The Art of Hearing Heartbeats 4*. Read it for book club. Beautifully written but not super captivating
The Bookseller by Cynthia Swanson 4* Takes place here in Denver, so cool to envision the places she frames her story in.
I also started and am still working on Angel of Darkness by Caleb Carr, I started it at the beginning of the month but then got caught u in reading the book for book club. It's slow going.
I was disappointed I had read NONE of the Goodreads list, and had only heard of 1 or 2.
Post by dorothyinAus on Nov 6, 2015 1:53:06 GMT -5
46. The Professor and the Madman, Simon Winchester -- it was good, but not as much about the dictionary process as I thought it would be.
47. Anastasia, Ask Your Analyst, Lois Lowry -- fun re-read, the Anastasia series is one of my favorites.
48. Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984), George Orwell -- I can appreciate it was well-written, well-crafted, and considered a classic, but I did not enjoy the book. I did not like the characters, I did not like the story, and I was really unhappy the whole time I was reading it.
ETA: I did not vote on the Goodreads' Best Book of 2015 lists as I had not read, or for the most part, heard of the books. But I tend not to read best sellers or books that everyone else is reading, so it's not likely that I would have anyway.
Bad Feminist by Roxanne Gay - 4 stars The Light Between Oceans by ML Stedman - 3.5 stars Modern Romance by Aziz Ansari - 3 stars The Lying Game by Sara Shepard - 3 stars We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - 3.5 stars Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates - 4 stars
I'm at 60/75 and 3 books behind. :/
Yes, the books I have read that are nominated are:
So You've Been Publicly Shamed (very good!) Modern Romance The Royal We Between the World and Me ETA: A Desperate Fortune
The Thorn Birds - Colleen McCullough - picked for one of the reading challenges. I actually listened to it on audiobook and had to renew it because it's so long, but I thought it was really good. An interesting portrait of Australia.
Valley of Amazement - Amy Tan - also very good
The Door in the Hedge - Robin McKinley - read when I stumbled upon it as a reminder of my childhood. I loved it as a pre-teen, but wouldn't recommend it to an adult outside of nostalgia.
Gone Girl - Gillian Flynn - very well done. I do feel...odd...about it, and particularly (spoiler)
the potential for rape victims to lose additional public support based on Amy's manipulation tendencies
ETA - Looking through the GoodReads 2015 list, I am so excited to see JK Rowling has published a new book: "Very Good Lives: The Fringe Benefits of Failure and the Importance of Imagination." I think she is such an eloquent writer that I'd probably read her grocery lists.
Otherwise, I haven't read a single book on the list, though some are on my list. I usually try to get books from my excellent local used book store so I rarely read books published this year.
46. The Professor and the Madman, Simon Winchester -- it was good, but not as much about the dictionary process as I thought it would be.
47. Anastasia, Ask Your Analyst, Lois Lowry -- fun re-read, the Anastasia series is one of my favorites.
48. Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984), George Orwell -- I can appreciate it was well-written, well-crafted, and considered a classic, but I did not enjoy the book. I did not like the characters, I did not like the story, and I was really unhappy the whole time I was reading it.
ETA: I did not vote on the Goodreads' Best Book of 2015 lists as I had not read, or for the most part, heard of the books. But I tend not to read best sellers or books that everyone else is reading, so it's not likely that I would have anyway.
I actually don't think you're supposed to enjoy 1984. I think the whole point is that it's disturbing.
Have you read any of the books on Goodreads' best books of 2015 voting list? Which ones?
I read and loved the Kind Worth Killing. I'm currently listening to Felicia Day's autobiography, which is hilarious and inspired my new avatar. Follow You Home was pretty bad.
Post by rootbeerfloat on Nov 6, 2015 13:42:30 GMT -5
The Bourbon Kings, JR Ward - 3.5* About that Fling, Tanya Fenske - 3* The Pale Queen, AR Kahler - 3* Go Set a Watchman, Harper Lee - 2.5* An Ember in the Ashes, Sabaa Tahir - 3.5*
I'm at 45/50 and purposefully ahead because I had wanted to try to do NaNoWriMo. I'm not actually going to compete, but I will take the month off to write instead of read.
From the 2015 GR nominees list, I've read: The Perfect Son (fiction) A Desperate Fortune (historical fiction) At the Water's Edge (historical fiction) The Shadows (romance) Golden Son (sci-fi) An Ember in the Ashes (debut BR author, YA fantasy/sci-fi) All the Bright Places (YA fiction) The Winner's Crime (YA fantasy/sci-fi)
Plus, I'm on the waiting list for a few others (Career of Evil, Why Not Me?, Modern Romance, Between the World and Me, Carry On, The Heir), so I may get to count some of those, too.
46. The Professor and the Madman, Simon Winchester -- it was good, but not as much about the dictionary process as I thought it would be.
47. Anastasia, Ask Your Analyst, Lois Lowry -- fun re-read, the Anastasia series is one of my favorites.
48. Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984), George Orwell -- I can appreciate it was well-written, well-crafted, and considered a classic, but I did not enjoy the book. I did not like the characters, I did not like the story, and I was really unhappy the whole time I was reading it.
ETA: I did not vote on the Goodreads' Best Book of 2015 lists as I had not read, or for the most part, heard of the books. But I tend not to read best sellers or books that everyone else is reading, so it's not likely that I would have anyway.
I actually don't think you're supposed to enjoy 1984. I think the whole point is that it's disturbing.Yeah.
Everyone I talked to and told I didn't really like 1984 mentioned that you're not supposed to like it. I didn't read it in school and knew very little about the book before I read it, so I was expecting a happy ending. There is NO happy in that book. Part of my dislike may have been my fault for not knowing what it was before I read it, but at the same time I really wanted to experience the book with as few preconceived notions/expectations as possible.
I asked people about Animal Farm, and I don't think I'd like it, so I'm just going to skip reading anything further by Orwell. Apparently there is just no happy in his works. I want happy in my leisure reading books.
...I asked people about Animal Farm, and I don't think I'd like it, so I'm just going to skip reading anything further by Orwell. Apparently there is just no happy in his works. I want happy in my leisure reading books.
Orwell is great for provoking thought/discussion. But, if you're looking for pleasant escape, I agree Animal Farm isn't it.