WHAT ARE YOU READING? 7/29

Good Morning all you Readers out there on this beautiful Sunday Morning.  We finally had a few heavy rains here in WPA that have helped the drought situation. 

I am in the midst of reading WHAT DOESN'T KILL YOU by Iris Johansen.  This a novel with Catherine Ling and Venable two of the main characters.  This is the second one in this series.  Very good.

Next up for me will be THE SINS OF THE FATHER by Jeffrey Archer.  One of my favorite authors.  Having a hard time deciding whether to read or watch the Olympics.

Can't believe we are going to be into August this week.  Before we know it children will be back in school.  My second great grandson was 6 last Friday. 

Wishing everyone a good week and lots of great reading time.

Margaret

The weather has moderated here, and it is cooler, with no 90's in the forecast. I noticed that they were harvesting sweet corn here last week. We have gotten rain when the farmers have needed it, so they are in better shape than many of the corn farmers in the country. It still may go down in the record books as one of the the hottest July's on record.

Margaret, I must have missed the first book in the Catherine Ling series. I have read all of the Eve Duncan series, so I am familiar with the character. I will look for these two books.

I finished John Sanford's latest Prey book, Stolen Prey. I enjoyed it, as I have the whole series.

I am about to start I Michael Bennett, by James Patterson/Michael Ledwidge. This is the 5th book in this series. It is about a NYC detective who lost his wife in the first book and with the help of his nanny is raising his 10 children. I am sure, as with all Patterson books, this will be a quick read.

Carole, and any other fans of Koontz's "Odd" series, the newest book, Odd Apocalypse, is coming out on Tuesday. It is NOT a graphic novel. I have read a couple of reviews, and they are pretty positive.

 

Hello Ladies:

We are still burning up in North Alabama...I am ready for summer to be over.  I have just started Second Glance by Jodi Picoult.  It is rather hard to get into but I am pressing on.  Anyone read it?  Should I keep reading?

Glenda

freddie--I have Odd  Apocalypse on hold at the library, but it'll probably take a while till it's my turn.  I'm anxious to read that one since I did enjoy all of the Odd Thomas books.  Glad he finally came out with one that's not a graphic novel.

I just finished a book that I really enjoyed a lot called Saving Faith by Jodi Picoult, about a 7 year old girl who claims she is seeing God.  Even though I really liked the whole story, I wasn't crazy about the last page.  Thanks a lot, Sue, for recommending it.  Now I'm reading another one that was recently mentioned on this thread called Villa Mirabella.  It's just a story about a family who run a B&B in Rhode Island, and I'm really liking this one, too. 

carole

Good Afternoon, everyone ~ Tampa is a bit cooler today than it has been, only 90, and what a difference just a few degrees make.  Our rain has been intermittent, which is normal for the summer rain patterns.  We had a record rainfall in June, and July hasn't been too bad, so we are gaining on the draught situation.

Seems I have stopped reading more books than I have finished lately.  I am in the mood for some good reading.  I thought I was aware of all of Jodi Picoult's books, but  Second Glance is new to me...  Let us know how you like it, Glenda.

Villa Mirabella sounds like my kind of book - the kind of book I am in the mood for about now.  Who wrote it?  Oh, well, I will find out soon enough when I go to my library's catalog... 

Margaret, I'd watch the Olympics - the books will wait.  I am not a TV viewer, and have yet to turn it on to watch,  but if you do enjoy the games, by all means, put aside the books.  I noticed in today's news that the seats are not being filled up as anticipated, with large blocks going empty.  I wonder why....

Just finished Perri O'Shaughnessy's BREACH OF PROMISE.  It was large print, but a very long book, so it took me longer to read than I originally thought it would.  I really like this author, who turns out to be the pen name for two sisters, Pamela and Mary O'Shaughnessy.  Pamela was a trial lawyer and Mary was an editor.  There are 11 books in the Nine Reilly series, so I could stay busy just reading all of them. 

I am almost coming to the decision to get an e-reader....  the last of the hold-outs, and still very uneducated, but I find that fewer books are being published in the large print versions, which is about all I can read these days.  I only read at night, and because I don't use a real bright reading lamp, I find that the regular print is becoming more difficult for me to read.  I don't wear glasses to read, but the strain is getting to me. 

Going to the library is now a rare thing for me, because I order all the my books through their on-line catalog and just go to the drive-through window to pick up a book when I am notified that one is waiting for me.  But, I had to go inside not too long ago, and I am utterly amazed at the (1) the reduced number of real paper books, and (2) the amount of space being taken up by the electronic versions.  If for no other reason, I may have to get an e-reader just to be able to get some of the books I want to read.  So, I guess I will tell  my family to get me one for Christmas. 

Now, all or most of you have had one for a while, so I am asking you veteran users to tell me the reasons I should get the brand that you have. 

Margaret, Thank you as always for getting us started on a new week....  And, I look forward to an interesting discussion this week....   

 

Hope everyone is having an enjoyable sunday and good weather everywhere. I just finished Murder on 5th Ave by Victoria Thompson and I  really enjoyed it. There great mysterys set in New York in the early 19th century and this is the newest one but I will go back and read them all. Now I will finish Lisa Scottonlines Come Home which I had to take out again as I hadnt finished it but couldnt renew it. Have a great week, Kathi

Beema--I was wondering if you were able to find MIDWIFE in you library catalog with the info that I posted in last week's Reading thread? Oh, and Villa Mirabella was written by Peter Pezzelli. Carole

Good Afternoon!

Beema:  I love my Kindle.  So light weight I don't even feel it in my purse and I can make the font the perfect size for me.  And with all the free books that you can get from ereaderiq there is never a shortage of books.   I still use the library download system, but sometimes I have to wait for a book and thats when the others come in handy.  Also, if you have friends or family that have them you can share books.  This is a wonderful feature too.  I just have a plain Kindle.

I am currently reading Defending Jacob.  I am only about 10% but so far I like it.  I watch the Olympics and read at the same time. 

Lately, I have finished "Our Husband", "Suzannas Garden" and 2 of the Alex Kava novels featuring Maggie O'Dell.  They are very good!   "Our Husband" was a comical mystery.  I got a few good laughs from it and throughly enjoyed it.

I also finished Lucky in Love by Jill Shavis.  It was a good story, but seems it could give "50 shades" a run for the money. 

Suzannas Garden was a little difficult for me.  It is about a daughter whose mother started showing signs of dementia.  Hit really close to home and I had to decide if I was going to be able to read it or not.  But, I am so glad that I did and even got some good laughs from it too.  My sister and I could have written this book, we went through some of the same things, from finding a huge supply of mustard in the fridge (ours was ketchup, 118 take out packets) to finding money hidden in strange places.  We found $700 in a picture envelope from Wal-Mart photo processing.  In the end, I was very glad I read it.

Have a great week!

Stacey

 

 

 

Beema, I've been very happy with my Nook. The only downside is that the Kindle seems to have more free downloads available, and it's easier to get ebooks from the library with the Kindle (at least from our library). However, I LOVE that I can take my Nook into any Barnes & Noble store for free service. I've only had to use that once, but it sure makes it easy to get help when you need it. Other than that, I don't think there's much difference.

 

I love the Nook Free Fridays -- a free downloadable book each week, and there are always links to other free books on the Free Friday blog post as well.

 

Being able to take your library with you is addictive. I have the Nook Tablet so it gives me internet access as well as the ereader, which is nice but I don't know that I would consider it a must-have.

 

Just finished reading The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. A real page-turner, about how the "immortal" cell culture from this woman who died of cervical cancer in 1951 impacted not just scientific research, but also the family she left behind.

Beema--what do you mean about the amount of space taken up in the library by the electronic books? I think I'm missing something here. If I were to buy another ereader I'd probably get a kindle because of all the free books. I have had a kobo for almost two years, no problems with it at all, lots of library ebooks available and I really like it a lot, but the one I have doesn't have a dictionary. I have way over 100 free kindle books on my iPad and I like reading on it in the house but it's terrible outside because of the glare. I read that you can get the protective cover and that helps some with the glare. I like reading on the iPad in the house cause when held horizontally it makes two columns, each about the size of my kobo. Whats really neat on the ipad and kindle is that you can just go to amazon and d/l a free book and its in the ipad in a matter of seconds!If my kobo ever quits working I would get a plain kindle ereader, not the fire. Hmmm...I haven't noticed any shortage of paper books at the library. I've been able to get any that I have ever wanted...can't always get it in electronic form, though. And I keep wondering since youve mentioned this a few times---is there a reason why you can't get glasses? Carole

Beema, have you thought of getting reading glasses? Even though I wear contacts, I keep a pair handy and use them if I don't have very good light. You can even find them at the dollar store!

I finished reading HARVEST  by Belva Plain; am now reading DAVID AND BATHSHEBA by Roberta Kells Dorr - it's about 30 years old. I really like fictional stories based on Bible characters, and based on scripture.

I used to have a Kobo but did not like it nearly as much as a real book, so when we sold the house and moved into our RV in order to travel, I gave it away. If I were to buy a new e-reader I imagine I would get a Kindle. Right now, no plans to get one though!

Tammy

Good afternoon everyone. Warm day today and slightly muggy. We have had a bit of rain (one day of heavy downpours) but it doesn't take long for everything to dry out in this heat. Just enough rain the last couple of days to keep it humid.

I finished THE KEY IN THE ATTIC on the weekend and really enjoyed it. I think that is the fastest I have read a book in a long time. We watched quite a bit of the Olympics on the weekend and I read when I wasn't interested in what they were covering at the time, so that probably explains it.

This morning, I started THE WEIRD SISTERS by Eleanor Brown, a new-to-me author. I have only finished the first chapter so far, and will reserve judgement on this book. It is written very differently from what I am used to reading; it is holding my interest so far though, so we shall see!

Best get back to work. Hope everyone is keeping well and Happy Reading

Sherrill

Good afternoon Readers! It is HOT in Idaho- upper 90's and low 100's- looking for a 5-10 degree switch in a couple of days. Things are dry here, and more fires are reported almost daily.

I have been reading through a stack of older lite romance books that I found- quick, enjoyable reads for me. But some of those books have super-tiny print!! No titles to really share, although I did read some authors lately that I enjoy.

Recent books I've read (meaning written more recently!)-

WONDER GIRL by Don VanNatta. About Babe Didricksen (sp?) and her life. Thank you to who recommended this book (MarineMom?). With the Olympics starting I enjoyed the topic, but I must say I wasn't too impressed by Babe's philosophy in life. Very "me first". Interesting though.

CINNAMON ROLL MURDER by Joanne Fluke Yet another story in the saga of Hannah. Lots of recipes in this one that I'd like to try though! Yum!

CHRISTMAS IN SUGARCREEK (book #4) by Shelley Shepherd Gray Light series about an Amish/English community.

I need a trip to the library to stock up on some more books. I can't find those Annie's Attic mysteries, so may have to order them when I do school ordering later. Have a great week, Ellie

Hi everyone, i am cuirrently reading Shelter Mountain the second book in the Virgin River Series by Robyn Carr, excellent as was the first. Does anyone read her books also just finished Debbie Macombers Cedar Cove Series, cant wait for number 12.

Good Morning, and happy Tuesday. Thanks, Everyone, for your thoughts on the e-readers.  I am still debating, and still trying to figure out what I want, and what will work for me.  And, to clarify - I meant to say the library is stocking tons more sound recordings (books on CDs) than ever before, and where there used to be lots of paperback books, large print books, and reference books, there are now more videos and sound recordings (electronics). 

 And, I am one of those rare animals, I guess, that at age 76 I still have 20/20 vision, without the benefit of any surgery.  So, I do not need glasses.  I have sunglasses that are designed for driving, but otherwise, I don't need them for anything.  I did have a pair of reading glasses once, and they made me so dizzy and I got headaches, so I tossed out that idea.  As for the large print books, it is just so much easier on my eyes, I don't feel any strain after reading for several hours as I do when I have been reading the smaller print. 

Two books waiting for me at the library which I will collect this morning: KILLER MARKET, by Margaret Maron, and LOVE YOU MORE, by Lisa Gardner. 

Talk with you again soon, I hope....  and again thanks for your input.