Friday Reading December 8th

[Vespasia]

Happy Friday! What have you been reading this week?


QOTW: What's your favorite thing to bring to a party? It could be general or something specific.

[Vespasia]

I'm reading Iron Flame and have such mixed feelings about it. The story is great but the writing really is not. The romance aspect is incredibly annoying and juvenile. The book would be half as long if they just edited out all the extraneous pining and lustful gazing.

QOTW: I usually bring an appetizer, mostly dips, whenever appropriate. I love them but they're not something I can make for just MH and I.

[tacokick]

I am chipping away at the Barbra Streisand memoir. It is very long and detailed about everything. She is pro walnuts in brownies.

Finished:

Soil: The Story of a Black Mother's Garden by Camille T. Dungy (good)

Mother, Nature: A 5,000-Mile Journey to Discover if a Mother and Son Can Survive Their Differences by Jedidiah Jenkins (horrible)

Alice Sadie Celine by Sarah Blakley-Cartwright (boring)

The Beautiful and the Wild by Peggy Townsend (bad)

The Crow Trap by Ann Cleeves (good)

The September House by Carissa Orlando (fun)

QOTW: We rotate dinner parties so we don’t normally bring anything anywhere. I have made doughnuts to order at a party at a friend’s house before and it was fun.

[charlatti]

I just started Virgil Wander by Leif Enger, which I bought years ago at my library’s book sale for 50 cents on half-price day. It’s library sale weekend again here, so I thought I’d finally actually read this one.

QOTW: I think I’m overthinking the question. I usually volunteer for veggie sides or desserts, but nothing particular comes to mind.

[travella]

I finished all the short Christmas stories:

1. A Boy Called Christmas by Matt Haig,3*
2. A Kidnaped Santa by Alex Robinson,2*
3. Letters from Father Christmas by Tolkien, 2* (cute for his ancestors. I liked that they kept all the letters, but I wish they had the kid's letters too because I constantly felt like I was missing something.)
4. The Christmas Appeal by Janice Hallett, 2* (I actually enjoyed the story from The Appeal more. This felt a little silly).

I'm currently reading Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts. I went from short Christmas stories to Shantaram! It's really slow, going to take a long time to finish, and not at all festive, but I'm enjoying it so far.

Qotw: We haven't been to a party where I need to bring anything since before the pandemic. I usually picked an appetizer or dessert. This time of year mini bite sized cheesecakes were always fun.

[estrellita]

Finished The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi. I gave it 4 stars. I loved it minus a couple plot points.

Started What the River Knows and got sucked into it right away, so I'm liking it so far!

QOTW: I'm not much of a cook, so I usually bring something simple or from the store. If I make something, it's usually pickle roll up dip!

[dearprudence]

Read "A fox filled Christmas" which is a short story taking place in The Rivers of London series.

Still reading The Bookeaters and The Winter Garden.



QOTW: What's your favorite thing to bring to a party? It could be general or something specific. It depends on what kind of party - dinner parties I love to bring homemade bread.

[waverly]

I read the Secret Recipe of Ella Dove. Fans of Sarah Addison Allen would like it. In fact, it reads like she wrote it. I also read a NF books about Yule.