December Reading

[eb777888]

What's everyone reading?

[fernweh]

I just finished Britney Spear’s Memoir.
I think most of the juicy stuff was released in the news prior to the article. I’m glad she final gets to use her voice but the writing seemed very juvenile to me.

I’m am currently reading Unwell Women.

[bears]

I just finished If We Were Villains because I heard it was similar to A Secret History. It was not. Terrible plot, unrealistic, and the characters were stupid dramatic. I hated it so much and I'm mad at whoever thinks it's like A Secret History.

[Jalapeñomel]

I just finished Wellness. It took a bit to get into it, but overall, I really liked it.

[dontlook]

Dec 2, 2023 20:57:59 GMT -5 Jalapeñomel said:

I just finished Wellness. It took a bit to get into it, but overall, I really liked it.

I just finished as well. I thought it was going to take a long time, but about halfway I started flying through it. I enjoyed it- 4 stars.

Currently reading a romcom, Sweeten The Deal.

[Nonny]

I finished Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow last night, which was for my book club, and I absolutely loved it.

I'm about 75% of the way through listening to the Britney Spears memoir, and I just started the 4th Murderbot novella.

[krystee]

I made a stack of books I really wanted to read by the end of the year, and there were 19. And then I remembered two more. Eek.

I just finished Assistant to the Villain and Door to Door Bookshop, and just started Again and Again and A Winter in New York. All the Sinners Bleed by SA Cosby is next.

Also on my list:
Bookshops and Bonedust
Louise Penny’s second Three Pines book (I forget the name)
The Ten Thousand Doors of January
Tom Lake
Crying in H Mart
And a whole bunch more I forget at the moment, meaning I probably won’t get to them!

[rosiebear]

Finished “Horse” and I want to talk about why I hated it. I loved one story, could have loved some others, and absolutely hated (and am still mad about ) one.

I am enjoying “Let’s Never Talk About This Again,” and I just got notification from the library that “The Sober Lush” and “False Starts: The Segregated Lives of Preschoolers” are now available for me.

[isabel]

What did you hate rosiebear?

[rosiebear]

Dec 2, 2023 23:30:49 GMT -5 isabel said:

What did you hate rosiebear?

I don’t want to give too much away for people who haven’t read it, so I will just say Theo and Jess. There were other problematic elements, but their story was the most unnecessary and, imo, aggravating/offensive.

[isabel]

Dec 3, 2023 1:06:43 GMT -5 rosiebear said:

Dec 2, 2023 23:30:49 GMT -5 isabel said:

What did you hate rosiebear?

I don’t want to give too much away for people who haven’t read it, so I will just say Theo and Jess. There were other problematic elements, but their story was the most unnecessary and, imo, aggravating/offensive.

I assumed that’s the part you meant. I really enjoyed the rest of the book outside of that storyline.

[rosiebear]

isabel, I did too, and that is probably why I am so mad about that element. Hate is a strong word, and while I was reading I was engrossed, but when I recall the book, my distaste for that overshadows the rest.

Maybe it shouldn’t, because there were so many really good parts and many things I’d never heard of or read about before.

[tacokick]

Okay I tried listening to the Louise Penny Chief Inspector Gamache book and did not like them.

I finished Ann Cleeves’ Shetland/Vera/Two Rivers books on audio and looking for some thing new.

Anyway, I read a lot and it would be nice to find a good long series I haven’t read to listen to if anyone has any other suggestions.

[scm1011]

I’m about 100 pages into Kristin Hannah’s Christmas book, Comfort & Joy. It’s pretty bad, but in a Hallmark movie kind of way so I’ll probably finish today ha.

[redheadbaker]

I'm halfway through Lessons in Chemistry (physical copy), and I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter (audiobook).

[TR]

Dec 3, 2023 1:06:43 GMT -5 rosiebear said:

Dec 2, 2023 23:30:49 GMT -5 isabel said:

What did you hate rosiebear?

I don’t want to give too much away for people who haven’t read it, so I will just say Theo and Jess. There were other problematic elements, but their story was the most unnecessary and, imo, aggravating/offensive.

I really hated the modern day love story (I did enjoy the peek into art restoration/history) and the end was just absolute horseshit.

[scm1011]

Dec 3, 2023 14:14:05 GMT -5 scm1011 said:

I’m about 100 pages into Kristin Hannah’s Christmas book, Comfort & Joy. It’s pretty bad, but in a Hallmark movie kind of way so I’ll probably finish today ha.

I finished. It just got worse lol. 2 stars.

[kaneen]

Just finished Weyward by Emilia Hart. I enjoyed it until the end. The ending wasn’t bad necessarily but it felt rushed like the author was like, “I’m done with this story, I need to wrap this up.”

I totally forgot I bought a copy of Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow about a year ago and never read it. Need to dig it out. Thanks for the reminder Nonny.

[Jalapeñomel]

Dec 3, 2023 15:42:24 GMT -5 redheadbaker said:

I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter (audiobook).

I read this a couple years ago, and I remember liking it.

[macmars45]

I just finished Perfectly Nice Neighbors by Kia Abdullah. It was good.

[dancingirl21]

I finished Divine Rivals today. It’s YA fantasy, but was decently realistic and only had some fantastical elements. The second in the series comes out this month.

I started Faking Christmas, which should be a quick rom com read.

[toepick]

Dec 2, 2023 20:57:59 GMT -5 Jalapeñomel said:

I just finished Wellness. It took a bit to get into it, but overall, I really liked it.

I really liked it too! Which is strange because I really disliked both of the main characters, but I feel like everything about them made sense, given their history. 

[jinkies]

I'm reading Winterdance by Gary Paulsen. It's an old book, but it's a memoir of him training for and running the Iditarod.

Up next is Shark Heart.

[toepick]

I just read the new Sigrid Nunez (the Vulnerables) and the new Michael Cunningham (Day) back to back, which might not have been the best strategy. Not surprisingly, they are both gorgeously written. Like sentences so perfect you write them down and share them with other people. But neither had a ton of plot, and both were Covid stories (Vulnerables more explicitly so). So while I am glad I read both, I feel pretty blah and might need to read a trashy romance next.

Except I am listening to North Woods by Daniel Mason and it's so so good - especially on audio.

[litskispeciality]

I just started "Bad Nurse". I never saw the Netflix whatever so it's all new (and horrifying) to me. Still chipping away at "Things We Never Got Over" and "Beartown", however BT may be put to the side right now.

[CrazyLucky]

I just finished The Fallen by David Baldacci. I'm really intrigued by the concept of perfect memory, and the main character has it.
I started The Rachel Incident. Enjoying it so far.

[shinyhappy]

I just finished The Girl Who Was Taken and Summit Lake, both by Charlie Donlea and i absolutely loved them both. Both murder mysteries/psychological thrillers that toggle back and forth between present day and the past when the murder/event took place. I liked Summit Lake better but they were both awesome. About to read another book by this author called Don’t Believe It.

[brooke77]

I just finished Demon Copperhead and didn’t love it. I think my expectations were too high since I was on the waitlist for months.

Now reading All This Could Be Different. Too early to have an opinion.

[wise_rita]

I just finished The Feather Thief and enjoyed it so much! Fascinating and I learned so much about things I had no idea about before.

I didn't care for the end, not because of the writing but because of how the case panned out.

I think I'm realizing that alternating fiction and non-fiction is a good path forward for me reading. I seem to enjoy everything so much more.

[ny96]

Dec 4, 2023 16:52:44 GMT -5 wise_rita said:

I just finished The Feather Thief and enjoyed it so much! Fascinating and I learned so much about things I had no idea about before.

I didn't care for the end, not because of the writing but because of how the case panned out.

I think I'm realizing that alternating fiction and non-fiction is a good path forward for me reading. I seem to enjoy everything so much more.

I loved The Feather Thief!