Friday 3/29 reading

[charlatti]

Happy Friday! What have you been reading this week?

QOTW: Have you always been a reader? 

[travella]

I finished The Bee Sting by Paul Murray, 2* (too long, lacked punctuation for a good chunk of the book, too soap opera like for my taste, and the ending was disappointing). I'm currently reading The Hunter by Tana French and not really liking that book either.

Qotw: No, I didn't become a reader until high school when I took an independent reading class that pushed me into reading different genres. I stopped reading for a few years between college and when the kids were really young.

[charlatti]

I finished Big Time by Ben Winters — fast paced but maybe too much so. It felt like a lot of the concepts weren’t fully drawn. Now reading The Hunter by Tana French. Her books usually land well with me.

QOTW: Yep, pretty much always. I was a bookish kid from very early on. Fun reading fell off a bit in high school and college due to all the reading for classes, but usually I enjoyed those books.

[wawa]

Finished the third book in the Barrett Brides Trilogy - Romanced by a Rake, Sylvia Prince - which was lovely. non-spicy period romance with sassy independent women and pretty pretty dresses. What's not to love?

Other Lands, Sarah Rees Brennan - YA fantasy, lots of fantasy reader inside jokes, very 3rd wall breaking, DEEPLY sarcastic main character who is so so so annoying to start and then I just fell in love with him. Wanted to mother him. Hug him and make him a snack and tell him he's doing a good job. Made me cry. I picked it up because my kid wanted to read it and I wanted to make sure it was something I was comfortable with since wandering into full on PG-13 YA is new for her. There is romance, including fade to black sex between 17year olds, but I decided that maybe that's ok. She took it on a trip with her grandparents this week so I'm looking forward to asking her what she thought. It's not Flowers in the Attic or IT, so we're already ahead of the game on the shit I got my hands on as a kid! Non-traumatizing healthy depictions of teenage romance is a marked improvement.

Started The House Witch, by Delemhach - I think this was a free book I got on Stuff Your Kindle Day? (yes I have books on my kindle I'm not sure where they came from. don't you?) I've been on a bit of a fluffier kick and it fits right in. Interesting and unique premise on the magic, loveable characters, intrigue, drama....totally improbable class-based interactions, but I'm fully ready to ignore that. (like, a king does not get shitfaced with his cook. come on.)

QOTW: very very much always. I don't remember ever not having a book handy.

[tacokick]

Death at the Sign of the Rook by Kate Atkinson (ok)

If You Can't Take the Heat: Tales of Food, Feminism, and Fury by Geraldine DeRuiter (she is tiresome)

The New Couple in 5B by Lisa Unger (Rosemary’s Baby remake)

The Dark Wives by Ann Cleeves (possibly her best)

The Guest by B.A. Paris (ok)

"Where Sleeping Girls Lie by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé (ok)

The Best That You Can Do by Amina Gautier (good)

A Very Private School by Charles Spencer (sad)

QOTW: of course!

[krystee]

I read Shark Heart (loved!), a cozy mystery called The Seven Year Witch, This Day Changes Everything (YA story about queer teens who meet on a trip to NYC), Happily Never After, and an ARC of a thriller whose name just changed after I read it but was How Can I Trust You when I read it.

I think romance is just so very rarely for me. Happily Never After had nice banter and all and I liked the wedding objector concept, but 300 pages of “I’m attracted to you and want to have sex” get old fast. I need more substance.

The thriller didn’t introduce enough potential suspects. The tension was good, but trying to figure out who did it wasn’t as entertaining as it usually is.

I liked This Day Changes Everything—it was angsty, but I remember the angst well from those days! It would be a great book for middle grade and young teens to introduce them to more queer stories and help them be better allies or to feel more seen.

QOTW: Yes, I have loved reading my whole life.

[dearprudence]

Finished Alif the Unseen and This Woven Kingdom they were both interesting, but I loved the fairy-taleness of This Woven Kingdom.

Read The Hidden Palace. I enjoyed it as much as The Golem and the Jinni.

Started The Djinn Waits One Hundred Years about a group of people who live in a house with a past in South Africa. So far it's fine, but it lacks magic.

QOTW: Have you always been a reader?  yes! Since before I could read and had stories read over and over to me.

[mrspez07]

I’m listening to Moloka’i and reading The Hunter.

I joined a new company in Oct and they restarted their book club and we had our first meeting today. There’s only 8 of us but I’m hopeful it’ll be a good group. We’ll be reading North Woods by Daniel Mason. DH just finished it and enjoyed it.

I’ve been reading since I can remember. I’m sad though, right now both my kids (age 11/14) are not doing much reading. I blame phones. I’ve tried implementing phone free time in the hour before bed, but they end up wrestling LOL. I guess I’ll take that over phones though.

[Vespasia]

I finally gave up on Tress of the Emerald Sea. I have no idea why but I just couldn't focus on it. I wish I could try again this weekend but my loan expired and I had to turn on the wifi to get another book.

I switched to Fugitive Telemetry and have been enjoying it.

QOTW: I've been a reader all of my life but there were definitely times that I fell out of the habit. Having easy access to Kindle books free from the library has really upped the number of books I read over the past few years.

[wawa]

Mar 29, 2024 12:36:19 GMT -5 wawa said:

Finished the third book in the Barrett Brides Trilogy - Romanced by a Rake, Sylvia Prince - which was lovely. non-spicy period romance with sassy independent women and pretty pretty dresses. What's not to love?

Other Lands, Sarah Rees Brennan - YA fantasy, lots of fantasy reader inside jokes, very 3rd wall breaking, DEEPLY sarcastic main character who is so so so annoying to start and then I just fell in love with him. Wanted to mother him. Hug him and make him a snack and tell him he's doing a good job. Made me cry. I picked it up because my kid wanted to read it and I wanted to make sure it was something I was comfortable with since wandering into full on PG-13 YA is new for her. There is romance, including fade to black sex between 17year olds, but I decided that maybe that's ok. She took it on a trip with her grandparents this week so I'm looking forward to asking her what she thought. It's not Flowers in the Attic or IT, so we're already ahead of the game on the shit I got my hands on as a kid! Non-traumatizing healthy depictions of teenage romance is a marked improvement.

Started The House Witch, by Delemhach - I think this was a free book I got on Stuff Your Kindle Day? (yes I have books on my kindle I'm not sure where they came from. don't you?) I've been on a bit of a fluffier kick and it fits right in. Interesting and unique premise on the magic, loveable characters, intrigue, drama....totally improbable class-based interactions, but I'm fully ready to ignore that. (like, a king does not get shitfaced with his cook. come on.)

QOTW: very very much always. I don't remember ever not having a book handy.

Quoting myself to say that the kid is in her room reading while she should be sleeping and I just heard her squeal and laugh out loud at this book. (Other lands). That's my girl.

[sadie]

I just finished What You Are Looking For Is in the Library. It was a positive, "I can do hard things" kind of book.

I've always enjoyed reading, however, like every hobby I have, I go through spurts.