October! What are you reading?

[mellenhead]

Finished Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel. LOVED it and was so sad to finish it. Highly recommended.

Planning on starting Broken Monsters by Lauren Beukes next.

[Rowan]

Finally finished The Fever by Meg Abbott. It started out ok and then just petered out. Bummer.

I'm reading Landline by Rainbow Rowell. Loved her other books. This one is moving quickly.

[Sílvia]

Finished The House at Riverton by Kate Morton. The first half is super slow and I only kept reading because I love her writing, even if at that point it didn't seem to be leading anywhere. Then it picked up. I loved it. I loved her Forgotten Garden and I can't wait to read her other novels. I'm sorry there are only 2 others.

Don't know what's next. Probably Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty. My other new favorite Aussie.

[Rowan]

I finished Landline by Rainbow Rowell. I love her. This wasn't my favorite of hers but definitely worth reading. Nice and light!

I started Friendship by Emily Gould. Not sure how I feel about it but it's easy so that fits for me right now.

[Bugsy]

I just finished "Becoming Odyssa" by Jennifer Pharr Davis. It was good, but it didn't seem nearly as quality as "Wild" by Cheryl Strayed. Otherwise they are pretty similar novels, and I remain envious of people who have taken the time to have life experiences like that.

Not sure what's next just yet.

[mellenhead]

Finished Broken Monsters by Lauren Beukes - it was good. Horror/mystery, good writing.

I skim read Normally This would be a cause for concern: Tales of Calamity and unrelenting Awkwardness by Danielle Fishel. Eh. I loved Boy Meets World, thought might have some interesting hollywood tales but I think her life has been so normal there isn't really anything interesting to tell.

I also read Horrorstor by Grady Hendrix. HIGHLY recommend it. It's about a knockoff haunted Ikea store but the book is written like a (Ikea) catalog, floor maps, explanations of furniture that get to be more like torture devices toward the end. Very cool execution.

http://smile.amazon.com/Horrorstor-A-No ... horrorstor

Anyone have recommendations for scary/horror books? Feels like a good time of year for one.

[Rowan]

Finished Friendship. Meh. Started The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith (JK Rowling) and so far so good. I've been squeaking 30 min on the bike in the AM and reading. I guess its one way to squeeze in exercise and reading!

Mellen, I remember liking Joe Hill's books (Stephen King's son). It's been awhile since I read horror but I used to love it. I used to love Dean Koontz prior to Odd Thomas series.

[Bugsy]

I think you've read it already, but "Dark Places" by Gillian Flynn is one of the creepiest books I've read in a while.

[Sílvia]

I wouldn't consider Dark Places scary. Creepy, yes, depressing, definitely. And an excellent read. But scary?

I finished Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty. Lots of fun, as usual. It reminded me of Desperate Housewives. I loved Desperate Housewives.

Then I started Americanah by that Nigerian woman whose name I can't pronounce. Or spell. It's interesting enough so far, but not super gripping. I'm on page 100 or so.

[mellenhead]

I have a hard time finding books that actually scare/freak me out.

I read the Miniaturist by Jessie Burton. It was ok - I'm not getting all the hype that was around this book when it came out.

Also finished Rooms by Lauren Oliver. It was pretty good - the story is mostly told from the perspective of two ghosts living in the house.

I think Stone Mattress is up next.

[Bugsy]

Yeah, definitely not scary but certainly creepy. I felt haunted by that book while reading and for a few days after.

I am a wuss when it comes to scary/horror things, so that's the best I can do!

[mellenhead]

Bugsy I felt that way about Sharp Objects. Dark Places meandered a little bit too much for me.

[Bugsy]

On my ride to work this morning I finished the audiobook of "101 Theory Drive: The Discovery of Memory" by Terry McDermott. It was a bit over my head at times but really interesting overall. Glad I gave it a try.

And then I started "Zen and the Art of Running: The Path to Making Peace with Your Pace" by Larry Shapiro, who is actually a philosophy professor here at my university. The first section is about motivation and training your brain to overcome the internal barriers that we all have (like "It's too cold" or "I'm tired" or whatever). I'd waited for this for ages and am really glad it came in off the hold list now. It's good timing before my upcoming race.

[Spudd]

I just read "The Best of Me" by Nicholas Sparks. OMG, it was awful. So cheesy.

I have to find something with quality to cleanse my palate after that.

[Beverly]

I recently finished Pale Fire by Nabokov. It was exquisite. I really loved it, though it is kind of strange.

Now I'm sort of reading Dissolution by C.J. Sansom. It's the first of a series of murder mysteries set in Henry VIII's England. Have you read them, Mellen?

[mellenhead]

Bev, I haven't read them but I'll look them up. I get irritated here and there about fictional history novels but some are really good and worth the read.

I read Stone Mattress by Margaret Atwood. This is a collection of short stories. I only liked 2 of the 9 stories.

Also read Hand to Mouth: Living in Bootstrap America by Linda Tirado - it was decent but very repetitive.

I just started Smoke Gets in Your Eyes & Other Lessons from the Crematory by Caitlin Doughty. It's good so far - I follow her on Facebook under the The Order of the Good Death and she does "Ask a Mortician" videos on youtube.

[Sílvia]

I finished Americanah. I didn't like it much. I don't understand the hype. I liked to learn something about life in Nigeria, but I thought the endless rants about racial issues in America got old after a while. I might have felt differently if I were either black or American or both, but since I'm neither I got easily bored. Yes, it is absurd and wrong and awful that the main character had to straighten her hair in order to get a decent job, and that her white boyfriend had to yell at the employee of a white beauty salon for her to get her eyebrows waxed, but the endless stories and dialogs and blog entries about race were tiring. I wish she had focused more on her life in Nigeria, but that's not what the book was mainly about. As I approached the end I started skimming and didn't even care if the couple would end up together or not. I just wanted it to be over. Oh well.

Then I started The Seven Sisters by Lucinda Riley. It's slow so far, but it's about to pick up. This woman is smart: she realized she has a huge readership in Brazil, so not only did she set this novel here (apparently it's also about the building of the Christ the redeemer statue in Rio), she also RELEASED this book here first. The Brazilian edition has been on the market for months while the US/UK ones aren't available until Nov 6th. Anyway, she writes trashy historical fiction that's usually fun. We'll see. I got this one for free from the publisher.

[Spudd]

Silvia, have you seen the YouTube video of the guys up on top of Christ the Redeemer? Scary!

I just started "The Post-Birthday World" by Lionel Shriver. It's interesting. I can't decide if I like it yet or not.

[Sílvia]

You mean on his head? I think I saw a picture. One day I should go to Rio... I've never been!

I liked The Post-birthday World. I mean, in that horrified way you "like" a novel by her.

[Spudd]

Here's the link to the video. It scares the crap out of me!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxlKZereog0