Happy Friday! Reading thread 1/14

[charlatti]

What have you been reading this week?

QOTW: How observant do you think you are about others’ appearances? Do you notice haircuts, outfits, shoes, seeming tired or unwell, etc.?

[meowmaps]

I read Braiding Sweetgrass. Really liked the message and lyrical prose but found some of the passages repetitive and unnecessarily dense.

Currently reading Both/And: A Life in Many Worlds by Huma Abedin. I’m really liking it so far. She’s an interesting person.

QOTW: I’m pretty observant and notice things like haircuts, new outfits, etc. Not sure if I’m observant enough to notice fatigue or illness though. If I know someone well I’d notice if they were down or upset.

[msmerymac]

meowmaps, I listened to an interview with Huma Abedin. Thanks for the reminder - I wanted to find her book.

I'm on my second book of the year, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue. I'm almost halfway through and I like it so far. It's an easy read and pretty interesting.

QOTW: I compliment people on their hair, clothes, etc when I want to since that always makes me feel nice, so I suppose?

[Vespasia]

I've been reading A Study in Scarlet Women by Sherry Thomas. I have wanted to read this series for years and so far it is rather disappointing. I can't quite pinpoint the issues but overall it just feels flat. I'm hoping the series gets better over time but I am not sure how quickly I'll pick up the next one. It actually reminds me a lot of how I felt about the Veronica Speedwell series and I still haven't read beyond the first book there. 

QOTW: I'm really not at all observant. I'll only notice things like hair cuts if they're pretty drastic. Clothes and accessories stand out only if they are something I would like for myself or particularly hideous. 

[travella]

I am still reading Go Tell the Bees I am Gone.  I have about 250 more pages.  I have slowed down on reading since my kids have been sick this week (1 with Covid, one not-trying to keep everyone separated and everything sanitized). I hope to finish it soon so I can start Dr. Zhivago.

QOTW: No, I am horrible at noticing, especially people outside my family.  I might notice that something is different, but I usually cannot tell what.  For instance, I know something is different with our neighbor but I cannot figure out what it is.  I think it's her hair, but I don't want to say something and be wrong. 

[tacokick]

Moving right along with my 2022 reading!

Hooked: How Crafting Saved My Life by Sutton Foster (really about crafting AND her odd parents. I like memoirs from famous people that really get into details about their early career and how that worked and this didn’t disappoint)


Thank you, Mr. Nixon by Gish Jen (always enjoy her except for her last book. This was more my speed)

The Times I Knew I Was Gay by Eleanor Crewes

Rose Petal Beach by Dorothy Koomson (Her books are so long! In the afterward she talked about how she cut out 50,000 words. What? How?)

QOTW: I think I am pretty observant in general. I’m bad at faces of people IRL (not movies/tv, strangely!) so I really try to focus on details so I can identify them again so I pick up a lot.

[charlatti]

I finished Madhouse at the End of the Earth by Julian Sancton, which was excellent, and have had trouble getting started with anything else. Currently barely in to a reread of Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell — I read it five or six years ago and don’t remember much except that I liked it.

QOTW: I am pretty unobservant. I rarely notice clothing at all. I’m fairly likely to notice a haircut or, if I know the person reasonably well, whether they seem sick or happy or something like that, but no guarantees.

[dearprudence]

Finished Spinning Silver and Beasts and Beauty. Spinning Silver was my first 5-star read of year. It had everything I love in a fantasy novel/ fairy tale retelling. I like when it's not a direct retelling, but puts its own twist on the idea we're familiar with. Which is why I didn't enjoy Beasts and Beauty as much. Too many of the stories just retold the classics.


Currently reading A Spindle Splintered and listening to Lost in a Book and finding the same thing to be true. A Spindle Splintered is more interesting as it involves a terminally ill woman being caught in Sleeping Beauty's story. Lost in a Book, which takes place during the winter Belle spends in the Beast's Castle is too constrained by the pre-created characters.


QOTW: How observant do you think you are about others’ appearances? Do you notice haircuts, outfits, shoes, seeming tired or unwell, etc.? I'm a super-empath, so I think I'm fairly observant about others' appearances. Maybe not shoes unless they're really standout for some reason. But hair, outfits, wellness I notice.

[dontlook]

I listened to What Happened To You by Dr. Perry and Oprah
It’s about how our earliest experience shape our lives.
I really enjoyed the book. There were some parts that were personally very hard to listen to but important to hear. Highly recommend.

I read The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams. It’s about how a chance encounter with a reading list shaped various people in the book and helped form an unlikely friendship between two characters.
I enjoyed the first 75% of the book and then a major event happens and the book went downhill for me. It almost felt like two different people wrote the book. The end was so cheesy and unfulfilling. I’m not even sure what I wanted as the ending but it certainly wasn’t what I got. I did add a lot of the books on the reading list to my reading list so it was helpful that way.

I quit The Sentence. Didn’t enjoy at all.

Currently reading Not A Happy Family.

QOTW: I’m really oblivious and even when I might notice something but I have a hard time commenting about a person’s clothes or hair. I need to get better as I know people enjoy compliments.

[minzy]

I finished two books this week:
Bicycling with Butterflies: My 10,201-Mile Journey Following the Monarch Migration by Sara Dykman. I thought it was great. She did a ten month solo bicycle tour in 2017 through Mexico, the U.S. and Canada, and did presentations along the way. She mourned habitat loss yet basked in the beauty of what’s left, too. I really enjoyed the book.

Room to Dream (Front Desk series, #3) by Kelly Yang. It’s YA, somewhat autobiographical, and hits on a ton of issues of immigration, race, class, ethics, honesty, consent. My daughters (10 and 8) and I read the first two books together too. They got really into the story and actually both snatched the book away near the end to read ahead alone. I’d call that a win! We’re bummed the series is over.

QOTW: Sometimes I’ll notice if someone has stepped it up a little, but I don’t tend to pay super close attention to brands, etc. I probably should compliment people more since I know it probably makes them feel great, but at least when I do, I really mean it.

[estrellita]

I recently finished A Rogue of One's Own. It was ok. I really liked Lucie's character but wasn't a fan of Tristan overall. I did like how things ended up with them.

Just started A History of Wild Places. I'm barely into it so no real thoughts yet!

QOTW: I'm horribly non-observant. Or I'll notice something, but then my brain is on to the next thing and I forget to say something.

[litskispeciality]

Over the weekend I finished "The Guest List", and made more progress on "Love Always Lara Jean"

QOTW: More so am I up to the standards, say how we should dress at work. I'll compliment, but try not to say anything bad like "you look tired!", that's just rude and unnecessary.