| Author |
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Sugar
Member
08-15-2000
| Thursday, November 23, 2017 - 3:35 pm 
Thank you all for the birthday wishes.
I remember someone mentioning they kept a spreadsheet of what they read each year so I started one this year and plan to do so again next year.
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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Thursday, November 23, 2017 - 7:11 pm
I just come to this thread and count them!
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Mamie316
Member
07-08-2003
| Thursday, November 23, 2017 - 8:46 pm
I keep a list. I actually have a list of all the books I have read. It's in a couple of notebooks.
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Sugar
Member
08-15-2000
| Friday, November 24, 2017 - 12:01 am
Mamie, I wish I had done that. I would be quite curious to find out the number of books I have read. If I had a dollar...
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Uncle_ricky
Member
07-02-2007
| Friday, November 24, 2017 - 10:13 pm
I've kept a spreadsheet going since 2010. I only wish I'd thought to do it sooner. I've been averaging between 60 and 65 books per year. A pathetic total, I know, but at least it's more than a book a week! It also helps you guard against unwittingly reading the same book twice. 😜
Tonight I finished Linwood Barclay's latest, Parting Shot and it was marvelous, as per usual. It's a stand-alone, but features characters we got to know in the Promise Falls trilogy (Detective Barry Duckworth and his wife and son, plus private investigator Cal Weaver). The story is fast paced and thrilling (surprise, surprise), but it reminded me how straightforward Barclay writes his books - easy to follow but also very exciting.
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Tresbien
Member
08-26-2002
| Saturday, November 25, 2017 - 8:03 am
Pathetic? Oh Ric...that is anything but pathetic!
Recently finished Jane Johnson's The Tenth Gift, which I enjoyed tremendously. A woman is given an antique book of embroidery patterns and finds that the owner in 1625 had written a sort of diary of her life between the lines.
Just saw this article in the WashPost and thought y'all might enjoy it, too:
https://tinyurl.com/yb8t3pfc
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Teachmichigan
Member
07-22-2001
| Saturday, November 25, 2017 - 11:22 am
I've kept a spreadsheet as well, since 2014. My goal has always been 52 books a year, but I've yet to reach it. I completely and totally blame school - grading thousands of pages worth of essays completes screws up my FUN reading time! LOL
I FINALLY finished House of Cards - that I started on my way home from Scotland - over 3 months ago!! Did NOT like the ending, no matter how "appropriate" it seemed for the main character.
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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Saturday, November 25, 2017 - 8:12 pm
Finished Misty's book.. Very intere.
Starting Celeste Ng's novel, Everything I Never Told You, which finally was on sale on Kindle.
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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Sunday, November 26, 2017 - 8:19 pm
Finished!
Great writing.. Sad family..
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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Monday, November 27, 2017 - 2:05 am
Starting memoir Notes from a Blue Bike: The Art of Living Intentionally in a Chaotic World.
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Uncle_ricky
Member
07-02-2007
| Wednesday, November 29, 2017 - 6:10 pm
Tresbien, THANK YOU for sharing that link to the Washington Post's Best Books of 2017 story! I was able to snag a library copy of one of the Top Ten picks, Less, by Andrew Sean Greer, a writer unfamiliar to me.
I'm pleased to report the book is totally delightful, but scandalously short (261 pages). It also has one of the best final sentences I've ever read. I never would've known anything about this book had it not been for you linking us to that story in the WP!
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Uncle_ricky
Member
07-02-2007
| Saturday, December 02, 2017 - 12:56 am
Tonight I finished the latest by Michael Connelly, Two Kinds of Truth, and it's no surprise whatsoever that's it hugely entertaining. This one is yet another Harry Bosch spectacular (his half-brother Mickey Haller makes a big splash, too). The bad guys Bosch fights are extra-bad in this one and there are plenty of edge-of-your-seat scenes to enjoy. The flawlessness of Connelly is fascinating. I can't make up my mind who I love most: Connelly, Harlan Coben or Linwood Barclay. They must've been identical triplets in a previous life!
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Jimmer
Moderator
08-30-2000
| Saturday, December 02, 2017 - 8:51 am
I will always appreciate your recommending those three authors (well I like all your recommendations). A lot of great reading.
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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Sunday, December 03, 2017 - 2:05 pm
Notes from a Blue Bike was interesting, though I didn't relate to the family that much. They do strive to stay debt free and rate experiencing the world over accumulation of possessions, what they dub slow eating, with family, sans devices. Lots of books.
Can't argue with any of that!
Starting another memoir, Glitter and Glue.
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Grooch
Member
06-16-2006
| Sunday, December 03, 2017 - 2:34 pm
Recently a friend gave me a bag of books and the one I picked to read first was Rich Kids of Instagram. I thought it would be a fun, easy, quick book to read.
I went on Amazon to check the reviews and, after reading a few of them, I threw the book out. I felt it was my obligation to society to not waste anyone's time with that book.
I never saw a book being called an abortion by so many people before.
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Grooch
Member
06-16-2006
| Sunday, December 03, 2017 - 2:42 pm
I also want to add that I finished reading Andy Cohen's second book. Save your money. It was horrible. I didn't bother to remember its name.
I'm now reading John Water's book "Hitchhiking" where he hitchhikes across the country just so he can write a book about it. The first 3rd of the book is about fictional good rides, the second third is about fictional bad rides and the last third is the true story. I read the first chapter of the good rides. It was so stupid that I skipped to the true stories. I'm slogging through it. He's stuck in Ohio. I am going to throw this book out, too, when I'm finished with it.
I need to find new friends who read better books.
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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Sunday, December 03, 2017 - 3:46 pm
At least you didn't pay for them, correct? 😈
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Teachmichigan
Member
07-22-2001
| Monday, December 04, 2017 - 9:21 pm
Just picked up Less by Andrew Sean Greer from the library today. Unfortunately, I have 2 sets of tests, 2 sets of quizzes, AND a set of critical analysis essays to read first....and did I mention 22 research papers coming in on Friday??
WHEN'S CHRISTMAS BREAK?????
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Sugar
Member
08-15-2000
| Tuesday, December 05, 2017 - 1:35 am
Maybe you could assign the class to read whatever you want to read next and for extra fun, no test just pleasure reading. No creating quizzes or reading papers.
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Uncle_ricky
Member
07-02-2007
| Wednesday, December 06, 2017 - 10:39 am
Jimmer, thank you for mentioning your appreciation for those recommendations. It fills my heart with joy to know that I've helped (even if it's just a little bit) expand those writers' audiences.
And speaking of the always dependable Harlan Coben, last night I finished his latest, Don't Let Go, which is a total success. This one is half mystery, half thriller and features new hero Napoleon Dumas. (Myron Bolitar makes a cute cameo appearance.) The plot is a tiny bit involved, but not hard to follow. And the ending is quite satisfying, too.
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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Thursday, December 07, 2017 - 8:26 pm
Glitter and Glue was a thoughtful memoir.
The author had a difficult relationship with her mom (the glue in the family.. Dad was the fun parent, the glitter).
Author went off to see the world.. Kind of a Juju junior.. She and her friend got to Australia, needed funds, so they got jobs as nannies.
Her family has recently lost sure and mom, so she was hired to take care of two hurt kids she their dad had to be gone... He was a pilot for Quantas).
As she dealt with a sweet young boy and his standoffish sister she became aware of the good things about her mom.
More travels then back to mom, and later married with kids and appreciating mom more off and on.
Hard to describe, but good and thoughtful author!
And now she is the glue in her family, by choice.
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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Sunday, December 10, 2017 - 3:23 pm
Another memoir, by Leslie Johanson Nack Fourteen: A Daughter's Memoir of Adventure, Sailing and Survival
Intense .. Canadian Mom is mentally ill and Norwegian Dad is controlling, abusive.. As in taking pictures of daughters as they shower, making physical advances, berating them, not allowing them to wear bras, shave ..
Long sailing adventure to South pacific.
But wow, the sailing..
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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Monday, December 11, 2017 - 1:48 am
New memoir, In First Person: A Breath Taking Personal Memoir (Holocaust Autobiography) by Lucy Paz.
What happened to her as a child is crazy. Just 30% in..
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Uncle_ricky
Member
07-02-2007
| Monday, December 11, 2017 - 6:37 pm
It was so, so frustrating to read Katy Tur's Unbelievable: My Front-Row Seat to the Craziest Campaign in American History (because of the outcome of the campaign she writes about). But it was equally fascinating, too, thanks to the insider's view she gives the reader. The thing that impressed me most is how she never backed down from D. Trump during the multiple confrontations she had with him, and at age 33 no less! Overall, a very worthwhile read.
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Teachmichigan
Member
07-22-2001
| Friday, December 15, 2017 - 8:47 pm
Finished listening to The Column of Fire by Follett. Not my favorite - too much exposition of history and not enough of the character stories.
I'm now listening to a Tana French and enjoying it thoroughly. (Third one in the series - name escapes me at the moment).
Has anyone read Into the Thickening Fog? I've started and stopped a half-dozen times and am struggling to get into it. If someone here lets me know it's worth it to continue, I will. Otherwise, this might be one I just ditch. Too many GOOD books to waste my time!
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