| Author |
Message |
Mamie316
Member
07-08-2003
| Saturday, April 18, 2015 - 10:13 am 
Sorry, I haven't either.
|
Heckagirl631
Member
09-08-2010
| Wednesday, April 22, 2015 - 2:55 pm
Finished The Good Guy by Dean Koontz. It was good as always as DK is.
Starting Fear Nothing by Dean Koontz. I may have already read it, though. I've read a lot of his stuff. It may have been long enough ago that I will still enjoy it.
|
Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Wednesday, April 22, 2015 - 3:57 pm
Finished Life After Life.. I liked it, though it was a bit disjointed.
Now reading What Doesn't Kill Us.
|
Teachmichigan
Member
07-22-2001
| Wednesday, April 22, 2015 - 5:00 pm
Finished Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade; working on The Death Committee by Noah Gordon, and I'm listening to The Martian.
|
Reenie
Member
06-24-2006
| Saturday, April 25, 2015 - 6:01 am
Just finished "Loving Frank"...loved it!!
|
Teachmichigan
Member
07-22-2001
| Saturday, April 25, 2015 - 5:32 pm
I'm enjoyingThe Martian more than I anticipated. The quote below is why -- the first speaker is a NASA worker trying to figure out how they're going to get back the speaker in the 2nd paragraph - an astronaut who was thought dead but is actually stuck on Mars:
“What must it be like?” he pondered. “He’s stuck out there. He thinks he’s totally alone and that we all gave up on him. What kind of effect does that have on a man’s psychology?” He turned back to Venkat. “I wonder what he’s thinking right now.”
LOG ENTRY: SOL 61 How come Aquaman can control whales? They’re mammals! Makes no sense.
Weir, Andy (2014-02-11). The Martian: A Novel (pp. 63-64). Crown/Archetype. Kindle Edition. }
|
Uncle_ricky
Member
07-02-2007
| Saturday, April 25, 2015 - 8:00 pm
Oh, how I hated to see the Martin Short book end! I totally agree, Mamie, the section about his wife was so precious. I don't know where he got the strength to get through it all. And I hope you're enjoying The Art of Fielding - loved that book; can't wait for Harbach's follow-up.
I next read Lena Dunham's Not That Kind of Girl based solely on how much I enjoy her HBO show "Girls" - it was a bit uneven but overall a pleasant experience (her TV writing talents are better than her essay talents).
Then I quickly got through Diane Keaton's Let's Just Say It Wasn't Pretty, which I thought was going to be more about her life and career. There was a lot of that, yes, but also a ton about fashion and make up and assorted other ladies' things that took me by surprise. I rated it a 6.5 out of 10.
At long last I had a delightful time with the book Sea turned us on all onto, A Man Called Ove -- I love stories about curmudgeons (since I'm a curmudgeon in training) and this one made it so easy to love dear old Ove (who at 59, was only two years older than I am now).  I'll be very interested to read Fredrik Backman's second novel whenever that comes out in the future.
And earlier today I finished Has Anyone Seen My Pants? by Sarah Colonna. She's the comedienne who got her start with help from Chelsea Handler. I read her first book earlier this year and enjoyed it, but this new one (released last month) is much better and is also a collection of stories about her life. The final, and best, one is dedicated to how she met (via Twitter!) her fiance, Jon Ryan, who is the punter for the Seattle Seahawks. Before I knew it - as I read how close the two of them got -- I felt tears come to my eyes. The description of their courtship was so sweet! Colonna's literary agent is married to a co-worker of mine and the latter presented me with a signed copy of the book the other day, so that was an added treat!
|
Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Wednesday, April 29, 2015 - 2:47 pm
Thought I had posted. What Doesn't Kill Us.. Brandy is amazing.. just crazy all she went through.. mostly because her parents were both subjected to Agent Orange.. not only did her dad suffer from PTSD in a major way post Vietnam but the doctor at the VA said it was certain that his cancer which killed him within 17 days of discovery was caused by agent Orange.. but Brandy was the only child born after agent Orange who lived and she had epilepsy as a child, then triple negative aggressive breast cancer at age 27, suffered a miscarriage and had a child with anacephaly who died in hours, but after all her treatment and reconstruction giving birth was considered unlikely .. but she did have her third child (first two were pre-cancer), Moxie, but it was very difficult because first they did amnio to see if there was a major defect from the chemo, got a false positive on Down's, and then it was painful because she had a trans flap reconstruction after a double mastectomy with mesh.. and the mesh.. guess the designers just assumed the women wouldn't be able to have kids? But it does not expand at all so the baby is squashed against the spin.. ouch. AND the c section was way more complex due to the mesh.. the mesh replaces the muscles they flap up to support the implants.
Then because she had the BRCA gene mutation after that she had her ovaries removed which meant instant menopause real young.
Also while she was still being treated she found out her husband was cheating and went through a divorce.
But she did meet her second husband, who is a gem and is Moxie's dad.
I got to meet all three of them at the book reading/signing.
Brandy Lien Worrall.
She's half Vietnamese, her dad was from Pennsylvania Dutch country.. her first husband was Chinese, second is Filipino. and she lives in Vancouver, BC Canada.. which was complicated because her second huband was still working on his US citizenship when they got together so he could only be in Canada 6 months at a time but she couldn't move to the US since at that time she wouldn't have had insurance due to pre exsisting cancer so she needed to stay in Canada for that. Also made it hard to help her mom when her dad died since mom and half sister are in Pennsylvania.
She is a writer and blogger and had been into very creative things in Vancouver before her diagnosis.
So then I read a novel, which I think is very popular lately, We Are Not Ourselves by Matthew Thomas. A sweeping 650 pager that covers generations in Irish American family in NY. I was initially irritated by the main character, though she was strong too.. but the book read faster than one would think at that length. Well done.
Now reading a memoir Thru-hiking Will Break Your Heart by Carrot Quinn. About her hiking the Pacific Crest Trail from Mexico to Canada. I've read many of these memoirs of PCT and ACT hikes and enjoy them.
|
Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Friday, May 01, 2015 - 6:37 pm
Ahh the trip is over. I hate that each time the trail ends on one of these books about thru hikes. The author is going to start the.. I think trans Canada trail in May and I signed up for her blog. This book is more contemporary than others so people did have cell phones, though they only got them charged either off trail or if there was sun and time to charge with solar, but it did keep them more in touch with the world.. still, and this is so common.. those on the trail are in that world with a sometimes shifting group or alone and they really feel overwhelmed when they are off trail for a zero day and sort of dread the whole thing ending.. like what can I do now that is this overpowering.
And so.. another book.. have a virtual "stack" and chose Oliver Sacks' On the Move: A Life.
|
Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Sunday, May 03, 2015 - 12:49 pm
Yikes.. I read the whole book and learned SO much more about Oliver Sacks' life! Not having wifi is increasing my reading time (but I want it back)
So.. I'm starting a book about rescue animals.. just a few pages in and it may be a bit to heavy handed on vegetarianism, but we will see.
Where the Blind Horse Sings: Love and Healing at an Animal Sanctuary
Looks to have some good stories..
AND.. I stumbled on the fact that there will soon be a third book in the Dalai Lama's cat series!! The Power of Meow.
|
Uncle_ricky
Member
07-02-2007
| Wednesday, May 06, 2015 - 9:37 am
Sea, I'm glad/relieved you liked We Are Not Ourselves - I only wish it had been twice as long as it was.
I got hold of a very old R.F. Delderfield work (Worm's Eye View), which was a play he wrote in 1947. I enjoyed it and will read his later works, for sure, as Sea recommended a few weeks ago.
Then I did something I rarely do: I abandoned a book I started after about 40 pages, The Tourists, the debut novel by Jeff Hobbs. I decided to read it based on the strength of his sensational (non-fiction) The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace, which was the follow-up to his debut. His fiction writing talent was not as strong as his non-fiction talent. So much so that I gave up in frustration. Very, very rare that I abandon a book.
I had better luck with Cockroaches by Jo Nesbo, the second Harry Hole thriller. It was much better than the first in the series, thank goodness. I'll definitely continue with the others - there are 9 of them, I think.
And just this morning I finished Harlan Coben's latest, The Stranger. Oh my goodness, what an utter delight it was! Gripping from start to finish. It's the tasty treat Coben fans have come to expect from him - I really don't know how he does it, book after book after book!
Next up is Absurdistan by Gary Shteyngart, the follow-up to his highly-regarded debut, The Russian Debutante's Handbook.
|
Dogdoc
Member
09-29-2001
| Wednesday, May 06, 2015 - 9:57 am
Just bought "The Dogs of Christmas" by W. Bruce Cameron. He wrote "A Dog's Journey" and "A Dog's Purpose." which are both good books.
|
Mamie316
Member
07-08-2003
| Wednesday, May 06, 2015 - 10:05 am
I just read Luckiest Girl Alive by Jessica Knoll. It's being touted as the Gone Girl of the summer. The main characters have similarities in that they are highly unlikable but it was a good read the further I got into it.
I am now reading All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. Liking it so far, I enjoy that the alternating chapters of the two main characters do not run on and on. They are very short but really explain who they are.
I am also reading Spring Fever by Mary Kay Andrews. I needed something light and fun.
|
Jimmer
Moderator
08-30-2000
| Wednesday, May 06, 2015 - 10:30 am
Thanks to your enthusiasm, I looked up Harlan Coben and it appears that he has written a couple of series and a number of stand alone novels. Would it be good to start with the series or standalone? Any sequence that's better?
Luckiest Girl Alive sounds good too. I really liked Gone Girl
|
Mamie316
Member
07-08-2003
| Wednesday, May 06, 2015 - 11:01 am
Jimmer, I've read quite a few of his stand alones and they were all good. I haven't tried his series yet. I do have The Stranger to read.
|
Uncle_ricky
Member
07-02-2007
| Wednesday, May 06, 2015 - 11:27 am
Coben is fairly similar, Jimmer, to Linwood Barclay -- it's quite amazing (to me) how close they are in style and humor and storytelling -- all good things!
The Myron Bolitar series was for the longest time his most popular and they are all really well-written. It seems he's abandoned Myron in favor of the stand-alones, the last Myron having been published in 2011. It's not mandatory to read them all in order, but they're a lot more fun if you do. Myron's sidekick, Win, is a riot all on his own.
The stand-alone that became a world-wide hit was Tell No One, published in 2001 and deserving of all the praise it received. He wrote two earlier stand-alones, Play Dead and Miracle Cure, which he wrote 10 years earlier, 1990 and 1991, but did not sell well and went out of print. His popularity grew to such an extent that both those earlier works were eventually re-released. Sadly, I have not read either of them (yet) nor the three he wrote about Mickey Bolitar, nephew of Myron and geared toward a young-person demographic.
But I've read everything else and they're all excellent. If I were you, I'd start with Drop Shot, the first Myron Bolitar book, primarily because I know you like sports and Myron is a sports agent who rescues his clients from pickles they get themselves into. I'll be shocked if you don't enjoy it and the ones that follow it.
If you'd rather start with something more recent, last year's Missing You was outstandingly good - I recall Mamie316 read and liked it too. It's consistently thrilling throughout, which is how I'd describe the latest book too, The Stranger. I'll take full responsbility if you end up not liking any of them -- he and Linwood Barclay can do no wrong!
|
Mamie316
Member
07-08-2003
| Wednesday, May 06, 2015 - 12:34 pm
I did really like Missing You. I also really liked The Woods, Caught and Hold Tight. I have The Stranger and Stay Close on my Kindle to read.
|
Jimmer
Moderator
08-30-2000
| Wednesday, May 06, 2015 - 1:58 pm
Thank you both very much. I'm really excited about reading these!
|
Jimmer
Moderator
08-30-2000
| Wednesday, May 06, 2015 - 2:04 pm
Oh and I haven't read any by Linwood Barclay either. I guess I can't go wrong with any of his.
But I feel a bit foolish because I just realized who he is. I've enjoyed his columns in the Toronto Star!
Should I read those in sequence or maybe start with No Time for Goodbye?
|
Uncle_ricky
Member
07-02-2007
| Wednesday, May 06, 2015 - 3:09 pm
That's too funny, Jimmer! I could've sworn you had already read some of Barclay's stuff. Either that or I made the crackpot assumption somewhere along the way that all Canadians read Barclay simply because he's Canadian.
Anyway, even though I love both Coben and Barclay passionately, I have to give the (very slight) edge to Barclay - I've read every single one of his books in the order he wrote them, beginning with Bad Move. That one and the three that followed were the Zack Walker books (all delightful).
He retired the Zack character after that 4th book and his 5th, No Time for Goodbye, was the beginning of the stand-alones. I loved all the Zack books and all the stand-alones, so it's whatever you're in the mood for. The Zack books lean heavily on family (his wife and two teenage children) and the lengths he goes to to protect them from the crooks who keep popping up in their suburban neighborhood. They're also pretty funny (despite the mayhem), whereas the stand-alones are almost completely serious (but thrilling!).
|
Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Wednesday, May 06, 2015 - 3:21 pm
Good to see people in this thread again 
Mamie I really want to read the Doerr book but an balking at the price on Kindle. But if it ever has a drop.. I'm on it.
I finished Where the Blind Horse Sings with mixed feelings but still enjoyed reading about all the farm animals this group rescued, and how much they love them. I think perhaps they overindulge some of them a wee bit (as in letting a rooster sleep on a pillow on the author's bed (and that might have been one of the reasons her husband left..) but I'd still be on the side of over indulgence than the neglect or mistreatment most of the animals went through.
They had cows, horses, pigs, ducks and chickens, goats, one dog.
Anyway, it was a quick read, with some preachyness in it, but enjoyable.
Starting a new book.. I'm thinking the main character who narrates the book in the form of letters to Richard Gere, is maybe delayed or maybe autistic, but in his letters likeable. Reminds me a little bit of Craig Lancaster's great character, Edward. So I'm enjoying this very much. Different for sure.
The Good Luck of Right Now by Matthew Quick. (The cover states "from the bestselling author of The Silver Linings Playbook".)
|
Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Wednesday, May 06, 2015 - 3:31 pm
Maybe not autistic, but a coming of age story. Reading at Amazon makes me happier I got this one.
|
Rieann
Member
08-26-2006
| Wednesday, May 06, 2015 - 5:39 pm
I agree with everything said about Harlan Coben, Jimmer. He is great. I think Tell No One was my first. I have The Stranger on my Kindle but I haven't read it yet. I'm also grateful to Uncle Ricky for turning me on to Linwood Barclay. He is a very clever writer. They are both fun to follow on Twitter as well.
Seamonkey, thank you so much for the A Man Called Ove recommendation! I am really enjoying it. I find myself slowly reading it between other books as I don't want my time with Ove to end. I got a copy for my mom from the library and she loved it. I look forward to Backman's next book which sounds like another charmer. I think it comes out in July.
Mamie, I have Luckiest Girl Alive on my list. I think it comes out next week.
|
Mamie316
Member
07-08-2003
| Wednesday, May 06, 2015 - 6:34 pm
Rieann, it does come out next week. I think you will enjoy it.
Sea, I read The Good Luck of Right Now. I liked it, maybe not loved it, but an interesting read.
I bought the Doerr book for Book Club and after mom died, everyone had already read it so I think we are moving on to something different. Haven't had a book club meeting in a while and I look forward to it again.
|
Mamie316
Member
07-08-2003
| Wednesday, May 06, 2015 - 6:35 pm
I haven't read Barclay. I guess I am going to have to! Uncle_ricky and I like a lot of the same books. I am going to look some up now. (Like I need anymore on my TBR pile.)
|
|
|
|
