Reading recap time! (8/30)

[ufcasey]

What have you read this week?

QOTW: There's a hurricane ready to hit Florida, ruining a lot of people's Labor Day weekend plans. Have you ever had a vacation ruined (by weather or other causes)? If not, what was your worst vacation?

[meowmaps]

I finished Evvie Drake Starts Over. I liked the banter/dialogue but overall the book was forgettable. I started How to Forget by Kate Mulgrew a couple nights ago. It's interesting.

QOTW: I've absolutely had trips where weather or other causes got in the way. For our first anniversary my husband and I took a fall foliage cruise up to New England. The water was deemed too rough to tender ashore when we got to our stop near Acadia. Then my husband got norovirus. Cruises are subsequently off the table for us. Forever. Another time we went to Maine as its own trip and it was during the government shutdown over the ACA so we had to miss Acadia again. We've had several trips that have been hampered by rain. We went to Spain one Christmas/New Year's and the rainfall was epic. It actually broke records. Our luck has changed in more recent years though. We specifically went to Nicaragua during the rainy season to get a deal on our lodging and there wasn't a drop of rain.

The cruise was definitely our worst vacation ever.

[tacokick]

I read:

Let’s Call it a Doomsday by Katie Henry (it was okay)

Alex, Approximately by Jenn Bennett (cute, made me want to go to CA)

No One Else Can Have You by Kathleen Hale (real grim and at same time oddly irreverent for a YA mystery)

Katherine Hale is a Crazy Stalker by Katherine Hale (she is a very strange person)

What We See When We Read: A Phenomenology with Illustrations by
Peter Mendelsund (this was interesting because I have aphantasia and don’t see anything when I read!)

QOTW: We were in NYC and found out that my mom had a brain tumor and had to come home early in June. Before that, a really gross hotel in Rehoboth. I slept sitting up in a folding chair. Nothing weather related though!

[brandy0331]

I am almost finished with Lord John Grey and the Brotherhood of the Blade. I love it. I read the Outlander series ages ago and have since reread it, but never picked up the Lord John series.

QOTW: A couple years ago a tornado went through the campground we had reserved for a week the day before we were supposed to check in. It was before we had a camper so we had reserved a cabin. Unfortunately that sucker was destroyed.

[mrspez07]

I finished Whistling Past the Graveyard 5*
Really enjoyed it.

I then went to the library without my phone/goodreads and proceeded to pick up two books I had already read a few years ago (doh!) I feel old!
Luckily I have a library trip planned for tomorrow.

Amazingly very little problems with vacations. I got food poisoning in Cork, Ireland the night/morning before flying back to London. DH had to fly home and I was going to Bath. So I rode the train (and got sick in the yucky on-train bathroom) Then I hunkered down in a hotel with orange Fanta and bad English crackers (couldn’t find comfort food in my wandering around a store).

[krystee]

I am reading The Farm, and I really like it.

QOTW: My mom and I had to cancel a trip to Maine because she got a terrible stomach bug. Then I had a high-risk pregnancy and we never got to use our airfare credits. Oh, and three of the B&Bs we booked wouldn’t give us any credit/refund, even if they rebooked the room. Most expensive vacation we never took!

[dontlook]

I finished Harry Potter #2
The Night before by Wendy Walker: 3 stars. It started with promise, the middle almost made me quit but the end was good.
Daisy Jones and The Six. I just love love love Taylor Jenkins Reid. I’ve read all of her books and she manages to switch from chick lit to something more with Seven Husbands and then something completely different with Daisy. She’s quite talented.

QOTW: I can’t think of any bad vacations or vacations ruined by weather. We went to the beach a few years ago in SC and it was miserably hot but I expected that.

[Vespasia]

I'm about halfway through the Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon. It's absolutely fantastic and I am so glad it's a long weekend so I have time to read. It's over 800 pages but I imagine that's what allows it to be a rare standalone fantasy epic.


QOTW: We were stranded in Europe for 5 extra days on our honeymoon because Hurricane Sandy hit the day we were supposed to fly into NY. Not the worst thing ever but it was a long trip and we were both really ready to be home.

[sarahswim]

This week I recovered from my HP letdown and read Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine and Daisy Jones and the Six. I started Eleanor and Park and I’m considering Harry Potter & the Cursed Child.

When I was a kid we went to Maine and had to evacuate for a hurricane. My sisters & I thought it was great fun but I’m not sure my parents agreed.

[sassypants]

I'm still reading Fire & Blood. It's taking forever.

QOTW: Not ruined but some terrible things that happened. I got food poisoning (or something) in Cairo the night before we flew to Luxor and I am still pissed I lost that day at the temples. The worst though was when we were visiting my friend in Boston and she ended up hospitalized with acute pancreatitis brought on by gall stones. I felt SO BAD for her and I couldn't make her understand that we were perfectly fine and she needed to focus on getting well--that was the most important thing! We couldn't convince her otherwise, and she still feels bad about it and that was 10 years ago! She's got a very big heart.

[travella]

I have been reading books I found suggested on a random website a while ago. I have not been having good luck with them.

Inheritance: A Memoir of genealogy, paternity, and love by Dani Shapiro, 1*. I might have been a little too harsh on this book. I may move it up to 2*.

The Red Address Book by Sofia Lundberg, 1*. I couldn't finish this book. I was hoping it would be a female version of A Man Called Ove, but this book felt emotionally flat. After so many mediocre books I just couldn't force myself to finish another one.

I decided to go with a book that was personally recommended to me. The Long Haul: A Trucker's Tale of Life on the Road by Finn Murphy. I am finding this book a little funny, interesting, and horrifying at times. My dad owns a small freight trucking business and we move often so it's been interesting to see the moving side of trucking. I'm halfway through the book.

I am also reading The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate with my daughter. We are only 40 pages in, but I'm concerned about finishing it. I read it was heart warming, but so far it's been a lonely caged gorilla, a homeless/hungry dog, dogs dying by being thrown from a car, and an abused circus elephant.... My daughter is a soft hearted animal lover. I need to read ahead before we continue.

QOTW: I have been fortunate enough to not have a vacation ruined. I got sick once while in Mexico as a child, but it was short lived.

[charlatti]

I am still finishing my reread of Harry Potter #5. This week was exhausting. Hoping to finish today and start Louise Penny’s newest Inspector Gamache book, which I just picked up at the library.

Qotw: I’ve been pretty lucky with vacations. My parents were traveling when 9/11 happened, which was stressful. They made it home but it took a lot of worry and rearranging. Would have been more challenging if they had been out of the country, I’m sure.

[rainbowchip]

I finished Blood Truth and it was my 500th book read on Goodreads!

I'm currently reading The Proposal.

QOTW: I've actually had really good luck with trips I've planned and taken as an adult.
My parents camped a lot and dragged me along. I think my hatred of camping came about mostly because the weather was always horrible when we camped. Raining and cold during summer.
We also went out to Wyoming for a family reunion in 1990 and it was record cold weather while we were there.

[sassypants]

Aug 31, 2019 9:39:09 GMT -5 rainbowchip said:

I finished Blood Truth and it was my 500th book read on Goodreads!

I'm currently reading The Proposal.

QOTW: I've actually had really good luck with trips I've planned and taken as an adult.
My parents camped a lot and dragged me along. I think my hatred of camping came about mostly because the weather was always horrible when we camped. Raining and cold during summer.
We also went out to Wyoming for a family reunion in 1990 and it was record cold weather while we were there.

Ugh, I hate camping SO much! Once I was old enough to stay home alone and my parents wanted to go away camping for the weekend, I got to stay home. House to myself--now that is my idea of vacation!!

[rainbowchip]

Aug 31, 2019 21:08:05 GMT -5 sassypants said:

Aug 31, 2019 9:39:09 GMT -5 rainbowchip said:

I finished Blood Truth and it was my 500th book read on Goodreads!

I'm currently reading The Proposal.

QOTW: I've actually had really good luck with trips I've planned and taken as an adult.
My parents camped a lot and dragged me along. I think my hatred of camping came about mostly because the weather was always horrible when we camped. Raining and cold during summer.
We also went out to Wyoming for a family reunion in 1990 and it was record cold weather while we were there.

Ugh, I hate camping SO much! Once I was old enough to stay home alone and my parents wanted to go away camping for the weekend, I got to stay home. House to myself--now that is my idea of vacation!!

Same here! And the during high school I may have had some epic parties lol!

[abs]

I'm finishing up Evvie Drakes Starts Over. It's very meh. Not bad but I don't get the hype.

QOTW: Our last trip few trips have been ruined by illness. DD got strep throat on our spring break trip. I got food poisoning in Disney back in July. I'm a little vacation gun shy now.

[Gato]

I read Welcome to Lagos by Chibundu Onuzo. I love hopeful big city stories like this one.

My first honeymoon was literally a disaster, as we had to be evacuated from a resort during a hurricane, and then had no power for another three days. Lol, it was kind of fun though.

[Nonny]

I finished Elevation (but haven't gone into the book club discussion thread yet), and Dark Matter (I have a lot of feelings).  I've also started The Tattooist of Auschwitz and Surprise, Kill, Vanish: The Secret History of CIA Paramilitary Armies, Operators, and Assassins.

QOTW: I've never had a vacation ruined by weather, but my BFF and I did get a bonus week in Ireland thanks to the Eyjafjallajökull volcano erupting in 2010.  It's a fun story now, but it was kind of an expensive and stressful extension of our trip.

My H and I also had our Australia trip altered by weather multiple times last year, but again, nothing ruined, just changed to my extreme annoyances.

[aurora]

Aug 30, 2019 18:00:32 GMT -5 brandy0331 said:

I am almost finished with Lord John Grey and the Brotherhood of the Blade. I love it. I read the Outlander series ages ago and have since reread it, but never picked up the Lord John series.

...

The Lord John books are fun! He's such an interesting character.

[aurora]

I finished The Bean Trees , which I had last read in high school or college. I remembered the main storyline with Turtle, but had totally forgotten the immigration aspects. It felt extremely current.

QOTW: not really ruined, but we did have serious rain/flooding one year in Hawaii that kept us away from the beach and damaged some roads/access. I was in high school and thought of it as a fun adventure.

[brandy0331]

Sept 4, 2019 9:03:36 GMT -5 aurora said:

Aug 30, 2019 18:00:32 GMT -5 brandy0331 said:

I am almost finished with Lord John Grey and the Brotherhood of the Blade. I love it. I read the Outlander series ages ago and have since reread it, but never picked up the Lord John series.

...

The Lord John books are fun! He's such an interesting character.

He definitely is! He makes me laugh, but also my heart breaks for him.

[Michelle]

Sept 4, 2019 12:37:03 GMT -5 brandy0331 said:

Sept 4, 2019 9:03:36 GMT -5 aurora said:

The Lord John books are fun! He's such an interesting character.

He definitely is! He makes me laugh, but also my heart breaks for him.

My eyes are tired at night so most of my reading is done on audible. The narrator for the Lord John books really turned me off to them. I really wanted to read them - maybe when i retire and don't stare at a screen all day.

On a related note since there are a couple of Outlander fans here - i have been desperately waiting for the arrival of the 9th book. I once equated the wait for Gabaldon's next book to waiting on GRR Martin to finish GOT. If anyone else feels like that, check out this post on her website, which lets you into her writing process. It is so cool how she is so transparent with her fans on her process (not just this post, but this really drives her point home on not being able to set a specific date for finishing her book): www.dianagabaldon.com/2016/09/want-to-watch-me-write-preview/?fbclid=IwAR1fpTI7-oNE0PTyGjYknR3PVUupM8H1woFHTKqUgKgHSS0W2vLRzKgOw6M