Lara

I know this is an old-ish post, but I just wanted to say you give excellent reviews, Nollaig. I quite enjoy reading them

Haven't been on here in a while, so I figure I'll give a little update! I finished reading six books in January, three less than my goal of approximately 9/month. Not too bad overall, though. The last book I finished reading was Freakonomics by Steven J. Dubner and Stephen D. Levitt. I had high expectations of this book, because I love their podcast, but I was a bit disappointed. While it was well written, I thought the content was not great. I was expecting to learn at least something about economics from the book, but it turned out to be much more fluffy non-fiction than I was expecting. I'm still glad I read it, though. At the end of the book, there is quite a bit of additional content - articles written by the authors that expand on what was in the books, but I think I'll save that to read another time. Recently, I went to Barnes & Noble to use a gift card I received for Christmas, and picked up a couple books: I am so excited to read Notorious RBG. Ruth Bader Ginsburg is awesome. I also picked up Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, which I am currently reading for my English class: Frankenstein has been great so far. I've been enjoying it much more than I expected. Mary Shelley's voice as an author is so frank yet quite poetic, and much less archaic than I thought it would be, given the age of the book. The book is very compelling, I've read much farther ahead than what I've been assigned for class. It's definitely one of those books you just can't put down! It's superficial, but I also quite like the cover of my copy of the book. It's *so* cheesy. I just love it. Barnes & Noble has a great series of classics with lovely bindings. I have a copy of Pride & Prejudice from that collection that is just lovey. Must less cheesy than this Frankenstein cover, haha. In addition to Frankenstein, I'm still making my way through Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, though that has been going slow because I'm reading it with my boyfriend and we've both been quite busy. I'm also reading a non-fiction book about the French Revolution, which has turned out be quite interesting. It's part of a series of books on European history, I can't remember the name of it without getting up to look at the book, but I'll have to see if I can get my hands on more of them when I am done this one. Yesterday, I checked out Elizabeth Warren's biography, A Fighting Chance, from the library and began reading it, so I have a ton to read right now! I just get in the mood sometimes where I need to have a million different things to read. I know some people here share that sentiment . I hope everybody's reading has been going well, and happy February to everyone!

Thanks!

"Anyone living in the United States in the early 1990s and paying even a whisper of attention to the nightly news or a daily newspaper could be forgiven for having been scared out of his skin". Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner

Michelle (and everyone else here), do you have any recommendations for stand alone graphic novels? I've been trying to get into them; I've read one graphic novel in my life. It's time for me to get past the "graphic novels aren't real literature" mentality and try something new!

Can't wait to hear about what you thought of A Tale of Two Cities. Dickens is wonderful.

This is on my list. I've been wanting to read it for a while. The abrupt ending part scares me...I hate it when authors do that! Was it a sad ending? I feel when books end on a rather tragic note authors frequently end quite abruptly. It gives you no time to recover! I need to mentally prepare myself, lol. I'm glad you liked it, though!

Ah well I decided to read The Crucible, which I finished today, instead, since I couldn't find my copy of Antony and Cleopatra. It was a good decision. I read the play version, since I love Arthur Miller and wanted to read something else by him. Definitely didn't disappoint - it's such a great, gruesome story. If you've never read the book or play, it's a story based on the Salem witch trials. I've always wanted to visit Salem, Massachusettes, just for the history, and now I'm newly inspired to. I'll have to go on a road trip there this summer! It's crazy to think that happened just a few hundred years ago.

He was one of the greats. His films were always some of my favorites - Love Actually; Truly, Madly, Deeply; Perfume (one of his lesser known films, but a wild movie). I'll always remember him as Snape, though. Harry Potter was such an impactful part of my childhood, and Rickman brought one of the franchises most complex characters to life with great talent and finesse. I am not one to mourn celebrities, but this is one I will. I'll miss his voice.

That's so awesome! I'm glad you got some books you will enjoy There's something like this is a town near where I live. There a little cases with shelves in side of them for people to take/leave books all over town. I think things like that are so sweet.

Finally finished Me Talk Pretty One Day today! I think today I'll get started on Antony And Cleopatra. I adore Shakespeare, but later I might begin reading some else as well, depending on how long it takes me to get though it, just to have some lighter reading. Currently, I'm reading Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenence with my boyfriend. I'm not sure how I feel about it so far. There are some nice, poetic moments, and John. M. Pirsig definitely has a gift for description, but it's quite ramble-y which bothers me. I'm less than a third of the way into though, so it still has plenty of time to redeem itself.

That's definitely true! I finished it today, and I enjoyed it quite a lot. I do think Sedaris' best work is Naked, though.

Hi from the opposite coast!

Today I went to a non-profit book "shop" and picked up so new books! Since everything was free, I used a little less discretion than normal, considering that if I don't like something I can just donate it back. I got some non-fiction: The Long March by Roger Kimball The French Revolution by Owen Connelly and Fred Hembree The Illusion of Peace by Sally Marks Environmental Overkill by Dixy Lee Ray Henry VIII by M.D. Palmer An interesting looking novel about children growing up in Syria, In the Name of God by Paula Jolin And some plays, including one on my reading list, Antony and Cleopatra by Shakespeare, as well as The Crucible by Arthur Miller and The Elephant Man by Bernard Pomerance. I am quite excited to read The Crucible, I loved Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller so I hope it is just as good! I also was able to clean out my shelves a little by donating some books, which was nice. Right now, I'm making my way through Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris, which is hilarious, but going a little slowly because I'm so busy with work. There's so much I want to read but so little time. Oh well!

That's awesome! That refrain reminds me of something one of my old teachers used to say - sometimes understatement is the most powerful form of delivery.

Last night I finished Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut. It took quite awhile, though it's pretty short. My boyfriend and I have been reading it out loud to each other, which is part of the reason for the slow pace. It's worth it though, reading together is so cozy. We have a whole list of books we want to read together when we get the time. The book itself was excellent. I've only read one other book of Vonnegut's, but enjoyed it very much, and Slaughterhouse lived up to that. I thought the pacing was a little slow at the beginning, but by about halfway through it sped up quite a bit. I love Vonnegut's casual voice in his writing. He is a great satirist, and a great writer of tragedy, really. I also felt quite attached to the protagonist, Billy, which is why I'm giving it a 5/5 despite the slow beginning.

Happy reading! I love that you have so many books about royalty on your tbr. They're some fascinating people from history.

Thank you!

What is the English counties challenge? I keep seeing references to it on these blogs but have no clue what it is! Just curious. I felt like these question wasn't worthy of its own thread so I just stuck it here with the hope that one of you will see it

I think if you've never read Hemmingway it's a good book to start with! I love him, but he has a very unique voice that is hard for some people to get into, so I think a short story will give you enough for you too see if you enjoy his writing stylistically without being too much. I actually just checked, and my copy is a whopping 93 pages long. So yes, very quick read haha.

I am amused by your title. Good luck!

Just finished my first book of 2016, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime by Mark Haddon. I started it a couple days ago, but finished today so I say it counts! It was excellent, as a few of you seem to agree with here Happy new year everyone, and happy reading in 2016!

You have some great books on your wishlist! The Old Man and the Sea is one of my favorite stories of all time. It's quite a quick read, too. Such a powerful book.

Thank you everybody! It's fine! I stole part of it from Athena, so it all goes around haha I'm so excited to read them! My mother just gave me copies of both of them for Christmas, so they're sitting on my bookshelf very tantalizingly.

Athena, I think you have the most extensive and involved thread on here! I like the pictures of your bookshelves. You own so many books! I actually only have one bookshelf in my house. At my old house I had a lot more, but I needed to downsize a lot when I moved (I lived with my grandma, and I'd lived there quite a while so I had books from even when I was a little kid). My collection is growing pretty quickly however, so in a few more books I think I may need to invest in a new one!