Friday Reading Recap - 1/4/19!

[ufcasey]

What have you read this first week of 2019? What are you currently reading? Did you start your 2019 reading with a good book?

QOTW:
What are you looking forward to the most this year?

[travella]

I finished An American Marriage last night. I had difficulty rating this book, but settled on 2*. I'll discuss it more during our discussion. I will start Kingdom of The Blind by Louise Penny next.

QOTW: I'm looking forward to going home for a couple weeks this summer! It's been too long since I've been back.

[dontlook]

This week I read:
Becoming by Michelle Obama: 5 stars
The Tattooist of Auschwitz: 4 stars

I’m currently reading:
Barracoon by Zora Neale Hurston
Bring Me Back by B.A. Paris

I’m looking forward taking a vacation either for spring break or winter break.

[litskispeciality]

Happy new year!

I"m still chipping away at "When We Were Worthy", it's good, just no time to read. Trying to make my resolution to read every day, if only 5 pages. Someone on here recommended that many years ago and it really helped boost my numbers.

QOTW: Really trying to take things one day at a time lately, but I'm going to a conference in Burlington, VT in March so that's in the near future fun. DH and I usually go away for one or two overnights and a week long vacation so that'll be fun, and since we don't have destinations in mind I look forward to picking them.

[pinotgrig]

I finished Far From the Tree - I downloaded the audiobook on a whim while in between library holds. And I was really pleasantly surprised! 4.5 stars and o recommend.

Working through The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle (really liking it!) and Beartown.

QOTW - I’m trying to cut down on my phone screen time. I set limits on my phone for 1 hour of social media a day. Am using my new free time to read, catch up on making family photo books, and catching up on my kids’ memory books. I’m looking forward to being more intentional with my time and spending it on things that are more important to me.

[rainbowchip]

I am reading Girls of Paper and Fire. It's an interesting concept and well written.

QOTW: We are going to Disney World in May! My niece is graduating from high school and my nephew is getting married. We have a big (and expensive) year coming up!

[meowmaps]

I just finished Severance by Ling Ma. It was interesting but really slow in parts.

Next up is Happiness by Aminatta Forna.

QOTW: I'm looking forward to some family vacations and celebrating DD's milestones/first birthday. I'm also pumped about upping my reading this year.

[Vespasia]

I am still working on A Desperate Fortune
by Susanna Kearsley. It's fine but I just haven't been priritizing reading. I need to fix that!


QOTW: We're going to South Africa for my 40th in June!

[minzy]

I've started three books this week and haven't gotten very far into any of them.
In Defense of Food - Michael Pollan
The Art of Gathering - Priya Parker
Us Against You - Fredrik Backman

QOTW: I'm most looking forward to traveling some this year.

[fiddles]

Currently reading Pachinko. Not sure how it got on my list but I'm really enjoying it. Need to finish it by Monday before it gets returned to the library. I set a reading goal of 70 this year.

QOTW:
Hoping 2019 is better than last year. Looking forward to our 10th anniversary in August and traveling.

BTW Hi! I lurk on this board to get some good ideas for books. Thought I'd start posting as well.

[monkeyfeet]

I finished Everything I Never Told You and Devil's Knot: The True Story of the West Memphis Three. I rated both 4 stars.

Currently reading Sister's First: Stories from our Wild and Wonderful Life by Jenna Bush, recommended to me after George Bush passed away. It's ok, more so, because I have twin girls and hope they will forever be close than the stories so far.

QOTW: We are doing a 2 week Panama Canal cruise at the end of Feb! Can't wait!

[Nonny]

I'm currently reading Lethal White (Cormoran Strike #4) and I purposefully chose it at the end of December because I knew it would carry me into January and that I'd probably enjoy it, and then I'd kick off my Goodreads challenge with a positive review.  Ha!  I'm 50% of the way in, and so far so good.  

QOTW:
**wishful thinking** Trump and Pence being removed from office and President Pelosi being sworn in. **wish wish wish**

[krystee]

I just started Educated, and it’s great so far.

I am most looking forward to getting healthier and losing weight. I am having the gastric sleeve procedure next month.

ETA: I have two more things I’m equally excited about. Seeing whatever else comes out of the Mueller investigation (crossing my fingers that Nonny’s wish comes true), and my mother/daughter trip to Scotland!

[secretlyevil]

Read a bunch of random books from Christine Feehan's "Dark" series that I hadn't read before. I needed some serious brain candy post-operation and nearly six-weeks later I am still in that mode. They're all just ok. Pretty formulated, she uses "insure" and it drives me bananas. I start going back to the office next week so I have "Becoming" all cued up on Audible. I pre-ordered it so I would have it when it was released and it happens to be the selection for my IRL book club's January meeting. I really thought I would have had it read by now but post-op I have been one giant mess and concentration has been hard for me.

[ufcasey]

Since last Friday I have read:
Red Winter by Annette Marie
4 stars/ YA fantasy
This is set in Japan with (presumably?) Japanese folklore elements as the 'fantasy' bits. It was a little bit confusing to me, but the kitsune is definitely an interesting character

Persuasion by Jane Austen
4 stars/classic
This may be 200+ years old, but it's still very readable/relatable. I definitely recommend it if you're looking for a classic to read

Becoming by Michelle Obama
5 stars/non-fiction
Completely biased rating, but whatever. Loved this, love her, will always miss her and her husband being in the White House

Total so far for the year: 1

QOTW:
In honor of my sister's 40th birthday we're doing a week Disney cruise in a little over a week from now, so I'm looking forward to that.

[spedrunner]

I read:

My Year of Rest and Relaxation - 3 stars
WHere the Crawdads Sing - 4 stars

Currently Reading:

The Rules of Magic (having a hard time getting into this)
Stay With Me

QOTD:  looking forward to enhancing my yoga practice, continuing to work on my self growth and being my genuine self!

[mrspez07]

Reading the Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley. It’s good and pretty easy to read. It’s for my IRL book club. Also just downloaded the Louise Penny #3 on audio but haven’t started.

Looking forward to our family trip to Europe this summer. We had to cancel last year, so it’s hard to get back into planning it. DH is also taking for an overnight downtown tomorrow for my birthday.

[AJL]

I read We Wear the Mask: 15 True Stories of Passing in America. It was excellent! 4/5*

[sassypants]

I'm reading The Brief History of the Dead, by Kevin Brockmeier. It's good, but very depressing.

QOTW: I'm looking forward to auditioning for a local production of The Vagina Monologues, but nothing major yet.

[abs]

I'm finishing up the On the Dublin Street series. I'm half way through the last book and should finish tonight. They've been fun but I'll be ready for something for more serious after this!

QOTW: I'm looking forward to making some changes this year. New workout routine, let go of unhealthy friendships, etc.

[staceymcgill]

I finished Becoming by Michelle Obama this week. I started Factfulness and I really like it so far.

QOTW: Very excited for our vacation next month!

[ally]

I don't think I answered this week, over my holiday break I read:
The Girl in the Tower, Katherine Arden, 5* - I am really looking forward to book 3 coming out this week.
The Adults, Caroline Hulse, 3* - it was holiday themed, so good timing, but I find very little to like in the characters.
The Secret, Book, and Scone Society, Ellery Adams, 3* - it was a cozy mystery and I will read the next in the series, but it was also "too contrived" at times.
The Heart of a Woman, Maya Angelou, 4* - memoirs are not a favorite genre, but this book was a good, quick read - looking forward to my IRL book club discussion.

Currently reading: 
The Immortalists, I hope to finish tonight or tomorrow.  I like it, though if I remember correctly, there have been some mixed reviews.

I set a 52 book goal for 2019.  In 2018 I read 67 (I kept upping the goal), it was a good reading year.

QOTW:
I am looking forward to our travel plans:  we have a trip with friends to New Orleans in March and a Norwegian fjords cruise in late May.

[ssmjlm]

Reading: How to Stop Time
I’m 90 pages in and it’s not holding my attention at all. The guy is so whiny and it’s annoying that basically nothing has happened yet.

Finished: Gansett Island #3, meh

QOTW: my resolution is to prioritize myself, so hoping that pans out into taking better care of myself. I’m planning on laser for my age spots and maybe some Botox.

[msmerymac]

I'm working on many and haven't read as much as usual lately:

Tess of the D'Urbervilles
We Were Eight Years in Power
Beartown
My Antonia

Best book I read last year might have been Little Fires Everywhere, although it came out in 2017. Also Hunger, by Roxane Gay. I listened to it on audio and it was amazing. I was sad I was the only person in the car for that entire road trip because I loved it so much.

This year is the all or nothing year. It's the year that we're going to be forced to make a decision and figure out how we move forward with becoming parents one way or another. Which, in a way, is comforting. The last 2 New Years' eves (before this last one) I was really struggling. There's something to be said for having some options close themselves off and how it almost makes your decisions easier, and that's certainly what we'll face in the next 6 months or so.

[dorothyinAus]

I'm reading Consuelo and Alva Vanderbilt by Amanda Makenzie Stuart. I was inspired to pull it off my shelf after finishing Murder at Marble House. It's interesting, especially seeing Consuelo go from a daughter pushed into an arranged marriage, and Alva being the mother who pushed her daughter into a loveless, but socially advantageous marriage, to suffragettes. I find that transition very radical. War has just broken out in Europe (1914) so I'm curious to see what effect that has on both women -- Consuelo's life in England and Alva's in America.

QOTW: We have some projects around the house planned - mainly building shelves and installing a birdbath. We rent so major changes are out. Other than that, it's going to be a year of trying to save money so we can indulge with a trip next year.

[Gato]

Somebody with a Little Hammer by Mary Gaitskill. She's a literary idol of mine. She's a spiky writer who never dumbs it down or compromises her vision. This book is a mishmash of music and book reviews, essays, and think pieces, and even the subjects I didn't think would be interesting, she managed to make fascinating because her mind works so differently.

Your Duck is My Duck by Deborah Eisenberg. I thought the title was so stupid, but I like Eisenberg so I gave it a shot. I'm glad I did - the title is a metaphor for what she thinks is wrong with the world, as told in her first story and she and I are in complete agreement. Great writing.

Next I am starting The Friend by Sigrid Nunez.

[dochas]

I didn't know where to put this - I started An American Marriage today. I'm not that far along, but I love the writing.

I read The Dinner List and it was meh. It's my regular book club pick for this month and I wanted to love it, but I didn't.

[meowmaps]

Jan 8, 2019 23:23:54 GMT -5 dochas said:

I didn't know where to put this - I started An American Marriage today. I'm not that far along, but I love the writing.

I read The Dinner List and it was meh. It's my regular book club pick for this month and I wanted to love it, but I didn't.

I’m almost halfway through An American Marriage and I agree! I’m enjoying the journey so far.