Happy Friday! What are you reading? 9/4

[charlatti]

What are you reading and how do you like it? I'm out of questions, so tell us something interesting.

[christy082]

I'm reading A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. I'm enjoying it.

I'm not very interesting.. um... my birthday is a month from today? Lol.

[ChillyMcFreeze]

I'm reading Save the Date by Mary Kay Andrews. I love her.

[cinco]

Before the Storm by Diane Chamberlain. Her books are a tad overly dramatic like a Lifetime movie, but I like them.

[labbie]

I'm reading The Law of Similars by Chris Bohjalian and cannot put it down. I will hopefully finish it tonight. His writing really sucks me in- I feel like I'm experiencing everything along with the main character.

I'm listening to The Christie Curse by Victoria Abbot. It's a Book Collector Mystery Series #1. I like it ok, will probably listen to the next one in the series. It's fairly light, but it's great on audio because I can listen to it while cooking or walking the dog, etc.

My random fact is that two weeks from today I will be on vacation- yahoo! Can't wait.

[elletr13]

I just finished "Under the Banner of Heaven" (fascinating). I'm going to start "Ten Days to D-Day: Citizens and Soldiers on the Eve of the Invasion" by David Stafford. I picked it up at the used bookstore when I traded in a pile....brought 12 in and walked out with 3 new (to me) ones . Amazon Summary:

Ten days before the largest operation of World War II was launched, it was still one of the century’s best-kept secrets—thanks to countless ordinary people participating in one of history’s most remarkable moments. David Stafford has written a riveting account of ten of those ordinary men and women—including an American paratrooper, a German soldier, a nineteen-year-old English woman working on secret codes, a Parisian Jew in hiding, and a daring French resistance cell—as they lived through ten very extraordinary days. Drawing on previously unpublished diaries and letters, Stafford gives readers a fresh point of entry into one of the most significant battles ever fought.Ten Days to D-Day buzzes with the pace of a novel, as Stafford moves from country to country, from character to character, including some of D-Day’s leaders: Hitler, Rommel, Eisenhower, and Churchill. Stafford compellingly brings to life the final days before the invasion through the eyes of its participants, the citizens and soldiers that made history on June 6, 1944.

[charlatti]

I'm reading The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood, second in the Oryx and Crake trilogy. I'm enjoying it a lot. For me it's a little slower than O&C but I like the characters a lot more.

I'm watching paint dry: how's that for interesting? OK, I'm not actually watching and it's primer so far. Our flat-paint navy bathroom (terrible choice, IMO, for a tiny half bath, especially since flat paint is impossible to clean) will soon be a lovely, semi-gloss spring green.

[msmerymac]

Ender's Game. It's decent, but a little more hypermasculine than I'd normally prefer, and I have to really suspend my disbelief to go along with the plot that a 6 year old acts more like a 14 year old, and then becomes commander of a school/child army at, what, age 9 or something? And there's very little adult supervision?

Interesting? I spent 4 nights in Paris last week and then 4 nights in Belgium (doing a bike ride through the west Flanders area with a tour group, going to various breweries). I'm still on a vacation high!

[booknerd]

I'm still reading Nantucket Nights by Elin Hilderbrand. I'm enjoying it a little but I kind of dislike all the characters lol.

Interesting....Hm. I rewatch the same like five six TV shows over and over and over again and rarely branch out. Idk why. (In case you're wondering, it's The Office, Friends, Supernatural, How I Met Your Mother, Boy Meets World, and That 70's Show.) 
Also I love to garden and I preserve/can my own foods a lot. (Most recently salsa, of which I make the best!)
And I love to wear athletic/work out clothes, and probably own more clothing made by Nike and Adidas than any other brand, but I don't work out ever lol.
I cry when I watch Say Yes to the Dress (on the few occasions I do branch out). I'm not even a big wedding person, but I cannot handle the happy emotion I guess. Also whenever babies are born on TV shows/movies ha.

[MrsAxilla]

I just finished Inamorata by Megan Chance. It was a kindle first a few months ago. I really enjoyed it, surprisingly. I'm reading American Gods by Neil Gaiman now. I just started, but I was sucked in pretty quickly.

[Stingyshark]

I just started The One & Only by Emily Giffen. I'm a little apprehensive about it; I read reviews last night on Goodreads and practically all of them said it sucked. I never read reviews, why did I do that?

I'm listening to Love Season, by Elin Hilderbrand.. I'm intrigued.

I think I like listening to books more than I enjoy reading at this stage in my life. I'm so tired by the end of the day, I just want to go to bed. I can barely stay awake to read at night, and it's the only free time I have during the week to read.

[itsme]

An Officer & a Spy, Robert Harris - I couldn't get far on this one. I made it to disc 4 I think. I stopped a few days ago.

Council of Patriots (Corps Justice #2), C.G. Cooper - Picked this e-book up for free on Amazon. It seems to be OK. Somewhat unbelievable. OK, very unbelievable as was the first in the series but it's an easy read and I really needed a short book with some type of action to counter the next book on my "currently reasing" list.

A Dance with Dragons - I am over halfway through but I had to take a break for a few days. There is no action in this on thus far. It's still a good read but I need something to happen to keep my attention.

[rootbeerfloat]

My answers should be predictable by now, lol... Drums of Autumn (Outlander #4).

I also finished China Dolls by Lisa See this week, which I liked despite not loving any of the main characters.

[aurora]

I'm listening to I am Malala by Malala Yousafzi and really enjoying it. The narrator's voice is great and the story is so far really inspirational.

I'm reading Scarlett by Alexandra Ripley. I didn't realize when I picked it up that it was written by someone else (i.e., not the author of Gone with the Wind) and not until 1992.   Still enjoying it, but it feels a bit more jarringly written.

I'm just happy you start these threads every week.  The questions aren't critical!

[aurora]

Sept 5, 2014 13:48:42 GMT -5 rootbeerfloat said:

My answers should be predictable by now, lol... Drums of Autumn (Outlander #4).

I also finished China Dolls by Lisa See this week, which I liked despite not loving any of the main characters.

I've felt this way about a couple of Lisa See's books.  I haven't read China Dolls yet, though.

[aurora]

Sept 5, 2014 7:54:58 GMT -5 christy082 said:

I'm reading A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. I'm enjoying it.

I really loved that one.

[aurora]

Sept 5, 2014 10:30:08 GMT -5 msmerymac said:

Ender's Game. It's decent, but a little more hypermasculine than I'd normally prefer, and I have to really suspend my disbelief to go along with the plot that a 6 year old acts more like a 14 year old, and then becomes commander of a school/child army at, what, age 9 or something? And there's very little adult supervision?

Interesting? I spent 4 nights in Paris last week and then 4 nights in Belgium (doing a bike ride through the west Flanders area with a tour group, going to various breweries). I'm still on a vacation high!

I enjoyed Ender's Game, but I definitely agree he's not a typical boy.  I suspended disbelief by thinking of him a some futuristic human savant whose growth progression is not what we're used to today.

[msmerymac]

Sept 5, 2014 14:16:21 GMT -5 aurora said:

Sept 5, 2014 10:30:08 GMT -5 msmerymac said:

Ender's Game. It's decent, but a little more hypermasculine than I'd normally prefer, and I have to really suspend my disbelief to go along with the plot that a 6 year old acts more like a 14 year old, and then becomes commander of a school/child army at, what, age 9 or something? And there's very little adult supervision?

Interesting? I spent 4 nights in Paris last week and then 4 nights in Belgium (doing a bike ride through the west Flanders area with a tour group, going to various breweries). I'm still on a vacation high!

I enjoyed Ender's Game, but I definitely agree he's not a typical boy.  I suspended disbelief by thinking of him a some futuristic human savant whose growth progression is not what we're used to today.

Yeah, I keep telling myself kids are different in the future, lol. And the book does make a big deal out of him being pretty much a genius at the beginning.

[charlatti]

Sept 5, 2014 14:12:17 GMT -5 aurora said:

I'm just happy you start these threads every week.  The questions aren't critical!

I like the questions to try to get people to say more than "I'm reading X." Doesn't always work, but I like reading the answers when people do play along. (BTW, I'm not attached to starting the Friday threads. I think I just check in here earlier than most others.)

[frog]

I'm reading Fall of Giants. So far I'm loving it.

Interesting... hmmm... I have 19 days until vacation in Nicaragua and I can't wait. I lived in S. America for a couple of years and haven't been back to a Spanish speaking country for 11 years now... far too long!

[rootbeerfloat]

Sept 5, 2014 14:56:19 GMT -5 charlatti said:

Sept 5, 2014 14:12:17 GMT -5 aurora said:

I'm just happy you start these threads every week.  The questions aren't critical!

I like the questions to try to get people to say more than "I'm reading X." Doesn't always work, but I like reading the answers when people do play along. (BTW, I'm not attached to starting the Friday threads. I think I just check in here earlier than most others.)

I can be lazy about answering the questions, but I like them, too. We don't do random chatter posts on this board, and while we may know one another from other boards, this isn't true for everyone, and I like getting to know people better.

[dorothyinAus]

I'm reading Laura Ingalls Wilder:  A Writer's Life.  It's very interesting, but I'm not sure I like it.  The author seems to take the view that everyone who has ever read the Little House books was fooled into thinking they were an absolutely true autobiography, and that the author is a fraud because she left out whole chunks of her life story in telling in the books.  I really get the feeling that the author of the book is asking "How DARE Laura Ingalls Wilder left out whole periods of her life in the Little House books?!"  I'll finish it, but I really don't care for the tone of it.

My interesting fact:  New research is making it possible to not only predict epileptic seizures, but deliver targeted medication directly to the seizing area of the brain.  It is so cool -- they have thin plastic sheets impregnated with anti-convlusants which are released when triggered by the electrical activity of the seizure.  It is amazing what they can do.  So far it's only being tested in rats, but the same technology is already in use in humans to predict seizures.

Edited to add:  I must have misunderstood; I didn't realize the interesting thing had to be personal.  In that vein, I am on week 6 of a 6-week 0-5K walking program and I am inexplicably excited about walking the 5K tomorrow.  It's not a competitive one, just a route that's 5K around my neighborhood, but I am still excited about it.  And as a bonus:  I feel SO MUCH better than I did in July when I started.

[charlatti]

dorothyinAus My completely vague question has no rules! Your interesting thing is really interesting -- I'm going to see if I can read more about that.

[MrsAxilla]

Sept 5, 2014 20:05:52 GMT -5 dorothyinAus said:

I'm reading Laura Ingalls Wilder:  A Writer's Life.  It's very interesting, but I'm not sure I like it.  The author seems to take the view that everyone who has ever read the Little House books was fooled into thinking they were an absolutely true autobiography, and that the author is a fraud because she left out whole chunks of her life story in telling in the books.  I really get the feeling that the author of the book is asking "How DARE Laura Ingalls Wilder left out whole periods of her life in the Little House books?!"  I'll finish it, but I really don't care for the tone of it.

My interesting fact:  New research is making it possible to not only predict epileptic seizures, but deliver targeted medication directly to the seizing area of the brain.  It is so cool -- they have thin plastic sheets impregnated with anti-convlusants which are released when triggered by the electrical activity of the seizure.  It is amazing what they can do.  So far it's only being tested in rats, but the same technology is already in use in humans to predict seizures.

Edited to add:  I must have misunderstood; I didn't realize the interesting thing had to be personal.  In that vein, I am on week 6 of a 6-week 0-5K walking program and I am inexplicably excited about walking the 5K tomorrow.  It's not a competitive one, just a route that's 5K around my neighborhood, but I am still excited about it.  And as a bonus:  I feel SO MUCH better than I did in July when I started.

You didn't misunderstand!  That's really fascinating!  I didn't even bother with an interesting fact - lol.  Here's mine, I gues.  DH and I were fourth-ish row for three nights of Phish over Labor Day.  We had such an awesome time!

[dorothyinAus]

Sept 5, 2014 20:56:11 GMT -5 charlatti said:

dorothyinAus My completely vague question has no rules! Your interesting thing is really interesting -- I'm going to see if I can read more about that.

I saw it on a television science program this week.  

I'm not sure if the video is geoblocked, but I think you should be able to read the transcript of the story here:

Catalyst (ABC)

(If you can't read the transcript, let me know and I'll copy & paste for you if you'd like.)

[charlatti]

It works -- thanks! I hadn't googled up anything on my own.

[labbie]

Sept 5, 2014 12:06:59 GMT -5 Stingyshark said:

I think I like listening to books more than I enjoy reading at this stage in my life. I'm so tired by the end of the day, I just want to go to bed. I can barely stay awake to read at night, and it's the only free time I have during the week to read.

Sent from my XT1080 using proboards

I love audio books, and I'm extremely thankful for the technology that makes them so much more accessible/downloadable, (and free from the library!) than back in the day when I'd have to haul around a bunch of CDs in my car. The majority of my books this year have been audio, and while I still prefer my reading time in my favorite chair with a book and coffee or wine, I'm glad I can now enjoy books while walking, cleaning, etc. etc.

[labbie]

Sept 5, 2014 20:05:52 GMT -5 dorothyinAus said:

I'm reading Laura Ingalls Wilder:  A Writer's Life.  It's very interesting, but I'm not sure I like it.  The author seems to take the view that everyone who has ever read the Little House books was fooled into thinking they were an absolutely true autobiography, and that the author is a fraud because she left out whole chunks of her life story in telling in the books.  I really get the feeling that the author of the book is asking "How DARE Laura Ingalls Wilder left out whole periods of her life in the Little House books?!"  I'll finish it, but I really don't care for the tone of it.

[/i][/quote]
I can't recall at the moment which biography I've read of her, but it definitely had the same tone. Have you read about her autobiography that's being released soon? I can't wait! On the one hand I'll enjoy it, but part of me is afraid of shattering my childhood image of life on the prairie....I mean, I know it wasn't really all fun play and sunny days, but still.

Sent from my XT1080 using proboards

[labbie]

Sept 5, 2014 9:52:23 GMT -5 charlatti said:

I'm watching paint dry: how's that for interesting? OK, I'm not actually watching and it's primer so far. Our flat-paint navy bathroom (terrible choice, IMO, for a tiny half bath, especially since flat paint is impossible to clean) will soon be a lovely, semi-gloss spring green.

Totally random, but can I ask which color green you're using? We've been searching for a spring green for our family room, and it's hard finding the right one. Some are too sage-y, others too much an olive green. This will also be over a very dark color.... The brown we loved in our old house just does not work in this one... We were too hasty about trying to cover the horrid paint of the prior owner and didn't spend enough time choosing.

Sent from my XT1080 using proboards

[ally]

Sept 5, 2014 14:30:16 GMT -5 msmerymac said:

Sept 5, 2014 14:16:21 GMT -5 aurora said:

I enjoyed Ender's Game, but I definitely agree he's not a typical boy.  I suspended disbelief by thinking of him a some futuristic human savant whose growth progression is not what we're used to today.

Yeah, I keep telling myself kids are different in the future, lol. And the book does make a big deal out of him being pretty much a genius at the beginning.

We read this for my book club. It was not very popular with my group, but we try to read a variety, so it worked. Yeah, most of us had to just go with what was written and not make it fit with our realities.  None of us moved on to the rest of the series.

A good friend of mine loves the series - but he is a guy and read them as a teen - the target audience.