April! What are you reading?

Moderator: Malanee

Post Reply
Blush
TH Master
Posts: 23182
Joined: Tue May 03, 2005 12:43 pm
Location: Lake Huron Shoreline, Ontario, Canada

April! What are you reading?

Post by Blush »

I finished The Japanese Lover in the car today. I enjoyed it and will look for more by her.


Next is "Love Love" by Sung J. Woo. Looks like a contemporary family story revolving partly around tennis.
Rowan
Stinky Ho Zat Changed Zeh Channel
Posts: 7356
Joined: Tue May 10, 2005 2:03 pm

Re: April! What are you reading?

Post by Rowan »

I'm reading The Night Strangers by Chris Bohjalian. I've liked his books in the past but I'm not too sure about this one. I'm in such a book rut!!
User avatar
Sílvia
Trophy Wife
Posts: 13749
Joined: Mon May 02, 2005 4:44 pm
Location: São Paulo, Brazil

Re: April! What are you reading?

Post by Sílvia »

I'm glad you liked The Japanese Lover, Blush!

I fell asleep at 70% of the sample of A Little Life. Not a good sign, since the book has 720 pages. Bummer, because my mom liked it and I was curious. Oh well. It sucks that kindle won't let you lend books (at least not here), because I'd read a few more chapters for free to see how it goes. But paying for a book whose sample I couldn't finish? No, thanks.

Then I read What Was Mine by Helen Klein Ross. It's about a woman who steals a baby at an IKEA store and gets away with it for 21 years (it's in the blurb, not a spoiler.) I found it pretty impossible to put down until about the 65% mark. Then it lost steam, though I still absolutely wanted to know how it would end. 3 stars. It lost 2 because of the implausibilities.

Now I started the sample of The Girls by Lori Lansens, which I've had since I read The Mountain Story. I was going to read it right after that, but then got creeped out by the subject matter (conjoined twins), but wasn't in the mood for any of my samples last night and started it. So far I'm glad I did, I'm loving the sample.
User avatar
Spudd
TH Master
Posts: 17191
Joined: Thu Feb 17, 2005 9:07 pm
Location: Small town Ontario
Contact:

Re: April! What are you reading?

Post by Spudd »

I finished The New Neighbor and I have to say, it never really grabbed me. It was OK. It did pick up steam a bit at the end, which was nice.

Next up is a Stephen King book called something generic I can't remember. Let me see. Revival. That's it. So far it's good, he's such a good writer. I wasn't a huge fan of his earlier work where he was always using italics for people's thoughts, I found it annoying. But his later books I tend to really like.
Blush
TH Master
Posts: 23182
Joined: Tue May 03, 2005 12:43 pm
Location: Lake Huron Shoreline, Ontario, Canada

Re: April! What are you reading?

Post by Blush »

I finished Love Love and I really liked it. It had some interesting twists.

Then I started to read Dark Corners by Ruth Rendell and I couldn't get past the second chapter. Horrible writing.

Next up is The Ramblers by Aiden Donnelly Rowley.
Three lost souls from Manhattan's Upper West Side, Central Park, and Greenwich Village find their bond tested during the course of a fateful Thanksgiving week when emotions run high in the wake of complicated family dynamics.
Blush
TH Master
Posts: 23182
Joined: Tue May 03, 2005 12:43 pm
Location: Lake Huron Shoreline, Ontario, Canada

Re: April! What are you reading?

Post by Blush »

I just finished The Ramblers. It was really compelling. Three good books in a row!

Next up is The Turning Point by Freya North. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/199 ... earch=true
User avatar
Sílvia
Trophy Wife
Posts: 13749
Joined: Mon May 02, 2005 4:44 pm
Location: São Paulo, Brazil

Re: April! What are you reading?

Post by Sílvia »

I finished The Girls. I really liked it overall. One of the twins decides to write her autobiography, so that's what the book's supposed to be. Then there are shorter chapters written by the other twin. It was certainly an original idea, and I laughed (didn't expect that) and cried with the book, but there were also parts that felt a bit tedious, because it doesn't have much of a plot, and I'm a very plot-driven reader. It reads like a memoir, full of anecdotes. Some of them were less interesting than others, but overall I found it poignant and amusing. It is SO completely different from The Mountain Story. Now I'm curious to read her other books. Blush, haven't you read this one? I thought you said you'd read all her books :headscratch Anyway, thanks for introducing us!

Then I started The Playdate by Louise Millar. It's ok so far, but I don't have many expectations. It's one of those generic psychological thrillers that seem so popular these days. I bought it for 2 dollars from a bin a while ago, and it's in Portuguese. Remember I was craving both paper books AND books in Portuguese? Yeah. Now wait until I start bitching about the translation :awesome
Blush
TH Master
Posts: 23182
Joined: Tue May 03, 2005 12:43 pm
Location: Lake Huron Shoreline, Ontario, Canada

Re: April! What are you reading?

Post by Blush »

I thought I had read The Girls, but they also appeared in A Wife's Tale, because it's in the same town. I may check it out to be sure!
User avatar
Sílvia
Trophy Wife
Posts: 13749
Joined: Mon May 02, 2005 4:44 pm
Location: São Paulo, Brazil

Re: April! What are you reading?

Post by Sílvia »

Oh, I love when authors do that!
Rowan
Stinky Ho Zat Changed Zeh Channel
Posts: 7356
Joined: Tue May 10, 2005 2:03 pm

Re: April! What are you reading?

Post by Rowan »

I love The Girls! One of my favorites of all time!!!

God, I'm in such a book drought right now. I'm on my 3rd 2 star book (may be a 1 star once I finish it). The library hold system is on hold so all I'm getting is whatever I can figure out from the shelves.

:sadpanda
User avatar
Bugsy
Noodles and Corn
Posts: 9042
Joined: Mon May 02, 2005 6:28 pm

Re: April! What are you reading?

Post by Bugsy »

Not sure I've updated here recently! I have finished both "The Residence" (about the White House staff), which was pretty interesting, and just yesterday finished "Perks of Being a Wallflower." I liked it pretty well also, but I may be getting too old for some of these coming-of-age type stories.

Still listening to "The Poisoner's Handbook."
User avatar
Spudd
TH Master
Posts: 17191
Joined: Thu Feb 17, 2005 9:07 pm
Location: Small town Ontario
Contact:

Re: April! What are you reading?

Post by Spudd »

I'm still reading Revival by Stephen King (and enjoying it).

I also started an audiobook to keep me entertained while I was working on the stairs. It's called Vermilion, by Molly Tanzer. It's an old west steampunk novel, lol. So far it is quite entertaining, I must say.
Blush
TH Master
Posts: 23182
Joined: Tue May 03, 2005 12:43 pm
Location: Lake Huron Shoreline, Ontario, Canada

Re: April! What are you reading?

Post by Blush »

I may be getting too old for some of these coming-of-age type stories.
Me, too! Often I feel like the protagonist is too self-involved or whiny or something.
Blush
TH Master
Posts: 23182
Joined: Tue May 03, 2005 12:43 pm
Location: Lake Huron Shoreline, Ontario, Canada

Re: April! What are you reading?

Post by Blush »

I finished Turning Point by Freya North. She's a British author but this time she set part of the book in Canada. My only quibble is that the Canadian dialogue could have been edited better. There were some phrases that Canadians don't typically say, and you can't just stick an "eh" onto any old sentence and have it fit.

Next up in non-fiction: No Place to Hide: Edward Snowden, the NSA, and the US Surveillance State, by Glenn Greenwald.
Blush
TH Master
Posts: 23182
Joined: Tue May 03, 2005 12:43 pm
Location: Lake Huron Shoreline, Ontario, Canada

Re: April! What are you reading?

Post by Blush »

I finished the book about Edward Snowden. It was pretty disturbing.

Now back to fiction: Behind Closed Doors by Elizabeth Raynes.
User avatar
Sílvia
Trophy Wife
Posts: 13749
Joined: Mon May 02, 2005 4:44 pm
Location: São Paulo, Brazil

Re: April! What are you reading?

Post by Sílvia »

The Playdate was readable, but very, very forgettable. And there was no suspense whatsoever. To me it was a drama. 2 stars.

I'm reading The Wife's Tale by Lori Lansens. I love her writing, but the main character is making me wanna hit her in the head with something. That's probably the objective, but it's so frustrating. Anyway, I'm enjoying it.
User avatar
Sílvia
Trophy Wife
Posts: 13749
Joined: Mon May 02, 2005 4:44 pm
Location: São Paulo, Brazil

Re: April! What are you reading?

Post by Sílvia »

Finished The Wife's Tale. I loved it, even if the main character made me wanna hit her at first. The woman has no interests in life except eating, to the point that she doesn't know how to use a cell phone (a 43-year-old woman in 2007?), has never been online (??!!), has never flown or seen the ocean. This apparently was meant to prepare you for the transformation she goes through later on, but to me it was a bit overdone. That said, I loved everything else about it. Even the inconclusive ending, which seems to have pissed off a lot of people on goodreads. The last 10 pages are about the best fiction I've read in a long time. Blush, if you remember it, I particularly loved that scene where she gets sunburned at the pool and what came after it. 4 stars. One lost for the aforementioned reason, but I'm sure it'll stay with me. And now I'm sad that I only have one Lori Lansens left.
Blush
TH Master
Posts: 23182
Joined: Tue May 03, 2005 12:43 pm
Location: Lake Huron Shoreline, Ontario, Canada

Re: April! What are you reading?

Post by Blush »

I don't remember that scene! Maybe I should reread.

I just finished Behind Closed Doors by Elizabeth Raynes. Really gripping, not pleasant by any means, but hard to put down.

Now I have another non-fiction: The Name Therapist by Duana Taha. I read her column (?) on Lainey Gossip where she gives baby name advice. God I would love that job.
User avatar
Sílvia
Trophy Wife
Posts: 13749
Joined: Mon May 02, 2005 4:44 pm
Location: São Paulo, Brazil

Re: April! What are you reading?

Post by Sílvia »

Holy crap, there are like 10 books by that title on goodreads, Blush (Behind Closed Doors). I had to come back here and check the author's name.

I read 190 pages of The Thief of Time by John Boyne before giving it up. Interesting premise, but left me cold until that point, and since it was 560 pages long and a library book, I decided life's too short.

Now I'm reading the sample of In The Woods by Tana French. I'm curious, but apparently it's a slow starter. We'll see when I'm done with the sample.
User avatar
Spudd
TH Master
Posts: 17191
Joined: Thu Feb 17, 2005 9:07 pm
Location: Small town Ontario
Contact:

Re: April! What are you reading?

Post by Spudd »

I finished Revival a few days ago (I'd recommend it, if you like King) and started The Admissions. I'm loving it so far, but unfortunately I was a moron and left my Kindle in London when I slept over. Don't plan to go back till mid-June. And my library doesn't have it. :(

I'll either have to read it on my phone/ipad or get something else from the library on paper to tide me over. Neither is that exciting of an option.
Post Reply