Sacramento Public Library discussion

May is here and the weather is turning warmer--perfect reading weather, maybe with a cool drink by your side? What book are you turning pages in this month?

American Gods (Gaiman), Born a Crime (Noah), Treasure Island (Stevenson), and My Brilliant Friend (Ferrante). Pretty disparate group, even for my normal range. I'm pacing American Gods to stay ahead of TV show, but not by a lot. Born a Crime pretty much finished, Treasure Island is bedside reading (prompted by the recent finish of its TV prequel, Black Sails). About to start My Brilliant Friend.

On Looking: Eleven Walks with Expert Eyes for our Alt Library annual Walk Around Midtown. We will be discussing this book and viewing public art :) Join us May 17th, starting at Metro Kitchen + Drinkery.

I'm almost finished listening to Allegedly and am slowly making my way through the Magic Tree House series (for fun).

Happy reading everyone!

Just started Now You See Me by Rochelle Krich on audio. Good for a car listen in that it's not too demanding but has a strong storyline and good dialogue. And just starting Vita brevis : a crime novel of the Roman Empire / Ruth Downie in hardback. A patron that I adore for her reading background suggested it and I can hardly wait.

Katie wrote: "On Looking: Eleven Walks with Expert Eyes for our Alt Library annual Walk Around Midtown. We will be discussing this book and viewing public art :) Join us May 17th, starting at Met..."

What a great idea - a literary, art walk around!

On my "to read" list next is Stephanie for a reading challenge I'm completing. This one is for the category "a book published before you were born". This specific book is copyrighted 1979 (my b-day is 1983).

I'm reading Exit West by Mohsin Hamid. Very powerful and beautifully written.

Glee wrote: "American Gods (Gaiman), Born a Crime (Noah), Treasure Island (Stevenson), and My Brilliant Friend (Ferrante). Pretty disparate group, even for my normal range."

That is quite a diverse group of books!

I've just started The Circle. A little behind the curve as the movie is already out but that's okay since I rarely see movies in the theater.

I'm currently listening to Ready Player One by Ernest Cline on audio after many recommendations. I would second those recommendations--Wil Wheaton is an absolutely perfect narrator. I have a few reservations about the book itself, but they are relatively minor and as I'm only halfway through, could completely resolve themselves. I'm eager to find out.

Ready Player One is an audio book I would have loved to listen to as I have only heard excellent reviews of it.

I finished The Circle at lunch and am starting All The Light We Cannot See. Yes, I am finally reading all those books I should have already read.

You'll the the audio version. The narrator was just right for the story and the book lends itself to audio perfectly.

It Started With Goodbyeis the next book I've got to get started. Looks interesting, but hopefully not too sad.

I just started Lincoln in the Bardo--very different from anything I've read, including Saunders' Tenth of December stories.

Francie wrote: "I just started Lincoln in the Bardo--very different from anything I've read, including Saunders' Tenth of December stories."

I've heard that the audio version of this is amazing! If I hadn't already read the book (loved it) I probably would have listened to it. If I ever run out of podcasts to listen to, it and Radio Player One are audios I will definitely check out.

Thanks, Susan. I'm really enjoying this unusual novel in print but will definitely check out the audio version. I'm curious how it's done, and whether a change in voices is used instead of reading aloud the source information. For now, though, I think I'll stick with the print version now that I'm into a rhythm of reading it.

Francie wrote: "Thanks, Susan. I'm really enjoying this unusual novel in print but will definitely check out the audio version. I'm curious how it's done, and whether a change in voices is used instead of reading ..."

There are 166 people doing the audio! isn't that crazy? I didn't even really think there were that many characters in the book.

wow! I'll definitely listen after I finish reading. Thanks for this info.

I just finished the Things We Lost in the Fire by Mariana Enriquez. It was wonderful! I'm about 100 pages into Avenue of Mysteries by John Irving and my book club is starting Fahrenheit 451 (a re-read for me, but a good one).

It's now almost June but I just started a cool edition of Clark Ashton Smith's Cthulhu Mythos stories. He's hit or miss for me, but so far this edition is a solid collection.

Just finished Big Little Lies by Liane Morarity for bookclub. I had reservations about it - don't usually go for big advertised books but had a pleasant time with it. The ending was a bit formulaic but she had a wonderful time weaving the stories in and around each other and the protagonists seemed to really care about each other. I'm going to read another one just because I liked this one so much.

This month I have read a lot of YA, Cozy Mystery, Paranormal Romance and Urban Fantasy.
However, I have read two that stood out a little more than the other 25+ books.
Santa Olivia (Santa Olivia #1) by Jacqueline Carey
This one wasn't so much unique in its different genres but I found a lot about just enough different to leave it in the forefront of my brain. A little bit Saint, a little bit Superhero.
Also, this one that I picked up because I needed the letters R O C K for a challenge.
Rocks Fall, Everyone Dies by Lindsay Ribar
I didn't know anything about the author, but I found it an interesting YA magical realism book. My only wish was that the author had explored the history a little more to expand on that part of the story.

I loved the quirky concept behind Rocks Fall, Everyone Dies! But I did think the end was a bit rushed.

Susan wrote: "I loved the quirky concept behind Rocks Fall, Everyone Dies! But I did think the end was a bit rushed."

Yeah! Thinking about what you said it was kind of rushed.
But the "quirky concept" still made it fun, and as a YA at least it wasn't full of too much angst.
;-)