Colleen ’s Comments (group member since Nov 01, 2020)

Colleen ’s comments from the Talk @ Books! group.

I'm jumping back in here with some comments about some good titles read/posted here that are also on my TBR. And Jen and Angela you are some of the most amazing readers I see.

So these are supposedly Goodreads Members' Most Anticipated Books of 2022 - https://www.goodreads.com/blog/show/2...

Any on your radar? What can you tell us about them? Of course, let us know if they live up to the hype. ;)

stephanie wrote: "I'm currently 46 years old and just in the last few years started giving up on books that I have struggled with. Until then I would fight tooth and nail to finish a book. I figured every book was b..."

I'm 3 years older than you and I'm starting to catch up to you. :) Some of the books I have or on my TBR and I just don't like - I should just stop and get into a better one. I'm thinking that I may never read all the great books out there when I'm slogging though a loser just to say I finished it vs. DNF. I'm too old not to quit a book. I can easily stop watching a TV series so why not a book - even, gasp, a book series?

My Point...And I Do Have One made me come to this revelation - so stupid and boring and dull and....maybe if she told it live as a comedy skit it works, but not as a read. Boo!

@Loretta - verdict on The Brothers Karamazov? On my TBR and have never read him - is there another of his titles you've read?

https://www.goodreads.com/user/year_i...

So out of all 82 books read, I would say these can't be beat. If they are on your TBR go for it! Life's too short to waste time on books you shouldn't have. One of my new goals is to quit books if they aren't up to standard. ;)

The House in the Cerulean Sea
The Heart's Invisible Furies
Lincoln in the Bardo
The Golem and the Jinni
Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend
The Signature of All Things

The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration then read Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents

Post your link so we can see all of your proud work! Then let us know the one(s) you most highly recommend so we can read/discuss some more about them and they won't fade so much into memory. :)

Linda Abhors the New GR Design wrote: "Well, I'd hoped that focusing on pages vs number of books might encourage me to get some longer books that I've had sitting around out pf the way, so I had a figure of 15000 pp in my head. I see no..."

I'm sure you're not the only one Linda! Let's hope 2022 brings a lot more relief in both of those areas - I hear you loud and clear.

Jennifer wrote: "Hmmmm. I'm looking back at my reading for the year.

Read more books than I committed to on the GR year in books -- CHECK.

Finished some series -- CHECK.

Finished more old series than new ones s..."

LOLOL Jennifer - sounds like an overall successful and fun year. Hard to believe next year is right around the corner. It will be great to see what next year brings us. Set those new goals! :)

Jennifer wrote: "Plus there's the whole challenge thing. If I've read half of a book and disliked it enough to put it down, do I still get to count it? Or do I have to go and search heaven and earth for another U t..."

LOL! Challenges keep us tied in when we want to escape, hence the challenge concept...

Parker wrote: "When I was an English major in college, I had to read way too many books that I thought were absolutely unworthy of reading (mostly because of bad writing). If a book hasn't engaged me in the first..."

Great job anyway Parker - still, I'm sure quite an accomplishment.

Loretta wrote: "I really try to finish every book I start but if just drags on and I start to skim pages, I usually stop, probably around page 100. Can’t really remember the names of the books I put down but I kno..."

I'm definitely getting there - especially with how many titles are out there calling to me, when the book I'm reading doesn't grab me. But if a reason I am supposed to read it i.e. RL book club, etc. I commit.

Susy wrote: "I hardly ever DNF either, may skim certain parts but will read till the end. In my entire life I DNF 3 or 4 books."

Susy - are you particular about what you pick up???

Karen wrote: "I stay calm and carry on to the end of every book I start. The only exception to that since I started Goodreads and possibly ever was The Lilac Girls. I got about a third of the way through that be..."

Karen - I am so surprised! You are where I was. Maybe you know to pick up better books. I hear what you are saying about Lilac Girls - for all the hype, I thought it would be better written.

Jennifer wrote: "That’s funny: I DNFed two books today. I don’t think I’d have DNFed either one, or really any, even six months ago."

Too funny! Similar minds....

Lynn wrote: "I'm slowly coming off a reading slump so my goal is only 24 books this year but I'm hoping to surpass it (I used to read 50-60 a year). So far I'm on book #6. I may not be ahead yet, but I'm not be..."

How was your summer reading Lynn? Make some progress with good books? Favorite read?

Kirsten wrote: "Colleen wrote: "What are your reading goals (if any) for 2021?

Number?
How do you choose? Any difference in format?
Titles?
Genres?
Series?
Book club schedule?"

When I set my goal, I usually ta..."

Nice - a stretch goal. :) I'm currently 4 books ahead of schedule and have felt comfortable with my last two years of the same number goal. I have *gradually been able to increase slowly.

Karen wrote: "I think my original goal last year (2020) was 85 but I reached that early on and upped it to 100. I wound up reading 112 but I am doing a few kiddie reads so lots of those books were Newbery winner..."

I agree and understand what you have said Karen! I'm in 3 book clubs and don't commit to too many rigid categories (although I'm sure I could find enough on my TBR to fit) - however, if you saw my new post I wonder if I would quit many books into the future now?

I bet you can totally do 100 books next year - no sweat and happy reading. :)

Let's hear about it - do you quit a book past 100 pages or less? At what point and at what age did you decide life is too short not to read GOOD (which is a matter of personal taste) books?

I put down my third book of my Goodreads life (strangely I put down books all the time when I was a younger-aged child - I'm almost 49 years-old) tonight which I haven't done since August 2014.

I feel strangely OK about it and feel I may have turned a reading corner. It won't be taken lightly.

PinkieFairy wrote: "I am Wendy from New York. I am an avid fiction reader but I have picked up a non fiction book here and there. When I Am not reading, working or being a grown up, I love to Netflix (so much to see s..."

Welcome! And yes, I hear about all these fabulous shows but have little patience for them when books call - they have to grab me right away to commit to a series. The last one I enjoyes was actually recommended by someone in this group - The Queen's Gambit. I haven't read the book, but the show was excellent!

@Susy - I agree. Book reading goals are one of my top priorities - but then find myself wondering what else I am missing out on by focusing solely on my one main (but worthy hobby). I do exercise regularly as well but seems I am very ignorant about pop culture out there (or is that really a bad thing to miss out on?), podcasts, volunteerism/social issues, etc. I need to live in this world too!

Life is short so only makes sense to dabble in what we really want to do and accomplish. I will continue to look for opportunities.

I've recently finished a few:

A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier 4 stars
The Book of Jonas 3 stars
Displaced Persons 2 stars
In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin 4 stars

None I can strongly recommend but I do know there are a TON of these out there. One I did enjoy more about the aftermath of a civil war - so more historical fiction genre was The Fountains of Silence.