Wait, it is Friday, right? 8/3

[charlatti]

What have you been reading this weeek?

QOTW: Do you play any instruments? Have you ever?

[travella]

I finished Crazy Rich Asians, 4*, and am now reading Before We Were Yours for the book club discussion.

QOTW: I played the flute in grade school and to be in the color guard in high school you had to play an instrument so I learned to play the drums. I wasn't very good at either instrument. I'm not musically inclined.

[monkeyfeet]

I just finished Winter Garden-5 stars! I’m very excited to start Us Against You next.

QOTW: I have an older sister who dropped out of band when the recital came around. My parents assumed I’d do the same, so unfortunately no, but i married a musician and need to get my kids started soon!!

[sarahswim]

I finished Anatomy of a Scandal by Sarah Vaughan last night. It was pretty good but I found it somewhat unsatisfying. I am in the middle of Remind Me Again What Happened by Joanna Luloff.

I have played the piano for most of my life, but we had to sell our piano when we moved last year. I don't really miss it but wish my kid could play. He is going to start ukulele lessons soon, I hope.

[mx27]

This week, I'm reading...

"Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows" and "The Husband's Secret" - neither is amazing, but they're holding my interest.

I have never played an instrument. I want my kids to, though - I'm thinking piano or guitar.

[aurora]

I just finished NK Jemisin's The Stone Sky and now I want to go back and re-read the whole Broken Earth trilogy to see all of the clues I missed. Highly recommended.


QOTW: I played flute for ~12 years but haven't picked it up in years. I just don't have time to participate in a band or orchestra and never enjoyed playing alone.

[spedrunner]

This week I READ

The Shadow Wife by Diane Chamberlain
3.5/5 stars

Her Pretty Face by Robyn Harding
3/5 stars

Currently, I am reading:

The Power Of Now
I like it, however find it very difficult to read and grasp, can only handle little bits at a time, seems so philosophical

The Matchmaker by Elin Hilderbrand
So far so good, seems like a nice light read

QOTD:

I used to play the piano, I was actually not too bad, but I gave up on it and really have no creative musical ability, I am ok with it

[spedrunner]

Aug 3, 2018 14:38:58 GMT -5 monkeyfeet said:

I just finished Winter Garden-5 stars! I’m very excited to start Us Against You next.

QOTW: I have an older sister who dropped out of band when the recital came around. My parents assumed I’d do the same, so unfortunately no, but i married a musician and need to get my kids started soon!!

I loved this so much and also rated it 5 stars

[minzy]

I read Anatomy of a Disappearance by Hasham Matar, 3 stars.  It's about a boy whose mother dies, the father (a high level political operative) remarries, and then the father disappears.  The boy has feelings for the stepmother.  There are a few twists.  I didn't love it but it met a category for one of my challenges (book by an exiled author).

QOTW:  One of my few childhood regrets is not playing an instrument.  My kids have been playing piano for about a year now, and I foresee that continuing (especially for my little one) for years.  The older one wants to switch to guitar, but I'm not letting her stop piano yet.  

[Nonny]

I finished Code Girls and Home (Binti, #2) and have started on The Night Masquerade (Binti, #3) which I expect I'll finish this weekend because the Binti trilogy is comprised of novellas and I'm already 1/4 of the way through this last installment.

QOTW:  They made us all play the recorder for a year in 4th grade, and every so often I'll be moving boxes and stuff around and come across it and my old music book, and I can still play Hot Cross and Sweetly Sings the Donkey.  Does that count?  Because otherwise, no.  LOL!

[rootbeerfloat]

I finished Before We Were Yours.

QOTW: I played the piano as a kid, then violin from 7th-10th grade. I was better at piano, but it would take a lot of practicing to factually claim I could play now.

[dorothyinAus]

I finished Too Many Cooks, and while I love Archie Goodwin and I can usually accept that the book is a product of it's time, this was the first book I've read when the obviously racist language bothered me. The book was originally published in 1938, so it's definitely peppered with some colorful language. I'm not arguing for changing the language in the book, just commenting that it surprised me how much it bothered me. I can't say more about that without spoiling the book for anyone else, so I'll leave it that if you are bothered by old-fashioned racist language, do not read this book. This is one series where it's not strictly necessary to read them all or, in fact, read them in the order they were written.

Now I'm reading Murder in the Bowery by Victoria Thompson.

QOTW:  I played Trumpet in the marching band and French Horn in the symphonic band in high school. I enjoyed the experience, but didn't keep it up after high school. Now I play the tap shoes.

[scribellesam]

I’m reading Seraphina by Rachel Hartman. The writing style is a little slow for me, but I already read and enjoyed a companion novel (Tess of the Road) so I’m forging ahead.

I played piano from ages 7-18, then sporadically for years and not at all since I’ve had children. I’m hoping to relearn once my kids are in full time school and I have a little more time by myself at home.

[charlatti]

I’m reading Rich People Problems by Kevin Kwan. Sufficiently easy, fluffy reading for my very scattered self at the moment.

I can play the piano but not with any skill. I can still do a decent job with some of the pieces I learned well in high school, but it takes a lot of work for me to attempt anything new.

[sassypants]

I just finished One Plus One by Jojo Moyes and haven't started reading my next book, We Were the Lucky Ones. I also need to read my new script so I'll probably do that first.

QOTW: I play flute and piccolo and a little fife. I was a music major in undergrad, and I had to pick up up other instruments while I was in college but I haven't played those in ages. I can play alto and bass flute, too, but I don't have either of those.

[mrspez07]

I finished listening to American Marriage, we read it for IrL book club and we had an excellent discussion on it.
I am still making my way through The Last Castle. The topic is interesting, I’m just not itching to pick it up to read.
Also started listening to Nomadland.

I do not. I “played” clarinet from 5th to 7th grade. I could never hit the high notes without it sounding like an injured goose.

[Vespasia]

I finished Spinning Silver eariler this week. I really enjoyed it! I think Uprooted was a bit better but that just might be a result of my higer expectations this time.

I am currently between books but I have 8 on my Kindle for vacation this week.

QOTW: I played the violin briefly (and badly!) in elementary school but that ended when I spent an extended period of time on crutches and couldn't carry it to school.

[rainbowchip]

I am currently reading Underground Airlines. I'm having a hard time getting into it because I'm currently only feeling like reading mediocre Contemporary romance.

QOTW: I played violin in 4th and 5th grade. 6th grade I went to a new school and my parents sucked and figuring stuff out so I missed the first few weeks of orchestra and never picked up a violin again. I really regret it.

[bex]

I finished The Collector by Nora Roberts - it was fine, typical Roberts - and now I'm reading Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine. I like it more than I had thought I would.

I played piano and flute but wouldn't say I have musical ability lol

[krystee]

I finished Ghosted by Rosie Walsh (3 stars), Calypso by David Sedaris (4 stars), and My Husband's Wife by Jane Corry (2 stars).

I played piano for a very short time and clarinet in junior high. Like the person above, I sounded like a dying goose.

[ellebebold]

Reading The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck

QOTW: Not currently playing anything. Played the flute in high school eons ago haha

[ally]

This week I finished:
The Expatriates, Janice YK Lee, 3* - it was fine, but the middle seemed to drag.
I Will Always Write Back, Ganda & Alifirenka, 5* - I found the first part to be a slow start, but it greatly improved.  Whoever recommended it - thank you!

My holds came in for two books:
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine
Before We Were Yours

QOTW:  I played the flute through high school in marching and concert band.  I have not picked it up since graduation.  I was never very good.

[MrsAxilla]

I’ve been reading Hawaii by James Michener and I’m captivated! It was published in the late 70s and I’ve heard of it and the author over the years but I’ve never read his stuff until it popped up on a kindle daily deal.  It’s like 900 pages and very descriptive and compelling.  The whole first part describes the random geological phenomenon that created the islands and brought life to them.  Then it describes the way in which the first islanders found and inhabited it.  The third part follows early Christian missionaries and I was like “ugh!  Do not care about white Christian missionaries!”  But I was sucked in.  I’ve just started the third part, which begins in China.  

So much to digest here.  For example, during the part with the islanders who discover Hawaii (in the year 860-ish)  - the main character can’t take his wife because they need fertile woman and she hasn’t had a child.  He leaves her, and returns almost 2 years later to find she’d borne him a son.  He wants to take them back to Hawaii, and she says “the boy is too young to survive the journey.  I’ll trade him for an older boy.”  And then she does!!  She finds an eight year old they like and whose mother is willing to trade for a baby and that’s that.  The communal mindset towards survival is so pragmatic and foreign!

The kindle version doesn’t have page numbers but goodreads says is more than 900 pages.  It’s a journey for sure, but I’ve read 40% in two weeks.  It’s both compelling and filled with spots you can skim.  As an aside - I mentioned that I reading this to my coworker and it turns out she is related to the author through cousin marriage!  Small fucking world.

[ssmjlm]

Finished book 6 in The Not Quite series and then The Stranger I Married, which was not about what I thought it would be.

Currently reading book 2, Everything We Left Behind. It’s ok, I liked the first book, but that was years ago and the story isn’t holding for this one.

I also have an ARC I cannot get into. I’m not sure if it’s time to give up or not.

QOTW: I played the violin in school. I was pretty good according to my teachers, but it wasn’t something I was passionate about.

[msmerymac]

Forgot to update because I was out of town! I finished Throne of Glass on Friday and I liked it.

I'm listening to the new Ronan Farrow book about American diplomacy and I've started Crown of Midnight.