It's Friday! (3/30)

[ufcasey]

What have you read this week? What are you currently reading?

QOTW:
What's your favorite part of Spring and/or Easter? Have any traditions? Or a story to tell, maybe about disturbing fake bunny costumes? Or have thoughts on why a bunny lays eggs? Talk about whatever lol!

[rainbowchip]

I'm back to reading Little Women. I'm determined to finish it today or tomorrow. I have The Gunslinger and Nightfall on my kindle to start next.
I'm also listening to Ready Player One and hope to see the movie soon.

QOTW: I honestly have no idea what bunnies, eggs and baskets have to do with Jesus. (I mean, I do know the history there but it's funny to me.)
Spring and fall are my least favorite seasons. The weather is so inconsistent. It's been sunny and in the 40s or 50s all week and bow today we are supposed to get 4-6" of snow.

[travella]

I finished The Child by Fiona Barton, 3*. I almost put this book down multiple times because it was so slow and the characters so flat, but I ended up kind of liking it in the end. I think I'm going to start Deep Freeze by John Sanford next.

QOTW: I like Spring Break the best about this time of year - no school/activity bustle and I get to spend a lot of fun/quality time with the kids. We almost never travel for Spring break because my husband is usually busy this time of the year so the kids and I have our own tradition of sorts. Everyone picks something fun to do during Spring break and we do it. This year we chose to go on a cruise, go to a kids show, and go to an amusement park.

[Vespasia]

I gave up on Her Every Fear halfway through. I absolutely loved the Kind Worth Killing so this book was incredibly disappointing. Maybe the most disappointing non-sequel I have ever read. I hated every single character, the "twist" was obvious from the first second, and the plot was just stupid. I ended up seeking out a summary to see what happened and it made me extra glad I didn't waste my time finishing it. It felt more like a really mediocre Kindle First rather than a book by an author who has shown he actually can write. 


QOTW: I'm looking forward to not having to wear a coat!

[litskispeciality]

I finished And We Stay and started A Wrinkle in Time. I'm embarassed that I'm only 75 pages in, this week has been awful for time to read. For those that have read it, is it better in one or two sittings? I'm having a hard time getting into it, but I know it's supposed to be really good.

QOTW: We never did egg hunts or cool stuff like that, but we always had a big Lithuanian food dinner. My poor husband still has to make a lot of that food for me.

[aurora]

I'm still re-reading A Memory of Light (last book in the Wheel of Time series) and listening to The Silkworm. I had taken a break on the former to read Radium Girls.

I also just got The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane from the library so I will be able to read it for the next book club.

[sassypants]

I just finished Bad Feminist last night so I grabbed Drums of Autumn to reread since I'm waiting on a bunch of library holds right now. The Outlander books are my go-to rereads when I don't have a book waiting for me to pick up. I've read them enough that I can put them down and pick up whatever hold comes in and get back to the reread whenever.

QOTW: Ah, yes, the adoption of pagan fertility rituals to help convert early Christians. Always gives me a giggle when I tell someone that and they nearly pass out from the heresy of it all. Maybe I'll finally watch the last episode of American Gods this weekend in honor of that.   My favorite thing about spring is knowing that it's 6 months until the autumn. Oh, and driving with my windows down.

[ufcasey]

I decided to change things up and steal some of spedrunner 's formatting from last week - it was so easy to read
Read:
The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden
4 stars/fantasy
I don't want to say too much since this is a book club pick, but I think most people will either really like it or not like it at all. I liked it!

The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women by Kate Moore
4 stars/non-fiction
See the book club discussion!

Pestilence by Laura Thalassa
3.5 stars/PNR
He's kind of a terrible person and she's kind of annoying, but I still liked it surprisingly enough

Dear Martin by Nic Stone
4 stars/YA
This is the male/light version of The Hate U Give. I thought it was well done, but THUG was better.

Total so far for the year: 36

Currently Reading:
The Girl in the Tower by Katherine Arden - fantasy; this is the sequel to The Bear and the Nightingale and I hear it's supposed to be even better than that one, we'll see!

QOTW:
We go to way too many Easter Egg hunts every year with the kids because they love them so much. But as for Spring, I live in Florida so it's just nice to get back to weather warm enough to get in a pool, but not hot enough that you're sweating when you step outside of your car. It lasts for about a month. LOL!

[bex]

I finished Beartown by Frederick Bachman. Such a good book but so enraging. It made me want to throw things.

Currently reading Ready Player One. I have 5 days left on my kindle loan so I need to hurry.

[monkeyfeet]

I picked up Station Eleven after seeing it so highly recommended here. It’s been on my the list but not a genre I typically read.

[charlatti]

I just finished Lullaby Road by James Anderson, which was very good. I liked his first book,The Never Open Desert Diner, better but I’d recommend this one too.

I’m really just looking forward to warmer weather. I’m so tired of being cold.

[mrspez07]

We finished reading The Prisoner of Azkaban as a family, I love the Jim Kay illustrations.
Finished listening to Still Life by Louise Penny
Finished Daddy’s Girl by Lisa Scottoline
Currently reading Difficult Women by Roxanne Gay and will start listening to the Power by Naomi Alderman for my IRL book club.

I like watching everything turn green, especially within days of a big snow storm like this week. I like spring a lot, despite the unpredictable weather.

[krystee]

I just started Russian Roulette: The Inside Story of Putin's War on America and the Election of Donald Trump. I am also rereading A Wrinkle in Time. I didn't read much this past week because ILs were here visiting and it was H's and DS1's birthdays.

I love spring! But I don't love the Easter bunny. I find the whole concept so strange. I am doing my best to not mention it much to DS. We are treating it more like going to see a character at Disney World when we take a picture at the mall, rather than "This six-foot-tall bunny enters our home with eggs for some inexplicable reason." We don't specifically say who brings the baskets, and he doesn't ask. I love Santa, though.

[jmliongrrrl]

I finished Robyn Carr's Virgin River series this week with the last 2 books, Sunrise Point and My Kind of Christmas. It felt a little strange reading a Christmas book in March, but the snow on the ground this week helped.
I started Artemis by Weir and I really like it. I loved The Martian and it's nearly as good. I'm still listening to Empty Mansions and am ready to be done with it. The parts where the book lists the amounts of checks she wrote seem to go on forever.

QOTW: I love getting outside and working in the garden. I'm still patiently waiting for things to start blooming here in PA. I'm not a fan of the people dressed as rabbits. Parents wonder why their children are afraid of these things, but did you ever look at the size of the teeth on those costumes? HUGE!

[spedrunner]

Read

The Ex Alafair Burke
3/5 stars 

The Woman in The Window by AJ Finn
4/5 stars

Final Girls by Riley Sager
3.5/5 stars 

Currently reading 

An American Marriage (loving!)

The Little French Bistro
Not feeling it so much 

qotd:  no interesting stories but I used to love making martinis with jelly beans   In it.  Also as a child I always wanted to love Cadbury creme eggs but just couldn’t 

[spedrunner]

Mar 30, 2018 16:39:05 GMT -5 @tooshort said:

Mar 30, 2018 8:45:00 GMT -5 Vespasia said:

I gave up on Her Every Fear halfway through. I absolutely loved the Kind Worth Killing so this book was incredibly disappointing. Maybe the most disappointing non-sequel I have ever read. I hated every single character, the "twist" was obvious from the first second, and the plot was just stupid. I ended up seeking out a summary to see what happened and it made me extra glad I didn't waste my time finishing it. It felt more like a really mediocre Kindle First rather than a book by an author who has shown he actually can write. 


QOTW: I'm looking forward to not having to wear a coat!

I really disliked this book. I really wanted another The Kind Worth Killing but that wasn’t even close.

I just started the Tea Girls book.

QOTW:
I was talking to my DD today about the meaning behind Good Friday and I felt so bad. She had tears in her eyes. So I get the bright idea to read the Bible to clear things up....not so much. I kept trying to empathize that Sunday is coming and resurrection but I’m not sure I did a great job. This isn’t even close to the first time she has heard this stuff but she seemed so impacted today.

I also expected more since I loved the kind worth killing.  I felt it was very predictable 

[dorothyinAus]

I'm 60 pages away from finishing Murder in Morningside Heights. It's interesting and the author does do research about the period, but it's yet another mystery with a message and I'm rather over my leisure reading pushing agendas at me, especially historical fiction pushing agendas that are not exactly the commonly accepted ones at the time. I'm enjoying the mystery, but being hit over the head with a message is getting old. I may have to switch to reading more older mysteries.

QOTW: Well, it's fall here now so I'm not really thinking spring, but one of my favorite parts of spring is seeing the trees bloom before they leaf out. I love the trees all in flower with no green showing. I really miss the dogwood blossoms that were everywhere in my college town. I have no disturbing fake bunny costume stories, but I do have a bunny costume story: a couple of years ago, one of DH's friends had a "fancy dress" memorial service -- kind of like a costume wake. (and yes, it was the strangest memorial service I have ever been to.) But I don't do costumes, so I had nothing on hand and no time to really buy anything. I finally found my Easter Bunny ears I got one year to tease my FIL with. So I went to the mostly Doctor Who/Star Wars/Star Trek Fancy Dress Memorial Service as a bunny.

[minzy]

I’ve only made a little progress on Radium Girls. I’ve had very little time to read this week and next week doesn’t look good either.

One thing I love about spring is the flowers coming up, particularly daffodils. They remind me of my mom, as we planted a ton of them on my parents’ property when I was a kid, and the daffodils still make an annual appearance 30+ years later.

[Nonny]

I'm almost done with the Wool Omnibus (Silo #1) - my Kindle says I'm at 95% and it looks like it's going to end before 100%, so I'll finish that today.  I also made progress on a Lewis Carroll biography I've been reading for 5 years. LOL!  This might be the year I finish it, I only have 2 chapters left.


QOTW:  I love how everything looks in the spring, and the way the weather switches here between warm and sunny, and cool and raining.  I don't like how my allergies flare up though.  And Cadbury cream eggs.  I've already got a 4-pack in the freezer to pull out at various points during the year. 

[ally]

Read:

Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng, 5*
I really enjoyed the character development.  

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel, 5*
FINALLY finished the audio book.  Excellent story that wove together so many different pieces.

Total so far for the year: 20


Currently Reading:

The Sugar Queen, by Sarah Addison Allen

People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks - audio book


QOTW:
  Spring weather can be a mixed bag, often rainy and cold, but when the flowers are blooming and the leaves come out it is so pretty and reaffirming!

[kelliebeans104]

I'm currently reading Rules of Civility by Amor Towles. I'm not that far in but it's really good so far. I'm also rereading Goblet of Fire.

I'm listening to The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer. I should finish today or tomorrow. I really like it. I'm actually going to see her on Thursday for an author discussion and signing of her new book Female Persuasion. It should be fun!

QOTW: I love seeing the buds on the trees and the flowers blooming in spring and feeling the air getting warmer. It was a nice weekend and I was hopeful but then it snowed a few inches this morning so I guess spring is taking it's time coming this year.