April 2014 - What Are You Reading?

I just finished my first book on my first e-reader (I never planned on owning one but am pleased I got over that). A Game of Thrones by George Martin was a fine book but not really excellent. I like that I was not able to predict what was coming next. The end of the book was hardly the end of the story so I might find myself reading more.

I've just finished The Weight of Blood, very good, and started the Cairo Affair, already intriguing just in the beginning chapters.

I'm about to start We Are Water by Wally Lamb

I just finished When is a Man a novel set in BC.

Paul is in his 30's and a long time post graduate student in Vancouver. Recovering from a very early case of prostate cancer and a loss of enthusiasm for his research Paul heads into the interior of BC for some isolation and to work at tagging fish as they head up a creek to spawn. Paul's past experiences, physical and emotional recovery and research interest in ethnography slowly come together in this fictional setting. Gritty and upfront I really enjoyed the way this novel evolved and the issues it was willing to face (4 stars)

Half way through Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline. An interesting read, but not a literary feat. Worth the read though .

Finished up Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline . Interesting historical fiction about a period/ event that I did not know about in the US . It was worth the read.

I'm now 54 pages in Road Ends by Mary Lawson. It seems very promising so far.

I'm reading The 100-year-old Man Who Climbed out the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson.

Finished that, and am now reading The Cherry Cola Book Club by Ashton Lee and wondering why.

On to my Early Reviewers book: All I Have in this World by Michael Parker

Just finished The Lightening Thief the first of the Percy Jackson kids series by Rick Riordan. It was remarkably good. I am hoping my daughter reads it soon so we can chat about it.

I am reading the luminaries by Eleanor Catton

I've just finished Lone Survivor by Marcus Luttrell and have now cracked open A Tale For the Time Being by Ruth L. Ozeki

10, i really enjoyed A Tale for the Time Being and am interested to know what you think of it.
I've just finished and kind of fallen in love with the Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender.
Today I'm starting Dennis Bock's Going Home Again. The reviews for this one span the scale from 0.5 all the way to 5 stars, quite unusual.

Finished up Road Ends by Mary Lawson, a 4 star read for me and am now part way through Crow Lake by Mary Lawson

>9 bolder: I'm reading The Luminaries too. It's going to take all month! I'm enjoying it but it's not something you can rush! Very intrigued to see how it all works out in the end and I'm only half way.

>11 loosha: I read A Tale for the Time Being last summer and loved it ...eventually. I realized that I hadn't read anything set in Japan before so I found it tricky to enter that setting. But I loved the character of the grandmother and wish I could be as wise as she.

finished a couple of books on the weekend:

* the goldfinch by donna tartt
* elizabeth is missing by emma healey

today, 'the goldfinch' was awarded the pulitzer for fiction...but i was pretty 'meh' about the novel. i was disappointed.

'elizabeth is missing' was pretty good - it's a debut novel, coming out in june. the main characters is an 80-something woman (maud) dealing with memory loss and trying to sort out two mysteries in her life - one in the present day and one from her past.

i'm not sure what to pick up next...hmm...

I'm reading Crash into Me by Liz Seccuro. It's a true story of a woman whose rapist contacts her with an apology 21 years after the rape.

15, lynnB that sounds brutal!

I'm starting the Accident, by Chris Pavonne, another spy thriller, i think. It takes precedence because it's from the library and so has an expiry date.

I returned All the Broken Things unread because my husband got ahold of it and time ran out. He enjoyed it, so I will re-reserve.

Crash into Me was an amazing story.

I'm on page 6 of A High Wind in Jamaica by Richard Hughes

Oh my goodness, just realized in the middle of April that I've been posting my April reads on the March page!

Apr 5: Just finished the book for my book club meeting this week: The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel by Deborah Moggach

Apr 11: I finished Galore by Michael Crummey today; really loved it. Fascinating narrative, folklore intertwined with grim reality, wonderful prose.

Apr 15:I just finished Longbourn by Jo Baker. A bit of a disappointment for this "period dramas" fan; I enjoyed the different perspective presented but found parts of the story, especially the ending, rather far fetched.

Apr 16: Today finished reading : The Empty Room by Lauren B. Davis. It's a novel about a middle aged female alcoholic-open and honest in the descriptions of her thoughts, actions and consequences.
Also, Bellman & Black by Diane Setterfield. Somewhat disappointed by this Gothic tale, just found it too slow and unsatisfying in its conclusion.

ted, you are really getting a lot of reading done!

re: #19--Lynn-it's mainly just procrastinating! I'm supposed to be concentrating on completely decluttering my house as I intend to put it on the market this summer. Reading is so much more appealing!

A very quick, light read today: a "thriller" by Canadian novelist Linwood Barclay: Never Saw it Coming.

Finished Crow Lake by Mary Lawson and it was a 5 star read for me. I'm really a fan of Mary Lawson now. Nearly finished a non-fiction set of memoirs Lives of the Family: Stories of Fate and Circumstance by Denise Chong. I'm not quite finished , but while it's been an okay read, I had expected a biography of a family, rather than 12 separate stories of the Chinese immigrating to Canada over time.

re: #22-I am a big fan of Mary Lawson's writing too; and I think Crow Lake was my favourite.

I finished The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches by Alan Bradley-just a tad disappointed in this one for some reason-maybe it's because Flavia is definitely maturing.

Philomena by Martin Sixsmith. I haven't seen the movie yet and was expecting to read a lot more about Philomena's story and less about her long lost son, but I still enjoyed this book. Now, however, I realize that much of "Michael's" life has been fictionalized in this account.

One of the best I've read this year: The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman. Hard to believe it's a debut novel, I really recommend this one.

Recently finished Life of Pi, which surprised me by actually having some Canadian content. I enjoyed it very, very much. I'm about to start Life After Life by Kate Atkinson.

Gave up on Luminaries for now and replaced it with Crow Lake which was wonderful.

Starting Cakes and Ale by W. Somerset Maugham.

I finished up Burial Rites by Hannah Kent. It is shortlisted on this years " Bailey" aka Orange Prize. I " enjoyed" Burial Rites, but was very dark. It is the fictionalized story of the last execution in Iceland. I need something lighter after that, so I am 1/2 way through The Other Child by Charlotte Link. It's a psychological murder mystery by a German writer translated into English. A nice escape!

I really enjoyed my latest read (2 great reads in a row for me!): The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd. Great historical fiction.

I've been on vacation reading:

Search Angel by Trish Cohen
Learning to Bow by Bruce Feiler
Matadora by Elizabeth Ruth
And still working on Ataturk by Andrew Mango.