| Author |
Message |
Juju2bigdog
Member
10-27-2000
| Sunday, January 28, 2024 - 8:34 pm 
I have tried many times in my life to read Faulkner but have never been able to get through even one chapter, maybe not even a couple pages. I find it simply unreadable. I have no idea why he is considered a great author.
|
Heckagirl631
Member
09-08-2010
| Monday, January 29, 2024 - 4:06 pm
I found two books at Dollar General. So far so good. The first one was Winter Street by Elin Hilderbrand. An enjoyable Christmas time book. The second one I just started. Think it's going to be good. Catch me by Lisa Gardner. Got good reviews.
|
Sugar
Member
08-15-2000
| Monday, January 29, 2024 - 8:45 pm
I enjoy both Elin Hilderbrand and Lisa Gardner books.
|
Uncle_ricky
Member
07-02-2007
| Tuesday, January 30, 2024 - 4:32 pm
Greetings! Earlier this month I finished A Place for Us: A Memoir by Brandon J. Wolf. He was an average citizen until the night of the mass shootings in the Pulse nightclub in Orlando in 2016. He escaped the bullets and writes about the experience, particularly the guilt that comes with surviving such a horrific crime. It's very well written and while painful to read, it's an essential read, especially if you're a member of the gay community.
Yesterday I finished My Name is Barbra myself and loved every single one of its 970 pages. (I'm hard-core anti-E and anti-Audio!) But the book is so heavy, weight-wise, that I very briefly considered the E-version - very briefly. I have never been a Barbra follower, i.e., I neither liked nor disliked her music and films -- they just never interested me. But I've always been fascinated by her enduring celebrity -- that's what made me want to read the book. Now that I've finished it, I definitely want to see all the films of hers I've never seen. And I might start listening to some of her albums (thanks to Amazon's Alexa app).
My husband Seth is listening to the audio version -- we started at about the same time and he's about halfway through. Interestingly, and now that I've finished the hard copy, Seth is following along with the book while listening to Barbra read her own words and he reports that there are SEVERAL instances of Barbra ADDING sentences and observations to the audio version that are NOT present in the written version. (!!!) I highly, highly recommend it -- it's a mammoth achievement and definitely worth your time in whatever format you opt to use. I learned oodles and oodles of extremely interesting tidbits about her life and the people in her life. And one of the chapters revealed something so shocking that I couldn't stop shaking my head in disbelief - it comes during the final 1/3 of the book, so make sure you read/listen to the whole thing so you don't miss it. It's unquestionably one of the most stunning details about a superstar's life that I've ever read -- just too shocking!
|
Mameblanche
Member
08-24-2002
| Wednesday, January 31, 2024 - 12:23 am
I still can't get over her close 'friendship ' with Brando!
I'm about 1/3 into her e-book. 37% read so far. I try to read a bit every night.
|
Rieann
Member
08-26-2006
| Friday, February 02, 2024 - 11:24 am
Ric, you’ve sold me on listening to Barbra’s book. I get it free under my Spotify account. Yay
My sister is a HUGE Barbra fan so I passed on your post to her. She started the book when it came out. 
|
Teachmichigan
Member
07-22-2001
| Friday, February 02, 2024 - 7:26 pm
I think someone else told me Barbra SINGS on the audio version, too! I'm on the Libby wait list for the audio but it's at a 23-week wait! Unfortunately, A Place for Us is only available through interlibrary loan right now, and no audios are available. Got it on my list, though.
I've given up for now on both The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store and Prophet Song. I'm only home 45 minutes between 7:30am and 11:00pm as we're doing the musical Fun Home. That long paragraph style just does NOT work for me unless I've got an hour or two to read. The up side is that I have almost 2 hours in the car daily, so I can get through all kinds of audiobooks. 
I finished The Change on audio and then listened to Killers of a Certain Age - another, more light-hearted, feminine power over the patriarchy style detective novel. Now I'm listening to the 2nd in Becky Chamber's series}Record of a Spaceborn Few.
On Kindle, I've got a very, very, very light read going w/Confessions of a Bookaholic and a deadtree book by Denise Williams titled How to Fail at Flirting. They are the brain candy my tired brain needs when I get home at night!
|
Heckagirl631
Member
09-08-2010
| Saturday, February 03, 2024 - 12:33 pm
Catch Me by Lisa Gardner was very good as reviewed. Don't know what's next yet.
|
Uncle_ricky
Member
07-02-2007
| Saturday, February 03, 2024 - 12:51 pm
MB, I totally agree about the Marlon Brando sections - completely riveting!
Rie, you will love it - that's my fearless prediction. And your sister, *doubtlessly,* will love it, too. I'll be very curious -- months from now, after most of us have finished reading/hearing it -- whether your sister (because she's a huge fan) ALREADY knew about the revelation I found so shocking. It just struck me as something Barbra was hanging on to until it was time to share it publicly via the book.
Teach, if I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times, you never cease to amaze with all the books you've got going on at once. Like Barbra's vocal abilities, your multi-tasking is utterly unique!
|
Teachmichigan
Member
07-22-2001
| Sunday, February 04, 2024 - 1:25 pm
RIk - I'm chalking it up to my HS teacher brain! With multiple classes going, I was always reading/listening to multiple books, and now I get to do it with an even wider variety of books! I always had say in what I taught, so I did enjoy the ones I read multiple times w/classes, but "retirement" reading is like a buffet - I can choose whatever style and topic I want!! I've found a couple of books I wish I could teach as I loved them so much (The Berry Pickers being one of the recent titles).
And now I'm off to enjoy a day of reading and laundry. We just planned a June trip to Scotland, so I'm also getting all the plans sorted. I'm telling ya' - gov't work is the way to go for a retirement gig!
|
Mamie316
Member
07-08-2003
| Monday, February 05, 2024 - 2:47 pm
I need to get The Berry Pickers.
I can read two books at a time. I have one on the Kindle and one book book. I think more than that and my head would explode.
I just started The Women by Kristen Hannah. It is about women serving as nurses in Vietnam. I love her take on histories so I hope it lives up to its hype. I have a friend who was a nurse in Vietnam and her stories are harrowing.
|
Heckagirl631
Member
09-08-2010
| Friday, February 16, 2024 - 5:46 pm
I had placed a hold on The Dutch House by Ann Patchett. Looked at Libby on my phone and it said it was available. Yay. By the time I went to check on my laptop, it was already borrowed. Boo!
|
Uncle_ricky
Member
07-02-2007
| Monday, February 19, 2024 - 4:50 pm
Have fun in Scotland! I have to track down The Berry Pickers, too.
Today I finished Salem Falls by Jodi Picoult. It was exasperating in far more sections than I would've liked, but I am not giving up on her. I'm determined to get to My Sister's Keeper before I make any drastic decisions to drop her. I have to get through Perfect Match and Second Glance before I can dig into MSK. I'm trying to stay optimistic! 
|
Sugar
Member
08-15-2000
| Tuesday, February 20, 2024 - 10:40 pm
I have a theory that every other Jodi Picoult book is good. I'm probably a few books behind as it has been awhile since I've read one of her novels.
|
Heckagirl631
Member
09-08-2010
| Friday, March 01, 2024 - 4:34 pm
I finally finished the Audiobook, "The Dutch House" by Ann Padgett, read by Tom Hanks. It was very good. Now I'm back to my regular books.
|
Teachmichigan
Member
07-22-2001
| Friday, March 01, 2024 - 7:20 pm
GAAAAAHHHHHHH!!! I am calling 2024 my (very frustrating) Perpetual Paragraph Period.
I had put aside both The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store and Prophet Song because of their super-sized, pages-long paragraphs. Since Fun Home rehearsals are done and I'm now playing for Ragtime, I thought I'd read the book as our director has been raving about it. It's under 200 pages, so I got it from Libby.
I read on an 8" Kindle Fire, and the first paragraph was FOUR PAGES long! WTH!?!?! Y'all - when I'm away from home 60+ hours a week, and only have one weeknight where I'm home before 10:45pm, my brain simply does not have the focus to read like that!!
I'm headed back to the Grocery Store since at least I own that one and won't have a 14-day time limit for completing it.
Meanwhile, I've listened to A Brave New World and The Road To Roswell on audio. I managed to get an English Masters degree without ever having to read the former (Holy. SH*T. WAY too close for comfort these days!), and the latter was an absolutely fun romp through the desert with 5 wildly different characters, a ginormous RV and an ALIEN!
I've also read Bright Young Women and You, Again on Kindle - both worth reading.
I'm currently listening to Marion Zimmer Bradley's The Firebrand and in 2 days Tommy Orange's new book Wandering Stars will arrive on my doorstep from my local book shop. I can hardly wait as I loved his first book There, There.
One other new thing - I'm doing an actual book journal this year and really rather enjoying it. I wasn't sure I'd have the time, and I'm not one of those creative sorts, but I found a delightful journal from a an IG account (Doodles & Calm) that has wonderful templates to work from and ordered a set of markers and dove in.
|
Mamie316
Member
07-08-2003
| Saturday, March 02, 2024 - 10:31 am
Teach, I really liked The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store but it is a long read. I felt as if I got to know every single character in it. (and there were a lot!)
I bought The Berry Pickers thanks to your recommendation.
I am reading After Annie by Anna Quindlen right now. Very emotional read about the people left behind after a wife/mother/friend dies.
I read End of Story by AJ Finn. I was about ready to put it down because it wasn't doing anything for me but it picked up and the ending was worth it. Did not see the twist coming!
I also read The Book of Doors by Gareth Brown. Very different book about time travel, books with powers. I loved it!
|
Rieann
Member
08-26-2006
| Saturday, March 02, 2024 - 12:43 pm
I started End of Story on audiobook and bailed. Maybe I will pick back up.
Enjoyed Anna O by Matthew Blake on audiobook. It’s about a woman who killed two people while sleepwalking, and then falls into a coma. Changing narration with the doctor who is hired to “wake” her and other characters.
|
Heckagirl631
Member
09-08-2010
| Friday, March 08, 2024 - 8:20 pm
I finished "Fallen Masters" by John Edwards. Still on the list for "The Berry Pickers". Sounds interesting.
|
Teachmichigan
Member
07-22-2001
| Sunday, March 10, 2024 - 7:45 am
Took a pause on The Firebrand as my Libby audio of The Maid came in. It was a thoroughly enjoyable mystery with a neurodivergent narrator. The ending was a bit implausible, but I'm already on hold for the second in the series.
On Kindle I FINALLY finished The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store. While I enjoyed the focus on characters that were diverse and interesting over plot, the long, long, looooooong paragraphs nearly did me in.
I had checked out the Kindle version of Ragtime since that's the show I'm playing for, but when the first paragraph was four pages long, I immediately returned it! THREE books with that style in 3 months??? WTH?? I tried the audiobook as our director was raving about it, but the narrator was so bland/monotone, I returned it as well! LOL
Sooo...it's back to The Firebrand and I'm reading Better the Blood on Kindle. It's a mystery set in New Zealand, and the first few chapters have completely captured my attention.
Wandering Stars was delivered early, so it's also sitting on the end table awaiting a few extra minutes.
|
Uncle_ricky
Member
07-02-2007
| Sunday, March 10, 2024 - 10:16 am
Happy Oscars Day to one and all -- I hope all your picks prove to be correct (assuming, of course, you're even bothering to watch and make picks).
That infernal book club madness at work has, mercifully, come to an end. Why? Our new boss was fired! I'm sure it wasn't because of the book club, but more likely because he was paying too much attention to matters (such as the book club!) that distracted him from performing the duties he was hired for, viz., running the BUSINESS of the department!
Anyway, the second (and final) assignment of the book club was The Fury by Alex Michaelides. The title describes my reaction to it: I was furious about the time wasted reading such a horrendous monstrosity. I guess it's only fitting that another ghastly work was chosen to complement the disastrous tenure of our boss. No more book clubs - ever!
Yesterday I finished a Linwood Barclay book that I completely missed when it was published in 2020, Take Your Breath Away. I have no idea how I failed to notice it had been published -- very bizarre. I'm usually right on top of all his releases. Oh well, these things happen. The book, as per usual, was delicious!
|
Heckagirl631
Member
09-08-2010
| Friday, March 15, 2024 - 5:13 pm
Finished "On Mystic River" by Kristin Hannah. It was good.
|
Heckagirl631
Member
09-08-2010
| Friday, March 15, 2024 - 5:22 pm
Scratch that. It's "On Mystic Lake" by Kristin Hannah.
|
Heckagirl631
Member
09-08-2010
| Sunday, March 31, 2024 - 12:44 pm
Finished "Don't Say a Word" by Beverly Barton. It was good. A murder-mystery with some romance thrown in.
|
Heckagirl631
Member
09-08-2010
| Thursday, April 04, 2024 - 5:14 pm
Finished "See How She Dies" by Lisa Jackson. It was very good.
|
