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August, wtf?

Posted: Tue Aug 01, 2017 10:11 am
by Blush
I decided I can't just read the puppy book. I also started a novel: The People We Hate at the Wedding.

Re: August, wtf?

Posted: Tue Aug 01, 2017 2:19 pm
by Anna
I'm slowly but reading Gracefully Insane: Life and Death inside Americas Premier Mental Hospital by Alex Beam

Re: August, wtf?

Posted: Wed Aug 02, 2017 5:18 pm
by Sílvia
Blush, I can never read just nonfiction, whatever it is. I need a fiction book, too.

Finished Hunger by Roxane Gay yesterday. I feel like a jerk for giving it just 3 stars, but it just wasn't for me, I guess. It's obviously horrifying that she was gang-raped at 12, and that she has to live in a super morbidly obese body because of that, and I realize it took her everything she had to write this book (she said it was the hardest thing she's ever done), but at times I just wanted to shake her. There were pages and pages of how much it sucks to be obese. Yes, I can imagine that, and I'm sorry she has to go through it. But I was tired of reading about it and frustrated that she doesn't seem to believe it's possible to change. Also, some of her more radically feminist statements didn't sit well with me. Like saying women are brought up to be seen, not heard. I'm sorry, but in the Western world? I don't think that's true at all. Anyway, I'm pretty much alone, since the book has an average rating of 4.4 or something.

I started The Color Purple yesterday. Just a few pages in.

Still reading the one about the Portuguese Schindler.

Re: August, wtf?

Posted: Thu Aug 03, 2017 2:09 pm
by Rowan
In the last few days, I read Behind Her Eyes and People that we Hate at the Wedding. I liked them both.

Not sure what's next.

Re: August, wtf?

Posted: Sat Aug 05, 2017 8:16 pm
by Blush
I finished The People We Hate at the Wedding. It was pretty good.

Next: Perfect Days by Raphael Montes.

Re: August, wtf?

Posted: Sat Aug 05, 2017 11:46 pm
by mellenhead
I am about a quarter of the way through The Fourth Monkey and I can't put it down. It's a murder/mystery/thriller type book. I hope the ending lives up to the beginning.

Also started This is the Noise that Keeps Me Awake by the band Garbage. It's kind of a coffee table type book about how the band came together. Love their music so it's fun to read.

Re: August, wtf?

Posted: Sun Aug 06, 2017 7:58 am
by Sílvia
Finished The Color Purple. I liked it, didn't love it. The writing style was hard for me to get into. I bet this is one of those cases where the movie ends up being better.

Now I have Florence and Giles by John Harding. The blurb makes it sounds like a reinterpretation of Henry James's The Turn of the Screw, but it doesn't openly say it is, so I'm confused. Coincidentally, I'm reading an abridged version of The Turn of the Screw with one of my students.

Re: August, wtf?

Posted: Mon Aug 07, 2017 12:27 pm
by Blush
I couldn't continue with Perfect Days; it did end up being too disturbing and I was only 1/4 of the way in.

I am going to start another Fredrik Backman book, My Grandmother asked me to tell you she's sorry.

Re: August, wtf?

Posted: Mon Aug 07, 2017 3:43 pm
by Sílvia
Blush wrote:I couldn't continue with Perfect Days; it did end up being too disturbing and I was only 1/4 of the way in.
That's the feeling I get from reading the blurbs for his books. Part of me is curious because he's hugely successful here (and is being translated into other languages, no small feat for a Brazilian), but I don't think I'd like him.

Re: August, wtf?

Posted: Mon Aug 07, 2017 5:58 pm
by Blush
Sílvia wrote:
Blush wrote:I couldn't continue with Perfect Days; it did end up being too disturbing and I was only 1/4 of the way in.
That's the feeling I get from reading the blurbs for his books. Part of me is curious because he's hugely successful here (and is being translated into other languages, no small feat for a Brazilian), but I don't think I'd like him.
10 years ago I probably could have handled it. I mean, I read Misery as a teen and wasn't too ruffled. Maybe I am just too old.

Re: August, wtf?

Posted: Thu Aug 10, 2017 4:05 pm
by Sílvia
Finished Florence and Giles. It was indeed a retelling of The Turn of the Screw. Now I have to read the original. Anyway, F&G was gripping enough and went in a direction I did not expect. A decent read.

Then I started Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine about this weird woman who sounds a lot like The Rosie Project's Don Tillman (Asperger's?), but this book seems darker/sadder. I'm only on page 37 or so, but we already learned that her mother is a horrible person. Horrible as in cruel to her child, not just annoying. That's why it seems darker so far. Anyway, I'm loving it. It seems right up my alley.

Re: August, wtf?

Posted: Sat Aug 12, 2017 8:32 pm
by Blush
Today I finished My Grandmother asked me to tell you she's sorry. I couldn't really get into the fairy tale land descriptions but the real world parts were as intriguing and moving as all his other books.

Next up is The Oakdale Dinner Club by Kim Moritsugu.

Re: August, wtf?

Posted: Sun Aug 13, 2017 12:53 pm
by mellenhead
Finished The Fourth Monkey by JD Barker. It was good! Realized at that end it's a series or trilogy or something.

Started The Dying Game by Asa Avdic last night.

Re: August, wtf?

Posted: Mon Aug 14, 2017 9:27 am
by Rowan
I haven't read in 2 weeks, I've been online gobbling up financial stuff instead. I should pick up a book...it would probably do wonders for my anxiety.

Re: August, wtf?

Posted: Sat Aug 19, 2017 8:00 am
by Sílvia
What's up with the financial stuff, Ro? I can't imagine going that long without fiction!

I finished 2 books this week: the one about the Portuguese consul who saved thousands of people in WW2, including several Jewish families. What an amazing story. It sounded like something Hollywood would make up, but it's real. What makes it somehow bigger than other WW2 heroes is that he knew he was fucking up his own life by doing it, but he did it anyway (and died in absolute poverty), and the fact that it took Portugal DECADES to rehabilitate his name/honor him. Those things happened first in Israel and in the U.S. I posted an article in English about him on fb the other day. His name was Aristides de Sousa Mendes.

Then I finished Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine. I LOVED this! The character is so quirky and socially inept, which makes for hilarious moments, but you learn early on that something terrible happened in her past. You soon figure out what it was (though the complete story isn't revealed until the end), but it doesn't matter because the book's not a mystery. What matters here is Eleanor and what goes on in her head. Oh, and the blurb is a little misleading. It makes you think it's going in one direction, but it's... not. Apparently Reese Witherspoon has bought the movie rights. I hope she'll do it justice!

Re: August, wtf?

Posted: Mon Aug 21, 2017 11:34 pm
by Blush
I finished The Oakdale Dinner Club. It was pretty awful.

Re: August, wtf?

Posted: Fri Aug 25, 2017 12:05 pm
by mellenhead
Major reading slump going on here. Couldn't get into The Dying Game. Had a few other books from the library I just wasn't in the mood for. Hate it when I can't find a book I'm in the mood to read.

Went to pick up some new holds last night and started Mrs. Fletcher by Tom Perrotta last night. I usually really like his books.

Re: August, wtf?

Posted: Tue Aug 29, 2017 8:05 am
by Blush
After The Oakdale Dinner Club I read Her Every Fear by Peter Swanson. It had potential but the ending was a snooze.

Next up: Conversations with friends by Sally Rooney.

Re: August, wtf?

Posted: Wed Aug 30, 2017 6:38 am
by Sílvia
I read a Brazilian short story. I have no opinion because, as usual, I think short stories are too short. What's the point of them? They're like a novel's first chapter :headscratch

Then I tried to read Belgravia by the author of Downton Abbey. It SUCKED. The author's no writer. There was none of the charm of D.A. Gave up at 55% (now that's a first. I usually give up at or before 30-40% at the most).

Then I read Our Chemical Hearts, a YA romance, which would not be my usual choice, but was a dollar on kindle, and there's not much I won't buy for a dollar. It's less than the library parking! Anyway, it was a nice surprise. I loved the writing and the characters were smart and adorable.

Ah, I also read Gangsta Granny by David Walliams because I bought five of his books for Leo and am reading some to see what the fuss is. This guy is being compared to Roald Dahl. Anyway, I liked this. So did Leo. I wasn't going to read it because I've read several children's books this year already, but Leo put it on my nightstand and was expecting me to read it, so I did :love

Now I have the sample of The Alice Network, which seems up my alley (mystery, world wars) and has a high rating on goodreads.