December! What are you reading?

[Rowan]

I'm reading What to Say Next a YA from Julie Buxbaum. It's fine. Not earth shattering. Writing about autism seems to be in these days.

[Spudd]

I finished "Salt, Sugar, Fat" which was really interesting, actually. It's not exactly a page-turner but it's good.

Then I started "One Second After" which is a post-apocalyptic novel about an EMP weapon striking the US. It's good so far, but it has a self-published vibe about it - e.g. he keeps saying "would of" which is driving me insane. I googled it and it doesn't seem to actually be self-published, but if not, then WTF was his editor doing?

[mellenhead]

Future Home of the Living God by Louis Erdrich was too weird for me so I gave up halfway.

I'm about 3/4 of the way through Heat & Light by Jennifer Haigh. It's really good.

[Rowan]

I love Jennifer Haigh

[mellenhead]

I love Jennifer Haigh

This is my first time reading her - I was hoping she had written other books.

[Sílvia]

Sorry you didn't like Under the Influence more, Blush. I really enjoyed it. What did you think was implausible? I thought the mc was too gullible/too much of a wimp in her relationship with her rich friends, but given how little love she'd received all her life, I accepted it.

Finished Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets last night. The rest of humankind was right, these books ARE fun! Funny, I started this and Sophie Kinsella's My Not So Perfect Life at the same time, thinking I'd be bored by Harry Potter and would need some adult reading while trying to finish it. Well, guess what? I'm struggling at 75% of the Kinsella and finished HP and started the next one in the series. Huh. Who would have thought that? I only started Harry Potter because I wanted to motivate Leo to read it. I never thought I'd actually enjoy it! (btw, Leo finally, FINALLY agreed to give the first HP a try last night. He kept saying it's not his thing. I told him I didn't think it would be mine, either, but I was enjoying it. Also told him he could give up if he wasn't enjoying it, but to at least give it a few pages. He was on page 41 (of the tiniest print he's ever read!) before I fell asleep. I hope he continues!)

[Sílvia]

Yeah, I agree. But she was desperately needy and they were using her. Oh well, it worked for me.

[mellenhead]

Finished Heat & Light - really enjoyed it.

Read The Dogs of Littlefield. Eh. It tried way too hard.

I need to make a trip to the library today.

[Rowan]

mellen, not sure how we line up with liking/hating books but I generally do well with your recommendations. Here are my Haigh ratings.

Honestly I can't remember the last time I scored a 4.5. Haha.

4 Mrs Kimble Jennifer Haigh 2008
4.5 The Condition Jennifer Haigh 2008
4 Faith Jennifer Haigh 2011
4.0 Heat and Light Jennifer Haigh 2016

[Sílvia]

Finished My (not so perfect) Life. Total waste of time. There was one funny scene in the whole book and the premise just didn't hold enough drama for my taste. Poor girl in her 20s has boss from hell and loses crappy job in marketing. Yawn.

Then I read The Grown-up by Gillian Flynn. It's a short story. I liked it, but then it was over. I don't get the appeal of short stories. They always seem like beginnings of longer books to me.

Then I read Hate List by Jennifer Brown. Hated it. I really, really should stop reading books I don't like until the 20% mark or so. They never get better.

I'm reading the third Harry Potter but so far I'm finding it slow

Also started Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin last night. It seemed cute. I hope I like it. I need a good book.

[mellenhead]

Unbelievable: My front row seat to the craziest campaign in American History by Katy Tur - really good even though it’s like reliving the whole Trump getting elected nightmare.

[Rowan]

Here's one I recently liked: The Smell of Other People's Houses by Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock. It's YA and takes place in early Alaska which is cool. The end was a little confusing but I really liked it.

Not sure what's next on the pile. The pile is high but not very enticing if that makes any sense.

[mellenhead]

Rowan, I hate that feeling when you have a bunch of books but no burning desire to read at least one of them.

I started Artemis by Andy Weir last night. Really liking it so far.

[Spudd]

I finished "One Second After" a while ago. I wouldn't really recommend it. It paints an interesting scenario but the character development is not good and the editing is really bad, which I have a hard time getting past.

Now I'm reading "Foods that Fight Fibromyalgia". I don't know if I have Fibromyalgia, if I do, I think it's a very mild case. But I do have persistent muscle pain that bothers me daily so I figured it wouldn't hurt to see if changing my diet might help. So far though, she keeps contradicting herself. Like in one breath she'll say you shouldn't eat meat, and in the next, she says meat is a good source of protein. I mean, I guess maybe both are true but why would you include meat in a list of protein-foods if you don't want people to eat it?

[mellenhead]

Finished Artemis - it was pretty good. Light and amusing.

I'm about a quarter of the way into Behind Her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough and I can't put it down.

[Sílvia]

I finally finished HP and the Prisoner of Azkaban. I thought it was kinda slow and repetitive at first, but found it picked up considerably towards the end. I LOVED the plot twist! Since I've never seen the movies either (just the first two, after I'd read the books), this is all new to me. I have to be careful about spoilers online. People assume everyone's read all the books by now, but I haven't!

I'm also reading The Trophy Child by Paula Daly. I'm enjoying it so far (page 80 or so).

I also started rereading The House of the Spirits, which I absolutely adored the first time I read, but am having a bit of trouble getting through the beginning now. Huh. The first character she focuses on is a major asshole and I'm hating reading about him. I think the first time I read it I loved her writing so much that this guy didn't bother me much. Anyway, I'll stick with it because I know the women in this book rock and this guy will change some. I know it's a wonderful book.

[Sílvia]

I'm about a quarter of the way into Behind Her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough and I can't put it down.

This sounds up my alley and is 3 dollars on Kindle!

[mellenhead]

Finished Behind Her Eyes - it had quite the twist at the end, I thought it was good.

[Rowan]

mellen - Glad to hear you liked Artemis. I've heard not great reviews.

Hit 100 books with Heather, the Totality. This book is getting so much buzz and I don't know why. I really didn't like it at all.

I'm reading The Gatekeepers which is YA fiction from Jen Lancaster. So far it's ok. In terms of her fiction books, I generally like her dialog better than the plot which I guess makes sense because she's really a memoir writer.

[Spudd]

I kinda finished the Foods for Fibromyalgia book. Would not recommend. It basically just said "eat healthy" without any real guidelines. She talked about going gluten-free but then she would talk about eating whole wheat, etc. It was not very good.

Now I'm reading "Mercy" by Jodi Picoult.