Talk Healthy

I just finished Meanwhile. The subject matter was a little depressing but I liked the writing.

Next: The Hopefuls by Jennifer Close

Just listened to The Unbreakable Miss Lovelr

It's about one of the first reporters Scientology terrorized. It was really good and I do suggest it if you like Scientology stuff.

Finished "The Spirit Catches You & You Fall Down" today at lunch. It's certainly dated (was written in the 90s) but was really interesting.

Next will be "Orphan Train," by Christina Baker Kline. It's the next book club selection. And I'm anxiously awaiting my delivery of the Emerson collection.

Finished Wool last night. I know I'm alone in this here, but I didn't like it. Fascinating concept, but after page 100 or so it felt like homework to me. Couldn't connect to any characters, skimmed through parts, was overall bored. Bah. Oddly, I am kind of curious about the second in the series because I did like the concept.

I started Black Ice by Becca Fitzpatrick last night but I don't know if I'll continue. We'll see.

I finished The Hopefuls. It was a good story, well written. Nothing earth shattering but good.

I'll pick up a Jojo Moyes today that I've had on hold forever. I bet it's a two week loan so I'll read it next.

Which Jojo Moyes, Blush? Also, how long are your loans usually? I'm pissed that just as I started using the library, they started charging parking at the park where it's located. It's only US$1.50, but still. You can buy some books on kindle for a little more than that.

Black Ice sucked, and I'm glad it sucked from the beginning because I only lost about 40 minutes of my life on it. It's about 2 stupid rich girls being kidnapped by big scary men on a mountain. You know the plot's not going well when you start rooting for the bad guys.

Then I started The Breakdown by B.A. Paris.

It's Paris for One and Other Stories. Our holds are 3 weeks unless they are high demand, then it's two weeks. I renew three week books fairly often.

Most of the branches in my old city had free parking lots, but the downtown one had a pay garage. BUT if you were only going to be a certain amount of time (half an hour I think?) then the library validated parking. Pretty sweet.

It's ridiculous for them to start charging, at least during the week, because the library is inside a freaking park! There are thousands of spaces. I'd understand if they wanted to charge on weekends only, but during the week? Come on! The other library I went to had free parking, but only about 6 spaces.

Forgot to mention I read the first book in A Series of Unfortunate Events because Leo's obsessed with the series and I wanted to see it for myself. I'm reading the second now, The Reptile Room. Leo's in the tenth book, I think. The books are clever and well-written (and, thankfully, well-translated), although there are frogs in the reptile room. But the translator pointed out that frogs are amphibians, which I knew but would have overlooked if he hadn't pointed it out. I also hope the series has a happy ending because it's a bit too dark for kids, imo.

And I'm also reading The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde. The man was such a hilarious genius. I'm working on an abridged version of The Picture of Dorian Gray with a student and we're both loving it. I should reread the unabridged version one of these days. I bought his Complete Works on kindle a while ago for 50 cents!

I finished "Bridget Jones' Baby" and enjoyed it for what it was. Don't expect anything deep! LOL.

Then I started "Cuckoo's Calling" by JK Rowling's pseudonym that escapes me at the moment. So far it's really quite good. I hated the last pseudonym thing I read by her, something about some small town in England where everyone was miserable, I couldn't even finish it. I want to say it was called "The Final Vacation" or something like that, but it wasn't that. Anyway, I'm glad this one is shaping up to be a good one. Silvia, amusingly enough, you and my best friend in real life finished the book 2 days apart on Goodreads. She liked it more than you did, though (4 stars vs 3 stars).

The Casual Vacancy, Spudd? My mom said the same thing. I wasn't too impressed by Cuckoo's Calling, either, but I liked the detective.

Yes! The Casual Vacancy! Very highly not recommended.

Sílvia wrote:Finished Wool last night. I know I'm alone in this here, but I didn't like it. Fascinating concept, but after page 100 or so it felt like homework to me. Couldn't connect to any characters, skimmed through parts, was overall bored. Bah. Oddly, I am kind of curious about the second in the series because I did like the concept.

Hey Sil. I loooooved Wool.

I finally finished The Sleepwalker by Chris Bohjalian. It was weird but in a good way. Have to say I did not really see the ending coming and I usually figure it out.

For the library users, now I'm curious - are your loan times dependent on the type of book? We get three weeks for any book (new, best seller, whatever). One week for DVDs.

I can't seem to tell. I only borrow e-books, and I feel like it's totally random how long they let me keep them.

My library is 2 weeks for any kind of book. You can renew once if there are no holds. The other library I went to a few times before this was 3 weeks for teachers.

Hey Sil. I loooooved Wool.

Seriously, we really should start checking each other's 1 and 2-star ratings and reading those!

Our regular books and ebooks are 3 weeks, and I've been successful renewing 3 times, though I don't know if there's a limit. If someone has a hold on the book you can't renew. "High demand" books are 2 week loans, no renewals, though I've only come across those a few times. Dvds and magazines are 1 week loans.

In my old city, high demand books were limited to a week!

Here "real book" new releases are 14 days (I think...Don't usually check those ones out) & all others are 28 days. E-books are 7, 14, or 21 days. You can set your own length from those options, which seems odd but is true. I always pick 21, because why wouldn't you?

I liked Wool but not the other ones in that series as much.

Today I finished "Orphan Train" and found it quite underwhelming. Great concept and started out probably 4 stars, but it really withered and just left me wanting so much more.

Next is "Hyperbole and a Half" by Allie Bosh. And my copy of Ralph Waldo Emerson's works came on Saturday so I'll keep picking at that.

I was underwhelmed by Orphan Train too, Bugsy. I don't get the hype.

I finished The Importance of Being Earnest last night. LOVED it. I don't know why I haven't read everything this man wrote yet, I read (and loved) The Picture of Dorian Gray when I was 16, so I knew I'd like him. I even read the Spark Notes after finishing, to make sure I hadn't missed any references I'm now back to The Breakdown, which is entertaining enough, but omg, contemporary fiction seems so trite after Wilde's genius.

Finished "Hyperbole and a Half." I really liked it. I'd seen at least some of the chapter about depression and again found it quite spot-on, and most of the other chapters made me giggle and LOL. I had to stop reading one about her dogs last night, because I kept giggling and waking Jason.

Next is "How to Transform Your Life," by Geshe Kalsang Gyatso. He's a Buddhist monk who established the "version" (for lack of a better term) of Buddhism that's practiced at the center in town. The two times I've gone they've based the discussion on this book, so it should be interesting.

I finished the Jojo Moyes at lunch. It was enjoyable.

Next up: This is How it Ends by Kathleen MacMahon.
From GoodReads:

THIS IS HOW IT ENDS tells the story of two people who collide with each other just as the whole world seems to be caught between the hope and promise of Obama’s election and the catastrophic collapse of the global economy.

Bruno is a middle-aged American banker who has come to Ireland to escape the financial meltdown in his own country. Addie is an out-of-work Irish architect. Childless and isolated when she meets Bruno, her life seems to be on a downward spiral.

Addie and Bruno’s story is one of nationality and identity, of the power of optimism to defeat despair and the unstoppable march of time. It’s the story of two people who find joy together when they were least expecting it. It's about the past and the future and the elusive skill of living in the moment. It is a love story for our times.