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#WaterBeetlesBuddyRead
quote
saresmoore
The Water Beetles | Michael Kaan
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What with the current, ahem, international tensions, this book is feeling a little too relevant.

#WaterBeetlesBuddyRead

shawnmooney Doesn't it just? 7y
Suet624 Both quotes you've posted resonated with me as I was reading the book. 7y
61 likes2 comments
quote
saresmoore
The Water Beetles | Michael Kaan

“In later years I understood that it was my father alone who straddled the two worlds of the British and the Chinese. Without him, and with his business held in trust and her older sons away at school, my mother felt herself little more than a village girl thrust out among strangers, and the strain of maintaining face in this unbuffered world was slowly wearing away at her confidence.”

LeahBergen Are you enjoying it? 7y
saresmoore @LeahBergen So far, I am! I haven‘t made it very far, though. How about you? 7y
shawnmooney Sara, you will probably overtake me. I think I am at the 40% mark. Quite enjoying it! Glad to hear that you are too! (edited) 7y
saresmoore @shawnmooney Oh, I‘m glad to know I‘m not too terribly far behind. I was trying to get through a lot of it today, but had to take a break because of looming nuclear warfare weighing on my mind... 7y
42 likes1 stack add5 comments
blurb
shawnmooney
Friday | Robert A. Heinlein
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The title says it all... 😂😂

https://youtu.be/maHhgyI6r_A

(Oh, and I talk about Michael Kaan's The Water Beetles quite a bit here. #WaterBeetlesBuddyRead)

LeahBergen I'm scurrying over for a listen (I just finished it last night!) 7y
Tamra Lol, love that title & image! 7y
DGRachel Loved this video! 7y
43 likes3 comments
quote
shawnmooney
The Water Beetles | Michael Kaan
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The prose has been quite workmanlike, with the occasional sentence that sings. This, however, is the first truly awful sentence I have encountered. Oh my God!

#WaterBeetlesBuddyRead

KathyWheeler That is indeed awful. 7y
saresmoore Ack. 7y
AceOnRoam Surely his publisher would have advised against the use of orifice in any sentence. 7y
See All 9 Comments
Booksnchill Glad you clarified- I read the quote and thought- oh my did that touch your soul???!yes- wow, editors needed!😱 7y
Richryan52 @shawnmooney I agree. That is rather awful 7y
LeahBergen I like the bit about "cloying ordinariness". It should have been (way) pared down to just that sentiment. There's a good story in here, though - ya think? 7y
shawnmooney @LeahBergen I was thinking that too: pared down, the passage could've captured something that's difficult to express about how people can cling ostrich-like to the quotidian when danger looms. When you say "in here," you mean the novel as a whole so far, or this particular passage? Whichever way you meant it, I agree with you! @saresmoore @suet624 The scene at the table a few pages later between a mother and her son is powerful & wrenching! 7y
LeahBergen @shawnmooney Yes! And I meant the novel, in general. I bit off a big chunk of it last night. 😉 7y
Suet624 Workmanlike prose - yup. That's a perfect description. You're in the honeymoon phase and the writing becomes even more workmanlike. Maybe there's a method to his madness in writing the way he does though. War is definitely hell. 7y
46 likes9 comments
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shawnmooney
The Water Beetles | Michael Kaan
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Well, I've now read 50 pages and am enjoying it, so I've come out of hiding on Goodreads because I'm probably not going to bail or do a hateful review. :-) (The author is following me on Twitter and on Goodreads… :-)

#QuoteOfTheDay
#WaterBeetlesBuddyRead

Lindy The pressure is definitely on when you know an author is watching. 😕 7y
bedandabook 😂I have an author following me on Goodreads and I'm avoiding reading her latest book just in case... 7y
43 likes2 comments
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Suet624
The Water Beetles | Michael Kaan
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"It is easier at times to be a pallid vessel of events and memories, rather than the bearer of a life."

The fog of depression and despair in this book ...

#waterbeetlesbuddyread

AmyG I love a good, really sad book. 7y
Suet624 @AmyG if you love stories about children as war prisoners too, then this is right up your alley. 😜😩 7y
AmyG @Suet624 Oy...maybe not. 7y
57 likes2 stack adds3 comments
blurb
LeahBergen
The Water Beetles | Michael Kaan
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Here goes! I just started this for a buddy read with @shawnmooney @DGRachel @Suet624 and @saresmoore .

@saresmoore - I'll be reading it really slowly as I have to get to another one for a book club meeting. You'll have plenty of time to catch up when you have power again!

#WaterBeetlesBuddyRead

saresmoore Phew! 😊 7y
112 likes1 comment
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shawnmooney
The Water Beetles | Michael Kaan
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quote
shawnmooney
The Water Beetles | Michael Kaan
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Suet624 Ah! That peeled almond reference grabbed me right away. I lingered on the image. 7y
36 likes1 stack add1 comment
blurb
shawnmooney
The Water Beetles | Michael Kaan
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I am buddy reading this in September with @saresmoore @LeahBergen @JazzFeathers and @DGRachel - it's a debut by a Winnipeg writer based on his Hong Kongese dad's experiences under the Japanese occupation. The book isn't that easy to purchase outside Canada other than on Kindle but if anyone else wants to join us, the more the merrier!

LeahBergen I better order a copy then! 😉 7y
DGRachel Thanks for the reminder to buy it!! Are we starting 9/1? 7y
saresmoore Update: I found it on iBooks, as well! 7y
See All 26 Comments
DGRachel @LeahBergen @JazzFeathers @saresmoore @shawnmooney I bought the Kindle version so I'm all set. Looking forward to it!! 7y
JazzFeathers Guys, l'm having lots of problems getting the book. I can't download it from Amazon becayse it isn't available in kindle here in ltaly and getting the actual book from Canada is so expensive. I can't find it anywhere else. I'm not sure l'll be able to do the readalong 😢 7y
shawnmooney @JazzFeathers That's too bad – but no problem! @DGRachel @saresmoore @LeahBergen @Suet624 I will be ready to start reading this next weekend. How about you guys? (edited) 7y
Suet624 Yup. Good to go. 7y
DGRachel I hope you don't mind, but I went ahead and started it. I'm at the perfect break with other books and the new Le Carre comes out next week, so I want to be able to read that as soon as it hits my Kindle. 7y
shawnmooney @DGRachel Oh that's no problem at all! 😍 7y
shawnmooney @jeff Please add "The" to this title. Thanks! 7y
shawnmooney @LeahBergen @saresmoore @Suet624 Hey ladies, I finally started the novel last night. I'm only 15 or so pages in, but happy to report I'm not having the negative reaction that our friend @DGRachel had, at least not so far! I'll give it at least 50 pages before I register it as a current read on Goodreads, since the author is following me so intently there. :-) How's everybody else doing with it, earthquake evacuations & whatnot aside? ❤️ 7y
Suet624 I'm sticking with it. At 33%. Good so far. 7y
shawnmooney @Suet624 That's good news! 7y
saresmoore It is one time I'm regretting getting the digital version! Once we're assured of power to charge the device, I'll get started on it. :) 7y
shawnmooney @saresmoore You are definitely excused! 😘 @LeahBergen @Suet624 I have just posted my first quote and arbitrarily selected #WaterBeetlesBuddyRead as a tag – if anybody has a better idea, please tell me and I can always change the tag. 7y
Suet624 I have to admit that having the digital version makes posting quotes harder for me. I don't know why exactly. It's such a different medium for me that I stumble with capturing the parts that are important to me. But I shall do my best. 😁 7y
LeahBergen I just got home from a little road trip this evening and I'll be diving into this tomorrow. 👍🏻 (edited) 7y
shawnmooney @Suet624 Wow, that is fascinating! For me it is about 300% easier to post quotes from ebooks than physical or audiobooks because of the ease of copying and pasting. I'm curious as to what is harder for you... 7y
Suet624 @shawnmooney I've only read 2 or 3 books in this format and it wasn't until you mentioned that you cut and paste from ebooks that I seriously investigated how to do it. And I finally figured it out. I'm a very fast typist so for years I've typed quotes into a running word doc and then copy/paste. More than that, ebooks seem to sit on the surface of my mind, while the paper format sinks much deeper into my thoughts. Memorable quotes whiz by. 7y
shawnmooney @Suet624 I have heard other readers who say (and even heard of a study that found) that e-reading doesn't permeate as deeply as reading a paper book. I cannot relate even one iota to this. There is no such difference for me. Interesting! 7y
Suet624 Not even one iota, eh??? 😂😂 Maybe I just need to practice. Audiobooks are even harder for me to absorb. 7y
shawnmooney @Suet624 Iota....😘😘😘 I don't want to seem the slightest bit pushy but I discuss audio-, e- and physical books in a video I put on my booktube channel just yesterday, in case you were interested! https://youtu.be/AJdCvCY8Bvc 7y
Suet624 I subscribed to your channel yesterday. ❤️ now I need to find the time to listen. And no pushing on your part was required. 7y
shawnmooney @Suet624 😘😘 7y
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