Artemis Windsong
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The love in me salutes the love in you. M. Williamson
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Post by Artemis Windsong on Jan 10, 2023 20:29:16 GMT -5
In Love by Amy Bloom - assisted suicide for an alz patient. The clinic is Dignatos in Switzerland. The review said it was depressing. It's about the journey.
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gs11rmb
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Post by gs11rmb on Jan 11, 2023 8:57:50 GMT -5
I'm listening to the audiobook of "Demon Copperhead" by Barbara Kingsolver for my bookclub. So far it's been spectacularly depressing. It's very well written but I've got about 19 hours left to go and I'm hoping something positive happens soon.
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tcu2003
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Post by tcu2003 on Jan 11, 2023 19:54:07 GMT -5
I actually lowered my yearly total to 400 books this year. I read and will re-read favorites but I still end up reading over 500 books the past few years. I have been reading a series and slogged through Gideon. The book was not for me and I am not interested in continuing the series. I think so far I have read 11 books and started Sea Wolves.
After that I have Killers of a Certain Age. I also have Nancy Wake on audiobook /KU for a more biographical book on WW2.
I am in awe, snapdragon! That’s an impressive amount of books!
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tcu2003
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Post by tcu2003 on Jan 11, 2023 19:56:00 GMT -5
Just read The Year of Yes by Shonda Rhimes - I liked this one, and enjoyed her story and perspective about how going from saying no to everything to saying yes to things that scared her transformed her life in a positive way.
I also read Love on the Brain by Ali Hazelwood. Cute romance story.
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saveinla
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Post by saveinla on Jan 11, 2023 21:22:11 GMT -5
I'm listening to the audiobook of "Demon Copperhead" by Barbara Kingsolver for my bookclub. So far it's been spectacularly depressing. It's very well written but I've got about 19 hours left to go and I'm hoping something positive happens soon. Thanks. Its on my hold list. I figure when I get it - months from now, I may need all 3 weeks to finish
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snapdragon
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Post by snapdragon on Jan 12, 2023 11:24:37 GMT -5
I actually lowered my yearly total to 400 books this year. I read and will re-read favorites but I still end up reading over 500 books the past few years. I have been reading a series and slogged through Gideon. The book was not for me and I am not interested in continuing the series. I think so far I have read 11 books and started Sea Wolves.
After that I have Killers of a Certain Age. I also have Nancy Wake on audiobook /KU for a more biographical book on WW2.
I am in awe, snapdragon! That’s an impressive amount of books! I am not a huge TV watcher and I don't have a spouse or kids to look after so I have time and enjoy stories.
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steph08
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Post by steph08 on Jan 17, 2023 2:55:27 GMT -5
Finally finished the mammoth beast that is The Ink Black Heart (Cormoran Strike book #6). Good, but long, like the latest books in the series.
Also read In Five Years.
Trying my best to read more this year instead of waste time on my phone.
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saveinla
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Post by saveinla on Jan 17, 2023 7:18:26 GMT -5
Just finished - The Family Chao - felt like it could have been shorter.
I have started to look through the librarians list of best books of 2022.
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gs11rmb
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Post by gs11rmb on Jan 20, 2023 9:07:45 GMT -5
Finally finished the mammoth beast that is The Ink Black Heart (Cormoran Strike book #6). Good, but long, like the latest books in the series. Also read In Five Years. Trying my best to read more this year instead of waste time on my phone. I started using audiobooks for the Strike series. I'm not a very fast reader and they are now just too long. The Ink Black Heart was 34 hours! I enjoy the mysteries but find the personal stories of Robin and Strike rather boring. I don't need entire chapters dedicated to their internal monologues. Just get on with solving the murders .
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NomoreDramaQ1015
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Post by NomoreDramaQ1015 on Jan 23, 2023 16:58:03 GMT -5
Finished Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six by Lisa Ugner
I didn't hate it but I didn't exactly love it either. It was a fast read and kept my interest but I probably won't read it again.
The part I didn't like is two female characters totally escape consequences for their past choices. The main character gets to be the happy housewife at the end despite also being a trash person like her brother.
I get the message of the book was "bad men doing bad things" so that is where the author's focus was but come on there should be some accountability for the people who enabled him for years too.
To me the book would have been way more interesting just following Henry and Catrina and cut the rest of the story out entirely. It felt like there were three different books going on at the same time. Two ended up tying together but the whole subplot with the owner of the cabin could have been left out entirely and not missed.
There were quite a few moments when I was taken out of the story because it was all so implausible. Towards the end I actually found myself arguing with the author because it was so improbable. It's clear that is in there because that was the only way to tie the separate plots together.
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steph08
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Post by steph08 on Jan 23, 2023 18:48:44 GMT -5
Just finished The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. I enjoyed it as it was a fresh story and kept my interest.
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snapdragon
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Post by snapdragon on Jan 25, 2023 10:58:53 GMT -5
I have started re-reading Magical Midlife Crisis by K.F. Breene -- It just seems very appropriate right now.
I have tried to get into Columbus Day by Curtis -- But everytime I read about one of the invaders all I can think about is the Kia commercial with the hamsters. So I am having a hard time with it. Instead, I have been re-reading old favorites instead. Killers Of a Certain Age made me laugh. It was very enjoyable.
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tcu2003
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Post by tcu2003 on Jan 26, 2023 0:28:54 GMT -5
Just finished The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. I enjoyed it as it was a fresh story and kept my interest. It’s been awhile, but I remember enjoying that one.
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tcu2003
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Post by tcu2003 on Jan 26, 2023 0:31:39 GMT -5
I’ve recently finished Year of Yes by Shonda Rhimes, Love on the Brain by Ali Hazelwood, and Spare by Prince Harry.
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Artemis Windsong
Senior Associate
The love in me salutes the love in you. M. Williamson
Joined: Dec 18, 2010 19:32:12 GMT -5
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Today's Mood: Twinkling
Location: Wishing Star
Favorite Drink: Fresh, clean cold bottled water.
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Post by Artemis Windsong on Jan 26, 2023 19:46:33 GMT -5
tcu2003 I put holds for ABs on two you mentioned. 1st, 3rd.
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snapdragon
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Post by snapdragon on Jan 30, 2023 11:25:20 GMT -5
I have started Hard Day for a Hangover and am having fun with the book so far.
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saveinla
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Post by saveinla on Jan 30, 2023 23:37:58 GMT -5
Finished The Candy House by Jennifer Egan last week and Bomb Shelter by Mary Laura Philpott today.
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saveinla
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Post by saveinla on Feb 8, 2023 0:34:43 GMT -5
Finished Demon Copperhead. I liked it.
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snapdragon
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Post by snapdragon on Feb 8, 2023 10:37:14 GMT -5
Finished Hard Day for a Hangover and I was cracking up. It was really good and I enjoyed that this book finished off the trilogy in a good way. Re-reading Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews and I realized I forgot how much the FMC changed over the course of the series. I am also re-reading Moon Tamed by Audrey Greene and it's just a sweet story that makes me happy to read...the peacocks stole the show for me.
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steph08
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Post by steph08 on Feb 10, 2023 21:02:59 GMT -5
Razorblade Tears - SA Crosby
Just finished and this has to be one of the worst books I have ever read. The writing is extremely poor. The characters poorly developed. The events not believable (and my suspension of disbelief is fantastic).
GoodReads and Obama led me wrong on this one. Oof
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saveinla
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Post by saveinla on Feb 10, 2023 21:22:38 GMT -5
Razorblade Tears - SA Crosby Just finished and this has to be one of the worst books I have ever read. The writing is extremely poor. The characters poorly developed. The events not believable (and my suspension of disbelief is fantastic). GoodReads and Obama led me wrong on this one. Oof So true - I used to finish every book I started, but life is too short to be wasting on bad books and so if I dont like a book after 25 pages, I return the book back.
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happyhoix
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Post by happyhoix on Feb 11, 2023 18:52:19 GMT -5
Just got Rebecca by du Maurier today and started it.
Got interested in it by reading the Book List about various characters reading all the books on a reading list - Rebecca was one of them. Most of the others I had already read before.
The Book List was mostly a love letter to the impact books can have in our lives. I liked it but it had one terribly sad event- normally I don’t read books or watch movies that are profoundly sad because it makes me very sad, too, and then annoyed at myself for being sad for fictional characters.
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NomoreDramaQ1015
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Post by NomoreDramaQ1015 on Feb 13, 2023 13:23:44 GMT -5
Finished All Hallows by Christopher Golden.
I was drawn into the neighborhood dysfunction and liked how it bled into the supernatural events of the novel.
I do wish the supernatural aspects had been fleshed out better. The majority of that happens in the last third of the book so we get very little backstory and what was given was rushed. Just a couple paragraphs. I would have liked to have known more about The Cunning Man considering that character is being used to sell the book on the dust jacket.
I also did not understand setting the book in 1984. It's like he picked that year out of nowhere or wanted to capitalize on current cultural fads like Stranger Things. I suppose he could have picked 1984 with the LBGTQ subplot in mind but it didn't feel like he did any homework on what the attitudes were in the 80s to make it relevant. The overall aspect of that plot were very shallow and would have worked just as fine set in 2022.
The book doesn't seem to quite know what it wants to be. I think the overall theme is people are the real monsters? IDK.
It was an overall fast enjoyable read but not particularly memorable. Didn't make me want to pick up another novel by this author.
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bean29
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Post by bean29 on Feb 14, 2023 10:14:14 GMT -5
I just finished listening to Fly Away by Kristin Hannah. I thought I had read all the books in the Firefly lane series years ago, but I don't think I ever read this before. Enjoyed it very much but it was a little sad.
I just started listening to The Wind at My Back by Misty Copeland. I am on Chapter 3. She became the first African American Female Principal Dancer in the American Ballet Theatre in 2015. I think I will enjoy it, and it is only 5 hours so it should go quickly. I also have The Spare by Prince Harry on hold - but it says 24 weeks. I will wait until I get the library copy. I reserved The Seven Husband of Evelyn Hugo (audiobook) it says "You are 152nd in line. 88 copies in use. 1,142 people waiting total. 13 people waiting per copy. I also put a hold on the Year of Yes, the estimated wait is only 2 weeks. I can't put holds on much more, as I had 8 holds already. I need to be able to borrow stuff to listen to in between. I will try to borrow Love on the Brain by Ali Hazelwood soon.
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tcu2003
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Post by tcu2003 on Feb 14, 2023 23:43:03 GMT -5
I just started listening to The Wind at My Back by Misty Copeland. I am on Chapter 3. She became the first African American Female Principal Dancer in the American Ballet Theatre in 2015. I think I will enjoy it, and it is only 5 hours so it should go quickly. This one looks good - I’m going to put it on hold at the library. I’m bummed that neither of the libraries that I have access to their e-books has an e-book version, but I can get the hard copy from my local library.
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tcu2003
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Post by tcu2003 on Feb 14, 2023 23:49:57 GMT -5
I’ve had a few work trips this year, and tried to be more intentional about reading instead of playing on my phone, so I’ve read way more than typical for me so far. Since my last post, I’ve read:
The Black Widow (Gabriel Allon #16) by Daniel Silva Falling for Your Best Friend’s Twin by Emma St Clair Savvy Sheldon Feels Good as Hell by Taj McCoy Finding Me by Viola Davis The American Roommate Experiment by Elena Armas When in Rome by Sarah Adams Every Summer After by Carley Fortune Love at First Spite by Anna E Collins The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood The Chemistry of Love by Sariah Wilson Secretly Yours by Tessa Bailey
Of those, Finding Me, When in Rome, Every Summer After, and the Love Hypothesis were my favorites. Savvy Sheldon, Chemistry of Love and Secretly Yours were my least favorite.
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tcu2003
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Post by tcu2003 on Mar 12, 2023 21:57:01 GMT -5
Less than 3 months into the year, and I’ve met my 2023 Goodreads goal of books read, which is crazy. My goal the past few years has been 36 books - most of the time I barely make it, but as aforementioned on a previous post, I’ve been trying to be more intentional about reading, and so far it’s working. I’m only going to list the ones I’d more highly recommend.
Carrie Soto Is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid Party of Two by Jasmine Guillory The Sum of Us by Heather McGhee Loathe to Love You by Ali Hazelwood (so far, I’ve loved everything of hers I have read) Call Us What We Carry by Amanda Gorman
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Knee Deep in Water Chloe
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Post by Knee Deep in Water Chloe on Mar 12, 2023 22:15:34 GMT -5
Just finished this one In the middle of this one
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NomoreDramaQ1015
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Post by NomoreDramaQ1015 on Mar 13, 2023 9:01:13 GMT -5
How was Hail Mary? I really really liked The Martian but was disappointed in Artemis. I go back and forth on reading Hail Mary.
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happyhoix
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Post by happyhoix on Mar 13, 2023 10:20:16 GMT -5
I’m listening to Donna Tartts The Little Friend. Actually read it a while back but rereading for book club.
Several people on Good Reads complained about the audio book reader doing a terrible job. The reader actually does an excellent job - the story is set in 1970 Mississippi and the reader switches between several southern accents- a pleasant drawl for the wealthy characters, a coarser one for the poor whites, and an Appalachian flavored one for the evangelical preacher from Kentucky. She even pulls off a bellow for the mentally challenged, deaf but sweet teenager, and for the main protagonist, a young girl who is accused of being a Yankee because she talks fast, the reader gives her a flat middle American accent. I guess the problem for some listeners is they never heard Southern accents- or at least not the heavy ones poor whites or the hill people use. It’s a book set in Mississippi though - they shouldn’t sound like they’re from the Bronx.
I like the book but it’s misleading, the blurb on it makes it sound like a young girl searching for the person who murdered her brother - a thriller or mystery story - but it’s more a book about the young girls life and all the colorful characters in it. As someone who lives in the south I like it.
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