What Are You Reading? - August 2012

[Dawn]

Just finished .
Still chipping away at , and dipping into which I'm loving. And I'm knee-deep in and . I'm all over the place this summer!

[Flora]

I'm about 2/3 of the way thru

[nancy]

midway through Trapeze and speeding through
Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend--love it, so original and
poignant...can't wait to tell Matthew in person

[Flora]

I finished The Dragonslayer's Sword and moved on to The Iron Maiden which is the next in this series

[Sarah]

Someone wrote that they are reading "Pillars of the Earth" . I finished it last week and really liked it. For being as long as it is (1551 pages on my ipad) it was a really quick read.
I just finished "Why Be Happy When You Can Be Normal" . I really enjoyed it, but it wasn't at all like I expected.
Now I'm shuffling through "Eating Animals" , "Beowulf on the Beach" and "Wolf Hall"

[Willem]

Picked up "The Book Thief" once more and it seems I might finish it this time after two failed attempts earlier. It's a beautifully written book, but is quickly becoming more emotionally demanding so my reading speed is slowing down.
Anyway, I might finish that one this weekend. Not sure what to read next. Anybody got any ideas?

[Tracey]

I just finished reading . My review can be found here http://www.thepaperstore.com/index.ph.... I am currently reading .

[Nikki]

Just finished The Age of Miracles. Not sure what I'll read next. Probably something to get ready for the school year.

[DeAnna]

Hi everyone! (New group member here.) I just finished , which was FABULOUS! Now I'm enjoying . Penny Vincenzi is one of my favorite summer read authors.

[Lisa]

I read We Need to Talk about Kevin and just started Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks.

[Elizabeth☮]

i am reading .

[Callie]

I finished Alice I Have Been on audio and I liked it, but didn't love it. The beginning was creepy, the middle was melodramatic (complete with a scene of the someone begging someone else for forgiveness, on his knees, sobbing wildly, although quite mad at the time), and the end was ok. I don't know how much of it is based on fact and how much is fiction, but I don't think I'll be able to think about Lewis Carroll in a positive light again.

For a lighter summer read, I picked up Congo, by Michael Crichton, which I enjoyed way more than I thought I was going to. I thoroughly appreciate writers who do a ton of research and craft well-written fiction around their findings. Plus, he does thrillers so well- it got to the point that I was reading as fast as possible, ignoring everything around me, because I was so caught up in the action. It was a lot of fun. (Side note- after I finished the book, I looked up the movie online. I never saw it because it got such horrible reviews, but I was now intrigued. I think I will probably skip it, since they add in a whole new character (Tim Curry as a European financier) and seem to dumb down the female lead. Too bad, it would have been fun to watch this go down on the big screen!)

I'm still making my way through Eisenhower in War and Peace, and I've picked up Kushiel's Dart as my more portable read, on recommendation from several friends.

[Flora]

I've just started The Cat Who Talked to Ghosts as well as Mars on the Rise

[[deleted user]]

In the space of two books, Pollock has become one of my favorite writers. He writes about the dark underbelly of southern Ohio. This collection of short stories is the alcohol and drug drenched flipside to Sherwood Anderson's . Like in Anderson's book, the action takes place in one small town and its environs. Here, it's the impoverished Knockemstiff. Also, like in Anderson's book, the stories are often linked in that characters of previous stories reappear.

Having also read Pollock's , I can't wait for his next book.

[Callie]

I forgot, I also started on audio, narrated by Leslie Maitland herself! After being at her session in Vermont, I feel like her voice adds so much to the experience. I just love the way she says Roland. :)

[Kats]

Callie, that sounds wonderful. She has quite a husky voice, doesn't she? Or perhaps that was just down to the late nights at The Inn? :-)

I have a bunch of things to get through, namely The Song of Achiless for my book club later this week, and on audio I'm enjoying The Age of Miracles .

The e-book I'm about to start for my other book club is Insurgent though I've been told my various people not to except the same brilliance as with Divergent.

So, I'm hoping to get to Leslie Maitland's book later this year. And I remember her saying "Roland" quite fondly during the Booktopia session, too! :-)

[Joanne-in-Canada]

I am midway through Seabiscuit: An American Legend, finally getting around to reading it. I'm flagging a bit--there's always "one more horse" Seabiscuit has to race--but the writing is wonderful and I'm learning lots so I have no doubt I'll finish it. Also, the story is unpredictable (naturally). I've been reading two or three books at a time this summer--nice to be concentrating on just one.

Next up, I think, will be Open City.

[Elizabeth☮]

Joanne wrote: "I am midway through Seabiscuit: An American Legend, finally getting around to reading it. I'm flagging a bit--there's always "one more horse" Seabiscuit has to race--but the writing is wonderful an..."

joanne,

i think hillenbrand does an excellent job describing the horse races. such detail. i also like how the stories of seabiscuit, red and the owner all parallel one another. they are truly stories of survival.

[Noel]

I'm finishing up Innocent Traitor which I have very much enjoyed. Still reading The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry , which is OK, but not blowing me away. Also started listening to Blackout, about WWII, which I've just started.

[Valerie]

Just finished Headhunters. One of the most brillant murder mysteries I've ever read!

[Amy]

Hmmm, how come there are 2 August threads?

[[deleted user]]

Because it's leap year. There are two Augusts this year.

[Callie]

I thought it might have been a glitch in the Matrix.

[Linda]

One thread for Nick and one for Amy

[Elizabeth]

Finished and loved Shantaram. My review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

Am currently in the midst of the most recent escapades of my fave art restorer/assassin in The Fallen Angel: A Novel

[[deleted user]]

In this one, watching Reacher initially muddle through, then having half the bad guys bump each other off through misunderstanding the situation is half the fun.

In the end, though, Reacher comes down on some very bad guys with the appropriate Biblical vengeance. The bad guys in most Reacher books are so bad, you want Reacher to give them something worse than the merciful bullet in the head. But I guess that mercy he shows is what makes him a good guy.

[Shona]

Well it's been awhile since I posted...just got done moving from Germany to Okinawa. I had a lot of travel time in between and read some great books...most notably Beautiful Ruins, The Things They Carried, Gold and Hate List. All wonderful books.
I also just got done catching up on the podcasts and now I'm really excited about book spine poetry. Unfortunately none of my household goods, including my books are here yet, so I may just have to sneak in to the library with my camera and start creating :).
Now I am reading Bel Canto which I have fallen in love with and it seems I may have a little extra reading time this weekend as we are expecting Typhoon Bolaven to pay us a visit here on the island and I may just be stuck in a hotel room without power with nothing to do but read...

[Mary]

Reading which heard about from podcast. So far amazing! Have been stuck in WWII finished reading and . All amazing and informative!

[Pamela]

Shona wrote: "Well it's been awhile since I posted...just got done moving from Germany to Okinawa. I had a lot of travel time in between and read some great books...most notably Beautiful Ruins, The Things They..."

Wow, Germany to Okinawa - - are you in the military? (My son is stationed in Okinawa). I love your selections - - I recently finished and it was one of my favorite books this year. I think should be a classic if isn't aleady!

[Robin]

Just started by Ian McEwan.

[Shona]

Pamela wrote: "Shona wrote: "Well it's been awhile since I posted...just got done moving from Germany to Okinawa. I had a lot of travel time in between and read some great books...most notably Beautiful Ruins, T..."

Pamela,
I just retired from the military (25 years) and now am a civilian employee. Okinawa is my first civilian assignment. Really loving it here so far. I so enjoyed Beautiful Ruins...what a great summer read.

[Bookin]

I am finishing up the The Hunger Games Trilogy Boxset and also reading with one of my book clubs After the Fog I am really enjoying that one too since it has so much history.