what are you reading?

[JayneWonders]

Also have got two books to pick up today at the library. The sun room is getting cosy again and I feel like doing some reading.

This one is for our book club: Louise Penny's All the Devils are Here

All the Devils Are Here (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache…

The 16th novel by #1 bestselling author Louise Penny fi…

www.goodreads.com

and

This one was recommended by a member of our book club Lisa See's Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

In nineteenth-century China, in a remote Hunan county, …

www.goodreads.com

 

[JayneWonders]

I finished SnowFlower and the Secret Fan. Quite enjoyed it. Interesting historical information about female role in society in China in the nineteenth century.

Well written. Haven't read reviews to see if accurate, but I do recommend it

 

[JayneWonders]

Now reading louise penny's all the devil's are hereits a good story but nowhere near the quality of writing.

It's like having a beer and a burger on a hot day on a patio.

The other is more like a quality meal with layers of flavour and appearance

 

[Mendalla]

I am reading Nine Princes in Amber by Roger Zelazny. It's old, the Amber series came out over twenty or so years between 1970 and 1991, but somehow I never got into it back in my sf/fantasy heyday even though my late buddy Mike was a fan. Amber is kind of "model city" and all other worlds, including ours, are "Shadows" of it. The princes are powerful beings from Amber who can travel the Shadows. Nine Princes starts with one of them in our world suffering amnesia. It's written first person so the amnesia means we basically learn the truth about him and his world along with him, which is a interesting way to handle explaining the setting. Beats infodumps, anyhow.

 

[JayneWonders]

Finished the Louise Penny novel, as well as the Laurie R King one.
Such a difference in quality of writing -- I wanted to savour the Laurie R King one.

I have booked out from the library Late Nights on Air by Elizabeth Hay

Late Nights on Air

The eagerly anticipated novel from the bestselling auth…

www.goodreads.com

as well as The Silent Wife by A.S.A. Harrison

The Silent Wife

A chilling psychological thriller portraying the disint…

www.goodreads.com

 

[JayneWonders]

Ok, I am loving the ability to place a book on hold, have it shipped to the local library and just walk up to the door and have it given to me in a bag.
What a delightful system.

I don't know if it has always been like this, but, dang, do i like it.

Also ordered a few DVD's, as our internet sucks so downloading is just not that great.

 

[Nancy]

I love Libby. Often when I hear of a good book I put a reserve on the e-book, or I put it on my wishlist if I have used up all my 'reserve' spaces. But, of course, I read real books too. I just started the Lane Winslow series by Iona Whishaw. Jayne...I've read all of the Louise Penny books and enjoyed them, but agree about the writing. They are good, and comfortable reads (even when they intentionally become uncomfortable) but after the last couple, I felt a little let down.

 

[Redbaron]

I'm reading a book by an American Episcopal priest, called 'Holy Grounds.' It's about the history of coffee, and its (sometimes loose, sometimes tight, often adversarial, often friendly) relationship with spirituality.

 

[Jill]

I am a few pages into The Moor's Last Sigh by Salman Rushdie. His writing is so powerful (and sometimes difficult). I am in awe of his writing, especially after reading some of the popular books that might have a story but certainly aren't great literature.

The last book I read was Where The Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens. That story, and especially the description of life lived in the swamps, will stay with me for a long time.

 

[JayneWonders]

Oooh, thanks for the recommendations

 

[Carolla]

Such a difference in quality of writing -- I wanted to savour the Laurie R King one.

Great author! I agree with you the quality of writing. I read the whole Russell-Holmes series & was sorry when it finished.

I just downloaded "The Beatrice Stubbs Series" by JJ Marsh - the first boxed set of 3 or 4 books I think; was on super deal (4.99 I think) on amazon & loads right to my kindle - "intelligent & captivating" mysteries based in Britain I think. Haven't yet started reading ... but soon!

 

[JayneWonders]

I finished The Silent Wife -- a good read, multiple layers. I can see why it received good reviews. Placed Where the Crawdads Sing on my list. Thanks for the recommendation.

 

[Jill]

I finished The Silent Wife -- a good read, multiple layers. I can see why it received good reviews. Placed Where the Crawdads Sing on my list. Thanks for the recommendation.

I think that they are getting ready to make a movie of the Crawdads story.

 

[JayneWonders]

On this rainy day, I want to get home, curl up with a blanket and continue to read Late Nights on Air. Definitely enjoyed the first chapter. As my mother would say, it was chewable.

 

[Jill]

Late Nights on Air ... It left me with a rather lonely feeling. Maybe understandable after you finish the book. I am surprised how much I remember of the story. It really gets into the lives of the people who live there, both the ones who have always lived there and the the new arrivals from the south. An enlightening story.

I like books that take me into the ways and lives of a different location and time.

 

[Mendalla]

Finished Nine Princes in Amber. A very interesting family saga that manages to inject a fair bit of complexity and information about the setting into a fairly short novel. The narrator (it's first person as mentioned) is blind and in prison for four years during part of it and Zelazny does a great job of keeping things going by only picking up a few highlights of that period.

Moving on to The Guns of Avalon, which is book 2. I am realizing that part of the reason I have been bouncing off modern fantasy is that they tend to be so flipping long and detailed. The stuff I grew up on tended to be shorter and less bogged down in minutiae than today's series (the entire 10 novel Amber series is shorter than the first two novels of A Song of Ice and Fire).

 

[Jill]

On this rainy day, I want to get home, curl up with a blanket and continue to read Late Nights on Air. Definitely enjoyed the first chapter. As my mother would say, it was chewable.

Attachments to a book/story continue for a long time after.

The people of Hay River are now being warned to prepare for probably flooding.

MSN

 

[JayneWonders]

Late Nights on Air is was quite good. Loved the characters, setting, story. I suggested it to our book club.

My next book was "In the Skin of a Lion". Although a well written book, and enjoyable, it just wasn't my favourite. Glad that I read it. Would likely be of interest to Toronto folks.

In the Skin of a Lion

Bristling with intelligence and shimmering with romance…

www.goodreads.com

I was about to read Wayne Johnston's trilogy, when I realized that the book that I requested from the library was #3.
Now will wait until I get #1 & #2.

First Snow, Last Light

In the last of the trilogy of Newfoundland novels that …

www.goodreads.com

 

[Mendalla]

My next book was "In the Skin of a Lion". Although a well written book, and enjoyable, it just wasn't my favourite.

I went through a "Michael Ondaatje phase" in the nineties. Liked Skin and English Patient but the book that has stuck with me is Coming Through Slaughter, based on an early jazz musician (early as in predating recorded music so we only have a couple very old recordings of him). Then again, I am fond of jazz so it probably makes sense that it appealed strongly.

 

[Mrs.Anteater]

I got Obamas book from the ebook library for 14 days. I doubt I can read it in that time.