Friday!! (7/27)

[ufcasey]

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

QOTW:
It's almost back to school time, so what is one of your favorite books that you were required to read in school? Least favorite?

[rainbowchip]

I read Cowboy Pride. A western version of Pride and Prejudice. It was a Big Library Read and I've never done one of those. It was a quick read and a nice P&P retelling.

I'm currently reading Fahrenheit 451. I think I really dislike books from that era. The characters all seem very odd all the time. Like they aren't actual humans but robots with a glitch or something.

QOTW: I took a class in HS called Novels. We literally read novels and discussed. It was my favorite class! We read a lot of books that I actually really enjoyed and wouldn't think I would have! Siddhartha and Dracula and two that I especially loved.

I had to read My Antonia in an English class. It was 200 pages of descriptions of wheat fields with a frozen dead guy thrown in. I hated it. I think about picking it up again to see if it was just being a dumb teenager that made me hate it but I just can't get myself to do it.

[litskispeciality]

I'm about 50% through Molly's Game. Pretty good, but I'm ready for a new book.

QOTW: Hmm I really enjoyed Hamlet, a lot of that goes to the teacher who explained it really well. Least favorite? I remember I didn't like The Hound of the Baskerville which I guess I should have liked. The Cherry Tree was kind of annoying too, but I think I just had trouble following all of the names.

[travella]

I finished Educated, 5* because I think this book will stick with me for a while. I still find myself upset about incidents in that book. I finally decided to jump on the band wagon and read Crazy Rich Asians. I wasn't expecting to like the book, but surprisingly I'm enjoying it so far.

QOTW: Number the Stars was probably the best book I was required to read in school. I discovered my love of reading because of that book. I hated The Scarlet Letter.

[secretlyevil]

I finished Hidden Figures this week. The subject is really interesting but the book was pretty dry. Took me a conceited effort to keep going. I started a re-read of Interview with a Vampire, I'll probably finish it today. I am also reading Envy, the third book of JR Ward's Fallen Angel series (something like that). This series isn't my favorite but it makes for good pre-bed, shut it all down, reading.

[litskispeciality]

I love Number the Stars! Lois Lowery is one of my favorites. We watched this show in 6th grade where they would chalk draw pictures of stories (think court drawings), and the show recommended "A Summer to Die", all of the sudden every girl in 6th grade read the book. Sad, but good.

[minzy]

I finished Warcross by Marie Lu (3 stars) and A Girl from Yamhill by Beverly Cleary (3.5 stars, an autobiography).

I had seen Who is Vera Kelly? by Rosalie Knecht on a new release list (which is one of my categories for a challenge I'm doing) and noticed tacokick liked it (thank you!).  I did, too.  It's about a lesbian CIA agent in Argentina in the 1960s.  It was kind of quirky, but in a good, pageturning kind of way (4.5 stars).  

QOTW: I was an outlier in my English class, but I really liked Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton.  I thought it was great in its horribleness. 

[spedrunner]

This week I read:


Commonwealth by Ann Patchett
3.5/5 stars
I did enjoy this, but it was very difficult to follow/keep track of all the characters?

Currently Reading:


The Shadow Wife

Chamberlain, Diane *

Her Pretty Face

Harding, Robyn 

Eating Animals by Jonathan Foer

QOTD:  That is tough. I don't know that I can recall enjoying any books while in school! I really disliked all of my required reads in high school and college, I prefer a more realistic fiction approach
HOWEVER , i recently Read "  I Will Always write Back" as my summer read for the school I teach at (We are doing one book , one school) and that by far is my favorite

[ufcasey]

Read:
All In (#2 in series) by Emma Scott
2 stars/contemporary romance
The author has the heroine drown her grief in alcohol to avoid writing about grief realistically. Disappointing.

The Ghostwriter by Alessandra Torre
4 stars/fiction-suspense
The main character was too annoying at first but I am glad I stuck with it because it got MUCH better

Tsumiko and the Enslaved Fox by Forthright
4 stars/paranormal-romance
Ilona Andrews mentioned this book on their blog, so on a whim I picked it up

Total so far for the year: 83

Currently Reading:
Bright We Burn (#3 in series) by Kiersten White - young adult historical fiction; I'm really wondering how the author is going to end this book, because I have no clue at this point!

QOTW:
Favorites - To Kill a Mockingbird, Anne Frank's Diary, A Separate Peace, The Great Gatsby
Least Favorite - basically anything by Shakespeare (sorry, not sorry)

[tacokick]

Jul 27, 2018 10:45:52 GMT -5 minzy said:

I finished Warcross by Marie Lu (3 stars) and A Girl from Yamhill by Beverly Cleary (3.5 stars, an autobiography).

I had seen Who is Vera Kelly? by Rosalie Knecht on a new release list (which is one of my categories for a challenge I'm doing) and noticed tacokick liked it (thank you!).  I did, too.  It's about a lesbian CIA agent in Argentina in the 1960s.  It was kind of quirky, but in a good, pageturning kind of way (4.5 stars).  

QOTW: I was an outlier in my English class, but I really liked Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton.  I thought it was great in its horribleness. 

Yay! I liked it a ton and it wasn’t something I’d normally pick up.

[abs]

I'm currently reading Barefoot by Elin Hilderbrand. It's fine. I like it okay when I'm reading it but it's not something I look forward to picking back up.

I read All Your Perfects by Colleen Hoover earlier this week. I liked it much better than her previous book but still something about it seemed off to me. I'm not sure what. 3.5*.

QOTW:
Favorites: Of Mice and Men, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Great Gatsby, Bridge to Terebethia
Least Favorites: The Scarlet Letter, Great Expectations

[tacokick]

I’ve a little overwhelmed with Library books at the moment. No matter how I space out requests they come in at the same time. I just picked up 10 today and I had five still at home. Some of these books I’ve had on hold for months.

Now I’m reading Final Girls by Riley Sager. Read two Hap and Leonard books last night. They are quick books.

I also signed up for a county library card, they have so many more ebooks! Their budget must be amazing because the city will have one copy of something but the county will have 10 or more. I really prefer ebooks because I don’t like to read physical library books in bed or outside which is 90% of my reading.

Fave required book: The Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison. Least favorite: Beowulf. Or A Separate Peace.

[mrspez07]

I have a lot of books going right now.
Audio:
An American Marriage (for my IRL book club next week)
Hard copy:
The Last Castle (I keep finding fiction to read instead of this non-fiction. The topic is interesting, I’ve just been easily distracted.
Saints for All Occasions (nearly finished).

I don’t feel like any books I was required to read in school gave a “love” or ah-ha kind of moment, there are many that come to mind on a regular basis as ones that made an impact on me, including: The Diary of Ann Frank, Of Mice and Men, Rebecca, Jane Eyre, and a non-fiction history book from college called First Generations.

[mie]

I just finished A Tale for the Time Being and am starting Rich People Problems.

Favorite: To Kill a Mockingbird. Last favorite: The Scarlet Letter

[msmerymac]

I'm reading Throne of Glass. I read the prequel novellas first, actually, and I'm glad I did to kind of get my feet wet and get to know the character of Celaena a bit. I'm definitely enjoying it so far. I really like the ACOTAR series, so I figured this would be enjoyable too.


QOTW: I loved As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner. I'm a big Faulkner fan now. I read it over the summer as part of my required summer reading for AP English when going into senior year. So many people in my class disliked it that our teacher had us spend a week or so reading it together again at the beginning of the year. I've since read it again as an adult. Rebecca was also an optional book I read in 9th grade and it's still one of my favorites.

I hated Siddhartha though!

[Nonny]

I just finished The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History for my book club tomorrow, which was absolutely fascinating, although since it's 4 years old it's already out of date.  Also since I'm done with that and I have a couple of weeks before my next book club I can finally start back up on Code Girls and hopefully wrap that up this week.

QOTW:  From elementary school I really loved - Where the Red Fern Grows, Number the Stars, My Side of the Mountain, from Jr. High my favorite was  The Pearl, and from HS my favorite was probably to Kill a Mockingbird, but really I feel like most literature in HS was ruined by overanalyzing it death (like, The Scarlet Letter, I feel like there is actually a decent story there, but fuck it all if there is significance behind the light coming through the trees and shining down on the kid.  NO.  I refuse to the believe that.)  Oh except for Dickens; Dickens sucks regardless, especially David fucking Copperfield.

[Nonny]

Jul 27, 2018 12:12:51 GMT -5 tacokick said:

I’ve a little overwhelmed with Library books at the moment. No matter how I space out requests they come in at the same time. I just picked up 10 today and I had five still at home. Some of these books I’ve had on hold for months.

Does you library let you pause your holds?  With my library you can go in and pause your hold, and set a date on when you want it to come in, and you keep moving to the top of the list while the hold is paused, but it doesn't come in until the date you've set.

[doxies]

I finished The Woman in the Window last weekend. I did not like it at all. I need to stop reading books with unreliable narrators.

I am currently reading The Friend by Sigrid Nunez. I am still trying to get into it.

I'm also reading To All the Boys I've Loved Before with my daughter in anticipation of the release on Netflix. We just started and so far I like it.

QOTW:
I can't think of a favorite book that I had to read for school, but I do remember A Separate Peace was my least favorite. Every once in a while I think about picking it back up to re-read to see if I might like it better.

[tacokick]

Jul 27, 2018 14:55:56 GMT -5 Nonny said:

Jul 27, 2018 12:12:51 GMT -5 tacokick said:

I’ve a little overwhelmed with Library books at the moment. No matter how I space out requests they come in at the same time. I just picked up 10 today and I had five still at home. Some of these books I’ve had on hold for months.

Does you library let you pause your holds?  With my library you can go in and pause your hold, and set a date on when you want it to come in, and you keep moving to the top of the list while the hold is paused, but it doesn't come in until the date you've set.

They do but when I tried it, they seemed to ignore it and the books came in anyway?? I asked why that happened and they were oddly evasive with their answers. Baltimore City is a little special in that way lol

Luckily I haven’t been out of town for a full week so I could pick them up and I’ve been able to renew but I feel pressured!

[dorothyinAus]

I finished Poirot and Me on Monday (if you loved the David Suchet Poirot tv adaptations, definitely read the book!) and began Too Many Cooks, a Nero Wolfe mystery. I'm really enjoying it, but than I always enjoy visits with Archie & Nero Wolfe.

QOTW: It's not back-to-school here in Australia, it's Term 3 of the year. But I loved The Crystal Cave and Look Homeward, Angel. I guess my least favorite would be either the Hemingway book I read (which was either A Farewell to Arms or For Whom the Bell Tolls, yep it made that much of an impression on me that I can't even remember which one it was) or A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, which may not count as I only read the first 20 pages and the last 10. Special mention for least favorite goes to Frankenstein, which was required reading three years in a row, and sucked all three times!

[dorothyinAus]

Jul 27, 2018 12:12:51 GMT -5 tacokick said:

Fave required book: The Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison. Least favorite: Beowulf. Or A Separate Peace.

I really enjoyed A Separate Peace. I even read the sequel, Peace Breaks Out just because I enjoyed the first so much. I liked Beowulf, but hated Grendel. I wish we would have just read the original.

[dorothyinAus]

Jul 27, 2018 14:49:17 GMT -5 Nonny said:

QOTW:  From elementary school I really loved - Where the Red Fern Grows, Number the Stars, My Side of the Mountain, from Jr. High my favorite was  The Pearl, and from HS my favorite was probably to Kill a Mockingbird, but really I feel like most literature in HS was ruined by overanalyzing it death (like, The Scarlet Letter, I feel like there is actually a decent story there, but fuck it all if there is significance behind the light coming through the trees and shining down on the kid.  NO.  I refuse to the believe that.)  Oh except for Dickens; Dickens sucks regardless, especially David fucking Copperfield.

I'm right there with you with Dickens. A Tale of Two Cities and Great Expectations were required reading for me, and as an adult I read Oliver Twist because I wanted to give him a fair shot outside of retired reading. Nope, he sucks big time.

[tacokick]

Jul 28, 2018 4:06:17 GMT -5 dorothyinAus said:

Jul 27, 2018 12:12:51 GMT -5 tacokick said:

Fave required book: The Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison. Least favorite: Beowulf. Or A Separate Peace.

I really enjoyed A Separate Peace. I even read the sequel, Peace Breaks Out just because I enjoyed the first so much. I liked Beowulf, but hated Grendel. I wish we would have just read the original.

Wow! I think I just wasn’t interested in reading about men at that time.

[sassypants]

I am sad because I left my current book at my chiropractor and he's too far away to go back to get it until my next appointment! I need to find something else but now I'm unmotivated.

QOTW: Great Gatsby, anything Shakespeare, um...dang. I can't remember what all I read in HS. As to dislikes, pretty much any Hemingway. That man is verbose for the sake of using excessive amounts of words. It's like he had a word count he had to hit.

[scribellesam]

This week I finished Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik. It was amazing, my favorite book of the year so far. Highly recommended to anyone who likes fairy-tale retellings. I’m currently reading Bird Box, which is just the right amount of scary for me.

My favorite required reading in school were books like 1984 and Fahrenheit 451. I’m a sucker for a good dystopia. My least favorites were Scarlet Letter and Great Expectations. Sooo dull.

[ssmjlm]

I got sucked into some cheesy romance trilogy that actually wasn’t that bad and had a story line that wasn’t completely overdone.

QOTW: Ugh School reading was the bane of my existence. My 7th grade English teacher was the best one I ever had. White Fang and The Sword and the Stone stick out from that year.
The Grapes Of Crap was my most hated book. I actually wrote a paper about how bad the book was.

[bex]

Finished "The Vengeance of Mothers" which was so bad. It was a sequel/follow up to One Thousand White Women, which wasn't great but at least was an interesting and quick read. This wasn't that interesting, was kind of dumb, predictable, etc. It was just bad.

Finished "We're going to need more wine" by Gabrielle Union. I have always "liked her," but realized that I didn't know that much about her. I had no clue she was married to Dwyane Wade lol. The book was a pretty easy read but much heavier than I had anticipated. Very honest and open about rape, race, marriage, etc. So I ended up liking it a great deal once I kind of figured it out that it wasn't going to be full of light anecdotes about Hollywood.

Now I'm currently reading Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, Killers of the Flower Moon (the Osage Murders) and the Collector by Nora Roberts. So those are all...different. LOL. Poorly timed library holds.

QOTW: favorite book in school? hm. For high school, probably Pride and Prejudice or Tess of the d'Urbervilles. for college, probably Great Expectations or the Mill on the Floss. I also loved this book called No Vuelvas (I was a Spanish major, so didn't actually read that many books in English, ha). It was about a rape survivor and the narrator speaks in a blend of Basque and Spanish that gradually becomes more Basque, so it was hard to follow, but it was supposed to be.

I hated Jane Eyre. Always and forever. that one is my least favorite book ever.

[dorothyinAus]

Jul 29, 2018 10:50:47 GMT -5 bex said:

I hated Jane Eyre. Always and forever. that one is my least favorite book ever.

Ohh, I'm right there with you! Jane Eyre is an awful book. I hated it. And I read it because I wanted to, not because it was required.

I feel the same way about Withering Heights and The Tenant of Wildfowl Hall. I am just not a fan of the Brontes, any of them.

[ally]

Finished:
A Man Called Ove - 5*, I liked it and will have to put more of his books on hold.
Paris For One and other stories - 4*, I liked the novella and the short stories were perfect on audio.

Currently reading:
The Expatriates, Janice YK Lee
I Will Always Write Back - not surprising, but I am resisting it because it is non-fiction.  

QOTW:  I remember liking Alas Babylon as a required read.  I didn't bother finishing A Red Badge of Courage, my grades were good enough that I could "afford" to do badly on the exam.  My high school was weird and we read some quirky stuff and not the books most people have mentioned in this post.  I have read a few through IRL book clubs. 

[slaycurls]

I'm currently reading the book of Paulo Coelho. Have you checked Manuscript Found in Accra?