August Reading

[underwaterrhymes]

Just finished A Love Song for Ricki Wilde by Tia Williams - really great; 4*

[RoxMonster]

Just finished Shari Lapena’s newest, What Have You Done? Lapena is an auto buy for me but this one wasn’t my favorite of hers. Still kept me intrigued. 3.75 stars

I liked the varying POV and the slowly unraveling suspense but some of her dialogue seemed so unrealistic and was kind of distracting. Example: a teen (in the US) saying “You mustn’t blame yourself.” I also felt like she told us a lot instead of showed us: “So and so thought this. Then she thought this.”

[Jalapeñomel]

I just started reading the Reappearance of Rachel Price. It’s by the same author as a Good Girls Guide to Murder.

[krystee]

I just finished The Distance Between Us, which is a great memoir on growing up in Mexico with parents who went to the US, and then being brought over too. I think more people need to read it to have compassion on the immigration issue.

[gummybear]

I’ve read two oldies but goodies the past week. The Song of Achilles and A Thousand Splendid Suns (reread). Both wonderful.

It’s also very timely bc I had a mother ask me for a fiction recc for her 14 year old gay son who liked mythology. I was like, “I have the perfect book for him!”

What Happened To The Bennets is on deck.

[shopgirl07]

The God of the Woods was so, so good.

[ny96]

Aug 4, 2024 13:05:40 GMT -5 shopgirl07 said:

The God of the Woods was so, so good.

I loved it too!

[bcv513]

I just finished Sally Hepworth's newest "The Darling Girls." It was a solid three starts for me. Last night I started Vera Wong's something something Guide to Murder. Loving it so far. She's hilarious.

[wise_rita]

I need a pep talk on a book that is widely loved, but I'm struggling. Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.

I'm 60% of the way through and there's no real story or theme happening, just the main character being god awful to any man who loves her, and the diaspora of Nigerians around the world escaping chaos and poor governance there (this part is fantastic).

Any words of wisdom on this? I won't give up but thus far I'm wondering what all the hype is about (it was on NYT's list of top 100 books of this century).

[followyourarrow]

I started Flags on the Bayou. I'm about 4 chapters in and not sure about it. If you've read it, should I keep going?

I also just started The Woman at the Light, and I'm loving it.

[sandandsea]

I read the Storied life of AJ Firky based on a recommendation here and enjoyed it.

I also read The Ball at Versailles by Danielle Steele as I’ve never read any of her books and it was so blah. She repeated herself over and over and it was so predictable and boring and there were so many “she’d be pretty if she lost weight” comments that I was annoyed. The whole book seemed like a cliche. I figure it’s supposed to be quick easy reading so it is what it is but I won’t be reading any others.

[sproctopus]

I took a couple months off because nothing was grabbing me, but someone recommended here The Storied Life of AJ Fikry and I enjoyed it. Some of the character and story development seemed shallow, but it was an otherwise easy read that grabbed me fairly quickly.

[bears]

Aug 5, 2024 13:51:26 GMT -5 wise_rita said:

I need a pep talk on a book that is widely loved, but I'm struggling. Americanah by Chiamanda Ngozi Adichie.

I'm 60% of the way through and there's no real story or theme happening, just the main character being god awful to any man who loves her, and the diaspora of Nigerians around the world escaping chaos and poor governance there (this part is fantastic).

Any words of wisdom on this? I won't give up but thus far I'm wondering what all the hype is about (it was on NYT's list of top 100 books of this century).

I loved the writing of that book, but I wasn't a huge fan of the plot and structure of the book (I think I wrote about this in last month's book thread).

I had the impression that the author had a lot of incisive things she wanted to say that are important, so she put all of it in the book. It gave the vibe of a collection of short stories rather than a novel.

[scm1011]

Aug 5, 2024 13:58:22 GMT -5 sproctopus said:

I took a couple months off because nothing was grabbing me, but someone recommended here The Storied Life of AJ Fikry and I enjoyed it. Some of the character and story development seemed shallow, but it was an otherwise easy read that grabbed me fairly quickly.

I think that was me - glad you liked it!  

[7costanza]

I just finished Slade House and liked it, also Margo’s Got Money Troubles was a fun read. I just started The Summer Pact by Emily Giffin.

I’m looking for audio book recommendations, I’m driving alone ~10 hours round trip this weekend and am hoping to get at least most of the way through a book in that time.

[lilac05]

Aug 4, 2024 8:06:06 GMT -5 krystee said:

I just finished The Distance Between Us, which is a great memoir on growing up in Mexico with parents who went to the US, and then being brought over too. I think more people need to read it to have compassion on the immigration issue.

I have this on my shelf right now, waiting to read…along with way too many other books that have great potential.

Too many books, not enough time!

[Jalapeñomel]

I just started The Nightingale (somehow I missed this one despite reading her other), and I’m not sure I can’t get into it. I’m listening to it so maybe it’s better if I just read it?

[Jalapeñomel]

Aug 5, 2024 14:53:49 GMT -5 7costanza said:

I just finished Slade House and liked it, also Margo’s Got Money Troubles was a fun read. I just started The Summer Pact by Emily Giffin.

I’m looking for audio book recommendations, I’m driving alone ~10 hours round trip this weekend and am hoping to get at least most of the way through a book in that time.

Ask Again, Yes
Wellness
house on the Cerulean Sea
The Extraordinaries
The Women
Dave Grohl’s memoir

[luckystar2]

Aug 5, 2024 16:23:10 GMT -5 Jalapeñomel said:

I just started The Nightingale (somehow I missed this one despite reading her other), and I’m not sure I can’t get into it. I’m listening to it so maybe it’s better if I just read it?

I’ve tried to read it a few times and I just cannot make it through the beginning. I keep meaning to try again because people love it. And I’m a big ww2 book fan. But the beginning just does not pull me in at all.

[sdlaura]

I pretty much exclusively read HEA romance novels.

I've recently read The Rom-Commers by Katherine Center, and it was my least favorite Katherine Center book. The Paradise Problem by Christina Lauren was also my least favorite Christina Lauren.

How to End a Love Story by Yulin Kuang was good. So was Happy Never After by Lynn Painter. Also read Better Than The Movies by Lynn Painter and gave that one to DD to read as well since there's no sex in it (it's YA technically, I think).

The Au Pair Affair by Tessa Bailey was fun/some OTT sex scenes though, which is classic Tessa Bailey.

Currently reading Gamechanger by Lana Ferguson and liking it.

[jwright]

Today I finished Margot’s got money troubles which I have 4.5 stars (so I marked 5 in Goodreads because I was feeling generous). I really loved the characters (teen mother who has to support herself amongst a weird family and living dynamic).

The NY Times posted the 100 best books of the 21st century voted on by some famous names. That inspired me to try a few titles that I missed and I am now starting Never Let Me Go.

[gerberdaisy]

Finished 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle yesterday. Really enjoyed it. I had started a few other times over the past few years, but this time started listening to it and liked the narrator and helped me keep track of all the characters. I then switched over to reading to read faster.

Trying to figure out what next, but nothing is grabbing me. I have Kevin Kwan's latest on my kindle and may try that tomorrow while traveling.

[bears]

I just finished Anita de Monte Laughs Last and I loved it so much.

[eb777888]

I'm tearing through Never Lie. It'd be a good book to read around Halloween (it's not horror, but VERY spooky). Because some of the opinions in my Facebook reading groups, I feel like Frieda McFadden is the Colleen Hoover of thrillers but dang, I love her books!

[bbdoll]

I just finished The Girl From Silent Lake.  It's a murder mystery.  I could not put it down.  It's got some tough scenes to read, but it was really engaging.

[minzy]

I just read That Good Night: Life and Medicine in the Eleventh Hour by Sunita Puri. I always like a good nonfiction medical book and palliative care in particular is kind of my jam right now. It was really good. I did not realize palliative care as a sub-specialty has been around for less than 20 years. There is a definite need for it and I feel lucky that we really like my dad’s palliative guy.

[NewGirlNic]

In July I read quite a few books. We were at the cottage a good part of the month and there is no TV, so I read a lot.

The Sicilian Inheritance, Jo Piazza. Gave it 4* on Goodreads, but really more of a 3.5*
The Identicals, Elin Hilderbrand. 4*, I really enjoy her books. They are always good for a summer/beach read
The Midnight Feast, Lucy Foley. 4*, quick read and it was different than the typical thriller
Middle of the Night, Riley Sager. 3*, took me a while to get through this one. It was okay
Anna Bright is Hiding Something, Susie Orman Schall. 3*, an Elizabeth Holmes type story.
The Summer Pact, Emily Giffin. 3*, I've been reading a lot of easy, beach reads this summer. I usually like her books, but this one was meh. 
Swan Song, Elin Hiderbrand. Again, I like her books, this one was good
One Perfect Couple, Ruth Ware. 4* on Goodreads, but would really give it a 4.5*. For a thriller, this one was entertaining. I read it in 1 day. 

Right now I'm reading All the Summers in Between, Brooke Lea Foster. It's okay so far, but a little slow. I'm about 80% through it so I'll probably finish today. I have a stack of overdue library books to get through! LOL

In my TBR stack:
All the Colors of the Dark, Chris Whitaker
Sandwich, Catherine Newman
Home is Where the Bodies Are, Jeneva Rose
The God of the Woods, Liz Moore
The Great Alone, Kristin Hannah
Such a Bad Influence, Oliva Muenter
A Calamity of Souls, David Baldacci

[underwaterrhymes]

General musing: I really wish Goodreads allowed 1/2 stars.

[NewGirlNic]

Aug 7, 2024 10:16:13 GMT -5 underwaterrhymes said:

General musing: I really wish Goodreads allowed 1/2 stars.

Same. 

[Jalapeñomel]

I'm listening to You May Now Kill the Bride, and it's fine.

I've had a lot of duds this year.