February 2014: What Are You Reading?

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February 2014: What Are You Reading?

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2Cecilturtle
feb 2, 2014, 7:27 pm

I have finished The Silence of Bonaventure Arrow by Rita Leganski - a beautiful story in the genre of magic realism.

I have started So Good They Can't Ignore You by Cal Newport, a book about deliberate practice and craftsmanship - not sure how I fell about it yet...

3rabbitprincess
feb 2, 2014, 8:30 pm

At home I am switching between Bleak House and a cozy: The Christie Curse, by Victoria Abbott. On the bus I am reading (and wishing I could take a red pen to) Scottish Battles, by John Sadler.

4AngelaLaughing
feb 2, 2014, 10:14 pm

I'm reading toooooo many right now. Just finished Projection by Priscila Uppal (review on GR: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/833407067?book_show_action=false ) and Quiet by Susan Cain. In the middle of How to Get Along with Women by Elisabeth de Mariaffi. I love short stories!

5LibraryCin
feb 3, 2014, 9:51 pm

hmmm, Canadian books I'm planning to read this month:
- Prisoner of Tehran / Marina Nemat

I just finished (for my book club later this month):
- 419 / Will Ferguson

And, not a Canadian author, but set in Quebec, I am currently listening to the audio of:
Deja Dead / Kathy Reichs

6LynnB
feb 4, 2014, 5:42 pm

7loosha
feb 4, 2014, 8:14 pm

I'm reading Perfect. It has some touching poignant scenes between really needy damaged characters, a psychological partyplate, right up my alley.

8ted74ca
feb 5, 2014, 5:28 am

Just finished The Massey Murder: A Maid, Her Master and the Trial that Shocked a Country by Charlotte Gray. An interesting read esp. about the social mores and the lives of the different classes in society in WWI era Toronto, in the context of the Canadian involvement in the Great War.

9buriedinprint
feb 5, 2014, 11:51 am

8 I'm really looking forward to this one; her Sisters in the Wilderness was one of the first books which introduced me to the idea of narrative non-fiction, and I just loved it.

I'm close to finishing The Luminaries, which I do not want to finish: it's very good. And I've just started Cecil Foster's Independence, which is very rich and engaging so far.

10LynnB
feb 8, 2014, 10:24 am

I'm enjoying The Dinner by Herman Koch

11LynnB
Bewerkt: feb 11, 2014, 8:27 am

The Dinner was amazing...creepy and thought provoking, brilliant writing.

I'm now on to Minister Without Portfolio by Michael Winter, one of my new favourite authors.

And, Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese which has been on the TBR shelves for long enough!

12ted74ca
Bewerkt: feb 12, 2014, 5:14 am

11. I too, really liked The Dinner, but I absolutely loved Cutting for Stone.

13ted74ca
Bewerkt: feb 12, 2014, 5:17 am

I just finished The Expats by Chris Pavone and really enjoyed it. It's described as a spy thriller, and I hadn't read any spy fiction since I was in my twenties (a long time ago!), but I wouldn't really describe this as simply spy fiction. Suspenseful yes and a bit too unbelievable in parts, but a good read.

14Nickelini
feb 13, 2014, 7:23 pm

Another one who liked The Dinner. It starts off so civilized and reasonable, and then . . . . it isn't.

Reading Sweet Tooth by Ian McEwan. It's very different from anything I've read by him before, but then all his books are quite different from each other.

15LibraryCin
feb 14, 2014, 9:00 pm

I just started this today:
Prisoner of Tehran / Marina Nemat

16loosha
feb 14, 2014, 9:13 pm

I'm trying to read The Orenda. It is brutal. Maybe i'll move on to something lighter til i'm feeling stronger.

17LynnB
Bewerkt: feb 17, 2014, 1:54 pm

18fmgee
feb 17, 2014, 6:12 pm

February has been a good reading month for me. Nothing like time by a wood fire with a book or two and no responsibilities!

I finished
Doctor Proctor's Fart Powder by Jo Nesbo (yes pretty much as it sounds)
Cloudstreet by Tim Winton (not at his best and I really did not like the mystic elements)
Still Life by Louise Penny (A major disappointment after all the hype I have heard)
The Man who Smiled by Henning Mankell (always a gripping read) and
In Our Time by Ernest Hemingway (this did not do much for me).

I am glad to see some good thoughts on The Dinner. I might have to track down a copy.

19LibraryCin
feb 18, 2014, 3:55 pm

18. I wasn't a fan of Cloudstreet, either. (The only book I've read - or plan to read! - by him.)

Also a bit disappointed in Still Life. It was ok, but it didn't live up to the hype for me, either.

20buriedinprint
feb 19, 2014, 2:27 pm

I just finished Elizabeth Stewart's Blue Gold which I really enjoyed. The narratives connect via the experiences of three teenagers: one living as a refugee from the Democratic Republic of the Congo displaced from her homeland because of the war errupting around the mining for coltan, one working in an Asian factory to manufacture cell phones which require the mineral in their production, one living in North America who experiences cyber-bullying which is furthered by mobile technology. It's the kind of story that could be told in a heavy-handed way, but the author manges to engage readers without allow the bleakness to take over.

Now I'm about to dive into Claire Cameron's The Bear.

21ted74ca
feb 20, 2014, 4:21 am

I've been reading the Harry Hole detective novels all out of sequence, so backtracked a bit today and finished Phantom by Jo Nesbo. Good story, though brutal and graphic as usual.

22LynnB
feb 20, 2014, 12:29 pm

I'm reading, for the first time, My Antonia by Willa Cather for a book club.

23fmgee
feb 20, 2014, 1:25 pm

Just finished The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene. Very bleak but with some wonderful word combinations.

24Nickelini
feb 20, 2014, 2:34 pm

#23 - I have that one on the top of my TBR pile. I'll wait until I'm in the mood for bleak.

25rabbitprincess
feb 20, 2014, 4:53 pm

Exploring Dublin with Tana French's In the Woods.

26loosha
feb 21, 2014, 12:22 am

I read The Bear by Claire Cameron, Author added because the touchstone just doesn't do it. Intriguing bits where the girl's wandering memories illuminate her mind's defenses, but i skimmed a lot.

I enjoyed every moment of The Good Luck of Right Now, as i'm drawn to quirkiness of personality and light-hearted philosophy.

Today I started One More Thing: stories and Other stories.... a real treat so far.

27LynnB
feb 22, 2014, 2:01 pm

28ted74ca
feb 23, 2014, 4:43 am

Just finished the latest in one of my favourite mystery/crime series: A Dying Fall by Elly Griffiths. I especially love the character of Ruth and enjoy the almost "cozy mystery" feel to these books- with some archeology knowledge thrown in for good measure.

29LynnB
feb 23, 2014, 12:58 pm

I've just started The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood

30Nickelini
feb 23, 2014, 8:50 pm

We're having a magical snowfall in Vancouver (by that I mean, it's snowed for two days and still the roads are clear--but we get all the snowy prettiness), so this afternoon I lit a fire and a candle, made some tea, and started The Orenda. Despite its size, it looks like it will be a quick read. That is, if I don't get too cozy and start napping like I did today.

31loosha
feb 24, 2014, 11:10 am

That sounds lovely.
I'm reading The Museum of Extraordinary things. ( oops, i typed ’thongs') by alice Hoffman.

32fmgee
feb 24, 2014, 3:20 pm

30: We have the unmagical snow variety across the strait. It has snowed three days non-stop and they have not even tried to plow today it has gotten so deep. My noisy inlaws are staying with us as well so I have not managed to read much of Bel Canto or The Dead in their vaulted Arches both of which would normally suck me right in.

33Nickelini
feb 24, 2014, 4:24 pm

#32 - Ha ha ha! Well, ours has turned non-magical too. All day today my weather-app has said rain with start in the next hour--So it's been wrong for the past 6 hours. The thing that is puzzling me is that since it started snowing 3 days ago, the temperature has often been 1 or 2 above freezing. How does it snow when it's not freezing out?

Signed,

Baffled.

34rabbitprincess
feb 24, 2014, 6:39 pm

>31 loosha:: Hee! Gotta love prankish fingers. One typo my fingers seem to find funny is typing "sexperts" instead of "experts" (especially in documents with absolutely zero sex appeal).

Today I started and finished Doctor Who and the Underworld, by Terrance Dicks. My next bus book will be Death in a White Tie, by Ngaio Marsh.

3519anne44
Bewerkt: feb 24, 2014, 10:03 pm

I'm reading that book too and so far I am really enjoying it. I've read all the others in the series. This was meant tobe a reply to #28 and the coment about Elly Griffith's mystery series

36LibraryCin
feb 24, 2014, 11:10 pm

#33. I'm thinking the cloud/air where the snow is forming is 0 or colder. It's just not warm enough to melt it before you see it and/or it hits the ground.

37Nickelini
feb 25, 2014, 12:36 am

#36 - That must be it--I can't think of any more reasonable explanation. Thanks for speaking up so I don't feel totally crazy.

38LynnB
feb 26, 2014, 7:38 am

I'm reading Cockroach by Rawi Hage to complete my Canada Reads prep!

39ted74ca
feb 27, 2014, 3:07 am

Today, I finished a work of historical fiction, which I thought was an interesting, engaging read: The Midwife of Hope River by Patricia Harman

40LynnB
feb 27, 2014, 4:45 pm

I've finished the Canada Reads books, and have turned to In the Plex: How Google Thinks, Works, and Shapes our Lives by Steven Levy

41Nickelini
feb 27, 2014, 5:43 pm

Lynn - so which Canada Reads books are your favourites? I'm trying to finish The Orenda and get to Cockroach but unless the world stops spinning for a day or two, it's not going to happen. Still, I'm going to try.

42LynnB
feb 28, 2014, 7:33 am

I think The Orenda is the book that can change how Canada thinks. It was my favourite, followed by Half Blood Blues. But, as I said, I don't see how HBB could change Canada.

I didn't really like Annabel because it was so impossible (medically)and I thought Middlesex handled the issue much better.

So, ranking: The Orenda, Half Blood Blues, Year of the Flood (I'm so surprised that I liked that one!); Cockroach, Annabel from a "favourite" perspective.

For Canada Reads: The Orenda, Year of the Flood, Cockroach, Annabel, Half Blood Blues

43Nickelini
feb 28, 2014, 1:03 pm

Lynn - I think some of these themes they come up with are a bit forced. But I guess they have to hang the competition on some sort of frame. Thanks for sharing your lists. I'm still thinking (and still trying to read).

44fmgee
mrt 1, 2014, 11:05 pm

I think I might need to read The Orenda. My father in-law gave it to my wife for Christmas and she has no plans on picking it up... guess that makes it mine.

I just finished Bel Canto by Ann Patchett which I found very good (apart from the epilogue which I wish I had not read!)

45ted74ca
Bewerkt: mrt 5, 2014, 6:22 am

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