Reading thread Friday 1/19

[charlatti]

Happy Friday! What have you been reading this week?

QOTW: How do you feel about public speaking? Does it happen often (ever?) in your life or job?

[estrellita]

I finished Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult. I completely forgot or missed the fact it was covid lockdown related! But I do think it showed a realistic view of that time period. My only real gripe was some of the repetitive things. Such as saying several times how she felt like she was the only person on the island. But other than that, I liked it!

Just started House of Sky and Breath (Crescent City 2) now that the new book is getting closer.

QOTW: Can't say I'm a fan of it but luckily I don't have to do it often. Mostly just talking to several people in Zoom meetings, sometimes people I might have felt intimidated by a few years ago. If I'm prepped and confident in what I'm talking about, I'm usually fine. I get more nervous when I'm just thrown into something I'm not as familiar with. I tend to trip over my words though regardless of my nerves level 😵‍💫

[Vespasia]

I finished three this week but two were novella length. 

The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw. This was an odd one. There were a lot of things I liked about the story but it didn't make a ton of sense, which might be partly due to the length. The author also seemed to be trying to use big words rather than focusing on writing something coherent.

Artificial Condition (Murderbot #2) by Martha Wells I didn't enjoy this quite as much as the first one but it was still very good and I'll probably read the third book this week. 

Painted Devils by Margret Owen This series is soooooooooooooo good. I highly recommend. The only downside is that the third book doesn't come out until next year. 

QOTW: I'm not a fan of public speaking but unfortunately it's become increasingly common for my work. Luckily most of our national events are still virtual, which is slightly less nerve wracking.

[charlatti]

I finished A Blizzard of Polar Bears — a wildlife conservation biologist mystery, which worked surprisingly well. Lots of great setting and atmospheric details. Just started The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah. I’ve never read her books before but have heard good things.

QOTW: I’m a teacher, but I don’t think of that as public speaking. So I guess I don’t mind talking to groups if I know them and it’s interactive vs. just speaking. I would definitely not choose to give a talk to a big group, but it wouldn’t be the worst thing either.

[wawa]

this was a great reading week. no duds.

Ink Blood Sister Scribe by Emma Torzs - loved the premise of this one (I'm a sucker for magic books), loved the "real world" fantasy elements

The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty - AMAZING. I've never really struggled to identify with FMCs who were a lot younger than me, but omg a 40 year old mom with a bad knee as bad-ass magical pirate was so so so so fun and refreshing. I also loved the setting which had me staring at a map of the arabian sea because I'm terrible at geography.

Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher - Novella. really cute but not cutesy fairy tale take. The feel of this one is like...sketched? rather than richly painted compared to Amina. Which is not a bad thing, just an interesting contrast reading them in sequence. Like a beautiful simple line sketch. I dunno, that probably makes no sense. it also just feels like this simple little story. just a single pov. and it ends so sweetly. But I think the bits where she describes the beauty of adopted mothers will stick with me for a long time.

Raybearer by Jordan Ifuenko - love. I think YA? looking forward to #2 to see where it goes. Really loveable characters. Sketchy world and systems building, but kinda hangs its hat on a mythological background that I'm totally ok with accepting. not everybody has to be tolkien.

QOTW - I present at public meetings at a lot of scales, and at conferences on a semi-regular basis.  I rather enjoy it, but I aspire to be better at it.

[charlatti]

Jan 19, 2024 13:58:01 GMT -5 wawa said:

The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty - AMAZING. I've never really struggled to identify with FMCs who were a lot younger than me, but omg a 40 year old mom with a bad knee as bad-ass magical pirate was so so so so fun and refreshing. I also loved the setting which had me staring at a map of the arabian sea because I'm terrible at geography.

I love this description and am adding this to my list. I’ve come across her books before but never picked one up.

[tacokick]

Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak (horrible)

Silent Parade by Keigo Higashino (ok)

Trust and Safety: A Novel by Eve Gleichman and Laura Blackett (fun)

A Game of Lies by Clare Mackintosh (fun)

A Darker Domain   by Val McDermid (solid—found the audiobooks on Hoopla, the library only owns the first one in the series)

QOTW: I do a lot of public speaking! I don’t really mind it because I only have to talk about things I’m an expert in and I don’t really have to care about the audience’s opinions.

[litskispeciality]

Very slow reading week, but I've read about 5 pages a day so it's something. I'm making slow progress on "Girls With Bright Futures". Hope to have some time to read because it's good, and scary that while fictional it's probably what rich (white) people do to get their kids in to "good" colleges.

QOTW: I like public speaking and had a goal to do a lot more professional presenting at conferences, then changed industries, lol.

[travella]

I finished:
Artiface by Sharon Cameron 2.5*- (I loved The Light in Hidden Places, but I've haven't liked anything by Cameron since.)

The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See, 3.5*. (It was a good book overall, but I never found myself immersed in the story. Also, I found the story to lag in a few places.)

The Girl Behind the Wall by Mandy Robotham, DNF. (I couldn't get into this book. It felt very YA even though it's listed as adult HF.)

I'm currently reading The Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford.

QOTW: I can do it, but I'm much happier behind the scenes. I used to have a job where public speaking was required, but I haven't had to do any public speaking since becoming a SAHM so I'm out of practice.

[Vespasia]

wawa I'm glad you liked Ink Blood Sister Scribe!

[dearprudence]

Jan 19, 2024 13:01:15 GMT -5 Vespasia said:

I finished three this week but two were novella length. 

The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw. This was an odd one. There were a lot of things I liked about the story but it didn't make a ton of sense, which might be partly due to the length. The author also seemed to be trying to use big words rather than focusing on writing something

I really wish she had put the afterward, explaining the capture and imprisonment of the mermaid in the beginning.

[dearprudence]

Finished Winter's Gifts, it was eh.

Started reading The City That Barks and Roars, which is like a grown-up Zootopia. (They call it animal noir).

Started listening to Play the Fool about a woman who stumbles upon her friend's death and tries to solve it.

QOTW: How do you feel about public speaking? Does it happen often (ever?) in your life or job? I hate it. Luckily I don't have to do it often, but a couple times a year is more than enough!