As the Page Turns (the Book Thread)

[MacMadame]

I’ve started The Favorites and am enjoying it so far. You can tell the author did her research knowing what twizzles are and that the pewter medal exists. OTOH, I don’t think I’m going to like the main characters, with their messed-up Wuthering Heights relationship dynamics and heavy focus on chemistry and passion in ice dance while only having lackluster skating skills.

I checked it out from the library and then didn't get to it before my loan expired.

 

[On My Own]

Has anyone read Helen Oyeyemi's works?

 

[my little pony]

I'm reading The Gates to Women's Country by Sheri Tepper. I think I like it but the font is so small I keep having to put it down. I am one bad day away from hiring someone to read it to me.

 

[gkelly]

I just finished reading The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See. Fascinating look into the culture of women free divers on Jeju Island in Korea and the traumas that occurred there during during the Japanese occupation and in the post-WWII alliance of South Korea with the US, with a 21st century framing story that sparks the then-elderly narrator to look back at her life.

 

[On My Own]

I just finished reading The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See. Fascinating look into the culture of women free divers on Jeju Island in Korea and the traumas that occurred there during during the Japanese occupation and in the post-WWII alliance of South Korea with the US, with a 21st century framing story that sparks the then-elderly narrator to look back at her life.

Not the same topic, but if you liked learning about Jeju Island and the free divers, then you might enjoy the Korean Drama When Life Gives You Tangerines on Netflix. It was immensely acclaimed when it was released earlier this year.

 

[gkelly]

Yes, I started watching that a few months ago. Currently taking a break but now I intend to go back to watch the rest.

 

[On My Own]

And if people are interested in books about things like Japanese occupation of Asian regions, then I also recommend Taiwan Travelogue.

 

[rfisher]

Author rant ahead. Some authors really should quit a series while it's still readable.
Pat Cornwall: the 90s Scarpetta books were really good until she killed off a major character, then didn't know what to do with Scarpetta for a couple of books and brought Benton back from the "dead." I don't even remember the lame reason he was pretending to be dead. A few more then I just stopped buying them. Fast forward to the 2010s. Skipped all those books then read the last two (from the library). Zero plot point. Full of pages and pages of nothing. I started skipping forward 5 or 6 pages and nothing had happened then just read the last chapter. I wondered why I got to the book so quickly and I suspect all those ahead in the queue did what I did.

Kathy Reich: she and Cornwall have had too much early success and now just throw something together and figure someone will buy the books. I don't anymore. AI could write them better at this point and maybe it is.

Preston and Child: absolutely loved the early Pendergast books, but they've totally jumped the shark with the last three and I'll be doing a library wait for the next one. I didn't even finish the previous because it was so stupid. They've turned Pendergast into a cartoon. (((((My book husband))))

Anne Hillerman Try as she will, she is not her father Tony. Boring writing. Boring plots. She's turned characters into cardboard. I usually do not like screen adaptations of favorite books, but I have to say the George R.R Martin/Robert Redford production of Dark Winds very loosely related to the three principal Hillerman characters on Prime, is actually really good. I'm able to ignore all the changes since Anne already ignored the characters her father created.

I'm astonished that JD Robb has managed to keep Eve Dallas alive and well after 50 some odd books. She recycles plots and every other book is a throw away, but she manages to keep them interesting. I don't like her writing as Nora Roberts which is weird as she's the same author. I've never figured out exactly why.

 

[puglover]

Any thoughts on the Lee Child "Jack Reacher" books? They are now written by his brother Andrew - at least part or maybe fully now? My personal thoughts - I know Reacher has always been a big guy who didn't back down from a fight but this "new Reacher" just seems super violent and far less likeable. A number of books ago they introduced the possibility of him having a daughter, which ended up to be false, but I thought that was a lost opportunity to include some younger blood and allow Reacher to be more mellow and mature.

 

[genevieve]

And if people are interested in books about things like Japanese occupation of Asian regions, then I also recommend Taiwan Travelogue.

I bought this earlier this year and was reading it during my time in Taiwan (and after). Recommend - but you have to tolerate a LOT of descriptions of food

 

[Baby Yoda On Skates]

I gave up on the Pendergast books and returned the latest to the library unread. I've outgrown the series and their writing. Other than Relic, Reliquary, and the Cabinet of Curiosities, I donated all their books to the local thrift store.

I also broke up with Nora Roberts. Her last several have just been boring with recycled plots and phrases.

 

[rfisher]

Any thoughts on the Lee Child "Jack Reacher" books? They are now written by his brother Andrew - at least part or maybe fully now? My personal thoughts - I know Reacher has always been a big guy who didn't back down from a fight but this "new Reacher" just seems super violent and far less likeable. A number of books ago they introduced the possibility of him having a daughter, which ended up to be false, but I thought that was a lost opportunity to include some younger blood and allow Reacher to be more mellow and mature.

I agree. I don't think I've read the last couple of books.

 

[Jenny]

I thought the first book with Andrew was quite good, but then the second was one of the worst in the series. It's evened out now I think, and I'm continuing to read them as I like the character and the writing, if not some of the aspects of the storylines. I did think that in the last few Lee books, the character was getting tired, not as physically able, emotionally worn out, kinda sad, so it wasn't surprising when Lee announced that he was passing the reigns to his brother. I thought it would be for a book or two, but so far it looks like they are taking a team credit.

On a related note, I'm loving the Reacher tv series. It's not without its faults of course, but the casting is spot on IMO.

 

[made_in_canada]

I bought this earlier this year and was reading it during my time in Taiwan (and after). Recommend - but you have to tolerate a LOT of descriptions of food

I joined a book club, and our group chat rivals FSU for how quickly it turns to food, and we end every book with a meal related to the book too, so that might be perfect for us

 

[puglover]

My favourite quote used often in the Reacher books is "Reacher said nothing!" This is something that I wish could be said more about me and could have saved me more than a few regrets

 

[rfisher]

My favourite quote used often in the Reacher books is "Reacher said nothing!" This is something that I wish could be said more about me and could have saved me more than a few regrets

Don't we all.

 

[mattiecat13]

I gave up on Cornwell a long time ago. Plots were nonsensical with weird stuff going on and too much of it; Kay, for all her intelligence and accomplishments, is a wimp - I just wanted to smack her upside the head sometimes; Lucy and Marino are downright unlikable. Couldn’t we just have a dead body and an autopsy and solve the mystery without all this other extraneous crap?

The draw of the JD Robb books for me isn’t so much the plots (and some books are better than others) but the interaction between and development of the characters.

 

[puglover]

Ah - JD Robb - who wouldn't like to have a gorgeous, billionaire Irishman head over heels for you! I always get her books on audible so I can hear Roarke's accent.

 

[MsZem]

I always found Nora Roberts's books perfectly adequate and entirely forgettable. I do like her interviews and public persona, though.