Kate Atkinson's book was the reading highlight of my month. I'm on target for my number goal for the year. I wanted to read more nonfiction, and I'm doing just OK with that goal. I haven't had any fabulous nonfiction reads to make me want to pick up more.
Elegy for Eddie by Jacqueline Winspear 3* The House at the End of Hope Street by Menna van Praag 4* The Submission by Amy Waldman 4* The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer 2* The Whistling Season by Ivan Doig 4* Life After Life by Kate Atkinson 5* Heat: Adventures in the World's Fiery Places by Bill Streever 2* Royal Flush by Rhys Bowen 4*
Post by rootbeerfloat on Apr 30, 2013 13:29:18 GMT -5
Lover At Last (BDB #11), JR Ward - 3.5* My One and Only, Kristan Higgins - 3* Snow Flower and Secret Fan, Lisa See - 3.5* Beautiful Creatures, Beautiful Darkness, Beautiful Chaos, Beautiful Redemption (Caster Chronicles), Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl - 3* overall The Peach Keeper, Sarah Addison Allen - 4*
My April books were all very much in the same vein.
A Year of Biblical Womanhood: How a Liberated Woman Found Herself Sitting on Her Roof, Covering Her Head, and Calling Her Husband "Master" by Rachel Held Evans
The Unlikely Disciple: A Sinner's Semester at America's Holiest University by Kevin Roose
The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible by AJ Jacobs
When God Talks Back: Understanding the American Evangelical Relationship with God by TM Lurhman
Post by dorothyinAus on Apr 30, 2013 18:41:34 GMT -5
It was a good month, 8 books read.
Royal Blood -- Rhys Bowen Naughty in Nice -- Rhys Bowen Masked Ball at Broxley Manor -- Rhys Bowen A Carol for a Corpse -- Claudia Bishop Toast Mortem -- Claudia Bishop Chocolate Wars: From Cadbury to Kraft, 200 Years of Sweet Success and Bitter Rivalry -- Deborah Cadbury Face Down O'er the Border -- Kathy Lynn Emerson Death Before Wicket -- Kerry Greenwood
According to the Goodreads widget, I have read 22 books and am 7 books ahead of schedule towards my yearly goal of 48 books.
Post by 5kcandlesinthewind on May 1, 2013 11:36:30 GMT -5
For April:
Bel Canto by Ann Patchett - 3 1/2 stars Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell - 4 stars The Mystery of Mercy Close by Marian Keyes - 3 stars (well, probably 2 1/2 really, but I have residual love for the Walsh Sisters) Stories I Only Tell My Friends by Rob Lowe - 2 stars (I wanted more dirt, dammit!) Confessions of A Prairie Bitch: How I Survived Nellie Oleson... by Alison Arngrim - 4 stars Dreamland by Sarah Dessen - 3 1/2 stars
No actual goals this year, but I'm trying to read at least one book per week, and I'm slightly ahead (thanks to long plane rides and vacation).
The only book I read, which I finished April 7, was Northern Lights by Nora Roberts. I was so busy this month. It's only book seven for the year. I usually read 50 a year but grad school has made me push it down to 24, hoping for 30. I start exams next week and once that's over with I'll be back to reading 4 or 5 a month.
Northern Lights was really good though and I enjoyed it.
Next up: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald Whiskey Beach by Nora Roberts And probably a trilogy by NR or one of the many reprints/anthology books I have bought by her recently. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon at some point this summer, along with the Hunger Games trilogy and a Harry Potter reread.
City of Thieves by David Benioff was my pleasant surprise this month 4*
The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher books 5+6 3.5*
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides 4* - this is a love it or hate it book. 7 of 9 people in the book club absolutely loved it. 2 absolutely hated it. The family history part was nicely integrated into historical events without either the historical events taking over or being used gratuitously, which I despise.
Atmospheric Disturbances by Rivka Galchen 2* I'm sure there is an audience who would love this book, but not me. I think either it flew over my head or I'm just not all that interested in the type of musings the author is interested in (self, reality). No one in the book club liked it and only 2 of 6 of us finished it.
My general goal is to read 3 books a month. I'm at 15 for the year and on track.
During April, I started the worst book I've ever read, but I didn't finish it. I hated it so much after the first 15 pages that I returned it to Amazon, because a) I couldn't stomach that I was giving money to the author for a book I found so terrible, and b) I had accidentally bought the wrong book! Thank goodness, because I wasn't sure how I was going to face the person in IRL book club who'd suggested something I hated so much!
Grace Notes by Brian Doyle - 1 star Grace Notes by Bernard MacLaverty - 3 stars Elimination Night by Anonymous - 3½ stars The Hot Rock by Donald Westlake - 4 stars
I'm at 13 out of 25, but it's not really much of a goal. My real goal is really just "keep reading."
The Last Werewolf by Glen Duncan - TERRIBLE. The narrator was much too chatty and it was really graphic. If I Stay by Gayle Forman - Great! Tell the Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka Braun - good, but the great reviews really elevated my hopes and it didn't quite live up to expectations. Lover Awakened by JR Ward - Meh. These books are always Meh. They're not well-written, there's no character development... but I keep reading them!
Harry Potter #1-4* I was going to do a reread because none of my holds at the library were available. Then they all became available at once so I've only reread the first one. Where Have You Been by Wendy James - 2* Room by Emma Donoghue - 4* Urn Burial by Kerry Greenwood - 4* The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern - 4*
My goal is to read 60 books this year and I have read 20 so far. Goodreads tells me that I am right on track.
The Last Werewolf by Glen Duncan - TERRIBLE. The narrator was much too chatty and it was really graphic. If I Stay by Gayle Forman - Great! Tell the Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka Braun - good, but the great reviews really elevated my hopes and it didn't quite live up to expectations. Lover Awakened by JR Ward - Meh. These books are always Meh. They're not well-written, there's no character development... but I keep reading them!
Thanks for saying this. I had the first book out of the library, but didn't read it because I couldn't commit to the series. I need to hear these things so I don't waste my time.
Now if only I could let the Anita Blake series go ...
Inside the Victorian Home by Judith Flanders Parallel Lives: Five Victorian Marriages by Phyllis Rose Beatrix Potter: A Life in Nature by Linda Lear Alice James: A Biography by Jean Strousse Me Before You by JoJo Moyes A Circle of Sisters by Judith Flanders George Eliot: The Last Victorian by Kathryn Hughes
I was really impressed with Rose's book. She had some fascinating things to say about the power dynamics of marriage, both today and in the past. I highly recommend it.
The Last Werewolf by Glen Duncan - TERRIBLE. The narrator was much too chatty and it was really graphic. If I Stay by Gayle Forman - Great! Tell the Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka Braun - good, but the great reviews really elevated my hopes and it didn't quite live up to expectations. Lover Awakened by JR Ward - Meh. These books are always Meh. They're not well-written, there's no character development... but I keep reading them!
Thanks for saying this. I had the first book out of the library, but didn't read it because I couldn't commit to the series. I need to hear these things so I don't waste my time.
Now if only I could let the Anita Blake series go ...
I'm into them now, I guess. They're pure fluff. Kind of like Sookie Stackhouse for me, but worse, IMO, because I don't actually care about any of the characters. SS is a guilty pleasure because they aren't great, but the characters are fine, they're fun, and they're a quick read. Black Dagger Brotherhood books are over 400 pages long, each. So... I wouldn't recommend them. I'll keep reading them, slowly, and talk about them with anyone else who does, but it's certainly not a good, memorable series.
I'm sure plenty of people might pick up the first one and not continue with the series. But I think one of the reasons I keep reading is because I keep forgetting who the characters are, and I guess if I get to all of their "stories," I might remember. Except I don't really remember much about the brother featured in book 2 (Rhage) and I'm only on book 3. Because there is seriously nothing to distinguish the characters!
Bel Canto by Ann Patchett - 3 1/2 stars Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell - 4 stars The Mystery of Mercy Close by Marian Keyes - 3 stars (well, probably 2 1/2 really, but I have residual love for the Walsh Sisters) Stories I Only Tell My Friends by Rob Lowe - 2 stars (I wanted more dirt, dammit!) Confessions of A Prairie Bitch: How I Survived Nellie Oleson... by Alison Arngrim - 4 stars Dreamland by Sarah Dessen - 3 1/2 stars
No actual goals this year, but I'm trying to read at least one book per week, and I'm slightly ahead (thanks to long plane rides and vacation).
Oh I didn't know that Marian Keyes had published a new book. I love her! I take it this one is about the youngest Walsh sister? I can't remember her name but this must have been difficult to write and make her likable. I always thought she was a bit of a brat, which is fine in a side character but would be tricky to do in the main protagonist. I tend to like her non Walsh family books better anyway. Have you read The Brightest Star in the Sky? I thought that was her best one yet. Super cute and fun.
Post by writingwithheld on May 2, 2013 10:16:30 GMT -5
The Magic Mountain, Thomas Man, 3 The Crying of Lot 49, Thomas Pynchon, 3 Why School?, Mike Rose, 3 The House of Mirth, Edith Wharton, 4 Lord of the Flies, William Golding, 3 Native Son, Richard Wright, 5 Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad, 1 The Color Purple, Alice Walker, 4 The Woman Warrior, Maxine Hong Kingston, 5
It was a really productive month for me. I am at 26/40. However, my goal is really to read 40 by the end of August because the rest of the year will be very busy and I am hoping to spend November doing NANOWRIMO again so that will suck up almost all of my free time.
Thanks for saying this. I had the first book out of the library, but didn't read it because I couldn't commit to the series. I need to hear these things so I don't waste my time.
Now if only I could let the Anita Blake series go ...
I'm into them now, I guess. They're pure fluff. Kind of like Sookie Stackhouse for me, but worse, IMO, because I don't actually care about any of the characters. SS is a guilty pleasure because they aren't great, but the characters are fine, they're fun, and they're a quick read. Black Dagger Brotherhood books are over 400 pages long, each. So... I wouldn't recommend them. I'll keep reading them, slowly, and talk about them with anyone else who does, but it's certainly not a good, memorable series.
I'm sure plenty of people might pick up the first one and not continue with the series. But I think one of the reasons I keep reading is because I keep forgetting who the characters are, and I guess if I get to all of their "stories," I might remember. Except I don't really remember much about the brother featured in book 2 (Rhage) and I'm only on book 3. Because there is seriously nothing to distinguish the characters!
I prefer Sookie for the same reasons.
Book 3 (Z, right?) is one of the more popular books, I think, so I would adjust your expectations for the rest of series, lol. And Rhage is the funny, gorgeous one. It gets easier to distinguish them after awhile. Also, Ward spreads more of the plotlines across books as the series progresses, so if you're like me, you feel the need to keep reading to see what happens.
I'm into them now, I guess. They're pure fluff. Kind of like Sookie Stackhouse for me, but worse, IMO, because I don't actually care about any of the characters. SS is a guilty pleasure because they aren't great, but the characters are fine, they're fun, and they're a quick read. Black Dagger Brotherhood books are over 400 pages long, each. So... I wouldn't recommend them. I'll keep reading them, slowly, and talk about them with anyone else who does, but it's certainly not a good, memorable series.
I'm sure plenty of people might pick up the first one and not continue with the series. But I think one of the reasons I keep reading is because I keep forgetting who the characters are, and I guess if I get to all of their "stories," I might remember. Except I don't really remember much about the brother featured in book 2 (Rhage) and I'm only on book 3. Because there is seriously nothing to distinguish the characters!
I prefer Sookie for the same reasons.
Book 3 (Z, right?) is one of the more popular books, I think, so I would adjust your expectations for the rest of series, lol. And Rhage is the funny, gorgeous one. It gets easier to distinguish them after awhile. Also, Ward spreads more of the plotlines across books as the series progresses, so if you're like me, you feel the need to keep reading to see what happens.
Yeah, book 3 is Z's story. He's the brother who is easiest to remember, though, since he's the only one who is apparently not gorgeous.
Actually, the sad stuff that happened at the end makes me anxious to see what happens in the next book.
Looks like April was a very low month for me. I only finished 3 books, and one was a re-read of a book I had read the first time in January.
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - Rowling, JK Gone with the Wind - Mitchell, Margaret
A Memory of Light - Jordan, Robert and Brandon Sanderson
I really enjoyed GWTW far more than I thought I would, so thanks to everyone for voting that I read it!
I'm currently reading Anna Karenina. Looks like it's #18 for the year, but I don't have a set numeric goal.
I need to find book 6 of Stephen King's Dark Tower series so I can finish that one; I already own book 7 but the used book store didn't have 6 when I was last there.
Yep, it's focused on Helen. She did manage to make her sympathetic, which I would have thought impossible. I read TBSitS a while ago, but I didn't really like it. I like her older books much better - Last Chance Saloon was my favorite of the non-Walsh sisters boos. I know that she went through some crippling depression, and IMO it shows in the later ones.
Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder 5* Drinking and Tweeting: And Other Brandi Blunders by Brandi Glanville 3* Magic Study by Maria V. Snyder 5* Lucky by Alice Sebold 3* Storm Front by Jim Butcher 4*
The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible by AJ Jacobs Would you be willing to review this for me?
A Shot of Sultry - 4* Divergent - 3* (audiobook) The Front Porch Prophet - 5* Where'd You Go, Bernadette - 3* The Scarlet Pimpernel - 5* (audiobook) First, There is a River - 1* Where Angels Fear to Tread - 4* To Tame a Highland Warrior - 3* (audiobook)
Just jumping in here...I need to check this board out for more options. In April I read:
The End of Everything by Megan Abbott Dare Me by Megan Abbott
The Infernal Devices Series by Cassandra Clare (Clockwork Angel, Clockwork Prince, Clockwork Princess). I liked this series much more than The Mortal Instruments. I believe because it all wrapped up nicely in the 3 books--the MI seems to be dragging.
Just jumping in here...I need to check this board out for more options....
Definitely jump in and stick around! The board doesn't move very fast but we have some good discussions and I've gotten a lot of good recommendations here.
Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder 5* Drinking and Tweeting: And Other Brandi Blunders by Brandi Glanville 3* Magic Study by Maria V. Snyder 5* Lucky by Alice Sebold 3* Storm Front by Jim Butcher 4*
I recently finished book 6 and am impatiently waiting for the next few ebooks from the library. They have 6 copies of 1-6 and only 2 copies of 7-12 and it's created quite the backlog.
How did you like the first book? I was intrigued, but then didn't find the next few as interesting. If you get frustrated, the series story arc really starts ramping up in book 4 and it gets better.
Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder 5* Drinking and Tweeting: And Other Brandi Blunders by Brandi Glanville 3* Magic Study by Maria V. Snyder 5* Lucky by Alice Sebold 3* Storm Front by Jim Butcher 4*
I recently finished book 6 and am impatiently waiting for the next few ebooks from the library. They have 6 copies of 1-6 and only 2 copies of 7-12 and it's created quite the backlog.
How did you like the first book? I was intrigued, but then didn't find the next few as interesting. If you get frustrated, the series story arc really starts ramping up in book 4 and it gets better.
I've read the series a couple of times. The first one is just not written very well. I'm really excited for the next book!