What are you reading for February?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just finished The Women, Kristen Hannah’s new book. Am about to start The Fury by Alex Michaelides.

I just started The Women yesterday. What did you think of it?

I just got off the Libby holds list for The Women. I'm about 40 pages in and underwhelmed so far. It seems kind of prosaic. Does it get better once she’s in Vietnam?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just started “Come and Get It” by Kiley Reid. I do not like it so far. It’s mean spirited and unoriginal. The over the top praise for her first book (praise that was undeserved, perplexing) has gone to the authors head. No self awareness.

Agreed -- "Come and Get It" is TERRIBLE.

I somewhat liked "Such a Fun Age." There are so many problems with "Come and Get It." I almost can't believe it got published.

I'll add to the pile of people who thought Come and Get It was horrible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just finished The Women, Kristen Hannah’s new book. Am about to start The Fury by Alex Michaelides.

I just started The Women yesterday. What did you think of it?

I just got off the Libby holds list for The Women. I'm about 40 pages in and underwhelmed so far. It seems kind of prosaic. Does it get better once she’s in Vietnam?

I generally love Kristin Hannah books but I thought this was one of her weakest. Usually her books are so heart-wrenching for me and none of the tragedies in this one elicited much emotion from me at all. She's also usually good at dramatic plot twists but the ones in this book felt formulaic and cheap.

That said, it was an entertaining, fine read. I just had high expectations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m reading Beyond That, The Sea by Laura Spence-Ash. It’s about a British girl who gets sent to live with an American family during WWII. I’m about a quarter of the way through and enjoying it so far.

I loved that book!

I also adored Beyond That, The Sea. I read it in one sitting actually, pulling an almost all-nighter because I loved it so much.

[Anonymous]

I’m reading Sea of Tranquility. I’m not sure about it.

I loved Station Eleven. I’d say I liked Glass Hotel quite a bit. I’m roughly 1/3 into Sea of Tranquility and not disliking it…but I’m not taking to it in quite the same way. I can’t put a finger on why. I do like speculative fiction/sci fi/time travel stuff. Maybe it’ll improve, I’m not sure.

[Anonymous]

I read Tom Lake based off all the good reviews in this forum. I liked it (3*/4), including the framing of the story in the present day with her daughters. It reminded me of Hello Beautiful.

[Anonymous]

I just finished The Good House by Ann Leary. I read this before and often think about it but couldn't remember the details, so I wanted to read again to remember why it stayed with me. I listened to the audiobook, and the narrator is fantastic.

I am frequently disappointed in how books end - too rushed, unresolved issues, too long, unsatisfying resolutions, etc. But this book did not disappoint me. It's a full storyline that felt satisfying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just finished The Women, Kristen Hannah’s new book. Am about to start The Fury by Alex Michaelides.

I just started The Women yesterday. What did you think of it?

I just got off the Libby holds list for The Women. I'm about 40 pages in and underwhelmed so far. It seems kind of prosaic. Does it get better once she’s in Vietnam?

I generally love Kristin Hannah books but I thought this was one of her weakest. Usually her books are so heart-wrenching for me and none of the tragedies in this one elicited much emotion from me at all. She's also usually good at dramatic plot twists but the ones in this book felt formulaic and cheap.

That said, it was an entertaining, fine read. I just had high expectations.

So I’m almost halfway through The Women and it seems like it’s just battle wound story after battle wound story. Like all she does is tell the story of one dying soldier. Then another. Then maybe something else quickly. Then back to another story of some character (potentially a brand new one to whom we have no connection) dying. Am I missing something? I guess I’ll keep going since I’ve invested so much time in it so far but I would have expected by this point that I’d care, at least about the main protagonist, and I just don’t. If she dies on the next page it’ll just feel like that’s what happened.

[Anonymous]

I just finished Learned By Heart by Emma Donoghue. I’ve read and loved a lot of her books but this one was very mediocre. Plot took forever to develop but then felt rushed at the end. And I just didn’t care about any of the characters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just started “Come and Get It” by Kiley Reid. I do not like it so far. It’s mean spirited and unoriginal. The over the top praise for her first book (praise that was undeserved, perplexing) has gone to the authors head. No self awareness.

Agreed -- "Come and Get It" is TERRIBLE.

I somewhat liked "Such a Fun Age." There are so many problems with "Come and Get It." I almost can't believe it got published.

I'll add to the pile of people who thought Come and Get It was horrible.

I tried twice with 'Come and Get It". I disliked it even more on the second try. A favorite author said, "writers should never put themselves in a position of moral superiority to their characters." I wish he told that to Kiley Reid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just finished The Women, Kristen Hannah’s new book. Am about to start The Fury by Alex Michaelides.

I just started The Women yesterday. What did you think of it?

I just got off the Libby holds list for The Women. I'm about 40 pages in and underwhelmed so far. It seems kind of prosaic. Does it get better once she’s in Vietnam?

I generally love Kristin Hannah books but I thought this was one of her weakest. Usually her books are so heart-wrenching for me and none of the tragedies in this one elicited much emotion from me at all. She's also usually good at dramatic plot twists but the ones in this book felt formulaic and cheap.

That said, it was an entertaining, fine read. I just had high expectations.

So I’m almost halfway through The Women and it seems like it’s just battle wound story after battle wound story. Like all she does is tell the story of one dying soldier. Then another. Then maybe something else quickly. Then back to another story of some character (potentially a brand new one to whom we have no connection) dying. Am I missing something? I guess I’ll keep going since I’ve invested so much time in it so far but I would have expected by this point that I’d care, at least about the main protagonist, and I just don’t. If she dies on the next page it’ll just feel like that’s what happened.

I’m the other poster reading this and I agree. It’s a quick read but nothing special.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just finished The Good House by Ann Leary. I read this before and often think about it but couldn't remember the details, so I wanted to read again to remember why it stayed with me. I listened to the audiobook, and the narrator is fantastic.

I am frequently disappointed in how books end - too rushed, unresolved issues, too long, unsatisfying resolutions, etc. But this book did not disappoint me. It's a full storyline that felt satisfying.

Thanks so much for this recommendation. It looks great, as do her other books!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just finished The Women, Kristen Hannah’s new book. Am about to start The Fury by Alex Michaelides.

I just started The Women yesterday. What did you think of it?

I just got off the Libby holds list for The Women. I'm about 40 pages in and underwhelmed so far. It seems kind of prosaic. Does it get better once she’s in Vietnam?

I generally love Kristin Hannah books but I thought this was one of her weakest. Usually her books are so heart-wrenching for me and none of the tragedies in this one elicited much emotion from me at all. She's also usually good at dramatic plot twists but the ones in this book felt formulaic and cheap.

That said, it was an entertaining, fine read. I just had high expectations.

So I’m almost halfway through The Women and it seems like it’s just battle wound story after battle wound story. Like all she does is tell the story of one dying soldier. Then another. Then maybe something else quickly. Then back to another story of some character (potentially a brand new one to whom we have no connection) dying. Am I missing something? I guess I’ll keep going since I’ve invested so much time in it so far but I would have expected by this point that I’d care, at least about the main protagonist, and I just don’t. If she dies on the next page it’ll just feel like that’s what happened.

I’m the other poster reading this and I agree. It’s a quick read but nothing special.

I'm PP. I'm very curious to hear you say it's a quick read - it's almost 500 pages! I would not call that a quick read unless perhaps you scanned a lot of it during the more tiresome parts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just started “Come and Get It” by Kiley Reid. I do not like it so far. It’s mean spirited and unoriginal. The over the top praise for her first book (praise that was undeserved, perplexing) has gone to the authors head. No self awareness.

Agreed -- "Come and Get It" is TERRIBLE.

I somewhat liked "Such a Fun Age." There are so many problems with "Come and Get It." I almost can't believe it got published.

I'll add to the pile of people who thought Come and Get It was horrible.

I tried twice with 'Come and Get It". I disliked it even more on the second try. A favorite author said, "writers should never put themselves in a position of moral superiority to their characters." I wish he told that to Kiley Reid.

This is an interesting point. I work in publishing, and I get a vibe that she does not respond well to being edited.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just started “Come and Get It” by Kiley Reid. I do not like it so far. It’s mean spirited and unoriginal. The over the top praise for her first book (praise that was undeserved, perplexing) has gone to the authors head. No self awareness.

Agreed -- "Come and Get It" is TERRIBLE.

I somewhat liked "Such a Fun Age." There are so many problems with "Come and Get It." I almost can't believe it got published.

I'll add to the pile of people who thought Come and Get It was horrible.

I tried twice with 'Come and Get It". I disliked it even more on the second try. A favorite author said, "writers should never put themselves in a position of moral superiority to their characters." I wish he told that to Kiley Reid.

This sounds very interesting. Can you give me an example of what you mean? (Haven't read this particular book).