It's Friday! (6/1)

[ufcasey]

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

QOTW:
Would you rather spend a month alone in solitary confinement with no entertainment/phones/books etc or would you rather have to spend a month stuck in a house full of annoying people like those on a reality tv show, minus the the tv cameras but still no entertainment/phones/books etc.

[Vespasia]

I am currently reading the Girl in Times Square by Paullina Simons. It's good but kind of weird. In theory it's about the roommate of a missing girl but there is just a LOT going on in the book. Most of the periphery characters are terrible people. However, I am sitting at my desk wondering if I can get away with reading it on my phone so it's definitely got my attention. 

QOTW: Those are both terrible options but I guess with other people. Only if I had my own room though, my introvert self couldn't handle it otherwise. 

[rainbowchip]

This week I finished An American Marriage and Dearist Ivie. I'm currently reading Little Fires Everywhere.

QOTW: This is tough. I'm an introvert so being around people would be super exhausting but being without any entertainment and alone might make me lose my mind. So I think I would go with the house of annoying people.

[sassypants]

I had to put The World of All Souls aside temporarily because my library hold for The Book of Dust (La Bell Sauvage) came in and I've been waiting a while for that. It's pretty good but I feel like I should have reread The Golden Compass before I started this. It's a prequel of sorts but I forget some of the details that are probably relevant to this book.

QOTW: I'm with Vespasia. I'd need my own room and there'd definitely have to be more than one bathroom, but I could deal otherwise I think. It would be like living in a dorm again to a certain degree. Despite my enjoyment of being alone, I think I'd sink into a depression if I was alone for a whole month.

[bex]

I had a good reading week:

Finished:
A River in Darkness - One Man's Escape from North Korea, by Masaji Ishikawa (very good, but depressing)
The Lying Game by Ruth Ware - eh. I can see the appeal if you like that genre but I'm sick of all these books trying to be the next Gone Girl or Girl on the Train.
Ten Women by Marcela Serrano - LOVED this one. So good.
The Search by Nora Roberts (I started this ages ago and finally finished it.) It was fine. Typical Roberts. Her stand-alone books are so predictable and rote at this point, which I guess is how she writes so many.

Currently reading Exit West by Mohsin Hamed.

Goodreads is not updating my reading challenge which is driving me crazy. I'm at 31/50 for the year.

QOTW: I'd rather be in a house with other people. At least I could entertain myself by following the crazy.

[Vespasia]

Jun 1, 2018 10:11:24 GMT -5 bex said:

The Lying Game by Ruth Ware - eh. I can see the appeal if you like that genre but I'm sick of all these books trying to be the next Gone Girl or Girl on the Train.

Good god, yes! I keep thinking I'll give thrillers another chance and most of them are awful. They try so hard to be twisty and shocking that they're just ridiculous and predictable. It's too bad because it's a genre I used to enjoy.

[bex]

Jun 1, 2018 10:19:44 GMT -5 Vespasia said:

Jun 1, 2018 10:11:24 GMT -5 bex said:

The Lying Game by Ruth Ware - eh. I can see the appeal if you like that genre but I'm sick of all these books trying to be the next Gone Girl or Girl on the Train.

Good god, yes! I keep thinking I'll give thrillers another chance and most of them are awful. They try so hard to be twisty and shocking that they're just ridiculous and predictable. It's too bad because it's a genre I used to enjoy.

Exactly! Part of what makes a book like Gone Girl or GOTT so good is that you don't see the twist coming (and in the case of Girl on the train, its near the end so its less a twist and more just the conclusion.) If you know there is a twist, it kind of takes away from the whole point. Gone Girl was so good because when you first read it you did not see that coming.

[litskispeciality]

I'm still plugging away at A Mother's Reckoning. Hoping to finish tonight and start "We Were Liar's". This has been a really slow month for me.

QOTW: Both options sound kinda bad, I guess other people because eventually I'd get bored by myself?

[ufcasey]

Read:
When the Duke was Wicked by Lorraine Heath
2 stars/historical romance
The word 'love' is used SO MUCH in this book, even taking out the fact that the hero's name is Lovingdon. It annoyed me to no end.

The Brutal Telling (#5 in series) by Louise Penny
4.5 stars/mystery
If you aren't reading this series YOU ARE MISSING OUT. I want to live in a small town in Canada with murderers haha!


Total so far for the year: 60


Currently Reading:
Everless by Sara Holland - ya/fantasy; I've been avoiding YA books lately and I am not sure if this book has managed to convince me otherwise.

QOTW:
Annoying people for sure, I am an introvert but even I wouldn't be able to take a month of nothing.

[spedrunner]

Jun 1, 2018 9:20:56 GMT -5 ufcasey said:

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

QOTW:
Would you rather spend a month alone in solitary confinement with no entertainment/phones/books etc or would you rather have to spend a month stuck in a house full of annoying people like those on a reality tv show, minus the the tv cameras but still no entertainment/phones/books etc.

This week I read:

The Perfect Mother by Aimee Molloy:  3/5 stars. 
Meh, it was a bit annoying. I did not find it too engaging, nor was I able to relate to the characters.  They made the moms out to be very fluffy

All the Beautiful Lies by Peter Swanson (4.5/5 stars) 
I love Swanson so much   Great book, felt a bit like Fate and Furies to me? 

Currently Reading:  

Pretending to Dance by Diane Chamberlain 
Slow start but now I can't seem to put it down! God I lover chamberlains novels! <3

A Stranger in the House by Sharii Lapina
Really enjoying this as well!  At the halfway point

QOTD:  Omg, solitary confinement for SURE!!! Not question about it!! hahah

[snshne322]

I'm working on the Comey book and I'm liking it more than I expected to. I'm finding him to be likable, if a bit too earnest. I also appreciate that while Trump, and to a lesser extent Clinton, was the prompt for him to write it, I appreciate that he/they are not the entire focus. I appreciate his background and his career is fascinating to me being a boring accountant with no toe in the law/government game.

I'm also ready a romance called Keep Me Safe by Maya Banks. I knew what I was getting into ready Maya Banks, but it's not nearly as graphic as the rest of her books, but the characters are awful and I'm really squicky about the circumstances in which the main characters get together. In addition to the I've-known-you-one-day-and-I'm-in-love-with-you nonsense. There are a lot of sins in romance books that I'm willing to forgive, but I hate insta-love. Give it a couple of weeks! Where's the tension?

QOTW: It would be hard, but I think I would prefer the solitude if I had a quiet, comfortable room. After 4 or 5 hours with a house full of people I'm ready to explode with the need to crawl inside myself. So while neither is preferable, I'll take the solitude for a month.

[litskispeciality]

Jun 1, 2018 10:28:30 GMT -5 bex said:

Jun 1, 2018 10:19:44 GMT -5 Vespasia said:

Good god, yes! I keep thinking I'll give thrillers another chance and most of them are awful. They try so hard to be twisty and shocking that they're just ridiculous and predictable. It's too bad because it's a genre I used to enjoy.

Exactly! Part of what makes a book like Gone Girl or GOTT so good is that you don't see the twist coming (and in the case of Girl on the train, its near the end so its less a twist and more just the conclusion.) If you know there is a twist, it kind of takes away from the whole point. Gone Girl was so good because when you first read it you did not see that coming.

I agree. I'm still waiting on The Woman in the Window, I've heard it's different from all of the GOTT rip offs so I'm hopeful. Did you see/hear that they're making a mini-series out of Sharp Objects? I think it's HBO. I'm kind of excited, it's so graphic, even for Gillian Flynn, and the easiest to predict, but so good!

[frog]

I just started Challenger Deep by Neal Schusterman. So far so good.


QOTW: with people, I guess, but like others said, I’d need my own room. If I didn’t have my room I’d go for solitary confinement.

[krystee]

I just finished The Matchmaker by Elin Hildebrand (meh) and The Good Father by Diane Chamberlain (liked it!) and just started This Is How It Always Is by Laurie Frankel. Next on the list is Book of Essie.

Solitary confinement would kill me, even though I'm an introvert. I pick annoying people.

[minzy]

Jun 1, 2018 11:12:16 GMT -5 snshne322 said:

I'm working on the Comey book and I'm liking it more than I expected to. I'm finding him to be likable, if a bit too earnest. I also appreciate that while Trump, and to a lesser extent Clinton, was the prompt for him to write it, I appreciate that he/they are not the entire focus. I appreciate his background and his career is fascinating to me being a boring accountant with no toe in the law/government game.

We discussed that one on CEP a little while ago if you're looking for some discussion:  pandce.proboards.com/thread/596513/comeys-book

[minzy]

I read Beasts of Extraordinary Circumstance by Ruth Emmie Lang - 4.5 stars.  It's about a boy who was partly raised by wolves and a few relationships he makes.  There is a minor element of the supernatural (which I don't really like in general), but I thought the story was pretty good. 

I also read The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah, 5 stars.  I thought she did a great job making Alaska a character in the story.  I didn't totally love how it wrapped up, but I couldn't put it down.  I've pretty recently read Antarctica, and the way the daylight fades and seasonal darkness encroaches was similar, just from the opposite end of the globe.    

I started Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, and haven't gotten too far yet, but I like it so far.

QOTW:  That's a tough call, lol.  I guess I'd rather be with people.

[Gato]

I read The Female Persuasion by Meg Wolitzer. I'm not sure how I feel about it; parts were kind of slow with just a LOT of exposition, where I would have preferred scenes. On the other hand, she had many interesting observations about growing up and finding your place in the world.

I'm starting Motherhood by Sheila Heti and An American Marriage by Tayari Jones. So far, so good with both.

QOTW: I will take solitary.

[travella]

I finished Touch by Courtney Maum, 2*. I'm reading The Rooster Bar by John Grisham now.

QOTW: I'd probably choose solitary for a month. I moved recently from a rural area to a huge city. Even though we live in a suburb, I feel like I'm constantly around people. I've never been so mentally tired in my life! I'm an introvert and I need time to recharge without people. I'd sleep and relish in the quiet. Once that got old I could entertain myself- work on my mental to-do list, exercise.... I'm pretty good at entertaining myself. Being in a house full of annoying people would drive me crazy in less than a day.

[mrspez07]

I’m currently reading The Dry by Jane Harper and started The Sunburn by Laura Lippman and I have Killers of the Flower Moon on audio.

Rather with people than in solitary.

[abs]

I am STILL reading Beartown. I'm only like 25% into it and I have been reading it all week! I do like it but it's slow going. I'm hoping to make a bigger dent this weekend.

QOTW: Ugh. Neither?!?? I would choose the house full of people I guess.

[MrsAxilla]

I'm finishing up The Paris Wife. I started out loving it, but now it's just okay. I think I was expected more glamour in Paris, but that's not how their life worked out, I guess. I had made me interested in actually reading something by Hemingway, so I downloaded The Sun Also Rises.

QOYD: people, I guess. I'd be too much in my head all alone.

[charlatti]

I finished The Queen of Sorrow by Sarah Bath Durst, the last in her Renthia trilogy. It started a little slow but I ended up loving it — very satisfying conclusion. Now reading The Broken Girls by Simone St. James, a mystery/suspense novel.

I guess people, but a month of either option would be miserable.

[ssmjlm]

Finished The Girl with a Clock Heart. I was hoping it would be 3 stars, but the end was so bad it got knocked to 2.

Now reading Matchmaking for Beginners which was an amazon prime monthly freebie.

QOTW: solitary, hands down. I have a 5yo, lol.

[ally]

This week I started and am still reading The Fifth Season, I like it, just busy.

QOTW:  if there was a window to the outside, solitary.  I don’t want to look at four walls for a month, but with a view of something I could do it.  

[martinigirl]

I finally finished World Without End. It was a great book but I've been busy and it took me a while to finish. I'm taking a break from Kingsbridge for a while and will get back to Column of Fire in a couple months.
Now I am reading North by Scott Jurek. He is an ultra marathoner and this book is about his journey to beat the Appalachian Trail record.

QOTW: Definitely with other people! Even though I enjoy my alone time, I could never do it for a full month.