All things books and reading thread - 2016

[AbbysMom]

Previous thread -

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/290270/what-are-you-reading-2015


I have been reading the same book since before Thanksgiving and I couldn't even tell you the name of it! :anon:

I've been spending too much time on the Ipad and not enough time reading.

 

[blueyedgirl5946]

I am reading a book called Miracles and Other Wonders. It is a book of short stories, true life experiences of miracles. It is a reminder that miracles really do happen and that we don't always have to understand everything that goes on around us.

 

[handsome kitty]

I'm rereading JD Robb's In Death series.  I've read them so many times it doesn't bother me to stop and I am not staying up half the night to finish.

 

[magister]

Currently, I'm re-reading the entire Stephen Donaldson Covenant Chronicles series: one of my many perennial favourites (just finished Runes of the Earth). An excellent series, but talk about angst central in some places! Donaldson seems unable to create a central character without at least one appallingly nasty flaw, suffering or circumstance!

Recent reads:
Tolkien: everything from start to finish (yet again! ).
Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay; always an absolutely superb read, IMO.
Watership Down and the accompanying Tales; hadn't read it for many years, picked it up again, and didn't regret it for a moment.
the Marcus Didius Falco series by Lindsey Davis; again, a tremendously entertaining read.


Cat related:
That good old favourite Pyewacket by Rosemary Weir. The book's long gone, but I rescued an audio recording of it I'd copied as a little tacker (still in astoundingly good condition after over forty years), and decided to read it again. The magic is there still. Pity I could never find the sequel.
Magical Cat Mysteries by Sofie Kelly. Not the kind of thing usually I'd read; a male thing perhaps, but in general I'm not exactly drawn to books with even so much as a touch of romance. But I stumbled on audio versions of these entirely by accident, and was pleasantly surprised.


On that note: curious to know whether anybody else has found this; probably due to my being lucky enough to have been read aloud to so often as a child, and enjoying that so much. But even after all these years, often I prefer AudioBooks simply to reading, if they're very well done. Depends on the mood, but many times I've found myself setting a book aside in favour of a well-read audio version.

 

[rubysmama]

 

[Winchester]

I'm starting 2016 off with some books, by golly. Enough of this not taking time out to read!

On my Nook:

The Other Side of Midnight - Simone St. James

Parchment and Old Lace - Laura Childs

Silver Linings - Dabbie Macomber (a bit of fluff)

About a Vampire - Lynsey Sands

Feat the Dark - Kay Hooper

 

[rubysmama]

 
I'm starting 2016 off with some books, by golly. Enough of this not taking time out to read!

On my Nook:

The Other Side of Midnight - Simone St. James

Parchment and Old Lace - Laura Childs

Silver Linings - Dabbie Macomber (a bit of fluff)

About a Vampire - Lynsey Sands

Feat the Dark - Kay Hooper

I just finished "Silver Linings".  You're right, it was a bit of a fluff.  And that's coming from me who is reading another of the  "Shopaholic" books.

Not sure if I'll read the next one in the Rose Harbor series, as I'm getting a little tired of the format.

Have you read her "Cedar Cove" series?

 

[handsome kitty]

Currently, I'm re-reading the entire Stephen Donaldson Covenant Chronicles series: one of my many perennial favourites (just finished Runes of the Earth). An excellent series, but talk about angst central in some places! Donaldson seems unable to create a central character without at least one appallingly nasty flaw, suffering or circumstance!

Recent reads:
Tolkien: everything from start to finish (yet again!

).
Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay; always an absolutely superb read, IMO.
Watership Down and the accompanying Tales; hadn't read it for many years, picked it up again, and didn't regret it for a moment.
the Marcus Didius Falco series by Lindsey Davis; again, a tremendously entertaining read.

Cat related:
That good old favourite Pyewacket by Rosemary Weir. The book's long gone, but I rescued an audio recording of it I'd copied as a little tacker (still in astoundingly good condition after over forty years), and decided to read it again. The magic is there still.

Pity I could never find the sequel.
Magical Cat Mysteries by Sofie Kelly. Not the kind of thing usually I'd read; a male thing perhaps, but in general I'm not exactly drawn to books with even so much as a touch of romance.

But I stumbled on audio versions of these entirely by accident, and was pleasantly surprised.

On that note: curious to know whether anybody else has found this; probably due to my being lucky enough to have been read aloud to so often as a child, and enjoying that so much. But even after all these years, often I prefer AudioBooks simply to reading, if they're very well done. Depends on the mood, but many times I've found myself setting a book aside in favour of a well-read audio version.

All the audio books I've tried have been books I've read or part of a series I've read.  The voices don't match the ones in my head and I stop listening and go back to the print version.  I have a friend who adores audio books and listens to them while she does chores. 

 

[magister]

All the audio books I've tried have been books I've read or part of a series I've read.  The voices don't match the ones in my head and I stop listening and go back to the print version.

Yes: definitely that can be a problem. There are numerous Tolkien audios, but I can't stand any of them; I read them first at about age nine, and simply vanished into his universe until they were read (and for a good while afterwards, as I recall ). No AudioBook reading I've tried can recapture that.


It's not always the case, however. I started reading the Harry Potters as audio (no idea why; for whatever reason, I simply didn't get around to getting the books at the time), and thoroughly enjoyed them as Audio. They had though to be the Stephen Fry versions; tried the Jim Dales afterwards out of curiosity, and couldn't stand them!


Also, with Audios, I tend to run them at at least three-times normal speed, at least to approximate reading speed. Fortunately, most good media players nowadays will include Pitch-Shifting algorithms (no squeaky voices ); the good ones will allow hand-customising algorithm settings, which makes it viable to play things at quite a fair rate of knots.

 

[mani]

I'm in fantasy mode and am reading the latest Robin Hobb: Fool's Quest.

 

[Winchester]

I'm re-posting these links; they're pretty neat links and will give you all kinds of authors (some new-to-you, some maybe not).

The Literary Map:  http://www.literature-map.com/

Type in the name of an author and hit Enter. The closer other authors are to the name you typed in, the more similarly they write. It's a great way to find new authors that might become some of your favorites.

Stop You're Killing Me:  http://www.stopyourekillingme.com/

A favorite for mystery lovers

BookBub:  https://www.bookbub.com/home/

Gives you a limited amount of time to download free or low-cost popular books. Sign up, look for your favorite genre, and BookBub will take it from there. You get an email every day with a list of free or low-cost books in both Kindle and Nook as well as Kobo formats. 

 

[nora1]

I'm currently reading "I am Malala" and "The Maze Runner" which is a series my students love so I thought I would see what all the fuss was about

 

[jcat]

Just finished Getting in TTouch with your Cat by Linda Tellington-Jones.

Right now I'm halfway through the second book of the Outlander series. I have the first four books as a Kindle "bundle", so I'll read them, but I'm disappointed so far. The writer makes too much of an effort at salaciousness - give me a good mystery over a bodice ripper any day - and that distracts too much from a somewhat disjointed storyline.

 

[mingking]

I just finished "I'll Give You The Sun" by Jandy Nelson. It's a YA novel that tells the story of two artistic twins and how their stories come together and affect each other. It's a nice, poetic, dramatic read and a highly recommended LGBTQ+ book. 

And my friend just gave me two books: Cat Daddy by Jackson Galaxy (lovin' it so far!!!) and a manga called Yon & Mu by Junji Ito which is about his coming to love his girlfriend's cats. 

 

[handsome kitty]

Just finished Getting in TTouch with your Cat by Linda Tellington-Jones.

Right now I'm halfway through the second book of the Outlander series. I have the first four books as a Kindle "bundle", so I'll read them, but I'm disappointed so far. The writer makes too much of an effort at salaciousness - give me a good mystery over a bodice ripper any day - and that distracts too much from a somewhat disjointed storyline.

I found most of the series at a used book store.  I got stuck in The 2nd book and haven't been back.  That was almost 2 years ago.  I hate not finishing a book but I really really lost interest in it.

 

[rubysmama]

Right now I'm halfway through the second book of the Outlander series. I have the first four books as a Kindle "bundle", so I'll read them, but I'm disappointed so far. The writer makes too much of an effort at salaciousness - give me a good mystery over a bodice ripper any day - and that distracts too much from a somewhat disjointed storyline.

 
I found most of the series at a used book store.  I got stuck in The 2nd book and haven't been back.  That was almost 2 years ago.  I hate not finishing a book but I really really lost interest in it.

Hmmm.... now I'm wondering whether I'll enjoy the Outlander series or not.  Interesting you both got stuck in the middle of the 2nd book.

I'm planning to borrow the e-books from the library, so no big deal if I don't like them.   Will post my thoughts once I start reading them.

 

[handsome kitty]

 
Hmmm.... now I'm wondering whether I'll enjoy the Outlander series or not.  Interesting you both got stuck in the middle of the 2nd book.

I'm planning to borrow the e-books from the library, so no big deal if I don't like them.   Will post my thoughts once I start reading them.

I have a friend who loves the series and has been rereading it for years.  Usually we like the same books.

 

[jcat]

Hmmm.... now I'm wondering whether I'll enjoy the Outlander series or not.  Interesting you both got stuck in the middle of the 2nd book.

I'm planning to borrow the e-books from the library, so no big deal if I don't like them.   Will post my thoughts once I start reading them.

My problem is I'm just not into Romances. If you enjoy them, you'll probably like the series.

 

[Kat0121]

I put book one of the Outlander series on my Kindle but haven't started it yet. 

Right now I am reading The Ultimate Vegan Guide by Erik Marcus. So far, very helpful and informative. .99 cents to put on the Kindle. 

 

[fyllis]

I just finished Never Die Alone by Lisa Jackson. There could easily be a sequel to this one! And I immediately picked up Split Second by David Baldacci. I really like his style and look forward to getting more of his books! I love a good, suspenseful thriller!