What are you reading?

arrippa

I am trying to catch up with my Goodreads reading challenge and I need book suggestions. I am currently reading The Girl on the Train but everyone is so unlikeable and the main character is such a hot mess that I am lagging on reading it. Anyone reads any good books recently?

[Deleted User]

I'm a Dacula fan (read it every October) and it got me started on reading a lot of vampire novels. Just read a book called Black- horrible, horrible, horrible. I should have tried a book sample before buying.

IKWYM about The Girl on the Train. I read a lot and I was able to figure out the antagonist after reading a certain chapter.

I wish I had a good new book to recommend.

spockforprez

I really liked Girl on the Train. It took me awhile to figure it out.

I'm currently reading the 2nd Cormoran Strike book by Robert Galbraith (JK Rowling's nom de plume) called The Silkworm. The first one is called The Cuckoo's Calling and it was fabulous. They are, essentially, whodunnits. Really, really good.

For me, "reading" usually means an audiobook. As a child and teenager I was a voracious reader but the internet made me lose my attention span for it. Now I listen while I drive, do chores, cross stitch, play phone games, etc. I've "read" more than 50 books since downloading Audible last April, and the sad truth is I probably hadn't read 50 books in the preceding 5 years.

cupcait927

I started Station 11 and am only about 50 pages in. It hasn't hooked me yet so I've been slacking on picking it back up. H wants me to read The Stand so I downloaded that on to my Kindle a few days ago. I'll probably start that this weekend,

novella1186

Anything and everything by Louise Erdrich is good. It's beautifully written, draws you in, and is easy to read, plus the characters are always awesome. She's my favorite writer. 

Right now I'm in the middle of Harlot's Ghost by Norman Mailer. But I've been in the middle of it for a long long time. If you like literary fiction or "The Great" novelists, it's an amazing book. But if you want something quick and easy then stay away from this one. It's a bajillion pages long and some sections drag on forever. Mailer can spend 300 pages describing a wall. 

peachy13

I loved Girl on the Train but you're right that the main character is her own worst enemy. 

Right now I'm reading the Nightingale. Not my usual genre to go to, but I'm really liking it. Not necessarily a page turner for me, but the writing is excellent and I like the characters. It's definitely keeping my interest at the moment.

Over the last few months I read all the Gillian Flynn's (and just pre-ordered her new book yesterday), Lianne Moriarty's, and also Luckiest Girl Alive which was good, and the Good Girl, which was really good. 

ericasm0703

I finished reading The Traitor's Wife by Allison Pataki about a month ago and I thought it was pretty good. Barring any studying I've been doing, I haven't picked up a book since then.

redheadbride15

Ugh, I was really disappointed by Girl on the Train, way too predictable and not that well-written. Agree with @novella1186 about Louise Erdrich. I especially loved Love Medicine. I've been terrible about reading recently. DH pointed that out to me last night for like the 10th time this week. I haven't read a single book since before our wedding (now almost 4 months ago), and I usually read at least one book a month. I was reading The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro, but I put it down and haven't been able to get back into it. It's beautifully-written but slow and subtle. @cupcait927 Station 11 has been on my "to read" list for a while, so I'd be curious if you get into it. My sister recommended it to me and she and I almost always agree on books.

spockforprez

peachy13 said:

I loved Girl on the Train but you're right that the main character is her own worst enemy. 

Right now I'm reading the Nightingale. Not my usual genre to go to, but I'm really liking it. Not necessarily a page turner for me, but the writing is excellent and I like the characters. It's definitely keeping my interest at the moment.

Over the last few months I read all the Gillian Flynn's (and just pre-ordered her new book yesterday), Lianne Moriarty's, and also Luckiest Girl Alive which was good, and the Good Girl, which was really good. 

Omg... I was sooooo disappointed with that book (bolded). I read it in less than 48 hours because I was so hooked, but the ending was so blah! The whole book set you up for some dark, twisted surprise, but then there was nothing, no twist at all. 

I have to shout out Liane Moriarty as well. I downloaded everything she had on Audible and have read them all several times. She's awesome! Also, if you're an Australiaphile like myself, she's an Aussie and her books are all set in Oz and have Aussie narrators. I think my favorites are Big Little Lies and The Husband's Secret but I also really liked The Hypnotist's Love Story. Actually all of them are great. I'm fangirling, sorry!

novella1186

redheadbride15 said:

Ugh, I was really disappointed by Girl on the Train, way too predictable and not that well-written. Agree with @novella1186 about Louise Erdrich. I especially loved Love Medicine. I've been terrible about reading recently. DH pointed that out to me last night for like the 10th time this week. I haven't read a single book since before our wedding (now almost 4 months ago), and I usually read at least one book a month. I was reading The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro, but I put it down and haven't been able to get back into it. It's beautifully-written but slow and subtle. @cupcait927 Station 11 has been on my "to read" list for a while, so I'd be curious if you get into it. My sister recommended it to me and she and I almost always agree on books.

Have you read Tales of Burning Love? That's the most recent Erdrich book I've finished. It's hilarious 

redheadbride15

novella1186 said:

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redheadbride15 said:

Ugh, I was really disappointed by Girl on the Train, way too predictable and not that well-written. Agree with @novella1186 about Louise Erdrich. I especially loved Love Medicine. I've been terrible about reading recently. DH pointed that out to me last night for like the 10th time this week. I haven't read a single book since before our wedding (now almost 4 months ago), and I usually read at least one book a month. I was reading The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro, but I put it down and haven't been able to get back into it. It's beautifully-written but slow and subtle. @cupcait927 Station 11 has been on my "to read" list for a while, so I'd be curious if you get into it. My sister recommended it to me and she and I almost always agree on books.

Have you read Tales of Burning Love? That's the most recent Erdrich book I've finished. It's hilarious 

No, I haven't! I've read Love Medicine, Plague of Doves, and The Round House (she won the National Book Award for that one, but it's probably my least favorite of those three).

cupcait927

redheadbride15 said:

Ugh, I was really disappointed by Girl on the Train, way too predictable and not that well-written. Agree with @novella1186 about Louise Erdrich. I especially loved Love Medicine. I've been terrible about reading recently. DH pointed that out to me last night for like the 10th time this week. I haven't read a single book since before our wedding (now almost 4 months ago), and I usually read at least one book a month. I was reading The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro, but I put it down and haven't been able to get back into it. It's beautifully-written but slow and subtle. @cupcait927 Station 11 has been on my "to read" list for a while, so I'd be curious if you get into it. My sister recommended it to me and she and I almost always agree on books.

H will be watching football tonight and I have no interest so I'll try getting back in to it tonight and let you know what I think!

novella1186

redheadbride15 said:

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novella1186 said:

redheadbride15 said:

Ugh, I was really disappointed by Girl on the Train, way too predictable and not that well-written. Agree with @novella1186 about Louise Erdrich. I especially loved Love Medicine. I've been terrible about reading recently. DH pointed that out to me last night for like the 10th time this week. I haven't read a single book since before our wedding (now almost 4 months ago), and I usually read at least one book a month. I was reading The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro, but I put it down and haven't been able to get back into it. It's beautifully-written but slow and subtle. @cupcait927 Station 11 has been on my "to read" list for a while, so I'd be curious if you get into it. My sister recommended it to me and she and I almost always agree on books.

Have you read Tales of Burning Love? That's the most recent Erdrich book I've finished. It's hilarious 

No, I haven't! I've read Love Medicine, Plague of Doves, and The Round House (she won the National Book Award for that one, but it's probably my least favorite of those three).

I really liked Love Medicine and Plague of Doves but I haven't read The Round House yet... maybe that one will go to the bottom of my list now lol. I think I have Four Souls already, just waiting for me to get around to reading it. And maybe one other one? (I obsessively buy books, whether or not I have time to read them)  

Shadow Tag is REALLY good (though I hate what she did with the very end of it) and The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse is also amazing. So read those after you finish Tales of Burning Love  

pinkcow13

I just finished reading Dark Places by Gillian Flynn. I liked it, although I found it to be a bit dark overall for my taste (no pun intended). Last night I started "Remember me this way" by Sabine Durant. I'm still towards the very beginning, but it's not really pulling me in like I thought it would. Hopefully it gets better soon.

futurecptkirk

I'm in the middle of All the Light We Cannot See and it's fantastic! Next I'm reading China Rich Girlfriend, the second book after Crazy Rich Asians which I loved. I'm going to Singapore in the spring so I want to get in all of my crazy Singaporean books before I go. Then The Nightingale, then Station Eleven, followed by Euphoria. I went book shopping recently clearly. 

I get what you mean. I just read Devil in the White City and sometimes that book really dragged for me, too. I also recently read The Other Typist and if anyone is thinking about it, just skip it. It builds until the last 50 pages and you think it's going to be really good and then it just... isn't. It's not worth the 300 page build up.  

Also, my mom read The Girl on the Train and hated it. Maybe it's because she's been living with an alcoholic for the past 10 years and finally left. She said it hit too close to home. 

lyndausvi

I'm just finishing up Ties That Bind by Cindy Woodsmall.  It's about an Amish family.  It's kind-of meh (kind-of predictable), but it was an easy read for the airplane.  I tend to read easy-to-read books when I travel.  It gives me something to do, but not too deep or pulling me in that I will not put it down.

futurecptkirk

lyndausvi said:

I'm just finishing up Ties That Bind by Cindy Woodsmall.  It's about an Amish family.  It's kind-of meh (kind-of predictable), but it was an easy read for the airplane.  I tend to read easy-to-read books when I travel.  It gives me something to do, but not too deep or pulling me in that I will not put it down.

When I travel if I don't read something engaging I just watch tv or nap. Sometimes after a long week all I need is a mindless, predictable book though. 

julieanne912

I only read during my lunch hours, but I'm currently on the third book of the Call the Midwife series.  I've of course watched the TV shows first, but the books are truly interesting (the show, of course, has taken liberties, switched up stories and characters, or vanilla'd up the stories for TV).  The stories are fascinating, even more so because they are true.  Also makes me glad to have modern medicine.

anjemon

I mostly read romance and yesterday I burned through Kieran Kramer's "Trouble when you walked in". It was a little bit predictable, but I loved the characters and the story was really good. She writes very slice of life contemporaries.

Now I need to pick back up Tessa Dare's "Say Yes to the Marquess". I really like her and she writes interesting stories. And I was really into this book, but it's building towards the big turning point and I know it's just going to be hard to read. So I've been avoiding it.

princessleia22

I couple months ago I decided to ATTEMPT to read a list that combines Amazon's 100 books you should read and BBC's 100 books you should read.  It comes out to about 175 books total. I don't know if I will ever get there, but it at least gives me a list to go to when I'm trying to figure out what to read next.  And it has actually had me reading more often and reading books I may otherwise have overlooked. Many of them are classics that I've never read, books I was supposed to read in school (but didn't), some newer books, and just an overall good variety.  The Amazon list includes more current titles than the BBC list, which is a nice mix and why I decided to combine them.

So, here's the books I've read (or attempted) since I started this journey:

I just started 'Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas' by Hunter S. Thompson: I'm only one chapter in, so no opinion yet

'The Fault in Our Stars' by John Green: I liked this one... I had already seen the movie and it followed pretty closely, which is rare.

'A Brief History of Time' by Stephen Hawking: It's interesting, but it's a lot of factual information about how our universe works that is kind of slow to read.  I got about half way through it and decided to take a break and go back to finish it in a couple weeks.  But, I definitely want to go back and finish it.

'Catcher in the Rye' by JD Salinger: I had read it in high school and loved it back then, so decided to re-read it. Still thought it was good, but not as exciting as it was when I was 15.

'1984' by George Orwell: I actually liked this book a lot. Some interesting thinking point about society.

'The Phantom Tollbooth' by Norton Juster: This was one of my favorite books when I was younger.  And it's probably even more amusing as an adult. 

PamBeesly524

I'm listening to The Goldfinch during my commute.. It's taken me forever to get through and it can be sooooo dull at points but overall has been a pretty interesting story. On my kindle I'm reading All the Light We Cannot See which has been very good so far.

arrippa

Thanks for the book suggestions. They are some good ones. I have Station Eleven and Liane Moriarty's books were on my "to read" list along with the Traitor's Wife (I love good historical fiction)

 

 

novella1186 said:

Anything and everything by Louise Erdrich is good. It's beautifully written, draws you in, and is easy to read, plus the characters are always awesome. She's my favorite writer. 

Right now I'm in the middle of Harlot's Ghost by Norman Mailer. But I've been in the middle of it for a long long time. If you like literary fiction or "The Great" novelists, it's an amazing book. But if you want something quick and easy then stay away from this one. It's a bajillion pages long and some sections drag on forever. Mailer can spend 300 pages describing a wall. 

I have read The Round House by Louise Erdrich. I thought it was pretty good. I will be looking for more books from her.

 

lyndausvi said:

I'm just finishing up Ties That Bind by Cindy Woodsmall.  It's about an Amish family.  It's kind-of meh (kind-of predictable), but it was an easy read for the airplane.  I tend to read easy-to-read books when I travel.  It gives me something to do, but not too deep or pulling me in that I will not put it down.

I am the same way. I have a trip to DC coming up so I wanted to get a book that I can read on my flight and at night after a long day of walking.

 

Princessleia- I have thought about tackling a "should read" list. Myabe when winter rolls around and I have more time to devote to reading.

princessleia22

arrippa said:

Thanks for the book suggestions. They are some good ones. I have Station Eleven and Liane Moriarty's books were on my "to read" list along with the Traitor's Wife (I love good historical fiction)

 

 

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novella1186 said:

Anything and everything by Louise Erdrich is good. It's beautifully written, draws you in, and is easy to read, plus the characters are always awesome. She's my favorite writer. 

Right now I'm in the middle of Harlot's Ghost by Norman Mailer. But I've been in the middle of it for a long long time. If you like literary fiction or "The Great" novelists, it's an amazing book. But if you want something quick and easy then stay away from this one. It's a bajillion pages long and some sections drag on forever. Mailer can spend 300 pages describing a wall. 

I have read The Round House by Louise Erdrich. I thought it was pretty good. I will be looking for more books from her.

 

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lyndausvi said:

I'm just finishing up Ties That Bind by Cindy Woodsmall.  It's about an Amish family.  It's kind-of meh (kind-of predictable), but it was an easy read for the airplane.  I tend to read easy-to-read books when I travel.  It gives me something to do, but not too deep or pulling me in that I will not put it down.

I am the same way. I have a trip to DC coming up so I wanted to get a book that I can read on my flight and at night after a long day of walking.

 

Princessleia- I have thought about tackling a "should read" list. Myabe when winter rolls around and I have more time to devote to reading.

I imagine this list will take me at least a year or two... or longer. Certainly not an immediate goal to finish.  But, I like that it gives me some direction on what to read next.  For the last 2 books, I actually used an online random number generator to select which book to read next on the list. I don't want to read all the ones that I think will be most interesting and leave a bunch of long, harder to read books at the end.

ETA: I should also note that I have given myself full permission to quit reading any book that I determine to be uninteresting. I'm not going to force myself to read dull books just because they are classics or to finish some silly list.

ILoveBeachMusic

I just finished Orphan Train and loved it. I also loved Nightingale and All the Light We Cannot See. My book club read Memoir of a Sunday Brunch this month. That was good too.

kimmiinthemitten

lol started Girl on the Train last night! I'm a Jodi Picoult fan (minus her last book about elephants, not her best work). She can be predictable but I love how well researched she is and her ability to make me sympathize with all sides.

Casadena

I'm reading Liar's Poker - a hilariously/shocking/etc memoir about life inside an investment bank in the 80's.  It's HILARIOUS.  I'm kind of a finance nerd though, so i may like it more than most. 

I thought Girl on the Train was so disappointing.  

Another i recently read was All the Light we Cannot See.  WWII historical fiction but beautifully written.  

charlottesmom0626

I'm reading "Bitter is the new black: confessions of a condescending, ego-maniacal, self-centered, smart ass, Or, why you should never carry a prada bag to the unemployment office" by Jen Lancaster...I could take it or leave it, but it is funny and not my normal read. 

themuffinman16

I am currently reading "All the Light We Cannot See." It is a story about war-torn Europe, a young boy who joined Hitler's Youth, and  about a blind girl who has left occupied Paris to find safety. Their stories are woven together. I am spellbound and can't seem to put this book down.

wandajune6

I'm on the waitlist for "All the Light We Cannot See" but have heard great things.

I've read a lot of the books listed above but just finished devouring the mystery series by Lauren Willig. A bit of romance, spies, etc. Silly but lots of fun. (The Pink Carnation, Blood Lilly, Emerald, etc.)

I just finished "Go Set a Watchman" by Harper Lee. I hated it and was so disappointed.

Just starting "Modern Romance" by Aziz Ansari. Looking forward to getting deeper into it.

AmandaKess

I just started "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy recently and I've been devouring it. It's a really influential piece of post-apocalyptic fiction and it's a nice brisk read.  

Heffalump

arrippa said:

I am trying to catch up with my Goodreads reading challenge and I need book suggestions. I am currently reading The Girl on the Train but everyone is so unlikeable and the main character is such a hot mess that I am lagging on reading it. Anyone reads any good books recently?

I downloaded the sample and just couldn't get into it.  I liked the idea, but the execution wasn't working for me.  Then I read reviews and wasn't too encouraged.  So I cheated and read the synopsis on Wikipedia, and then I was glad I saved myself the effort.  "Not my cup of tea," as my grandma would say.

spockforprez said:

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peachy13 said:

I loved Girl on the Train but you're right that the main character is her own worst enemy. 

Right now I'm reading the Nightingale. Not my usual genre to go to, but I'm really liking it. Not necessarily a page turner for me, but the writing is excellent and I like the characters. It's definitely keeping my interest at the moment.

Over the last few months I read all the Gillian Flynn's (and just pre-ordered her new book yesterday), Lianne Moriarty's, and also Luckiest Girl Alive which was good, and the Good Girl, which was really good. 

Omg... I was sooooo disappointed with that book (bolded). I read it in less than 48 hours because I was so hooked, but the ending was so blah! The whole book set you up for some dark, twisted surprise, but then there was nothing, no twist at all. 

So much this.  By the end, I felt like I had just read YA or something.

pinkcow13 said:

I just finished reading Dark Places by Gillian Flynn. I liked it, although I found it to be a bit dark overall for my taste (no pun intended). Last night I started "Remember me this way" by Sabine Durant. I'm still towards the very beginning, but it's not really pulling me in like I thought it would. Hopefully it gets better soon.

I read that almost as soon as I finished Gone Girl and Sharp Objects (also pretty dark), and I enjoyed it but agree with your assessment.

PamBeesly524 said:

I'm listening to The Goldfinch during my commute.. It's taken me forever to get through and it can be sooooo dull at points but overall has been a pretty interesting story. On my kindle I'm reading All the Light We Cannot See which has been very good so far.

I read it vs. listening, and my overall feeling afterward was positive but you're right:  some parts really kind of dragged.

kimmiandkoley said:

lol started Girl on the Train last night! I'm a Jodi Picoult fan (minus her last book about elephants, not her best work). She can be predictable but I love how well researched she is and her ability to make me sympathize with all sides.

Jodi Picoult is actually my go-to airplane reading author.  I agree, after awhile you're like "Oh, this is basically _______ except the kid has a genetic disorder instead of cancer (or whatever)."  But they'll keep me occupied.

I recently finished Room, and it was all right.  The end of the first half was really intense--I literally could not put it down.  But then it was sort of downhill from there.  I downloaded samples of Why Not Me? by Mindy Kaling and Under the Udala Trees by Chinelo Okparanta--barely started the latter, considering the former.