January 2014! What are you reading?

[Blush]

I finished Minister without Portfolio and it was pretty good. It was a very Newfoundland style of writing.

Now I have Hyperbole and a half by Allied Brosh. I have heard good things.

[Blush]

I loved Hyperbole and a half. It made me feel lots of things. And I laughed.

Now on to After Her by Joyce Maynard.

[Rowan]

I wish that my library had Hyperbole....

I'm giving up on The Tulip Eaters. Interesting topic but the writing is soooo bad. Not sure what I'll grab. Although I think today will be a chill in bed and read day.

[Sílvia]

I finished The Never List a couple of days ago. I can't believe what passes for a "page-turner" these days. Ugh. Seriously? There wasn't much of a plot until 2/3 through, then what did happen made me roll my eyes. I'm in such a book rut. I started Defending Jacob and it seems decent, but I'm not too hopeful. I think it's time for something different. My next book will be a biography of a Brazilian woman. Different genre, different language, different everything. That's what they say you should do when you're in a book rut, right?

[Rowan]

I finished The Wicked Girls yesterday. There's raves about it but I just didn't like it. No flow.

I started The Wilder Life. A story about a woman who visits all of Laura's homes. Since I just finished reading the series I thought it might be fun.

[mellenhead]

Ok, I gave up on The Luminaries. Too many characters and storylines about looking for gold.

I read A Wrinkle in Time just for something I knew I liked and would get through quickly since I had been hating everything I picked up.

Now I started Shovel Ready by Adam Sternbergh. It's about the US and specifically NYC after a dirty bomb has gone off and now all the rich people live in a type of virtual reality world. The main character used to be a garbage man but now is a hit man. The writing is very different - much of the book is dialog but there are no quotation marks or indications of who is talking. Lots of one sentance paragraphs. Usually not my thing but I'm enjoying it so far.

[Beverly]

Beverly, in Portuguese. But the translation from Spanish to Portuguese is smooth, you barely notice you're reading a translation. From Spanish to English, not so much, hence my question. Glad it's good! Which Time and Again is that? There are several books by that name, apparently.

That's why I wondered if you'd read it in Spanish (I forget if your Spanish is fluent?). I also don't know if Spanish and Portuguese are as similar as, say, Swedish and Norwegian -- I can read Norwegian well enough to read a book in it, but I would prefer not to have to!

The Time and Again I recommended is by Jack Finney ... so, so good.

I finished The Time in Between, and I liked it a lot. The plot never seemed to drag, which is pretty impressive for a 600+ page book, and the story was fascinating.

Now I'm reading Life After Life by Kate Atkinson, and so far it's totally captivating!

[mellenhead]

I finished Shovel Ready. So not my kind of writing but I really enjoyed it and thought it was good.

I'm planning to start On Such a Full Sea by Chang-rae Lee tonight.

[Rowan]

Bev, I tried to get into Life After Life twice and just couldn't do it.

I finished The Wilder Life last night. It was ok. I started Tenth of December...a collection of short stories. Pretty ok so far.

[Blush]

I finished After Her and it was just OK. Lots of repetition in establishing the personalities of the sisters.

Now I have The Silent Wife.

[Sílvia]

Beverly, my Spanish is very, very far from fluent, but the 2 languages are extremely similar. I read House of the Spirits in Spanish as soon as I started studying it and understood 98% of it, that's how similar they are. But yeah, there's nothing like the comfort of one's first language!

Glad you liked the book, I loved the story. I've recently read another one by her, it's called Misión Olvido in Spanish. I liked the first one better, but my mom and my aunt both preferred this one. I don't know if it's been translated into English yet.

[Blush]

I finished The Silent Wife this afternoon. It was good.

Next I am going to start Paddle Your Own Canoe by Nick Offerman. I need something light.

[Rowan]

Finished Tenth of December and thought it was ok. Touted as one of the best books of 2013? Not for me.

Also finished Life Among Giants and liked reading it but again nothing earth shattering.

I want earth shattering!!!!

Not sure what's next. Maybe the latest Jeanette Walls?

[Rowan]

Read The Silver star by Jeannette Walls. Easy read, I liked it.

Starting Five Days at Memorial which will likely move slowly.

[Rowan]

Well...I lied. 5 Days went fast! I really liked it although felt that it could have used some major editing. It could have definitely been shorter.

Not sure what's next.