Lisa Ann's Reading Goals for 2016: Midyear and Beyond

Hi Lisa. Nice to see you here, already kicking off your own thread. It's actually the first time I've what you have read in a list. Kind of cool to see it that way. Welcome to LT and CR.

I know that feeling. It's a good idea to start from here, a fresh start of sorts.

Welcome, Lisa! I've read a few of the books you listed recently - Rebecca is a favorite as is Willa Cather, though I haven't read Song of the Lark yet. Looks like it didn't work very well for you? I also recently finished The Boys in the Boat which I LOVED! And I read Out of Africa this year which I couldn't get into - it wasn't personal enough for me (meaning I felt the author keeping me at arms length) and some of the views of Africans seemed so stereotypical.

Anyway, glad to have you around!

Ok, I'm curious about the Potter. I haven't actually figured out who wrote it.

I read a review somewhere here recently and...I think it was more positive (I can't quite remember). Bummer it didn't work out for you. It's far off my reading road, but I'm still curious.

And, yeah, try another therapist (but, you know, his next could end up just as bad, if he lives in the real world)

>15 This-n-That: i wasn't aware Lily and the Octopus was a major release.

>16 This-n-That:. Huh. That's clearly not a wow. I requested it through my library, I'm about 350 million n the waiting list. Think I can wait.

>19 This-n-That: i had never heard of Bird and your review sent me on a Wikipedia run. She sounds like quite a character.

Isabella Bird Bishop just popped in my current book, Nothing to Envy. She was in Korea in 1897, describing small town costume.

Only two stars. Bummer. I'll be sure this isn't my first Erdrich (although, as it's later in a series, I probably wouldn't have started with it anyway)

Interesting. I always wanted to read Four Souls, but no longer remember why. No clue what it's about.

I like it more than you did, Lisa. I also had some mixed feelings, but got very attached to in the end. Oddly, for me, it was the beginning that I liked the least. I listened to all of it.

Actually, I had forgotten about that. I liked the Life After Life narrator. And I had trouble with the narrator switching from a woman in LAL to a man in AGiR. Maybe that's part of the reason I had trouble with the beginning of AGiR. ??

You're doing well in September. I've been curious about Rebecca, since it's gets such positive reviews. Interesting about My Cousin Rachel.

>37 This-n-That: I don't know why, but I have such a soft spot for I Capture the Castle. Up there with the likes of Little Women in my affections.

>37 This-n-That: I read I Capture the Castle a couple of years ago for the first time and I really wished I had read it first as a teenager. I think it would have been an all-time favorite. Reading it for the first time in my mid-30s, I found it just a tad juvenile, though I still did enjoy it.

Hi. Glad you finished The Wright Brothers and that you'll never have to read it again. (Well, unless, of course m you want to.). I think McCullough had done better elsewhere.

Only on audio. 1776 was good. And I eventually fell in love with The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris. But note that I didn't like TGJ at first and that it's really long. But I sense that all his works are generally very good. He just got a little carried away with the Wright Brothers, post-fame.

Ohh I saw him on Daily Show about the Wright Bros book, he seemed like such a nice old man, and like he was so incredibly invested in & excited about what he was writing. I could see him possibly getting a bit carried away in the material, lol.

I love McCullough's John Adams biography. It's a time commitment, but really excellent.

cool that you tried Dracula. Enjoyed reading your thoughts. Not everyone has read it, promise. I haven't. It's not on my short list either...

>52 This-n-That: meditation, mindfulness, gratitude, expressive writing - do you do all these? I always thought I should try meditation, but it's not so easy to make time for that, especially since for me it's an awkward effort.

" I do plan to read another novel by Heyer before formulating an opinion about her regency inspired romances. "

So, not all bad then? Always curious about Heyer, although I don't foresee myself reading her. At least it's not in the plans.

Too bad about Capote's Breakfast at Tiffany's.

I like your plan. (I'm noticing you cross off your whole October list...)

P&P is a nice one to cross of your list, from a true master. Not sure whether you felt you got your full 4.5 stars worth, but I liked your comments, especially this: "Besides tackling social class distinctions, P & P is also a study of human nature, self-deception and self-expression through language?". A combined psychology-in-language study, indeed.

Lisa - enjoyed your review on the book page. Very interesting.

So solution is to live happily ever after? Great review, Lisa.

>72 wandering_star: I love that tree! But can also guarantee that as soon as it looked how I wanted it I would be seized with a passion to read one of the books right at the bottom...

>75 This-n-That: A Room With a View was my first Forster book and I absolutely loved it. Then I read A Passage to India which I absolutely hated and then Howards End which was only ok. I find that odd because it's strange for me to have such wildly different feelings about novels by the same author!

I feel a little guilty for having never read Forster. Interesting comments.

Mindfulness came up in a news article I read last night...as the fix-all for teacher's stress - which I thought was very patronizing. But, still, it made me curious what it is all about. Perhaps I should peak into Jon Kabat-Zinn. Congrats on a great year, and wishing you a happy new year!