August, WTF? What are you reading?

[Bugsy]

I finished the audiobook of "The Chaperone" by Laura Moriarty. It was excellent. I really loved the story, and it was great on audiobook. Will probably look for more by this author.

Then I started "10% Happier: How I Tamed the Voice in My Head, Reduced Stress Without Losing My Edge, and Found Self-Help That Actually Works--A True Story" by Dan Harris. It's about mindfulness/meditation. It was recommended at a class I attended this spring. Hope it's good.

[Rowan]

Be curious what you think of 10% happier Bugsy.

I have the next Chevy Stevens on the nightstand. Haven't started....

[Sílvia]

Ooh, thanks, Bugsy. I've downloaded a sample. I tend to agree with you on general fiction.

As I mentioned on the other thread, I read 50% of The Rose Garden by Susanna Kearsley before I decided that life's too short. Now I'm reading The Girl on the Cliff by Lucinda Riley. So far it's slow (page 62), but it's still in the present. On page 76 she's going to 1914 and I'm sure it'll get better. The parts of her books set in the present always suck, but the past parts are usually fun (if a liiittle soap-opera-ish). She should just drop the dual timeline thing and stick to the past.

[Sílvia]

Oh man, The Girl on the Cliff was SO bad. Awful writing. I mean, I knew she was bad, but her soap-opera-ish plots usually make up for that if you're in the mood for some light entertainment. But this was *too* bad. Contrived to the point that it sounded like a children's book. There's a part where an 8-year-old gets on a plane by herself in Ireland and goes to the US. No permission from her parents, no decent explanation about how exactly that could have happened. Ridiculous. Don't get me started on how the Americans talked. Even I could notice they didn't sound American.

Then I started Passage by Connie Willis. After 2 failed attempts at decent historical fiction, I needed a change of scenery (and a better writer), so I picked this. It's sci-fi, about doctors doing research about near-death experiences. I've only read one other book by her, Doomsday Book, and it was excellent. I hope this is, too. It's 800 pages long

[mellenhead]

Finally finished Girls in White Dresses on audio book. Meh. It was ok.

Skim read Primates of Park Avenue. Didn't like it much.

I have The Invasion of the Tearling and and The Oregon Trail at home.

[Sílvia]

Gaaaah, Passage didn't work, either.THREE bad books in a row I read 27% before giving up. Slow as only an 800- page novel with a bad plot can be. Repetitive dialogs and situations up to that point, very little action, tons of medical jargon. I knew there was a twist halfway through, so I kept slogging, but could not bear the boredom. So I read the wikipedia summary. *That* was not a twist! I'm so glad I didn't force myself to finish it. I'm sad because I loved Doomsday Book. Oh well.

Then I picked The Bookseller by Cynthia Swanson. It's about this single woman who owns a bookstore with her friend in 1962 and starts having very vivid dreams about a parallel (sp?) life in which she's married with children. Unoriginal, but I love stories about parallel lives. Plus this was in a list of 12 recommended books I found the other day. I'd read and loved 3 of the 12, so I figured the others were worth a shot, since this woman and I seem to have similar tastes. Let's hope I'm right.

[Spudd]

That Bookseller book sounds up my alley. You'll have to let us know how it was.

[Bugsy]

I finished "10% happier" and really liked it. It feels like something I would read again.

Now I probably, sadly, have to pause the pleasure reading to study for an industry certification exam that's in 5 weeks. I shouldn't have to study a ton but haven't done any formal prep until today, so maybe that pause will be short.

[Bugsy]

Blush, that sounds super interesting. I'm adding it to my "to be read" list.

[Sílvia]

The Bookseller was just ok. The plot moved a little slowly, some things were totally predictable. The writing was ok, not super inspired but didn't get on my nerves, either. I loved that it was set in 1962/63. The ending was unexpected, I'll give it that. Ok, I'm not being fair here. I did enjoy reading it, I just didn't love it.

Now I'm reading A Small Indiscretion by Jan Ellison. I'm on page 70 and so far completely underwhelmed and pissed that I spent yet more money on a book I don't like (so far.) I should just read older books, contemporary fiction has left me cold way too often.

[Sílvia]

Finished A Small Indiscretion by Jan Ellison. I hated it. The plot was silly and boring (not much of a story to tell. This is being marketed as "suspense". There IS no suspense there! .) The writing was pretentious. Not bad, but pretentious. I only finished it because I paid for it and it was expensive, plus I have given up on way too many paid books lately. Ugh.

Started a Brazilian. Loving it. More later.