Talk Healthy

I'm still reading All These Beautiful Strangers by Elizabeth Klehfoth.

I finished The Ramblers by Aidan Donnelly. It was good-ish. It never really climaxed but it was enjoyable enough.

Now reading "What If?" by the author of xkcd, Randall Monroe.

Didn't you like the flu pandemic book, Spudd?

Sílvia wrote: ↑Wed Aug 01, 2018 10:34 am Didn't you like the flu pandemic book, Spudd?

I didn't download it to my Kindle yet. I'll probably end up reading it on the cruise, because I'll download a ton of books to my Kindle before we go.

Oh, ok. The beginning is a bit slow, so I thought you couldn't get into it.

Did you mention Brazil on that cruise?

Yeah, we're going down the Amazon as far as Manaus. Not coming down to your neighbourhood, though. After Manaus we just turn back and go back north to the Caribbean/Florida.

Cool! Wait, you mean you're coming down the river?

Yeah, down the river. Here's the itinerary: http://www.crystalcruises.com/voyage/de ... overy-8225

Looks interesting. I'm sure nature will be amazing. The cities, not so much. You're probably the first person I've met who will have been to Santarém

I finished the book of essays by Scaachi Khoul. It was good and about what I expected (I follow her on Twitter).

Now I have The Female Persuasion by Meg Wolitzer.

I finished The Deepest Secret by Carla Buckley. It had an interesting premise and nothing else. Dragged and dragged and when it finally got to the resolution, it was rushed.

Then I read The Perfect Mother by Aimee Molloy. Omg, it was awful. Unoriginal, with interchangeable characters (it took me half the book to finally learn who was who), no sense of suspense whatsoever. The only good thing I can say about it is that it only cost a dollar. My time, however, I'll never get back.

Then I started Affinity by Sarah Waters, but I'm not feeling it. I liked the first 40 pages, then read the next 40 and nothing new was added. I'm giving it one more sitting (20-40 pages) to decide.

Today I'm getting The Light We Lost and The Final Six, which I ordered from Amazon after reading samples at the bookstore last Friday. I've been craving paper books. Plus several paper books lately have been cheaper than e-books. WTF?

I finished The Female Persuasion. It was meh. Good concept, overly wrought execution.

Next is Miss You by Kate Eberlen.

I finished What If? a couple of days ago. It was really quite entertaining. And very bite-sized, so you can easily pick it up and put it down.

Now I'm reading "A Bone to Pick" by Mark Bittman, which is about food politics. I'm not enjoying it much so far, but maybe it will get better.

Read The Light We Lost. It sucked. Sugary love (?) story whose publishers tried to sell as something readers of Me Before You would love. These comparisons should be forbidden. And Jojo should sue them.

Couldn't get into Affinity by Sarah Waters. I've read one book by her that I liked (The Little Stranger) and tried to read THREE others that i just couldn't get into after 80-100 pages. I think I'm declaring her officially not for me.

I have The Birds by Frank Baker from the library. Again, not sure I'll finish it. It seems to be post-apocalytic (apparently the birds have killed most of mankind) and it was NOT the book on which Hitchcock (sp?) based his movie (that was a short story by Daphne duMaurier). Again, not sure I'll finish it. It seems interesting, but not terribly compelling.

Then I picked up a Brazilian romance by a contemporary author I've been meaning to try. Cute and entertaining so far.

Ok after 60 pages I've decided to skip Miss You by Kate Eberlen. I've rolled my eyes too many times already.

ETA I'm going to try In Her Wake by Amanda Jennings.

OMG, the Brazilian romance was AWFUL! Horribly contrived and sugary. The writing was so, so bad.

I think I might try this Australian author Liane Moriarty recommended, Dianne Blacklock.

I just finished The Wife by Alafair Burke which I really liked.

I'm currently reading Emergency Contact by Mary HK Choi. It's a YA novel but it's very well written. So far so good. Hope I'm not disappointed later.

I started Almost Perfect by Dianne Blacklock (the Australian Liane Moriarty recommended). I'm only 8% in, but it seems right up my alley. I'm ridiculously excited, because this would mean not just the first decent book I've read in a MONTH, but a new author to explore! She seems to write that slightly more serious chick-lit stuff, like Liane herself.

Oooh, I'm going to mark that to read, Silvía!

Rowan, I usually like Alafair Burke.

Blush, it's promising! Check out how it starts:

"I don't know about you, but personally I like a book to be readable first off. Sounds obvious, doesn't it? A book is written to be read, after all. What I mean is, I don't want to have to struggle through it, to feel like my high school English teacher is standing over my shoulder, waiting for a fifteen hundred word essay on the major themes. I want to be entertained."

She had my attention right there.