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ETA: Hahaha! I'm narcissistic-quoting the quote that I wrote I refused to narcis...never mind.
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Emerald sea / John Ringo, 1963-, c2004, Baen Books.
Subjects
Mermen -- Fiction.
Fascism -- Fiction.
Despotism -- Fiction.
Political fiction.
Length
441 pages ;
Light reading, science fiction. The Fascism connection is how I got to this one. Ringo is a staple of military SF - this one gives him more room to muse on politics, government, relationships, the dangers of overreliance on high technology. An interesting read. This is the second of a series - our library has the first. More light reading, yippee!
Just wanted some brainless reading so read Crichton's Sphere, which despite glaring plot holes was enjoyable, so then I moved on to Next: a novel, not enjoying it as much so far.
Audio books are The First 20 Minutes (fitness book) and it is "meh", and Spy Secrets that Can Save Your Life, which I am enjoying.
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Status:
"I don't understand. But I don't care, so it works out."
(set 3 days ago)
35,613 posts, read 17,935,039 times
Reputation: 50634
Quote:
Originally Posted by chicagoliz
+1 for 30 days. It was a great show and I wish more people had seen it. I especially enjoyed one where an atheist mom switched with an evangelical Christian mom for 30 days.
I thought Beneath a Scarlet Sky was terrible, and was a story that would have been better told as narrative nonfiction by a more capable author. Because the underlying story itself was interesting. Gentleman in Moscow was magnificent. The best of current literary fiction.
That's exactly how I felt. I do notice, when you read through reviews there are a bunch of people saying it was fabulous and then a lot saying "what? did we read the same book? the writing is terrible".
My book club read it, and many did like it. I will say, I've read much better amateur fiction by high schoolers. Although the story is a good one, the poor/unimaginative writing ruined it for me.
Status:
"I don't understand. But I don't care, so it works out."
(set 3 days ago)
35,613 posts, read 17,935,039 times
Reputation: 50634
I just finished "Look Again" by Lisa Scottoline. A real page turner. The plot basically is a woman is coming home from work, picks up the mail and in it is a missing child flyer with a child's photo that is a dead-ringer for her own son. And the story goes from there. A little disappointing how zany and mad cap (think Girl with the Dragon Tattoo style writing) it gets at the end, but if you need a book for a long plane flight, this is a good bet.
I'm about 1/4 way through "All Over But the Shoutin'" by Rick Bragg. Non-fiction memoir of growing up dirt poor in Appalacia. Currently he's a writer for the New York Times. Incredibly well-written, sometimes quite melancholy.
Pachinko, by Min Jin Lee. I am about half way through & enjoying it very much.
THat is my next book club read. I am pushing myself now to read Eleanor and Hick. It started out pretty interesting but it's getting bogged down in details that I don't find very meaningful. Still a very fascinating story. Not sure what I think of it (and I am at 40%).
I read a few things by Rick Bragg and really enjoyed his writing . I know I read All Over But the Shoutin and totally enjoyed it. I think that might have been the first book I read of his, Really a good story teller and what a childhood.
That's exactly how I felt. I do notice, when you read through reviews there are a bunch of people saying it was fabulous and then a lot saying "what? did we read the same book? the writing is terrible".
My book club read it, and many did like it. I will say, I've read much better amateur fiction by high schoolers. Although the story is a good one, the poor/unimaginative writing ruined it for me.
YES. I think people who don't read a lot of high quality fiction like it. They seem to confuse some of what the real Pino had done with making a good novel. But had the author written a good novel heavily inspired by the real Pino, he could have omitted certain characters that didn't add to the story and certain things that happened that weren't really relevant. Instead, he wrote what is actually narrative nonfiction, but called it a novel because he couldn't substantiate everything in it. And then wanted it both ways by constantly emphasizing the it was a true story, even though he categorized it as a novel. It was published by one of amazon's publishing arms, so it wasn't good enough to get through traditional publishing, and it shows. I agree with you it was very amateurish.
And it is odd how people seem personally offended that not everyone is in love with the book.
I read it for my neighborhood book club, and we had a small turnout. But others did generally like it. That book club, though, typically doesn't spend a lot of time discussing the books that are read.
Pachinko, by Min Jin Lee. I am about half way through & enjoying it very much.
I've heard lots of great things about Pachinko. My book club is reading that one in a few months -- I think it is our read for our December meeting. We alternate fiction with nonfiction -- October is Crazy Rich Asians, which I will start soon. Then Michael Pollan's latest, How to Change Your Mind (or something similar), and I think Pachinko is the selection after that one.
Pachinko, by Min Jin Lee. I am about half way through & enjoying it very much.
That was has been on my list for a long time. Enjoy it
Quote:
Originally Posted by ClaraC
I just finished "Look Again" by Lisa Scottoline. A real page turner. The plot basically is a woman is coming home from work, picks up the mail and in it is a missing child flyer with a child's photo that is a dead-ringer for her own son. And the story goes from there. A little disappointing how zany and mad cap (think Girl with the Dragon Tattoo style writing) it gets at the end, but if you need a book for a long plane flight, this is a good bet.
I'm about 1/4 way through "All Over But the Shoutin'" by Rick Bragg. Non-fiction memoir of growing up dirt poor in Appalacia. Currently he's a writer for the New York Times. Incredibly well-written, sometimes quite melancholy.
Rick Bragg has so many good books that are on my list to read. I really need to try one
Quote:
Originally Posted by chicagoliz
YES. I think people who don't read a lot of high quality fiction like it.
I like both kinds of fiction but many of the well written fiction stories are like listening to a long winded person Just get to the point already I'm more about the story than the writing in a lot of cases...but we all enjoy different things
Right now I am reading The Astonishing Color of After by Emily X.R. Pan. It is a YA with some fantasy. A mother commits suicide and her daughter thinks she turned into a bird to leave her clues about the past. It's an easy read and one that I am enjoying. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/...color-of-after
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