What are you reading this Mockingjay Friday (11/21)?

[rootbeerfloat]

I'm going to start The Storied Life of AJ Fikry for MMM Book Club this weekend.

I finished The Last Letter from Your Lover by JoJo Moyes this week. The ending was nice, but overall it was just OK.

Most importantly, I saw Mockingjay last night!

[kiminky]

Just finished Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult. I would give it maybe 3 stars. Now onto The Cove by Ron Rash.

[charlatti]

Dark Road to Darjeeling by Deanna Raybourn. It's a nice, light mystery, fourth (I think?) in the Lady Julia series.

I need to get myself a Mockingjay date! DH would go, but he didn't read the books, so I don't think he's allowed.

[rootbeerfloat]

Nov 21, 2014 15:58:41 GMT -5 charlatti said:

I need to get myself a Mockingjay date! DH would go, but he didn't read the books, so I don't think he's allowed.

I took H to see the first one, then spent the hour afterwards explaining everything. I saw the last two with friends who'd read the books

[Pippin]

I finished Deadlocked last night and now I'm starting The Almost Moon for my IRL book club.

So how was Mockingjay??

[mrspez07]

Just finished a re-read of Drums of Autumn. Going to start Body of Evidence tonight or tomorrow.

[rootbeerfloat]

Nov 21, 2014 17:43:15 GMT -5 Pippin said:

So how was Mockingjay??

Less action, more focus on the politics/propaganda and Katniss's mental state. So slower, but good!

[christy082]

Just finished The Infinite Sea by Rick Yancey. It was good.

[MrsAxilla]

Interview with the Vampire. I downloaded the first three books in one compilation and so it doesn't have page numbers and I'm annoyed! I need to know how far I am at ALL TIMES!

[secretlyevil]

H has seen the movies. I'm looking forward to part one this weekend.

I finished Prince Lestat. I'm annoyed at the ending. I am kind of bouncing between the third book on the Magicians and the latest in the undead series.

[frog]

I'm reading The Ex-Pats. It's...ok, I guess. I'm about halfway through and at this point I don't think I'd recommend it.

H and of will go see Mockingjay this next week sometime. Hopefully some of the teen girl gaggle will have gotten their full and stopped going by this point.

[dorothyinAus]

Still reading The State Counsellor by Boris Akunin.  If I read more than an hour total this week, I'd be surprised.  I just couldn't seem to quiet down for reading, and it's not the kind of book that you can dip in and out, so most of my reading time was lost this week.  November will be a crap month as I've been reading this book since October 25 -- nearly a month and I haven't been able to get through it.

[sparrowsong]

Wild: from Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed

I'm not blown away by the story or the writing, however it has inspired me to seriously consider doing a long distance backpacking trip someday.

[BlackCanary]

I'm STILL working on Dance With Dragons. I stopped for a while and I just picked it up again. It's taking forever!

[jillboston]

Listening to American Pastoral by Philip Roth.

[booknerd]

I'm rereading the HP series still, about a third of the way through OotP.

[msmerymac]

The Lady Elizabeth by Alison Weir. I pretty much hate it, but I'm 2/3 done, so I'm chugging on. I guess I don't hate it enough to stop, but I'm not excited about reading it. I AM excited about finishing it, though.

[Deleted]

Prince Le Stat!

[apelila]

msmerymac I am LOL'ing at your siggy! Love it.

I'm reading The Death Cure by James Dashner. It's okay. I have to finish what I start. hehe

[aurora]

Nov 24, 2014 9:48:17 GMT -5 msmerymac said:

The Lady Elizabeth by Alison Weir. I pretty much hate it, but I'm 2/3 done, so I'm chugging on. I guess I don't hate it enough to stop, but I'm not excited about reading it. I AM excited about finishing it, though.

I am very very late to this thread, but I think your post is interesting because I really liked The Lady Elizabeth.  This might say something about my standards for historical fiction, though.

[msmerymac]

Dec 3, 2014 16:37:01 GMT -5 aurora said:

Nov 24, 2014 9:48:17 GMT -5 msmerymac said:

The Lady Elizabeth by Alison Weir. I pretty much hate it, but I'm 2/3 done, so I'm chugging on. I guess I don't hate it enough to stop, but I'm not excited about reading it. I AM excited about finishing it, though.

I am very very late to this thread, but I think your post is interesting because I really liked The Lady Elizabeth.  This might say something about my standards for historical fiction, though.

I went back and read the discussion from February about the book. Basically, anything people complained about seemed amplified to me and took me out of the book. I felt like she took a long list of every event she could find that happened or might have happened in Elizabeth's early life and just added inane and unrealistic conversations. Elizabeth's precociousness was over the top. I thought Kat's jealousy of the Queen was somewhat ridiculous. I didn't think the characters were well developed or that it was well written. 

Knowing that Weir mostly writes non-fiction historical accounts actually makes sense. The book seemed pretty straightforward, like it was presenting facts, but when she tried to be creative, like with the Admiral, it didn't work for me.

I gave it two stars because anything about the Tudors is at least marginally interesting. Truth is stranger than fiction. I think the book has close to 4 stars on goodreads, though. 

In fairness, I'm not the biggest fan of Phillipa Gregory, and this kind of reminded me of her books. 

[aurora]

Dec 3, 2014 16:45:19 GMT -5 msmerymac said:

Dec 3, 2014 16:37:01 GMT -5 aurora said:

I am very very late to this thread, but I think your post is interesting because I really liked The Lady Elizabeth.  This might say something about my standards for historical fiction, though.

I went back and read the discussion from February about the book. Basically, anything people complained about seemed amplified to me and took me out of the book. I felt like she took a long list of every event she could find that happened or might have happened in Elizabeth's early life and just added inane and unrealistic conversations. Elizabeth's precociousness was over the top. I thought Kat's jealousy of the Queen was somewhat ridiculous. I didn't think the characters were well developed or that it was well written. 

Knowing that Weir mostly writes non-fiction historical accounts actually makes sense. The book seemed pretty straightforward, like it was presenting facts, but when she tried to be creative, like with the Admiral, it didn't work for me.

I gave it two stars because anything about the Tudors is at least marginally interesting. Truth is stranger than fiction. I think the book has close to 4 stars on goodreads, though. 

In fairness, I'm not the biggest fan of Phillipa Gregory, and this kind of reminded me of her books. 

Ah, and I may have forgotten all the things that bugged me in my February read.  I do agree that Elizabeth was way too precocious! 

I still read Philipa Gregory even though I would agree that her books aren't all that good, so I do think there's something about the era that is just captivating.