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I just read Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata, and I loved the blunt prose it is written in. The book itself won a few awards, gained great reviews both in Japan and Western media, and was a huge bestseller in Japan.
It's about this "abnormal" thirty-six year old Japanese woman who works part-time as a convenience store worker who does not know how to function as a "normal" person. Her thoughts and observations about other people and life are incredibly insightful and hilarious. Sometimes veering towards psychopathic. . .
Anne Tyler's Dinner at The Homesick Restaurant was wonderful! It is one of my very favorites of hers so far that I've read. It was in typical Anne Tyler style so if you love lots of action and a fast paced plot, it’s not for you, but it was an amazing character driven book.
I really enjoyed Not Our Kind by Kitty Zeldis. It’s set in post WW2 NYC and begins with a Jewish school teacher and an upper class socialite meeting after a car accident. They go from strangers to employee/employer and forge a somewhat friendship that is constantly held back by their different social class and religion. It was very strong but I wasn’t a fan of the somewhat open ending.
Also finished One Day by David Nicholls and I can’t believe I haven’t read this before now! It starts in 1988 the night of Emma and Dexter’s university graduation and continues to check in on their life each July 15th for the next twenty years. Some years they are together, some they correspond and others they are apart and barely speaking but they’re always thinking of the other. I LOVED it and it’s going on my favorites list but it’s one of those that you’ll either love or hate, not much room for middle ground. It was the first book to make me cry since Kristin Hannah’s Firefly Lane. I found the movie starring Anne Hathaway on Netflix and it’s on my to watch list!
I read both of these over the past few days. I thought Not Our Kind was great - it was the first book I couldn't put down in a couple of months, and it was nice to have something that was so easy to read and not a chore. Because of the setting, it reminded me a bit of Modern Girls, which focused on a Jewish family in NYC before WWII, but I thought Not Our Kind was much stronger...better characters, less stilted writing. I also liked that the characters often behaved in ways that were unpredictable, but still keeping with their characters. I do somewhat agree with you on the open ending, but I don't think it really took away from the book that much.
Re One Day, I neither loved nor hated it, so I guess there is middle ground I liked the idea behind it and the structure. My problem with it is that Emma and especially Dexter are unlikeable for large parts of the book. So it made it kind of hard to care about what happens to them. Or to understand their friendship.
Glad that you enjoyed Not Our Kind! I agree that the ending didn't really affect the quality of the book, I just like knowing how things end up! I had the same problem with Little Fires Everywhere. Overall though, I thought both were great.
You might like Jill Santopolo's The Light We Lost since it is similar to One Day with more likable characters (maybe don't trust my opinion of likable though as I loved Emma and Dexter ).
I think a few of us read Jane Doe by Victoria Helen Stone awhile back, and her next book False Step wasn't bad. Just finished the sequel to Jane Doe - Problem Child - and enjoyed it quite a bit. If you liked Jane Doe, definitely recommend this follow up.
I'll put that on my list for the far future. My book due dates have been extended to June 30. I only have 3-3/4 books and one is a cozy mystery - couple hours read.The latest Michael Connelly book - "Fair Warning" was released this week. It is not a Bosch or Haller novel but a Jack McEvoy novel - the newspaper reporter series.
Yes, and while there are some "futeristic" elements, there's a lot that's missing. Computers are still clunky desk tops at the start of the series, no texting, smoking by some characters, just a lot of small things that abruptly (in Dallasverse) change over the course of the publications. You don't pick up on them unless you reread the earlier books in the series. Technology or cultural changes are the type of things that really date books. This is one of the reasons JK Rowling purposely did not include a lot of cultural icons in Potterverse. One of the few is Dudley's VCR and computers in the first two books. Which is ironic as HP is a cultural icon of the 90s early 2000s itself.Weren't those books supposed to take place in the future?
p.s. I just found the Connelly book, The Scarecrow, on the library site. Three actual books (one is a large print) and an ebook. I don't even remember if I read any Jack McEvoy books. I'll have to check my list on my computer.Stupid me - I see how to check out and return and hold and stuff. When I am reading an ebook, what happens if I go to the bathroom or eat or go to bed, etc. Can't just stick a bookmark in it and come back tomorrow. Can I save it where I was? Do you have to sign in to the library or overdrive or whatever every time I go to the bathroom? Will it just stay in my computer when I am using it for other things or if I turn it off? (I can't even get my email to stay logged in after I leave yahoo (yes, I tell it to stay logged in for 2 weeks) or close the lid.) Do books take up a lot of room? I'm thinking I won't have to get more than one at a time anyway since I can just go get another one the next day. Answerers - please be kind!
Another p.s. I'm not going to be able to put the laptop on a pillow. The fan is on the bottom and it has to be on a flat solid surface. "laptop" - ha.p.s. I just found the Connelly book, The Scarecrow, on the library site. Three actual books (one is a large print) and an ebook. I don't even remember if I read any Jack McEvoy books. I'll have to check my list on my computer.
Stupid me - I see how to check out and return and hold and stuff. When I am reading an ebook, what happens if I go to the bathroom or eat or go to bed, etc. Can't just stick a bookmark in it and come back tomorrow. Can I save it where I was? Do you have to sign in to the library or overdrive or whatever every time I go to the bathroom? Will it just stay in my computer when I am using it for other things or if I turn it off? (I can't even get my email to stay logged in after I leave yahoo (yes, I tell it to stay logged in for 2 weeks) or close the lid.) Do books take up a lot of room? I'm thinking I won't have to get more than one at a time anyway since I can just go get another one the next day. Answerers - please be kind!
Another p.s. I'm not going to be able to put the laptop on a pillow. The fan is on the bottom and it has to be on a flat solid surface. "laptop" - ha.
Well, it's after midnight. I had a cortisone shot at 11:30 this morning and I even took a tylenol 3 at 10 p.m (sinus infection - not the other thing <got into my doctor 3 hours after I called!) and I can't sleep. It hurts to lie on either side of my head.Typically, you have to download some software to read an eBook from the library. I use Libby, which I think is standard throughout this area.
Once you have the software, you download an ebook using the software and the software keeps track of where you are in the book. You can walk away to go to the bathroom or eat or whatever and leave the application open; nothing will happen. If you close the app and/or shut off your computer for the night, Libby will remember where you were and go right to that page. If you stop reading a book for some reason and return it, and then check it out again later, Libby will often remember where you left off then, too, even if it's been a few weeks.
Text doesn't take up much room at all; you can store thousands on books on most computers without any trouble at all. But images and media take up a lot of room. That won't be a problem unless you are, say, looking at a book of photography, but a regular book takes up only a tiny bit of space.
I had that problem and got a cooling pad for mine for just that reason.
Thank you. Great post. I see the Libby thing on the library website for education programs. I didn't know. It said if you don't want to sign up with Libby or something, you can use Overdrive, so that is what I looked up instructions for. How are they different?
How much is a cooling pad?
Sidebar without looking for the computer help thread.....- I am trying to find a full size wireless keyboard.
Got out of bed (can't turn my brain off) to come on here to say - it's Lynda that is the educational thing on the library website. Der! I'll read your Libby and Overdrive comparison tomorrow.They really aren't, as Libby is an Overdrive product. It's just a newer, better version of Overdrive. Overdrive is rather clunky, but it works fine and will do the same basic things that Libby does. I had Overdrive for years before I switched.
"Ergonomics" HA Sorry.I know nothing about this, but I will ask my husband what he recommends. He's both a computer programmer and the guy in charge of ergomics in his office.
Wonder if I could put it on my lap when I am having night sweats. Ha ha . I need to sleep! Good night I hope.)I think you can get a really cheap one for around $30 and they go up from there. It's basically a thin pad with fans inside that you put under your laptop to keep it from overheating.
More ergonomics - "A laptop cooler can definitely help on that front. There are also some ergonomic benefits to be gained from raising up your laptop display, and cooling pads with adjustable height and angle can actually improve posture and reduce neck paint getting your laptop screen up off the desk and closer to eye level."I had that problem and got a cooling pad for mine for just that reason.
I haven't been able to read in bed for years. I have to have pillows behind me and under my elbows and on my lap. I have restless legs and can't keep them straight out. And I have to have a light over my right shoulder.For reading in bed, I MUCH prefer my tablet.
it will be too hard for me to have the keyboard in the way and the monitor so far away
I tried this. I can't do it. The thing that plugs into the plug has to go over the back of the loveseat to the plug and it keeps pulling it down. And the keyboard does get in the way. When I read, the book is on a pillow on my stomach. Now the keyboard would be on my stomach and I can't hold on to the monitor part. I would have thought about getting a tablet for reading while the library is closed if the computer wouldn't have died. Plus the light hurts my bad eyes. If I turn the floor lap on behind my head, I just get the lamp glare on the screen. Rats. There have been two Mary Daheim Alpine books after "Z" that are ebooks only.I think I can plug it in behind my reading "nest" and put it on a pillow.
Still thinking........ right on the instruction page -It said if you don't want to sign up with Libby or something, you can use Overdrive, so that is what I looked up instructions for.