Topeka & Shawnee Co. Public Library discussion

Welcome! This ongoing discussion is your place to share what you are reading and what you think about it!

And, now that 2011 is officially over, we'd love for you to share your favorite reads of 2011 in the 2011 favorites thread, if you haven't done so already.

I have several books going on right now. I know I should focus and get one done - and in some ways I'm doing that. Here is what I'm reading in the order I hope to finish them.

1. Forever - Maggie Stiefvater - it is the last book in the Mercy Falls wolfs triology. It just hasn't captured me like Shiver did. However, I might be holding on to the series and not letting it die.

2. Dilemma: A Priest's Struggle with Faith and Love by Father Albert Cutie - I heard about this book awhilie back and wanted to read it. Then I heard again a few weeks ago and thought I better read it before I forget. It is a quick read.

3. The Learning Tree - Gordon Parks - I need to have this finished by the 12th for my book club. I've been delaying the book club reads until last minute. Maybe this is so i can remember them. I need to get better at keeping on top.

4. Washington: A Life - I've been working on this for awhile. It is a 800+ page book so it isn't easy to tote around. I've learned things about George Washtington that I never thought I would learn.

Melanie!!
I hated Forever, but finished it anyway. Stiefvater's newest book The Scorpio Races, was (in my opinion) much better than the Shiver series. It's a lot slower paced, but I loved the characters more than I did in Shiver.

Anyways, I finished two books already this year Before I Fall, and Paranormalcy. Before I Fall was fantastic and Paranormalcy was hillarious. Teenaged girl with a pink taser with rinestones. That's all I have to say.

Kara - I didn't care for Forever. This series definitely did a down hill slide because I enjoyed Shiver. I got frustrated that Sam and Grace were just so smugly happy together and never had any doubt. The only thing that kept this book interesting was Cole and Isabel. I don't know how you can get any slower paced that Forever - it seemed to drag on and on.

I also finished Dilemma: A Priest Struggle with Faith and Love by Father Albert Cutie. He was a Catholic Priest that became an Anglican priest after being publicly removed from the priesthood after pictures appeared with and and his future wife on a beach. He has a tendency to repeat himself, but it was an interesting book that was written from the heart. He also raises many of the same issues that I have with the Catholic church.

Right now I'm reading multiple books, but focusing mostly on "The Happiness Project" by Gretchen Rubin. I noticed one of my coworkers reading it and I've always been interested in the idea of the book. The writer set resolutions for the year while having a focus for each month. The book tells stories from her year and what she learned. I'm about half way through and have been inspired by a few of the ideas! As the author explained, she was not necessarily unhappy before she began the project, she just wanted to find ways to live life to the fullest. I think we all have that same wish. This is a great book if you're setting resolutions for the new year yourself!

Currently I am reading "Legend" by Marie Lu. It is great. YA. If I had to put it in a sentence I would say "1984" meets Romeo and Juliet with a "Blade Runner" Feel. Really good.

Melanie wrote: "Kara - I didn't care for Forever. This series definitely did a down hill slide because I enjoyed Shiver. I got frustrated that Sam and Grace were just so smugly happy together and never had any do..."

Melanie, I read two fiction books last year that would be good companions to Dilemma. Vestments by John Reimringer and Faith by Jennifer Haigh. Vestments is a more direct comparison, told from the point of view of the priest character. Faith is the better-written version, told from multiple perspectives and also touching on issues of family secrets and the child sex abuse scandal, but with a subplot similar to Dilemma as well. Faith was one of my favorite reads of last year.

I just finished listening to the audiobook of Mindy Kaling's Is Everybody Hanging Out With Me?. Kaling plays Kelly on The Office and is one of the writers for the show. It was a short, fun book to listen to. The book is a compilation of biographical sketches and short humor pieces, interspersed with "listicles", funny annotated lists on topics like "the exact level of fame I want" and "non-traumatic things that make me cry". I'd recommend it to people who liked Bossypants.

Thanks for the suggestions Angie. I will have to add Fith ot my reading list.

I just finished "The Learning Tree" by Gordon Parks.

This was chosen by my book club, or I would probably have overlooked it. I was very impressed, and think it is underrated. Anyone that like "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee should read this book if you haven't.

I'm starting "The Magicians" by Lev Grossman. I'm going to have to get reading because I just had three books I had on reserve come in today.

I am currently reading two books: Circus of the Damned by Laurell K. Hamilton and Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg.

Fried Green Tomatoes has been a pleasant surprise to read. I laugh out loud to some of the stories and am nearly brought to tears at times. I saw the movie years ago and can barely remember it, but the book is turning out to be so much better.

Andrea wrote: "Currently I am reading "Legend" by Marie Lu. It is great. YA. If I had to put it in a sentence I would say "1984" meets Romeo and Juliet with a "Blade Runner" Feel. Really good."

I loved that book. I started it at 10 in the evening and finished it at 1:58 in the morning. That's not counting the fourteen pages I read while at Taco Villa that day. There wasn't anyway heaven on earth that I was putting that book down.

I'm reading Leviathan it's a WW1 tale only with mechs and genetically engineered super critters. Thankfully there are pictures of these things as my imagination conjures very disturbing conglomerations of these things.

I just finished Explosive Eighteen by Janet Evanovich. It is a light, fun, easy read.

I just started Someone Named Eva and it is pretty good about a little girl during WWII Nazi Germany.

The Magicians by Lev Grossman is very enjoyable as well.

Kara wrote: "Andrea wrote: "Currently I am reading "Legend" by Marie Lu. It is great. YA. If I had to put it in a sentence I would say "1984" meets Romeo and Juliet with a "Blade Runner" Feel. Really good."

..."

Kara, I know what you mean about not being able to put Legend down. You should also read "Divergent" {if you haven't} Its great - GoodReads Book of 2011. Great!!! Also, Ruby Red!!! Great adventure with good romance. "Shatter Me" was also good even if the ending was a bit x-men-esque. Lastly, I would reccommend Incarceron and Sapphique - by Catherine Fischer.

Kara, I forgot, I loved Leviathan, Behemoth and Goliath, but then I am a huge Scott Westerfeld fan. He was in KC this summer on a book tour for Goliath and went into great detail about why he picked WW1 and steampunk, really interesting. I loved the Midnighter series - oddly enough, I have never read the Uglies series, but its on my list.

I'm 75% through The Magicians by Lev Grossman. It is an interesting read. Instead of Harry Potter going to junior high at Hogwarts - Quinton Coldwater goes to and elite and extrememly private college called Breakbills. This is more adult - sex, alcohol abuse, drugs. I'm currently mad at Q, but he's taking the journey that we all would love to do. He is now inside the magical kingdom of his favorite childhood books called Fillory. I think it is suppose to be like a Chronicals of Narnia type of thing, but I've never read those or saw the movies. I was curious what would someone do if they are a Magician - apparetly anything you want.

Just finished Someone Named Eva by Joan M. Wolf for the So Many Books, So Little Time discusson on Sunday. My book club has not choosen this book so I thought it was a good opportunity to read it. I very much enjoyed this story about a 10 year old girl named Milada. She is taken from her family and taught to be a German girl named Eva. It's a very touching World War II story. This is considered a children's book, but is really a good read for all ages.

Melanie wrote: "Just finished Someone Named Eva by Joan M. Wolf for the So Many Books, So Little Time discusson on Sunday. My book club has not choosen this book so I thought it was a good opportunity to read it...."

I'm in the midst of reading of reading that right now! I'm also reading Scott Westerfeld's "Leviathan" series which is a science fictiony WWI tale, but since I'm doing the whole "history" thing it fits.

I just finished reading Cheryl Burke's "Dancing Lessons: How I Found Passion and Potential on the Dance Floor and in Life." I really enjoyed it. It tells about her life before Dancing with the Stars and how her life has changed as a result of it. I really like how she relates the different parts of her life to the different kinds of ballroom dance. It is an interesting read and I really enjoyed it.

I am finally reading The Help by Kathryn Stockett. I can't believe I waited so long and really wish I would have read it sooner! It's been an emotional roller coaster that gets me so angry at times and then later makes me laugh out loud. But ultimately I just want to slap Hilly to kingdom come.

I'm only about halfway through the book, so no spoilers please!! :)

Kelli, I think this is one of the books that the movie is as good as the book. It helps when the author and the director have been best friends since childhood.

I really enjoyed The Help, but it wasn't a quick read for me - I think I was reading with a Southern drawl.

It did take me a little while to get used to the dialect. But I'm flying through it now just because I need to know what happens.

I am currently reading Divergent by Veronica Roth. So far I have been very pleased. It pretty fast paced book about coming of age in a very different post-apocalyptic U.S. It is currently filling the void left when I finished the Hunger Games.

Almost finished with Fried Green Tomatoes at Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg. I love the movie and thought I read the book in high school. I will say I'm getting much more out of it now than I did back then. I'm reading this for the Kansas Humanities Council book club meeting on Feb. 1.