Athena Posted December 1, 2020 Share Posted December 1, 2020 I can hardly believe it's December already.. ! So, time for a new monthly reading topic. I'm currently reading Only Human by Sylvain Neuvel, book 3 in The Themis Files series (trilogy). I've been reading this science-fiction trilogy the past week (ish) and I've been loving it. I'm hoping to finish book 3 before Thursday when I start doing the read-a-thon. We shall see. What book(s) are you reading? Or any other book activity you want to mention (did you buy any books? etc)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marie H Posted December 1, 2020 Share Posted December 1, 2020 December! Just starting Tales of the Folly by Ben Aaronovitch - short stories in the Rivers of London series. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lau_Lou Posted December 1, 2020 Share Posted December 1, 2020 Haha it's the same response each year that it's December, but they are so accurate! November was a slow reading month for me, so hoping to pick up this month. Not got anything in particular but probably concentrate on some Christmas books. My lovely friend got me a lovely gift from Tea Leaves and Reads and it included The Christmas Cookie Club by Ann Pearlman so perhaps that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrissy Posted December 2, 2020 Share Posted December 2, 2020 I am reading the last book in the Kane Chronicles, the YA trilogy by Rick Riordan with an Egyptian theme. Pacey and entertaining, just what my ragged reading mojo needed. I may stick with Rick Riordan once I'm done, heading toward his Norse mythology series. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marie H Posted December 2, 2020 Share Posted December 2, 2020 Half way through Jodi Taylor’s An Argumentation of Historians (The Chronicles of St Mary's #9). Very riveting!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marie H Posted December 7, 2020 Share Posted December 7, 2020 Finished listening to Jodi Taylor's An Argumentation of Historians (Chronicles of St Mary's #9). What a brilliant book, and damn, can Jodi Taylor pulls out the stops this time; this has been the best ever this time!! . Not a dull moment, it's exciting from start to finish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrissy Posted December 9, 2020 Share Posted December 9, 2020 On 07/12/2020 at 1:45 PM, Marie H said: Finished listening to Jodi Taylor's An Argumentation of Historians (Chronicles of St Mary's #9). What a brilliant book, and damn, can Jodi Taylor pulls out the stops this time; this has been the best ever this time!! . Not a dull moment, it's exciting from start to finish. It is a rip roaring plot in this one isn't it? Such a pace from beginning to end. And what an end? Phew! I am sticking with Rick Riordan to get me through to next year, so I have joined Percy Jackson in his adventures. The 10 or so books that make up this Grecian demi god series should keep me going for a week or two. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raven Posted December 9, 2020 Share Posted December 9, 2020 On 12/7/2020 at 1:45 PM, Marie H said: Finished listening to Jodi Taylor's An Argumentation of Historians (Chronicles of St Mary's #9). What a brilliant book, and damn, can Jodi Taylor pulls out the stops this time; this has been the best ever this time!! . Not a dull moment, it's exciting from start to finish. My sister loves these books, but having read the first one I have to admit I just don't get the love for them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppy Posted December 9, 2020 Share Posted December 9, 2020 On 12/8/2020 at 2:45 AM, Marie H said: Finished listening to Jodi Taylor's An Argumentation of Historians (Chronicles of St Mary's #9). What a brilliant book, and damn, can Jodi Taylor pulls out the stops this time; this has been the best ever this time!! . Not a dull moment, it's exciting from start to finish. I'm reading this one at the moment! Chrissy started me on this series and they just seem to get better and betterer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrissy Posted December 10, 2020 Share Posted December 10, 2020 16 hours ago, Raven said: My sister loves these books, but having read the first one I have to admit I just don't get the love for them! I think there are a number of books or authors that have the same affect. There are people I know that dislike Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman and Jasper Fforde books, and are baffled that I like them. My husband wouldn't ever read them, or the Jodi Taylor books, he would hate them. But throw a Roman at him, and he is happy! Perhaps in this instance it is the central character herself that makes or breaks whether the books work for one? Max isn't everyone's cup of tea. If I dislike or don't care what happens to a main character, I will really struggle with a book. I gave up on a series recently when I realised the main character, who had been irking me, wasn't likely to be killed off in the end as I hoped she might. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppy Posted December 10, 2020 Share Posted December 10, 2020 8 hours ago, Chrissy said: Perhaps in this instance it is the central character herself that makes or breaks whether the books work for one? Max isn't everyone's cup of tea. If I dislike or don't care what happens to a main character, I will really struggle with a book. I gave up on a series recently when I realised the main character, who had been irking me, wasn't likely to be killed off in the end as I hoped she might. An intense dislike of the central character is what really turned me off books like Wuthering Heights, Atonement and The Remains of the Day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raven Posted December 11, 2020 Share Posted December 11, 2020 (edited) 11 hours ago, Chrissy said: I think there are a number of books or authors that have the same affect. There are people I know that dislike Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman and Jasper Fforde books, and are baffled that I like them. Obviously there are people who do not like certain genres or specific authors because they just don't click with them, but I would say that all of the authors you have listed there above are very good writers. I cannot say that about Jodi Taylor having read Just one Damned Thing After Another because the book was, frankly, a mess. The review I wrote here sums it up my thoughts pretty well: http://www.bookclubforum.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/3119-ravens-reads/&do=findComment&comment=501824 so I won't go over the same ground again here. Quote Perhaps in this instance it is the central character herself that makes or breaks whether the books work for one? Max isn't everyone's cup of tea. If I dislike or don't care what happens to a main character, I will really struggle with a book. I gave up on a series recently when I realised the main character, who had been irking me, wasn't likely to be killed off in the end as I hoped she might. As I say in my review above, Max isn't without appeal, but too much of the focus is on her character, to the point where it breaks the plausibility of the world she inhabits. I can only assume this series gets better as it goes along, but I won't be reading them to find out, despite having the next two volumes on my Kindle (I got the first three books for 99p before she was signed up by Headline; they look to be self published, but I don't know if that is the case). Edited December 11, 2020 by Raven Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madeleine Posted December 11, 2020 Share Posted December 11, 2020 Totally agree with Wuthering Heights, I still can't see how anyone would find Heathcliff attractive, but each to their own! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marie H Posted December 11, 2020 Share Posted December 11, 2020 (edited) On 09/12/2020 at 1:36 PM, Chrissy said: It is a rip roaring plot in this one isn't it? Such a pace from beginning to end. And what an end? Phew! This was the first time that Jodi made me cry too! #8 was just spectacular, all the time. On 09/12/2020 at 7:47 PM, Raven said: My sister loves these books, but having read the first one I have to admit I just don't get the love for them! I thought that the first book very disappointing, but after #2 & 3 I was hooked. On 09/12/2020 at 8:36 PM, poppy said: I'm reading this one at the moment! Chrissy started me on this series and they just seem to get better and betterer Yep, they do get better every time, and #8 was just brilliant! Edited December 11, 2020 by Marie H Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willoyd Posted December 12, 2020 Share Posted December 12, 2020 Finished Bill Bryson's The Body, a book group read. Very readable, very interesting, told in typical Bryson easy going style. Just too much to retain - a book that will need further dipping into. 4/6 stars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willoyd Posted December 12, 2020 Share Posted December 12, 2020 (edited) On Jodi Taylor: I'm more in Raven's camp here. Maybe not quite so severe on the first book: I mildly enjoyed it, enough to give book 2 a go, but just not driven to go any further. Raven's comments pretty much reflect my thoughts, far more accurately than I probably could have expressed them myself! An intense dislike of the central character is what really turned me off books like Wuthering Heights, Atonement and The Remains of the Day. Well, those three books probably reflects the full range of my feelings towards books! I really enjoyed Wuthering Heights (less so, admittedly, the second time around), was fairly neutral about The Remains of the Day, and have never tried Atonement, as I've been bitten rather too often by Ian MacEwan, a writer I just can't get on with at all. It seems that pretty much all his central characters are unlikeable! Edited December 12, 2020 by willoyd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raven Posted December 12, 2020 Share Posted December 12, 2020 20 hours ago, willoyd said: Raven's comments pretty much reflect my thoughts, far more accurately than I probably could have expressed them myself! You have my pity! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willoyd Posted December 16, 2020 Share Posted December 16, 2020 Two more books finished in the past couple of days: The Ghost Stories of Edith Wharton and The Lost Lady by Willa Cather. Both cracking reads - although views of my book group were more mixed about the former. For me, it was a rare set of short stories that I really enjoyed, often for the very reasons others didn't, mostly to do with uncertainties surrounding endings and events. Both 5/6. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted December 16, 2020 Author Share Posted December 16, 2020 Today I finished Fablehaven 5: Keys to the Demon Prison by Brandon Mull and My (Not So) Perfect Life by Sophie Kinsella. I really enjoyed both reads. Not sure what I feel in the mood to read next, I might take a break from reading for a day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrissy Posted December 16, 2020 Share Posted December 16, 2020 5 hours ago, Athena said: Today I finished Fablehaven 5: Keys to the Demon Prison by Brandon Mull and My (Not So) Perfect Life by Sophie Kinsella. I really enjoyed both reads. Not sure what I feel in the mood to read next, I might take a break from reading for a day. If it is longer than a day I will be rushing to The Netherlands to check you are OK! I am enjoying a meander through Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson Greek demi-god series. Currently on book 5, Percy Jackson & The Last Olympian. I enjoy being reminded of many aspects of Greek Mythology, all wrapped up in a merry YA romp-around. This, and the later related series will merrily see me through Christmas and into the New Year. All low effort but enjoyable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raven Posted December 16, 2020 Share Posted December 16, 2020 3 hours ago, Chrissy said: Percy Jackson & The Last Olympian. Is it anything like Asterix at the Olympic Games? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willoyd Posted December 18, 2020 Share Posted December 18, 2020 On 16/12/2020 at 10:51 PM, Raven said: Is it anything like Asterix at the Olympic Games? Absolutely not! Popular children's fantasy adventure series: Percy has a mortal mother and god for father, and lives in the twenty first century. My year 5 and year 6's (10-11 year old) lapped them up. (Quite a lot also enjoyed Asterix!). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willoyd Posted December 18, 2020 Share Posted December 18, 2020 On 16/12/2020 at 10:51 PM, Raven said: Is it anything like Asterix at the Olympic Games? Absolutely not! Popular children's fantasy adventure series: Percy has a mortal mother and god for father, and lives in the twenty first century. My year 5 and year 6's (10-11 year old) lapped them up. (Quite a lot also enjoyed Asterix!). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willoyd Posted December 18, 2020 Share Posted December 18, 2020 Finished 'Wintering' by Katherine May. 4/6. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raven Posted December 18, 2020 Share Posted December 18, 2020 (edited) 18 hours ago, willoyd said: Absolutely not! Popular children's fantasy adventure series: Percy has a mortal mother and god for father, and lives in the twenty first century. My year 5 and year 6's (10-11 year old) lapped them up. (Quite a lot also enjoyed Asterix!). 18 hours ago, willoyd said: Absolutely not! Popular children's fantasy adventure series: Percy has a mortal mother and god for father, and lives in the twenty first century. My year 5 and year 6's (10-11 year old) lapped them up. (Quite a lot also enjoyed Asterix!). Alright, alright! (I actually knew what it was, I've seen parts of the films - the ones Chris Columbus made after he was replaced on the Harry Potter films!) Edited December 18, 2020 by Raven Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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