| Author |
Message |
Heckagirl631
Member
09-08-2010
| Tuesday, August 23, 2022 - 5:54 pm 
Been listening to my first audiobook, Anxious People by Fredrik Bakman. I think I like reading regular books better. It seems like this one is dragging on forever. Though I thought it was pretty good about the first half.
|
Sugar
Member
08-15-2000
| Tuesday, August 23, 2022 - 7:24 pm
Anxious People is not one of Backman's best IMO.
|
Jimmer
Board Administrator
08-29-2000
| Wednesday, August 24, 2022 - 10:59 am
I speed up the reading for most of the Audio books that I listen to. The software does it in a way that the person reading still sounds normal (not squeaky) but reading faster.
|
Heckagirl631
Member
09-08-2010
| Wednesday, August 24, 2022 - 12:40 pm
Now that I've finished "Anxious People" I think maybe I didn't get it. There was a PSA for suicide prevention at the end of the book. I didn't realize anyone had comitted suicide in the book.
|
Sugar
Member
08-15-2000
| Wednesday, August 24, 2022 - 5:38 pm
Yes, that suicide had connections to 2 of the characters as I remember.
I didn't care for the Netflix movie of Anxious People either.
|
Sugar
Member
08-15-2000
| Monday, September 12, 2022 - 10:17 am
I liked the new John Sandford book, The Investigator. It features Letty Davenport and I imagine is only the first of a new series. Letty may be an acquired taste, she is cold but a bit interesting.
The Maid by Nita Prose wasn't bad. I almost didn't finish it but was glad I stuck with it as I liked Molly the maid. It is another of the ever increasing books with an autistic/spectrum main character.
Started reading One Step Too Far by Lisa Gardner. It is the 2nd of the Frankie Elkin series.
|
Kappy
Member
06-28-2002
| Monday, September 12, 2022 - 10:56 am
I finished Fifty Words For Rain by Asha Lemmie. The story follows Nori/Noriko from the time she is 6 until she is 26 with flashbacks to her mother being basically the same age. I understand the traumas she experienced but still grew quite tired of the constant tears as she grew older. Just as I thought we would see her learn from those around her and be a little happier in her adult years, I was left feeling that she simply became the worst of them, all for money and power. I know some will see it differently but I can't shake that in the end, I just didn't like her as a person. I also don't think constant descriptions of kimonos, hairstyles and makeup should be enough to qualify a book as historical fiction. If anything, I felt like I was reading a Japanese version of the tv show Dallas.
Then again, I haven't been posting much about books lately because I've sent so many back after 70 to 100 pages so perhaps it is just my outlook on the world at the moment.
|
Heckagirl631
Member
09-08-2010
| Tuesday, September 13, 2022 - 10:38 am
I'm currently reading "If It Bleeds" by Stephen King. It's 4 short stories, well, for him. They are all good, but I've still got the last one to go. If It Bleeds goes back to a familiar theme. If you haven't read other SK books, you might not understand it. I don't know if he just likes this theme or is trying to get new readers interested in other books. The Outsider and Dr. Sleep have similar bad guys. I remember reading a long time ago that Stephen said some readers didn't like him going back to aliens, and he said what else can I make it?
|
Heckagirl631
Member
09-08-2010
| Tuesday, September 13, 2022 - 1:38 pm
Okay, finished the book "If It Bleeds" by Stephen King. Read the excerpt of Fairy Tale, and now I want to read that book, too. I will when I find it.
|
Heckagirl631
Member
09-08-2010
| Thursday, September 29, 2022 - 11:16 am
Put a hold on Fairy Tale at the library. Will probably be a long time till I get it. I have not gotten any of the books I have put holds on so far. I read another Dollar General book called Cajun Crazy by Sandra Hill. It was pretty good for a romance.
|
Kappy
Member
06-28-2002
| Thursday, September 29, 2022 - 3:45 pm
It's great to be able to hop online and put books on hold but then they all seem to be become available at the same time, lol.
|
Teachmichigan
Member
07-22-2001
| Monday, October 03, 2022 - 11:28 am
Quick update:
Listening to Americanah after listening to Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro.
On Kindle, I enjoyed The Bodyguard by Katherine Center, The Vanishing Point by McDermid, All the Feels by Dade, Entry Island by Peter May, Nora Goes off Script by Monaghan, Baker's Dozen by Allison Fuller, Dawn by Octavia Butler, and Lessons in Chemistry by Garmus. I actually gave up on The Night Watchman, as it was just reading way too slow for me. (And wow - just realized what a gammut of genres that covers! LOL)
Currently I'm reading an ARC of The Maze by DeMille (though it may not be advanced any more as I downloaded it well before we left for Scotland).
I had an interview today that went well, so I may be employed full-time again as early as next week. It would be for a child support specialist, working with both Friend of the Court and the county prosecutor. It is only 35 hours a week, no weekends, evenings, or national holidays AND great benefits. That will still give me plenty of reading time, so I am excited to keep plowing through books!
|
Kappy
Member
06-28-2002
| Monday, October 03, 2022 - 6:38 pm
Teach - Any chance you visited the Hebrides on your trip or was it too far off the beaten track? And congrats on the new job!
|
Teachmichigan
Member
07-22-2001
| Saturday, October 08, 2022 - 11:19 am
Kappy - after a couple days in Glasgow, we spent 10 days in the Hebridean islands. We visited Mull for a day (stayed in Oban b/c ferries and cars - see below), and then spent an entire week on the Isle of Harris. During that week, we popped over to Skye one day and took the bus up to the Isle of Lewis/Stornaway end to visit all 3 of the Callanish stone circles. We didn't have our car rental on Harris, but it was still, hands down, our favorite part of the trip. PSA - always book the ferries for cars MONTHS in advance or they will stay on Skye! LOL We stayed in a renovated Black House and loved the quiet, wild atmosphere of the islands.
After Harris, we spent a few days in the Fort Augustus/Loch Ness area, then went to Edinburgh for a few days. My husband had to come home then, but the last 9 days I went to Glasgow's West End, Glencoe, and the Cairngorms with a friend. Tons of hiking. I did NOT want to come home - even after 28 days!
|
Kappy
Member
06-28-2002
| Sunday, October 09, 2022 - 4:59 pm
Great to hear how much you enjoyed it, Teach, and thank for all that info. After reading The Black House trilogy, that area has been on my bucketlist.
I've begun The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley and so far I am intriqued. It might be the first book I haven't sent back after 100 pages in awhile now, lol. I had previously also enjoyed The Guest List by her and this is starting out with the same eerie feeling which is perfect for October!
|
Heckagirl631
Member
09-08-2010
| Tuesday, October 11, 2022 - 3:53 pm
Just finished "Halloweenland" by Al Sarrantonio. It was okay.
|
Mamie316
Member
07-08-2003
| Wednesday, October 12, 2022 - 8:03 am
Just finished Live Wire by Kelly Ripa and enjoyed it. You either like her or hate her, I don't know if there is anything in between but I found it to be very funny and very touching at times.
|
Teachmichigan
Member
07-22-2001
| Thursday, October 13, 2022 - 6:55 pm
Kappy - I adored the Black House trilogy - and in the super deep window of our Black House was one of the Harris Chess sets!! It was so cool! I'm on the wait list for the Paris Apartment, and if you liked The Guest List, you'd probably enjoy her book The Hunting Party as well.
I finished my ARC of Nelson DeMille's The Maze and I have to say, it was probably my least favorite of the John Corey series. It seemed like too much telling, not enough showing, and WAY too much sexist behavior by Corey. Some is expected due to the character, but this one seemed over the top.
I'm currently reading Rosaline Parker Takes the Cake - a romcom set on a baking show like GBBO. I'm finally finishing listening to Dune. I ended up NOT getting Americanah finished before it expired, and I think I'll get it on Kindle instead of finishing it by listening. It was one I just struggled with - I hit books like that once in a while. Wasn't the length - just something that I didn't focus on well enough, even though I was enjoying the story.
|
Heckagirl631
Member
09-08-2010
| Friday, November 04, 2022 - 4:21 am
Finished "The Institute" by Stephen King. Really good book. Best I've read by him in a while.
|
Heckagirl631
Member
09-08-2010
| Monday, November 07, 2022 - 11:08 am
Incidentally, I was telling my SIL about the Institute and she said I want to see the movie. lol. I said there isn't one yet. It would make a good movie though and with it being Stephen King, maybe one day. I just started "Billy Summers" by Stephen King. My DIL is letting me borrow both books. Hoping to get"Fairy Tale" by Stephen King from her too, but someone else has got that one borrowed from her first.
|
Heckagirl631
Member
09-08-2010
| Monday, November 07, 2022 - 11:10 am
I'm on the list for "Fairy Tale" at the library but they said it might be six months or more.
|
Teachmichigan
Member
07-22-2001
| Monday, November 07, 2022 - 7:31 pm
Had a string of DNF books - not that they were bad, but my concentration was poop. Soooo... listened to The Written by Ben Galley (free on Audible) and just finished listening to The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley. I also read Waypoints: My Scottish Journey by Sam Heughan.
I did NOT finish Americanah, The Night Watchman or How We Disappeared. I will come back to all of them, but it will probably be after my training for my new job is all done and I feel more competent in it!
Currently, I'm reading 1989 by Val McDermid on Kindle, A Dark Matter by Douglas Johnstone in deadtree book, and listening to The Crooked Branch by Jeanine Cummins.
|
Mamie316
Member
07-08-2003
| Tuesday, November 08, 2022 - 8:55 am
I knew you would be reading Sam's book! You are the first person I thought of when I saw he was writing one.
I am reading Madly, Deeply by Alan Rickman. I would give anything to hear him read his diaries.
|
Kappy
Member
06-28-2002
| Tuesday, November 08, 2022 - 11:45 am
Hecka ~ As I always run to read reviews of books listed here, I was intrigued by The Institute. Did you find the parts about the treatment of children difficult to read?
Mamie ~ I loved Alan Rickman so of course I ran to read more about this book. There appear to be sketches in the diary. Do they say if he did them or if they were added? Just curious.
|
Sugar
Member
08-15-2000
| Tuesday, November 08, 2022 - 12:24 pm
YouTube has some tributes to Alan Rickman and I think a few reading from his diary.
|
