Books #35

[ToxicPony]

Like others have said, if there's nothing I fancy I go for the oldest thing on my kindle, motivation being to finally get it read!

 

[Love_hate_small_town]

What words on a blurb make you instantly put a book down? For me it’s anything to do with a war. Especially WW2. ‘Spanning decades in post was Germany’ etc. bleugh. Back on shelf.

 

[wishiniwasskinny]

Three for me in Feb. 28 Summers was my favourite. I’d read more Elin Hilderbrand.
I’ve already started The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher

 

[Tofino]

Thanks for all the how to pick your next book suggestions. I realised last night i have commitment issues anyway decided to go with the shortest thriller I have on my bookshelf so went with The Hiking Trip by Jenny Blackhurst that I picked up in a charity shop last year. It’s only 300 pages and I’m a third through and hooked already.

 

[StephenTJackson]

Oh no. How very tempting. Must resist.

 

[LydiaDeetzHat]

Just went to what is being claimed as our new library, Flagship in the borough. Regular readers of this topic thread may recall this on going saga of how the Council shut down our massive 6 floor library to move to their buildings to save money and so they can sell off the old property.

As i suspected it was utter crap. Outside the Council they have put a canvas sign with X library on it using a brick background so the whole thing just blends into the wall. You walk up the 36 steps to what you think is the library. (so much for the more disabilty access they claimed at the planning meeting) then you see ahead of you CHS (whatever that is ) and registrars office signposted. You look around and see a hidden door marked library. You enter and find a lot of empty broken shelving units , the whole place reeking of damp, and a desk with a man sitting behind who immediately aggressively questions you What are you doing here? When you say looking for the library, he waved an arm distainfully at a door marked something to do with children.

You walk in past a load of cheap desks full of young people dicking about ( so no hoped for crackdown or security guards we suspected the Council would have in their building) and theres a few mostly empty shelves, some uncomfy chairs at coffee tables ( no armchairs etc) and a load of builders materials loose and roped off.The books they do have seem to have been mostly drawn from branch libraries as their non fiction sections have a lot of not new books I have never seen before

It's soulless and stockless as suspected. I mean lets face it who wants to go hang out or sit around or even spend time at the Council. I gave them the books back and walked out.

So sad. I went to browse and get some books and I was in and out in less than 5 mins.My flatmate said I thought you were going to the library.. I said so did I..

Weirdly Slough Council went bust and they still have a fantastic library much better than ours. I might have to look into seeing if I can join a library in another borough

 

[anniemouse]

Me - "ooh let me look this one up, sounds up my street'

Amazon - "you already bought it mate.."

(This happens to me more often than I'm willing to admit!)

View attachment 3451484

Haha same here

 

[Mamacita]

I think because of my own (unjustified) view that less than 4 star is low I feel bad to give 3s - partial stars is one of the reasons I love StoryGraph (but still rate on Goodreads too) - but I should prob downgrade books like Flawless to 3.. enjoyed the read but it’s not equal to other 4 stars I’ve read recently eg. Remains of the Day (4.5 on StoryGraph).

Personally i think i would prefer a 0-10 system, i always find 5 star one difficult to distinguish between books partial stars would be helpful on goodreads though.

 

[anniemouse]

My February reads. For some reason Paris:The Memoir didn’t have any dates on it and now it won’t show in my collage even after me adding them. So it was 6 books in total

 

[anniemouse]

 

[ScoutFinch]

My March reads! Not too many but I enjoyed them all. Still annoyed my husband wants to interact with me during peak evening reading time tbh!

 

[BWGossip]

To be fair, as a kid I thought 'Beast' was better looking as a beast (I still kinda do )

Update on A Civil Contract : finished and it's definitely a 4 or 5 stars! The male interest gets a bit better on the second half, his growth is nice to see

Spoiler

(but a 26yo military man during Napoleanic Wars having a very naive view of his first infatuation is not very believable? If he was 19yo he wouldn't be as annoying in the first half as you'd forgive him more easily imo).

I only wish that there was a sequel (or that the book was longer) where the two main characters have a open discussion about their feelings and a true coming together. The last page or two,

Spoiler

where the heroine still have doubts/still is insecure is a bit too bittersweet for a romance

 

[AllieBee]

Book rave alert! The Bookbinder of Jericho, not sure if it's been mentioned on this thread before but it's a fabulous read. I loved the way all the old classics, with snippets of prose and verse wove their way through the whole book. It's set in first world war times and that plays a part but the main theme is a young woman, during suffrage, fighting against family and society expectations for a lower class woman, to study at Oxford. Its soooo good an easy 5 stars for me!

 

[CommentBelow]

Not sure how’s it’s 1st March already?! but here’s my wrap up.
Despite a couple of 4.5 Remains of the Day is my top read of the month.

 

[ordinaryjelly]

M for March as it’s the 1st!

Nice way of picking a letter M. Thank you.

(The) Mountain in my Shoe by Louise Beech. I am a huge Beech fan but this one has never grabbed me and made me want to read it before. Purchased almost 3 years ago so we will see.

Uhm, wow. Even before this bookLouise Beech is one of my favourite authors. Every book of hers that I have read I have loved, but like I said the blurb on this one never grabbed me. How wrong I was. I don't even know what I can say, I am literally speechless. So much so I haven't felt able to pick another book up. I devoured this in one sitting on Sunday. It is stunningly beautiful. And Conor, the little boy, will stay with me forever just as Sebastian from This Is How We Are Human had. I really recommend this book.

I should never doubt Louise Beech again. Oh Conor . And Sebastian.

Now I am out the other side would anyone like to pick another letter for me?

 

[nbt]

It’d be a 228 mile round trip for me to visit 66 Books and yet I’m spending my Sunday afternoon wondering what reason I can think of to pop in…

 

[Boogs]

I’m not really sure where I got my love of reading from as I’m the only reader in my family and I didn’t have bedtime stories. I could read before I started school and have memories of reading out the horses from the racing pages for my nan and her friends
Reading was my sanctuary in a childhood with lots of trauma. It was my escape and I used to get told off for reading too much.

 

[Caffeine Fiend]

Has anybody got an any recommendations for non-fiction audiobooks (or just books if you didn’t listened) which might float my boat? I listen to a lot of podcasts and have no issue paying attention but have to be in the mood for an audiobook and find it harder to keep track.

I tend to like podcasts on crimes, scams, cults - that kind of thing.

Yes!

Educated by Tara Westover (its a memoir but cult like)

College Girl, Missing: The True Story of How a Young Women Disappeared in Plain Sight by Shawn Cohen

Toxic: Women, Fame and the Noughties by Sarah Ditum

The Less People Know About Us: A Mystery of Betrayal, Family Secrets, and Stolen Identity by Axton Betz-Hamilton

The Good Girls: An Ordinary Killing by Sonia Faleiro

Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory In Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keefe (5 stars!!!)

No Choice: The Fall of Roe v. Wade and the Fight to Protect the Right to Abortion by Becca Andrews

Sedated: How Modern Capitalism Created Our Mental Health Crisis by James Davies

Know My Name by Chanel Miller (another memoir but focused on the aftermath of a crime)

Men Who Hate Women: From Incels to Pickup Artists, The Truth About Extreme Misogyny and How It Affects Us All by Laura Bates

The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper by Hallie Rubenhold

She Said: Breaking the Sexual Harassment Story That Ignited a Movement by Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey.

American Kingpin: The Epic Hunt for the Criminal Mastermind Behind the Silk Road Drugs Empire by Nick Bilton (5 stars!)

 

[CommentBelow]

For me, 0 is for DNFs
1 is 'why on earth did I finish this'
2 is for poor
3 is for solid, enjoyed somewhat
4 is great, learned something, enjoyed a lot, good writing etc
5 is fantastic and will re-read

So a 3 is good. I wanted to differentiate between a 4 and a 5 because there are lots of books i think are amazing in the moment but forget about later and won't reread, and then there are those that have a profound effect or are just so well written or funny that I know I will reread them.

I have a similar approach to 5 ratings. I used to be more ‘this was really good, better give it a 5’ but now I’m saving that rating for truly ‘wow’ books that I would recommend/rave about.

 

[Chocolategoggler]

For me, 0 is for DNFs
1 is 'why on earth did I finish this'
2 is for poor
3 is for solid, enjoyed somewhat
4 is great, learned something, enjoyed a lot, good writing etc
5 is fantastic and will re-read

So a 3 is good. I wanted to differentiate between a 4 and a 5 because there are lots of books i think are amazing in the moment but forget about later and won't reread, and then there are those that have a profound effect or are just so well written or funny that I know I will reread them.

The difference between 4 and 5 for me is the burning need to own it and have been up till the early hours reading it.
4's don't fall into that category despite how good they were.