It's Friday! What are you reading? (5/19)

[ufcasey]

What books did you read this past week? What books are you currently reading? Thoughts on them?

QOTW:
Name a book that surprised you how much you ended up liking it (maybe it was a genre you usually don't read, or it was a debut book for an author that was really impressive, etc) and/or name a book that you were surprised by your disappointment in it (maybe a new release you were looking forward to by a favorite author that wasn't great, a popular book you didn't like, a new edition to a series that let you down etc.)

[rainbowchip]

I finished The Chosen and was underwhelmed.
I'm currently reading The Hate U Give and it's so good! My review is going to be "everyone must read this book!"

QOTW: Twilight. I got a B&N gift card for my birthday. I was walking around the store and it was on an end cap. I picked it up thinking that I wanted to see what all the hype was about thinking I would probably hate it. I then became obsessed.

Don't judge! I was going through a difficult time and it was an escape of sorts to have a YA vampire series to focus on.

[AJL]

I'm reading the Inn Keeper Chronicles by Ilona Andrew. I'm currently on book 2, Sweep in Peace. I finished book 1, Clean Sweep earlier in the week. I'm really enjoying them! 

I had tried reading them last year and I couldn't get into it. I think to answer the QOTW, it's this series that surprised me with how much I'm enjoying the stories. 

[Wallflower]

I've just barely started GM Malliet's newest Max Tudor mystery, Devil's Breathe. And I finished another mystery (Tightening the Threads, Lea Wait ... good, I like this series) and a romance this week (Intercepting the Chef ... it was just OK).

QOTW: I went to a private high school and they liked finding different books to read (e.g., we read My Antonia by Willa Cather, the Handmaids Tale, and Night by Elie Weisel), but that means that I didn't read a number of standards that other people have read. A few years ago, I picked up To Kill a Mockingbird and just loved it. Last year, I read A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and I think I might have loved it even more. On the flip side, I simply could not get into A Catcher in the Rye ... I couldn't finish it and with a great deal of judgement, I roll my eyes whenever someone says they loved it.

In the "not classic book" category, I'll say Tony Hillerman's last book, The Shape Shifter, was a huge disappointment. Plot holes and inconsistencies that the editor should have caught, and just not a great mystery. I was (and am) a fan of his early works and this was a sad way to end his run.

[snshne322]

I'm reading Love Hacked by Penny Reid and I'm finishing up Slaughterhouse-Five on audio. I just started the former last night, but this is the 3rd or 4th in the series and I'm really enjoying them. The latter is really, really intriguing, but confusing.

Also read in the last week was finishing up ACOWAR, reread of The Hating Game, reread of Burn for Me (#2 out later this month!) and Withering Hope which was so unrealistic and contrived, but fluffy enough for 3 stars.

QOTW:  I went back and looked at my 5 star ratings to see if any of them were surprising, but I don't think they really were.  More surprising to me is what genres I ended up liking.  I'm mostly into Fantasy, and read a lot of Romances and those were the two genres that I felt like I noticed got the most flack in general.  Or possibly, I was more aware of it some I gravitated there?  However, you will not be able to rip those genres from my cold dead hands. lol

[MrsAxilla]

Anansi Boys, Neil Gaiman - 3 stars. I just started From Cradle to Stage: Stories from Mothers who Rocked and Raised Rock Stars. It's put together by Dave Grohl's mom. My son heard about it on the radio when he was driving with DH and decided that was the perfect Mother's Day gift.

QOTD: this one is hard! I scrolled through my library and my ratings (good idea, snshne322) and I guess I'm most surprised by kindle firsts - lol. So many of those books are terrible, but every once in a while they're good. The Perfect Son and The Odds of Loving Grover Cleveland come to mind. I was surprised how much I liked The House of Mirth, too. It was published in 1905 and I read it because it was described somewhere as the saddest book ever written (I guess I was in some kind of mood - lol).

[frog]

I've got a couple of books going on. I just finished "The Wrath and the Dawn," a book loosely based on 1001 Arabian Nights. I really enjoyed it. It's a two parter and I'll likely start (and finish) the next today.

[abs]

I've done a lot of reading this week! I have read more books this week then I did the entire month of April.

I finished The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas. Four stars. I really, really liked it but did have some issues that prevented the 5 star rating. Still, everyone should read it.

I also read Too Late by Colleen Hoover. Typical book for her. Super heavy and emotional but no other author draws me in like she does. I find her books almost impossible to put down. So, four stars.

Now I am reading The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon. I'm about 25% into it but think it will be a 5 star book.

QOTW: Hm. I am not sure. I guess I will go with Empire of Storms. I thought I would love it and really just thought it was okay. It was one of the most disappointing reads of last year for me.

[ufcasey]

Read last week
A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah Maas - fantasy romance; 3.5 stars; I went on a bit of a diatribe in the spoiler thread, but basically I thought it was only ok
The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury - fantasy/sci-fi/fiction; 4.5 stars; I never would have guessed I would like this so much considering it's a bit futuristic/space based (not a preferred genre for me) and was written 66 years ago (really doesn't read that way though!)

Currently reading
Day Zero by Kresley Cole (#3.5 in series) - YA/fantasy/dystopian; this just has a little recap of each 'player' in the book and a short story of what happened to everyone on the day the 'game' started, so not really a novel. It's a good recap for me though since it's been a little over a year and a half since I read the previous book in the series. After this I plan on picking up the newest book. Though honestly I am getting a little tired of YA/dystopian books so we'll see how that goes.
In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex by Nathaniel Philbrick - non-fiction; a whole bunch of a-hole whale fishers get what's coming to them. Sorry for all the GR updates on it if you are my GR friend, I'm doing a buddy read with two other people on GR so that's why I'm being obnoxious LOL

QOTW

Pleasantly surprised:
The Illustrated Man (my inspiration for the QOTW since I just read it, it was really great and I really didn't think I would like it going into it, just seemed like it would be an old weird sci-fi book, but that was happily not the case)
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (another old book that I ended up liking)
Tairen Soul series by C. L. Wilson (the covers of this series are CHEESY but this is be best fantasy-romance series of my LIFE)

Unpleasantly surprised:
The Fate of the Tearling (still mad at about this!)
Iced by Karen Marie Moning (let's pretend this series ended at book 5)
Allegiant by Veronica Roth (Four all of a sudden was a whiny bitch and this whole book was just a terrible ending to the series)

[ufcasey]

May 19, 2017 10:33:09 GMT -5 frog said:

I've got a couple of books going on. I just finished "The Wrath and the Dawn," a book loosely based on 1001 Arabian Nights. I really enjoyed it. It's a two parter and I'll likely start (and finish) the next today.

I liked that one too! But wasn't as wowed by the second book unfortunately, but that might have just been me.

[litskispeciality]

I'm still plugging away at the Gunslinger. I have to carve out time to finish this weekend.

QOTW: The Hunger Games. I think I was afraid of the hype, but really enjoyed it.

Underwhelmed: The Giver. I'm a big Lois Lowry fan, but this one had me scratching my head. Also, We Need to Talk about Kevin. I read this fantastic review that you have to read this book or else, and then the mom was just so obnoxious, but the ending was good.

[sarahsays]

I reread Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare and started The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan. I've read the Jordan authored WoT books before but I want to reread before I finish the series.

QOTW:

The Fate of the Tearling stands out because it was recent and I was so unhappy with it.

[sassypants]

I'm still muddling through The Witch of Lime Street. I may give it up because it is just not grabbing my interest.

QOTW: I didn't want to read Harry Potter if you can believe that! The first three were out and a coworker of mine loaned me hers and insisted that I at least try the first one and if I didn't love it I could bring them back. Well, I loved it and when I finished the third one I came back to her and said "WHEN DOES THE NEXT ONE COME OUT!!!" Yeah, I may have been wrong about that one. ;-)

Anne Rice books have been a disappointment of late. I get all excited when a new one drops, especially one in the Vampire Chronicles, but they have suuucckkkeddd (no pun intended) lately. Such a bummer.

[monkeyfeet]

I'm currently reading Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy. I'm enjoying it as I'm learning a bit more about history and specifically Andrew Jackson as he's one of the last presidential biographies I've read.
I'm also reading The School of Essential Ingredients for my IRL book club, a light summer read. I almost gave up on it after the first chapter and the font size (library only had it in print). To my defense I do have an eye issue and my left eye has been dialated for a month, but had I given up on it based on the font size, you could officially put me in the old category! I probably belong there anyway. It's ok.

I was surprised to love The Name of the Wind, although I shouldn't have since it was recommended here! I also held out on twilight forever and ended up buying the 4th one in hard back to finish it!

[MrsAxilla]

May 19, 2017 11:58:31 GMT -5 sassypants said:

I'm still muddling through The Witch of Lime Street. I may give it up because it is just not grabbing my interest.

QOTW: I didn't want to read Harry Potter if you can believe that! The first three were out and a coworker of mine loaned me hers and insisted that I at least try the first one and if I didn't love it I could bring them back. Well, I loved it and when I finished the third one I came back to her and said "WHEN DOES THE NEXT ONE COME OUT!!!" Yeah, I may have been wrong about that one. ;-)

Anne Rice books have been a disappointment of late. I get all excited when a new one drops, especially one in the Vampire Chronicles, but they have suuucckkkeddd (no pun intended) lately. Such a bummer.

I really liked Prince Lestat, but I agree the Atlantis one was very meh.

[travella]

I am almost finished, about a hundred pages left, of Velvet Hours by Alyson Richman. I'm not loving it, but it's ok.

Qotw:

Pleasantly surprised: A Tale of Two Cities and the Twilight series come to mind.

Disappointed: Gone Girl, Furiously Happy, and Thirteen Reasons Why.

[aurora]

I'm reading We Have No Idea: A Guide to the Unknown Universe, which is an interesting non-fiction science book. It's written by the guys who do the PhD Comics web site.

I'm definitely still confused about the Higgs Boson.



QOTW: I was surprised by how much I enjoyed Les Miserables.

[aurora]

May 19, 2017 9:16:12 GMT -5 Wallflower said:

I've just barely started GM Malliet's newest Max Tudor mystery, Devil's Breathe. And I finished another mystery (Tightening the Threads, Lea Wait ... good, I like this series) and a romance this week (Intercepting the Chef ... it was just OK).

QOTW: I went to a private high school and they liked finding different books to read (e.g., we read My Antonia by Willa Cather, the Handmaids Tale, and Night by Elie Weisel), but that means that I didn't read a number of standards that other people have read. A few years ago, I picked up To Kill a Mockingbird and just loved it. Last year, I read A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and I think I might have loved it even more. On the flip side, I simply could not get into A Catcher in the Rye ... I couldn't finish it and with a great deal of judgement, I roll my eyes whenever someone says they loved it.

In the "not classic book" category, I'll say Tony Hillerman's last book, The Shape Shifter, was a huge disappointment. Plot holes and inconsistencies that the editor should have caught, and just not a great mystery. I was (and am) a fan of his early works and this was a sad way to end his run.

I agree with your take on Catcher in the Rye, for sure. Bleh.

[aurora]

May 19, 2017 11:12:05 GMT -5 ufcasey said:

...Allegiant by Veronica Roth (Four all of a sudden was a whiny bitch and this whole book was just a terrible ending to the series)

After all the comments here I decided not to bother reading this one. I was curious what happened to them at first but never even bothered to look up the spoiler summary online...

[aurora]

May 19, 2017 11:58:31 GMT -5 sassypants said:

I'm still muddling through The Witch of Lime Street. I may give it up because it is just not grabbing my interest.

QOTW: I didn't want to read Harry Potter if you can believe that! The first three were out and a coworker of mine loaned me hers and insisted that I at least try the first one and if I didn't love it I could bring them back. Well, I loved it and when I finished the third one I came back to her and said "WHEN DOES THE NEXT ONE COME OUT!!!" Yeah, I may have been wrong about that one. ;-)

Anne Rice books have been a disappointment of late. I get all excited when a new one drops, especially one in the Vampire Chronicles, but they have suuucckkkeddd (no pun intended) lately. Such a bummer.

I had a similar experience with Harry Potter. Now it's one of my two favorite books/series of all time and I can't say enough good things about Rowling.

[Wallflower]

May 19, 2017 13:35:07 GMT -5 aurora said:

May 19, 2017 11:58:31 GMT -5 sassypants said:

I'm still muddling through The Witch of Lime Street. I may give it up because it is just not grabbing my interest.

QOTW: I didn't want to read Harry Potter if you can believe that! The first three were out and a coworker of mine loaned me hers and insisted that I at least try the first one and if I didn't love it I could bring them back. Well, I loved it and when I finished the third one I came back to her and said "WHEN DOES THE NEXT ONE COME OUT!!!" Yeah, I may have been wrong about that one. ;-)

Anne Rice books have been a disappointment of late. I get all excited when a new one drops, especially one in the Vampire Chronicles, but they have suuucckkkeddd (no pun intended) lately. Such a bummer.

I had a similar experience with Harry Potter. Now it's one of my two favorite books/series of all time and I can't say enough good things about Rowling.

Here's another one for that path.  My niece was about 7 when the first 3 books were out and this was about the point that the buzz moved into the mainstream.  I called my sister and asked about them as an idea for Christmas.  Well, they'd already read them and were raving about how good they were.  Next thing I know, *I* get them for Christmas from my sister.  Even after that, I was dragging my feet so my mother started reading them - once she started and was praising them, I got a little more interested.  And once I got about 3 pages into the first one, I was hooked. I got my hands on books 4-7 on the day it released, often at about 12:05 am. lol.

[aurora]

May 19, 2017 13:59:28 GMT -5 Wallflower said:

May 19, 2017 13:35:07 GMT -5 aurora said:

I had a similar experience with Harry Potter. Now it's one of my two favorite books/series of all time and I can't say enough good things about Rowling.

Here's another one for that path.  My niece was about 7 when the first 3 books were out and this was about the point that the buzz moved into the mainstream.  I called my sister and asked about them as an idea for Christmas.  Well, they'd already read them and were raving about how good they were.  Next thing I know, *I* get them for Christmas from my sister.  Even after that, I was dragging my feet so my mother started reading them - once she started and was praising them, I got a little more interested.  And once I got about 3 pages into the first one, I was hooked. I got my hands on books 4-7 on the day it released, often at about 12:05 am. lol.

HP and the Deathly Hallows remains the only chapter book I have read in a single day (release day).

[dorothyinAus]

I'm reading The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. I'm finding it hard to get into, but that may be because my mind is on other things and I find myself distracted. I'm hoping this weekend I'll be able to settle into reading.

QOTW:  I was seriously surprised at how much I enjoyed The Three Musketeers. I read it in two days in college when I should have been studying for final exams before graduation.  I never really expected to enjoy it as much as I did. It was my first book by Dumas, and I am so glad I did read it because I found an author I truly love.

I was disappointed by The Road to Wellville. It was horrid, I hated it. It took me the entire final semester of college to wade through that book.  It was just an awful book. And I had heard such good things about T.C. Boyle and I was so disappointed, and had to drag myself through the book.  I read the last page before a class and dropped the book in the trash as I walked back to my dorm room after class; I remember the satisfying clunk as the book dropped.

[spedrunner]

May 19, 2017 13:23:14 GMT -5 travella said:

I am almost finished, about a hundred pages left, of Velvet Hours by Alyson Richman. I'm not loving it, but it's ok.

Qotw:

Pleasantly surprised: A Tale of Two Cities and the Twilight series come to mind.

Disappointed: Gone Girl, Furiously Happy, and Thirteen Reasons Why.
Y

YES!!! I gave up on this book, it annoyed the crap out of me!

[MrsAxilla]

travella I love A Tale of Two Cities. It always takes me a chapter or two to get a feel for the language, but it's one of my favorites. aurora, I've had Les Mis sitting on my kindle forever and it seems daunting.

[anglashly]

Just finished always and forever, Lara Jean by Jenny Han

I'm 100 pages into The Hate U Give because I picked it up last night thinking I would read a chapter or two. So powerful already


QOTW: I'll say The Shining because I always thought I wouldn't like Stephen King and I finally gave him a shot and I'm glad I did

[jillboston]

May 20, 2017 10:47:46 GMT -5 anglashly said:

Just finished always and forever, Lara Jean by Jenny Han

I'm 100 pages into The Hate U Give because I picked it up last night thinking I would read a chapter or two. So powerful already


QOTW: I'll say The Shining because I always thought I wouldn't like Stephen King and I finally gave him a shot and I'm glad I did

I don't like horror books (or at least I don't think I do (?) - closest I've ever gotten was Jaws by Peter Benchley) so I never tried Stephen King. Picked up JFK around the time of the 50th anniversary of the JFK assasination and loved it. I read the Mr. Mercedes series and am reading  (and listening) to Under the Dome. He really is amazing. 

[aurora]

May 20, 2017 10:45:53 GMT -5 MrsAxilla said:

travella I love A Tale of Two Cities. It always takes me a chapter or two to get a feel for the language, but it's one of my favorites. aurora, I've had Les Mis sitting on my kindle forever and it seems daunting.

Well, it is very long.

[dorothyinAus]

May 20, 2017 10:45:53 GMT -5 MrsAxilla said:

travella I love A Tale of Two Cities. It always takes me a chapter or two to get a feel for the language, but it's one of my favorites. aurora , I've had Les Mis sitting on my kindle forever and it seems daunting.

I read A Tale of Two Cities and Les Miserables back to back in high school and now I can't keep them straight.  I keep joking with DH that it's a "far, far better thing I did, than when I stole that bread."

After several tries, I have decided I just do not like Dickens.  I didn't like Les Miserables, so I never went looking for anything else by Hugo, so I don't know how I really feel about him as an author.

[dorothyinAus]

May 20, 2017 18:15:21 GMT -5 aurora said:

May 20, 2017 10:45:53 GMT -5 MrsAxilla said:

travella I love A Tale of Two Cities. It always takes me a chapter or two to get a feel for the language, but it's one of my favorites. aurora , I've had Les Mis sitting on my kindle forever and it seems daunting.

Well, it is very long.

The version I read in high school was abridged and it was still horribly long!