Current Reads

I just finished Naomi by Junichirō Tanizaki and I'm still not sure how I feel about it. It's about a man recounting his marriage to a woman named Naomi, who he found in a cafe and took in to "raise" when she was 15 (yeah, he's a bit of a creeper). He's obsessed with her, spoils her, and is too stupid and gullible to ever deny her anything. She becomes spoiled and is always cheating on him and spending his money as fast as he can make it (faster, sometimes). Like, she doesn't even try to hide that's the reason she keeps him around, but he spins these elaborate fantasies in his head of her being his treasure and getting pissed at her and calling her disgusting names (in his head) when she fails to live up to his fantasy, as if she owes him that or something. But in the end, he's always too stupid and too much of a pushover to do anything about it.

It was written in the early 20s, so the raging sexism isn't a surprise. I just can't figure out if we're supposed to sympathize with Joji or hate him. Because I kind of hate him, but the book would be somewhat more enjoyable if I thought we were supposed to? I don't know.

I'm about 3/4 of the way through Jellicoe Road. I am dying to finish it, but I fear it's going to go horribly wrong, and I'll be stuck at work sobbing or angry, heh.

I'm reading Errantry a collection of short stories by Elizabeth Hand.

mokey75 wrote:I'm about 3/4 of the way through Jellicoe Road. I am dying to finish it, but I fear it's going to go horribly wrong, and I'll be stuck at work sobbing or angry, heh.

For me, it was a little of column Sob and a little of column Going Back To Page One and Starting Again Immediately. Either way, best to finish at home. SUCH a good book.

I'm hosting book club tomorrow and we're reading Code Name Verity (my idea). So naturally I started it last night. Whoops.

mokey75 wrote:I'm about 3/4 of the way through Jellicoe Road. I am dying to finish it, but I fear it's going to go horribly wrong, and I'll be stuck at work sobbing or angry, heh.

I very rarely get moved emotionally by reading - the most response writing gets from me is a laugh, usually. But I was reading The Dark Tower on the bus on the way in to work when I hit a very bad patch and just started crying on the bus and could not stop even after I got to work. That was embarrassing.

Well, I did read a little more at lunch, and I got through the part where

Spoiler:

so I decided it'd be best if I just shut off my Kindle. But I am DYING to finish it now, ugh!

And I really loved Code Name Verity, katesti. I was kind of eh about it in the beginning, but oh man. When I figured out what was ACTUALLY going on, I couldn't put it down. It was amazing.

mokey75, I felt the same way about Code Name Verity. I was actually pretty bored at first until I started to piece together what might actually be going on and then the story began moving faster!

I am in the middle of The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie and I absolutely adore it. Flavia de Luce is my new favourite crime heroine.

My bookclub did that one, and I really enjoyed it. I haven't read any of the follow-ups, but I know a few of my bookclub members did, and that the series gets even better.

Oh, good to know, thanks! I didn't realise they went up to book 5 already, so I'm hoping my library has them. I'm enjoying it SO much.

I think I tried The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie when it first came out and found Flavia way too precious for my liking. I would certainly give it another chance though because I enjoy the premise of her as a child detective!

whatthedeuce wrote:I think I tried The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie when it first came out and found Flavia way too precious for my liking. I would certainly give it another chance though because I enjoy the premise of her as a child detective!

I had the same issue - I couldn't actually finish it. At the time I blamed it on Pregnancy Brain, and will probably attempt it again at some point, but boy did it bug me while I was reading it.

I came across this writer today. http://www.sarahsmith.com Does anyone know about her? Boston peeps in particular: heard any buzz about this writer? I'm sort of a little be intrigued by the premise.

katesti, I don't think I even got 30 pages in before giving up because Flavia just annoyed me too much. I think I could see her being more charming in a film adaptation, but on paper, she jut came off like a know-it-all. Still I would definitely like to try the book again to see if it grabs my attention on a second attempt.

Flavia's definitely a know-it-all, but I kind of loved that about her. It was a really cheeky arrogance, and I found it so amusing.

So I'm digging into The Stand by Stephen King. Never read it before, but I've seen the miniseries. I can't get the image of Molly Ringwald as Franny out of my head, though, and I can't help but think there could have been a better actress for that role. Nothing against Molly, she's fine, but meh.

I'm trying to slog my way through the second Beautiful Creatures book, and ugggghh. I'm determined to make it, but gah, at what cost? I saw the movie, and I liked the kids enough to pick up the first book. I still like the book one and movie versions of the characters enough that I want to stick it out for the four books and find out what happens to them, but this second book is a chore. I love angsty teen stuff, but this particular brand of angsty teenage bullshit is trying my patience. I'm thisclose to just reading the Wikipedia summaries and moving on, but for now I am determined to persevere.

I've got Code Name Verity waiting for me when I finish, and I've been wanting to read that for ages, so I think that's making me impatient.

I felt the same way about that book, Gillian. The teen angst was just getting way too much for me. I found the first book strangely compelling and I actually rather liked the two leads, but the second just felt so repetitive.

Gone Girl, I read, finally, after being on the library's waiting list for three months. Very, uh, gripping. I'll definitely be thinking about it for awhile. But I also hated everyone in it. So...huh.

After reading about almost every teen vampire book I could find, I finally went ahead and read the original Dracula. Hoo boy. A lot of heavy-handed religious themes in that one, and too much waxing on the pure goodness and good purity of the female lead character, but it was nice to read a book where the vampire was actually supposed to be SCARY instead of some misunderstood creature, and the descriptions of the count were bone-chilling.

I read Light, the last book in the Gone series by Michael Grant, in one sitting right now. It was gripping and I couldn't put it down, but also, just as gruesome as the rest of the books. Possibly more gruesome. Yikes; I might be having nightmares for a while.

Gillian wrote:I'm trying to slog my way through the second Beautiful Creatures book, and ugggghh. I'm determined to make it, but gah, at what cost? I saw the movie, and I liked the kids enough to pick up the first book. I still like the book one and movie versions of the characters enough that I want to stick it out for the four books and find out what happens to them, but this second book is a chore. I love angsty teen stuff, but this particular brand of angsty teenage bullshit is trying my patience. I'm thisclose to just reading the Wikipedia summaries and moving on, but for now I am determined to persevere.

I've got Code Name Verity waiting for me when I finish, and I've been wanting to read that for ages, so I think that's making me impatient.

I just finished Beautiful Darkness. I totally get what you are saying. However, I thought the payoff was pretty good at the end. I would stick with it if you can. I just started the third book, so there is the possibility that I won't want to continue.

I'm finishing up The Hounds of the Morrigan by Pat O'Shea and I'm loving it. What an adorable book! It's a fun story about a clever young boy and his spitfire little sister going on a quest through Faerie to retrieve a special stone that will allow them to prevent The Morrigan from unleashing misery on the world. It's a nice old time-y type fairytale with lots of mythological goodness.

I love that book too. I read it back in the 80's and my mind was blown that I was reading a story partly set in Galway and that I was recognising the places she was talking about, because that never happened when I'd be reading my Nancy Drew or Famous Five stories!

There was talk years ago of them making a film but it never happened. Which is a pity because it's a great story.

Oh, and I (finally) finished reading Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Lani Taylor last night. So so good! It took a turn I really wasn't expecting and told it really interestingly. I need the sequel now! But it's twenty euro in the bookshop in town so I might wait until I either talk myself into buying it or until it comes out in paperback. I wonder which one will happen first...

I'm starting Maggie Stiefvater's The Scorpio Races now. I've decided it's high time I made a dent in my to-read pile.

Raksha wrote:I'm finishing up The Hounds of the Morrigan by Pat O'Shea and I'm loving it. What an adorable book! It's a fun story about a clever young boy and his spitfire little sister going on a quest through Faerie to retrieve a special stone that will allow them to prevent The Morrigan from unleashing misery on the world. It's a nice old time-y type fairytale with lots of mythological goodness.

One of my favourite books! Many moons ago, I reviewed kids books on local radio once a month, and this is the only one I remember someone coming into buy after hearing my review.

QueenSix wrote:Oh, and I (finally) finished reading Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Lani Taylor last night. So so good! It took a turn I really wasn't expecting and told it really interestingly.

I really enjoyed that book, and spent a while in awe of the author's imagination.

I'm currently reading The Bellwether Revivals which I am enjoying, but you can see the influence of The Secret History running through it and, imho, that book is so good I wish people would stop trying to replicate it.

I began Daughter of Smoke and Bone, and while I'm not completely hooked yet, it's a pleasantly fast read so far. Am aching to know what all this teeth business is about!

Still making my way through Elizabeth Hand's Errantry but I know I'll be reading the fifth Cazalet book, All Change, by Elizabeth Jane Howard in November. I had no idea the series was unfinished. Now I need to fit in a reread of the series.