Talk Healthy

I just finished "Divergent" by Veronica Roth. It was pretty good...I think I liked The Hunger Games more, but I still put myself on the wait list for "Insurgent." Gotta know what happens with the factions now!

The next book club book is "The Fault in Our Stars" by John Green. The audiobook came in at the library for me yesterday, so I'll probably start listening to that on my drive home from work. I'm also still on the waitlists for the actual books and the e-book, but they're pretty long waiting lists.

I'm halfway through a collection of Shirley Jackson's work. Not sure what's up next - I think I have the new Emma Donohue (sp?) book on the holdshelf for me (auther that wrote "Room").

I REALLY want to read Sleep Donation by Karen Russell but it's only available via e-book.

"Sharp Objects" by Gillian Flynn came in from my e-books hold list, so I started that over the weekend. I'm about halfway through already--spent several hours reading in the sun on my deck on Saturday. Bliss! The book itself is excellent so far...it's kind of haunting me, and I just want to keep reading.

And I'm on Disc 2 of the "The Fault in Our Stars" audiobook and am also loving that. The actress reading it is doing a great job. I can see why Jon would like this author--the dialog feels very "authentic teenager" to me.

I just finished "Sharp Objects" by Gillian Flynn. Wow. That book was fantastic. So dark and disturbing, and it hooked me from the get-go. I had listened to the audiobook for her "Gone Girl"--which I also mostly enjoyed--but this was so much better than that one. "Gone Girl"'s ending left me feeling pretty underwhelmed, but this one was pretty damn fantastic.

And while I was typing this, I received notification that her "Dark Places" is available off my hold list of e-books. When we were in Jamaica I tried reading it, but it wasn't jiving with the Caribbean vacation mode. Will give it another try right now.

Bugsy, I thought Dark Places was much better than both GG and SO. But anyway, the woman knows how to hold your attention.

I'm still reading Ken Follett's Winter of the World. I had a hard time getting into it, but now it's picking up. The problem with these books (it's a trilogy) is the fact that they have too many historical/political details. I like my historical fiction with just a touch of history and way more fiction. But overall this is right up my alley: WW2 background, the story of several families in different countries, different generations. You get to see the characters from the first book!

Sharp Objects was definitely my favorite of the 3.

This afternoon I finished Dark Places. The more I read, the deeper the story got, and I liked that. It's sort of a toss-up for me between SO and DP, but I think SO wins. GG was my least favorite, but that was still good and I think is balanced by having listened to that instead of read it directly and knowing the casting for the movie (blech). I think it's time for something lighter after those two in a row!

Oh, and just started disc 4 of 6 of the audiobook of The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. Still really enjoying this one too.

"The Devil in the White City: A Saga of Magic and Murder at the Fair that Changed America" by Erik Larson came in from my hold shelf today. I'll start it tonight or tomorrow, most likely.

I tried the Devil in the White City a few years ago on audiobook. OMG, it was the most boring thing EVER. I gave up after like 1 disc.

I thought Sharp Objects was her best book out of the three, followed by Dark Places.

Finished th Shirley Jackson collection, I love her writing. Tried to start Frog Music by Emma Donohue but hated it.

I got a Kindle Fire a week or two ago and checked out Sand by Hugh Howey (guy that write Wool) from the Amazon Lending Library. It's really good.

Next up is Sleep Donation by Karen Russell.

Spudd wrote:I tried the Devil in the White City a few years ago on audiobook. OMG, it was the most boring thing EVER. I gave up after like 1 disc.

Aw man, really? It's been on my to-read list for ages. Haven't started it yet, so I guess I'll go into it with low expectations.

Low expectations is always the best, then you can be pleasantly surprised. It's the worst when you have high expectations and then don't end up liking the thing.

Anyway, I know it's a well liked book in general, but it was just not up my alley at all.

Well, Spudd, I see what you mean. I'm about 15% into it, and it's pretty dry. I'm going to keep going with it, though; it seems like it should get more interesting, and I need reading material for my commute. Definitely glad you warned me, though!

Blush that sounds great. I'm going to put it on my TBR list.

@ 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.

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.