What are you reading the week of July 25, 2020?

DiscussieWhat Are You Reading Now?

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What are you reading the week of July 25, 2020?

1fredbacon
jul 25, 2020, 7:53 am

Still reading my Immunology textbook. I'm also reading The Shadow Puppet by Georges Simenon.

2cindydavid4
jul 25, 2020, 12:01 pm

reading Hamnet

>1 fredbacon: so whats the latest on the housing situation (if you'd care to share)

3rocketjk
jul 25, 2020, 12:28 pm

I'm about a quarter of the way through In the Distance by Hernán Díaz.

4Copperskye
jul 25, 2020, 1:13 pm

Still enjoying The Great Believers. Unless it somehow falls apart in the last 60 or so pages (which I doubt), it'll be a 5 star read for me.

5PaperbackPirate
jul 25, 2020, 1:32 pm

I'm reading the retelling of a Russian fairy tale, Vassa in the Night by Sarah Porter. It is the weirdest story I've read in a long time, and I love it!

6JulieLill
jul 25, 2020, 2:43 pm

Many Waters
Madeleine L'Engle
4/5 stars
In this fourth book of the series, the focus is on Dennys and Sandy, the twin brothers of the Murry family. While no one is home they go into their mom’s lab when something happens to them and they are transported back in time. They end up still on Earth but in the time period when Noah and his family are given the instructions to build an ark and only certain people will be saved. Will Dennys and Sandy survive? This was a really interesting book but there are some very adult situations in this book so I find it interesting that it is considered a J (juvenile) book! I would consider it more of a YA book.

8LyndaInOregon
jul 25, 2020, 10:53 pm

Just finished Downfall, by J.A. Jance. According to the cover, this is #17 in the Sheriff Joanna Brady series, and I've got 10 of them listed in my book journal!

Have been reading this series for years, and Jance continues to deliver the goods, though I've been less than thrilled with her other series.

Next up is Castaways, by Elin Hilderbrand.

9Molly3028
jul 26, 2020, 4:28 pm

The Half Sister
by Sandie Jones
(OverDrive audiobook)

10seitherin
jul 26, 2020, 10:18 pm

Finished The Song Rising by Samantha Shannon. Liked it. Added The Pale Dreamer, a prequel Bone Season story, to my rotation.

11hemlokgang
Bewerkt: jul 27, 2020, 7:29 am

Finished listening to The Golden Cage, a very goid , suspenseful novel.

Next up for listening is a classic, A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain.

12seitherin
jul 27, 2020, 12:28 pm

Finished Q is for Quary by Sue Grafton. Really enjoyed it. Adding The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches by Alan Bradley to my rotation.

13LyndaInOregon
jul 27, 2020, 5:24 pm

Just finished The Castaways, which was a fair-to-middling "beach read" (whatever that means).

I just wish writers who are unfamiliar with firearms would frickin' ASK SOMEBODY before they write in scenes where rifles have pellets and shotguns have bullets and all terms are used interchangeably in describing the same incident.

Anyway, next up is probably going to be One for the Blackbird, One for the Crow. That may or may not take me through the end of July, which is shaping up to be a double-digit month.

14ahef1963
jul 28, 2020, 7:30 am

Just finished Kindred by Octavia E. Butler, which was very good and a compelling read. I think next I'll read the second volume of Georgiana Darcy's Diary, entitled Pemberley to Waterloo, by Anne Elliott. The first volume, which I read last week, was very sweet and likeable, and I love reading fictional diaries.

15LisaMorr
jul 28, 2020, 10:58 am

Still reading the same four books from last week: Knife of Dreams, The World of Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time, James K. Polk: A Biographical Companion and Fads and Fallacies In the Name of Science; reading four at once is not conducive to finishing books quickly! May have to cut back...

16seitherin
jul 28, 2020, 1:22 pm

Finished The Pale Dreamer and added The Dawn Chorus to my rotation. Both are by Samantha Shannon.

17BookConcierge
jul 29, 2020, 11:31 am


The Bookish Life Of Nina Hill – Abbi Waxman
Digital audiobook performed by Emily Rankin.
3***

From the book jacket The only child of a single mother, Nina has her life just as she wants it: a job in a bookstore, a kick-butt trivia team, and a cat named Phil. If she sometimes suspects there might be more to life than reading, she just shrugs and picks up a new book. (But her steady life is upended when) the father Nina never knew existed suddenly dies, leaving behind innumerable sisters, brothers, nieces, and nephews. … And as if that was not enough, Tom, her trivia nemesis, has turned out to be cute, funny, and deeply interested in getting to know her.

My reactions
I was predisposed to like this book because it focused on a bookworm.

I realize Nina suffers from an anxiety disorder and how the sudden influx of all these “strangers” who are supposedly her family would adversely impact a person with such a disorder. And, she does ultimately gather her courage and takes steps towards a less-lonely life.

However, while I liked Nina and the other characters, I somehow didn’t really connect to the book. Perhaps I’m just too far past that young-adult / new-adult phase in my life to really immerse myself in the angst of dating, or the romantic missteps we’ve all made in a new relationship. Also, I found the subplot of the inheritance something of a mis-connect. Perhaps if Waxman had just focused on Nina’s anxiety and the new relationship with Tom I would have liked it a bit more.

In any case, I still enjoyed it, as I enjoy mind candy (and candy of the edible kind as well), but it just doesn’t stay with me for long, or really satisfy my hunger.

Emily Rankin did a fine job of narrating the audiobook. She has clear diction and a good pace.

18LyndaInOregon
jul 29, 2020, 11:53 am

>17 BookConcierge:
The Bookish Life of Nina Hill was definitely one of my favorites of 2019. The girlfriends' discussion of guys who send pictures of their junk to random women is worth the price of the book, and the food fight near the end is a bonus.

Sometimes, you just need to laugh.

19ahef1963
Bewerkt: jul 29, 2020, 12:07 pm

>17 BookConcierge: >18 LyndaInOregon: - The Bookish Life sounds delightful - have added it to my list of books to borrow/buy/steal/find.

I spent yesterday eschewing housework and reading instead, so I finished Anna Elliott's Pemberley to Waterloo, which is the second of Georgiana Darcy's diaries. It was very enjoyable and sweet and I liked it very much.

Have picked Bluebird, Bluebird by Attica Locke to read next.

20seitherin
jul 29, 2020, 2:06 pm

Finished The Dawn Chorus by Samantha Shannon. It was OK. Added Seven Blades in Black by Sam Sykes to my rotation.

21JulieLill
Bewerkt: jul 29, 2020, 3:08 pm

Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the Worlds' Most Dangerous Man
Mary L. Trump
4.5/5 stars
Mary Trump, niece of Donald Trump and daughter of Fred Trump Jr., writes about life in the Trump family beginning with the patriarch of the Trumps, Fred Trump. Fred Sr. was a cruel, miserly man obsessed with profits and his children were his last priority and seen only as valuable as employees and for what they could do for him. When their mother became ill, they were on their own and were ill prepared for life. Not a long book but filled with crucial details of the Trump family history and a look at the family that shaped Donald Trump.

22princessgarnet
Bewerkt: jul 30, 2020, 11:42 am

Sidney Chambers and the Forgiveness of Sins by James Runcie
#4 in the Grantchester Mystery series

After seeing "Grantchester" for 5 seasons, I thought I'd give the novels a go! I got what was available from the library. Yes, there were changes between books and TV series. I could "hear" some of the characters' voices from the dialogue in the TV series as I read.
I recommend starting with The Road to Grantchester first--it tells Sidney's back story prior to his arrival at Grantchester.

23seitherin
jul 31, 2020, 10:40 am

Finished Clarkesworld Magazine Issue 163 and added Clarkesworld Magazine Issue 164 to my rotation.

Also finished The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches by Alan Bradley. Really liked this one. Added Thin Air by Lisa Gray to the rotation as well.

24BookConcierge
jul 31, 2020, 11:48 am


Ayesha At Last– Uzma Jalaluddin
Digital audiobook performed by Rosni Shukla
3.5***

Ayesha Shamsi dreams of being a poet but works as a teacher to pay her debts to her uncle. Her family is loud and boisterous, and Ayehsa is constantly being reminded that her younger cousin, Hafsa, is close to collecting her target hundredth marriage proposal, while she seems destined to never marry. Ayesha is lonely, but doesn’t want an arranged marriage. And then she meets Khalid Mirza, who is smart and handsome, and, also very conservative and judgmental.

I had great fun identifying Elizabeth, Darcy, Lydia, Wickham and Mr Collins in this modern-day retelling of Pride and Prejudice, featuring a Muslim couple in Toronto, Canada. Their missteps, misunderstandings, wrong conclusions, and ultimate relationship flow seamlessly from who they are and how they perceive the world. Both Ayesha and Khalid must make an effort to meet in the middle and communicate openly with one another.

I also enjoyed learning a bit more about Muslim culture and traditions. Jalaluddin shows us characters who are faithful and yet living in the modern world, and she doesn’t shy away from exploring work-place (and societal) bias.

Rosni Shukla does a fine job of narrating the audiobook. She sets a good pace and has the skill as a voice artist to sufficiently differentiate the many characters.

25LyndaInOregon
jul 31, 2020, 6:08 pm

Just finished One for the Blackbird, One for the Crow, and I gotta tell you -- this is one terrific read. Definitely on my personal shortlist for Best of the Year.

Hawker creates compelling characters and sets them against a background that is reminiscent of the best of Barbara Kingsolver -- a world teeming with interconnected life, whose human inhabitants are at odds with each other and with the land that holds the key to their existence.

26snash
aug 1, 2020, 7:25 am

I finished Mary Barton by Elizabeth Gaskell. It's a story revolving around the struggle between the classes in industrial Manchester in the mid 1800's. The characters are well drawn, the plot engaging although it ends a bit more rosy than realistic.

27JulieLill
aug 1, 2020, 12:16 pm

The 7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle
By Stuart Turton
4/5 stars
This is the most interesting, suspenseful and intricate supernatural murder mystery, I have ever read. Evelyn Hardcastle is murdered at a party in the country. No one knows who has done it but there are certain guests at the party who need to find the murderer and they only have so much time to find him/her or else they will suffer the consequences. There are so many twists and turns that you may need to take notes especially if you want to keep track of the characters and the plot.

28LyndaInOregon
aug 1, 2020, 1:12 pm

JULY READS -
Finished the month with 17 reads and two DNF. Standouts for the month were One for the Blackbird, One for the Crow, and Housebroken, along with two re-reads, The Bone Collector and Things I Learned from Knitting.

First August book finished this morning -- Tom Russell's excellent Ceremonies of the Horsemen, and I'm about to begin an Early Review read, Bell Hammers: The True Folk Tale of Little Egypt, which I'm somewhat dismayed to discover is about a town in Illinois and not about the famous hootchie-cootchie dancer. (Oh, well -- perhaps I'll learn something of value!)

29cindydavid4
aug 1, 2020, 1:31 pm

>5 PaperbackPirate: oh that sounds great! Will have to find that

30cindydavid4
aug 1, 2020, 1:38 pm

Julys reads

poppy wars

the vanishing half

daughter of time

queen of swords

Now starting on 5th season, and hamnet

31seitherin
aug 1, 2020, 5:58 pm