50 Book Pledge discussion

i hope you will share your reads here - i love hearing about the great books people discover!!

i just finished reading book #1, in jo nesbø's 'harry hole' series, The Bat. i am so glad the earlier books (#s 1 & 2) are finally in english. i am restarting the series and was happy to meet harry here, in his first appearance.

right now, i am reading

* The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry - it's a bit of a book nerd's dream!! :)
* Just Babies: The Origins of Good and Evil - which i am reading for a 'coursera' course on morality. so far, very interesting!

I'm reading The Bone Season, Crazy Rich Asians and Let's Pretend This Never Happened: A Mostly True Memoir - All pretty frothy and not too far from the beaten path, but I'm enjoying all three immensely.

I just finished The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. I'm still in the middle of Arguably: Essays by Christopher Hitchens, so hopefully I'll get through that sooner rather than later.

I'm reading Mayhem and The Strangled Queen

Alexander wrote: "I just finished The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. I'm still in the middle of Arguably: Essays by Christopher Hitchens, so hopefully I'll get through that sooner rath..."

these two books have been on my TBR list for a long time. i hope they turn out be be great reads for you, alexander!

Laura Lee wrote: "I'm reading The Bone Season, Crazy Rich Asians and Let's Pretend This Never Happened: A Mostly True Memoir - All pretty frothy and not too far from t..."

lawson's memoir made me laugh so much! :)

I finished reading The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry, and it's a lovely book. I enjoyed the meta-ness of it - lots of references to other books and authors, set in a book shop - owned by one main character, and featuring another main character who works in publishing. It's a book nerd's dream! I think it would be a great vacation read, or a nice break between heavier books. Each chapter leads off with a reference to another book/author, and I found those passages weightier than the main story. Not really a complaint at all, just an observation. The author is clearly well-read and loves literature!!

Now -- I have to decide what to read next...so many books!! :)

I am reading Madd Addam by Margaret Atwood. It is fabulous!

Sharlene wrote: "I am reading Madd Addam by Margaret Atwood. It is fabulous!"

i am working up to read Oryx and Crake, in preparation for 'canada reads'...but i am not terribly keen. atwood's books just haven't worked for me in the past, save for her nonfiction book, Survival: A Thematic Guide to Canadian Literature, which i love a lot!!

That is too bad about Atwood's writings, Jennifer. We all have those author's that just aren't for us. Keep trying. It is a good trilogy.

this is what i keep hearing, sharlene.

First time taking this challenge though a read a lot around 30 to be realistic...lets see how its goes.
Read Imaginary girls by Nova Ren Suma started off really good but the writer kind of lost it in the middle somewhere the bond between the sister was the main reason I picked this book but very confusing you keep have this feeling that you missed something !!!

I'm reading American Elsewhere, the eternal champion and I'm rereading sandman for some comic book goodness

Just finished Splintered by A.G. Howard and immediately dove into the sequel, Unhinged! Love this series! A definite must read! Not your average YA retelling. My review can be found here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... and on 50BookPledge.ca!

I'm reading Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-Earth, The Fellowship of the Ring, and Timeline as well as doing a lot of research and stuff for school. It's a good thing I don't really have a social life lol.

I'm reading Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Adichie. Can't put it down!

Currently reading: Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman. Next up: I haven't decided yet.

I'm currently reading Paradise Lost and In the Skin of a Lion. I just finished reading Me Before You.

I just finished brain-eating Codex Seraphinianus by Luigi Serafini. It's a disgusting beast of a tome at 360+ pages, but worth every glance. Next, I plan on eye-gouging The Giant's Fence by Michael Jacobson.

I'm reading The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith/J.K. Rowling. Everyone's already read it. I like it so far.


And I'm attempting to finish the book I started last year, The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown. I can't get into it. This is my 3rd attempt to power through it.

kevin wrote: "I just finished brain-eating Codex Seraphinianus by Luigi Serafini. It's a disgusting beast of a tome at 360+ pages, but worth every glance. Next, I plan on eye-gouging..."

between beasts and eye-gouging, your reading sounds like it's very aggressive!! ;)

I am currently reading The Impossible Knife of Memory by Laurie Halse Anderson, after that I think i'll be starting on A World Without Princes! Really excited for both of these.

Jennifer wrote: "Alexander wrote: "I just finished The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. I'm still in the middle of Arguably: Essays by Christopher Hitchens, so hopefully I'll get throug..."

I highly recommend The Diving-Bell and the Butterfly to everyone (it's short but so, so sweet). Hitchens' book has been quite excellent for the first three-quarters at least.

I just finished Love Is Relative by Haven Francis, which I definitely liked reading. Now I'm reading Love, Lies & the DA by Rebecca Rohman. I received the ARC from the author. I really enjoyed her writing style in her first novel Uncorked and this new novel is no exception.

I just recently finished MaddAddam by Margaret Atwood and The Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini. Both great books. I am currently reading Dark Places by Gillian Flynn and The Fault in Our Stars by John Green.

My friend and I are currently rereading Cinder and Scarlet by Marissa Meyer to get ready for the release of Cress next month. :)

I'm currently reading The Time Keeper by Mitch Albom !!

Jennifer wrote: "I finished reading The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry, and it's a lovely book. I enjoyed the meta-ness of it - lots of references to other books and authors, set in a book shop - owne..."

I just got accepted for this one on NetGalley! Thanks for your thoughts, I can't wait to start it :)

Maria wrote: "I'm currently reading The Time Keeper by Mitch Albom !!"

My absolute FAVOURITE Albom book by FAR. I hope you're enjoying it!

Rachael wrote: "I am currently reading The Impossible Knife of Memory by Laurie Halse Anderson, after that I think i'll be starting on A World Without Princes! Really excited for bo..."

Ahhhh!? Did you receieve an ARC of World Without Princess!? Also, how are you liking The Impossible Knife of Memory? I wasn't a huge fan of it.

I'm still working on Mayhem and have also begun Suttree

I just finished Someone Else's Love Story by Joshilyn Jackson and I have just started reading The Bat by Jo Nesbø. Someone Else's Love Story was a great book, I always love her books.

Totally off topic here, but I just noticed that the 50BookPledge site does not recognize other versions of the featured read. I had to remove the book version I had read and add the other version in order to receive the Featured Read Badge. Is this normal? Or is it a glitch? I think Reconstructing Amelia was one of the first books I read this year and couldn't figure out why I didn't get the badge, lol.

Sandra wrote: "Totally off topic here, but I just noticed that the 50BookPledge site does not recognize other versions of the featured read. I had to remove the book version I had read and add the other version ..."

Sandra, I started a question thread, and copied your question over there. I am sure someone from HCC will reply to you, and let you know what's up with that issue you experienced.

:)

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Thanks Jennifer!

oh, you're welcome!! :)

Trying to have at least one 'classic" book on the go, one audiobook and a third one! Just finished the Tenant of Wildfell Hall and reading Les miserables.Third book is the first of the Department Q series.

I'm reading Animal Farm by George Orwell and Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas

I'm reading Allegiant by Veronica Roth.

Sandra wrote: "Totally off topic here, but I just noticed that the 50BookPledge site does not recognize other versions of the featured read. I had to remove the book version I had read and add the other version ..."

Hi Sandra! Any edition of the book, regardless of format, cover, (etc), will count towards the Featured Read badge. There was a slight issue with Reconstructing Amelia's ISBNs, which is why you didn't originally receive your badge, but we have gone in and corrected the issue.

Thank you for pointing this out!

I'm reading " The Complete Sherlock Holmes" a few stories at a time before sleep. I'm reading " The Jesus Revolution" by Leith Anderson and " Voices of the Faithful" with Beth Moore as part of daily devotions. I'm also a book shy of completing the Adam Dalgleish series by P.D. James. I just finished " Murder in Thrall" by Anne Cleeland which I reviewed on goodreads and amazon. Amazing thiller for those who like the genre as much as I do.

I just started reading Divergent and I'm thinking of reading Wolf Hall next. Any thoughts on the book? Is it very long?

ebookclassics wrote: "I just started reading Divergent and I'm thinking of reading Wolf Hall next. Any thoughts on the book? Is it very long?"

Wolf Hall is a long book, 650ish pages...but it's so compelling and wonderful that it (for me) never felt like a slog or a chore.

the one tip i offer for reading 'wolf hall': "he" is usually thomas cromwell. if you can hang on to that detail, you'll be fine! (i was given the tip by another reader, and was grateful for it.) Mantel made quite a deliberate choice in the style of the first book, something she altered a bit in the second novel, Bring Up the Bodies, when she qualified her 'he' and began writing "He, Cromwell,..."

LOL ...650 pages? Oh wow, I knew it was big but that's more of a chunkster than I think I want to take on right now. Elizabeth Gilbert recommended it to the Wall Street Journal book club and it's their current read, so it has been on my mind. Hmm ...

Thanks for the tip about "he"! This a little detail that would have definitely tripped me up.

ebookclassics wrote: "LOL ...650 pages? Oh wow, I knew it was big but that's more of a chunkster than I think I want to take on right now. Elizabeth Gilbert recommended it to the Wall Street Journal book club and it's t..."

truly, though, the story is so good that the 650 pages went by like THAT! :) i think i read it in 3 or 4 days, and i had a hard time putting it down. (same with the 2nd book too!!) i saw that elizabeth gilbert recommended it, and hoped more people would read it (not that it's lacking in popularity, heh!)

if you haven't read gilbert's new novel, The Signature of All Things -- it's great!! another historical fiction chunkster though at 512 pages. :)

This month I have already read:

Bend of the Snake
The Trickster's Hat
The President's Plane is Missing

I am beginning:

Blackett's War
S.
The Inventor and the Tycoon

Jennifer wrote: "ebookclassics wrote: "LOL ...650 pages? Oh wow, I knew it was big but that's more of a chunkster than I think I want to take on right now. Elizabeth Gilbert recommended it to the Wall Street Journa..."

Ah ... chunksters. Okay you've convinced me. I'm ordering Wolf Hall! :)

Finished Bleeding Edge by Pynchon yesterday. I didn't care for it. Started After This, by McDermott today and am loving it.

I'm reading the maze runner. I'm on chapter 24 and I don't know how I feel about the book yet.

Books I read in January!
Wide Open
Erasing: Shadows
The Wanderers
Reborn
Salt
Ruined
Stealing Promises
Allegiant
Where You'll Find Me
Fire & Flood
Breaking Nova
Saving Quinton
Savor
Dreamwalker
Beautiful Addictions
The Beginning of Us

Totaling 16!