Books! How do you read and what do you read?

I am reading a horrible book for Library Book Club, The Lotus Shoes by Jane Yang. It was suggested by another member, one who reads voraciously and doesn't watch any TV.

It involves the sadistic practice of foot binding and how bad life was for women. I'm getting tired of old worn themes such as this. I've read about it enough.

I will finish it. It's well written, and the theme is new for younger readers.
 
Pepper said:
I am reading a horrible book for Library Book Club, The Lotus Shoes by Jane Yang. It was suggested by another member, one who reads voraciously and doesn't watch any TV.

It involves the sadistic practice of foot binding and how bad life was for women. I'm getting tired of old worn themes such as this. I've read about it enough.

I will finish it. It's well written, and the theme is new for younger readers.
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Even when it's a book club selection, if I don't like a book or find it offensive to my sensibilities I don't read it. Life is too short and there are too many good books out there.

When several people in my club all say they gave up on a book because they found it unpleasant, it reminds us steer away from that author or subject matter.
 
Pepper said:
I am reading a horrible book for Library Book Club, The Lotus Shoes by Jane Yang. It was suggested by another member, one who reads voraciously and doesn't watch any TV.

It involves the sadistic practice of foot binding and how bad life was for women. I'm getting tired of old worn themes such as this. I've read about it enough.

I will finish it. It's well written, and the theme is new for younger readers.
Click to expand...
I know what you mean; a few years ago I swore off anymore books on the holocaust, slavery and domestic violence. I've read enough about them, and it's too painful for me.
 
Punished by Ann-Helén Laestadius

"inspired by true events—of five Indigenous children forced to attend a government-run boarding school in 1950s Sweden, revealing the emotional scars they carry thirty years later."

A bit of a tricky read, but very sad and very interesting. I love things based on true events.
 
I read How Civil Wars Start: And How to Stop Them, by Barbara F. Walter. Very interesting book. If you read it, don't come up with any Great Ideas, in the case of a civil war, and tell them to your children. They will get upset and you will end up promising you won't do your plans. (Including becoming a spy for the Resistance.) How Civil Wars Start — Barbara F. Walter

Barbara F. Walter is one of the world's leading experts on civil wars, violent extremism and domestic terrorism.
More here: Writing — Barbara F. Walter

On to fiction. I read Dead Man's Trail, by Donna Ball. Book 16 of the Raine Stockton series, which I love.
https://www.fantasticfiction.com/b/donna-ball/dead-mans-trail.htm

I also enjoyed The Borrowed Life of Frederick Fife, by Anna Johnston.
https://www.fantasticfiction.com/j/anna-johnston/borrowed-life-of-frederick-fife.htm

The Serial Killer Support Group, by D B Stephens was really great.
https://www.fantasticfiction.com/s/d-b-stephens/serial-killer-support-group.htm
 
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Treasure Island
Robert Louis Stevenson
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When I was a kid I had a card game called Authors. This one of Stevenson's cards.

This is a really well written tale. I bought a used copy off a sales table somewhere years ago but never read it.

I never knew it was as good as it is.
No movie version captures the feeling of reading the book. The strength is in the details.
 
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OldFeller said:
Treasure Island
Robert Louis Stevenson
View attachment 434443

When I was a kid I had a card game called Authors. This one of Stevenson's cards.

This is a really well written tale. I bought a used copy off a sales table somewhere years ago but never read it.

I never knew it was as good as it is.
No movie version captures the feeling of reading the book. The strength is in the details.
Click to expand...
I had that game, too!!!

I also recently read Treasure Island for the very first time. Excellent book!
This is what I wrote about it on this very thread nearly a year ago.
StarSong said:
I decided to read some classics that I missed along life's way. Just read Treasure Island for the first time and quite enjoyed it, though I admit to having the (free) Cliffs notes version open on my tablet to help me understand some of the archaic language and context of the times.

I'm so glad I read this!
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StarSong said:
I had that game, too!!!

I also recently read Treasure Island for the very first time. Excellent book!
This is what I wrote about it on this very thread nearly a year ago.
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I've found that if I'm not getting it, that if I come back and reread the passages a second time, I'm able to get it again.
I had to study a diagram of the ship that labelled the parts and that helped a lot to be able to follow it.
Some sentences I skip over since they don't make sense despite a number of times rereading them. But that's what makes it an interesting read.
 
OldFeller said:
I've found that if I'm not getting it, that if I come back and reread the passages a second time, I'm able to get it again.
I had to study a diagram of the ship that labelled the parts and that helped a lot to be able to follow it.
Some sentences I skip over since they don't make sense despite a number of times rereading them. But that's what makes it an interesting read.
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The Cliffs Notes are free on line. It translated and explained some archaic language and also offered some time and place context.

Rather like reading a Bible with a concordance.
 
I'm currently re-reading JRR Tolkein's Ring Trilogy for about the sixth time. I read it for the first time in college and seem to come back to it about every ten years or so. It's like revisiting an old friend. This will be the last reading of my original paperback copies as they're literally falling apart in my hands. :cry:

@OldFeller, if you happen to have an interest in old sailing ships (the days of "wooden ships and iron men") I can highly recommend Patrick O'Brien's 20 volume Aubrey-Maturin series. This is the series that the (totally garbage) movie Master and Commander was allegedly based on. The books are exceptionally well researched and the story line kept me eagerly turning pages through all 20 volumes. :)
 
I finally switched to an e-reader. It was almost friggin' impossible to find one with buttons and not an idiotic touch screen, but luckily I found one. I don't understand why opening a book and turning pages had to morph into a multi menu computer nightmare?

I usually read science fiction, finding the classic era particularly interesting, but I do occasionally read other genres.
 
I'm reading, Crazy as a Loon (Yard Birds Book 1), by Hailey Edwards. It's the first in a trilogy about a coven of old witches.

I used to read this author for her paranormal romances and wanted to get back into reading that genre, by all my favorite authors.

So far, this one is not shaping up to be a romance. It's a good story and a fun read, though, so I'll finish it.

I read on the Kindle app on my phone.
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Medusa said:
I'm reading, Crazy as a Loon (Yard Birds Book 1), by Hailey Edwards. It's the first in a trilogy about a coven of old witches.

I used to read this author for her paranormal romances and wanted to get back into reading that genre, by all my favorite authors.
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Have you watched the series, A Discovery of Witches, on Netflix? Or possibly read the series of books it was based on, All Souls Trilogy by Deborah Harkness? (I haven't read it but am considering doing so because I enjoyed the series.)
 
Medusa said:
I'm reading, Crazy as a Loon (Yard Birds Book 1), by Hailey Edwards. It's the first in a trilogy about a coven of old witches.

I used to read this author for her paranormal romances and wanted to get back into reading that genre, by all my favorite authors.

So far, this one is not shaping up to be a romance. It's a good story and a fun read, though, so I'll finish it.

I read on the Kindle app on my phone.
View attachment 435084
Click to expand...

I'll have to try it!! I used to read romance all the time, but am currently looking for anything BUT romance... which seems hard to find. =)
 

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