January! What are you reading?

[Sílvia]

Ooh, I thought The Confession was very, very entertaining.

I hate translations, Spudd.

[mellenhead]

Finished up Golden Son. It was really good. Fast paced action in the book, which of course ended in a cliffhanger.

I also listened to the Audio book of Argo. The narrators voice was SO annoying. The guy sounded like an arrogant jerk and it annoyed me the entire time.

Next up is Us by David Nicholls.

[Rowan]

I started Summer House with Swimming Pool last night. So far so good.

[Sílvia]

Finished All The Light We Cannot See. There *was* an interesting plot in there, it's a shame it was buried under all that disjointed structure and verbose writing. Note to self: if a book is ever, EVER described as having "beautiful prose", "rich descriptions", "evocative" something, you won't like it.

Now on to Labor Day by Joyce Maynard.

[Spudd]

I decided not to finish The Luminaries for that reason, Sil. My kindle breaking on vacation was a sign!

[mellenhead]

I finished Us by David Nicholls. Eh. All the characters were fairly whiny and unlikable.

Started The Bishop's Wife by Mette Ivie Harrison at lunch. So far so good.

[Sílvia]

Spudd, I read the plot summary of The Luminaries and thought it sounded boring (to me.) The beauty of getting older is you know beforehand what you won't like. Well, usually, at least.

Finished Labor Day. It was readable. Based on a stupid premise (woman brings home a bleeding stranger from the local Walmart-style store (!!)) and predictable. And overly tragic. But it was a short, easy read, so I finished it. 2 stars.

Then I started Little Mercies by Heather Gudenkauf. I loved the other book I've read by her (The Weight of Silence?) and the first 35 pages of this one are gripping, so that's promising. But I'm starting to wonder if she only ever writes about children in abuse/neglect situations. I'm curious to know what her other books are about.

[mellenhead]

Finished The Bishops Wife. It was ok. The last quarter of the book where she wrapped everything up was a little to neat and boring.

Planning to start The Book of Strange New Things by Michael Faber at lunch.

[Bugsy]

I finished "Bodies of Water" by T Greenwood. It's for book club, which meets on Saturday. It was fantastic. I really loved it and thankfully didn't get to the end while on the bus, because oh, did I cry. It's a beautiful story.

Not sure what's next. I may just wait for book club to see when we're meeting next and what is selected.

[Sílvia]

Finished Little Mercies. It was gripping, but not life-changing. It felt like a made-for-TV movie. A *good* made-for-TV movie. I was a little irritated by the fact that all her books seem to be about children who are victims of abuse or neglect. The first one I read was excellent. The second I'm like "Mm. That again." It seems like sort of a cheap trick. I wonder if she has a background in social work.

Then I read Bugsy's comment on Bodies of Water, checked it out on goodreads, downloaded a sample, got a really good feeling that it will be right up my alley, and bought it for 3 dollars! (thanks, Bugsy!) Before kindle this process would have taken at least a month. And would have cost a lot more. And maybe I'd get the book and find the print was too small or something. I love my kindle.

[Bugsy]

Silvia. I hope you love it!