What are you reading for February?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

I posted on a recent thread about Sea of Tranquility. For me, it did not improve. I mean I liked it ok, but I absolutely loved Station Eleven and this was much weaker IMO. Needed to be fleshed out much more. There’s also a specific plot point that I disliked but I won’t mention here as to not spoil it for you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

I posted on a recent thread about Sea of Tranquility. For me, it did not improve. I mean I liked it ok, but I absolutely loved Station Eleven and this was much weaker IMO. Needed to be fleshed out much more. There’s also a specific plot point that I disliked but I won’t mention here as to not spoil it for you.

Yes, I'm the PP above and just finished it. I ended up actively disliking it. I actually laughed aloud a few times towards the end at the absurdity. I think that the strength of my dislike for it is a testament to how good her other books are-- she can do better, so why publish this? Did no one edit it? I thought "Station Eleven" was a truly elegant twist on the dystopian novel, and so I was pretty excited to see what she did with sci-fi/speculative fiction. Not much, it appears.

Anyway, I'm on to reading "Prophet Song" now.

[Anonymous]

I finished Doing Harm about medicine and women — really good and informative info about how sexism has informed medical sciences.

Started The Anthropocene Reviewed — essays about the Anthropocene from the pandemic. I picked it from a if you liked X, you’ll like Y list and it’s nothing like my X but I am enjoying it. Funny and informative and nice.

I’m also 3/4th of the way through rereading Lois McMaster Bujold’s Penric and Desdemona series, which I would highly recommend to fantasy lovers. Although the later stories hit me on the parental anxiety pressure points as the main character has kids my age. Fortunately they’re have happy endings.

[Anonymous]

I started Demon Copperhead yesterday. I know people are pretty split on whether they love or hate the book— but based on what I’ve read so far and the recommendation of the person that gave me the book— I think I’m going to be one of the people that loves the book.

[Anonymous]

I'm halfway through Yellowface by R.F. Kuang. Really enjoying it so far.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I started Demon Copperhead yesterday. I know people are pretty split on whether they love or hate the book— but based on what I’ve read so far and the recommendation of the person that gave me the book— I think I’m going to be one of the people that loves the book.

It's really heavy - a lot to think about. I had to take a few breaks while reading it.

[Anonymous]

Coincidentally, both Mother-Daughter Murder Night and The Thursday Murder Club came off my holds list at once. Both are recent novels featuring regular citizens hyped up solving local murders. The first is three generations of a California family. The second a group of crafty septuagenarians in a retirement village. I’m enjoying them both.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm halfway through Yellowface by R.F. Kuang. Really enjoying it so far.

Me too! The pacing/tension (so far) are great.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm halfway through Yellowface by R.F. Kuang. Really enjoying it so far.

I loved that one

I'm reading Blank by Zibby Owens - it was an Amazon first read this month. It's not my usual thing - and I think objectively it is not a good book? - but I am still really enjoying it and finding it fast and engaging.

[Anonymous]

I finished listening to "The Berry Pickers" yesterday.

I thought it was excellent.
It is about a four year old native American girl who was kidnapped in 1962. She was the youngest child of a family who came from Nova Scotia for two months every summer to pick berries in Maine. She had been eating lunch with her six year old brother on a rock near a lake. When the brother was done eating he wandered down to the lake to throw rocks in the water. That is when she disappeared.
50 years later she finally reunites with her family.

I don't know why, but my library has lots of copies (like 50) of this book available on Libby / overdrive as an audiobook. But no copies as an ebook.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I finished listening to "The Berry Pickers" yesterday.

I thought it was excellent.
It is about a four year old native American girl who was kidnapped in 1962. She was the youngest child of a family who came from Nova Scotia for two months every summer to pick berries in Maine. She had been eating lunch with her six year old brother on a rock near a lake. When the brother was done eating he wandered down to the lake to throw rocks in the water. That is when she disappeared.
50 years later she finally reunites with her family.

I don't know why, but my library has lots of copies (like 50) of this book available on Libby / overdrive as an audiobook. But no copies as an ebook.

I just got this (as a Libby ebook from fairfax county) today. Looking forward to it. I had two friends recommend it.

[Anonymous]

My February recap:

One Summer in Savannah - 2/5
I was into this at first, but then it started to read more and more like a soap opera and started to drag. The attempts at poignant insights and life lessons fell flat, the writing just wasn't driving it home for me.

The Buried Giant
This was very different from the type of book I usually read, and I enjoyed delving into this world a bit.

A House in the Sky
I found this to be a gripping story, albeit not one that is for the faint of heart. Highly recommend.

The Invention of Nature: Alexander von Humboldt's New World
I found this book to be not only educational but inspirational. I appreciated how the writer gave a nod to style Alexander von Humboldt was known for with her own style throughout the book. It is definitely long-winded and packed, so not a quick read in that sense.

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet
Nothing super special, but it was a decent book and a cute love story.

How Kyoto Breaks Your Heart
This was a pretty basic collection of short stories, but it gave me some cultural insights about Kyoto (where I'll be in a few weeks).

[Anonymous]

I usually have audio and “on the page” books going. I just finished listening to Water For Elephants which somehow I’d never read and I’m now listening to John Waters’s “Liarmouth.” It’s a wild ride. I can’t even decide if I like it. I saw him speak live once and it’s the hardest I think I’ve ever laughed, so I decided to give the book a try.

On the page I’m reading a parenting book (The Explosive Child) and David Quammen’s The Tangled Tree. He’s typically one of my favorite authors though this one is bit more dense / is taking me longer.

Before those I finished SA Chakraborty’s The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi and, based on recs here, listened to “Yellowface” and “Beyond That, The Sea” I’d recommend all three.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just finished listening to Pineapple Street. I thought it was pretty good.

I listened to it on audio and thought it was delightful light fluff. I didn’t understand the hate last year.

I went to college with the author (Jenny Jackson) and even as teenagers LOVED what she wrote in our poetry workshop. I thought this book was fun, but maybe the connection helped? My sister didn’t like it at all.

[Anonymous]

Started This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub. Not sure I can continue. She has just confessed her secret to her best friend, and I don't know, I'm just not enjoying this book and have no motivation to pick it up, so it's sat for like a month now. Anyone else here not like this book and quit midway?

Akso started reading Stephen King's On Writing and am enjoying it quite a bit so far. Some parts were laugh out loud funny to me which I didn't expect.