Happy Friday! 1/20 reading thread

[charlatti]

What have you been reading this week?

QOTW: I’m sure we’ve done this one before, but how do you feel about really long books? Love them, seek them out, avoid them, don’t ever notice length, some other variation?

[dearprudence]

Reading Mistreated - I picked it up at a conference several years ago where Robert Pearl spoke. I'm really enjoying it, but it's definitely outdated. It was written right after the 2016 election, so a lot of uncertainty about what was going to happen in healthcare under that administration.

Listening to Braiding Sweetgrass which is fine, but a little boring.


QOTW: I’m sure we’ve done this one before, but how do you feel about really long books? Love them, seek them out, avoid them, don’t ever notice length, some other variation? I only notice length if it's unnecessary. Like Black Cake wasn't an especially long book, but it felt too long to me because it could have ended so much earlier.

[tacokick]

All the Dangerous Things by Stacy Willingham (poorly written)

The Spare Room by Andrea Bartz (good)

Uncle of the Year and Other Debatable Triumphs by Andrew Rannells (eh)

Raw Dog: The Naked Truth About Hot Dogs by Jamie Loftus (disappointing!!)

QOTW: I don’t really pay attention but I am unpleasantly surprised when a book is very long

[CrazyLucky]

I finished the Lost Apothecary. I gave it 3*. I'm working on Three Girls from Bronzeville now.

QOTW: I don't search out shorter books, but my library system only gives you 7 days with an e-book. It's hard for me to finish a long book in that much time. So I'm happy to have shorter books.

[charlatti]

I have been having trouble getting anything started, but I picked up The Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penney and I think it might work.

QOTW: I always think I don’t love long books, but I don’t mind them when I actually get them started. I only do physical books, so heavy hardbacks are kind of annoying.

[travella]

I finished:

The School for German Brides by Aimie Runyan, 3* (the second half of this book was much better than the first half)

Beautiful Little Fools by Jillian Cantor, 3.5* (I liked it until the end, I might have liked this better if I recalled anything about The Great Gatsby).

Currently reading Notes on an Execution.

Qotw: I read a majority of my books on my Kindle now so I don't usually know the length of the book unless I notice the fact that my percentage completed isn't moving very fast. Then I might look into the page count.

[Vespasia]

I'm still reading Hell Bent. I'm actually surprised I haven't finished yet since I feel like I have been making time to read at night. Maybe it's longer than I think it is?

QOTW: I don't mind long books but they really have to be worth it. I'm much more likely to abandon a long book if I can't get into it than a shorter one. I got Fairy Tale by Stephen King on Kindle from my library and once I saw how many pages it was I sent it right back!

[Gato]

I finished Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel and it was good, but one loose end was left dangling and it's really bugging me!

I also liked the memoir I Came All This Way to Meet You by Jami Attenberg. She had some great insights.

I love long books if I like the book. If I can't get into it (Infinite Jest is an example), no matter how great it's supposed to be I will stop reading, because who wants to struggle for weeks?

[ufcasey]

Read: 
Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson - 3.5 stars; cute and love that Hoid is the narrator (from his Cosmere) but it reads a bit YA-ish, which I do not prefer

Revealed (#2 in series) by Vanessa Nelson - 3.5 stars; this is kind of an urban fantasy series, which I am rather enjoying but it's nothing ground breaking

QOTW:
I kind of avoid them unless I am in the mood to really immerse myself into a book. Because long books requires you to just sit down with them otherwise you will stretch them out so long it doesn't really let you get the full impact of the story. But my definition of a long book is one that is over 700 pages and not too many books are that long - authors tend to break them up into a series instead, for better or for worse.

[sju]

Finished

Seven Days in June by Tia Williams. 3.5 I liked that the author touched on various issues including invisible disability.

If he had been with me by Laura Nowlin. Also 3.5.

QOTW: I borrow ebooks from my library and I normally don’t look at the length until I get them. I don’t love longer books.

[krystee]

I read :
1. All the Dangerous Things (fine but not a standout. I finished it today and already forgot the name and had to look it up)
2. Near Witch (a YA by VE Schwab; got it because I liked Addie LaRue and I would have loved this as a teen but YAs aren’t my favorite these days)
The Bodyguard by Katherine Center (pretty cute; I don’t generally like romances, but this one kept my interest)

QOTW:
I always love when a long book comes out from a favorite. I will happily read all of the giant books Frederick Backman can write. But long books from new-to-me authors make me less likely to start them since I tend to be a one-book-at-a-time reader. I got Age of Vice and I’ve heard great things, but it looks so long!

[gastro]

Jan 20, 2023 16:55:29 GMT -5 CrazyLucky said:

I finished the Lost Apothecary. I gave it 3*. I'm working on Three Girls from Bronzeville now.

QOTW: I don't search out shorter books, but my library system only gives you 7 days with an e-book. It's hard for me to finish a long book in that much time. So I'm happy to have shorter books.

Are you sure you can’t change it to longer in settings? This is the default for my library but in the reading app (now Libby, was overdrive) I was able to change to 21 days.

[CrazyLucky]

Jan 23, 2023 5:10:10 GMT -5 gastro said:

Jan 20, 2023 16:55:29 GMT -5 CrazyLucky said:

I finished the Lost Apothecary. I gave it 3*. I'm working on Three Girls from Bronzeville now.

QOTW: I don't search out shorter books, but my library system only gives you 7 days with an e-book. It's hard for me to finish a long book in that much time. So I'm happy to have shorter books.

Are you sure you can’t change it to longer in settings? This is the default for my library but in the reading app (now Libby, was overdrive) I was able to change to 21 days.

That seems like a great idea!  Is it in the libby app settings?  If I go to the app's settings, I don't see anything that looks like it would help me.  It's generally ok because they let me renew.  But if it's a new or popular title with a lot of people waiting, it doesn't.

[travella]

Jan 23, 2023 5:10:10 GMT -5 gastro said:

Jan 20, 2023 16:55:29 GMT -5 CrazyLucky said:

I finished the Lost Apothecary. I gave it 3*. I'm working on Three Girls from Bronzeville now.

QOTW: I don't search out shorter books, but my library system only gives you 7 days with an e-book. It's hard for me to finish a long book in that much time. So I'm happy to have shorter books.

Are you sure you can’t change it to longer in settings? This is the default for my library but in the reading app (now Libby, was overdrive) I was able to change to 21 days.

When I check out books on Libby there is a drop down menu for how long to check out the books. I noticed that mine is automatically set to 21 days, but I could change it to 7 or 14 days by clicking the time frame and drop down menu appears.

[tacokick]

Jan 23, 2023 7:53:07 GMT -5 CrazyLucky said:

Jan 23, 2023 5:10:10 GMT -5 gastro said:

Are you sure you can’t change it to longer in settings? This is the default for my library but in the reading app (now Libby, was overdrive) I was able to change to 21 days.

That seems like a great idea!  Is it in the libby app settings?  If I go to the app's settings, I don't see anything that looks like it would help me.  It's generally ok because they let me renew.  But if it's a new or popular title with a lot of people waiting, it doesn't.

From my library’s site:

Open the libby app on your mobile device & find a title to borrow.

Tap the Borrow link next to the title.

Tap the number of days (underlined) to display and change the default setting.

Libby will now remember the new default loan period for future loans.





There is a way to do it from the mobile overdrive site too but this is easier

[CrazyLucky]

Jan 23, 2023 8:08:19 GMT -5 tacokick said:

Jan 23, 2023 7:53:07 GMT -5 CrazyLucky said:

That seems like a great idea!  Is it in the libby app settings?  If I go to the app's settings, I don't see anything that looks like it would help me.  It's generally ok because they let me renew.  But if it's a new or popular title with a lot of people waiting, it doesn't.

From my library’s site:

Open the libby app on your mobile device & find a title to borrow.

Tap the Borrow link next to the title.

Tap the number of days (underlined) to display and change the default setting.

Libby will now remember the new default loan period for future loans.





There is a way to do it from the mobile overdrive site too but this is easier

You and gastro, are awesome!  I just tried this and it let me change it.  I hope it does keep it as the default!  Thank you so much!

[litskispeciality]

January has been a tough reading month. This weekend I started Lessons in Chemistry, and Twenty Years Later (tell me that one picks up?)

QOTW: Long books tend to freak me out and lead me away from reading them. The last long (let's say 400+ pages) book I read Project Hail Mary was good, but could have been at least 100 pages shorter.

[litskispeciality]

I think the borrow timeline through Libby has been fixed, but yes the app changing it to 21 days has been a life changer as I often need that much time (or longer) to finish.

You can also defer holds. Everything pops up for me at the same time, so once or twice a month I have to log in and push back holds so things are more spread out.