Friday 12/21 what are you reading?

[litskispeciality]

I hope this is ok to post, distracting myself from what. What are you reading the second to last Friday of the year? QOTW: If you celebrate a gift giving holiday in Dec, what is the best gift you ever got?

[litskispeciality]

I'm still chipping away at Woman in the Window. Dear lawd 150 pages in WTF is going on, get to the point. I thought it was going to be a We Need to Talk About Kevin (ish) thing, but I think I'm wrong. Hopefully I can get some time to read this weekend.

QOTW: It's probably a tie. I was a huge Barbie fan, so when I got this Barbie and the Rockers rockin' through the ages video that was an awesome Christmas. I may have watched that a legit 100 times. I thought my dad was so cool for knowing Barbie music, when it was really 50's music. My brother "lost it" so I have a running anger with him. My college roomate had the same video so we used to watch it as a grown up. I keep searching Amazon but can't find the whole video, just the first part. Anyway second gift was a Barbie comes to town (insert my town) sweat suit my dad made. It was bright pink and he grew a modern Barbie on it.

Have a great holiday if you celebrate!

[minzy]

Have a great week, everybody!

This week I read Venture Girls - Raising Girls to be Tomorrow's Leaders by Cristal Glangchai, PhD, and I thought it was fabulous.  I'm a science degree holding mom of two girls, so it was somewhat preaching to the choir, but I loved this book.  Thank you to rachelgreen for the rec!

I'm also partway through The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden for book club, and I am not into it at all, but I will finish it.

QOTW: For the Christmas when we were engaged, broke students, my husband bought me a copy of The Gift of the Magi and wrote a really nice note in it about how eventually we'd be successful.  (That's the story where the woman sells her beloved hair to buy the man a watchband, and he sells his prized watch to buy her hair clips.)

[meowmaps]

I finished Somewhere Inside: One Sister's Captivity in North Korea and the Other's Fight to Bring Her Home by Laura Ling and Lisa Ling. It kept me on the edge of my seat even though I knew the outcome. It was also neat to have a window into their close sisterly bond.

I'm more than halfway done with Claire DeWitt and the City of the Dead. I'm beyond the point of no return but I'm really anxious to finish and move on to the next book. I find myself liking aspects of the character and the plot but most of the time I'm struggling to stay engaged. Blah.

QOTW: I'm struggling to come up with a physical gift. This is going to sound really cheesy but I guess I'd have to say that last Christmas was the best gift because I got to spend it with my parents, brother, and husband at my brother's beach house. It felt special because my brother and I haven't gotten along for most of our lives but in the past 2-3 years we've let old grudges go. @ And it's when we announced to my brother, who was thrilled, and then the news trickled down to the rest of the family. It was a happy time.

Eta: Ditto - happy holidays everyone!

[dontlook]

Dec 21, 2018 13:23:55 GMT -5 litskispeciality said:

I'm still chipping away at Woman in the Window. Dear lawd 150 pages in WTF is going on, get to the point. I thought it was going to be a We Need to Talk About Kevin (ish) thing, but I think I'm wrong. Hopefully I can get some time to read this weekend.

QOTW: It's probably a tie. I was a huge Barbie fan, so when I got this Barbie and the Rockers rockin' through the ages video that was an awesome Christmas. I may have watched that a legit 100 times. I thought my dad was so cool for knowing Barbie music, when it was really 50's music. My brother "lost it" so I have a running anger with him. My college roomate had the same video so we used to watch it as a grown up. I keep searching Amazon but can't find the whole video, just the first part. Anyway second gift was a Barbie comes to town (insert my town) sweat suit my dad made. It was bright pink and he grew a modern Barbie on it.

Have a great holiday if you celebrate!

I don’t quit many books but I quit woman in the window. It was so horrible.

[sassypants]

I'm waiting on e-holds and nothing is grabbing me, so I'm rereading The Fiery Cross until one of them comes in.

QOTW: Best gift ever was when DH proposed to me on my birthday 12 years ago today.

[AJL]

Zipped through quite a few YA books this week.

YA LGBT:
Openly Straight by Bill Konisburg - 4/5*
Honestly Ben by Bill Konsiburg - 3.5/5*
Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli - 3/5*
Ramona Blue by Julie Murphy - 3.5*/5*

Chick Lit/Romance:
Just Friends (The Agency #1) by Elizabeth Grey - 2/5*
Hate Notes by Vi Keeland - 2/5*

Currently Reading - Little and Lion by Brandy Colbert

QOTW: Our gift giving holiday ended on Dec. 10, but yesterday I got a bag of peppermint Ghirardelli chocolate squares from my therapist. Best present of the season! 

[tacokick]

I’m working on The House Next Door by Anne Rivers Siddons. It’s her second book and quite different than her later books, it’s domestic horror I guess?

QOTW:

My favorite presents were my Cabbage Patch Patch Kids. I’d always get one on Christmas. We only got toys on birthdays and Christmas so it was great to look forward to!

[travella]

I gave up on A Discovery of Witches. I just couldn't stay interested in the book. The book could have used a better editor. The tv series did a good job of cutting out all the useless stuff that did nothing to further the plot.

I finished The Next Person You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom, 2*. It felt like a half-hearted spin off of the first book.

I finished A River in Darkness: One Man's Escape from North Korea,3*. I liked the book in the beginning, learning about every day Life in North Korea. However, the book glossed over everything after his escape. I would have loved a little more insight into his transition from North Korea life to his life now, the political issues with his escape, etc.

I started The Immoralists by Chloe Benjamin.

QOTW: My favorite gift so far this holiday season came from my son's teacher. She took the most adorable pictures of the kids and then the kids made their pictures into 4 tile coasters for their parents.

[redheadbaker]

I just finished "The Nightingale," and I'm about to start Michelle Obama's "Becoming."

[Gato]

Finished Transcription by Kate Atkinson. While not Life After Life good, I still loved it. It's the kind of book you want to go back and read again, so you can put all the clues together.

Now I'm reading Calypso by David Sedaris, and I can't wait to start Becoming by Michelle Obama.

QOTW: My husband gave me a guitar one year and guitar lessons.  He knew learning guitar was on my bucket list.  

[charlatti]

I just started Where the Crawdads Sing, which was a gift from my work secret Santa and is quite good so far. I gave up on The Things That Keep Us Here earlier this week. It’s set in my city, but none of the setting details made any sense with this city. The book wasn’t good enough to keep that from annoying me.

Qotw: I’m having trouble coming up with one specific thing; I am pretty easy to please so most gifts make me happy.

[abs]

I'm reading the 2nd book of the On Dublin Street series. They are not great literature but it's a perfect distraction.

QOTW: My favorite gift was one on my grandma gave me when I was a teenager. We were very close and would send letters back and forth when I was young (like 7-9 range). She kept all of them and when I was 17 or 18 she gave me a photo album with pictures and all the letters I ever wrote her in it along with a copy of her reply. My grandma passed away 10 years ago and I will cherish that book forever.

[rainbowchip]

I'm still reading Becoming by Michelle Obama. I am a little over halfway through. It's really good but hasn't been incredibly exciting so far. We are getting into the presidential race now.

QOTW: New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn. I had read Twilight in November that year and immediately put the rest of the series on my Christmas list. And about a week later, I totally regretted it because I NEEDED to read them. Anyway, I held out until Christmas and got the series. I went and hid in a bedroom skipping the first part of dinner to read. Lol

Also, one year we were struggling financially due to job changes out of our control and my parents gave us a sizable check.

[aurora]

I just finished The Martian and it was so much more captivating than I had expected. Haven't started a new book yet.

I'm sort of listening to Everything I never told You but I'm behind and not going to finish before it's due, so I'm struggling since I know I'll have to go on a wait list again.

[monkeyfeet]

I just started Educated.

QOTW: an ex-boyfriend bought me lasik. He’s long gone, but I can still see! I was o e of those who wore a watch to bed because I couldn’t see the clock!

[mx27]

Currently reading “Dear Mrs. Bird” by AJ Pearce. I’m enjoying it so far, especially all of the English terms and phrases circa early 1940s.

QOTW: Hmmm, nothing comes to mind. Is that bad?! All of my gifts have been great, but nothing particularly stands out.

[ally]

Happy Christmas Eve Eve!

I finished:
Small Great Things, 3*, Jodi Picoult - I actually read online spoilers, read the first 25%, skipped the middle 50%, read the last 25%.  I read it for an IRL book club or I never would have picked it up - I don't really like the author and the subject matter was hard.  I read to relax and escape, this book did not meet that goal for me.  But, I did read enough to be a part of the discussion.
Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History, 5*, Vashti Harrison - this was a gift from my college president for my work on our diversity task force,  Excellent!  Short vignettes, but many I did not know.  I think she has another and I will need to buy it.

Started: 
The Girl In the Tower, Katherine Arden.  I delayed my library hold on this to be close to when book 3 releases - hoping not to forget too much!
I had several holds come in and I have off until January 7, so I am hoping to hibernate with my Kindle!

QOTW: When I was 11 my parents got me my own phone line and had my grandma call me Christmas morning.  I loved that phone!  Today, I would never talk on the phone again if it was an option, but my pre-teen and teen self, loved it!

[Vespasia]

Finished: Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn. A bit predictable after reading her other books but it was quick and entertaining.

Currently reading: Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat by Samin Nosrat. I wouldn't normally count a cookbook but I am really reading the whole thing.

Starting soon: A Desperate Fortune by Susanna Kearsley. Hoping it's her usual.

QOTW: Not sure about favorite, but my most-used Christmas gift is definitely the chef knife I got a few years ago.

[spedrunner]

Finished: nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty. 2 stars. Ugh. Dragged on for me and was just not believable or interesting at all. Could not wait to finish. Was hoping for something interesting to save it. Nope

Currently reading; where the crawdads. my year of rest and relaxation

Word. Best gift ever was my Nintendo game system when I was a kid! My parents told me helllllll no so when I opened it on Christmas Day I was on cloud 9! It was a dram come true. Ahhhh the magic 💕