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Your Book Activity - January 2021


Athena

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Wow... it's the 1rst of January here, 2021. A Happy New Year to everyone!!

 

:hny:

 

Time wise my brain is still kind of stuck in early December, even though it is most definitely January 2021 now, at least, in most of the world (just under an hour left for West Coast USA and West Canada, and a little under 2 hours for Alaska).

 

What are you currently reading? Or, if you're not reading any book, what will your next read be?

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Happy New Year, everyone :)

 

I have read Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark by Alvin Schwartz which I loved and because I am planning on reading all of Jacqueline Wilson books I have just read Lizzie Zipmouth. Not one of my favourites from her. 

 

I am currently reading Inside Stranger's Houses by Elizabeth Mundy. I don't really have much thought to this so far. Not much has happened so I am hoping it will pick up soon. 

 

Hope everyone has a great reading month of January! 

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I have just finished my first book of the year (well, half of it was read today!): a reading group choice - Wake by Anna Hope. I have to admit, I took this one up reluctantly, but in one of those hoped for classic reading group twists, found that my misgivings were completely unfounded, and that this proved an excellent read. 4/5 stars out of 6.

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I finished my last Heroes of Olympus (Greek & Roman gods and myths) book yesterday, the carry on series from Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson series (Greek gods & myths). An enjoyable romp. 

 

Will be starting Jodi Taylor's annual Christmas Day short story from her Chronicles of St Mary's series. Thereafter I plan on sallying forth with Rick Riordan again, this time with his Magnus Chase Norse mythology series. Looking forward to keeping my spirits and reading mojo up and running with Riordan's enjoyable characters and pacey stories. 

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I'm struggling a little with getting into anything at the moment, and because of that I have 4 books on the go currently.

 

  • American Spy by Lauren Wilkinson
  • Affluenza by Oliver James
  • Across an Angry Sea by Cedric Delves
  • The Arabian Nights by Anonymous

 

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It's funny how reading mojo works. Since my last post I have finished 3 of the books I mentioned with only Arabian Nights still on-going. I have started a new audiobook, Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts, and I will probably pick up something else a bit easier to read as well.

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On 02/01/2021 at 1:31 PM, ~Andrea~ said:

Happy new year everyone! I'm currently reading 'A Tale of Two Cities' by Dickens. I'm not sure I've ever completed anything by him before. Hoping to start the year by rectifying that.

Are you enjoying it so far? 
 

8 hours ago, Brian. said:

It's funny how reading mojo works. Since my last post I have finished 3 of the books I mentioned with only Arabian Nights still on-going. I have started a new audiobook, Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts, and I will probably pick up something else a bit easier to read as well.

Wow that was good going! 

 

I’ve finished 3 books but two of them I’d started in 2020. I’m about to start reading Hollow City by Ransom Riggs.

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On 02/01/2021 at 2:31 PM, ~Andrea~ said:

Happy new year everyone! I'm currently reading 'A Tale of Two Cities' by Dickens. I'm not sure I've ever completed anything by him before. Hoping to start the year by rectifying that.

 

I hope you enjoy A Tale of Two Cities :).

 

 

23 hours ago, Brian. said:

It's funny how reading mojo works. Since my last post I have finished 3 of the books I mentioned with only Arabian Nights still on-going. I have started a new audiobook, Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts, and I will probably pick up something else a bit easier to read as well.

 

I have Shantaram on my TBR, I hope you like it :).

 

15 hours ago, Hayley said:

I’ve finished 3 books but two of them I’d started in 2020. I’m about to start reading Hollow City by Ransom Riggs.

 

Well done! I hope you like Hollow City :).

 

I'm currently re-reading Elantris by Brandon Sanderson, I'm liking it a lot. I'm not that far into it yet (page 130 out of 622).

 

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17 hours ago, Hayley said:

Are you enjoying it so far? 

On the whole yes, although it's rather wordy in places with long sentences and gigantic paragraphs. Sometimes I have to reread a sentence several times because I've forgotten what it initially started saying by the time I get to the end of it! So it's taking some effort, but there are good, pacier bits as well. I'm about a quarter way in and I'm determined not to give up!

 

1 hour ago, Athena said:

 

I hope you enjoy A Tale of Two Cities :).

 

Thank you :)

 

Edited by ~Andrea~
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Happy Reading for 2021 one and all!

 

I have really enjoyed my romp with Magnus Chase through his Norse quests in the Rick Riordan trilogy. Nothing like a life threatening quest through myths and legends to keep my mojo happy as we enter a new year. :) 

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Finished two book group reads in the past couple of days: distinctly unimpressed with both of them. First off was Man at the Helm by Nina Stibber.  'Comedy Gold' supposedly.  Dull, repetitive and all too obvious in my view. Feeling generous...2/6.  Then Body Surfing by Anita Shreve. What on earth do people see in her, if this is anything like a representative example of her writing? Trite, predictable, bland, repetitive, unengaging, and no I'm not interested in the minutiae of the colour of people's clothing, furniture or hair. 1/6.

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My Best Friend's Girl by Dorothy Koomson - Kamryn has just turned 32 and is ready to paint the town red.  Amongst the excitement of opening her birthday cards she receives a note from her best friend telling her she is in hopsital and is dying and needs to see her.  She reluctantly goes and we get to know that she hasn't spoken to Adele for almost 2 years due to a huge betrayal on Adele's part. This is where Adele asks Kamryn for a favour involving her child which will change Kamryn's life in the most unexpected way. I was ready to give this book 5 stars. Loved the characters and the plot line. However, i felt a little like the author was going of course a little too much with the main characters love life.  Overall enjoyed the story. It is extremely sad at times and does include some very upsetting scenes. A trigger warning which I'll put in spoilers 

Spoiler

includes historical and present day child abuse (sometimes quite graphic) 

overall a 4 star read and looking forward to reading more by the author. 

 

Shopaholic To The Stars by Sophie Kinsella - I liked this story following Becky however, again I felt it a little too long. Think it could've been wrapped up some time before it did. I still enjoyed reading it on the whole. Just probably not my favourite of the series. 3 stars.

 

WerePuppy by Jacqueline Wilson - I am going through reading all of her books. Came across this one (never heard of it before) this follows Micky and his 4 sisters. 3 older 1 younger. One night they watch a scary film about werewolves. Micky becomes frightened of them and dogs in general so his mum buys him one to "get over his fear" just no! The story itself was just okay but the characters were awful. His little sister bullied him and allowed her friends to too. His father was a complete dick and made him feel like a failure at any given moment. The rest were okay but not really much to write home about. There is a follow up to this which I may read just because it is very short. 1 star. 

 

A Girl Called Thursday by Lilian Harry - having this book for years and always saying to myslef I'll read it and never doing so i finally got round to it. Thursday has just turned 21 and Britain is at war! She signs up to become A VAD. Really liked this but it took a some time to get into it. I would say if you like historical fiction and stories around WWII then give it a try. 3 stars.

 

Currently reading My sister's Keeper by Jodi Pilcoult and The Dry  By Jane Harper. 

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13 hours ago, Lau_Lou said:

My Best Friend's Girl by Dorothy Koomson -

overall a 4 star read and looking forward to reading more by the author.

 

I read this book many years ago and loved it. I actually found My Best Friend's Girl by coincidence, in a charity shop in the UK (while visiting my boyfriend and his family). I had never heard of the author or the book (this was also way before I knew of the book community, before I found BCF, before I found blogs and YouTube etc). The book's syopsis on the back, sounded appealing to me so I bought it. I loved it. To this day, I haven't heard much about it, in comparison to some of the author's other novels (for example, I hear more about The Ice Cream Girls which was also published some time ago but recently got a new cover). But I loved My Best Friend's Girl at the time, and it made me go and buy more novels by the author. So far I liked or loved all those I have read (and there are still more to read). I'm glad you enjoyed it! I hope you enjoy the next work from the author that you pick up :).

 

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Shopaholic To The Stars by Sophie Kinsella - I liked this story following Becky however, again I felt it a little too long. Think it could've been wrapped up some time before it did. I still enjoyed reading it on the whole. Just probably not my favourite of the series. 3 stars.

 

Agreed. It was definitely not one of my favourites, but still an enjoyable read. Excluding book 10, Christmas Shopaholic, which I have not read yet, I enjoyed the first few books in the series more than the last couple of books.

 

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WerePuppy by Jacqueline Wilson - I am going through reading all of her books. Came across this one (never heard of it before) this follows Micky and his 4 sisters. 3 older 1 younger. One night they watch a scary film about werewolves. Micky becomes frightened of them and dogs in general so his mum buys him one to "get over his fear" just no! The story itself was just okay but the characters were awful. His little sister bullied him and allowed her friends to too. His father was a complete dick and made him feel like a failure at any given moment. The rest were okay but not really much to write home about. There is a follow up to this which I may read just because it is very short. 1 star. 

 

Wow, this sounds terrible! And I have read and liked some books by this author. I had not heard of this one.. but it doesn't sound good at all.

 

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Currently reading My sister's Keeper by Jodi Pilcoult and The Dry  By Jane Harper. 

 

I read My Sister's Keeper years ago and loved it. It made me buy and read more books by Jodi Picoult, as that was my first one. I re-read My Sister's Keeper somewhere in the past few years and liked it a lot still (there is also a movie, so I remembered the story more because I saw the movie twice as well. Even though there are some significant differences between the two). I hope you enjoy it!!

 

EDIT:

 

I'm currently reading The Woman Who Went to Bed For a Year by Sue Townsend, with 2 other people. So far it is okay.. it has aged / is dated. I don't think it will get a high rating from me but I'm glad it is at least readable as one of the two people I read it with, has DNFed (did-not-finish) / abandoned it. I have not read anything else by the author, people have told me this is definitely not her best work. I have a couple of the Adrian Mole diaries so I will give those a go at some point.

 

Alongside it I'm currently rereading Verdriet met mayonaise by Carry Slee. It's a Dutch children's book and I have re-read it several times in my life.

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8 hours ago, Athena said:

I'm glad you enjoyed it! I hope you enjoy the next work from the author that you pick up :).

thank you :) I am just unsure of what to read next by her. 

 

8 hours ago, Athena said:

Wow, this sounds terrible! And I have read and liked some books by this author. I had not heard of this one.. but it doesn't sound good at all.

Jacqueline Wilson is one of my favourites. Not all her books I think are great, but this was just awful. Much better books to be read. I must apologise because I swore in my last reply to this topic. I am unsure if I can edit it. I will remember to put in asterisks in. Not that I make a habit of swearing but you know when there is just no other word to describe someone. even if they are a fictional character. :rolleyes:

 

8 hours ago, Athena said:

I read My Sister's Keeper years ago and loved it. It made me buy and read more books by Jodi Picoult, as that was my first one. I re-read My Sister's Keeper somewhere in the past few years and liked it a lot still (there is also a movie, so I remembered the story more because I saw the movie twice as well. Even though there are some significant differences between the two). I hope you enjoy it!!

I am so glad I have started it. Again a book I have been meaning to read for ages. My friend told me she was re-watching the film and said she needed to read the book and it spurred me on. So going to watch the film afterwards. I must admit I struggled with it at first, but I am thoroughly enjoying it now. I love how we get to see more than one character's point of view.

 

8 hours ago, Athena said:

I'm currently reading The Woman Who Went to Bed For a Year by Sue Townsend, with 2 other people.

I have this on my tbr. I haven't read anything by this author either. Sorry you aren't enjoying it so much. Hoping it does get at little better for you.

 

8 hours ago, Athena said:

Alongside it I'm currently rereading Verdriet met mayonaise by Carry Slee. It's a Dutch children's book and I have re-read it several times in my life.

Nice to have those comfort reads. Ones you can go back to time and again. I think about re-reading favourites. I use to be of the mindset of not re-reading because of all the books I want to read that haven't yet. Now I think why should I not revisit the stories I know and love.

 

6 hours ago, Brian. said:

After a rather muddy walk this morning I am going to make a start on The Girl Who Reads on the Metro this afternoon.

This does sound like a really interesting read. Hope you like it. I am thinking of putting it on my ever increasing tbr list. 

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Finished Watling Street by John Higgs, a Christmas present. The author explores the length of the famous Roman route from Dover to Anglesey. A solidly enjoyable, interesting read. Rather than trying to cover everything along the route thinly, he explores a few aspecs in some reasonable depth, some more esoteric than others; a wise decision IMO.  4/6.

 

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Have just finished a trilogy by Angie Sage, Tod Hunter Moon. A really enjoyable read. It has given me a hankering for a visit back to her earlier series of Septimus Heap. I may actually do something I haven't done in years, and read another book alongside this re read. Gosh, I am feeling quite overcome by this development. Not since my degree all those years ago have I done parallel reading. I will have to go rummage for this 'other' book.  

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On 21/01/2021 at 1:24 PM, Brian. said:

After a rather muddy walk this morning I am going to make a start on The Girl Who Reads on the Metro this afternoon.

 

I have this one on my TBR! A friend of mine read it and she liked it a lot (so I ended up buying it when I found it with a good deal). I hope you like it too!

 

On 21/01/2021 at 7:55 PM, Lau_Lou said:

thank you :) I am just unsure of what to read next by her. 

 

Hmm, well to my knowledge, her later / more reeently published books are more thrillers (or thriller-like), whereas most of her earlier works are more contemporary fiction rather than thrillers. So I guess it depends what kind of mood you are in. I have read these ones: My Best Friend's Girl, The Flavours of Love (from what I recall this felt like the first book when the author tried out to make it part thriller and part contemporary fiction), That Girl From Nowhere and From There to Here (a short prequel story to That GIrl From Nowhere). I really liked / or loved all 3 novels and I liked the short prequel story. I have a lot of her works on my TBR, out of those I have heard the most about The Ice Cream Girls, but since I haven't read it myself yet I can't tell you if I like it. I would say, go by which one appeals to you most, but if you have to buy or loan it (ie you don't have any more of her books on your TBR/shelves), I guess you can also by what is available or price/cost etc.

 

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Jacqueline Wilson is one of my favourites. Not all her books I think are great, but this was just awful. Much better books to be read. I must apologise because I swore in my last reply to this topic. I am unsure if I can edit it. I will remember to put in asterisks in. Not that I make a habit of swearing but you know when there is just no other word to describe someone. even if they are a fictional character. :rolleyes:

 

I don't mind the swearing but if you like I can edit your post to make it say 'd*ck' instead? I think you should be able to edit it, as far as I know all members that have more than a small amount of posts (so the badge of your profile says 'member' or 'advanced member' and not 'new member'), should be able to edit their own posts. Yours says 'member' and you have 700+ posts so it should be possible, I think. If not, I'm happy to do it for you, it'd only take me a few seconds. I really don't mind but I won't do it without you giving me permission.

 

I could also ask Hayley to look into why you can't edit your posts if it turns out you can't and it bothers you that you are unable to do so (it would require admin profile so I can't do that anymore, but it should be easy to check).

 

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I am so glad I have started it. Again a book I have been meaning to read for ages. My friend told me she was re-watching the film and said she needed to read the book and it spurred me on. So going to watch the film afterwards. I must admit I struggled with it at first, but I am thoroughly enjoying it now. I love how we get to see more than one character's point of view.

 

I'm glad you are liking it! Yes, I love that too! Most (almost all?) of Jodi Picoult's books have points of view from more than one character (at least, I've read a lot of them, and I think all novels have that except maybe her very first novel (which I DNFed / abandoned), her novellas and short stories usually don't have this feature).

 

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I have this on my tbr. I haven't read anything by this author either. Sorry you aren't enjoying it so much. Hoping it does get at little better for you.

 

Thanks :). It didn't (what a load of toss dumpster fire was that! 1.5 star), but ahh they can't all be winners (so far worst book I read in 2021, but then again January isn't over yet :P). The Adrian Mole diaries are much more liked by this author, in comparison, I will try them at some point.

 

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Nice to have those comfort reads. Ones you can go back to time and again. I think about re-reading favourites. I use to be of the mindset of not re-reading because of all the books I want to read that haven't yet. Now I think why should I not revisit the stories I know and love.

 

Oh yes I love that :). I used to re-read a lot more as a child and young teenager. I didn't have much money to buy lots of books and I loved the comfort of reading a book I already loved. I didn't know much about the book world, nor had information of what would be released etc. I went to libraries lots, and often when I had finished my loans and couldn't yet go to the library again, I'd re-read a book I owned already. Or for example, when we went on holidays, camping, I'd bring some of my owned books, because I'd probably finish my library loans too soon (at the time children (at my town's library) were allowed a certain amount of loans on their card (8? 16? I think it was 4 fiction and 4 non-fiction at first, then later on when I was allowed the 'star' subscription, I was allowed 8 fiction and 8 non-fiction) and since I read fast.. yeah. My mum actually took me to two libraries because one wasn't enough lol (the one in the town we lived in, and the one in the next town over). That all said, there are also library loans I remember re-reading! Mostly books I loved the first time around.

 

1 hour ago, Chrissy said:

Have just finished a trilogy by Angie Sage, Tod Hunter Moon. A really enjoyable read. It has given me a hankering for a visit back to her earlier series of Septimus Heap. I may actually do something I haven't done in years, and read another book alongside this re read. Gosh, I am feeling quite overcome by this development. Not since my degree all those years ago have I done parallel reading. I will have to go rummage for this 'other' book.  

 

I'm glad you really enjoyed Tod Hunter Moon! I read the first two books of the Septimus Heap series (based on your recommendation!) but then stopped (as I got in the mood for something not-fantasy I think).. I should go back to it again at some point (I will but.. so many books to read... :D).

 

I have been doing parallel reading / reading more than one book at once, more often in the past year. I hardly ever did that in the years before then, I did do it when I was in high school as we had to read literature / literary works for Dutch and English class and I also wanted to read a book of/for my own (that was not-literary). I've been doing it more often the past year, because I've been reading books more often with people from BookTube and usually they have a schedule of so many pages or chapters a day. So I read in my 'own' book when I have finished those pages/chapters but I still have more time and feel in the mood to do more reading.

 

Good luck with the rummage :)! I hope you enjoy doing parallel reading again after a long time!

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Thanks Athena. :smile: Keeping my reading mood driven, rather than 'I should read...' has been working for me for a few years now, and I know what you mean about needing something different sometimes. I do enjoy immersing myself in a new world, when the timing it right for me. I think I may hit my actual book book shelves, put my reading glasses on, and reduce my physical TBR pile! 

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Quickly whipped through Tim Spector's Spoon Fed in a couple of sittings - basically a debunking of a number of myths surrounding diet, or, at least, a debunking as far as the current science will allow.  Nothing revelatory, but some useful confirmation (particularly of the reading I did last year around prediabetes) and a couple of nudges.  A very easy read, completed in a couple of sittings. 4/6.

Then started Kate Atkinson's Big Sky, one of my book groups' reads for February.  Well, I did give it a go, but it rapidly confirmed that Atkinson and I really don't get along any more. I thought, being one of her Jackson Brodie series, things might be different from other experiences (I remember enjoying Case Histories when it first came out), but unfortunately not.  She's just so tediously wordy nowadays. Even only 30 pages or so in, and I'm already, well, bored.  I struggled through God In Ruins for one of my other groups last year (and a couple of others in previous years), but enough is enough.  I won't grade this - I didn't read enough.

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