April: What are you reading?

[Rowan]

I'm reading The Sudden Appearance of Hope by Claire North. It's weird but strangely gripping. I'm 2/3 done.

[mellenhead]

Finished Shadowbahn by Steve Erickson. WEIRD book - the twin towers reappear in the Badlands of South Dakota and play music but everyone hears a different song. Oh and Elvis Presly's stillborn twin Jesse is living on the 93rd floor. It started off intriguing and then just got bizarre. Would not recommend.

Now reading Cork Dork about a reporter who took a year and trained as a sommelier. It's good so far and fairly funny.

[Sílvia]

I read I Remember Nothing by Nora Ephron. Some essays were hilarious, but several just didn't speak to me at all.

Then I read the first Harry Potter! I never thought I'd say this... I've never been even remotely insterested in HP and only borrowed it from Leo's friend to get Leo interested, but alas, he wasn't. But I read it. I confess I had to force my way through the first 80 pages or so, but part of the problem was the TINY print in the Brazilian edition, plus the translation (though the name they came up with for the sport they play is pretty awesome.) But after that I liked it and yes, I agree that the world she created is indeed amazing. I might even read the next one. I think I'll hit the bookstore tomorrow to see if I can find it in English, since Leo's not interested. For some reason I think I have to read this in paper.

Then I read the first 70 pages of All the Bright Places, but couldn't get into it. I should have known, since it was compared to The fault in Our Stars, which I didn't like much. Then I went online and read a plot summary with spoilers so now I can move on with my life

I think next up is The Disappearance by Annabel Kantaria.

[Rowan]

I started Gone by Michael Grant. It's a YA series. Very easy to read which is kind of what I"m looking for right now.

[mellenhead]

I finished Cork Dork by Bianca Bosker - it was enjoyable and interesting but have to admit there were parts I skimmed a bit.

Finished The Roanoke Girls by Amy Engel - it was good but deals with some weird stuff that I wasn't quite expecting.

[Spudd]

I finished the 3rd Jackson Brodie book by Kate Atkinson. I gave it 2 stars on Goodreads and then saw that Blush had given it 5 stars, LOL. Guess our tastes don't exactly align! I like Jackson, the character. But I find in all the books in this series, there are SO many disparate threads and characters, and I have a hard time keeping track. And then for this book in particular, it felt very unresolved to me at the end. I didn't know exactly what had happened and how it all went down. I went to Goodreads to see if people had asked questions, and they had, but nobody had any good answers. So yeah, if you like your mystery novels wrapped up in a bow at the end, this one's not for you.

Now I'm reading "Heat and Light". I forget who it's by. It's about fracking in Pennsylvania and the local landowners.

[mellenhead]

Spudd, is the fracking book nonfiction? I'll have to look it up, sounds interesting.

[Spudd]

No, it's fiction. It's pretty good so far.

[Sílvia]

I finished The Disappearance by Annabel Kantaria. I loved the first half, set in England in 2013 and in India in the 1970s, where the main character had lived for a few years. Around page 120 I had a good idea of where it was headed, but thought that was too obvious. Turns out I was right In the second half the part set in India was over and the whole thing lost most of its charm for me. 3 stars.

Then I read Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok. I loved it. If I have one complaint, it's that I wanted to know more about some of the characters. But overall it was a joy to read, the kind of story where you desperately root for the main character.

Then I started The Rosie Project. I was totally prepared to not like it, but I'm loving it so far. I should have guessed it, since Mellen gave it 2 stars.

[mellenhead]

Then I started The Rosie Project. I was totally prepared to not like it, but I'm loving it so far. I should have guessed it, since Mellen gave it 2 stars.

It's really one star but I always feel bad doing that. I hated that book and still do not understand all the love. I'm glad you like it though!

[Rowan]

Heat and Light is by Jennifer Haigh. She's a great writer. Yes, fiction. 4 star for me.

But I also love The Rosie Project so (there's so many characters like that in academic science that I guess it hit close to home)

[Rowan]

I'm still working my way through the Gone series by Michael Grant. I'm on book 4 Plague. I'm liking it. There's the tiniest smidgen of Christianity in it which I find weird. And I'm Catholic. I guess I don't like my books to have religion in them? It's only like 2-3% but it just stands out. I dunno.

[Rowan]

Blush, The Girls by Lori Lansen? Love that book! I think it's one of my faves of all time.

I should read it again...

[Sílvia]

Then I started The Rosie Project. I was totally prepared to not like it, but I'm loving it so far. I should have guessed it, since Mellen gave it 2 stars.

It's really one star but I always feel bad doing that. I hated that book and still do not understand all the love. I'm glad you like it though!

We really, really should start using the "compare books" feature on goodreads and see what the other one hated. But hey, we do agree sometimes! Like once every 50 books or so.

I loved The Girls too! I loved everything I've read by her, but was put off by the child neglect in the first few pages of Rush Home Road. I should try it again, though, it was just the very beginning.

[Sílvia]

Blush, I thought Gilly Macmillan's other book was MUCH better than The Perfect Girl.

Finished The Rosie Project. Loved it! Now I'm reading The Rosie Effect.

[mellenhead]

I read Running by Cara Hoffman. Loved her writing but the ending kind of sucked. Everything was just left hanging.

I think up next is Young, Fair, and Damned - Catherine Howard, the Fifth Wife of Henry VIII. I've been binge watching The White Queen (even though I am not a fan of Philippa Gregory's books), so this one is appealing to me most in my TBR pile from the library.

[Sílvia]

Finished The Rosie Effect. Loved it. Now I started Britt-Marie Was Here because I'm in the mood for quirky characters.

ETA: Britt-Marie was not for me. Made it to page 40.

[Bugsy]

Finished "The Wise Man's Fear," by Patrick Rothfuss. It was very good, but I liked the first one better. This is "The Kingkiller Chronicles" series.

And then I went back to "How to Transform Your Life." For sure by reading these long books I'm unlikely to meet my 30 books goal again this year, but at least most of my choices so far have been good!

[Rowan]

I finished the Gone series. I liked it but didn't love it. I like reading a series in its entirety all at once so that's fun.

I also finished Queen of the Road by Doreen Orion. I've had it on my TBR list for years. It was a Jennifer Lancaster recommendation. It was interesting.

I have the next Chevy Stevens in my bag to start today. I usually like her books.

[Sílvia]

I finished an Argentinian book called The Meadow of the Butterflies, which apparently has a title in English, but hasn't been translated into it It's a shame, the end was VERY twisty and I wanted to discuss it. I hope some Brazilian will reply to my GR review.

Not sure what's next. My SIL gave me a bunch of paperbacks in English (she works at a bookstore and gets lots of free books), but none of them seem up my alley. I started Neil Gaiman's American Gods, which I would NEVER have picked up on my own. But hey, it's mine. I've read up to page 36 so far. It's readable, though if I understood it correctly, a man was having sex with a hooker and was swallowed through her vagina Then the scene changed. I'll give it a few more pages.