You'll love this one...!! A book club & more discussion

If those two chosen group reads isn't wet enough for you, feel free to read another book that fits the wet theme.

This is could be a book with a word related to wrtness in the title, pethaps an author's last name. It might have something wet on the cover like a river or a lake. It might be set at sea or below the ocean. It might be about things that are wet.

Please discuss your book in this thread. Please also tell us why the book you have chosen makes you smile!

In order to receive a badge you must:
1. have completed the book before or during September 2016
2. discussed it in this thread. Discussion must be more than "I read the book and I liked it". Discussion requires something more substantial and analytical of what you read, for example, thoughts, opinions, impact it had on you, what was your favourite part, was it what you expected it to be like etc. You may also like to review the book and post a link to the review in this thread.
3. Report that you have read AND discussed the book in the reporting thread (including a brief summary of what you thought of the book).

General Rules:
1. Please mark your spoilers with the spoiler tags along with mentioning what stage of the book you are at so other's don't get a nasty shock.

A few of us will be reading Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time as a buddy read. We will probably start discussing it around Sept. 10th. All are welcome.

I'm planning to read On the Island. It didn't make it into the poll this time around, but I'm looking forward to it and it works for the geocache for me as well. I may also read one of the chosen reads depending on time.

Kristie wrote: "I'm planning to read On the Island. It didn't make it into the poll this time around, but I'm looking forward to it and it works for the geocache for me as well. I may also read one..."

I look forward to hearing your thoughts Kristie as I was surprised to see you've chosen a romance book! :)
It is a well loved book though and I really enjoyed it.

I've read and finished Don't Twunk With My Heart


Renae Kaye is one of my all time favourite m/m authors and she didn't dissapoint with this one either.

Despite some serious topics - partner abuse from an ex for one MC and food / eating issues for another MC - the author managed to give us a sweet, very funny read that had me laughing out loud on many occasion from the antics of the MC's and the great supporting characters (especially from a previous MC of book#1 in the series).

I finished the book with a huge smile on my face from both the humour and the lovely actions of this group of friends who would do anything to support each other.

5 Stars

Lynn wrote: "I look forward to hearing your thoughts Kristie as I was surprised to see you've chosen a romance book! :)
It is a well loved book though and I really enjoyed it."

Thanks, Lynn. I know, it isn't very often that I read them. I seem to enjoy them only occasionally. I'm a bit concerned with the student/teacher relationship, but everyone seems to love it and I've been told it's well done.

I'm curious about your opinion too Kristie. I added it to my tbr a long time ago but have thought about removing it several times. I'm afraid it will be too romancy.

I'll let you know, Peggy. :)

I'm reading The age of Daredevils ( on I pad, sorry no linking). One of the free Amazon prime member books this month.

Tammy wrote: "I'm reading The age of Daredevils ( on I pad, sorry no linking). One of the free Amazon prime member books this month."

The Age of Daredevils. Is this it, Tammy?
Looks interesting. I have read some accounts of a few people that have done this, but not this book. I think Travis may have read or listened to it.

Kristie wrote: "I'm planning to read On the Island. It didn't make it into the poll this time around, but I'm looking forward to it and it works for the geocache for me as well. I may also read one..."

I have this one on my TBR list, Kristie, so I am looking forward to your thoughts too. I hope it is a good read for you!

Our weather here in Oregon has decided to go the way of the theme for the group read this month. We went from 100F days to nothing but rain for the last week. The kids started back school in the rain today. Of course it was just because I took my car to the car wash and put rain-ex on the windows, I am sure.

I recently read "Abide With Me" by Elizabeth Strout. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9...

I listened to the audiobook version, which has water on the cover. :) It is set in a beach town in Maine. It's about a pastor who comes to the small town and his parishioners and the townspeople. I really liked the parts about his daughter who is struggling with the death of her mother. I reviewed the book and if I can figure out how to link to it, here is my review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Nice review, Anita. I have two of her books on my TBR and own Olive Kitteridge. I hope to get to reading it one of these days.

Cheri, yes that's it.

Thanks Cherie. "Olive Kitteridge" is one of my favorite books ever (I love short stories and it's linked short stories). I loved it so much that I decided to read all of Strout's books. I followed it up with "Amy & Isabelle," which I really enjoyed as well. "Abide With Me" came next in my arbitrary reading order, and while I did like it, I wasn't as enthralled by it as I was the first two books. I was slightly disappointed.

Now I just finished reading her latest book, "My Name is Lucy Barton," and I have to say that I was quite disappointed. So I guess I'm all over the map with my opinion of Strout's books now! I have one more left to read, "The Burgess Boys" and I'm hoping that it's more like the first two I read than the last two. But even if it's on par with "Abide With Me," that's fine... as long as it's not like this latest one ("Lucy Barton"), which was really more like a novella and a character study or string of diary entries than a book!

Thanks for the info, Anita. Now I am mad at myself for choosing to read Destination Unknown for Morocco instead of Olive Kitteridge. The Agatha Christie book just happened to be the one on the top of the list.

I might read At the Water's Edge. Has anyone read it here?

Pragya wrote: "I might read At the Water's Edge. Has anyone read it here?"

I have not, but it is on my TBR list.

Cherie wrote: "Pragya wrote: "I might read At the Water's Edge. Has anyone read it here?"

I have not, but it is on my TBR list."

It is also on my TBR list.

Pragya wrote: "I might read At the Water's Edge. Has anyone read it here?"

I've read it - I enjoyed it - not as much as her other books, but it would fit the theme.

For this challenge, I read The Tempest. I loved the book, though I read it and listened to the audio book to give it more depth and to better understand the inflection/tone, etc. I loved the intensity of it - the tempest both in weather and in emotions/ relationships. An incredible book that honours Shakespeare's 400th birthday :)

In addition to the group read of The Lifeboat, I will read The Beauty of Humanity Movement by Camilla Gibb (water on the cover). I've only read about 50 pages so far, but am appreciating the character development.

Pragya wrote: "I might read At the Water's Edge. Has anyone read it here?"

At The Water's Edge is an okay book. It is really well written. My issues with it was It is pretty much the same story as this authors other book set in different place.

Thanks, Sam and Renee. Since I haven't read any of her others, I might enjoy it then.

Thank you, Cherie and Casceil. Perhaps I will read it for the theme and let you know my opinion of it.

Casceil, I may join you for the Longitude buddy read if I get through another book that's due at the library.

In the meantime, I listened to Whiskey Beach and enjoyed it far more than I expected to. Generally I've found that I like the books she writes as JD Robb more than her own Nora Roberts books, but in this case I really enjoyed it.

The story mostly takes place up the coast from Boston in a small town, Whiskey Beach, where the hero's family has had a manor house for generations. He's still dealing with the betrayal and murder of his wife and has been depressed. While he goes for walks along the beach pretty much daily, there is also a family myth of a young daughter who was involved with a pirate and who disappeared with her "dowry" of jewels. Over the generations, many have searched for the treasure and none have found it.

So, it's romantic suspense, murder mystery, and family history drama rolled into one. I was surprised that the climatic scene wasn't as tense and climatic as I expected, but was pleased because I felt it fit better with the tone and flow of the book.

The Beauty of Humanity Movement is such a lovely book! Camilla Gibb's characters are artfully drawn and the subtle story gave me warm feelings throughout.

The story takes place in contemporary Hanoi, though it interweaves periods of Vietnamese history throughout. We see the ongoing after-effects of war and the more recent modernization of the country. Told mainly from the perspective of two generations of poor Vietnamese, the book examines Vietnamese art and culture, including a focus on food. I found the ending a bit too predictable, but it was a decent ending to a wonderful book.

I finished reading At the Water's Edge. It was my first book by the author. When I started reading, I realized I had read till about 20% perhaps a year before when the book was up for release as I had a review copy. However, somewhere after that either I got busy or gave up on the book. Anyhow, I am thankful the theme gave me a reason to finish it off in less than three days. I thoroughly enjoyed the book. The writing was beautiful and I do love myself a historical fiction. It had been so long since I read one. Also, all the references to the Loch reminded me of my trip last year to Scotland and now I regret not having gone to Inverness due to lack of time.

The plot was strong and impactful, the writing beautiful and the pace kept me interested throughout. Definitely a 4 star for me.

I have started The Water Knife. I was a bit hesitant starting out as the only other book I've read by author was The Windup Girl which I didn't care for. So far I'm not too far in but ot's really grabbing my attention. Maybe it is because I don't think it's too far from the truth. The Colorado River is drying up and there are already water wars over it . While things aren't to the point they are in book yet, someday they certainly could be

I read Thunderstruck for this month's wet theme. I really enjoy reading this author's works but I think this one was my least favorite of his stuff. It wasn't because of the writing, that was still good. I ended up having very little interest in the Marconi side of the story and I recently read another book about Crippen so I already knew much of what happened.

The writing was still good and I like how he went back and forth between the two main characters/events, so still typical Larson style, but overall just not enough to grab my attention. Although I listened to it, I also had the real copy on my shelf so saw the few pictures in the book and was also able to move another book off my shelf!

Travis of NNY wrote: "I have started The Water Knife. I was a bit hesitant starting out as the only other book I've read by author was The Windup Girl which I didn't care for. So far I'm not too far in b..."

I am pleased it has grabbed you. That is what I found scary about it too Travis - that it isn't a million miles off the truth. You can see it all happening in the not too distant future. It is pretty different to The Windup Girl.

Travis of NNY wrote: "I have started The Water Knife. I was a bit hesitant starting out as the only other book I've read by author was The Windup Girl which I didn't care for. So far I'm not too far in b..."

Windup Girl was a dnf for me, so I'll be interested to hear how you make out with The Water Knife. I had debated about putting it on my wishlist.

I'm about to start Letters from Skye for this month. It's set during the war and in letter-format, but reading the blurb again it also sounds a bit romancy (which is not my favourite), so we'll see what it's going to be like.

I have finished Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time, which I read as a buddy-read with four others. I enjoyed the first half of the book much more than the last half. The decline in my interest had more to do with the historical events the author was writing about than with any decline in the storytelling.

I finished Letters from Skye.

It was a super quick read, I was done before I realized.

I liked the letter format, they were quick and easy to read. I enjoyed the book in general and the mystery of what happened kept me reading. But I never really connected to the characters, it feels like it could have been more. It's one of those books that if someone asks me whether to read it, I'd say 'sure, read it, it's a nice book.' But it's not a book that I will be recommending to people without being asked about it. I'll give it 3 stars.

I read Hope in Every Raindrop by Wesley Banks.
The title sounds wet and even though it doesn't rain all the time, there is some heavy rain, which is very important to the story, since it ends a fire!
The book is about a young writer who, after her very successful debut novel, is suffering from writer's block. She is payed in advance for her 2nd novel and time is running out towards the deadline... But after her father died, she just hasn't found the courage to write anything. She also hasn't sorted out his stuff. She accidentally finds something her mother gave to her father long ago. Every time he suffered from writer's block, he would throw a dart at the map of the U.S. (turned backwards, so he couldn't see where it would land) and than go there. So she decides to do that as well. She ends up in a small town in South Carolina. Where she meets two men and their very special dogs. She stays with them and wants to write their story.
I really liked this book. 4 stars.

Finished The Water Knife. I really enjoyed it although rather bleak outlook of the future. But it is dystopian afterall. It does seem Paolo Bacigalupi has a bit of a trademark for graphic violence and sone strong sexual content. If these are offensive you probably want to stay away from him. Although it wasn't as extreme as the Windup Girl it was there. It is scary though as water is out most valuable resource and one day all the petroleum wars could be done and a new war over water be on the main front. Hoping its not as grim as this projectes thouvh. I do like his ideas of these self contai ed sky scrapers with vertical gardens and water recycling

Glad you liked it Travis. Yes it's bleak. And i hope things don't go that way in reality. And his work is definitely not for the faint hearted. It's good you enjoyed it especially as you didn't think much to windup girl. What did you end up rating it?

Hinestly I thought it was gonna be 5 stars except I figired out who had tge water rights pretty early on so with the predictability taking away some of the suspense. 4 stars

I read The Age of Daredevils . It is the story of one family who have Niagara flowing through their veins. While not a riviting read, very interesting look into the history of those who dare to challenge the falls. There are some interesting You Tube videos that show some of these attempts.

I read Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson. In this swashbuckling story, the main character, a young orphan, is kidnapped and brought aboard a ship bound from Scotland to North Carolina. On the ship, he forges an unlikely friendship with a Jacobite rebel. After the ship wrecks, the two make their way back home and seek justice.

Diane wrote: "I read Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson. In this swashbuckling story, the main character, a young orphan, is kidnapped and brought aboard a ship bound from Scotland..."

What did you think about it though?

I gave Kidnapped 4 stars back when I read it. I love RLS writing

I read . It is set in Lake Como in Italy. Not much connection to the wet theme but the main characters go around the lake to other islands and there is water in the cover. Though I have enjoyed some of Rebecca Winters books, this was quite boring. Massimo has lost his sister and her husband in a terrible car accident and now has legal guardianship to his 5 month old nephew. But Julie wants to take care of her brother's son. So she decides to become Nicky's nanny. As an usual harlequin novel, they discover their love and get married