December!

[Rowan]

I'm not actively reading anything quite yet but wanted to start the new month!

[Korie]

I need some suggestions. Life has been a bit of a bummer the last few months, and the negativity is weighing heavily on my soul.

I want to read something light, fun, positive and happy (but not self-helpy or preaching). Probably something fiction. Christmasy is fine.

Anything?

[Sílvia]

Korie, I'm gonna go with the same author as Blush, Beth O'Leary, and recommend her other book, The Switch, which I found delicious. But if I'm remembering correctly, there's some back story about a character who died young, so I'm not sure how light you'd find it. That's not the main part of the story, though.

Kristan Higgins's earlier books seem to be all light and fluffy (her recent stuff can have heavier themes). I enjoyed Too Good to Be True.

[Bugsy]

I would add "A Man Called Ove," by Fredrik Backman.

A couple nights ago I started "Doctor Zhivago," by Boris Pasternak. I'm not far enough into it to know what it's going to be like, but I'm half-heartedly trying to read some classics so we'll see!

[Rowan]

The Idea of You by Robinne Lee is SEXY

I liked it

S liked me reading it.

I know you asked for happy -- this is....distracting.

LOL

[Korie]

All good suggestions!!! Rowan

[Sílvia]

Finished A Fall of Marigolds. 2 stars. Bah.

Then I read The Donor, a novella by Clare Mackintosh. Also 2 stars. It felt super rushed, like the summary of a novel. It's obvious the author's not used to the novella format.

Now I have The City of Mist by Carlos Ruiz Zafón. It's a book of short stories related to his beloved series The Cemetery of Forgotten Books (to which The Shadow of the Wind belongs). It was published posthumously (he died in June of last year). I can't believe it's his last book

[Sílvia]

Blush, I read an 80-page one and a 14-page one in the last 24 hours But it was a coincidence, I don't care about the goal. I just sign up because I'm curious to see how many I've read. It's easier that way.

[Sílvia]

I gave up on City of Mist. I love Zafón, but I'm really, really not a short story reader.

Then I read The Things We Keep by Sally Hepworth. Liked it a lot.

Now I'm reading a middle grade one called Starfish.

[Bugsy]

I don't love short stories either, Silvia. The one exception was Olive Kitteridge, which for some reason worked for me.

I gave up on Doctor Zhivago. Just could not get into it. Over the weekend I started Yellow Wife, by Sadeqa Johnson, and it sucked me right in. I'm already 84% through it, and it's difficult emotionally to read but very good.

This afternoon I plan to walk with Remy down to the library and run in to get two holds waiting for me. They are both sort of silly ones about Enneagram types. I learned about them from a podcast recently and am sort of interested to learn more, even though they're a bit pseudo-sciencey.

[Spudd]

I finished Good Neighbors. I liked it, but not super much. I wouldn't seek it out.

Now I'm reading "The Last Letter from My Lover" by Jojo Moyes. So far it's pretty good.

[Sílvia]

Bugsy, I've heard that Dr. Zhivago is super boring. I didn't wanna say anything before because I didn't wanna discourage you!

Spudd, I LOVED The Last Letter from Your Lover! I think it's my favorite book by Jojo after Me Before You. You have to watch the Netflix adaptation afterwards and tell me how different it is from the book, because I didn't remember much and am too lazy to reread the book, but I think there were some major differences.

Finished Starfish. I really liked it, though the girl seemed way too mature for an 11-year-old.

Not sure what I'm in the mood for. I think I want something in Portuguese, though. You know, so that I can bitch about how bad the translation is. I thought I was in the mood for something light, but somehow ended up with the sample of Kindred which is supposed to be excellent, but probably too heavy for my mood.

[Bugsy]

Well thanks, Silvia, for letting me reach that same conclusion. I had no idea what was happening, and there were already so many different characters that I couldn't even keep track of who was who. Oh well!

I hope you love Kindred. As you saw on Goodreads, she is my new favorite author, and that was my first book by her. SO GOOD. I hope you don't find it too heavy for your mood.

[Sílvia]

I just came here to tell you I'm at 24% and completely hooked!! I already wanna buy Parable of the Sower and the other one because they're at a discount in Portuguese and Leo might be interested, too. He could probably understand them well enough in English, but he'd be lazy.

[Bugsy]

Awesome! That and Parable of the Talents were also so super good.

[Sílvia]

Finished Kindred and thouroughly enjoyed it. What an interesting concept! I've never read anything similar. But I tried Parable of the Sower and couldn't get into it. Too depressing, and the religious talk put me off.

Now I need something a lot lighter.

[Bugsy]

Silvia, I'm so glad you liked Kindred! It blew me away. Your reasons for not getting into Parable of the Sower make sense, but I still really liked that one too. Turns out I appreciate a lot of the religious-type views expressed there, and I tend to read a lot of depressing things anyway for some odd reason!

[Sílvia]

I used to read depressing stuff more regularly, but I'm getting soft in old age! (plus the real world is horrible enough)

[Sílvia]

I read Reading Upside Down, a rom com by Jo Platt. It was cute, but forgettable.

Not sure what's next.

[Sílvia]

Hello...? Echo....! Where are all the readers?

I read Are We Having Fun Yet? by Lucy Mangan. It's a novel about a working mother of 2 chronicling her days. It's hilarious, maybe even if you don't have kids, but it doesn't have much of a plot, which made it not super compelling. It might have worked better if I'd read just one or 2 entries per day over a longer period. Anyway, I found her very, very funny. She's British and writes for... The Guardian, maybe?

Now I'm reading Oona Out of Order and I'm loving it so far (36% in).