Book Snails Book Group discussion

If anyone needs some general book suggestions, check out the 'Top 100 Most Wished For' books from paperbackswap.com:

http://www.paperbackswap.com/top/wish...

(you do NOT have to be a member of paperbackswap.com to view the list)

I’m trying something new. I used to have a 3 book limit on what I could be reading at once: audiobook, fiction read, nonfiction read.

Now if something sounds good in the moment, I get to start it regardless of how many books I’m reading as long as it isn’t too close in topic to something else I’m currently working on.

In progress:
Kristin Lavransdatter - Pulitzer Prize winning fiction set in the Middle Ages.
Me, My Hair, and I: Twenty-seven Women Untangle an Obsession - Essays
The Goldfinch - contemporary literary fiction
The Power - contemporary thriller? Dystopian?
Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln - historical nonfiction

On my list to start in February:
Queen of Shadows - just reread books 1-3.
Impossible Saints
The Wolves of Winter
Made for Love
A Prayer for Owen Meany (reread)

Currently I'm reading:
London by Edward Rutherfurd
Just Kids by Patti Smith
The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom - the last time I checked, this was tied for our February BOTM! I (obviously) already started it, regardless of if we read it as a group or not, and I can't put it down! I read almost 100 pages in one sitting.

I'm also going to read:
Revenge of the Wannabes by Lisi Harrison
Invasion of the Boy Snatchers by Lisi Harrison
I have to admit that I feel a little embarrassed when I go to pick these up from the library, because they're preteen/teen books for preteen/teens, but then I remind myself that librarians don't give a hoot what others read...and that they're books. They're meant to be read! Even though they're quick reads, and aren't about much else than 13 year old girls shopping and kissing boys, they're addictive! I think I enjoy them even more at 24 than I did at 14. They're ridiculous, and I love it! LOL

That's on my list so far. I might read more Clique books, because they're so light and fast, and depending on when I finish the others, I might read something else, but we'll see!

Last month, I read A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness. I have bad timing. :( Looks like the quarterly read is a toss-up between that and The Name of the Wind. I will say I really liked DoW - I had to dive into the sequel as soon as I could get a copy. FWIW, I LOVED The Name of the Wind. I'll pop in for discussion of either, though I probably won't reread now. (Side note: it was announced today that Sam Raimi will be directing the film adaptation of NotW. 8o (happy dance) This, if I'm not mistaken, is on top of the series that Lin Manuel Miranda is already working on. These should both be freaking cool!)

Now I'm reading Shadow of Night, the sequel to DoW. I'm not very far into it, but something about it is rubbing me the wrong way. I think it has something to do with the way someone is being portrayed. (No spoilers.) I'm captivated though. Just being snaily because, you know, life.

I don't know what else I'll be reading this month.

Just Elise wrote: "Last month, I read A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness....."

Elise isn't scared of big books!

Haha well no, I'm not, StarMan. :) But DoW is less than 600 pages. NotW is more like 1000, if I remember right. I did tear through them both - neither dragged at all, imo.

Hoping to finish Handmaid’s Tale in February. Also reading a non-fiction book, America’s Constitution, by Akhil Reed Amar. It may be too much for me to finish both in February though!

Most of my reading is school-related right now but I’m squeezing in as much personal reading as possible! Hoping to start our Yearly Read soon!

 

Finished in February:

1. Entangled by Amy Rose Capetta (YA SF)
2. All the Missing Girls by Megan Miranda (suspense/crime)
3. Earth Girl by Janet Edwards (SF, YA?)
4. Starburst by Frederik Pohl (SF/Fantasy)
5. Unwind by Neal Shusterman (YA SF)

Started, not finished:

6. The Chalk Girl (crime/thriller/series)

Covers for above: (view spoiler)[

(hide spoiler)]

StarMan wrote: " 

Started in February:

1. Entangled by Amy Rose Capetta (YA SF)
2. All the Missing Girls by Megan Miranda (thriller)

Not started yet, but maybe for February/March..."

I read All the Missing Girls last February, haha!
I actually don’t remember much about it except that it’s told backwards. Perhaps, since it’s been a year, I should read it again but this time “backwards,” so really forwards, and see how it goes.

Actually, scratch reading All the Missing Girls again. The license for the ebook at my library has expired and there’s absolutely no way I can read a physical book now that I have a toddler and a newborn keeping me busy...

Erin wrote: "I read All the Missing Girls last February, haha!
I actually don’t remember much about it except that it’s told backwards...."

Maybe it will be good in either direction. I'm not a big fan of gimmicky plots, but sometimes they work.

StarMan wrote: " 

Started in February:

1. Entangled by Amy Rose Capetta (YA SF)
2. All the Missing Girls by Megan Miranda (thriller)

Not started yet, but maybe for February/March..."

I'm interested to see what you think of All the Missing Girls! It's been on my TBR for some time, but I'm always wary of contemporary thrillers, especially if the blurb mentions The Girl on the Train. I hated that book so much :P

Kelsey wrote: "I'm interested to see what you think of All the Missing Girls! ...I'm always wary of contemporary thrillers, especially if the blurb mentions The Girl on the Train...."

Kelsey, I just finished it. I thought All the Missing Girls was good (but not 5-star great), and a bit better than The Girl on the Train.

It's hard to find a truly mind-blowing "gimmicky" thriller that's not full of too stupid to live characters or ridiculous events... but this one was mostly tolerable ;)

My no spoiler review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Kelsey wrote: "StarMan wrote: " 

Started in February:

1. Entangled by Amy Rose Capetta (YA SF)
2. All the Missing Girls by Megan Miranda (thriller)

Not started yet, but maybe fo..."

That's a major turn-off for me, any book that claims to mirror "The Girl on the Train" because that was such a bad book IMHO! ;-)

I read way more than I thought I was going to read this month! I managed to finish:

Just Kids
The Kitchen House
Revenge of the Wannabes
Invasion of the Boy Snatchers
The Pretty Committee Strikes Back
Dial L for Loser
It's Not Easy Being Mean

and I'll finish Sealed with a Diss either today or tomorrow.

Granted, most of those books are 200 page YA books, which I can just blow right through, but I'm still enjoying them!