Reading Glasses - Fan Group discussion

I’m actually on the ball here - 1 day early in fact!

Tell us all about what you’re reading (or have read) this month. Share what you think about your current read. We want to know what we all like!

As I’ll prob be reading the same books tomorrow as I am today, I’m currently focused on Devil in the White City (still) and am enthralled by ‘The Road to Jonestown’ by Jeff Guinn (which is one of my Murderino challenge books).

I just finished The State of Affairs: Rethinking Infidelity Esther Perel, which is a book all about cheating. Felt pretty weird reading that. At times it felt like a blueprint for how to deal with an affair, but I'm not having an affair, so that was weird, but most of the book was very interesting. Perel's other book Mating in Captivity was also very good.

I'm also finishing up Lovecraft Country by Matt Ruff. Reading this for a book club. It's been pretty good, but there doesn't seem to be a main character, and instead of having one main story, it seems to be a book that is made up of 3-5 side stories. All of the stories and characters are pretty good on their own, but I wish it focused on just one of them.

Next book for bookclub will be Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman, and a re-read of the Harry Potter series because I just got back form Harry Potter world in Florida, which was amazing.

Listening to Pullman's latest, La Belle Sauvage which is incredible. I can usually divide my attention between normal life and duties while listening but not with this one. The narrator is really, really good and we all have been waiting WAY to long for this to arrive.
I guess this is a month of reading 'long-awaited novels' as I am also reading the latest by Arundhati Roy - which has been about a 20 year wait. I am not sure how I feel about The Ministry of Utmost Happiness yet. I scanned some reviews and they are pretty mixed. I suppose that is how I am feeling too. Sometimes I am engaged and other times, I zone out and have a hard time finding my way back in.
The book that I am in the middle of and cannot gush about enough is Hellhound on His Trail: The Stalking of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the International Hunt for His Assassin It is totally riveting and so well-written. Reminds me of how captivating The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America is with its superb mix of narrative in the non-fiction.

I just finished (at 1 am this morning) Ruth Ozeki's "A Tale For The Time Being" and thoroughly enjoyed it. It was a dual perspective story-line that was filled with self analysis and a hint of the supernatural. I found that it was a book that I couldn't put down once I got going, which is really all I look for from literature.

It was a busy reading month since I'm not currently in rehearsals.
I finished Lincoln in the Bardo on NYD. I'm a little lukewarm on the book. I enjoyed the premise and the focus on grief. I thought some of the ghost backgrounds felt dropped in. I'm not one to turn up my nose at crassness, sexual content, but for some reason some of these scenes really just made me ask why.

I finished the next book each in comic series Deadpool, Volume 3: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly and Jessica Jones: Alias Vol. 3. Loved them, as expected. These are the particular incarnations that the movie and Netflix season seem to be based on.

Read the first two of the Themis Files: Waking Gods and Sleeping Giants and I'm wildly excited for the third this spring.

Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House by Michael Wolff (not much I didn't know, but it was all concentrated in one place).

Hardcore Twenty-Four by Janet Evanovich was bad. Just bad. I have found guilty pleasure in the series before, but the characters were pure caricatures, the plot as lacklustre, and Stephanie has become someone the readers don't have any respect or empathy for anymore.

Where Am I Now? as discussed in the threads. Loved it and Mara's insights into the industry.

I read some short story collections from Pottermore: Short Stories from Hogwarts of Heroism, Hardship and Dangerous Hobbies, Short Stories from Hogwarts of Power, Politics and Pesky Poltergeists, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Quidditch Through the Ages, and The Tales of Beedle the Bard. They were short, but great world building. It made it more obvious how much thought Rowling puts into every choice she makes in her books.

Big Bosses: A Working Girl's Memoir of Jazz Age America. This is basically a primary source/memoir that was donated to Vizcaya Gardens in Florida. Altemus worked in the 20s as a personal secretary for the owner/builder of the garden. It's her memoir of her various bosses and working as a single (and mostly uneducated) mother in the twenties. There are (warning) some moments with iffy language in regards to race, though no objectionable views on race. They made the choice to keep her language since it was reflective of the time, and the book has a ton of footnotes and contextual history. She worked for a lot of famous entrepreneurs and celebrities--and it has been verified that her musings in this memoir were accurate. It's historically fascinating.

Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge. WOW. Wow wow wow. I cannot recommend enough. Contains a history of black history and slavery in Britain (fairly inaccessible in public education) as well as break downs of White Fear, Privilege, violence and discrimination to people of color in Britain. It's raw, uncomfortable, and yet still provides hope in the struggle against racism. She quotes Terry Pratchett's Mort near the end "There's no Justice. Just us." I have been telling everyone about this book.

Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel. This graphic novel (or as she calls it, Tragicomic) is spectacular. I knew of the musical first, and therefore Alison's autobiographical story. It doesn't detract at all from the book (and honestly, if you can listen to the soundtrack even if you can't catch a performance, it is so spectacularly adapted from this work). Her difficult relationship with her father is one I can't personally relate to, but she demonstrates it so well. Alison's control of language is impressive--I'd say even to some of the most well read. She weaves together her struggle with her sexuality as a child, the excitement of her sexual awakening as a young college student (one most of us can relate to but up until fairly recently only those of us who are straight may have seen ourselves experiencing in popular media), and dealing with the potentially misplaced guilt of her father's death coinciding with the happiest time of her life coming out and finally being herself. Another read I have told everyone about. Beautifully illustrated and a well-structured plot make this amazing life story astounding. *can't stop clapping for it*

I'm reading entirely too much right now, which is a good thing. I'm reading Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body, The Hate U Give, When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing, and The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. So far I'm really liking everything. With Wind-Up Bird, I have conversations with my spouse, because he minored in East Asian History and has helped me with crucial Japanese context to make as much as you can from the story.

Alice wrote: "I'm reading entirely too much right now, which is a good thing. I'm reading Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body, The Hate U Give, [book:When: The Scientific Secrets of Per..."

I cannot wait for my library hold of The Hate U Give to be ready!!

Chrissy wrote: "Alice wrote: "I'm reading entirely too much right now, which is a good thing. I'm reading Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body, The Hate U Give, [book:When: The Scientific ..."

I know! I'm on 3/5 dots. Not sure what that means Libby, but hurry up!

I am also waiting on The Hate U Give. Currently reading Cannibalism: A Perfectly Natural History and still plugging along in The Absolute Sandman, Volume One. My fiancé and I have also started reading The Magician's Nephew together!

I just started reading Mythos: A Retelling of the Myths of Ancient Greece by Stephen Fry - really excited to smash through that one!

Currently reading Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin. Not at all what I expected, and I am loving it.

Just got Dark Money by Jane Mayer on audiobook from Libby, and I was so excited! About an hour in, I’m still excited, but haven’t really gotten into it yet.

I’m also pretending to read Ulysses by James Joyce, but I think it’s going to take me forever. This shit is dense!

Starting a new two-man book club for Imajica by Clive Barker. My brother and I choose an epic series or book to read and email back and forth about. Looking forward to getting back into the worlds of Clive Barker.

I'm reading like five things at the moment XD I feel like I'm in a weird slump where I pick up all the things and only continue a few. I'm trying to be better about that.

So, let's break my CR list by format, because I try to read at least three different formats always XD

Also, letting y'all know upfront that I don't know how to link books in here XD

Ebook: Beyond Shame by Kit Rocha

Audiobook: What the Puck by Robert Lee Beers

Physical: The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage by Sydney Padua

Physical: Terminal Alliance by Jim C. Hines

I've been doing pretty good as far as my regular reading standard goes -- I've been reading:

D.Gray-man, Vol. 1

D.Gray-man, Vol. #2

D.Gray-man, Vol. #3

Tender Buttons

Cannibalism: A Perfectly Natural History

The Art of Asking; or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Let People Help

The Princess Bride (A re-read)

Just finished The Black Tides of Heaven by J.Y. Yang, this book was fantastic! A quick novella, still the emotional depth and intriguing world they were able to express.... the mark of a great author

One of my reading challenge categories was Read a Book Based Only on Its Cover. So I picked up The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend without knowing a thing about. Based on the back cover it’s won several awards but I really disliked it. The first review on its GR page is extremely harsh, but I can’t say I disagreed. I don’t want to spoil anything, but I honestly wouldn’t recommend it.