Starting 2016 with....

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Starting 2016 with....

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1LynnB
Jan 1, 2016, 9:33 am

2rabbitprincess
Jan 1, 2016, 10:51 am

I'm going to take advantage of having a day off and long weekend and maybe FINALLY make more progress on David Copperfield. I'm just over halfway through and have been reading since September.

3Penske
Jan 1, 2016, 4:00 pm

Started in 2015 but finished in 2016 - Common Ground by Justin Trudeau. Does it get any more Canadian than that? Recommended for anyone who wants to know our P.M. a little better even if you don't agree with all his policies.

4gypsysmom
Jan 1, 2016, 4:59 pm

I'm reading Ancillary Mercy which is the final book in the Ancillary trilogy. Ann Leckie is a great writer but this third book is maybe not quite as good as the first two.

5Cecilturtle
Jan 1, 2016, 5:02 pm

I'm reading two of my Christmas presents : Titus n'aimait pas Bérénice by Nathalie Azoulai about Jean Racine, one of France's great playwrights, and Mag or Min? Which Are You? by Tom Schur, a new way of one's evaluating one's decision-making patterns.

6loosha
Jan 2, 2016, 12:20 pm

Avenue of Mysteries by John Irving seems promising. I read Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter and I wish I hadn't. My advice is don't read it.

7LynnB
Jan 3, 2016, 8:58 am

I got Avenue of Mysteries for Christmas and am anxious to read it, after I finish the books I'm reading for January book clubs and an upcoming university seminar.

I'm reading Middle Power Middle Kingdom by David Mulroney

8gypsysmom
Jan 3, 2016, 5:37 pm

I finished Ancillary Mercy and moved on to a Canadian novel Etta and Otto and Russell and James which I am loving. It's about an 83 year old woman (Etta) who sets out from her farm in Saskatchewan one day determined to walk to the ocean because she's never been. And, instead of choosing the Pacific Ocean which is closer, she heads east to go to the Atlantic.

9ted74ca
Jan 4, 2016, 2:31 pm

I've finished 2 books so far in 2016 and both of them were great reads:
A God in Ruins by Kate Atkinson, who is one of my very favourite writers and this book certainly didn't disappoint. I think I may have liked it even more than I had enjoyed Life After Life. The second one is Nora Webster by Colm Toibin whom I've not read before, but will be seeking out more of his books now. Slow paced and beautifully written.

10vancouverdeb
Jan 5, 2016, 8:45 am

I've read This Is Your Life, Harriet Chance! . which I thoroughly enjoyed. Nearly finished Faith by Jennifer Haigh. Up next -likely Man by Kim Thuy.

11vancouverdeb
Jan 5, 2016, 8:47 am

>9 ted74ca: I have had A God in Ruins sitting on my shelf for a long time. I loved Life After Life. I need to get to The God in Ruins , thanks for the positive push!

12LynnB
Jan 6, 2016, 12:57 pm

13vancouverdeb
Jan 6, 2016, 6:43 pm

Reading Man by Kim Thuy.

14LynnB
Jan 7, 2016, 9:38 am

I'm about to start The Brothers Karamazov for a book club.

15mdoris
Jan 7, 2016, 12:07 pm

Just finished Frankenstein for a book club meeting. Never read it before and it was a fun read! Love the language of "yore"!

16Nickelini
Jan 7, 2016, 12:39 pm

I've had to put aside Siegfried Sassoon's Memoirs of a Fox-hunting Man to read All the Light We Cannot See for my bookclub. So far it's very boring. I hear the second half is better, but I'm a loooong way from there. Sigh.

17mdoris
Jan 7, 2016, 7:41 pm

>16 Nickelini:, know what you mean. I returned it half finished to the library and then when people "raved" about it I got it again and finished it but for me so/so!

18LynnB
Jan 8, 2016, 7:49 am

oh, dear...it's coming up for one of my book clubs, too!

19Nickelini
Jan 8, 2016, 1:11 pm

>18 LynnB: In my case the problem is that I have no interest in the subject matter of All the Light We Cannot See. So it's not necessarily that the novel really is boring, but just that I find it boring. If that makes any sense. I also tend to be wary of books that "everyone loves," and resist reading them.

20mdoris
Jan 8, 2016, 8:42 pm

>19 Nickelini: I know what you mean again! Good example.....Eat, Pray, Love (not a good one for me!!) but everyone LOVED it.

21Cecilturtle
Editado: Jan 10, 2016, 4:21 pm

#19 I have that coming up on my list too... curious about it now!

For book club, I'm reading The Good House by Ann Leary about a high functionning alcoholic. I'm loving it. It reminds me of a modern, high living Peyton Place. It's a nice change from our last book which was a dud for me.

22ted74ca
Jan 10, 2016, 10:24 pm

A so so read: The Cipher Garden by Martin Edwards. A crime fiction series set in the Lake District in England.

23fmgee
Jan 11, 2016, 5:40 pm

I am almost done a reread of The Big Twitch as I get ready for a little southern hemisphere avifauna after a 6 year break.

24ted74ca
Editado: Jan 11, 2016, 11:39 pm

Finished a lovely book I've been reading during little pockets of time at work for a while now: The Museum of Extraordinary Things by Alice Hoffman. The love story part and the miraculous saving of life at the end, prevented me from giving it five stars, but I still really enjoyed this one.

25vancouverdeb
Jan 12, 2016, 9:28 am

Reading Sleeping on Jupiter . It was long listed for the 2015 Booker Prize.

26ted74ca
Jan 14, 2016, 8:03 pm

Two crime fiction novels finished this week: By the Time You Read This by Giles Blunt and The Hanging Girl by Jussi Adler-Olsen. Both good reads in their own way.

27ted74ca
Editado: Jan 15, 2016, 3:46 pm

I raced through this one, hardly getting any sleep last night, but thoroughly enjoyed it. Slip of the Knife by Denise Mina. This is the last book in her Paddy Meehan trilogy, a series set in Glasgow in the late 1980s, 1990. Gritty and lots of foul language, but really great characters.

28Cecilturtle
Editado: Jan 17, 2016, 6:43 pm

I'm reading Michael Faber's Le Livre des choses étranges et nouvelles (The Book of Strange New Things) about a priest sent to a colony on another planet to preach the Bible. He does a terrific job at describing a completely different world. Now to see why the natives are so excited about the prospect of hearing the Word of God.

29vancouverdeb
Jan 18, 2016, 9:16 am

Read and finished The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro. Really a wonderful read. Not sure what is next.

30LynnB
Jan 19, 2016, 8:34 am

I'm going to start my ER book, What We Hide by Marthe Jocelyn

31fmgee
Jan 19, 2016, 6:06 pm

I am almost done A Pitying of Doves the second in a Birder Murder Mystery series by Steve Burrows.

32loosha
Jan 20, 2016, 11:58 am

A Little Life , so sad and depressing, yet so real and insightful. Now I need something light and cheerful to balance that experience.

33ted74ca
Jan 20, 2016, 2:24 pm

Finished the sixth book in one of my favourite crime fiction series: The Drowning by Camilla Lackberg. Pretty good read; a bit farfetched at times.

34fmgee
Jan 21, 2016, 7:41 pm

33: I just started The Drowning!

35LynnB
Jan 21, 2016, 9:21 pm

Reading Jaguar's Children by John Vaillant.

36mdoris
Jan 21, 2016, 9:46 pm

>35 LynnB: Hi Lynn, I will be interested to hear what you think of Jaguar's Children. Have you read his other books? I still must get to his book about tigers.

37vancouverdeb
Jan 21, 2016, 9:56 pm

38LynnB
Jan 21, 2016, 10:58 pm

yes, mdoris, I've read both of his other books and loved them. Jaguar's Children is very good, and based on a true story.

39mdoris
Jan 22, 2016, 2:21 am

>38 LynnB:, Yes, Lynn I loved it too Jaguar's Children. He did an outstanding job weaving all the threads together of the story, the history, the geography, the culture and the fear. It was one of the best books I read last year and had the happy occasion to be at one of his book readings.

40Nickelini
Jan 22, 2016, 12:09 pm

I'm about 50 pages from finishing Cold Earth by Sarah Moss. It's about a group of archaeologists digging Norse ruins in Greenland. It's difficult to describe in a sentence or two, but one of the subplots has a pandemic killing people back home. Although there are some flaws that I think the editor should have caught, overall it's been a good read and unexpectedly creepy. I recommend it if you're looking for something different.

41ted74ca
Jan 23, 2016, 2:48 pm

Read the last work by Ruth Rendell last night: Dark Corners. Definitely not her best, but not too bad.

42LynnB
Jan 24, 2016, 8:16 am

I'm reading Being Wrong: Adventures in the Margin of Error by Kathryn Schulz. Love the preface quote to Chapter 1: "It infuriates me to be wrong when I know I'm right" (Moliere

43Nickelini
Jan 24, 2016, 12:33 pm

>42 LynnB: such a good book! Enjoy.

44mdoris
Jan 24, 2016, 2:03 pm

>42 LynnB:, >43 Nickelini: Ditto, just recently finished it and thought it was wonderful Loved all the research information included and thought she was very thoughtful and a good writer. I think she must have a strong background in philosphy and she is certainly well read. Have you read her recent piece in the New Yorker about Thoreau ("Pond Scum")? It was wonderful too.

45arcona
Jan 25, 2016, 8:13 am

Just finished The Lost Painting and loved it. The author even made digging in archives sound exciting, although maybe you have to have been a researcher to appreciate doing that. I'm retired now and still miss the search. A very well-written book.

46rabbitprincess
Jan 25, 2016, 5:42 pm

Indulging in some Linwood Barclay: Never Saw it Coming.

47ted74ca
Editado: Jan 25, 2016, 11:43 pm

Historical fiction, for a change. I thought this was one was really good--The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah. I like WWII history focussed stories and this tale of life in occupied France told from the perspective of the women was riveting.

48vancouverdeb
Jan 26, 2016, 5:51 pm

Currently reading The End of the Wasp Season by Denise Mina. A bit of a change to a mystery in Scotland.

>47 ted74ca: I really loved The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah. I thought it was better than All the Light That We Cannot See.

49LynnB
Jan 27, 2016, 9:08 am

I'm reading my first Alexander McCall Smith book, The World According to Bertie for a book club.

50mdoris
Jan 27, 2016, 5:34 pm

>49 LynnB:, i have zoomed through all the Mma Ramotswa books (the Botswana detective series) and waiting for the most recent one on hold at the library. I have loved them all and heard them referred to as "utopian books" and I can see why. They are delightful and I hope that you enjoy your read. Alexander Mcall Smith once visited our library as two of his sisters live in the community. He was as delightful as his books are and he talks the way he writes so I can see why he is so prolific. He had the most wonderful personal stories to tell.

51LynnB
Jan 31, 2016, 11:12 am

I'm on to something "heavier": Two Days in June by Andrew Cohen

52Cecilturtle
Editado: Jan 31, 2016, 4:58 pm

ted74ca : be aware that there is nothing historical about this novel. Hannah did no research and it's full of anachronisms and cultural faux-pas. On top of that it's a thinly veiled 'borrowing' of the French novel La Bicyclette bleue - boo! An entertaining read to be sure, but nothing more.

53Cecilturtle
Jan 31, 2016, 5:03 pm

I'm in Africa in advance of February Black History month with Moroccan writer Fouad Laroui's Les noces fabuleuses du Polonais and Boubacar Boris Diop's (Sénégal) Murambi, le livre des ossements about the Rwanda genocide.

54ted74ca
Editado: Jan 31, 2016, 8:33 pm

First time reading anything by this author, but I was captivated by this novella, maybe because I'm old enough to remember the incident this story is based on. Black Water by Joyce Carol Oates

55Nickelini
Jan 31, 2016, 9:37 pm

>54 ted74ca: I read that last year and was surprised by how good it was. Also, it's a book you can read in one sitting, which can be nice.

56ted74ca
Fev 1, 2016, 5:54 pm

Back to my comfort zone again: Lost Boy by Camilla Lackberg. #7 in this Swedish crime series.

57vancouverdeb
Fev 2, 2016, 4:04 am

Currently reading Fasting, Feasting by Anita Desai.

58gypsysmom
Fev 3, 2016, 7:53 pm

>54 ted74ca: I got turned off JCO a number of decades ago but I keep hearing good things about Black Water so I may have to see if she still rankles.

59mdoris
Fev 3, 2016, 8:06 pm

>54 ted74ca: I've put Black Water on my later list at the library. Thanks! I haven't read much of JCO but I did read A Widow's Story which moved and amazed me.

60ted74ca
Fev 6, 2016, 12:48 pm

Managed to finish 2 books this week, despite working way too much overtime. Wildly different reads: Common Ground by Justin Trudeau and The Young Wan by Brendan O'Carroll.

61vancouverdeb
Fev 6, 2016, 7:23 pm

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