Home Feed
Home
Search
Search
Add Review, Blurb, Quote
Add
Activity
Activity
Profile
Profile
readtheworld

readtheworld

Joined March 2016

readtheworld.org | Reading and recommending books from around the globe.
blurb
readtheworld
Pachinko | Min Jin Lee
post image

I‘m about 100 pages into Pachinko by Min Jin Lee. I can‘t believe I let this one languish on my TBR shelf for so long..!

What are you reading this week? 📖

#mondayreads #currentlyreading #booksandbreakfast #teatime #pachinko

blurb
readtheworld
Catherine House: A Novel | Elisabeth Thomas
post image

Was too sleepy to post this last night — my final time count for #24in48, and a picture of the three books I finished in print. Not pictured is the one audiobook I finished (Chatter) or the other one I started (The Warmth of Other Suns). Really enjoyed this readathon!

PurpleyPumpkin Well done!👍🏽 3y
Jas16 Great job! 👏 3y
candority Awesome! 🎉 3y
43 likes1 stack add4 comments
blurb
readtheworld
Catherine House: A Novel | Elisabeth Thomas
post image

I probably only have an hour or so of reading left in me for tonight, though I am enjoying Catherine House. It‘s strange and dark, and I think I know where it‘s going, but can‘t be sure.

#24in48 #readathon #litfic #sundaynight #amreading

kbuggle Would love to know if it‘s living up to the Secret History comparisons? 3y
readtheworld @kbuggle I finished it last night and don‘t feel it really compares to The Secret History in tone or character building, though the settings (small, elite colleges with cliques) is definitely similar. I enjoyed Catherine House overall, but the main character felt a little flat to me, and I guessed the big twist way before they revealed it. It was still fun overall, though! Made for a great readathon book. 3y
kbuggle @readtheworld thanks for the thoughtful review, super helpful! 3y
41 likes1 stack add3 comments
blurb
readtheworld
Catherine House: A Novel | Elisabeth Thomas
post image

My next #24in48 read. I‘ve seen this novel compared to The Secret History, so my expectations might be a tad bit too high. Hoping it lives up to them!

#readathon #literaryfiction #weekendreads #newbook

26 likes1 stack add
review
readtheworld
post image
Mehso-so

While the subject of this one — what the voice in our head is means and how to control it — was interesting, it never really captured my full attention. I think if I hadn‘t started it during the readathon, I might not have finished it. 🤷‍♀️

#24in48 #audiobook #audioreview #readathon

review
readtheworld
The Shame | Makenna Goodman
post image
Pickpick

Just finished this short, unexpectedly powerful novel — the second print book I‘ve finished for this weekend‘s #24in48 #readathon

Alma is a mother and homesteader in rural Vermont who spends her days feeding sheep, stoking the wood stove, and shuttling her small children back and forth to school. The monotony begins to wear on her, an she soon finds herself driving through the night toward New York City and the promise of a different life.

41 likes1 stack add
blurb
readtheworld
The Shame | Makenna Goodman
post image

Good morning! It‘s day two of the #24in48 readathon — what are you reading?

I‘m finishing up the last 50 pages The Shame, which I‘ve been pleasantly surprised by. I didn‘t expect to love it as much as I do.

#shortnovel #coverart #weekendread #literary #litfic

blurb
readtheworld
The Shame | Makenna Goodman
post image

Took a bit of a break to watch a documentary and am now cozied back up with The Shame. #24in48

#readathon #booksinbed #readinginbed #pages

blurb
readtheworld
The Shame | Makenna Goodman
post image

On to my next #24in48 book! I‘m only a few minutes into The Shame, but so far it is strange and compelling.

#hour6 #readathon #24in48readathon #amreading

review
readtheworld
The Big Four | Agatha Christie
post image
Panpan

Just finished my first #24in48 book. I can‘t say I liked this Poirot mystery. It felt exceedingly disjointed, and I wasn‘t surprised to learn that it started as short stories that were combined into a novel. Despite being action-packed, the plot was far-fetched even for a Christie—a powerful, international cabal called The Big Four orchestrating murders across the English countryside—and it featured a lot of gross, old-timey racial stereotyping.

blurb
readtheworld
Catherine House: A Novel | Elisabeth Thomas
post image

My #24in48 book stack! My to-read stack is tiny because I signed up last minute, so these are two of my TBR books (Catherine House and Shame), one Agatha Christie from the library, and a reread I‘m really excited for — An Elderly Lady Is Up to No Good!

I‘ve started with the Christie and am one hour in. What are you readathoning?

#readathon #24in48readathon #bookstack #bookpile

blurb
readtheworld
post image

Spending a boring Saturday night with a decidedly non-boring mystery 🕵️

#readtheworld #mystery #detectivenovel #departmentq #saturdayreads

32 likes1 stack add
blurb
readtheworld
post image

Brought a book to keep me company in the early voting line 🗳📖

#vote2020 #yaagyasi #readtheworld #readdiversely

slategreyskies So good to see you out voting!! ❤️💙!! 3y
eraderneely Way to get there early! (with a book) 3y
AmyG Yay! 👊🏻 3y
56 likes3 comments
review
readtheworld
post image
Mehso-so

I wanted to love this one as it explores parkour (which I‘ve been practicing for about five years). But the frame narrative about a resistance mission in WWII Crete didn‘t fully tie into the other points McDougall was making about natural movement disciplines, so it felt disjointed.

In fact, in the acknowledgements, he said he originally wanted to write two books on these separate topics and combined them instead...

#audiobook #parkour #crete

review
readtheworld
post image
Pickpick

This is a fun, light listen with a lot of concrete advice for how to handle difficult situations at work, both for employees and managers.

#audiobook #advice #businessbook

Hestapleton Omg I need this. 4y
readtheworld @Hestapleton I really enjoyed it! I haven‘t read the Ask a Manager site before, though, so I‘m not sure if it would be repetitive for current readers of hers. 4y
Hestapleton @readtheworld I haven‘t read it either. But I‘ve been frustrated at work so I‘m hoping for some good tips about making the situation work for me. (edited) 4y
52 likes1 stack add3 comments
review
readtheworld
post image
Pickpick

This was a quick listen about Leslie Schwartz‘s short stint in a county jail for DUI, and the books that helped her pass the time and work on her recovery from alcoholism. It has some lovely moments about the power of reading and her friendships with the other inmates — almost all of whom have seen much worse circumstances than her.

#audiobook #memoir #nonfiction #booksaboutbooks

51 likes1 stack add
review
readtheworld
post image
Pickpick

I read this in print years ago, and just decided to revisit it on audio. Was looking for a light listen for a stressful week and this definitely fit the bill!

#audio #nonfiction #travel #happiness

44 likes1 stack add
review
readtheworld
Before the Fall | Noah Hawley
post image
Pickpick

I stayed up way past my bedtime to finish this fast-paced novel about the aftermath of a private plane crashing into the Long Island Sound.

Suspenseful and character-driven, it has one of the most realistic endings to a thriller I‘ve ever read (though no less horrific).

#thriller #coverart #beforethefall #suspense

marleed I thought the ending was very interesting. 4y
readtheworld @marleed Yes! It felt quite subversive for a thriller — not at all what I was expecting! 4y
56 likes2 comments
review
readtheworld
post image
Pickpick

First audiobook of 2020 finished! This history of the lost Roanoke Colony also explores the modern-day obsession with discovering its fate. The first half was a bit slow at points, but I enjoyed it overall.

#audiobook #nonfiction #roanoke #history

Reviewsbylola I just had to return this to the library unread. Maybe someday! Roanoke fascinates me. 4y
readtheworld @Reviewsbylola It was really good on audio — I think in print I might have gotten bogged down in the recap of the colony‘s history. 4y
45 likes2 comments
review
readtheworld
The Last American Man | Elizabeth Gilbert
post image
Pickpick

Forgot to post this last week — these were my last two print books of 2019. The Agatha Christie is The Mysterious Affair at Styles (the first one featuring Poirot).

I finished 2019 by just barely hitting my goal number of books read (finished my last book around 9:30pm on New Year‘s Eve!) In 2020, I‘m scaling my goals back just a bit so I‘m putting less pressure on myself in the last few months of the year.

#print #2019reads

review
readtheworld
post image
Mehso-so

Last audiobook of 2019! I mostly enjoyed this on audio but it felt really scattered — more like a long interview about everyday topics with the occasional pre-written essay thrown in.

I truly have no idea how this book could work in print, because I think it would lose all the charm from hearing them banter.

Happy New Year, everyone!

#audiobook #nonfiction #memoir #lovestory

Redwritinghood Happy New Year! 4y
Bookzombie Happy New Year!!🎆 🎉🥳 4y
40 likes3 comments
review
readtheworld
post image
Pickpick

Really enjoyed this true story of a Salvadoran fisherman who was dragged out to sea by a violent storm — and then spent more than a year adrift in the open sea.

#nonfiction #readtheworld #audiobook

35 likes1 stack add
review
readtheworld
post image
Mehso-so

No Beast So Fierce recounts the dangerous hunt for a tiger that killed more than 400 people in Nepal and India in the early 1900s.

Though parts of the book are gripping, there were too many places where the author seems to be basing the storytelling on assumptions rather than historical sources. (“Surely, he would have felt...” / “Next, the tiger likely...”)

#audiobook #nonfiction #audio #soso #2019reads

AvidReader25 I felt the same about this one. 4y
readtheworld @Avidreader25 Glad I‘m not the only one! I‘m glad I read it, but I think the book would have been stronger if it was stronger and stuck to the specific historical record. 4y
37 likes2 comments
review
readtheworld
post image
Panpan

This book was a bit of a disappointment; it‘s described as a travel book about a cross-country trip the author takes in honor of his truck driver father. But in reality the travel part was brief impersonal, and the remainder of the book was more like a lecture on American foreign relations.

I would have bailed early if it wasn‘t short with a solid audiobook narration.

#audiobook #travel #nonfiction #shortbook

review
readtheworld
Midnight Son | James Jr Dommek, Issac Kestenbaum, Josephine Holtzman
post image
Pickpick

This short audiobook was surprisingly gripping. It explores the flight of a man in northern Alaska and the strange story he tells when he‘s finally apprehended — that he has encountered the mythical tribe of Iñukuns in the wilderness.

It‘s narrated well and structured more like a long podcast, with recordings of interviews and the trial.

#audiobook #audible #nonfiction #alaska

review
readtheworld
post image
Mehso-so

Collection of essays about modern Cuba by a Canadian professor. It has some interesting moments and insights.

#audiobook #nonfiction #essays #cuba

review
readtheworld
Highway of Tears | Jessica McDiarmid
post image
Pickpick

What a heartbreaking, important book. Highway of Tears tells the story of the dozens of indigenous women who have disappeared or been murdered along a remote stretch of road in northern British Columbia.

McDiarmid lays out the history of the area, the lack of attention given to the missing women, and their families‘ struggle to have their stories heard.

#nonfiction #audiobook #canada #history

40 likes2 stack adds
review
readtheworld
Ruthless River | Holly Conklin FitzGerald
post image
Pickpick

This was fantastic on audio. Thrilling and tragic, Ruthless River tells the true story of a young couple who set out on an adventurous honeymoon and end up stranded in a flooded offshoot of the Madre de Dios River in the Bolivian Amazon.

#audiobook #nonfiction #audio #libby #lovedit

dragondrool I started reading this last summer, but set it down when we picked a new book for our real-time book club. I need to get back to it and finish it up. I think I'm halfway. I was enjoying it. 4y
37 likes1 comment
review
readtheworld
post image
Mehso-so

This was just okay. A heartbreaking story, but the writing and the author‘s audio narration were both quite flat.

If you want to learn more about the FLDS church and the power of religious brainwashing, this will be interesting. But if you‘re looking first for an engaging memoir, I‘d skip it.

#triggerwarning #memoir #audiobook #audio #religion #cult

Reggie The part where they don‘t take the kid to the doctor because Jeff hadn‘t said so because they had to wait until they could talk to him from jail only to find out the kid had a broken back among other things. His mind control was CRAZY. 4y
readtheworld @Reggie That was infuriating! I kept expecting her escape from the church to be prompted by one of those incidents (there were multiple!) 4y
34 likes2 comments
review
readtheworld
post image
Pickpick

A powerful, eye-opening memoir about the ways in which Saudi women are silenced and oppressed in their homeland. Manal Al-Sharif became an unexpected activist for a woman‘s right to drive — facing prison time and the loss of her livelihood for speaking out about the treatment of women in Saudi Arabia.

#audiobook #nonfiction #memoir #bookrec #readtheworld

Insightsintobooks I really enjoyed this book when I read it. 4y
45 likes3 stack adds1 comment
blurb
readtheworld
post image

My reading slump continued all through October, mostly due to working so many extra hours that I only made time for audiobooks. But November will be different! Work should be slowing down a bit and I‘m going to deliberately carve out time for reading in my schedule.

I may not end up hitting my reading goals for this year, but I think I‘m okay with that.

#readinggoals #readtheworld #bookstack

rmaclean4 Beautiful book ladder! I hate it when work gets in the way of my reading!! I don't think I will hit my yearly goal either...but what great books I have gotten to read this year! 4y
readtheworld @rmaclean4 Thanks! And same — even if I‘ll be disappointed in not meeting all my goals, I‘m not going to try and cram in a lot of short books to at least hit my total number. I want to enjoy my next two months of reading without that pressure. 4y
44 likes2 comments
review
readtheworld
post image
Pickpick

Really enjoyed this memoir, though that feels odd to say as it‘s so sad. Tembi Locke narrates the story of her marriage to Saro, a charming Italian chef, and his long battle with cancer. After his death, Locke goes back to his native Sicily to keep his memory alive for their daughter. Heartbreaking and beautifully written.

(Also, had no idea until well into the book that her sister is Attica Locke — too much talent in one family!)

#audiobook

review
readtheworld
post image
Mehso-so

Interesting memoir about Scorah‘s time as a Jehovah‘s Witness missionary in China, and how she began to question what she was preaching. A bit light on details in parts, and the end felt too rushed to me.

#audiobooks #leavingreligion #memoir

review
readtheworld
Daisy Jones & The Six | Taylor Jenkins Reid
post image
Pickpick

Loved this one — and it‘s the rare book that I think I would have felt lukewarm about it in print. The full cast recording does the story of a 1970s band rising to fame and glory to such excellent justice that the characters truly come alive.

#audiobook #audio #pick #theend

kbuggle Same! I would have been meh about the print version- the audio was great! 5y
LoverofLit Totally 100% agreed. One of my favorite audiobooks and definitely one of those rare books that need to be enjoyed by listening to it 5y
Book_ish I read it and loved it but I hear the audio is amazing! 5y
64 likes1 stack add3 comments
blurb
readtheworld
The Last American Man | Elizabeth Gilbert
post image

Just started reading this yesterday — it‘s Elizabeth Gilbert‘s portrait of Eustace Conway, a twentieth-century survivalist and conservationist.

At seventeen years old, Conway left home to live on his own in the woods, and has been championing the natural world ever since. Very absorbing so far!

#nonfiction #paperback #elizabethgilbert #biography

Caroline2 Sounds good. Stacked. 😉 5y
readtheworld @Caroline2 Yay! Hope you like it! 5y
51 likes1 stack add2 comments
review
readtheworld
post image
Pickpick

Really enjoyed this one — it‘s always nice to find a suspenseful, well-written true crime book that doesn‘t focus on grisly murder(s).

#nonfiction #truecrime #audiobook

blurb
readtheworld
Before the Fall | Noah Hawley
post image

Picked up these beauties at the Saratoga Book Warehouse, where every single book is $1 and paying is by the honor system — you put cash in a lockbox as you leave. The three rooms of books are not organized in any discernible way, so shopping there is like a treasure hunt! 📚

#bookhaul #bookstack #usedbooks #toread

Nute I would love an experience like that...a treasure hunt for books!🙂 5y
readtheworld @Nute It was so fun hunting through the shelves! 🕵️‍♀️ 5y
802Librarian My hometown! I‘ve been to that warehouse with my mom 😀 5y
readtheworld @NHLibrarian Saratoga Springs is beautiful! I really enjoyed spending a day there. 5y
60 likes4 comments
blurb
readtheworld
post image

It‘s shark week! 🦈🦈🦈

Demon Fish is a fascinating book about how sharks are vital to our oceans‘ ecosystem but under constant attack by humans — from overfishing to climate change to the “delicacy” of shark fin soup.

Grayson narrates a single day in the life of swimmer Lynne Cox. One morning, as she swam along the shore, she became convinced she was being stalked by a shark, but soon realized it was a baby whale that had lost its mother. 🐋

review
readtheworld
post image
Mehso-so

I really wanted to like this one. It lives in that odd limbo of not-quite-personal-enough to be a memoir and not in-depth enough to be a useful guide. I think it‘s probably aiming for the new graduate demographic — very surface-level advice and a lot of self-deprecating (and parent-deprecating) asides.

#nonfiction #audiobook #finance #soso

blurb
readtheworld
At Dusk | Hwang Sok-Yong
post image

I‘m signing off for the night at 19 hours total after reading just a few pages of At Dusk.

Thanks so much to the whole @24in48 team for hosting this fantastic readathon! Can‘t wait for the next one!

#readathon #24in48 #readtheworld #koreanlit

Librarybelle Great job! 5y
readtheworld @Librarybelle Thanks! Done with the readathon, on to the sleepathon 😴 (edited) 5y
Megabooks 👏🏻👏🏻🥳🥳 5y
Jas16 🙌🏽 5y
56 likes5 comments
review
readtheworld
post image
Pickpick

I really enjoyed this short novel set in Zimbabwe — the plot starts out relatively lighthearted and then amps up the stakes.

I have mixed feelings about the ending, which felt a bit abrupt and, in my opinion, wasn‘t fully satisfying in terms of consequences for one character‘s actions. Can‘t say anything else without getting into spoiler territory...

#24in48 #readathon #readtheworld #readdiversebooks #readdiversely

63 likes3 stack adds
review
readtheworld
post image
Mehso-so

I learned a lot from this book, but didn‘t love the audio narration or the pacing. It‘s a bit too long-winded and repetitive for what I expect from true crime.

#truecrime #nonfiction #audiobook #24in48 #readathon #massachusetts

MysticRaven03 I‘m in the process of reading this one right now and it‘s taking me foreverrrrrr pretty much for the same reasons. 5y
readtheworld @MysticRaven03 Yup, at times it‘s like reading a trial transcript. Skip to the important parts, already! 5y
JinksB The focus on the trial & aftermath of the murders was a big draw for me. I thought the courtroom scenes and newspaper coverage were fascinating. But then, I'm a big law nerd. 5y
49 likes3 comments
blurb
readtheworld
post image

Awake and ready for day two of #24in48. Reached 10 hours last night and had just started The Hairdresser of Harare when I got too sleepy to continue.

24 hours seems pretty far off at this point, especially since I have a family obligation for a few hours in the later afternoon. But I‘ll try! #readathon

Tamra I liked this one! 5y
charl08 Another fan here. 5y
readtheworld @charl08 @Tamra Glad to hear it! I like the writing so far. 5y
50 likes3 comments
review
readtheworld
post image
Pickpick

Loved this one — a strange but hilarious read. And at just 170 pages, it‘s a perfect readathon book!

#24in48 #readathon #hour9

tysephine I *love* this book! 5y
readtheworld @tysephine It immediately jumped up to the short list of my 2019 favorites! 5y
parttimedomestic What a great cover! 5y
readtheworld @parttimedomestic Isn‘t it? It‘s a beautiful little book. 5y
56 likes2 stack adds4 comments
blurb
readtheworld
post image

This tiny book is so delightful! I‘m flying through its short stories about a murderous octogenarian.

#24in48 #readthon #hour8

blurb
readtheworld
post image

I started the #readathon already halfway through this one, and just finished it. So good! I‘ll have to write a real review once I‘ve had time to process it, but I know the characters will stay with me for a very long time.

Next up for #24in48: An Elderly Lady is Up to No Good by Helene Tursten!

53 likes1 stack add
blurb
readtheworld
post image

Current #24in48 audiobook! I‘m late to the @24in48 hour 12 challenge, but since it‘s all about #audiobooks, I can‘t resist.

These days I get all my audiobooks through Libby, using two separate library systems (my smaller local one and the New York Public Library, which is free to join for all residents of the state). I listen to nonfiction almost exclusively, with the rare novel thrown in if I‘ve heard that it reads more like nonfiction.

blurb
readtheworld
post image

Made some pancakes while listening to The Trial of Lizzie Borden on audio; now back to reading in print.

#24in48 #readathon #breakfast #eatingandreading

blurb
readtheworld
post image

Kicking off the #24in48 #Readathon! Here‘s my book stack for the weekend (plus two audiobooks out from Libby):

📖 An Elderly Lady is Up to No Good
📖 At Dusk
📖 The Dream of My Return
📖 The Hairdresser of Harare
📖 The Miseducation of Cameron Post
📖 Pachinko
🎧 The Trial of Lizzie Borden
🎧 American Fire

I‘m already more than halfway through The Miseducation of Cameron Post, so I‘m going to finish reading that one first.

Megabooks American Fire and Pachinko are great! 5y
readtheworld @Megabooks Yay! I‘ve heard such good things about both of them. 5y
64 likes2 comments
blurb
readtheworld
The Air You Breathe: A Novel | Frances de Pontes Peebles
post image

My current #TBR stack! I posted back in January about my personal goal of having 100% TBR turnover from one year to the next. 2019 is more than halfway over and I‘ve read (or DNFed and removed) most of my 2019 TBR books. The ones I still need to read are:
📖 The Air You Breathe
📖 The Night Tiger
📖 The Cairo Trilogy
📖 Pachinko
📖 The Cartographer of No Man‘s Land
📖 Cuentos de Eva Luna
📖 The Door (not pictured)

#readinggoal #toread

Tamra Good for you! 5y
readtheworld @Tamra thanks! 🙃 5y
Reagan Good job! I bet that feels fantastic! 5y
Lindy 💪 5y
readtheworld @Reagan-reads It does! I have a list of all the TBR books that I started 2019 with, and it‘s very gratifying to cross them off. 5y
64 likes5 comments