Topeka & Shawnee Co. Public Library discussion

Welcome! This ongoing discussion is your place to share what you are reading and what you think about it!

I just finished Cloud Atlas, and it has become one of my favorite books. It is a really inspiring work, even just from a structural point of view. I'd recommend it to anyone who doesn't mind doing a little bit of mental legwork to keep up with multiple plots.

I am reading The Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls - actually, I should say listening - and I am fascinated. I find myself thinking about it during the day and finding it hard to wait until bedtime to get back to it. Some of it I have listened to twice because it is so full of thoughts and feelings that I have experienced but could not, for whatever reasons, articulate, and I'm only into chapter 4! Something horrible has happened at Thea's home in Florida, something that has been the catalyst for her attendance at the camp, but I will not know what for a long spell, I imagine.

Over 1/2 through with Allegiant by Veronica Roth. I haven't had a lot of time to read, and with it being the ending of the triology I'm trying to savor it.

Still trying to finish King Solomon's Mines. I can't always get to it when I want to. Been a good book, but it is written kind of weird. I think it is the way it was written in whatever date it was written. I forget what year. Early.

I just started listening to Her Mothers Hope by Francine Rivers. I am getting totally enthralled by the story of Marta, a young woman from Sweden with a dream to escape the torment of the relationship with her father and become the owner of her own boarding house or hotel (and her own destiny). Her mother's prayers follow her as she journeys to France, England, and now Canada.

Cheryll wrote: "Still trying to finish King Solomon's Mines. I can't always get to it when I want to. Been a good book, but it is written kind of weird. I think it is the way it was written in whatever date it wa..."

I really liked that book, it reminded me a lot of old adventure movies (maybe because some of the stuff from those movies came from this book?)

Deb wrote: "Cheryll wrote: "Still trying to finish King Solomon's Mines. I can't always get to it when I want to. Been a good book, but it is written kind of weird. I think it is the way it was written in wha..."

Makes me want to watch the movie again. I may have to see if it is on Netflix.

Finally finished King Solomon's Mines last night. Now I would like to see the movie again. Now I need to think of something else to read. It is not from having a lack of books to read. I have more than I can read. I'll see what I have time for in the near future.

Timothy wrote: "I just finished Cloud Atlas, and it has become one of my favorite books. It is a really inspiring work, even just from a structural point of view. I'd recommend it to anyone who doesn't mind doing ..."

This is one that I definitely want to read!

I just finished The Red Garden, by Alice Hoffman. It is a collection of short stories that fit together to tell the tale of a small town in Massachusetts from its founding through the present day. Blackwell is not your ordinary small town; here, magic and nature form a fantastic backdrop for powerful human stories. In the shadow of Hightop Mountain, great black bears roam the woods. Eel River, cold and muddy, swarms with the black eels that feed many in the town and provide the source for the town's leatherworking industry. Red hair and mercurial natures are common, and shapeshifting, ghosts, murder, betrayal are woven into the town's history.
This is my first dip into Alice Hoffman's work, and I am definitely hooked! Her work is vividly descriptive and beautifully poetic. More than that, I finished this book and felt reawakened to the limits of mortality and the importance of keeping focused on what really matters. Life is short, but each person's impact can ripple on through generations.
Is anyone else here a Hoffman fan? She's published a lot of titles. What should I pick up next?

I just finished Neil Gaiman's The Ocean at the End of the Lane and loved it! It is a quick magical read where you are transported to a beautiful realm that exists on the Hempstock farm in Sussex England. The troubled main character discovers that the world is not as it seems and is pulled into a situation too strange and terrifying for any child to have to deal with. Great book! Highly recommend.

I'm currently reading Please Look After Mom, and really having a hard time getting into this one.

I'm also listening to The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and enjoyed Tom Sawyer much more.

Miranda wrote: "I just finished The Red Garden, by Alice Hoffman. It is a collection of short stories that fit together to tell the tale of a small town in Massachusetts from its founding through the present day. ..."

I will definitely have to check this book out. It sounds like something I would enjoy reading.

Currently reading Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress and listening to Little Women.

Cheryll wrote: "Miranda wrote: "I just finished The Red Garden, by Alice Hoffman. It is a collection of short stories that fit together to tell the tale of a small town in Massachusetts from its founding through t..."

Let me know what you think!