Talk Healthy

@ blush but not rock and roll?

I read The Accident by Chris Pavone which was really good. I picked up Cains Blood at the library that is DNA cloning gone bad. I may enjoy it if I allow the author some leeway with the realism of technology.

Rowan

I am now a good 60% or so into "Devil in the White City," and I'm fairly interested in it now. It did take a while, but yeah, it's pretty good. I do agree with some reviews I'd read, though, that it sort of seems like two separate books smashed into one. Kind of odd.

And I am on the final disc of "The Fault in Our Stars." It's gotten really sad in the last few chapters. Really excellent book, though.

Just finished The Middle Place by Kelly Corrigan. Autobio about a woman battling breast cancer and her crazy dad also battling cancer. Really well written and an easy read. I highly recommend it.

Rowan, I have The Accident at home. I loved his prior book - I'm blanking on the name.

I skimmed I Don't Know What You Know Me From by Judy Greer. It was ok - some funny stories in there.

I'm having trouble getting into a reading groove for some reason. I've tried starting Sleep Donation and Chop Chop in the past week and just can't seem to get anywhere.

Nope, not rock and roll, Rowan!

I just finished The flying Troutmans by Miriam Toews. I really enjoyed it and will look for more of her stuff. The dialogue made me laugh.

My MIL brought The Husband's secret and both she and my mom finished it so now it's my turn.

Mellen, it's The Expat. I liked that one too.

I started Sick Puppy by Carl Hiassen on the train today. One of my book fair throw away paperbacks. It's amusing.

I finished "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson. And despite the slow, dry start, I am super glad to have stuck with it. By about the halfway point I was really pretty into it, and it's certainly an interesting story. It still seems like two books smashed into one, but I do feel that it's worth reading.

A colleague gave me her copy of "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt, so I think I'm going to take that into bed and read as much as possible before falling asleep. It sounds really interesting.

I *finally* finished Winter of the World by Ken Follett. As usual, his writing is atrocious. That was forgivable in Pillars of the Earth because the story was so good, but in this trilogy.... meh. As I said before, I think he talks way too much about political and historical events and not enough about his fictional characters, which makes for a dry read a lot of the time. Like in the beginning, he spent pages and pages explaining how Hitler got the majority in the parliament. God, it was boring. We already know he was able to fool average Germans for a long time and how that ended up, who cares about the step-by-step of how he obtained majority?! I wish he'd used more of his 890 pages to show us more of his characters. And that history had been more in the background. That said, I still found it readable and enjoyed lots of it (if not all). I give it 3 stars.

Then I started The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett because I loved The Forgotten Garden and wanted to check out her inspiration. I don't usually read kids' books, but this is such a classic.

Silvia, I loooved The Secret Garden when I was a kid. That is one that could be worthy of a re-read. Hope you enjoy it.

I liked The Secret Garden but I looooved A Little Princess.

I just finished The Husband's Secret. I really like her writing and that the characters are multidimensional.

Now I have "Someone" by Alice McDermott.

From Library Journal:

All people are interesting if we only know their story. When readers first meet Marie Commeford, she is seven years old, waiting on the steps for her father to return to their Brooklyn home. From a chance encounter with a hapless neighbor girl that same day to her parents' deaths, through World War II, Marie's first sexual encounter, marriage and children, to her brother's sudden departure from the priesthood, this novel moves from one emotionally rich touch point to the next in a nonlinear narrative that echoes memory itself. Winner of the National Book Award for Charming Billy, novelist McDermott continues to captivate readers by delving into ordinary, daily life with skill and compassion, showing us that we can't always see at the time what will be meaningful in our lives.

Sorry to disappoint, but I gave up on The Secret Garden. It's cute, but well... I'm not a kid. I was bored.

Then I started The Cuckoo's Calling. I'm only 15 pages in, but I'm liking it so far.