Talk Healthy

I'm reading Michael Palmer's latest and last novel. Didn't realize he had died. I like his books.

In the last week I've finished "White Teeth" by Zadie Smith (really excellent--worth the multi-month wait. Anyone with an interest in immigration/history/race relations/how those can all be interrelated would probably enjoy it) and "The Husband's Secret" by Liane Moriarty (a quick read, entertaining enough, but pretty contrived. The ending just tied up far too nicely to be plausible). I just downloaded "Allegiant" by Veronica Roth on digital book. If it's anything like the others it'll be a quick one.

I also have "What Color is Your Parachute" (2014 edition) by Richard Nelson Bolles. I don't plan to read it word for word but will peruse it to see if it has good ideas for musing over as I consider longer-term career path options.

I will have to add JoJo Moyes' other works to my waitlists, because several people have enjoyed her other books (I read "Me Before You" earlier this year and thought it was pretty great).

I'm gonna order some others by Jojo Moyes jn English. Me before You was excellent.

I didn't like White Teeth, though I don't remember a single thing about it. Well, opinions are like asses and all that. I couldn't get into it at all, and that was back in the day when I finished books I didn't like.

I finished The Midnight Rose by Lucinda Riley. The translation was terrible, and not only that, there were TONS of Portuguese mistakes. I emailed both the publisher here, to complain, and the writer's website, to warn them. So I don't know if her writing is kinda bad or if it's the translation's fault. Anywway, I loved the story. Yes, it had several predictable and soap opera-ish twists, but I couldn't put it down. I'm definitely checking out her other books in English. She's kinda trashy and formulaic, but so much fun.

Today I'm starting Longbourn by Jo Baker.

Huh, I'm surprised to hear you didn't like White Teeth, Silvia. I think we tend to like the same sorts of books, don't we? But you are so very right about opinions. And the older I get the more it seems that my tastes run a bit askew from most people's when it comes to things like this, so who knows. Oh well, good thing there are a million books out there to choose!

Bugsy, yeah... You seem to like fantasy, which I don't, but we do seem to agree when we both read The same thing. I'm glad you didn't ask for my opinion before you picked up WT!

I don't know what I'm reading nothing right now. I just finished the Divergent series a couple weeks ago and now I'm not sure what's next.

I need a good summer beachy type read. Maybe I'll look thru some others posts to get some suggestions!

I think I'm giving up on Longbourn. What a bore. It's a retelling of Pride and Prejudice from the servants' point of view. There's a bunch of readers on goodreads furious because she destroyed Jane Austen's characters. They say the book is vulgar and violent. Well, I wish I'd seen some of that action because up to page 85 NOTHING happens. You can sum it up like this: life for servants at that time was very hard. There's a new servant at the Bennetts' house. Yawn. Every day I read a couple pages to see if anything will happen, but so far, no such luck.

Meanwhile, I bought my first e-book! I'm tired of not finding the books I want in English, so I succumbed (sp?). I bought a kindle too, which should arrive today at my mom's (long story). The book is What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty. Apparently several of you have read it. I'm hooked. The idea is very unoriginal but the execution is excellent, imo. Also, I can't believe I hadn't heard of this author until earlier this year. So she always writes this chicklit for the 40 somethings genre? I'm sold!

I was on vacation last week so I got lots of reading in!

I read Dust by Hugh Howey, the final book in the Wool series - it was good! Ending wasn't quite what I expected but I liked it.

Read California by Edan Lepucki - it's a dystopian type book, it was decent

Read The Fever by Megan Abbott. Eh. It was ok.

Read Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty. Really enjoyed it!

Read Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo - it's a YA fantasy book, I liked it.

Now I'm almost done with All Fall Down by Jennifer Weiner. It's not very good but it's a quick mindless read.

mellen....sooooo jealous.

Yesterday I finished "Allegiant" by Veronica Roth. Meh...it was all right. I didn't enjoy the series a whole lot, though.

And then last night I caved and bought my first digital book: The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt. It's our current book club pick, and we're meeting next Saturday. I'd been on about 7 waitlists at the library for it in several different formats and just wasn't going to get it in time. I'm about 40% through it and am liking it. It's a lot of character development and not a fast-moving plot, though, so it wouldn't be for everyone.

Bugsy, I hated Allegiant. I thought the first book in the series was decent and it just went down hill after that.

Finished All Fall Down by Jennifer Weiner. It was pretty bad, I miss her writing style from her earlier books.

I'm planning to start The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith (JK Rowling) today.

Finished What Alice Forgot. I loved it. The premise was unoriginal and the whole development of the story was predictable, and I STILL loved it. I thought it was funny, I loved the main characters, I couldn't put it down. Can't wait for her other works.

Then I started The Girl you Left Behind by Jojo Moyes. I like it, but don't love it (yet?) Maybe because I loved Me Before You so much.

Sil, I know we usually have the opposite views on books, but I like the Liane Moriaty books too - I just read her most recent Big Little Lies - check it out - it's funny.

I finished the Silkworm by Robert Galbraith. It was good - better than Cuckoo's Calling.

I just started Monument 14 (YA Dystopian). Hopefully I'll get through while waiting for my holds at the library to come in.

Actually, Mellen, I was just comparing our books on goodreads and we have agreed more than we have disagreed. There are just a few books on which we've radically disagreed. Go check it out if you're bored. I LOVE the "compare your books" feature. And yes! I'm totally checking out her other books. I really enjoyed The Husband's Secret and now I loved this one.

I had no idea there was a compare books feature! I will have to go find it!

I finished Monument 14 - it was a decent quick read. It's about a school bus full of kids that end up alone inside of a Wal-Mart type store after there is an accident at a nuclear facility that releases a compound in the air that affects people differently depending on blood type.

Started Storm and Seige last night by Lauren Bardugo. It's #2 in the Grisha trilogy.

I finished "The Goldfinch" by Donna Tartt and loved it. Like I said previously, this has a lot of character development and a mostly slow-moving plot. Because of that, some people won't like it; however, I liked these characters tons more than those from her first novel "The Secret History" and really enjoyed getting to know each of them as they grew older. And the premise was intriguing to me as well. This is right up there as one of my favorites of the year.

I think the next book club book will be "The Giver" by Lois Lowry, and I'm thrilled that it came in right away for me at the library. I'd read this back in grade school but don't remember it overly well. It'll be a quick read.

And "Life After Life" by Kate Atkinson just came in on my digital book hold list, so I'll be starting that tomorrow on my commute probably.

Really liked The Divorce Papers! Curious what you think of it.

Finished Siege and Storm. It was ok - lots of repetitive stuff from the first book. I'll probably pick up the third and final book since since it's already out and they are quick reads.

Started The Queen of the Tearling yesterday. It's decent so far, though some of the writing is annoying me. I'm hoping the action picks up soon - The new Queen (who was in hiding her whole life) has been on horseback trying to get to the castle for almost 150 pages.

I finished The Queen of Tearling. I wanted to love it but didn't.

Also finished Sky on Fire, the 2nd book in the Monument 14 trilogy. It was pretty decent and a quick read.

Last night I started The Book of Life, the 3rd book in the All Souls Trilogy. So far so good, though I'm having trouble remembering some of the people that she hasn't written about since the 1st book.

I finished The Girl You Left Behind. It was good, but not excellent. There are 2 story lines, one set in 1917 in France during German occupation in WW1. The other part is set in London in 2006. The WW1 part is much better, though obviously the 2 parts are linked. The 2006 part dragged and was kind of silly, imo. But I'd still recommend it.

Then I started The Truth about the Harry Quebert affair by Joël Dicker. It sucked me right in, but I'm only 50 pages in. I hope it keeps up.