Books on the Nightstand discussion

I had a heck of a time with the internet yesterday. I finally gave up. Today it dawned on me it might have had to do with Cyber-Monday.

Anyway, I'm listening to The Casual Vacancy in the car and Double Down: Game Change 2012 on my iPad. I'm reading In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex

I'm reading currently.

I also finished each of the below during Thanksgiving week:

Just finished True History of the Kelly Gang and am currently reading The Boston Girl

Those are some great Thanksgiving reads, Loretta! How was Geek Love? I still haven't gotten to it - guess I wasn't the only one!

Loretta wrote: "I'm reading currently.

I also finished each of the below during Thanksgiving wee..."

I finished H is for Hawk on audio on my way home from work tonight. Easy 5 stars. MacDonald's narration was fantastic, her writing exquisite and her story just beautiful.

I'm finishing up Everybody's Irish, a wonderful, if sad, short story collection.

Hoping to get to Gold Fame Citrus and My Life on the Road next.

Well, I didn't finish Double Down: Game Change 2012 because it was due, so I will be next in line and in the mean time I have started listening to The Graveyard Book

I'm currently reading The Three-Year Swim Club: The Untold Story of Maui's Sugar Ditch Kids and Their Quest for Olympic Glory as my nonfiction pick and We Are Water as my fiction selection.

Linda wrote: "Well, I didn't finish Double Down: Game Change 2012 because it was due, so I will be next in line and in the mean time I have started listening to The Graveyard Book"

The Graveyard Book was really charming.

My reading has slowed down a bit with all the holiday hubbub, so I'm still working on The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can't Stand Positive Thinking, which so far I am liking quite a bit. Fans of Stoicism will enjoy this. I'm also working on Midlife Cabernet: Life, Love & Laughter after Fifty because I needed something light after Fates and Furies (which I loathed). I'm looking for a new audiobook and next up after these two is The Forgotten Waltz.

Loretta wrote: "Linda wrote: "Well, I didn't finish Double Down: Game Change 2012 because it was due, so I will be next in line and in the mean time I have started listening to [book:The Graveyard ..."

Thanks, Loretta. So far, I agree. Mark put a good word in for it, too.

Amy wrote: "I'm currently reading The Three-Year Swim Club: The Untold Story of Maui's Sugar Ditch Kids and Their Quest for Olympic Glory as my nonfiction pick and We Are Water ..."

I have been raving all over the place about The Three-Year Swim Club: The Untold Story of Maui's Sugar Ditch Kids and Their Quest for Olympic Gloryand just bought it for a secret swap for the holidays (not the BOTNS Exchange).

Carol, while I'm enjoying "The Three-Year Swim Club" for sure, I would have to say that I think The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics was better. At this point, anyway. I'm halfway through. Would still recommend, though. I'm a huge fan of narrative nonfiction.

The 10th book in the series by Louise Penny is by my side. Sad to have this be the last of her wonderful mysteries for a while. I've read all 10 this year!

I finished listening to and am back to . I also borrowed from my book-club coordinator (we've been passing it around.)

Just finished . I'm starting today.

I have just started . It is a quicker read than I expected and pretty good but I am not totally convinced.

I read The Sculptor over the past couple days. Wonderful, heartbreaking graphic novel.

@Sue: Sorry, I didn't see your post. Geek Love was really quite good. Very little in the way of likable characters--most of them are pretty horrible in fact--but I found the narrator really compelling and there were a couple other characters I rooted for. And the way the plot moves is just so unexpected and unpredictable, plus the prose was lovely.

Amy wrote: "Carol, while I'm enjoying "The Three-Year Swim Club" for sure, I would have to say that I think The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympicsis a book without equal. It is excellent and an easy read and a great audio listen.

I decided not to rate The Three-Year Swim Club: The Untold Story of Maui's Sugar Ditch Kids and Their Quest for Olympic Gloryagainst Boys. There was just something about it that I loved. Perhaps it's due to my father being in the navy, stationed in Hawaii during these years and that he was a great swimmer. I could relate and wish I could have talked about this with him.

I am listening to The Plains of Passage on a playaway from the library, reading The Christmas Wedding Ring by Susan Mallery in bed and on my Kindle I'm listening to Man in the High Castle and reading Brand Christmas.

I have been reading well so far in December. I finished , Pirate Hunters for book club; we liked it, but did not
love it. We all thought his book , Shadow Divers was better. I also read , The Danish Girl in anticipation of the movie. I am currently reading , Did You Ever Have a Family? in anticipation of meeting the author and attending a book group with him on December 17. Really enjoying it so far.

I'm not sure how I've gotten into this, but I received an e-copy of Inside the O'Briens to read as part of a reading study. I'm definitely enjoying so far.

Thanks, Loretta! Sounds like something I'll enjoy, despite the horrible people - who I find much more interesting in books than in real life!

Loretta wrote: "@Sue: Sorry, I didn't see your post. Geek Love was really quite good. Very little in the way of likable characters--most of them are pretty horrible in fact--but I found the narrator r..."

Hi, all:

I'm currently reading three and have one more "to be read" before 12/31/15.

"The Ghoul Next Door" is a cozy. I decided to read this because I needed something light and it involves ghost hunters. I'm currently writing a book that has a ghost haunting a ghost writer, as in who who writes under another's name, so it's research as well as being a fun read.

"Blood, Toil, Tears, and Sweat" is about the speeches of Winston Churchill. Churchill will speak in the book that I am writing "Searching for My Soul", so it's research.

"The Moirai Medallions" I'm reading as a review for another writer.

The "To be Read" book is "Reading Like a Writer." It was a recommended read.

I am currently listening to: The Night Sister

Carol wrote: " decided not to rate The Three-Year Swim Club: The Untold Story of Maui's Sugar Ditch Kids and Their Quest for Olympic Glory against Boys. There was just something about it that I loved. Perhaps it's due to my father being in the navy, stationed in Hawaii during these years and that he was a great swimmer. I could relate and wish I could have talked about this with him..."

Carol, that personal connection really makes it -- I agree. I'm fairly certain that's why "Boys in the Boat" made such an impression on me. My husband's family is from the area in Washington where the story unfolds. His dad grew up on the Olympic Peninsula, right near where rower Joe Rantz lived and trained. The family still owns property there, and we fly out there for family reunions every few years. So I could picture it all as it was being described in the book. I think I would still have enjoyed the book even without having any ties to the region, but that personal connection just made me love it even more.

Amy wrote: "Carol wrote: " decided not to rate The Three-Year Swim Club: The Untold Story of Maui's Sugar Ditch Kids and Their Quest for Olympic Glory against Boys. There was just something about it that I lov..."

Thanks for telling me your story. I went to a holiday party last evening where everyone, particularly the men, were enthusiastic about "Boys". It's a special book and I am recommending it to many.

I've been reading Jonathan Carroll novels for the past several weeks. I started with White Apples and enjoyed that very much. Then I read Glass Soup and I enjoyed that one as well. I'm currently reading The Wooden Sea and I feel it could be the best of the three Carroll novels I've read. His books defy easy categorization and has given me a new appreciation for surreal fiction. He is favorite of writers as diverse as Neil Gaiman to Pat Conroy to Katherine Dunn. I can see why.

I finished listening to The Wright Brothers and started and already finished The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. They're both worth at least 4 stars in my humble opinion.

Just started H is for Hawk. So far, intriguing. Also finishing up Gut by Guilia Enders. A fascinating read about the body's largest organ. Written for a general, non-technical audience.

I just started Normal People Don't Live Like This . It's short and going quickly, so I imagine I'll be done soon.

I just finished . Next up is

In the past week have finished Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania, Ella Minnow Pea, and Still Life Las Vegas. All very good reads.

As I have 36 (36!!) pages of to read books, I decided to land on page 18 of those books and read some of those. I am starting with The Kitchen House and Burial Rites.

I'm off work AND cleaning up audiobooks that I was unable to finish when I had them from the library the first time. I've finished The Wright Brothers, Ghettoside: A True Story of Murder in America, and now almost done with Jesus: A Pilgrimage. I've also started and finished The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. Also finishing the e-book Inside the O'Briens whenever I'm close to Wi-Fi which is not as often as I would have thought.

I'm listening to A Small Indiscretion which will be joining my least-enjoyable-reads-of-2015 shelf along with Hausfrau and Girl on the Train. I don't mind a flawed character, or even a dislikable one, but these privileged, whiny, selfish women drive me nuts.

Luckily, I'm also reading Thirteen Ways of Looking, which is fantastic.

I'm currently listening to 'Ready Player One." Very entertaining and fun sci-fi. Excellently narrated by Wil Wheaton (the actor from Star Trek Next Generation). Perfect for those in a Star Wars state of mind.

I just finished reading The Miniaturist, a BOTNS recommendation. It was a little disappointing as I didn't like the narration style (present tense why) but it was a page turner and I finished it in like two days.

Right now I'm reading Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. I loved Americanah and this confirms that I love the way she writes.

In the post I have The Red Book, another BOTNS rec, and Yo, Miss, which is a graphic novel. But I don't know if the former will get here in time for me to finish it during December, because post around Christmas.

I'm also doing my vacation reading for uni which right now is mostly about death in medieval Spain. Christmas spirit!

Just started Jane Smiley's trilogy with Some Luck. If you're reading the 50 states, this is a great one for Iowa.

Janet wrote: "Just started Jane Smiley's trilogy with Some Luck. If you're reading the 50 states, this is a great one for Iowa."

I just loved this trilogy! I think my favorite was Early Warning, the second one, probably because it was my time really. Golden Age, the last in the series is not far behind. I hope you enjoy it!

I just picked up and started 100 Tricks Every Boy Can Do: A Memoir by Kim Stafford (memoir). Uniquely written, evocative memoir about the author ( ) AND his brother, Bret, who died by suicide.

Listening to 10% Happier: How I Tamed the Voice in My Head, Reduced Stress Without Losing My Edge, and Found Self-Help That Actually Works and reading The Fold

Currently reading Honeydew by Edith Pearlman. I loved Binocular Vision: New and Selected Stories and so far these stories are just as strong, just as heartbreaking and just as marvelous.

Listening to The Abbey: A Story of Discovery - I love being off work and being able to spend an entire evening with a book. Might make my goal # yet.

The Snow Child was OK
Girl, Interrupted was very good.
I am more than half way through The Martian but it seems a dead cert for 5 stars and the 'favourite' shelf.