Happy Friday! What are you reading today? (4/20)

[dorothyinAus]

Anything exciting? Are you enjoying it?

QOTW: What's the silliest annoyance you've had this week?

As an example, I'll share mine -- I went to get embroidery floss and someone had moved all the colors one hook over -- so the #310 Floss (black) was on the hook labeled #311 (a dark blue) and #311 was on the hook labeled #312 (a slightly different blue). Since all the packs of floss are labeled you could check your numbers on the floss, but it was very annoying that someone had moved them all over one hook.

[bex]

I started My Grandmother Asked Me To Tell you She's Sorry by Frederik Bachman and I have already cried once, so that should be a fun read.

I put it aside to read A Higher Loyalty by James Comey, which so far I actually find very interesting. I did not realize he was involved in things like prosecuting Martha Stewart. Even without the dramatic ending to his career, his career was really fascinating.

[rainbowchip]

I'm still reading Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane. I'm at 80% so I should finish it today.

I'm picking up Now That You Mention It from the library today and will start a reread of Artemis on audio today too.

QOTW: I guess in the grand scheme of things this is a little annoyance but the amount of things like this is causing me stress.

People where I work seem to be very incompetent and should not be in their positions. I had to explain to a manager of a department how her department works. It's literally the name of her department and she asked me what it meant.
There was also a group of people who did not know how to unfilter an excel file and when sent a link to the file path of where the file was saved got super confused because it wasn't an attachment.
And then there's the people who complain that they are "so busy" so they missed a deadline or something. We are all really busy at all times! Get it together!
The woe is me just irritates the crap out of me.

[ufcasey]

Read:
Everything Here Is Beautiful by Mira T. Lee
4 stars/fiction
I thought this was a very honest look at mental health and it's impacts on the sufferer and those around them. Not a happy book at all, but I don't regret reading it.

The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See
4 stars/fiction
This book was a lot more about tea than I was expecting. I'll save my other comments for book club next week

The Care and Feeding of Griffins by R. Lee Smith
3.5 stars/fantasy romance?
There wasn't any romance in this book, but it was the first in a series and I assume it comes up in subsequent books. Anyways, this book was really strong on characterization/world building, but almost no plot. I love other books by this author so I'll give the second book a try to see if it improves.

Total so far for the year: 45

Currently Reading:
All Things Cease to Appear by Elizabeth Brundage - mystery/psychological thriller; this book is hard to define because there's a mystery behind a death, but then there is a lot of literary fiction elements, plus a viewpoint from a dead character. So far so good.

Glory in Death (#2 in series) by J.D. Robb - romantic suspense; just started it!


QOTW:
Well, this week my son for the first time ever decided to pee outdoors. Unfortunately it was while he was at recess at school so not ideal. I had him write his own apology letter and his letter said "I am sorry I peed on the dirt"

[travella]

I finished Silent Child by Sarah Denzil. I think I gave it 3*. I think it had potential to be a very good book with a better editor. I started The Silent Sister by Diane Chamberlain last night. I feel like I've inadvertently picked up on a theme with book titles. I read The Child, then Silent Child, and now The Silent Sister..😀

QOTW: I've been irritated with the complete lack of communication at my children's school. I volunteer and there is a complete lack of communication at all levels. For example, I'll show up to volunteer to help with their weekly reading program and classes will not show up. I'll ask the principal and the teacher that over sees the program if the classes will attend that day (because I'd rather go home and get stuff done at home if I'm not needed) and they will have no idea so there have been days where I've sat around all day waiting and not one class has shown up. There are numerous other examples....😥. I love volunteering but it makes me question volunteering next year.

[msmerymac]

Every Secret Thing by Susanna Kearsley. I think I've read all her other books - this is the last one, but I've already pre-ordered Bellewether. Also reading Freedom is a Constant Struggle by Angela Davis off and on.

Small annoyance - I run a meetup group, which is more of a PITA than anything. I couldn't make an event on Monday and I get a lot of crap for not being at literally every thing that happens, which is maybe 2-3 events per month. I know this because people message me, or complain about me when I'm not there for not being there (I know this from my husband who was at an event without me once). Or people suggest events and I tell them to post it to the group, but they want me to coordinate it. Blah. There are like 900 people on our group list. I want to quit so bad!

[sassypants]

Hell week and opening this week at the theatre so not much time for reading. I'm still in Drums of Autumn.

QOTW: The heel tread for my character shoe fell off and I tried to reglue it but it ended up stuck to the dressing room carpet and now there's a mess of dried glue on the piece and the heel and I can't reattach it until I find something that can scrape or file off the dried glue, so I went on with a little piece missing from my shoe but thankfully the glue muffled the mismatched sounds of my heels striking the floor.

Bonus: Here's me in costume, because it's a fun costume. No shoes pictured. ;-)

[doxies]

I'm currently reading The Flight Attendant by Chris Bohjalian. It's pretty good so far, but I just started. I only have a few days left on my library loan, so I had better get reading! Up next is The Last Mrs. Parrish.

My silliest annoyance this week is that we keep running out of coffee beans at our house. Finally we signed up for a weekly delivery so hopefully that won't happen anymore. I need my coffee!

[monkeyfeet]

I finished The After Party but do not recommend it. Just started Lilac Girls.

QOTW: my mom’s club was supposed to go strawberry picking on Mon. I kept my preschoolers home from school only to find they cancelled because of cold (it was 50 degrees and sunny). We still went with a handful of others, but seriously?! My kids also ate ice cream because obviously it’s never too cold for ice cream!!!

[minzy]

This week I skimmed a workbook of The Five Love Languages for my book club this weekend. I read the original book a long time ago and did not really pick up anything new this go around.

I finished The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See (3.5 stars) and will likewise reserve my thoughts until next week...

I just started reading A Higher Loyalty by James Comey. It’s interesting so far. Minor observation: The book cover looks like the serious public servant tome he probably wants it to be, but the fact that the type is slightly bigger for his name than the type for the title of the book seems to convey his own sense of import. Anyway, I’m curious to read more and also see what others think of it.

QOTW: My husband recently bought a new to us car. Today he had to go downtown, so he took my older, crappier car, in case he got dinged, and I took his car on our daughter’s field trip. Surprise! It was me who got dinged as another preschool mom opened her door hard into his car. (She told me about it and was very apologetic.) Oh well, it’s the perils that come from parking in a lot.

[litskispeciality]

Still plugging away at Just One Day (series) by Gayle Forman. Glad I stuck with it as it gets a lot better.

QOTW: We're having a remodel done that was supposed to be 4 weeks, he says he'll finish by Monday (6+ weeks) but there's outstanding work he'll just "get too" when he started another job at a different house. I'm paying you a fortune, don't leave me hanging.

[charlatti]

I finished Bury What We Cannot Take by Kirsten Chen, which was very good and a fast read, and The Wild Robot Escapes, an excellent young-middle-grade book that you should all go read (but read The Wild Robot first). Just started Tomorrow by Damian Dibben.

QOTW: In our new-to-us car, I can’t change the radio station or volume immediately after starting the car,which is annoying when it’s morning and I’ve left it loud or on something jarring. I have to wait for the display thing to move past the warning screen. (Hmm, maybe I can turn that off? Probably not.)

[MrsAxilla]

Children of Blood and Bone - 5 ⭐️ Can't wait for the next one!

I just started Breakfast at Tiffany's because it's short and I don't want to commit to anything this close to Feysand (lol). Audrey Hepburn was the perfect person to play Holly Golightly.

QOTD: they shifted around work stations and the guy next to me now has a heavy phone job and it is so distracting!

[Vespasia]

Currently reading Children of Blood and Bone and it's fantastic.

Related QOTW annoyance: I am traveling for work. Yesterday I charged my Kindle Fire to 100%. Didn't use it at all. Today I get on the plane and the battery was dead! I had been looking forward to finishing the book on my flight and that totally ruined my plan.

[aurora]

Apr 20, 2018 20:01:42 GMT -5 Vespasia said:

Currently reading Children of Blood and Bone and it's fantastic.

Related QOTW annoyance: I am traveling for work. Yesterday I charged my Kindle Fire to 100%. Didn't use it at all. Today I get on the plane and the battery was dead! I had been looking forward to finishing the book on my flight and that totally ruined my plan.

That stinks! After my (original, 7-year-old) Kindle discharged itself similarly I bought a new one shortly before flying to Australia. No way was I risking no reading on that flight!

[mrspez07]

I finished Broken Harbor by Tana French, and finished listening to The Power by Naomi Alderman. It was, interesting. It will stay with me for awhile, and make a great book club discussion for my IRL book club.Currently reading Celine by Peter Heller. Just started it last night.i am also reading through some gardening books.



Little annoyance: happened today. I made popcorn last night and there was still a bit leftover in the bowl, I put the bowl near where we place our lunch stuff for the next day. He divided it up and gave it as a snack to my boys. No popcorn for me!

[aurora]

I am listening to The Waste Lands and reading Salem's Lot. It was not my plan to have two Stephen King books going at once and it's a bit too much, but I'm trying to finish The Waste Lands before my library loan ends Sunday. My original impression - that it doesn't draw me in - still holds. I think if I ever decide to re-read The Dark Tower series again I'll just start with Wizard and Glass.

Salem's Lot is definitely better.

QOTW: I'm currently annoyed by a telemarketer who keeps calling from different numbers so my blocking/reporting as spam isn't working, and they completely ignore me when I say I want to be removed from their call list.

[aurora]

Apr 20, 2018 11:19:34 GMT -5 doxies said:

...My silliest annoyance this week is that we keep running out of coffee beans at our house. Finally we signed up for a weekly delivery so hopefully that won't happen anymore. I need my coffee!

Smart!

::runs off to see if weekly coffee delivery is a thing here::

[rootbeerfloat]

I finished The Bear and The Nightingale... 4*.

[aurora]

Apr 20, 2018 1:31:08 GMT -5 dorothyinAus said:

Anything exciting? Are you enjoying it?

QOTW: What's the silliest annoyance you've had this week?

As an example, I'll share mine -- I went to get embroidery floss and someone had moved all the colors one hook over -- so the #310 Floss (black) was on the hook labeled #311 (a dark blue) and #311 was on the hook labeled #312 (a slightly different blue). Since all the packs of floss are labeled you could check your numbers on the floss, but it was very annoying that someone had moved them all over one hook.

That is such a weird thing to do! It would bug the heck out of me each time I added a floss to a peg with a non-matching number.

[aurora]

Apr 20, 2018 9:40:10 GMT -5 msmerymac said:

Every Secret Thing by Susanna Kearsley. I think I've read all her other books - this is the last one, but I've already pre-ordered Bellewether. Also reading Freedom is a Constant Struggle by Angela Davis off and on.

Small annoyance - I run a meetup group, which is more of a PITA than anything. I couldn't make an event on Monday and I get a lot of crap for not being at literally every thing that happens, which is maybe 2-3 events per month. I know this because people message me, or complain about me when I'm not there for not being there (I know this from my husband who was at an event without me once). Or people suggest events and I tell them to post it to the group, but they want me to coordinate it. Blah. There are like 900 people on our group list. I want to quit so bad!

Why don't you quit? That does sound pretty annoying.

[msmerymac]

Apr 20, 2018 21:14:39 GMT -5 aurora said:

Apr 20, 2018 9:40:10 GMT -5 msmerymac said:

Every Secret Thing by Susanna Kearsley. I think I've read all her other books - this is the last one, but I've already pre-ordered Bellewether. Also reading Freedom is a Constant Struggle by Angela Davis off and on.

Small annoyance - I run a meetup group, which is more of a PITA than anything. I couldn't make an event on Monday and I get a lot of crap for not being at literally every thing that happens, which is maybe 2-3 events per month. I know this because people message me, or complain about me when I'm not there for not being there (I know this from my husband who was at an event without me once). Or people suggest events and I tell them to post it to the group, but they want me to coordinate it. Blah. There are like 900 people on our group list. I want to quit so bad!

Why don't you quit? That does sound pretty annoying.

I just have to get someone else to take over, but other priorities keep getting in the way.

[spedrunner]

Read:


The Lightkeeper's Daughters

Pendziwol, Jean E. *

3.5 of 5 stars
Really enjoyable but I felt it was confusing and hard to follow at times. I am not always the most "present" reader so I have to really think about connections.  Overall a great story but I did not really feel any empathy towards characters

The Silent Sister (Riley MacPherson, #1)

Chamberlain, Diane *

4 of 5 stars
Yup. Diane Chamberlain is a fave! So far I have read this, the good father and necessary lies. Loved them all!

Necessary Lies (Necessary Lies, #1)

Chamberlain, Diane *

4 of 5 stars



Currently Reading:



The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey

by Walter Mosley

My first Mosley!  I just started it and I find myself a bit impatient with the 91 year old character that is hard of hearing and think everyone is out to "get him"  I have a feeling this will speed up though 


QOTW:

Geez, it seems as if everything and everyone annoys me these days. I find myself with little patience. I think it is mostly because I am a special education teacher and although I love and adore my students they exhaust me. I am an introvert, they take everything from me, when I get home I am SPENT and want to be alone with my books and coffee
SO lately, it annoys me when I am getting a coffee at wawa and a smoker is in front of me getting cigarettes, which they can never find and it takes forever. I just want my coffee and to get going!    
I also am growing impatient with my friend that constantly tells me he wants to work out more, eat better, etc, then two min later goes back on his word. Just tiring. DO it or not, stop talking about it either way!
I could go on, but I wont

[spedrunner]

Apr 20, 2018 9:40:10 GMT -5 msmerymac said:

Every Secret Thing by Susanna Kearsley. I think I've read all her other books - this is the last one, but I've already pre-ordered Bellewether. Also reading Freedom is a Constant Struggle by Angela Davis off and on.

Small annoyance - I run a meetup group, which is more of a PITA than anything. I couldn't make an event on Monday and I get a lot of crap for not being at literally every thing that happens, which is maybe 2-3 events per month. I know this because people message me, or complain about me when I'm not there for not being there (I know this from my husband who was at an event without me once). Or people suggest events and I tell them to post it to the group, but they want me to coordinate it. Blah. There are like 900 people on our group list. I want to quit so bad!

I hear this from many people. I don't thnk I would have the patience at all to deal with that!  I give you and others a lot of credit

[sassypants]

Apr 20, 2018 21:08:38 GMT -5 aurora said:

I am listening to The Waste Lands and reading Salem's Lot. It was not my plan to have two Stephen King books going at once and it's a bit too much, but I'm trying to finish The Waste Lands before my library loan ends Sunday. My original impression - that it doesn't draw me in - still holds. I think if I ever decide to re-read The Dark Tower series again I'll just start with Wizard and Glass.

Salem's Lot is definitely better.

QOTW: I'm currently annoyed by a telemarketer who keeps calling from different numbers so my blocking/reporting as spam isn't working, and they completely ignore me when I say I want to be removed from their call list.

Just don't answer! Also, start reporting the numbers to the nationwide do not call list. It' stops them for a while but it's not foolproof. complaints.donotcall.gov/complaint/complaintcheck.aspx

[tcu2003]

I finished I Can’t Make this Up: Life Lessons by Kevin Hart. Surprisingly (to me, at least), I thought it was a pretty good read.

I’m currently reading That Summer by Lauren Willig.

QOTW: people at work who complain about being so busy and not getting stuff done, and then trying to convince other people to pitch in and help them when (a) the people they want help from are already working more than 40 hrs/week and the person needing help isn’t and (b) if they stopped complaining or trying to get someone to help them out of pity, they’d probably get their stuff done.

[MrsAxilla]

Apr 20, 2018 21:08:38 GMT -5 aurora said:

I am listening to The Waste Lands and reading Salem's Lot. It was not my plan to have two Stephen King books going at once and it's a bit too much, but I'm trying to finish The Waste Lands before my library loan ends Sunday. My original impression - that it doesn't draw me in - still holds. I think if I ever decide to re-read The Dark Tower series again I'll just start with Wizard and Glass.

Salem's Lot is definitely better.

QOTW: I'm currently annoyed by a telemarketer who keeps calling from different numbers so my blocking/reporting as spam isn't working, and they completely ignore me when I say I want to be removed from their call list.

Wizard and Glass was probably my favorite of the series.

[ally]

This week I finished:
Shadow of Darkness (#2 in the series) Deborah Harkness 3 1/2*, it was fun, escapist read

I am not reading:
The Book of Light (#3 I the series)
The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane - for book club
The People of the Book - audiobook, I may just need to borrow a written copy

QOTW: people who do not drive the speed limit, there is no reason to go that slow! 

[ssmjlm]

I'm still plugging through The Good Daughter by Karin Slaughter. I was really hoping to finish it this weekend.

It's really bad. I'm not sure why I don't chuck it, except I have this annoyance with trying to finish books. It's rare I actually don't finish one.

Don't waste your time guys.

QOTW: All the parents who RSVP'd late to my kids party that was Saturday or the one kid who showed up w/o RSVPing at all. Thankfully I had extra favors.

[dorothyinAus]

Nearly a week later, I realized I never answered what I was reading. I'm still reading Death in the Vines, a Verlaque & Bonnet mystery. It's a very interesting mystery, tying a story based in the German occupation of France during WWII and children born to French women by German soldiers to a present book-time wine theft and characters dealing with Alzheimers. I'm curious to see where it goes and how the story is wrapped up.