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

A book my brother suggested to me is now out in paperback
The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles,its set in Nebraska June 1954, 18yr old Emmett Watson has been released from a juvenille work farm after serving 22 months for involuntary manslaughter. He's released early because his dad died returns to their family farm to get his 8yr old brother, Billy who has been staying with neighbors Emmett has a plan for them to leave and go West to look for their mother
I started the book yesterday can't put it down,its long at 575 pgs This book in some ways reminds me of William Kent Krueger's terrific book'This Tenderland'
 

For decades I read very few books. Lots of business, science, national defense, and general interest magazines (and of course the internet). So I have joined the Book Club here at my retirement community which "forces" me to read one book a month. Coming up next month is "Lessons in Chemistry."
 
PRISONER by B.A. Paris
Starts off with a single young woman trying to make a living for her self..
she makes some friends her age, gets a job.

Her boss ask her to go to Los Vegas with him.
While there he asks her to marry him so he won't have to marry the girl his family wants him to marry.

Strange things happen after her marriage .

Kept me guessing how she would ever get out of the mess she got into.
 

moviequeen1 said:
A book my brother suggested to me is now out in paperback
The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles,its set in Nebraska June 1954, 18yr old Emmett Watson has been released from a juvenille work farm after serving 22 months for involuntary manslaughter. He's released early because his dad died returns to their family farm to get his 8yr old brother, Billy who has been staying with neighbors Emmett has a plan for them to leave and go West to look for their mother
I started the book yesterday can't put it down,its long at 575 pgs This book in some ways reminds me of William Kent Krueger's terrific book'This Tenderland'
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I finished the book this afternoon,was good. My only 2 complaints the author is too descriptive, too long at 575 pgs, I do recommend the book Sue
 
I went looking for the Fiona Davis book "the Lions of 5th Ave" recommended by @moviequeen1. I didn't find that title, but picked up another of her's set in New York, "The Address" about the famous Dakota building, with parallel storylines--one in the Guilded Age when it was built and the other in 1980's.

Writing is well-paced and dialogue believable. I felt, however, that the story was teetering on the edge of meladramatic/gothic (at least the Guilded Age part) and was a little put off by the protagonist of that part. The ending (at least the historical 1/2) was a bit of a bummer. While it was a good read over-all, I came away feeling let down somewhat. But I still plan to check into The Lions of 5th Ave... perhaps that will be better.
 
moviequeen1 said:
I finished the book this afternoon,was good. My only 2 complaints the author is too descriptive, too long at 575 pgs, I do recommend the book Sue
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I also thought it was overlong, but that's one of my frequent complaints. I tend to skim a lot of overly descriptive paragraphs/pages.

The late, great Tom Petty had a saying about popular music, "Don't bore us, get to the chorus." It was one of the keys to his success and is why his music is so recognizable. We all know his choruses.

I feel that way with books sometimes. Stop wasting my time with completely irrelevant (to the story) descriptions of the style of house (down to the color of the shutters) that the main characters visit one time - I don't care. Stop boring me and get to the dialog.
 

Cave in the Snow: A Western Woman's Quest for Enlightenment Paperback – 1 October 1999​

by Vicki Mackenzie (Author)

a fascinating read of Vickis search for enlightenment - she lived in a small hut high in the mountains and got snowed in - made friends with wolves and became a fully fledged buddhist nun - if you have problems being alone - try this for a tonic!!
 
I am at present in the middle of a series of romances, after that I will probably start over again with well loved 1) Dick Francis, followed by 2) Robert B. Parker!

And I am an enthusiastic ebook lover. I hated them at first because, like so many, I loved the feel and smell of a new book in my hands. But as I got older the print in the more substantial books (over 500 pages) got too small for me, and the way I devour books, which is one book every two days, I wouldn't have enough money left to eat, now that paperbacks sell around 20 dollars (Canadian) in our area. I also subscribe to Amazon Plus for 10 dollars a month and get as many books I can read for free!
 
Let me lower the tone a little bit here. I'm reading several books, but the series I like right now is called Middle Falls Time Travel, by Shawn Inmon. I've read 12 of them, out of 19. I tuck them in between other books to make the unread books last longer. If you click on a title link, there will be a synopsis of that book. They are on Kindle Unlimited.

https://www.fantasticfiction.com/i/shawn-inmon/

Essentially, they are about people who are looped back to their last life after they die. They wake up at the same point in time every time. The idea is that they will make changes and learn from their mistakes ... if they don't do that, or don't make enough changes or learn enough ... they die and come back for another round. In the last one I read, the guy came back over 1,000 times! Each time was not detailed. I thought it would be boring because of all the looping back, but it wasn't. So far, the books are positive stories, which I like. I wouldn't want to read books about people who end up in h*ll.

And whaddaya know! The books are thought-provoking, not about death, but about making changes in myself and about learning from my mistakes.
 
WheatenLover said:
Let me lower the tone a little bit here. I'm reading several books, but the series I like right now is called Middle Falls Time Travel, by Shawn Inmon. I've read 12 of them, out of 19. I tuck them in between other books to make the unread books last longer. If you click on a title link, there will be a synopsis of that book. They are on Kindle Unlimited.

https://www.fantasticfiction.com/i/shawn-inmon/

Essentially, they are about people who are looped back to their last life after they die. They wake up at the same point in time every time. The idea is that they will make changes and learn from their mistakes ... if they don't do that, or don't make enough changes or learn enough ... they die and come back for another round. In the last one I read, the guy came back over 1,000 times! Each time was not detailed. I thought it would be boring because of all the looping back, but it wasn't. So far, the books are positive stories, which I like. I wouldn't want to read books about people who end up in h*ll.

And whaddaya know! The books are thought-provoking, not about death, but about making changes in myself and about learning from my mistakes.
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Thank you, @WheatenLover for making me aware of this series. The first book sounds fascinating and I have just downloaded it for free through Kindle Unlimited!
 
Old Salt said:
I am at present in the middle of a series of romances, after that I will probably start over again with well loved 1) Dick Francis, followed by 2) Robert B. Parker!

And I am an enthusiastic ebook lover. I hated them at first because, like so many, I loved the feel and smell of a new book in my hands. But as I got older the print in the more substantial books (over 500 pages) got too small for me, and the way I devour books, which is one book every two days, I wouldn't have enough money left to eat, now that paperbacks sell around 20 dollars (Canadian) in our area. I also subscribe to Amazon Plus for 10 dollars a month and get as many books I can read for free!
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Correction: Should have been Kindle Unlimited rather than Amazon Plus!
 
Yesterday, started reading' The Last Thing He Told Me' by Laura Dave,story of woman, Hannah Hall who has married only a yr to husband,Owen. His 16 yr old daughter, Bailey lives with them. Hannah learns something has happened to Owen,she&Bailey begin to try to figure out what's going on
I pick this book because the plot interested me, its received good reviews, never read any other books by this author Sue
 
For many years I've stopped reading books. I only listen to the audiobooks these days. In that way my wife and I can listen at breakfast and dinner (we do not eat lunch). My present audiobook is "Fateful Lightning" about the US civil war.
 
The Japanese have a word .. Tsundoku .. which means buying books that you may never read. I used to think that I was afflicted with this condition but since I retired and have more time I've become a habitual reader. I always read from an actual book. I have a Kindle and an iPad with many ebooks stored on there .. I just like that tactile satisfaction of feeling the weight of a book in my hand.
Right now I'm reading "Travels with My Aunt" (Graham Greene). I don't believe I've ever read a book twice, too many books and too little time :)
I also think that bookshelves should be full of books that you haven't read rather than those that you have.
 
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Read these two on my recent cruise:

Straight Shooter by Stephen A. Smith. A poor kid from NYC who didn't have enough to eat most days. Stephen had a negligent father and suffered from undiagnosed dyslexia . A real rags to riches story with many ups and downs along the way.

What Truth Sounds Like by Michael Eric Dixon. About a meeting solicited by Robert F. Kennedy in 1963 with prominent blacks including James Baldwin, Lena Horne, Harry Belafonte and Lorraine Hansberry. Politicians, intellectuals, activists and artists were represented in the room. The conflict still smolders to this day.
 
SeniorBen said:
I finally made it to the end of Fyodor Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment, although I admit that I did just skim through parts of it.

I don't get what the appeal is for that novel. Most of it's just filler.
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I know what you mean @SeniorBen ... I've just tried for the fourth time to read "A Suitable Boy" (Vikram Seth) rave reviews and beautifully written but, at the end of the day, I realised that I was reading it more as an exercise in personal achievement rather than actual enjoyment. It's a hefty piece of work but (imo) more of a soap-opera than a novel. I did make it 2/3 of the way through before finally admitting to myself that there are other books that I will enjoy more. On to the next!! :)
 
Just finished “The Premonition” by Michael Lewis. I love love all this guy’s books. This one is about the behind the scenes people how insured there was at least so response to the covid pandemic. Guaranteed to make anyone think.
 
WheatenLover said:
Let me lower the tone a little bit here. I'm reading several books, but the series I like right now is called Middle Falls Time Travel, by Shawn Inmon. I've read 12 of them, out of 19. I tuck them in between other books to make the unread books last longer. If you click on a title link, there will be a synopsis of that book. They are on Kindle Unlimited.
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I belong to the "lower tone" class. :) I usually (not always) find the most highly praised novels by critics to be not suitable to my taste! I try to be an enlightened reader but get bored easily and have fast forwarded through quite a few of the "Classics!" Give me Lee Child and Reacher any day! Peasant, I know! I am well aware of my horrible taste but can't help it! :)
 


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