Friday March 1st Reading

[Vespasia]

Happy Friday! What have you been reading this week?


QOTW: If you could instantly learn a new language (that you don't currently have any knowledge of) which one would you choose?

[Vespasia]

Earlier this week I read The Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden. It was absolutely fantastic, the best book I have read in a long time. Highly recommend.

Now I am reading Network Effect by Martha Wells, the first full length Murderbot book. It's great and I love the characters.



QOTW: Dutch! Not the most practical but we watch a lot of cycling and have hopes of moving there some day.

[travella]

I finished 

Purgatory Ridge by William Kent Krueger, 3*

The Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden, 2* (I was intrigued in the beginning, especially with Freddie and Winter, but I lost all interest when they went their separate ways). 

I am currently reading The Lost Book of the Grail by Charlie Lovett. 

QOTW: Probably Korean or Mandarin. 

[charlatti]

I’m almost finished with Self Portrait with Nothing by Aimee Pokwatka. I read her book The Parliament (murder owls) a few weeks ago. This one is totally different but equally weird, and I’m enjoying it.

QOTW: All of them? I have a little high school and college French knowledge but I definitely can’t speak it at all. I’d probably pick Spanish if I could only do one; it seems like it would be useful. Ooh, maybe Latin — I’m a word nerd and I always wished I had studied Latin.

[krystee]

I read The Last One and it was good until the very last page, when it was ruined. I loved All the Lonely People by Mike Gayle. I am a sucker for elderly curmudgeon/found family stories.

[tacokick]

Look In the Mirror by Catherine Steadman (a wild ride!)

You Know What You Did by K.T. Nguyen (disappointing)

Still Life by Val McDermid (good)

Chronicles of the Juice Man: A Memoir by Juicy J with Soren Baker (he really hates cocaine!)

QOTW: Swedish or German. We watch a lot of international tv and my French is good enough I don’t need the subtitles very much and I’d love to be at that level at German or Swedish.

[minzy]

It took me almost the whole month but I finished Sadie Alice Celine by Sarah Blakley-Cartwright. I’d say three stars. I appreciated the diverse characters (lesbian May-December relationship) but was a little unsettled that the older one as an adult watched the younger one go through adolescence as her daughter’s best friend and then had a relationship with her. I don’t know.

Currently reading Safe - A Memoir of Fatherhood, Foster Care, and the Risks We Take for Family by Mark Daley. I heard the author’s interview on NPR and it so reminded me of the fostering experience of my friend and his husband that I put a hold on the book on the spot. I’m not very far in but I can tell it will probably make me laugh and cry and that I am probably going to love it.

QOTW: Spanish would probably be most useful.

[tacokick]

Mar 1, 2024 23:10:02 GMT -5 minzy said:

It took me almost the whole month but I finished Sadie Alice Celine by Sarah Blakley-Cartwright. I’d say three stars. I appreciated the diverse characters (lesbian May-December relationship) but was a little unsettled that the older one as an adult watched the younger one go through adolescence as her daughter’s best friend and then had a relationship with her. I don’t know.

I found the older woman disturbing and I never bought that the younger women were actually ever friends. It had a gloss of being “literary” but I don’t think it was actually very well-written. It was very slow and didn’t explore as much as it seemed to think it did.

[sju]

Finished The Storied Life of AJ Fikry. Didn’t love it. 3.5*

Now I am reading The Women by Kristin Hannah and it is very good so far. This is only the second Hannah book I read.  Four Winds was slow, this one is fast pace but in both I have felt very immersed in the setting.

QOTW: Spanish is my first language plus I have 3 years of French (so very, very basic phrases). Hard to choose but I’d say Korean or Japanese because I want to visit both countries.

[charlatti]

Mar 1, 2024 21:02:35 GMT -5 krystee said:

I read The Last One and it was good until the very last page, when it was ruined. I loved All the Lonely People by Mike Gayle. I am a sucker for elderly curmudgeon/found family stories.

is this the one by Will Dean? I just noticed I’ve read at least two with that title! I really hated the Will Dean book, especially the end.

[dearprudence]

Finished My Dear Henry and Mortal Follies. Both were a little too superficial for me. I wish the plot and characters were a little more well developed.

Started listening to The Jasad Heir, about a magical Egyptian queen in hiding after her family and kingdom were burned to the ground.

Started reading Every Rising Sun such is a Sherazade/Arabian nights retelling

QOTW: If you could instantly learn a new language (that you don't currently have any knowledge of) which one would you choose?

Any knowledge? Thai. Very little knowledge? Spanish. I want to learn more than Spanish than I've picked up working at restaurants. I really only know food words.

[krystee]

charlatti yes that’s the one. Dumbest last line ever.

[sadie]

I finished Tom Lake. It was so slow. I don't think I'd recommend it.

I'm trying to decide what to read next. I'm in the mood for a mystery/thriller.

[sju]

Mar 6, 2024 20:10:54 GMT -5 sadie said:

I finished Tom Lake. It was so slow. I don't think I'd recommend it.

I'm trying to decide what to read next. I'm in the mood for a mystery/thriller.

Have you read Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice to Murderers? It’s a cozy mystery. I loved it.

[travella]

Wrong Post

[sadie]

Mar 7, 2024 17:58:25 GMT -5 sju said:

Mar 6, 2024 20:10:54 GMT -5 sadie said:

I finished Tom Lake. It was so slow. I don't think I'd recommend it.

I'm trying to decide what to read next. I'm in the mood for a mystery/thriller.

Have you read Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice to Murderers? It’s a cozy mystery. I loved it.

I haven't, but will take a look! Thanks for the rec!