Group Reading Log: September 2012

Time to move on to September.

I am struggling through The Whispers of Nemesis by Anne Zouroudi at the moment. It is rather slow-moving but the story itself is worth ploughing on. I am about three quarters of the way through it and will probably finish it this afternoon.

Nice new digs, thanks Pink! I was actually thinking of maybe just having a Reading Log, rather than one a month, given we're fairly quiet at the moment. Does anyone have any thoughts?

I'm currently burling through City of Glass, a page turning angsty YA novel. The characters keep on doing stupid things, which certainly keeps the plot moving, but sometimes I just want to sit them down and gaffa tape them to their chair to stop them from being so idiotic.

Maybe one thread for each year, starting on January 1st 2013.

Ooh, it's quite roomy over here. Oh, I misread the title of this thread; I thought it was Bookcrossing. So do you list everything you read, or just the books that you're planning to send on?

I talk about everything I read, I've become a slack bookcrosser over the years in terms of reading and releasing bookcrossed books, but still enjoy the community.

Pink, a thread a year might be the way to go! Less likely to lose people between months that way too.

I have an e-reader now and can't bookcross those (obviously) but I still et tempted by bookshops and at the moment I have about a dozen books waiting to be released; I just haven;t got around to doing it yet.

And the books I donated to an op shop when I moved house are gradually coming to roost.

I have finished Whispers of Nemesis. It was disappointing, drawn out and basically a waste of good reading time.

I finished Stephen King's The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon yesterday. no great surprises but for the fact I read it in about a week! 'The girl' in the book is nine-years-old but is written more like she's fourteen.. other than that minor quibble it was a good read.

Tonight I've started Tim Thornton's The Alternative Hero (described in press quotes on its front cover as 'The indiest book of all time' and 'like High Fidelity at high volume'). I'm not far enough in to judge, so far it reads like Nick Hornby which is no bad thing..

wookiebender: I read the first book in The Mortal Instruments series years ago. I thought it was great at the time (possibly as I'd just given up on Twilight and was pleased to have an alternative I could steer my daughter towards). I never continued with the series but still might - I think I even know which stack the next book is buried under..

I vote for one thread! Not that I'm here much.

I'm reading The Secrets between us by Louise Douglas. It's just one of those light, summer reads.

I don't bookcross anymore either now that I have an e-reader. End of an era :( I find it much harder to figure out what to read now.

pinkozcat, don't you just hate wastes of reading time?

@freelunch, it was trashy, but awfully good fun. :) I tried summarising the plot to Don last night at some stage and he just looked at me as if I was mad. It's teen angst soap, and all the plot twists and characters probably only make sense if you're in the thick of it all. I found the second a bit too angsty (or maybe I shouldn't have read it back-to-back with #1), but City of Glass was a good conclusion to the trilogy. Now there's a prequel AND a sequel trilogy. My cup runneth over with teenage angsty fun.

And my 12 year old niece loves them, so we've got plenty to talk about. :)

Hi fushmush! Looks like the one thread might be the way to go.

Well, now that I finished City of Glass (I sat on a wall near work with my coffee and read the last few pages before entering the building this morning), I shall be moving on to Fire by Kirsten Cashore, the prequel to Graceling, another fun YA fantasy novel. I've heard this one is less good, but I'm enjoying my trashy teen reads this week, and this one looked like a good one to continue onto.

I am gradually catching up again on Marcia Muller. At present i am reading Eye of the Storm and enjoying it although it never ceases to amaze me the way fiction characters have the living daylights beaten out of them and get up to live another day. James Bond was a classic example but Sharon McCone is doing a pretty good job of it in this book.

I did enjoy Fire overall, but it was a bit patchy in terms of pacing at times. Some bits just seemed to drag a bit too much. Still, shall continue on with the third in this series, Bitterblue, at some stage.

Continuing on the fantasy reads with Ben Aaronovitch's Rivers Of London, which has been described as "if Harry Potter grew up and joined the London police". Quite right, only he's not a wizard, but it's got that sort of fun sense of humour so far. Should be a good romp, I hope!

Pink, this is not Patrick White's The Eye of the Storm, then? I was puzzled for a moment. :)

I've just finished reading Blood Test by Jonathan Kellerman.

It started off OK but about halfway through it got all James Bondish with Dr Delaware doing all manner of deeds of derring do and there was too much sex.

I think that it must have been an early book because the later ones are far more cerebral.

#12 Wookiebender, the book I read was Eye of the Storm (no "The"), one of Marcia Muller's Sharon McCone books.

I'd be happy to have a thread for the year, as I'm such a slack participant. But then I might contribute even less.

I've got three books on the go at the moment, which is unusual for me as I usually live in one world at a time. Anyway, I'm reading Anna Karenina (slowly) and loving it, Why Be Happy When You Can Be Normal and realising that I need to give Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit another go, as well as reading Trespass by Rose Tremain, which I found on the el cheapo table at Readings.

So are ebooks the death of bookcrossing? I haven't been active in BC for a while, but I hadn't thought about that.

By coincidence (in reference to earlier comments) I nearly picked up White's The Eye of the Storm to read the other day, but then I thought that having seen the film, my view would be coloured by that, and I've always had trouble with Patrick White. (Too many words!*) I did like the film.

*I'm not being quite straight here, as reading is my vocation and my delight.

livrecache, I keep on nominating Why Be Happy When You Can Be Normal? for my F2F bookgroup, and it hasn't been chosen yet. (Granted, we do pull the book out of a hat, and there's only been a few meetings so far. But I wanna read it!)

I find my biggest obstacle to an eReader is the lack of sharing of a book afterwards. It's a hassle loaning them out (I believe there's some sort of borrowing/lending option now, but I don't know how it works at all), you can't bookcross them, and they're not there on the shelves to provoke conversation after you have read them. I'm more than happy to move my CD and DVD collections to pure digital, but not the books.

I'm finding it's library books (and lack of time) that's killing my BCing abilities.

Finished Rivers of London and it was a good fun romp, if a bit bloody at times. Not for kids, so don't be taken in by the "Harry Potter" comparisons. Looking forward to book 2.

But in the meantime, have started The Shape of Water, finally moving onto Inspector Moltobano. Another good one, so far.

I finished The Alternative Hero on Friday. loved it. I'm passing it on to a friend and once she's done with it it might turn up in the VBB.

Now I'm reading The Opposite Of Life, an urban fantasy/chick-lit thingy recommended by a friend. so far it's fun, and my hopes of regaining my regular reading habit continue to rise.

wookiebender: I've just given Rivers Of London to my 13yo to read after seeing it described as YA-lit somewhere (and because I enjoy Ben Aaronovitch's work more often than not). Do you think it's too bloody for teens? If so I can probably sneak it back before he starts on it..

Hmm, depends on the kid, I guess. There are a couple of decapitations (one described in a bit too much detail), some unresolved adult sexual tension (so none of that teen angst that made City of Glass such a trashy enjoyable read), and a fair amount of swearing. It's definitely more adult than Harry Potter, not just for the violence.

Yay for returning to a reading groove!

#17 freelunch - teens ARE bloody, so are pre-teens. It is just that we forget. I loved Grimms' Fairly tales when I was a kid ...

"My mother cooked me,
My father ate me.
My little sister Geraldine
Picked my bones 'til they were clean."

I am back to Quentin Crisp and the antics of Gervase Fen. Lovely use of language and amusing as well.

Pink, there's blood in gruesome fairy tales, and then there's close up descriptions of the stump left when a head has been chopped off. Just sayin'.

Neither of my kids are at all fond of blood or violence. Or loud noises, even. But neither was I, although I love a good gruesome fairy tale now.

Finished The Shape of Water and it was fun, but annoyingly translated at times. Or maybe I just haven't had enough experience of Italian literature.

Keeping up with the Eurocrime, but completely differently, with Kurt Wallander in The Dogs of Riga. I've gone from the hot climes of Sicily to a freezing day in Sweden. The culture shock is immense.

finished The Opposite Of Life last night, liked it very much. I can just about remember enough Melbourne geography to make sense of its locations and the characters (girl librarian/boy sci-fi geek, socially inept vampire) likeable. there's a sequel I might have to track down..

now reading Rivers Of London (after successfully retrieving it from my son)

I hope you like Rivers of London! I'll keep my eye open for The Opposite of Life, sounds good.

Dogs of Riga was excellent, wish I had the third one in the series to hand. In the meantime, I'm making do with Death in a Strange Country, by Donna Leon. Back to Italy, but Venice this time! And because she writes in English, I'm not getting that awkward translation thing.

I also quickly knocked over Fables: Legends in Exile by Bill Willingham. Only had it 9 weeks out from the library, only read it the day it was due back (oh dear). One must get more efficient with one's reading schedule.

Donna Leon is one of my favourite authors. I have read the whole series. She is actually an American but has lived in Venice for years. Her Inspecctor Brunetti series is particularly good; funny, compassionate and readable ... and there is a recipe book called A Taste of Venice.

I want to know how *I* can go and live in Venice....

LOL, wookiebender, passport, airline ticket, stash of cash?

And so far it's a resounding "errr... not yet..." to all those three prerequisites. :)

Damn it, I want a glass of wine, and some antipasto. No, risotto. No, pasta. No, roast veal. No, seafood. No, tiramisu. (I'll skip on the liver, onions, and polenta, although even they sounded good when Donna Leon's writing.) These Italian sleuths sure know how to make me drool.

Oh, yum. Now you're making me hungry.

Finished The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie and Dark Moon Defender by Sharon Shinn. Both good fun.

#26 I have waited for almost a year for artichokes to come back into season and now they are here. A lot of the recipes seem to feature artichokes.

Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow creeps ... towards artichokes.

Oh, I love artichokes! Now I'm hungry again. Where's my toast? And will the cafe put a dash of grappa into my coffee? (No? Well, probably a good thing, it does sound a bit of an acquired taste. ;)

Stayed up late and finished Death in a Strange Country and it was very good. Now to find book #3 in the series.

Moved onto Bloodsucking Fiends by Christopher Moore, which I just offered up on the Oz VBB. Good fun so far.

>22 wookiebender:: wookie, I am currently listening to an audiobook version of The White Lioness, which is the third in the Wallender series. Great stuff!

We listened to the first half of it in the car on the way back from the Pilbara last week. I'm now finishing it off via my ipod while doing the mowing on the ride-on, but Pam wants to read the rest in book form (as I also have a 'real book' copy). So once that's done I'll be happy to pass it on if you'd like it.

I'm afraid I haven't got to do much reading (as opposed to listening) over the past couple of weeks. I'm half way through To Say Nothing of the Dog, but although I'm enjoying it when I read it, it is just not grabbing me that much. Doomsday Book is way, way better imo.

>29 wookiebender:: Caught you on another thread, wookie, and read your comments on Donna Leon. Have you watched 'Pie in the Sky'? Sounds like a similar concept - food and crime.

crimson-tide, I think the Henning Mankells are keepers for me, so thanks, but if I had a bookcrossed version, I'd have to pass it on at some stage (and then buy my own copy anyhow! :).

You know, every now and then I come across people who found Doomsday Book "boring". I wonder what book *they* were reading, because I think it's a great read.

Hi humouress! Yes, I've seen "Pie in the Sky" a bit, it's good stuff. Apparently the Italians have also done an Inspector Montalbano TV series back in the 1990s or thereabouts; that's another crime series with far too much drool-worthy food. I did have a delightful collection of short stories around crime and food, edited/co-written (?) by Kerry Greenwood - Lord Peter Wimsey solving a crime over high tea, that sort of thing. It was an excellent read, I'm rather annoyed I've lost my copy and it seems to be out of print. (Ahah, found it! Recipes for Crime.) It was more serious than the current crop of cozies that seem to revolve around bakeries and the like (which aren't really my cup of tea).

Hi everyone. The single reading log sounds good .... >24 wookiebender::(also, I am now dreaming of Venice too .... Sigh!) ......

I finished Song of Achilles and I really enjoyed it .... short chapters, quick to turn the pages, liked the link with the Iliad .....

Am now halfway through The Age of Miracles .... another page-turner that I am enjoying and finding quite interesting. It seems almost like a young adult book, making one look at the world and things we take for granted from another perspective .... :)

After that I have to read a library book .... another one that came in at the same time as the others: Property of Blood set in Florence (I am dreaming of Florence too .... sigh! sigh! sigh!) A friend suggested I try Magdalen Nabb and this one was available so lets see how it goes.

Oh, it's been ages since I've been here, sorry!

I finished Bloodsucking Fiends and have it all wrapped up to post in the Oz VBB! It was rather good fun, although at times it read a bit like chicklit being written by a bloke. That is, the main female character came across as rather what a man would think a woman would be like (hint: we're not always keen on shopping). But the funny bits were funny!

Then moved on to In Dubious Battle by John Steinbeck. Almost finished it, it's no Grapes of Wrath, although you can see themes that reoccur in that later novel. The characters aren't as well fleshed out as his later characters, and I'm having difficulty liking the communist who's leading the strike, with his "hey, a few deaths will help our cause" attitude. Although I'm sure Steinbeck doesn't like him much either. :)

And that's about it, although I am also a few pages into Quicksilver by Neal Stephenson. Reading got knocked on the head lately with the nasty tummy bug that's going around Sydney. Both kids were felled by it, a week apart. Mr Bear at least only threw up during civilised hours (although all over the footpath outside of school minutes after I got there); Miss Boo started at 1am and continued all night, poor little thing.

I think they should quarantine Sydney for a while. I don't think I know a single family who's escaped unscathed.

Eww; I think we went through it a few weeks ago. Glad you're over it. But we're not in Sydney at the moment :-)

We're visiting Melbourne for a couple of days (returning to Sydney on Saturday). Does anyone know of a good Fantasy bookshop in the CBD? We're staying in Collins Street.

Thanks!

Minotaur! Go there every time I visit Melbourne. And there's a new one, Of Swords and Sorcery, I think it was http://www.librarything.com/topic/139921

Finished In Dubious Battle and the ending was pretty powerful.

Have moved on to Amelia Peabody in The Hippopotamus Pool. Needed something silly. :)

Considering it's a long weekend in Sydney, it's been a slow reading weekend. :) Still enjoying The Hippopotamus Pool, but quickly re-read The Uncommon Reader yesterday in preparation for this week's bookgroup.

October thread is now ready for your perusal!