It's Friday! (4/6)

[ufcasey]

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

QOTW:
Do you have any pets? If so, feel free to brag about them here (bonus points for pictures). And/Or say what is your favorite type of animal.

[monkeyfeet]

I just finished Just Mercy. It was so good and such a fast read for being non-fiction. I think most of you would like it!

Just starting Rules of Magic.

Unpopular opinion but I am not an animal person. One of my children is terrified of most pets so I feel relieved that she will never want one, hopefully!

[rainbowchip]

I'm reading The Gunsliger. It's one of those books that I'm interested in while reading but don't think about much once I put it down.
I'm also still listening to Ready Player One. Not making much progress on that.

QOTW: Our dog passed away 2 years ago and there will not be another pet in our house for a LONG time. It's nice being able to go places and not have to worry about getting a pet sitter.

[spedrunner]

Read


Sometimes I Lie by Alice Feeney
3/ 5 stars
I really could not relate to any of the characters nor feel any empathy for anyone. It was very hard for me to follow and not in an enjoyable/seamless way. I was expecting more?

The Little French Bistro by Nina George
3 /5 stars
I am going to Paris this summer with my mom , so I was excited to read this! I loved the ambiance and vibe about Paris, but I did not care for the style of writing. I prefer more realistic and this felt very “dreamy” to me. Reminded me a bit of “A Man Called Ove”
Currently Reading

An American Marriage
4 /5 stars
Really enjoyed this book!

Currently Reading

The Wedding Date by Jasmine Gullory
Really enjoying this so far! A light read, which is something I needed, but need to be in the mood for!

Also picked up Necessary Lies by Diane Chamberlain last night from the library. Hoping to start that this weekend as well!

QOTD: I have a long-haired Dachshund, Lily <3

[abs]

I am reading Still Me. So far so good. I'm about 2/3 done and so far I am liking it much better than the second book but not as much as the first.

QOTW: I am not really an animal person. DD is terrified of dogs so chances are she will not want one. I don't really love them either to be honest. Also, we are all allergic to cat/dog hair so there is that.

[ufcasey]

Read:
The Girl in the Tower (#2 in series) by Katherine Arden
5 stars/fantasy
This is the sequel to The Bear and the Nightingale, and I really loved it. It's so much better than the first book!

Every Note Played by Lisa Genova
3.5 stars/fiction
This is the same author that wrote Still Alice, which I loved. This book did a great job of portraying ALS, (RIP Stephen Hawking!) but the characters and the plot itself outside of the disease all did not work for me nearly as well.

Hello Stranger (#4 in series) by Lisa Kleypas
2.5 stars/historical romance
The only thing that kept me from rating this book lower was the very late appearance of West Ravenel, who has his own book coming out next which I will eagerly read! The rest of this book was just mediocre and I'll forget about it tomorrow.

Total so far for the year: 39

Currently Reading:
A River in Darkness: One Man's Escape from North Korea by Masaji Ishikawa - non-fiction; so far I am only in his childhood where he grew up as half Korean while living in Japan, which reminds me a bit of a real-life version of Pachinko. Only this is actually interesting LOL!

QOTW:
I have one cat, Casey. Who unfortunately I do not have a picture of at the moment, I'll come back and add one later. But I jokingly tell people he has had transgender cat surgery. When he was 3 he had a urinary blockage and the only way to permanently fix the issue was to remove his boy parts and make a 'vagina-like' opening (the vet's words). Good thing Casey is a name that could be a boy or a girl haha. Poor cat.

[aurora]

I just finished A Memory of Light this morning. Haven't picked up a new book yet; trying to decide between a comfort book and something new.

I'm listening to The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane; should be done in time for book club!

QOTW: I love animals. My dog, a mutt we adopted from the shelter when she was 5 years old, is the best dog in the world.

[AJL]

Sugar Daddy (Travises #1) by Lisa Kleypas - 3.5/5*
Smooth Talking Stranger (Travises #3) by Lisa Kleypas - 3.5*5

QOTW: We have two cats (and three fish.) We had three cats but we lost of our old boy Kinky last fall.

Top - Jeffrey (Jeff); he's the baby. I got him because I had human baby fever. lol! He's 2 years old
Middle - Kinky; he was DH's kitty and first ever pet. He passed away in October.
Bottom - Max; he's my old man. I've had him since he was 3 weeks old. He's 15 now. 

[bex]

I’m still reading Ready Player One. I like it a lot, but some of the descriptions are hard for me since I have never played video games really. And I’m just not super invested in what happens next. I need to just get through it so I can move on lol.

Do I have pets. Ha. Please hold for pics.

[bex]

Jackson, aka Jdog. Ignore the old
Lamp. The boys crushed it lol.

[bex]

And Soboh. It is taking me a while to pick just one of each dog btw.

[travella]

I am reading Deep Freeze by John Sanford. It's alright. I've been too busy to really focus so it's been a slow read.

QOTW: Our black lab died a little over a year ago. I still miss him horribly, he was with me for 13 years. Right now we live in a house that does not allow pets or we would have another. Our family doesn't feel complete any more.

[travella]

This was our labrador.  My daughter loved dressing him up.  He had no problem being dressed up in necklaces, boas, and whatever else she found to dress him up in.  He was yawning in the photo.




L

[wesleycrusher]

I just finished Home: A Memoir of My Early Years by Julie Andrews- her autobiography through beginning work on Mary Poppins. It was good, but unfortunately she had not written about the years after as of yet.

Armada by Ernest Cline- not as good as Ready Player One, but DH and I listened to the audio book and really enjoy Wil Wheaton

Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are? by Frans de Waal- reading about the experiments used to test animal cognition was interesting, but overall the book was way more academic then I was expecting

I am almost done with Meddling Kids by Edgar Cantero (have to finish it soon because it's for a book club I have on Sunday). I have been reading it forever, I haven't gotten into it. I think the premise of the book is so good- teen detective club (in the vein of Scooby Doo) has grown up and are revisiting their last case- but the execution is awful.

I've also started Neil Patrick Harris: Choose Your Own Autobiography by Neil Patrick Harris, audiobook read by NPH.

QOTW: I have 2 cats. The are purebred Selkirk Rex (have long curly fur). I am obsessed with them.

[jmliongrrrl]

I only finished one book this week. Still Life with Bread Crumbs by Anna Quindlen (3*).
I'm currently reading Promise Me, Dad by Joe Biden (so sad!) and I'm almost finished with Empty Mansions on audio.

QOTW: I LOVE animals. I grew up on a farm and would have brought my horse into the house if my dad would have let me. I have a German Shepherd who is all white named Wilfred and a reformed barn cat named Harley Quinn. My GSD is my shadow and never far away from me.

[tacokick]

Just finished Flat Broke with Two Goats because it is the readalong book on OverDrive and oy! The author paints herself as some victim of circumstance but it is clear she did it all (they are are 100,000 in debt to the IRS) to herself. Never learns a thing either! At the end she is going to get a MFA funded by student loans when she is in her late 40s. Okay but she doesn’t have any money, is in six figure debt and she already has a MA in writing!


QOTW: I have two dogs! Both small and cute with big personalities. We had three for a long time but one died last summer. Two dogs is a little easier!

[tacokick]

Apr 7, 2018 4:25:24 GMT -5 wesleycrusher said:

I just finished Home: A Memoir of My Early Years by Julie Andrews- her autobiography through beginning work on Mary Poppins. It was good, but unfortunately she had not written about the years after as of yet.

Armada by Ernest Cline- not as good as Ready Player One, but DH and I listened to the audio book and really enjoy Wil Wheaton

Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are? by Frans de Waal- reading about the experiments used to test animal cognition was interesting, but overall the book was way more academic then I was expecting

I am almost done with Meddling Kids by Edgar Cantero (have to finish it soon because it's for a book club I have on Sunday). I have been reading it forever, I haven't gotten into it. I think the premise of the book is so good- teen detective club (in the vein of Scooby Doo) has grown up and are revisiting their last case- but the execution is awful.

I've also started Neil Patrick Harris: Choose Your Own Autobiography by Neil Patrick Harris, audiobook read by NPH.

QOTW: I have 2 cats. The are purebred Selkirk Rex (have long curly fur). I am obsessed with them.

I felt the same way about Meddling Kids. I was so excited to read it and then couldn’t get into it at all!

[monkeyfeet]

Apr 7, 2018 11:48:33 GMT -5 tacokick said:

Just finished Flat Broke with Two Goats because it is the readalong book on OverDrive and oy! The author paints herself as some victim of circumstance but it is clear she did it all (they are are 100,000 in debt to the IRS) to herself. Never learns a thing either! At the end she is going to get a MFA funded by student loans when she is in her late 40s. Okay but she doesn’t have any money, is in six figure debt and she already has a MA in writing!


QOTW: I have two dogs! Both small and cute with big personalities. We had three for a long time but one died last summer. Two dogs is a little easier!

I just saw this and thought I might pick it up. Thanks! I’ll pass!!!

[tacokick]

Apr 7, 2018 11:52:28 GMT -5 monkeyfeet said:

Apr 7, 2018 11:48:33 GMT -5 tacokick said:

Just finished Flat Broke with Two Goats because it is the readalong book on OverDrive and oy! The author paints herself as some victim of circumstance but it is clear she did it all (they are are 100,000 in debt to the IRS) to herself. Never learns a thing either! At the end she is going to get a MFA funded by student loans when she is in her late 40s. Okay but she doesn’t have any money, is in six figure debt and she already has a MA in writing!


QOTW: I have two dogs! Both small and cute with big personalities. We had three for a long time but one died last summer. Two dogs is a little easier!

I just saw this and thought I might pick it up. Thanks! I’ll pass!!!

It was a very, very easy read but OMG was she awful. And takes zero responsibility ever.

[sassypants]

I'm happily ensconced in my reread of Drums of Autumn right now.

We have two cats. We had three but my sweet Tommy and Tessa both passed last year, and we adopted a kitten in August. Her name is Samhain, and she's black. We still have DH's cat, Rahab. She's a crabby tabby. 

[mrspez07]

I could of sworn I responded yesterday, but maybe I just read through some of the responses instead.
I’m currently listening to The Power by Naomi Alderman, it has a Handmaids tale feel to it for me.
I’m also reading Feast of Sorrow by Crystal King to get in the mood for Rome.

We have a dog named Harvey, who is around 11 years old. Sweet boy. He has been so good with kids in our house. A little anxiety a few years ago where he tore up trim and blinds but is pretty chill now (drugs probably help that).

[minzy]

Apr 7, 2018 10:39:23 GMT -5 jmliongrrrl said:

QOTW: I LOVE animals. I grew up on a farm and would have brought my horse into the house if my dad would have let me. I have a German Shepherd who is all white named Wilfred and a reformed barn cat named Harley Quinn. My GSD is my shadow and never far away from me.

I had horses (among other animals) growing up and we actually brought one of them into the house once. I had read a book about a girl who made a special salad dinner and took her horse into her house, so I wanted to try it, too. My dad was like, “well, okay...” I just took her in the front entrance, she looked around, and we circled back out pretty uneventfully.

No pets currently. I’ve finished nothing new book wise this week, either.

[ally]

Read:
The Sugar Queen, Sarah Addison Allen, 31/2* - it was fine, a light easy read.

Currently reading:
Mr. Churchill's Secretary, Susan Elia MacNeil
The first in a mystery series by the author.  I should finish today.

People of the Book, Geraldine Brooks
audiobook - which means it is slow going!  The author was highly recommended by my IRL book club.

QOTW:
We have fish.  I am a cat person, DH is allergic.  I feel we are too busy for the time a dog requires.  Fish are a compromise!

[charlatti]

I finhised Saints for All Occasions by J. Courtney Sullivan, which I really enjoyed. I have read a couple of her other books that were fine but nothing special, but this one really resonated with me.

Currently reading The Gone World by Tom Sweterlitsch. It’s interesting and weird so far — crime procedural plus time/space travel plus apocalypse.

Qotw: I have old pets, a 16 year old Lhasa Apso and and 13 year old black cat. They’re both showing their ages and stressing us out a lot lately, but overall they are in decent health and happy. This is a really old picture but one of my favorites of them. When DD was two-ish she was convinced they needed birthday hats for the dog’s birthday, and we managed to get them to agree, briefly.

[dorothyinAus]

Apr 8, 2018 8:15:32 GMT -5 ally said:

Currently reading:
Mr. Churchill's Secretary, Susan Elia MacNeil
The first in a mystery series by the author.  I should finish today.

I enjoyed Mr. Churchill's Secretary, but I found quoting all the famous speeches to be a bit tedious and unnecessary. I would have preferred it if there weren't so much focus on the Churchill soundbites.

I've only read as far as the second book in the series, Princess Elizabeth's Spy, but the others are on my to-be-read list. I do enjoy the characters and I am interested to see where the author is taking Maggie, the titles are very intriguing in relation to Maggie's story.

[dorothyinAus]

Late to the party, but I'll play along. I'm reading Death at Chateau Bremont. I have 102 pages to go and I want to get it finished before Tuesday when my much awaited pre-ordered next-in-series Captain Lacey book is scheduled to hit my Kindle. It's interesting and once I sit down and dedicate myself to reading it, I become engrossed in the story, but it's a bit hard to get started, especially when other things are going on around me.

QOTW: Before I moved to the US, I had a cat. Her name was Wimsey and I still miss her dreadfully. She was 13 when I moved and had health issues that made moving her with me impossible. She lived with my parents for another 2 years. It's still hard to go home and not find her there to greet me, even 5 years later! Now we "have" an office at at DH's work. Puss came one day looking for food and is still hanging around after 11 years. We also look after ILs Jack Russel Terriers (one's 12 and one is just about 6 months) when they travel.