to children's books" when we all know HP stopped being for "children" around book four.

[Heidi]

Yeah. I agree. I checked the reviews for Cuckoo's Calling the same day I heard it was written by JK and they nearly all 4 stars or above and within months I noticed her rating went down to (and still is) below 4 stars. Stop hating haters! I have many a 1-2 star books and that is not one of them!

[Kristen]

Heidi (Yup. Still here.) wrote: "Yeah. I agree. I checked the reviews for Cuckoo's Calling the same day I heard it was written by JK and they nearly all 4 stars or above and within months I noticed her rating went down to (and s..."

The effect goes the other way for her, too, though. I've seen a lot of people rating her books in advance of reading them because it's JKR and they love her and can't anticipate not liking the book.

I think we'd all benefit if each reader rated a book based on its own merit and not outside forces (hate the person, didn't like this or that interview, don't like this genre but read it anyway and still don't like it, etc.), but that's also a side effect of consumer reviews. I'd rather have the opportunity to see all reviews (even poorly constructed ones with questionable reasons) and get to some truly wonderful reviewers that way than have the pre-internet review world where only a select few reviewers were allowed to review books. I've just become a more discerning review reader as a result.

Of course, in a perfect world, we'd have both :).

Are her mystery books not easy to predict? I used to LOVE mysteries but gave them up years ago because I couldn't find one I couldn't guess the ending for by half-way through. It got so frustrating.

[Heidi]

I think the actual mysteries are very good Kristen. I read a ton of cozy mysteries which can sometimes be predictable but neither of the Strike books were too predictable for me. Plus Strike is a really cool character.

I try to rate the actual book itself when I do my ratings and if I am not a fan of someone (aka Nicholas Sparks) I just tend not to read them and save myself the time and energy! Life is too short.

[Jenny]

Heidi (Yup. Still here.) wrote: "Yeah. I agree. I checked the reviews for Cuckoo's Calling the same day I heard it was written by JK and they nearly all 4 stars or above and within months I noticed her rating went down to (and s..."

I think part of it may also be that a lot of people read the book just because she was the author, and maybe they don't like those type of books. So you have that repercussion too. I haven't read these yet, but I want to, I love mysteries!

[Kristen]

Heidi (Yup. Still here.) wrote: "I think the actual mysteries are very good Kristen. I read a ton of cozy mysteries which can sometimes be predictable but neither of the Strike books were too predictable for me. Plus Strike is a..."

Which is why I enjoy reading your reviews :).

I'll definitely check her out then.

[Heidi]

Oh yes that is also a good point Jenny. That is probably the case. I know for certain that is why people bashed A Casual Vacancy (which I loved) because it was far far from Harry and Hogwarts. You could tell this by all their reviews because they always mentioned HP in them!

If you can get the Strike series on audio I recommend that format and think Ashley would agree.

[Ashley Marie]

Heidi (Yup. Still here.) wrote: "Oh yes that is also a good point Jenny. That is probably the case. I know for certain that is why people bashed A Casual Vacancy (which I loved) because it was far far from Harry and Hogwarts. Y..."

AUDIO. YES. IT'S PERFECT.

I own Casual Vacancy but still haven't read it.

[Heidi]

It is a pretty heavy read Ashley. It is not all rainbows and sunshine but I still liked it and thought it was realistic (especially the drug addiction parts). The audio book for that was also good but I am guessing you have the actual book.

[Kristen]

Casual Vacancy just sounded too much like a book I'd hate. The synopsis came across like a town version of the political shows, which I can't get into, so I skipped it. So far, I've heard really mixed reviews on the book.

[Heidi]

If you have ever watched the tv show the Wire it kind of reminded me of that with British manners! The book basically follows several different personalities and classes after the death of a local politician. I wouldn't say it is overly political though. It also kind of reminded me of that movie Crash where you meet all these strangers and find out how they are all interconnected by the end. I won't lie - the beginning was a chore to get through but once I knew who was who and what was what I was hooked.

[Brigid ✩]

Jenny wrote: "Hi everyone, I haven't been on here in a bit!! How are you all doing? I'm doing great, except for winter hitting way too early!

Since we've talked I've read

[bookcover:The Unfairest of Them All|..."

Glad you loved The Monstrumologist! Feed was pretty cool ... I agree, very bold ending. ;)

[Brigid ✩]

Finished (and loved):



Now I've gotten back to reading:



Which I've neglected for like two months, but hopefully I'll get around to finishing it within the next few weeks. :P

[Heidi]

I need to read the second Raven book.

[Ashley Marie]

I just put the Blue Lily Lily Blue audiobook on hold at the library! So excited, I've been meaning to read that since it came out.

[Brigid ✩]

@Heidi - You should! I think the second was my favorite so far. Although I love them all. :D

@Ashley - Yaaay, let me know what you think when you've read it!

[Heidi]

Thanks for the update on Iron Trial Darren. I think I will skip it because just from your description I can tell with my super somewhat picky personality that I would likely not like it. I am glad you are finding the good in it though :)

I liked the first Raven book but here is the thing - the whole time I was reading it I thought it was a standalone book! I know this impacted my thoughts on it because the whole time I was thinking all this stuff would be wrapped up and the closer and closer I got the ending the more confused and mad I was getting that it was not getting wrapped up! I think I should actually re-read it (or re-listen in this case) because I will probably be lost for book two now. Sorry to ramble! I have just never read a book with so much set up thinking it was all going to be resolved in one book and it was a series! I should have researched it more before I read it! Anyway I still gave it 3 stars, which me me is actually really good!

[Heidi]

Holy !!!!! Heidi

[Heidi]

I just started The Hero's Guide to Being an Outlaw on audio. I really love Bronson Pinchot's (aka Balki) narration for this series.

[Ashley Marie]

I remember a lot of people thinking the Raven Cycle was going to be 3 books instead of 4, but hopefully everyone's on the same page now. I should get over to the library and pick up BLLB tomorrow or Monday.

Finished and it was fantastic. Slow going because it seemed I needed a lot more focus than I usually do (I think that had to do with the narration being very set in the period, which was still cool), but you could tell it was definitely a labor of love. Good for fans of the Salem witch trials.

[Ashley Marie]

Bronson Pinchot... omg he voiced the Griffin in Quest for Camelot!! hahahahaha! Knew I knew that name from somewhere!

[Brigid ✩]

Heidi (Yup. Still here.) wrote: "Thanks for the update on Iron Trial Darren. I think I will skip it because just from your description I can tell with my super somewhat picky personality that I would likely not like it. I am gla..."

Ah yeah, I imagine it would definitely affect your view if you thought it was a standalone, haha. Yeah, I'd recommend re-reading the first one before reading the second one. I re-read both of them this summer, and it all made a bit more sense when I read them back-to-back (instead of like a year apart). :P

[Heidi]

Yeah Brigid I think I will re-read book one before book two. I was so lost!

[Heidi]

Ashley wrote: "Bronson Pinchot... omg he voiced the Griffin in Quest for Camelot!! hahahahaha! Knew I knew that name from somewhere!"

Yup. He was also on Perfect Strangers for those of us old enough to remember TGIF on ABC!

[Ashley Marie]

I loved TGIF. Don't remember Perfect Strangers, it was a bit early for me. Mid-late 90s were my jam though. Sabrina, Two of a Kind, Sister Sister.

[[deleted user]]

Ashley wrote: "Bronson Pinchot... omg he voiced the Griffin in Quest for Camelot!! hahahahaha! Knew I knew that name from somewhere!"

the quest for camelot :D:D One of my childhood fave movies. :D

Sister,sister,full house,step by step = my childhood :D

[Heidi]

TGIF rocked! Perfect Strangers was part of the original line up before Sabrina and Sister Sister. I think Full House was part of the original line up too. Family Matters was also on then too I think.

[Kristen]

Heidi (Yup. Still here.) wrote: "TGIF rocked! Perfect Strangers was part of the original line up before Sabrina and Sister Sister. I think Full House was part of the original line up too. Family Matters was also on then too I th..."

I miss those days!

[Jenny]

Loved TGIF!!

[Heidi]

Ahhh memories!

If anyone wants to nominate a hidden gem book for 2015 (we are trying to get 12 nominations) please go here https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Thanks so much :)

[Heidi]

Evidently Icefall won as the Dec. group read. I forgot to check the poll! Anywho...I will get to the audio of it soon :)

[Heidi]

I think we only need 4 more takers for the "Hidden Gem" monthly group reads if anyone else is interested. https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

[Heidi]

It is not YA but I am nearly done with The Rosie Project and am thoroughly enjoying it!