San Antonio Public Library discussion

So. What's everyone reading while we are staying at home?

I have been tackling the big books that have been sitting on my shelves for a while. Right now I am reading Madness in Civilization a cultural history of insanity by Andrew Scull. Hoping to finish the Lord of the Rings series during this!

I just finished Conviction by Denise Mina. It was the first I've read of this author, but definitely won't be the last. It was a quick read...darkly comic fun ride based which all starts with a True Crime podcast.

I've been mostly sticking to comics right now, because they feel more approachable. But also definitely tackling books that have been sitting in my TBR stack for way too long.

Spinoza1162 wrote: "I have been tackling the big books that have been sitting on my shelves for a while. Right now I am reading Madness in Civilization a cultural history of insanity by Andrew Scull. Hoping to finish ..." I'm impressed. I can't concentrate well-enough to tackle something that involved. My books have been mostly light-hearted mysteries.

I am trying to work myself up to read Agatha Christie's "And Then There Were None", but between the combination of work from home and dad from home, time is a scarce commodity, and I have trouble getting started. I'm also trying to work on some of my own writing... I published my first novella just before the quarantine hit, and want to write more.

Mark wrote: "I am trying to work myself up to read Agatha Christie's "And Then There Were None", but between the combination of work from home and dad from home, time is a scarce commodity, and I have trouble g..."

I enjoyed And then there were none when I read it long ago. I wonder if the current circumstances with many people feeling cooped up or trapped at home would lend extra tension to the story? Good luck with the writing!

Congratulations, Mark, on finishing your first novella!

I too am having a hard time concentrating on anything "meaty." I'm re-listening to the Harry Potter series and started reading Jemima Small Versus the Universe since it's encouraging and has a more bubbly vibe to it.

Finished No Happy Endings memoir by Nora McInerny, The Resisters by Gish Jen and This Is Not How It Ends by Rochelle B. Weinstein and then started Valentine by Elizabeth Wetmore and The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren.

I've just started The Body Papers, a memoir by Grace Talusan.

I’m reading the All Souls trilogy by Deborah Harkness a series of fantasy novels about witches and vampires with some time travel thrown in. I read the first two books, A Discovery of Witches and Book Shadows when they first came out but never got around to reading the third book- the Book of Life. These books are a perfect quarantine read for fans of romance, fantasy and historical fiction.

I liked the Discovery of Witches ~ it's such a fun read because of the romance and history entwined.. never even started the rest of the series but now I have a reason to!

Heidi wrote: "I’m reading the All Souls trilogy by Deborah Harkness a series of fantasy novels about witches and vampires with some time travel thrown in. I read the first two books, A Discovery of Witches and B..."

Thanks! A Discovery of Witches is somewhere on my reading list, but I'd forgotten about it. The series sounds like a good choice for my mood at the moment.

I love that series! One awesome thing: the author is a history professor, so the moments of interaction with say 16th C England are actually pretty accurate, because that's one of her areas of research.

I'm catching up on all of my young adult to-read books. I finally got to read The Poet X and I loved it. I just started listening to Slay by Brittney Morris, a young adult novel about a young teenage black girl who developed an MMO turn based video game as a safe space for the black community to engage in online. I've listened to half of the book and I can't wait to finish it. No it doesn't go into the logistics of video game development, instead the story is about the reasons behind creating this game exclusively for black people and its consequences.

I wanted to read this because I love video games and I love a great campaign storyline.

After this, I want to squeeze in a couple of Gears of War books written by Karen Traviss, or maybe just one so I can get back on track with my ya reading :D

I loved Slay! Really interesting to me. Lately though, I've been re-reading some comfort novels. I need a break from reality!

The Poet X is one that is on my to read someday list!

Gina wrote: "I'm catching up on all of my young adult to-read books. I finally got to read The Poet X and I loved it. I just started listening to Slay by Brittney Morris, a young adult novel about a young teena..." Slay sounds really interesting. I listened to the audiobook of The Hate U Give recently and it reawakened my interest in audiobooks. Thanks for the idea!

I have been reading all the library books that I have checked out. Even though the due date has now been pushed back to June 15, I still have 5 more library books to read. I hope to have them all read by this new due date!

Beverly wrote: "I have been reading all the library books that I have checked out. Even though the due date has now been pushed back to June 15, I still have 5 more library books to read. I hope to have them all r..."
*laughs* me too! Good luck with that, Beverly!

Good luck to you as well!

I recently finished Katherine Ann Porter’s short fiction Pale Horse Pale Writer about the influenza pandemic a hundred years ago. Fun times.

Dee wrote: "I recently finished Katherine Ann Porter’s short fiction Pale Horse Pale Writer about the influenza pandemic a hundred years ago. Fun times."

Hmm. Is there a lot of . . deja vu? Do you 'recognize' elements of the story from your own experience?