August 2018: What Are We Reading?

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August 2018: What Are We Reading?

1LynnB
Août 2, 2018, 8:47 am

I'm happy to start a new thread...I keep getting freaked out by that cat picture!

I'm reading Keeping Faith by Jodi Picoult. A while ago, I decided I'd had enough of her writing....but I'm back. She does tell a good story, but if I read them too close together, they seem formulaic.

2Cecrow
Août 2, 2018, 10:01 am

What cat picture? You mean THIS cat picture? (inserts image again ....)

I did return to that bookstore, and I did exchange for that copy, so I guess I'll see who else is affected, lol

3rabbitprincess
Août 2, 2018, 6:15 pm

Just finished a re-read of The Honourable Schoolboy, by John le Carré.

Next up in bus reading is another re-read: Speak Ill of the Dead, by Mary Jane Maffini.

4mdoris
Modifié : Août 4, 2018, 12:11 am

Reading Homegoing and Why Buddhism Is True. Thanks Lynn for starting the August thread!

5LynnB
Août 5, 2018, 9:03 am

I'm rounding out my reading on the kidnapping of Amanda Lindhout by reading her mother's book: One Day Closer: A Mother's Quest to Bring her Kidnapped Daughter Home by Lorinda Stewart.

6rabbitprincess
Août 5, 2018, 10:05 am

Working my way through Into the Raging Sea, by Rachel Slade, which is about the sinking of the container ship El Faro in 2015.

7LynnB
Modifié : Août 6, 2018, 3:40 pm

8rabbitprincess
Août 6, 2018, 8:08 pm

Next up is a British Library Crime Classic: Bats in the Belfry, by E.C.R. Lorac.

9Northlaw
Modifié : Août 7, 2018, 7:22 pm

Just finished Gwynne Dyers Growing Pains - The Future of Democracy (and work). Always enjoy his writing. Provides clear, witty, non-sensationalist, essays on the modern geopolitical world.

10Northlaw
Août 7, 2018, 7:21 pm

Finished Deportation of the Prince Edward Island Acadians while sitting on a beach in PEI. I enjoy reading history where it happened. It always brings it alive,

11rabbitprincess
Août 7, 2018, 8:16 pm

Finished my re-read of Speak Ill of the Dead. I love that it's set in Ottawa :)

Next up in bus reading is Logopolis, by Christopher H. Bidmead, a novelization of the Fourth Doctor's last TV story.

12LynnB
Août 8, 2018, 11:17 am

Waiting by Ha Jin is next up.

13rabbitprincess
Août 9, 2018, 6:31 am

Finished Logopolis, so now the sci-fi trend continues with Ancillary Sword, by Ann Leckie.

14LibraryCin
Août 13, 2018, 10:54 pm

>7 LynnB: Oooooh, how are you finding it?

15LibraryCin
Août 13, 2018, 10:54 pm

Thrice the Brinded Cat Hath Mew'd / Alan Bradley
3.5 stars

Flavia has come home from her stint at boarding school in Canada to find that her father is ill and in the hospital. Before she gets a chance to go visit, she – once again – stumbles across a dead body and must (in her opinion) set out to figure out what happened.

I still think the character of Flavia is a lot of fun, and I love Jayne Entwhistle doing her voice for the audio books. To be honest, I’ve never thought much of the mysteries themselves. I keep going for Jayne’s version of Flavia. Here’s the thing I’ve never mentioned, though. With most audio books, if my mind wanders too much, I rate it lower – usually a 3 or less. With this series, Jayne/Flavia have been propping it up for me. I think this one actually kept my attention a bit more, but not much more. Surprising to me, I’m actually debating whether or not I should try the next one NOT in audio format – just to see if I might enjoy the mystery/plot a bit more without a wandering mind.

16rabbitprincess
Modifié : Août 14, 2018, 6:06 am

Yesterday I started reading Bella Poldark, by Winston Graham, on the bus. But the book's a bit heavy for my purse, so I've switched to another of my current reads: The Quaker: A Duncan McCormack Novel, by Liam McIlvanney. It's probably just as well, because I think The Quaker is better read in the daytime!

At home I am reading Brazen: Rebel Ladies Who Rocked the World, by Pénélope Bagieu.

17ted74ca
Août 14, 2018, 10:18 pm

Aug 1: Finished a crime fiction novel this week: The Girl in the Green Dress by Cath Staincliffe, that I thought was rather boring, with sometimes unconvincing characters. Not a winner.

18ted74ca
Modifié : Août 14, 2018, 10:19 pm

Aug 5: Read a beautifully written novel this week-moving and lyrical and haunting. Grace by Paul Lynch

19ted74ca
Août 14, 2018, 10:22 pm

Historical fiction for this week's reading: The Alice Network by Kate Quinn. A few of my friends had raved about this book, but I can't say I share their passion for it. I was keenly interested in the historical details about female spies in WWI, but the post-WW2 character really irked me for some reason and I didn't find her behaviour at all realistic. I also could have done without the rich girl/poor troubled man romance aspect of the story.

20LibraryCin
Août 15, 2018, 12:42 am

>19 ted74ca: I'm sorry you didn't enjoy it more. I just finished it a few days ago and it's likely to make my top 10 this year.

21rabbitprincess
Août 15, 2018, 6:46 am

Preparing to start The Getaway, by Jim Thompson.

22LynnB
Août 16, 2018, 4:49 pm

>14 LibraryCin:: I really enjoyed The Shoe on the Roof! I liked the quirky premise: take three subjects who each believes he is the Messiah and bring them together in a form of group therapy: they'll have to confront the reality that they can't all be right, won't they?

Thomas is a medical student whose father rose to fame in the psychiatric field by writing a detailed book about Thomas's upbringing. Thomas became known as "the boy in the box" because his entire childhood was an experiment on the effects of various stimuli on him. Thomas has just broken up with Amy, and in an attempt to get her back, decides to "cure" her brother who thinks he is Jesus Christ. When Thomas discovers two other men claiming the same thing, he launches his group therapy idea. Dad takes over, and things take a downward spiral.

This book is funny at times (did you know that Connecticut is mentioned in the bible?) but also very thought-provoking as it explores the nature of human emotions and beliefs. Thomas and the three patients are wonderful characters and the ending is near perfect....just the right amount of wrap up and ambiguity for my tastes.

23LynnB
Août 16, 2018, 4:55 pm

I've been spending time on airplanes and in airports, so have managed to read a lot recently: The Disappearing Boy by Sonia Tilson, At Paradise Gate by Jane Smiley, Standard Deviation by Katherine Heiny and am currently reading We'll All Be Burnt in our Beds Some Night by Joel Thomas Hynes.

24LibraryCin
Août 16, 2018, 11:11 pm

>22 LynnB: Nice! Thank you! I do plan to read it at some point.

25LibraryCin
Août 17, 2018, 9:53 pm

Chase / Linwood Barclay
4 stars

Chipper is a dog, but he’s much smarter than the average dog (to say the least!). As the book opens, he is in a cage and the “White Coats” are coming for him. He manages to outsmart the humans and get away: far away, where he is looking for Jeff. Jeff is 12-years old. His parents both recently died and he is living with his aunt, who is making him work hard at her business. But, the White Coats, who are coming after Chipper, won’t stop…

I really enjoyed this. It’s YA, so not nearly as complex as Barclay’s other novels, but I thought it was still a good thriller. As YA, it’s a quick read. The point of view alternated, mostly between Chipper and Jeff, but I think there was an occasional other POV thrown in every so often. Unfortunately, there wasn’t really an end to the book, as it left off on a cliffhanger. I will, of course, pick up the sequel.

26ted74ca
Août 18, 2018, 1:25 pm

>20 LibraryCin:. My friends that have read it would totally agree with your assessment!

27ted74ca
Modifié : Août 18, 2018, 1:28 pm

I've always loved this crime fiction series (The Duncan Kincaid/Gemma Jones novels) and am still amazed about the fact that the author isn't even English! Garden of Lamentations by Deborah Crombie

28LynnB
Août 19, 2018, 2:50 pm

29LynnB
Août 22, 2018, 3:18 pm

I'm reading Swing Time by Zadie Smith

30rabbitprincess
Août 22, 2018, 9:10 pm

Just started Pilote de guerre, by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.

31LDVoorberg
Août 23, 2018, 10:51 am

>15 LibraryCin: LibraryCin,

I totally agree that Jayne Entwhistle is why I keep going back to hear more about Flavia! I've read them all on audio and I also have wondered if I'd like the series as much if I was doing the hard copy reading.
I have the reverse situation for Louise Penny's Inspector Gamanche series -- the reader for those audio books has a slower pace that I've switched back to the paper copy so I can move at my reading pace, not his, and I enjoy the books more.

32rabbitprincess
Août 23, 2018, 8:04 pm

Also planning to start Follow the Dead, by Lin Anderson.

33ted74ca
Août 23, 2018, 9:08 pm

Today I finished a rather bleak, but so very interesting (and topical) novel -- a fictional depiction of the lives of real German anti-Hitler social activists who ended up as political refugees in pre WWII London. All That I Am: A Novel by Anna Funder

34ted74ca
Août 24, 2018, 6:57 pm

Stayed up late last night to finish a not-too-bad suspense novel: Bring Me Back by B.A. Paris.

35LynnB
Août 26, 2018, 3:52 pm

36frahealee
Modifié : Juil 10, 2022, 7:57 pm

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37ted74ca
Août 29, 2018, 12:43 pm

Couldn't get back to sleep last night so finished The Perfect Mother by Aimee Molloy-a not particularly thrilling suspense novel.

38LynnB
Août 30, 2018, 8:49 am

I'm reading Women Talking, the newest by Miriam Toews

40LynnB
Août 31, 2018, 4:56 pm

I'm reading Clock Dance by Anne Tyler. I'd heard somewhere (or thought I did) that she'd decided to retire from writing, so I was really, really happy to find this book! I've read everything she's written.

41rabbitprincess
Août 31, 2018, 6:10 pm

Working on Longitude, by Dava Sobel.

42LynnB
Sep 2, 2018, 9:17 am

>41 rabbitprincess: rabbitprincess: I struggled a bit with the science in that one, but ended up really enjoying it. Have you read Galileo's Daughter which is her other book. I loved that one.

43rabbitprincess
Sep 2, 2018, 10:49 am

>42 LynnB: Haven't read Galileo's Daughter yet, but should! I also liked her The Glass Universe.

44ted74ca
Modifié : Sep 2, 2018, 5:38 pm

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