First May Friday: What are you reading? 5/3

[charlatti]

What are you reading and how do you like it?

QOTW: What's your happy place book or genre? What do you go to when you need a pick-me-up?

[Deleted]

I'm finishing up Princesses by Flora Fraser today. It's a biography of the six daughters of George III. I still have about 25 pages to go but I cheated last night and started my new book (Hermione Lee's biography of Edith Wharton) which is really good. I can see why critics always use words like "masterpiece" when reviewing her work.


QOTW: When I need a pick me up, I like to read fluffy romances like Jennifer Crusie's Bet Me or Welcome to Temptation or chick lit by writers like Marian Keyes, Elin Hilderbrand, Sarah Dunn, J. Courtney Sullivan, etc. I'm also a sucker for Philippa Gregory's novels, although I kind of think they've been going down hill.

[charlatti]

I just finished The River of No Return by Bee Ridgway, which was fun. It left things open for a sequel, which is mildly annoying. I'd prefer to have the loose ends tied up, or at least know in advance that it's not going to tell me everything. I think I'm going to start Snapper by Brian Kimberling The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker next. (Vetoed Snapper. It's more like interconnected stories than a novel, and I'm not in the mood for that.)

QOTW: I usually do a reread -- something that I know will make me happy when it's finished. My standbys are Haven Kimmel (The Used World or The Solace of Leaving Early) or Barbara Kingsolver (The Bean Trees, Prodigal Summer, or Pigs in Heaven). I'm saving a reread of The Night Circus for just this purpose.

[rootbeerfloat]

I'm reading The Dog Stars by Peter Heller. The first part had a "stream of consciousness" writing style, which annoyed me, but now that the narrator seems to have rediscovered grammar and sentence construction, I'm more interested in his journey. Still, there are lengthy descriptions of fishing, hunting and guns, all of which I have little interest in.

QOTW: Chick lit or romance.

[aurora]

Anna Karenina. I'll probably still be reading it next Friday, too. I'm hoping to be done by the one after that.

QOTW: Definitely re-reads to find my happy place - Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter are the two series I've read most often in my life, but there are a lot of books I've read multiple times. I do tend to favor historical fiction and fantasy for this purpose, esp. books with female main characters.

[booknerd]

Nothing, though I am planning on starting something this weekend. Exams start Monday though so hopefully I can make time to read.

QOTW: I don't reread often, but when I do it is Harry Potter. My go-to genre is romance. I am usually reading romance or romantic suspense, though sometimes I'll throw in a thriller or mystery. I definitely don't read the most beautiful literature or anything. I read to relax and be entertained.

[BookLover]

I'm slowing going through An Echo in the Bone, I remember now how much of it dragged. And I was on jury duty so I started The Harbinger.

QOTW: I go an re-read one of my favorites. Hunger Games, Harry Potter or some Historical Fiction I love.

[daydreamer]

I didn't have time to read much last week, maybe 50 pages or so of A History of Byzantium: The Early Years by John Norwich. I'm not sure how much of it I'll read because I'm excited to start The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton. She's one of my favorite authors, and it's the last of her major books I've yet to read. I've even read Looking Backwards, her autobiography.

QOTW: When I'm stressed, I read fantasy. I need to go clear to another place. I tend more to silly books if I need a pick me up. I've been keeping around some of the Stephanie Plum mysteries by Janet Evanovich for this purpose though I was noticing the library has some Christopher Moore ebooks available or with short wait lists.

[dorothyinAus]

I'm currently reading A Death in Gascony (A Musketeers Mystery).  It's a fun take on the characters and makes me realize it's time for a re-read of The Three Musketeers; Athos is one of my all-time favourite characters.

QOTW:  Silly, cozy mysteries with puns in the titles or re-reads from childhood -- the Little House books, Anne of Green Gables/Emily of New Moon, or a series of biographies of famous Americans I would check out every week if possible.  Narcissa Whitman:  Pioneer Girl and Annie Oakley:  Little Sure Shot were my favourites and I finally found them at a library book sale.

[BlackCanary]

I am starting Grave Peril by Jim Butcher.

[christy082]

I'm almost 3/4 done with The Beggar King. It's decently good. 

QOTW: I don't really have a happy place book/genre. But if I"m looking for something light, I'll read something young adult (Anna and The French Kiss, for example).

[whitepicketfence]

I'm reading Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman. It's pretty interesting so far. I haven't been a fan of some of his other books; they sounded really intriguing and had a cool premise but ultimately fell short of my expectations. I'm hoping this one will be better.

QOTW: I don't typically reread books, although the Harry Potter series is probably an exception. If I need something light and fluffy, I usually just pick up the next book in the Sookie Stackhouse series. They are such quick reads and don't require me to think much, LOL.

[duckduck]

I'm still reading North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell. It's picking up now that they're doing stuff and not just sitting around talking about societal theory.

I'm listening to Naked in Death by J.D. Robb/Nora Roberts and I really like it!

QOTW: Sookie Stackhouse kind of plays that role for me now.