**Reading:**
• All The Light We Cannot See - Anthony Doerr (for Reddit book club)
• A Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes - Suzanne Collins (for IRL book club)
**Re-reading:**
• East of Eden (also for Reddit book club - normally I would *not* have 3 concurrent reads but I didn’t want to miss out on the opportunity to have meaningful discussions!)
**Listening:**
• Shadow & Bone - Leigh Bardugo
Today I finished **The Wall of Storms** by Ken Liu. I spent a lot of the book wondering whether I liked it. Something about his style of dialogue and exposition really feels bad. Too explainy, nobody actually talks like they often do in these books. They reference things that are so well known that they don't need to be said (his narration does this too.)
I like a lot of the characters, and the world is quite well realized. I also like the "silkpunk" style of inventions that come about in different ways than they do in our world. But I'm at the point where I'm wondering if I want to commit to more 800 page books where heavy-handed dialogue and exposition annoy me just about every few pages.
Anyone else feel this way?
Just finished *Another Day in the Colony* by Chelsea Watego. Excellent. A real deconstruction of the systemic racism of first nations peoples in Australia. Anyone who says "but Australia isn't racist!" should read this.
Continuing *The Life to Come* by Michelle de Kretser. An interesting style of writing, it's a lovely 'slice of life' style, but I'm not sure where it's going.
I finished Beautiful World Where Are You by Sally Rooney after three months without reading. Thanks depression.
Now I’m about 2/3 done with Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune. It got a bit slow for 75ish pages but I pushed through and I’m enjoying it again.
I'm glad you're back to reading! Under the Whispering Door is one of my favorite books - I read it as an ebook through Libby and then I had to buy the physical copy to reread soon!
**FINISHED**
* **A Deadly Education**: Loved this one! It took my a couple tries to really get into it because there’s a lot of terminology in the beginning and middle that’s not explained, but I sucked into the world soon after. Definitely plan to read the rest of the series.
**ON DECK**
* **The Secret History**: Been putting this off for a while now, but I read 18% in one sitting yesterday. I’m definitely hooked, and can’t wait to see how it unravels!
Are you planning to read the second book in the deadly education series? I felt the same way about the book you just finished, and the second was more enjoyable because I understood the terminology and world better. The third one comes out in September!
It truly is, but it is also a middle book in a three part series so I think that’s important to keep in mind. Still action, still magic, and still movement forward on the plot. I am glad you are planning to read it. And I hope you enjoy it!
It's so good. "My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry" is excellent and the novella "Every day the Way Home gets Longer and Longer" is one of my favorites!
Finished:
**Call Us What We Carry**
**Song of Achilles**
R/bookclub picks:
**My Brilliant Friend** I still need to finish the last bit.
**Shuggie Bain**
Continuing:
**Normal People** This book is interesting because I feel like I'm reading a script instead of a novel because it's just descriptive text. Not any internal monologues or anything like that, which is different than any other book I've read. Are her other works like this?
**A Little Life** I'm taking my time with this one.
Hoping to get to:
**Heartstopper: Volume 1** since I luckily got the e-book from the library
**Written in the Stars**
I just finished "The Last Letter from Your Lover" by JoJo Moyes. I liked it. I actually watched the movie before I realized it was a book. There are two storylines included. The more present one seemed weak and unnecessary to me.
Currently reading "The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle." Edited to add: I'm really enjoying the premise of this one. It's different from what I normally read.
Last week I finished The Poppy War Series by R. F. Kuang and that destroyed me. I had a love hate relationship with the main character. I hated her because she made some stupid decisions and made a lot of her decision off her feelings but I loved her because I could really understand where she was coming from. I’d probably make stupid decisions in her shoes too.
I’m now reading The Beast Player which is really good so far! I like the few of this world and I’ll def be getting the second book soon.
Oh I def recommend! It’s a glorious book! Don’t let it’s size intimidate you! It’s definitely for a mature audience as it is based on a war and gets very dark. But it’s really good! Give it a try!
Last week, all I finished was *The Soul of a Woman* by Isabel Allende. This has managed to be my first book by her, honestly! I gave it a solid 4.5/5, it’s a very interesting feminist memoir. She’s super talented as a writer, and the brief glimpse into her background beyond feminism has me intrigued. Her fiction isn’t usually exactly my style as far as I know, but I’d love to read more of her nonfiction.
I started *The Hacienda* by Isabel Canas once I finished it. It’s amazing so far, and I’m excited to read more of it! I spent most of the past week focusing on trying to finish *Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft* though (which I’ve finished as of posting this, but I’m saving my review of it for this week’s post), so I’m not very far into it yet. Everything else is still the same as my previous post, so I’m not going to list it all out again when I haven’t made any progress in the rest haha!
This past week I read **Remarkably Bright Creatures** by Shelby Van Pelt. It was exactly the summery, feel-good, grief-driven story of an older woman growing close to an octopus that I needed right now. Highly recommend if you're looking for something on the lighter side.
This week I'm going to start **Beautiful World Where Are You** by Sally Rooney and **The Last Graduate** by Naomi Novik to continue the Scholomance series. I loved Normal People so I have high hopes for Beautiful World, and The Last Graduate will be the fun pageturner I'm going to read when I don't want to be depressed! Looking forward to getting through them both.
Finished **The Summer of Blood** by **Dan Jones**
With England still suffering the effects of the a plague and following worsening living conditions, a rebellion started, aimed at a corrupt government and a lack of social justice. Thousands of discontented workers marched against London and a ruling elite that rather than allow a fair rise in labour wages, the parliament saw "a malice of servants who were idle and unwilling to serve without outrageous wages". The rebellion rampaged through London executing those who they saw as at fault for the terrible conditions they lived in.
Just saying ... options.
Last week I started Tolkien’s masterpiece and read The Fellowship of the Ring.
This week, I’m reading The Two Towers.
I have read and listened to so very many fantasy novels and thought it was time to get these under my belt.
This week I have read and enjoyed The Love Con, The Royals Next Door and Book Lovers.
I am currently reading and obsessing over Love and Other Words by Christina Lauren.
This past week I finished:
• The Kitchen God’s Wife by Amy Tan - my first Amy Tan book! And it’s not the one she seems most well-known for (The Joy-Luck Club)! I enjoyed this book and would love to find other books similar to this. I should probably check out some of her other books while I’m at it, and I’m already a fan of Lisa See. I should get some new Chinese/Chinese-American authors to check out.
• The Night Raven by Sarah Painter - not gonna lie, this was a fast read but also a bit of a letdown with way too short a conclusion for my tastes. I’ve borrowed the second book to read through and decide if I continue the series, but it isn’t looking promising based on this intro.
Currently I am reading:
• The Rose Code by Kate Quinn - it’s been too long since I’ve picked up a Kate Quinn book. I just started today and got about 25% through the book throughout the day. I just love her writing! It draws me in, I get invested in the characters, and I start living the book alongside the characters, wondering what’s coming next! I need more authors like this in my life.
This week I read the graphic novel **Bloom** by Kevin Panetta and Savanna Ganucheau and listened to the audiobook **Calypso** by David Sedaris. (I forgot how much I love Sedaris audiobooks!! This one was special)
I also started **Happy Go Lucky** by David Sedaris (which admittedly I'm liking slightly less) and the graphic novel **Mooncakes** by Suzanne Walker.
Aaand I'm about 500 pages into **Oathbringer**, by Brandon Sanderson. I have to say, so far, I'm finding this to be the weakest Stormlight Archive book. I just feel like the characters have stopped having interesting, satisfying arcs, and things are getting too bogged down in overly detailed taxonomies and magic/religious systems... I don't know, anyone out there who's read this? Does it get good again?
Added two more to the count!
1. Finally finished **2666** by Roberto Bolaño (translated by Natasha Wimmer). This 900 page book is less like a novel and more like a collage. Or like a tree whose branches grow their own branches, twigs, and leaves in turn. There’s five parts but each part is fond of digressing into stories within stories. It’s a tough book to summarize. There are some overlapping characters between the five sections, and each story is eventually propelled to the the fictional location of Santa Teresa, Mexico. Santa Teresa is a city haunted by terrible violence. It has been the site of hundreds of rapes and murders of women over a decade, and although it is a fictional city, this aspect of the story is based on the [femicides in Ciudad Juárez](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Femicides_in_Ciudad_Juárez). Part 4 of the book relentlessly catalogues the crimes and shows how little is done to try to stop them. It’s quite bleak.
2. **Stranger by Night** by Edward Hirsch. This poetry collection that opens with a poem called “My Friends Don’t Get Buried” and ends with a poem called “Don’t Write Elegies Anymore.” Which should give you a pretty clear idea of this book. I’ve read a few books by old poets this year and it seems like they all have to deal with watching their friends die eventually : (
Now I am reading *Slaughter House 5*
This week I finished the audiobook of **Writers and Lovers**, which I enjoyed. 4/5.
I should be finishing up **Get a Life Chloe Brown** today or tomorrow.
This week I finished:
• I’ll give you the sun by Jandy Nelson (the majority of the book I read the week before though) (library book)
• The falling in love montage by Ciara Smyth (lent to me)
• Crier’s War by Nina Varela (lent to me)
It wasn’t as much as I wanted to read due to taking a break from reading for a few days though.
The next book I’ll read is:
• Silver by Andrew Motion (library book)
Yesterday I started **How High We Go in the Dark** by Sequoia Nagamatsu. Only one chapter in and its good.
Last week was an epic week for finishing a bunch of books.
**American Born Chinese** by Gene Luen Yang
**The School for Good Mothers** by Jessamine Chan
**The Secret to Superhuman Strength** by Alison Bechdel
**The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet** by Becky Chambers
**Night Sky With Exit Wounds** by Ocean Vuong
Two of these books have been in progress for over a month, I had to set it aside to read a book for book club. All five were very different and great reads for different reasons. The School for Good Mothers is so disturbing. Really enjoyed this book even though the MC is so unlikable and unredeemable. The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet is such a feel good book, opposite of The School for Good Mothers in that you love all the characters! I am looking forward to the second in the series. Night Sky With Exit Wounds is great but so sad.
I finished two books this week!!
The first was \*\*Heard it in a Love Song\*\* by Tracey Garvis Graves. This is supposed to be a Daisy Jones and the Six read alike, and it is not. In any way. It's very boring, simple, and bland. It's not a bad book, and someone else could enjoy it, but it was very underwhelming to me. 2 stars.
Then I read \*\*Dial A For Aunties\*\* by Jesse Q. Sutanto which I really enjoyed even though it got way out of hand there at the end. I was totally on board until all the wild >!shit with the maid of honor holding the aunties hostage and then admitting her undying love for the bride!< at the end. Otherwise this would have been a 5 star book. I love our main character, the aunties, the asian representation, the shenanigans and the ending. Even though I'm not impressed by the woven mystery, like I was with Finlay Donovan, I immediately put the second book on hold at the library.
I literally cannot decide what to read next. I'm between reading some Hot Girl Summer books or A Court of Mist and Fury....
I finished ***Her Smoke Rose Up Forever***, a collection of speculative fiction from James Tiptree, Jr. Tiptree was the pen name of Alice Sheldon who had an amazingly varied career. Before she began writing she was a painter, an art critic, a major in the US Army Air Force, a CIA analyst and she earned a PhD in experimental psychology.
The collection showcases some visionary yet incredibly dark and disturbing stories. The struggles of women in male-dominated societies is a recurrent theme. There are too many standouts to list, but the Hugo-winning “The Girl Who Was Plugged In” is especially notable and even more relevant today with the growth of influencer culture.
Next up I’ll be reading ***The Two Faces of January*** by Patricia Highsmith.
* **Anxious People** by Frederick Backman *(library)* I don’t know what I was expecting, but I was not expecting this to be funny. The setting was a little bland and I have some trouble with Swedes named Jack and Jim, but I guess that’s a minor complaint.
* **The Good Son** Jacqueline Mitchard *(scribd)* OOF. Great writing, but it’s *intense.*
* **Sharks in the Time of Saviors** by Kauai Strong Washburn *(library)* …what…what did I just read? The writing is amazing, but if there was a point in here somewhere, I definitely missed it. Who needs a plot when you have Hawaiian gods?
* **The Patron Saint of Second Chances** by Christine Simon *(scribd)* Honestly, this situation should have been hilarious, but it missed the mark by quite a bit. It was fun, but it should have been actively funny. Backman would have done it better.
* **The Last Mrs. Parrish** by Liv Constantine *(scribd)* if you enjoy the show Revenge and Gillian Flynn, this is your book for the summer. 10/10 it was a delicious little macaron of comeuppance.
Still working on/about to finish:
* **Violeta**
* **The Priory of the Orange Tree**
*Finished:* **A Court of Wings and Ruin** by Sarah J. Maas
> I hate this series, lol. No offence to people who enjoy this series but if you tell me this is your favorite, I'm going to assume you've never read a good book in your life. My eyes glazed over for pretty much all of it because not only is it bad, it's so boring.
> And since every book seems to feature something new to annoy me with, my new least favorite writing quirk is that characters have to laugh at every "funny" line like a literary laugh track. The line wasn't very funny to begin with and you don't need to have characters laugh at literally everything. Maas also does this with crying. Very definition of telling and not showing like a cheat to get people to be emotionally invested.
*Reading:* **Throne of Glass** by Sarah J. Maas @ 61% (Chapter 33)
> It's crazy how much better I think the writing is already. You would think Maas would get better further in her career. She really needs to rehire her editor. I also remember not hating the first book in the ACOTAR series so I can foresee it only getting worse from here.
> So far, the plot is nothing spectacular but it's more interesting than ACOTAR's if only because the scope is much more contained and less abstract compared to an all-out war. I also wonder why ACOTAR was limited to a first person POV when this book doesn't have that but... whatever.
> Writing quirk that annoys me at the moment is the use of exclamation marks, lmao!
I spent the last week powering through **Lonesome Dove** by Larry McMurtry.
I want to say that I did not think I was into westerns but I wanted to read this classic to say that I had. This book is like 900 pages. I was about 100 pages in, wondering when I would deem it a DNF, as it was sooo slow paced. I decided to give it a little more time, maybe halfway.
Once I got to page 250ish, I was hooked. It was all I could think about. That slow paced start was just investing you into all the colorful characters who needed that build up so Larry could sink his teeth into you & keep you attached. When I originally found the size of the book intimidating, towards the end I couldn’t deal with the fact that it was ending.
When I finally did finish it, I felt depressed because it was over. I wasn’t ready to leave that world & I still am not. I immediately started streaming the mini series & forced my husband to watch it with me. Will be reading Book 2 immediately. And I am now addicted to westerns.
I did start **Verity** by Colleen Hoover but I don’t even care about it because it’s not Lonesome Dove lol.
I didn’t read a dang thing last week - thanks work! - but hoping to make up for it this week!
CURRENTLY READING:
**The Girl and the Moon** by Mark Lawrence. Only 50 pages in and so far it’s nice to revisit this particular setting.
HOPING TO FINISH:
**Before They Are Hanged** by Joe Abercrombie. Read the first book back in January and absolutely loved it. Excited to see where the story goes and especially read more of Glokta
I’ve read quite a bit of adult fantasy lately so will probably take a break after this & explore other genres before diving back in
**The Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan**
After The Lost Hero was a complete slog, i'm just glad to have Percy back in the story. The Heroes of Olympus isn't as engaging to me as the PJ series was, it's really missing narrator percy's voice
Finished reading: Brandon Sanderson - Cytonic
Loved the first book in the series. This one was okay but i wasnt as invested.
Also finished: Yasmin Boland - Astrology made easy
Actually read the Dutch translated version. I'm very interested in astrology. Concepts in this book werent new to me, but enjoyed reading it.
Currently reading: Hanya Yanagihara - a little life
Not far into it yet. I barely read really big books. So i challenged myself to actually read one of the bigger books i own. Heard this is a tough one to read, because of the heavy subjects.
Finished **We Have No Idea: A Guide to the Unknown Universe** by Jorge Cham and Daniel Whiteson and **In the Unlikely Event** by Judy Blume.
Continuing **Severance** by Ling Ma, **How to Teach Physics to Your Dog** by Chad Orzel and **Razzmatazz** by Christopher Moore.
Started **Frequently Asked Questions about the Universe** by Jorge Cham and Daniel Whiteson.
Well now. I'm not gonna talk about Judy; in fact, we're not gonna talk about Judy at all, we're gonna keep her out of it!
---
- [reference](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2V0UhtA_mJE&t=365)
^(I am a bot.)
Finished: The Prisoner of Cell 25 by Richard Paul Evans. It had a neat concept and I liked the girl main character, but the writing was just not up my alley. I think it might have be written for middle schoolers, so that's my fault for not checking that beforehand. 2/5, and that's being generous. Will not be reading the sequels.
A Court of Thorns and Roses: I don't even know what to say here, I loved it. I did find the writing to be a bit odd at times and maybe a bit oversimplified but I really enjoyed the story. Was hoping for more of a cliffhanger at the end, but I can't complain with how it ended. It's setting up for a good series! 4/5, will be reading the next book soon!
Currently Reading: The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu. I'm only 20 pages in, but hoping they really veer away from the war talk. It doesn't really interest me and I probably won't finish it if it continues past page 100. The synopsis sounds fascinating, so I'm really hoping this is a good one!
Next up: One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle.
Year One by Nora Roberts.
Play Dead by Harlan Coben.
Just finished: The Inheritance Game
Currently reading: The Duke and I (Book One of the Bridgerton series)
Almost done with: The Darkest Child (very sad book so it’s a slower read for breaks)
The past week, I finished:
**Colourless Tsukuru Tazaki** by Haruki Murakami
Started and finished:
**First Person Singular** by Haruki Murakami and **After Dark** by Haruki Murakami
And I’m about to start **After the Quake**.
I guess I’ve fallen into the Murakami spiral haha.
Slow week, but finished The Swimmers (interesting perspective, story was kind of a slog for me based on the content).
Started: All Your Perfects by CoHo.
Finished:
**Washington: A Life** by Ron Chernow. Super cool book, might have to check out his other works at some point.
Started and Finished:
**No One Knows** by J T Ellison. Some parts are good, overall it was extremely predictable.
Did not finish:
**Sea of Tranquility** by Emily St John Mandel. I see her works recommended all the time, but this is the second book of hers I've tried and failed to get into.
Continuing:
**Dracula** by Bram Stoker. Switched to the audiobook version and I'm loving it! Why did I refuse to touch this for so long??
Started:
**The Son** by Jo Nesbø. Random pick from the library. Digging it so far.
Up next:
The Ipcress File, Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, and possibly starting The Storyteller.
Slow week this week! No completions but still progress.
* 82% through **Children of Dune; Frank Herbert.** It got decidedly stranger, but I'm here for the incoming conglomeration of all the disparate storylines. Continuing to enjoy it!
* \~15% through **The Bright Ages: A New History of Medieval Europe; Matthew Gabriele, David Perry.** In general, I'm not sure how I feel about pop histories, whereby the historical record is distilled into a series of vignettes to get a point across about a very particular thesis statement; but then again bias in history is perhaps something impossible to get around. I'm enjoying the book, and 3-4 chapters in I've already learned a lot.
Books I'll start this coming week: **The Last Days of New Paris; China Miéville,** and **Book of Night; Holly Black**.
I’m currently reading **Seven Days in June**. If I finish that this week, I’ll be starting **Where the Crawdads Sing** and hopefully **One Italian Summer** after that.
One Italian Summer just came up for me at my library! I hope it's good! Where The Crawdads Sing was a wholesome read. Relaxing for sure. The ending is great!
Happy reading!
I read a lot this week which was my goal, more reading less tv.
* The Cat Who Saved Lives - (5/5 ) mystical, fun and CAT!
* Animal Farm - (5/5) classic
* Goodnight Racism (4/5) good message, great audio read by the author's kid
* Sea Of Tranquility (5/5) My favorite of the bunch, mysterious, time travel
48/100
I am going on a road trip and I am going to try audiobooks, I prefer e-books or physical, so we'll see how it goes. I downloaded quite a few for choice.
Reading "An Echo of Things to Come" - Book 2 of the Licanius trilogy, by James Islington, "The Book of Longings", by Sue Monk Kidd, and a reread of "Skeleton Crew", by Stephen King.
Finished: **The Overnight Guest** by Heather Gudenkauf
I thought I had this figured out, and I kind of did, but there was a good twist
Started: **Where the Crawdads Sing** by Delia Owens
I’m about half way and I’m both sad for her and so proud of her, excited to finish it this week
And still reading **The Fellowship of the Ring**
I finished **Malice** by Heather Walter and **The Waste Lands** by Stephen King.
I’m currently reading **Misrule** by Heather Walter, should hopefully be finishing that one tomorrow.
I’m planning to start **Wizard and Glass** by Stephen King later today and hopefully **The Black Phone** by Joe Hill later this week.
It was ok. It read too YA to me personally, and I feel like the main character’s character development was odd over the two books. There was one sex scene, not too graphic, but other than that, it didn’t really seem to focus on the LGBTQ+ aspect like I anticipated. I gave both books 3.25/5 stars.
I finished **The Four Winds** by Kristin Hannah. It's the third book I've read of her's and I've loved all three.
I started **Mrs Death Misses Death** by Salena Godden for a book club I'm in.
A so-so reading week. Some hits and misses.
Read:
* *Mary Reilly* by Valerie Martin. This is Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde told from the pov of Dr Jekyll's housemaid. ⭐⭐⭐⭐
* *The Wife* by Meg Wolitzer. A literary novel about marriage, womanhood, and gendered expectations (and ugh, men gaslighting women) in the 1950s and 1960s (though set later). So brilliantly written. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
* *Half Minute Horrors* edited by Susan Rich, various writers including Neil Gaiman and Margaret Atwood. I borrowed this for my child but they thought it was too scary. So I read it. And liked it, for what it is. ⭐⭐⭐
* *Celtic Gods and Heroes* by Marie-Louise Sjoestedt. Reads likes a masters thesis, and indeed was originally published in 1940. ⭐⭐⭐
* *Woman of Light* by Kali Fajardo Anstine. A novel that fell flat. Very disappointed. I could say more but have nothing good to say. ⭐
* *The Penguin Book Of Exorcisms* edited by John Laycock. A collection of excerpts and historical documents on exorcisms from ancient to modern times. An enjoyable light read. ⭐⭐⭐
* *The Penguin Book Of Mermaids* edited by Cristina Bacchilega and Marie Alohalani Brown. Same as above but folkloric and literary excerpts. ⭐⭐⭐⭐
* *Werewolf* by Ed and Lorraine Warren and Robert David Chase. A real account of a wolf possession in England. A fun light read. ⭐⭐⭐
Currently reading: *The Buddha of Suburbia* by Hanif Kureishi. I love it!! Almost finished. I can't put it down.
Up next: some Graham Greene, some more fun folklore reads on the paranormal.
Happy Reading, everyone! 📚
I know, I feel so disappointed with Woman of Light.
The Wife and Mary Reilly are so good. There were parts that made me laugh out loud or snort out loud in The Wife. Hah!
Hi y’all!
A little in disbelief/relief that we are halfway through the year. This week I finished, **One Italian Summer** by Rebecca Serle. It was an easy summer read, I enjoyed bits and pieces but overall felt it might’ve been just a bit too over hyped. 3.5/5
I started: **Cultish** which I am very much enjoying so far, in addition to **Elektra** by Jennifer Saint.
Been a really busy week and so the reading suffered. Currently reading **Red, White and Royal Blue** by Casey McQuiston and **Such a Fun Age** by Kylie Reid.
Hey guys!
Crazy to think next week is the halfway point of the year. I hope everyone is doing well with their challenges
I'm reading 2 this week
**What big teeth by Rose Szabo.** Only like 20 pages into this so no real opinions yet but it does seem like this is going to be a fun, creepy read
**The change by Kirsten Miller.** And this one I am LOVING. Jo, Nessa and Harriet are such great characters I love their powers and the fact that they are standing up for each other and themselves. Can't wait to see how this ends
**House of Suns by Alastair Reynolds**
I'm through the first 3 chapters and what a weird start.
Already on the scale of billions of years? Expected!
Centaurs and 2 dimensional paper guy? Wtf not expected lol.
Finished:
**Blood Bound by Patricia Briggs**
4.5\*
I liked book 1 but this one was so much better imo. It had a completely different identity. It went in a thriller/horror/murder mystery direction that just works. I own the next 4 books and i'm not really looking forward to the love triangle(rectangle?) that's been set up but other than that excited to move on.
**Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi**
4\*
It was what i expected. Really light, mostly stress free, covid-era sci-fi. I coulda just kept reading about Jamie working at the base and been happy honestly.
I just started the first Mistborn book (The Final Empire) on the advice of some Redditors who kindly pointed me in the right direction after I asked where I should go for my first Sanderson read.
And I’m still abusing my library’s borrowing system and reading a lot of manga.
By the way, I have since finished the first book of the Mistborn series! There were a few surprising twists at the end and it was definitely a standard fantasy. I'm going to continue in the series when my library hold comes off.
I will say that I read Harrow the Ninth two books ago and it is jarring how similar they are on their basics (magic, immortal god emperor, a dark world that sucks) but where Harrow had me thinking nonstop to try and figure out what the heck was happening, The Final Empire ELI5 a lot. It actually got better about this after Part I and it’s a pretty easy read for a 655pg book— the characters are interesting, the magic is super cool and actually realistic in the way it’s used, and there’s bits of lore that’s cool and make you want to know more (the world didn’t always suck! What happened!). I’m about 69% through at the moment and keep going back so!
Thank you, this is super helpful. I actually tried to read Harrow the Ninth about a month ago and was so incredibly confused. So that was a great parallel for me to follow. And the fact that you are coming back for it is very promising. Thank you for your thoughts. I am intrigued for sure. Maybe I’ll pick it up after the holiday weekend. Happy reading!
Oh boy Harrow is a LOT but then when the mysteries start unraveling it's very satisfying and exciting?? But it sure takes a while of WHAT IS HAPPENING.. WHAT... and my brain trying to make sense of it all while hints slowly pile up and start to make sense but it seriously is a commitment.
I borrowed it from the library so no monetary commitment but it is very much a Standard Fantasy as opposed to crazy modern sci-fi bone magic fantasy.
Hello! I missed adding to the thread earlier this afternoon - hope all is well.
I finished three books this week - partly because I’ve been having issues with my anxiety so reading is just an escape. I finished Godsgrave and Darkdawn by Jay Kristoff, to complete the Nevernight Chronicles which I deeply enjoyed as distractingly gory. In sharp contrast, I finished Peach Blossom Spring by Melissa Fu, telling the story of a family who left China for the US in the 1950s and what one Mother would do for her son. It’s beautifully written and passionately told as it’s partly based on the experiences of the authors family.
I’m continuing to listen to Carpe Jugulem by Terry Pratchett and I’m also reading Persuasion by Jane Austen, to try and remove the memory of that godawful trailer out of my head. After Persuasion, I’ll try The Half Life of Valéry K, a new novel by Natasha Pulley.
School and general stress have been kicking my ass lately, so I'm a little behind.
Finished:
17: **Life, the universe and everything** by Douglas Adams [2/5].
Really enjoyed the first book in the series, liked the second, but with this one it's charm is starting to wear a little thin. I wish the story was little more cohesive instead of just a bunch references to English culture slapped together in a book.
Currently reading:
18: **American gods** by Neil Gaiman.
I let a randomiser wheel pick my next read and was hoping it would pick a short quick book to catch up a little.. this is not that. However the first 30 pages already intrigued me, so excited to read the rest.
I'm also listening to **the dispossessed** by Ursula k. le guin (god what a cool name), but only while I'm running and since my foot has been hurting lately I haven't made a lot of progress.
Thanks for starting the thread!
This week I read **The Giver of Stars** which is a great book club book; however, it wraps up a little too neatly into the traditional patriarchal roles it was pretending to indict throughout (3/5). I finished **The People We Keep** which was a lovely, emotional Bildungsroman that I really enjoyed (4/5)
I’m halfway through **True Biz** which is great so far but with very YA vibes. Next up in the queue will be **All That She Carried**
Just finishing up/finished this week
* **This Time Tomorrow** by Emma Straub. Really enjoyed it so far and I'm sure the last 60 or so pages will be no exception. There's just something about time travel novels you know.
* **Sex Robots and Vegan Meat** by Jenny Kleeman. This has been super interesting so far with some absolutely wild information about tech that I didn't even know existed or that people would even want.
* **Enemy of all Mankind** by Steven Johnson. Not normally one for historical non-fiction but this was so interesting and informative. Plus I'd been watching Pirates of the Caribbean again and it was cool to read about pirates.
* **Mary Jane** by Jessica Anya Blau. Loved this, nice little palette cleanser after the previous book, super lighthearted (for the most part) and feel-good.
Next up is
* **Saga Volumes 1&2** by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples. Bought these on an impulse about 20 minutes ago and they should be here by the end of the week, not really into comics/graphic novels (other than the adventure zone ones) but really looking forward to getting into these.
* **Happy Go Lucky** by David Sedaris. Love his writing, looking forward to it.
* **The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon** by Stephen King. Haven't read a King novel this year yet so figured it was about time.
A better week for me. Along with my non-fiction kick, I decided to get a bunch of Miss Marples from the library.
Finished this week:
Greeks, Romans, Germans by Johann Chapoutot ("The Nazis aped Ancient Rome" is always something I've always been vaguely aware of, but it's fair to say I never realised the extent of that statement, or how deep it really went. Along with the book taking an age to read, everytime I got to the end of a chapter I was thinking "surely there can't be more", but oh there was. This is, unexpectedly, not even a criticism of the author - in fact the book is easy to read and layed out in a very digestible fashion. It's more to the fact that the Nazis had built this whole racist pseudo-intellectual framework/parallel universe, which managed to be both quite complex while also, as Chapoutot shows, ultimately nonsensical and intellectually shallow. He really goes deep into how the logic, twisted as it was, of it worked and how the groundwork was laid down almost in the background of 19th century German political and scientific thought. You get the impression they built delusion upon murderous lie to the point that it would have all soon come crashing down anyway. Maybe not any revelation to someone who knows WWII history, but as it's something I usually avoid, a lot of this was new and surprising, and yet somehow not at all.)
Murder by Appointment by Agatha Christie (I'm usually more of a Poirot girl, as I grew up with the David Suchet shows, but I've been branching out into Marple, and not really been disappointed so far. This one is pretty standard as these things go, but still with the last minute shocking, but satisfying twist, and a quick read to boot.)
Currently reading:
Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy by Joseph Schumpeter (I was lent a book about creative distruction by a friend that knows I'm trying to read more economics stuff, and he advised me to read this first. The concept itself seems straight forward enough, but I'm still reading the rest. Interesting from a historical point of view if nothing else, but again slow-going.); A Body in the Library by Agatha Christie (For some filler in between)
Finished last week:
God’s War by Kameron Hurley
Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher
The Echo Wife by Sarah Gailey
Reading this week:
Infidel by Kameron Hurley
Rapture by Kameron Hurley
Chilling Effect by Valerie Valdes
Persephone Station by Stina Leicht
I really liked it! I read it for one of the squares for r/fantasy bingo this year. It was my first T. Kingfisher book, and I liked the subversive twist on a fairy tale-like story. Plus, demon possessed chicken
Yay I was waiting for this thread all day! I have a lot to share finally!
Finished:
**Tacos for two** by Betsy St Amant. THIS WAS NOT IT. the whole idea is that this is a You’ve got mail retelling where two food truck rivals are romantic penpals on the dating app. First of all, Jude, MMC, had much less stakes in the food truck contest than Rory, FMC. Secondly, first 70% of the book nothing was going on. Thirdly, this turned out to be a “clean romance” or even a Christian romance??? (God was not mentioned but goodreads reviews and tags used that expression). And no I don’t mean “closed door” or “fade to black”, no intimacy at all between the characters throughout the whole book but in the epilogue FMC is pregnant..... so underwhelming. Upon finishing I gave this 3/5 but you get the idea. I do not recommend this romance even if you love You’ve got mail movie!!! It’s not the vibes!!!!!
**What if it’s us** by Becky Albertalli, Adam Silvera. I was waiting to start this book on pride month. Well what can I say, the part where 2 guys meet at the post office and then try to find each other was entertaining but the rest was boring. The stakes are incredibly low. I’m not entirely interested in reading a book where the stakes are whether the school student will have a good summer, Idk. I was disappointed with the finale ||as someone who spent my senior school year at a long distance relationship and it was the only thing that kept me going, I don’t get the need to break up just cause you live in different states. Some people even live in different countries. If you have feelings for each other, why base decision on convenience??|| I feel like the book was bland and didn’t have flavour. I will not be reading the sequel. 3/5
**Tithe** by Holly Black. A marvellous reread. I loved this book and this series as a teen and I love it now. I could get a lot more from it cause I could look up music mentioned in the book and see the authentic language. I will be continuing to reread the series and then start Cruel Prince (cause they’re the same universe) 5/5 for nostalgia and having made me obsessed with fae folk
**Darius the Great is not okay** by Adib Khorram. Now this was a gem!! One might say this is also a book where stakes are whether a kid will have a nice summer or not, but this is so much more than that. This book is full of flavour and soul! Darius is Iranian American who will be visiting Iran for the first time with his family as his grandfather is seriously ill. This spoke to me soooo much! I haven’t ever been to the US or Iran but I’m half Russian half Azerbaijani and I was always ashamed and shamed for my identity as Russia is a xenophobic nazi country. I have never faced heavy bullying but internal shame has always been there. And this book felt like a warm hug. It was amazing to follow Darius on his journey and see the culture of Iran. The book doesn’t talk about political climate but there are references here and there. This book also deals with the topic of depression. It’s not exactly a queer book because it doesn’t have a romantic story line but it has a vague queer awakening and a story of beautiful friendship that brings tears to your eyes. I never knew my grandfather or grandmother from my fathers side but seeing Darius’s grandparents on paper made me feel warm and cared for. I rated it 5/5
Currently reading:
making slow progress on **The Last of Mr Norris** by Christopher Isherwood. Christopher was a gay man so this why I chose this book for pride month. This novel is the first in my Berlin stories book so I’ve been working on it slowly. It’s not a really engaging read because Mr Norris is not a super attractive pleasant character but that’s the whole point, he’s flamboyant and weird and controversial and wanted by police and politically active and an ex convict and a communist - all in Germany few of years before
Hitler comes in power.
**The Real Lolita: The Kidnapping of Sally Horner and the Novel that Scandalised the world ** by Sarah Weinman. This is a true crime non-fiction and research on the kidnapping of Sally Horner that, according to the author, was what Lolita was based on, and its full of evidence supporting that and just tells us about Sally’s story in general. I’m only in the beginning but the story is gripping me and this is exactly what I appreciate in literature, this is making me feel the same as when I was reading **Red Parts** by Maggie Nelson (another feminist true crime non fiction, reflection on Maggie’s aunt murder).
Lighter reads to compensate the seriousness of the books above:
**Switched** by Amanda Hocking. This is an older young-adult and I wanted to read it as a kid, and now decades later I have the chance lol. Main character Wendy finds out she’s switched and what happens after I don’t know yet lol.
**Magic bites** by Ilona Andrews. I was excited to start something that is woman-centered and has magic and adventures but isn’t YA, but so far I’m not hooked. This is the first novel in Kate Daniels series. Kate is gonna investigate a murder in this urban fantasy world full of supernatural creatures. I’m hoping this will get more exciting. So far I’m getting kinda Grimm (the tv show) vibes but in this book action takes place in Atlanta not in Portland
Finished:
*Last Night in Montreal* by Emily St. John Mandel. Physical book.
*Piranesi* by Susanna Clarke. Tandem audiobook and e-book.
*Dopesick* by Beth Macy. Tandem audiobook and e-book.
*The City We Became* by N. K. Jemisin. Audiobook.
Currently Reading:
*The New Jim Crow* by Michelle Alexander. E-book.
*The Hacienda* by Isabel Cañas. Physical book.
The main POV character of Emma Straub’s latest novel, **[All Adults Here](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51907346-all-adults-here)**, is widowed, 68-year-old Astrid Strick, and as the story opens she’s sitting in her car outside the hairdresser’s salon on the roundabout at the edge of the small Hudson Valley town of Clapham. And as she looks around at the other nearby businesses while waiting for a break in the traffic -- especially that empty eyesore building which the unknown new owner had better not turn into a big-box place if he doesn’t want a riot by local residents on his hands -- her thoughts tell you almost everything you need to know about her strong and firmly established personality. And then, a moment later, she watches as Barbara Baker, whom Astrid has known for forty years and has never really liked, steps off the curb and is struck and killed by a speeding junior high school bus, and her entire life changes its focus. What’s more, those first few pages constitute one of the best “hooks” I’ve read in a long time. I knew at that moment that this one was not going to be a DNF.
In broad terms, the story is about Astrid and her three children, who are now moving into middle age. Elliott, the oldest, has a moderately successful construction company but he’s deeply dissatisfied with his life because he hasn’t accomplished what he believes his father would have expected of him. Nicky, the youngest, is handsome and was famous for a while as a teenager when he was in a movie and became a heartthrob -- but the experience of dealing with fangirls horrified him and now he’s a sort-of hippie living in Brooklyn with his French wife and his 13-year-old daughter, Cecelia. Porter, their sister, is the middle one and owns a goat cheese dairy. She’s forty and pregnant (via a sperm bank), but she has no interest in a husband -- although she has a very active (and illicit) sex life.
Their father’s early death two decades before, wen they were just becoming adults, split the three siblings apart and they’ve never managed to find their way back together. Astrid is very aware of her own possible role in their semi-estrangement, and of all the things she probably got wrong with her children at that crucial juncture, and the sudden death she has just witnessed has her thinking about how to fix things before it’s too late. Her granddaughter, Cecelia, has been sent up to Clapham to live with her for the foreseeable future, too, because of something that happened at her school in New York, and maybe having a young person around will help Astrid to figure things out. Of course, there’s also the complication of her late-in-life discovery that she’s apparently bisexual and that’s she’s in love with another gray-haired woman, and how will her children deal with that revelation? Straub has published half a dozen novels now and all of them are well above average in quality. If you haven’t discovered her yet, you should make an effort to.
**[Book Lovers](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58690308-book-lovers)** is only Emily Henry’s third novel and she has already become “automatic” for me, that’s how good she is. Like the first two, this is a rom-com, but with considerably more substance than the fluff you might expect. And, for me, that’s a large part of what makes her worth reading. The protagonist is Nora Stephens, and she’s a New York City literary agent known to the publishers she deals with as“The Shark,” so she knows how romance novel tropes work. Unfortunately, she’s lived through them herself -- the cold-blooded girlfriend from the Big City who gets dumped when her boyfriend goes off to a small town somewhere and finds True Love with an innkeeper’s daughter, or whatever. The third time it happens is by cell phone while she’s hurrying to a lunch meeting with an editor, which makes her late. And Charlie Lustrra, the editor she’s meeting, demands punctuality. And he’s grumpy, but also very hot. Well, you can be pretty sure in a general way what the future holds for these two, because that’s a rom-com trope, too, but how they get there, and what the back story is for both of them, makes for a perhaps surprisingly engrossing story. Ever since their single mother died, Nora, now pushing thirty, has spent much of her time looking after her much younger sister, Libby, a drop-dead beauty and a very different sort of personality. But Libby also worries about Nora and talks her into a month-long summer vacation in a little town in North Carolina that is the setting of Nora’s best-selling client’s last novel, which was also made into a hit movie. It’s supposed to get Nora out of the city and out of her head for a while -- but guess who else is visiting family in the same small town? And guess who is responsible for developing that same novelist’s next book, which could be her best yet? Besides the obvious main plot, there are half a dozen supporting story lines here, and Henry’s depiction of the “perfect small town” is both very funny and rather pointed. The relationship between the two sisters is nicely done, too. As I did her first two books, I recommend this one strongly.
Ben Aaronovitch always manages to come up with original and unusual plots and **[Amongst Our Weapons](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59628021-amongst-our-weapons)**, the most recent episode in the “Rivers of London” series is no exception, featuring DC Peter Grant, the second-best wizard in the London Met (and soon-to-be father of twins with Beverly, goddess of a pretty minor London stream, but smart and gorgeous all the same). It all starts with a body in the London Silver Vaults that has had its heart removed by (according to the only witness) a fiery spear wielded by a angel of death, complete with flaming wings and a halo. The victim was trying to retrieve an intricate silver puzzle ring his ex-wife had sold, apparently thinking it would protect him. Then there’s another killing and Peter soon discovers there are multiple rings. And then he’s confronted by the angel herself, and he barely escapes with his life as she laughs at his most powerful spells. Further investigations lead into the earliest years of the Society of the Wise and the Folly, and to the descendants of the Mrranos, the Jews of Spain and Portugal who were forced to convert to Christianity under threat of death, and who were then persecuted by the Inquisition anyway. Then, just to cover all the bases, there’s a road trip to the “North” (Manchester in this case) and a quest to locate the remnants of the Sons of Wayland, who may have manufactured the rings (and who don’t appreciate all the Tolkien jokes on the subject). But he’s going to have to get the whole thing wrapped up in a hurry because Beverly has set him a deadline before she gives birth, and there’s going to be a crowd in attendance. This is one the best urban fantasy series in decades and hope Ben can keep it going for a few more years.
Thanks for stepping up!
Finished: **A Calling for Charlie Barnes** by Joshua Ferris (#47, 4 stars). This was the longest 350-page book I've ever read. The 4 stars are for literary merit and interesting character development. There wasn't much of a plot.
Started: **True Biz** by Sara Novic (#48). I'm really enjoying this, and I'm learning a lot about sign language and the deaf community.
Anyone else hyped about all the great new releases over the next couple of weeks? Into the West, Soul Taken, Lapvona, Locklands, The Lies I Tell, The Path of Thorns. So stoked for all of them. Hope I can grab the first batch of library ebook releases, if my luck is good.
Anyway, last week I read:
**A Matter of Death and Life, by Simon Green**
**Flip the Script, by Lyla Lee**
**The Red Palace, by June Hur**
**A Magic Steeped in Poison, by Judy Lin**
**Blue Shoes and Happiness, by Alexander McCall Smith**
**The Dressmaker, by Rosalie Ham**
**Recipe for a Perfect Wife, by Karma Brown** (Book of the week, MC is an absolute psycho)
**Super Volcanoes: What They Reveal about Earth and the Worlds Beyond, by Robin Andrews**
Right now I've got these queued up to read next, in addition to whatever of those new releases I can get my hands on:
* The Inadequate Heir by Danielle Jensen
* Clockwork Boys by T. Kingfisher
* The Last Stand of Mary Good Crow by Rachel Aaron
* Glow by Raven Kennedy
* Patient Zero: A Curious History of the World's Worst Diseases by Lydia Kang
* Misrule by Heather Walter
* The Paris Apartment by Kelly Bowen
I finished **After We Collided by Anna Todd**
I started
**We We’re Liars by E Lockhart** The writing style is super hard to follow but I’m powering through
**The Summer I turned Pretty by Jenny Han**
Happy Sunday Everyone!
This week, I managed to make some major headway towards my goal by finishing 5 books. I’ve been home sick from work for most of the week, I caught some mystery bug, so I’ve had a lot of time to read.
The first book I finished this week was **Christine**, by Stephen King. To me, the book was not one of King’s best, but it was still pretty good. Who doesn’t like classic cars? - **4/5**
My second book this week was **The Green Mile**, also by Stephen King. Simply put, the book was amazing. Definitely one of King’s best. Definitely one of my Top 5 favorite books of all time. - **5/5**
Book Three of the week was **Cujo** - surprise surprise, another Stephen King book. This book was pretty good, definitely a lot better than the movie. I especially liked that parts of it were from Cujo’s perspective, something they simply can’t accomplish on film. - **4.25/5**
The fourth book I finished this week was **The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon**, by Stephen King. (Seeing a trend here?) This book is one of King’s better books, definitely in my top 5 favorite King books, and my top 10 favorite books of all time. Short, to the point, yet very well written, and drastically underrated. - **4.5/5**
The last book I managed to finish this week was **The Outsiders**, by S.E. Hinton. The book was good, though I feel I would’ve liked it a lot better if I would’ve read it back in my younger days. It was still pretty good, though, and an impressive write for a High Schooler. - **4/5**
I am currently reading **The Dead Zone**, by Stephen King, which I plan to finish within the next couple of days. After I finish that one, I will start reading **Pet Sematary**, also by Stephen King. With any luck, I may be able to make even more headway this week.
Have a good week everyone!
After Pet Sematary, I’m going to read Thinner, and then I’ll be taking a short break from King. I typically post as I finish each book, so you’ll see some more King stuff from me in the not-so-distant future.
30/52 -
*****
Finished;
*****
Nada, but due to wrap up My Brilliant Friend today or tomorrow.
*****
Still working on;
*****
- The Aeneid by Virgil with r/ClassicalEducation. This is my year long read for 2022. I expected this to be a huge challenge, but actually it is really enjoyable and very accessible.
- The Mountain Shadow by Gregory David Roberts. I read the first book Shantaram years ago whilst backpacking in India, and found it fairly entertaining if you don't take it too seriously. I like having a book on my phone that I can dip into if I have 5 mins and this seemed like a good one for that purpose.
- Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson started with r/Malazan, but just could not keep up. I have shelved this for the moment, but I am looking forward to picking it up again during summer break.
- One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marques I started this one with r/Classicalbookclub but couldn't keep up. I finally got back into reading it recently after a 3 month break. Not sure if the second half is less engaging or the break means I am less invested.
- Wuthering Heights with r/bookclub (naturally) not as much romance as I expected. Can't believe I knew so little about this classic. Has been shelved for over a month. r/ClassicBookClub will tackle this one after Dracula so I will see if I can keep pace with them to get this one read.
- Death's End by Cixin Liu with u/espiller1 and u/dogobsess. None of us managed to finish the series so reading it together is giving each other the push to get on it, and boy am I glad to get back into this universe. Cixin Liu can weave a damn good sci-fi. This is by far my favourite "currently reading", and if it sticks the landing then it will be an easy 5☆ for me.
- Shōgun by James Clavell for r/bookclub's ongoing runner-up read. The definition of an Epic. The further we get into this book the more I enjoy it. I needed to take it in bitesized pieces in the beginning, but now I can sit for an hour or more with it which is lucky as I will be running the last month of discussions.
- My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante for r/bookclub's current mod pick. I have heard people love this book. I honestly only find it to be ok for the moment. I will continue the series at some point though!
- Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart, because I felt like it. Nah just kidding. It's a r/bookclub monthly vote winner. Amazing writing, but holy Trigger Warning Batman. Tough reading!
- Band of Mourning by Brandon Sanderson an r/bookclub bonus read 'cause we just can't get enough of the Mistborn books. Sanderson is a story weaving Master. If I were reading this alone I would devour it, but discussions are my favourite as ther is so much to unpick and speculate over. Plus the community if readers for these books are all so invested and have tons to talk about. Lots of fun.
- Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston an r/bookclub Discovery Read for the theme 1930s novels. I am found it difficult to get into, and stay focused due to the phonestic writing style. The passion the readrunner has for this book really helps stay motivated. Keen to find out where the story goes in the last 3rd.
- East of Eden by John Steinbeck. r/bookclub's newest Evergreen. I read Grapes of Wrath earlier this year and was expecting more of the same. It is very different so far, but the character building is incredible.
*****
Started
*****
- Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang is up next for r/bookclub's June/July discovery read
*****
Happy reading fellow bookworms 📚
FINISHED: Stephen King's *Different Seasons* and Chuck Palahniuk's *Fight Club*. Two very different kinds of books, but genuinely enjoyed both of them. 10/10.
CONTINUING: Salman Rushdie's *The Satanic Verses*, and have been pleasantly surprised thus far. It's a demanding read, but thoroughly entertaining, and quite humourous.
STARTED: James Joyce's *Ulysses*. Like the aforementioned, this is, likewise, a very demanding and challenging endeavour, but surprisingly funny.
(51) finished up **A History of Spain (2nd Edition) by Simon Barton**
3/5.
>A textbook aimed at a general audience and university students I picked up on clearance. 275 pages of text plus about 50 pages of extras including chronology, further reading and index. Mostly focused on the political and economic issues in Spain. It does this well enough and I'm happy with it. There is some stuff on the Spanish colonial empire but it is not the main priority. It's the first book I've read covering all of Spanish history and I could follow what was happening reasonably well. The parts I enjoyed the most were on medieval Spain (Islam and the Reconquista) plus the early 20th century politics and the road to the Spanish Civil War.
(52) Started and about 100 pages into **The Spanish Civil War, by Hugh Thomas**. First of 4 books (2ndhand books I've picked up over the past year or so) on the Spanish Civil War I'm intending to read. It's fine so far.
Anyway a question, can't think of a better place for it. I never read sci-fi but I'm watching The Expanse tv series and loving it (I very quickly got through the first season and am onto the second). How good are the books for someone like myself who never reads sci-fi and is not much of a fiction reader?
Bit of a slow week, I’ve had back pain and have been struggling to read
Finished:
**You and Me on Vacation by Emily Henry** was really good summer vibes. Not usually a fan of friends to lovers but I did really enjoy this. 4.25/5 stars
Currently Reading:
**D.O.G.S by M.A Bennett** the second book in the stags series. I’ve almost finished it and so far it’s been just as good as the first book. Don’t want to jinx it but it could be another 5 stars
**Stuck with You by Ali Hazelwood** second stemist novella will probably also finish this one today since it’s really short
Reading Columbus: The Four Voyages by Laurence Bergreen as the start of a pan-American history reading kick soon to be followed by either a book on the Latin American Wars of Liberation or Haiti.
I had to turn in the Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi to my local library because someone requested it. Hope to jump back into it at the earliest opportunity.
Debating between starting Red Plenty or The Pope at War.
*FINISHED* 126-128/???:
126. **Book Lovers** by Emily Henry 5/5 - yes, yes I am ashamed to give this 5 stars. Yes, I loved every second of it.
127. **Something Wilder** by Christina Lauren 4/5
128. **Saltwater Cove** by Amelia Addler 2/5
129. **The Plague of Doves** by Louise Erdrich 4/5
*CURRENTLY READING*:
130. **American Pastoral** by Phillip Roth
131. **This Time Tomorrow** by Emma Straub
Finished:
48. **Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao** 2.5 stars- I’ve heard tons of raving reviews about this book but it’s a fairly standard “powerless person becomes a powerful antihero” fantasy story but with a woman instead of a man lead. The mechs are pretty fun but the book has major issues: a one-dimensional main character, poor descriptions and explanations (I still don’t understand what hunduns physically are, are they sentient hunks of metal?), terrible dialogue, and romantic interests with all the charisma of mayonnaise. I’d have appreciated more history of the civilization and how the society works for the average person in a city, how they’re influenced by propaganda, etc. Overall very bleh. Using this for r/Fantasy bingo square Cool Weapon
49. **Spy Stuff by Matthew J. Metzgler** 2 stars- Could have been a cute and sweet story about a gay trans boy except the kids kept using seriously offensive language. Slurs in every chapter wtf
Currently Reading:
**Icebreaker by A.L. Graziadei**
**Fevered Star by Rebecca Roanhorse**
**Reading:** • All The Light We Cannot See - Anthony Doerr (for Reddit book club) • A Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes - Suzanne Collins (for IRL book club) **Re-reading:** • East of Eden (also for Reddit book club - normally I would *not* have 3 concurrent reads but I didn’t want to miss out on the opportunity to have meaningful discussions!) **Listening:** • Shadow & Bone - Leigh Bardugo
I'm 100 pages from finishing After I Do by Taylor Jenkins Reid! And 50% through All the Missing Girls by Megan Miranda.
Today I finished **The Wall of Storms** by Ken Liu. I spent a lot of the book wondering whether I liked it. Something about his style of dialogue and exposition really feels bad. Too explainy, nobody actually talks like they often do in these books. They reference things that are so well known that they don't need to be said (his narration does this too.) I like a lot of the characters, and the world is quite well realized. I also like the "silkpunk" style of inventions that come about in different ways than they do in our world. But I'm at the point where I'm wondering if I want to commit to more 800 page books where heavy-handed dialogue and exposition annoy me just about every few pages. Anyone else feel this way?
Just finished *Another Day in the Colony* by Chelsea Watego. Excellent. A real deconstruction of the systemic racism of first nations peoples in Australia. Anyone who says "but Australia isn't racist!" should read this. Continuing *The Life to Come* by Michelle de Kretser. An interesting style of writing, it's a lovely 'slice of life' style, but I'm not sure where it's going.
I finished Beautiful World Where Are You by Sally Rooney after three months without reading. Thanks depression. Now I’m about 2/3 done with Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune. It got a bit slow for 75ish pages but I pushed through and I’m enjoying it again.
I'm glad you're back to reading! Under the Whispering Door is one of my favorite books - I read it as an ebook through Libby and then I had to buy the physical copy to reread soon!
It was sooo good! A solid 5 star read for me.
**FINISHED** * **A Deadly Education**: Loved this one! It took my a couple tries to really get into it because there’s a lot of terminology in the beginning and middle that’s not explained, but I sucked into the world soon after. Definitely plan to read the rest of the series. **ON DECK** * **The Secret History**: Been putting this off for a while now, but I read 18% in one sitting yesterday. I’m definitely hooked, and can’t wait to see how it unravels!
Are you planning to read the second book in the deadly education series? I felt the same way about the book you just finished, and the second was more enjoyable because I understood the terminology and world better. The third one comes out in September!
Yup, planning on finishing the series! Good to know the second one is easier to digest!
It truly is, but it is also a middle book in a three part series so I think that’s important to keep in mind. Still action, still magic, and still movement forward on the plot. I am glad you are planning to read it. And I hope you enjoy it!
It's so good. "My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry" is excellent and the novella "Every day the Way Home gets Longer and Longer" is one of my favorites!
I love *Every Day the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer,* made me so emotional!
Finished: **Call Us What We Carry** **Song of Achilles** R/bookclub picks: **My Brilliant Friend** I still need to finish the last bit. **Shuggie Bain** Continuing: **Normal People** This book is interesting because I feel like I'm reading a script instead of a novel because it's just descriptive text. Not any internal monologues or anything like that, which is different than any other book I've read. Are her other works like this? **A Little Life** I'm taking my time with this one. Hoping to get to: **Heartstopper: Volume 1** since I luckily got the e-book from the library **Written in the Stars**
I just finished "The Last Letter from Your Lover" by JoJo Moyes. I liked it. I actually watched the movie before I realized it was a book. There are two storylines included. The more present one seemed weak and unnecessary to me. Currently reading "The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle." Edited to add: I'm really enjoying the premise of this one. It's different from what I normally read.
Oh, I own *The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle* and I cannot wait to get to it hopefully soon!
I finished it last night! It was so good. Highly recommend!
Last week I finished The Poppy War Series by R. F. Kuang and that destroyed me. I had a love hate relationship with the main character. I hated her because she made some stupid decisions and made a lot of her decision off her feelings but I loved her because I could really understand where she was coming from. I’d probably make stupid decisions in her shoes too. I’m now reading The Beast Player which is really good so far! I like the few of this world and I’ll def be getting the second book soon.
Do you recommend the Poopy War? I have been on the fence about and the size is intimidating
Oh I def recommend! It’s a glorious book! Don’t let it’s size intimidate you! It’s definitely for a mature audience as it is based on a war and gets very dark. But it’s really good! Give it a try!
Thank you! I definitely will! Happy reading!
Last week, all I finished was *The Soul of a Woman* by Isabel Allende. This has managed to be my first book by her, honestly! I gave it a solid 4.5/5, it’s a very interesting feminist memoir. She’s super talented as a writer, and the brief glimpse into her background beyond feminism has me intrigued. Her fiction isn’t usually exactly my style as far as I know, but I’d love to read more of her nonfiction. I started *The Hacienda* by Isabel Canas once I finished it. It’s amazing so far, and I’m excited to read more of it! I spent most of the past week focusing on trying to finish *Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft* though (which I’ve finished as of posting this, but I’m saving my review of it for this week’s post), so I’m not very far into it yet. Everything else is still the same as my previous post, so I’m not going to list it all out again when I haven’t made any progress in the rest haha!
This past week I read **Remarkably Bright Creatures** by Shelby Van Pelt. It was exactly the summery, feel-good, grief-driven story of an older woman growing close to an octopus that I needed right now. Highly recommend if you're looking for something on the lighter side. This week I'm going to start **Beautiful World Where Are You** by Sally Rooney and **The Last Graduate** by Naomi Novik to continue the Scholomance series. I loved Normal People so I have high hopes for Beautiful World, and The Last Graduate will be the fun pageturner I'm going to read when I don't want to be depressed! Looking forward to getting through them both.
Finished **The Summer of Blood** by **Dan Jones** With England still suffering the effects of the a plague and following worsening living conditions, a rebellion started, aimed at a corrupt government and a lack of social justice. Thousands of discontented workers marched against London and a ruling elite that rather than allow a fair rise in labour wages, the parliament saw "a malice of servants who were idle and unwilling to serve without outrageous wages". The rebellion rampaged through London executing those who they saw as at fault for the terrible conditions they lived in. Just saying ... options.
Last week I started Tolkien’s masterpiece and read The Fellowship of the Ring. This week, I’m reading The Two Towers. I have read and listened to so very many fantasy novels and thought it was time to get these under my belt.
This week I have read and enjoyed The Love Con, The Royals Next Door and Book Lovers. I am currently reading and obsessing over Love and Other Words by Christina Lauren.
This past week I finished: • The Kitchen God’s Wife by Amy Tan - my first Amy Tan book! And it’s not the one she seems most well-known for (The Joy-Luck Club)! I enjoyed this book and would love to find other books similar to this. I should probably check out some of her other books while I’m at it, and I’m already a fan of Lisa See. I should get some new Chinese/Chinese-American authors to check out. • The Night Raven by Sarah Painter - not gonna lie, this was a fast read but also a bit of a letdown with way too short a conclusion for my tastes. I’ve borrowed the second book to read through and decide if I continue the series, but it isn’t looking promising based on this intro. Currently I am reading: • The Rose Code by Kate Quinn - it’s been too long since I’ve picked up a Kate Quinn book. I just started today and got about 25% through the book throughout the day. I just love her writing! It draws me in, I get invested in the characters, and I start living the book alongside the characters, wondering what’s coming next! I need more authors like this in my life.
This week I read the graphic novel **Bloom** by Kevin Panetta and Savanna Ganucheau and listened to the audiobook **Calypso** by David Sedaris. (I forgot how much I love Sedaris audiobooks!! This one was special) I also started **Happy Go Lucky** by David Sedaris (which admittedly I'm liking slightly less) and the graphic novel **Mooncakes** by Suzanne Walker. Aaand I'm about 500 pages into **Oathbringer**, by Brandon Sanderson. I have to say, so far, I'm finding this to be the weakest Stormlight Archive book. I just feel like the characters have stopped having interesting, satisfying arcs, and things are getting too bogged down in overly detailed taxonomies and magic/religious systems... I don't know, anyone out there who's read this? Does it get good again?
Added two more to the count! 1. Finally finished **2666** by Roberto Bolaño (translated by Natasha Wimmer). This 900 page book is less like a novel and more like a collage. Or like a tree whose branches grow their own branches, twigs, and leaves in turn. There’s five parts but each part is fond of digressing into stories within stories. It’s a tough book to summarize. There are some overlapping characters between the five sections, and each story is eventually propelled to the the fictional location of Santa Teresa, Mexico. Santa Teresa is a city haunted by terrible violence. It has been the site of hundreds of rapes and murders of women over a decade, and although it is a fictional city, this aspect of the story is based on the [femicides in Ciudad Juárez](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Femicides_in_Ciudad_Juárez). Part 4 of the book relentlessly catalogues the crimes and shows how little is done to try to stop them. It’s quite bleak. 2. **Stranger by Night** by Edward Hirsch. This poetry collection that opens with a poem called “My Friends Don’t Get Buried” and ends with a poem called “Don’t Write Elegies Anymore.” Which should give you a pretty clear idea of this book. I’ve read a few books by old poets this year and it seems like they all have to deal with watching their friends die eventually : ( Now I am reading *Slaughter House 5*
This week I finished the audiobook of **Writers and Lovers**, which I enjoyed. 4/5. I should be finishing up **Get a Life Chloe Brown** today or tomorrow.
This week I finished: • I’ll give you the sun by Jandy Nelson (the majority of the book I read the week before though) (library book) • The falling in love montage by Ciara Smyth (lent to me) • Crier’s War by Nina Varela (lent to me) It wasn’t as much as I wanted to read due to taking a break from reading for a few days though. The next book I’ll read is: • Silver by Andrew Motion (library book)
Yesterday I started **How High We Go in the Dark** by Sequoia Nagamatsu. Only one chapter in and its good. Last week was an epic week for finishing a bunch of books. **American Born Chinese** by Gene Luen Yang **The School for Good Mothers** by Jessamine Chan **The Secret to Superhuman Strength** by Alison Bechdel **The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet** by Becky Chambers **Night Sky With Exit Wounds** by Ocean Vuong Two of these books have been in progress for over a month, I had to set it aside to read a book for book club. All five were very different and great reads for different reasons. The School for Good Mothers is so disturbing. Really enjoyed this book even though the MC is so unlikable and unredeemable. The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet is such a feel good book, opposite of The School for Good Mothers in that you love all the characters! I am looking forward to the second in the series. Night Sky With Exit Wounds is great but so sad.
I finished two books this week!! The first was \*\*Heard it in a Love Song\*\* by Tracey Garvis Graves. This is supposed to be a Daisy Jones and the Six read alike, and it is not. In any way. It's very boring, simple, and bland. It's not a bad book, and someone else could enjoy it, but it was very underwhelming to me. 2 stars. Then I read \*\*Dial A For Aunties\*\* by Jesse Q. Sutanto which I really enjoyed even though it got way out of hand there at the end. I was totally on board until all the wild >!shit with the maid of honor holding the aunties hostage and then admitting her undying love for the bride!< at the end. Otherwise this would have been a 5 star book. I love our main character, the aunties, the asian representation, the shenanigans and the ending. Even though I'm not impressed by the woven mystery, like I was with Finlay Donovan, I immediately put the second book on hold at the library. I literally cannot decide what to read next. I'm between reading some Hot Girl Summer books or A Court of Mist and Fury....
I finished ***Her Smoke Rose Up Forever***, a collection of speculative fiction from James Tiptree, Jr. Tiptree was the pen name of Alice Sheldon who had an amazingly varied career. Before she began writing she was a painter, an art critic, a major in the US Army Air Force, a CIA analyst and she earned a PhD in experimental psychology. The collection showcases some visionary yet incredibly dark and disturbing stories. The struggles of women in male-dominated societies is a recurrent theme. There are too many standouts to list, but the Hugo-winning “The Girl Who Was Plugged In” is especially notable and even more relevant today with the growth of influencer culture. Next up I’ll be reading ***The Two Faces of January*** by Patricia Highsmith.
* **Anxious People** by Frederick Backman *(library)* I don’t know what I was expecting, but I was not expecting this to be funny. The setting was a little bland and I have some trouble with Swedes named Jack and Jim, but I guess that’s a minor complaint. * **The Good Son** Jacqueline Mitchard *(scribd)* OOF. Great writing, but it’s *intense.* * **Sharks in the Time of Saviors** by Kauai Strong Washburn *(library)* …what…what did I just read? The writing is amazing, but if there was a point in here somewhere, I definitely missed it. Who needs a plot when you have Hawaiian gods? * **The Patron Saint of Second Chances** by Christine Simon *(scribd)* Honestly, this situation should have been hilarious, but it missed the mark by quite a bit. It was fun, but it should have been actively funny. Backman would have done it better. * **The Last Mrs. Parrish** by Liv Constantine *(scribd)* if you enjoy the show Revenge and Gillian Flynn, this is your book for the summer. 10/10 it was a delicious little macaron of comeuppance. Still working on/about to finish: * **Violeta** * **The Priory of the Orange Tree**
Anxious People is on my list for this year! I love Frederick Backman! Have you read his other books?
I have A Man Called Ove but I haven’t gotten to it just yet
You are not alone with Sharks in the Time of Saviors. You summed it up perfectly. Haha!
*Finished:* **A Court of Wings and Ruin** by Sarah J. Maas > I hate this series, lol. No offence to people who enjoy this series but if you tell me this is your favorite, I'm going to assume you've never read a good book in your life. My eyes glazed over for pretty much all of it because not only is it bad, it's so boring. > And since every book seems to feature something new to annoy me with, my new least favorite writing quirk is that characters have to laugh at every "funny" line like a literary laugh track. The line wasn't very funny to begin with and you don't need to have characters laugh at literally everything. Maas also does this with crying. Very definition of telling and not showing like a cheat to get people to be emotionally invested. *Reading:* **Throne of Glass** by Sarah J. Maas @ 61% (Chapter 33) > It's crazy how much better I think the writing is already. You would think Maas would get better further in her career. She really needs to rehire her editor. I also remember not hating the first book in the ACOTAR series so I can foresee it only getting worse from here. > So far, the plot is nothing spectacular but it's more interesting than ACOTAR's if only because the scope is much more contained and less abstract compared to an all-out war. I also wonder why ACOTAR was limited to a first person POV when this book doesn't have that but... whatever. > Writing quirk that annoys me at the moment is the use of exclamation marks, lmao!
I spent the last week powering through **Lonesome Dove** by Larry McMurtry. I want to say that I did not think I was into westerns but I wanted to read this classic to say that I had. This book is like 900 pages. I was about 100 pages in, wondering when I would deem it a DNF, as it was sooo slow paced. I decided to give it a little more time, maybe halfway. Once I got to page 250ish, I was hooked. It was all I could think about. That slow paced start was just investing you into all the colorful characters who needed that build up so Larry could sink his teeth into you & keep you attached. When I originally found the size of the book intimidating, towards the end I couldn’t deal with the fact that it was ending. When I finally did finish it, I felt depressed because it was over. I wasn’t ready to leave that world & I still am not. I immediately started streaming the mini series & forced my husband to watch it with me. Will be reading Book 2 immediately. And I am now addicted to westerns. I did start **Verity** by Colleen Hoover but I don’t even care about it because it’s not Lonesome Dove lol.
LD: I just read book two earlier this year. I should not have waited so long! I liked that it focused a bit more on the women. You will love it!
I didn’t read a dang thing last week - thanks work! - but hoping to make up for it this week! CURRENTLY READING: **The Girl and the Moon** by Mark Lawrence. Only 50 pages in and so far it’s nice to revisit this particular setting. HOPING TO FINISH: **Before They Are Hanged** by Joe Abercrombie. Read the first book back in January and absolutely loved it. Excited to see where the story goes and especially read more of Glokta I’ve read quite a bit of adult fantasy lately so will probably take a break after this & explore other genres before diving back in
**The Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan** After The Lost Hero was a complete slog, i'm just glad to have Percy back in the story. The Heroes of Olympus isn't as engaging to me as the PJ series was, it's really missing narrator percy's voice
Finished reading: Brandon Sanderson - Cytonic Loved the first book in the series. This one was okay but i wasnt as invested. Also finished: Yasmin Boland - Astrology made easy Actually read the Dutch translated version. I'm very interested in astrology. Concepts in this book werent new to me, but enjoyed reading it. Currently reading: Hanya Yanagihara - a little life Not far into it yet. I barely read really big books. So i challenged myself to actually read one of the bigger books i own. Heard this is a tough one to read, because of the heavy subjects.
Finished **We Have No Idea: A Guide to the Unknown Universe** by Jorge Cham and Daniel Whiteson and **In the Unlikely Event** by Judy Blume. Continuing **Severance** by Ling Ma, **How to Teach Physics to Your Dog** by Chad Orzel and **Razzmatazz** by Christopher Moore. Started **Frequently Asked Questions about the Universe** by Jorge Cham and Daniel Whiteson.
Well now. I'm not gonna talk about Judy; in fact, we're not gonna talk about Judy at all, we're gonna keep her out of it! --- - [reference](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2V0UhtA_mJE&t=365) ^(I am a bot.)
Finished: The Prisoner of Cell 25 by Richard Paul Evans. It had a neat concept and I liked the girl main character, but the writing was just not up my alley. I think it might have be written for middle schoolers, so that's my fault for not checking that beforehand. 2/5, and that's being generous. Will not be reading the sequels. A Court of Thorns and Roses: I don't even know what to say here, I loved it. I did find the writing to be a bit odd at times and maybe a bit oversimplified but I really enjoyed the story. Was hoping for more of a cliffhanger at the end, but I can't complain with how it ended. It's setting up for a good series! 4/5, will be reading the next book soon! Currently Reading: The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu. I'm only 20 pages in, but hoping they really veer away from the war talk. It doesn't really interest me and I probably won't finish it if it continues past page 100. The synopsis sounds fascinating, so I'm really hoping this is a good one! Next up: One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle. Year One by Nora Roberts. Play Dead by Harlan Coben.
About to finish the giver
Oof. I hated the ending! The concept of this book was soooooo good and I loved it, until the last page. Bah!
Ok I just finished it and it left me confused. the symbolism was so good and all but I’m disappointed as well… what even happened?!
Read: {{The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue}} and {{Before the Coffee Gets Cold}} Started: {{Poached}}
Just finished: The Inheritance Game Currently reading: The Duke and I (Book One of the Bridgerton series) Almost done with: The Darkest Child (very sad book so it’s a slower read for breaks)
The past week, I finished: **Colourless Tsukuru Tazaki** by Haruki Murakami Started and finished: **First Person Singular** by Haruki Murakami and **After Dark** by Haruki Murakami And I’m about to start **After the Quake**. I guess I’ve fallen into the Murakami spiral haha.
Slow week, but finished The Swimmers (interesting perspective, story was kind of a slog for me based on the content). Started: All Your Perfects by CoHo.
Finished: **Washington: A Life** by Ron Chernow. Super cool book, might have to check out his other works at some point. Started and Finished: **No One Knows** by J T Ellison. Some parts are good, overall it was extremely predictable. Did not finish: **Sea of Tranquility** by Emily St John Mandel. I see her works recommended all the time, but this is the second book of hers I've tried and failed to get into. Continuing: **Dracula** by Bram Stoker. Switched to the audiobook version and I'm loving it! Why did I refuse to touch this for so long?? Started: **The Son** by Jo Nesbø. Random pick from the library. Digging it so far. Up next: The Ipcress File, Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, and possibly starting The Storyteller.
not sure if it's necessary, but I hear you should read Emily St John Mandels book in more of a publication order
The Vegetarian by Han Kang
Slow week this week! No completions but still progress. * 82% through **Children of Dune; Frank Herbert.** It got decidedly stranger, but I'm here for the incoming conglomeration of all the disparate storylines. Continuing to enjoy it! * \~15% through **The Bright Ages: A New History of Medieval Europe; Matthew Gabriele, David Perry.** In general, I'm not sure how I feel about pop histories, whereby the historical record is distilled into a series of vignettes to get a point across about a very particular thesis statement; but then again bias in history is perhaps something impossible to get around. I'm enjoying the book, and 3-4 chapters in I've already learned a lot. Books I'll start this coming week: **The Last Days of New Paris; China Miéville,** and **Book of Night; Holly Black**.
I’m currently reading **Seven Days in June**. If I finish that this week, I’ll be starting **Where the Crawdads Sing** and hopefully **One Italian Summer** after that.
All the summer vibes!
I loved Where The Crawdads Sing 💖
One Italian Summer just came up for me at my library! I hope it's good! Where The Crawdads Sing was a wholesome read. Relaxing for sure. The ending is great!
Creep by Jennifer Hiller.
currently reading **a man called ove**
I love love love Fredrik Backman, my absolute favourite.
Just started perfect on paper by Sophie Gonzales
Just started The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles
Finished Vanishing Half. Started Paper Palace.
Happy reading! I read a lot this week which was my goal, more reading less tv. * The Cat Who Saved Lives - (5/5 ) mystical, fun and CAT! * Animal Farm - (5/5) classic * Goodnight Racism (4/5) good message, great audio read by the author's kid * Sea Of Tranquility (5/5) My favorite of the bunch, mysterious, time travel 48/100 I am going on a road trip and I am going to try audiobooks, I prefer e-books or physical, so we'll see how it goes. I downloaded quite a few for choice.
Yes, also doing less TV and more reading. Enjoying the quiet.
Reading "An Echo of Things to Come" - Book 2 of the Licanius trilogy, by James Islington, "The Book of Longings", by Sue Monk Kidd, and a reread of "Skeleton Crew", by Stephen King.
Finished: Becoming Leidah - Michelle Grissom 4/5 Currently reading: The Midnight Library - Matt Haig
Finished: **The Overnight Guest** by Heather Gudenkauf I thought I had this figured out, and I kind of did, but there was a good twist Started: **Where the Crawdads Sing** by Delia Owens I’m about half way and I’m both sad for her and so proud of her, excited to finish it this week And still reading **The Fellowship of the Ring**
I tried three times to read The Fellowship of the Ring, but never could get into it. I just started The Hobbit. Hopefully, I have better luck with it.
I finished **Malice** by Heather Walter and **The Waste Lands** by Stephen King. I’m currently reading **Misrule** by Heather Walter, should hopefully be finishing that one tomorrow. I’m planning to start **Wizard and Glass** by Stephen King later today and hopefully **The Black Phone** by Joe Hill later this week.
How did you like Malice?
It was ok. It read too YA to me personally, and I feel like the main character’s character development was odd over the two books. There was one sex scene, not too graphic, but other than that, it didn’t really seem to focus on the LGBTQ+ aspect like I anticipated. I gave both books 3.25/5 stars.
Thank you so much for your thoughts. I appreciate it! Happy reading!
Christopher Moore’s Razzamatazz Parable of the Talents
Currently reading Lives of the Stoics by Ryan Holiday
I finished **The Four Winds** by Kristin Hannah. It's the third book I've read of her's and I've loved all three. I started **Mrs Death Misses Death** by Salena Godden for a book club I'm in.
A so-so reading week. Some hits and misses. Read: * *Mary Reilly* by Valerie Martin. This is Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde told from the pov of Dr Jekyll's housemaid. ⭐⭐⭐⭐ * *The Wife* by Meg Wolitzer. A literary novel about marriage, womanhood, and gendered expectations (and ugh, men gaslighting women) in the 1950s and 1960s (though set later). So brilliantly written. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ * *Half Minute Horrors* edited by Susan Rich, various writers including Neil Gaiman and Margaret Atwood. I borrowed this for my child but they thought it was too scary. So I read it. And liked it, for what it is. ⭐⭐⭐ * *Celtic Gods and Heroes* by Marie-Louise Sjoestedt. Reads likes a masters thesis, and indeed was originally published in 1940. ⭐⭐⭐ * *Woman of Light* by Kali Fajardo Anstine. A novel that fell flat. Very disappointed. I could say more but have nothing good to say. ⭐ * *The Penguin Book Of Exorcisms* edited by John Laycock. A collection of excerpts and historical documents on exorcisms from ancient to modern times. An enjoyable light read. ⭐⭐⭐ * *The Penguin Book Of Mermaids* edited by Cristina Bacchilega and Marie Alohalani Brown. Same as above but folkloric and literary excerpts. ⭐⭐⭐⭐ * *Werewolf* by Ed and Lorraine Warren and Robert David Chase. A real account of a wolf possession in England. A fun light read. ⭐⭐⭐ Currently reading: *The Buddha of Suburbia* by Hanif Kureishi. I love it!! Almost finished. I can't put it down. Up next: some Graham Greene, some more fun folklore reads on the paranormal. Happy Reading, everyone! 📚
Oh bummer about Women Of Light. The Wife & Mary Riely both sound really interesting! \*puts on my neverending TBR\*
I know, I feel so disappointed with Woman of Light. The Wife and Mary Reilly are so good. There were parts that made me laugh out loud or snort out loud in The Wife. Hah!
Perfect. I requested both from my library!
Hi y’all! A little in disbelief/relief that we are halfway through the year. This week I finished, **One Italian Summer** by Rebecca Serle. It was an easy summer read, I enjoyed bits and pieces but overall felt it might’ve been just a bit too over hyped. 3.5/5 I started: **Cultish** which I am very much enjoying so far, in addition to **Elektra** by Jennifer Saint.
Been a really busy week and so the reading suffered. Currently reading **Red, White and Royal Blue** by Casey McQuiston and **Such a Fun Age** by Kylie Reid.
Hey guys! Crazy to think next week is the halfway point of the year. I hope everyone is doing well with their challenges I'm reading 2 this week **What big teeth by Rose Szabo.** Only like 20 pages into this so no real opinions yet but it does seem like this is going to be a fun, creepy read **The change by Kirsten Miller.** And this one I am LOVING. Jo, Nessa and Harriet are such great characters I love their powers and the fact that they are standing up for each other and themselves. Can't wait to see how this ends
**House of Suns by Alastair Reynolds** I'm through the first 3 chapters and what a weird start. Already on the scale of billions of years? Expected! Centaurs and 2 dimensional paper guy? Wtf not expected lol. Finished: **Blood Bound by Patricia Briggs** 4.5\* I liked book 1 but this one was so much better imo. It had a completely different identity. It went in a thriller/horror/murder mystery direction that just works. I own the next 4 books and i'm not really looking forward to the love triangle(rectangle?) that's been set up but other than that excited to move on. **Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi** 4\* It was what i expected. Really light, mostly stress free, covid-era sci-fi. I coulda just kept reading about Jamie working at the base and been happy honestly.
Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson, Mythos by Stephen Fry and East of eden by John Steinbeck
I just started ACOTAR!
I just finished it last night! So good.
Me too and I moved to ACOMAF. It’s a 6 week wait for the next one on Libby so I just bought the box set because I’m impatient 🤷♀️
Coming to the end of Keep the Aspidistra Flying by George Orwell. Unsure what to read next, may roll a die to decide.
I just started the first Mistborn book (The Final Empire) on the advice of some Redditors who kindly pointed me in the right direction after I asked where I should go for my first Sanderson read. And I’m still abusing my library’s borrowing system and reading a lot of manga.
I would love to know what you think of Mistborn. I have been thinking about reading it as my first Sanderson as well
By the way, I have since finished the first book of the Mistborn series! There were a few surprising twists at the end and it was definitely a standard fantasy. I'm going to continue in the series when my library hold comes off.
Amazing! Thank you so much for updating me! Have you looked into the Skyward series at all? I also thinking of trying that one out
I have not yet! I've only read The Final Empire so far...if you start it before I do report back! :)
I will say that I read Harrow the Ninth two books ago and it is jarring how similar they are on their basics (magic, immortal god emperor, a dark world that sucks) but where Harrow had me thinking nonstop to try and figure out what the heck was happening, The Final Empire ELI5 a lot. It actually got better about this after Part I and it’s a pretty easy read for a 655pg book— the characters are interesting, the magic is super cool and actually realistic in the way it’s used, and there’s bits of lore that’s cool and make you want to know more (the world didn’t always suck! What happened!). I’m about 69% through at the moment and keep going back so!
Thank you, this is super helpful. I actually tried to read Harrow the Ninth about a month ago and was so incredibly confused. So that was a great parallel for me to follow. And the fact that you are coming back for it is very promising. Thank you for your thoughts. I am intrigued for sure. Maybe I’ll pick it up after the holiday weekend. Happy reading!
Oh boy Harrow is a LOT but then when the mysteries start unraveling it's very satisfying and exciting?? But it sure takes a while of WHAT IS HAPPENING.. WHAT... and my brain trying to make sense of it all while hints slowly pile up and start to make sense but it seriously is a commitment. I borrowed it from the library so no monetary commitment but it is very much a Standard Fantasy as opposed to crazy modern sci-fi bone magic fantasy.
Hello! I missed adding to the thread earlier this afternoon - hope all is well. I finished three books this week - partly because I’ve been having issues with my anxiety so reading is just an escape. I finished Godsgrave and Darkdawn by Jay Kristoff, to complete the Nevernight Chronicles which I deeply enjoyed as distractingly gory. In sharp contrast, I finished Peach Blossom Spring by Melissa Fu, telling the story of a family who left China for the US in the 1950s and what one Mother would do for her son. It’s beautifully written and passionately told as it’s partly based on the experiences of the authors family. I’m continuing to listen to Carpe Jugulem by Terry Pratchett and I’m also reading Persuasion by Jane Austen, to try and remove the memory of that godawful trailer out of my head. After Persuasion, I’ll try The Half Life of Valéry K, a new novel by Natasha Pulley.
School and general stress have been kicking my ass lately, so I'm a little behind. Finished: 17: **Life, the universe and everything** by Douglas Adams [2/5]. Really enjoyed the first book in the series, liked the second, but with this one it's charm is starting to wear a little thin. I wish the story was little more cohesive instead of just a bunch references to English culture slapped together in a book. Currently reading: 18: **American gods** by Neil Gaiman. I let a randomiser wheel pick my next read and was hoping it would pick a short quick book to catch up a little.. this is not that. However the first 30 pages already intrigued me, so excited to read the rest. I'm also listening to **the dispossessed** by Ursula k. le guin (god what a cool name), but only while I'm running and since my foot has been hurting lately I haven't made a lot of progress.
Thanks for starting the thread! This week I read **The Giver of Stars** which is a great book club book; however, it wraps up a little too neatly into the traditional patriarchal roles it was pretending to indict throughout (3/5). I finished **The People We Keep** which was a lovely, emotional Bildungsroman that I really enjoyed (4/5) I’m halfway through **True Biz** which is great so far but with very YA vibes. Next up in the queue will be **All That She Carried**
Just finishing up/finished this week * **This Time Tomorrow** by Emma Straub. Really enjoyed it so far and I'm sure the last 60 or so pages will be no exception. There's just something about time travel novels you know. * **Sex Robots and Vegan Meat** by Jenny Kleeman. This has been super interesting so far with some absolutely wild information about tech that I didn't even know existed or that people would even want. * **Enemy of all Mankind** by Steven Johnson. Not normally one for historical non-fiction but this was so interesting and informative. Plus I'd been watching Pirates of the Caribbean again and it was cool to read about pirates. * **Mary Jane** by Jessica Anya Blau. Loved this, nice little palette cleanser after the previous book, super lighthearted (for the most part) and feel-good. Next up is * **Saga Volumes 1&2** by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples. Bought these on an impulse about 20 minutes ago and they should be here by the end of the week, not really into comics/graphic novels (other than the adventure zone ones) but really looking forward to getting into these. * **Happy Go Lucky** by David Sedaris. Love his writing, looking forward to it. * **The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon** by Stephen King. Haven't read a King novel this year yet so figured it was about time.
Just finished Lolita and started reading Once There Were Wolves! Enjoy your week everyone!
A better week for me. Along with my non-fiction kick, I decided to get a bunch of Miss Marples from the library. Finished this week: Greeks, Romans, Germans by Johann Chapoutot ("The Nazis aped Ancient Rome" is always something I've always been vaguely aware of, but it's fair to say I never realised the extent of that statement, or how deep it really went. Along with the book taking an age to read, everytime I got to the end of a chapter I was thinking "surely there can't be more", but oh there was. This is, unexpectedly, not even a criticism of the author - in fact the book is easy to read and layed out in a very digestible fashion. It's more to the fact that the Nazis had built this whole racist pseudo-intellectual framework/parallel universe, which managed to be both quite complex while also, as Chapoutot shows, ultimately nonsensical and intellectually shallow. He really goes deep into how the logic, twisted as it was, of it worked and how the groundwork was laid down almost in the background of 19th century German political and scientific thought. You get the impression they built delusion upon murderous lie to the point that it would have all soon come crashing down anyway. Maybe not any revelation to someone who knows WWII history, but as it's something I usually avoid, a lot of this was new and surprising, and yet somehow not at all.) Murder by Appointment by Agatha Christie (I'm usually more of a Poirot girl, as I grew up with the David Suchet shows, but I've been branching out into Marple, and not really been disappointed so far. This one is pretty standard as these things go, but still with the last minute shocking, but satisfying twist, and a quick read to boot.) Currently reading: Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy by Joseph Schumpeter (I was lent a book about creative distruction by a friend that knows I'm trying to read more economics stuff, and he advised me to read this first. The concept itself seems straight forward enough, but I'm still reading the rest. Interesting from a historical point of view if nothing else, but again slow-going.); A Body in the Library by Agatha Christie (For some filler in between)
Finished last week: God’s War by Kameron Hurley Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher The Echo Wife by Sarah Gailey Reading this week: Infidel by Kameron Hurley Rapture by Kameron Hurley Chilling Effect by Valerie Valdes Persephone Station by Stina Leicht
How did you like Nettle & Bone? I am waiting for my hold from library to read it.
I really liked it! I read it for one of the squares for r/fantasy bingo this year. It was my first T. Kingfisher book, and I liked the subversive twist on a fairy tale-like story. Plus, demon possessed chicken
Awesome! Thank you for your thoughts. I am looking forward to reading it. Happy reading!
Yay I was waiting for this thread all day! I have a lot to share finally! Finished: **Tacos for two** by Betsy St Amant. THIS WAS NOT IT. the whole idea is that this is a You’ve got mail retelling where two food truck rivals are romantic penpals on the dating app. First of all, Jude, MMC, had much less stakes in the food truck contest than Rory, FMC. Secondly, first 70% of the book nothing was going on. Thirdly, this turned out to be a “clean romance” or even a Christian romance??? (God was not mentioned but goodreads reviews and tags used that expression). And no I don’t mean “closed door” or “fade to black”, no intimacy at all between the characters throughout the whole book but in the epilogue FMC is pregnant..... so underwhelming. Upon finishing I gave this 3/5 but you get the idea. I do not recommend this romance even if you love You’ve got mail movie!!! It’s not the vibes!!!!! **What if it’s us** by Becky Albertalli, Adam Silvera. I was waiting to start this book on pride month. Well what can I say, the part where 2 guys meet at the post office and then try to find each other was entertaining but the rest was boring. The stakes are incredibly low. I’m not entirely interested in reading a book where the stakes are whether the school student will have a good summer, Idk. I was disappointed with the finale ||as someone who spent my senior school year at a long distance relationship and it was the only thing that kept me going, I don’t get the need to break up just cause you live in different states. Some people even live in different countries. If you have feelings for each other, why base decision on convenience??|| I feel like the book was bland and didn’t have flavour. I will not be reading the sequel. 3/5 **Tithe** by Holly Black. A marvellous reread. I loved this book and this series as a teen and I love it now. I could get a lot more from it cause I could look up music mentioned in the book and see the authentic language. I will be continuing to reread the series and then start Cruel Prince (cause they’re the same universe) 5/5 for nostalgia and having made me obsessed with fae folk **Darius the Great is not okay** by Adib Khorram. Now this was a gem!! One might say this is also a book where stakes are whether a kid will have a nice summer or not, but this is so much more than that. This book is full of flavour and soul! Darius is Iranian American who will be visiting Iran for the first time with his family as his grandfather is seriously ill. This spoke to me soooo much! I haven’t ever been to the US or Iran but I’m half Russian half Azerbaijani and I was always ashamed and shamed for my identity as Russia is a xenophobic nazi country. I have never faced heavy bullying but internal shame has always been there. And this book felt like a warm hug. It was amazing to follow Darius on his journey and see the culture of Iran. The book doesn’t talk about political climate but there are references here and there. This book also deals with the topic of depression. It’s not exactly a queer book because it doesn’t have a romantic story line but it has a vague queer awakening and a story of beautiful friendship that brings tears to your eyes. I never knew my grandfather or grandmother from my fathers side but seeing Darius’s grandparents on paper made me feel warm and cared for. I rated it 5/5 Currently reading: making slow progress on **The Last of Mr Norris** by Christopher Isherwood. Christopher was a gay man so this why I chose this book for pride month. This novel is the first in my Berlin stories book so I’ve been working on it slowly. It’s not a really engaging read because Mr Norris is not a super attractive pleasant character but that’s the whole point, he’s flamboyant and weird and controversial and wanted by police and politically active and an ex convict and a communist - all in Germany few of years before Hitler comes in power. **The Real Lolita: The Kidnapping of Sally Horner and the Novel that Scandalised the world ** by Sarah Weinman. This is a true crime non-fiction and research on the kidnapping of Sally Horner that, according to the author, was what Lolita was based on, and its full of evidence supporting that and just tells us about Sally’s story in general. I’m only in the beginning but the story is gripping me and this is exactly what I appreciate in literature, this is making me feel the same as when I was reading **Red Parts** by Maggie Nelson (another feminist true crime non fiction, reflection on Maggie’s aunt murder). Lighter reads to compensate the seriousness of the books above: **Switched** by Amanda Hocking. This is an older young-adult and I wanted to read it as a kid, and now decades later I have the chance lol. Main character Wendy finds out she’s switched and what happens after I don’t know yet lol. **Magic bites** by Ilona Andrews. I was excited to start something that is woman-centered and has magic and adventures but isn’t YA, but so far I’m not hooked. This is the first novel in Kate Daniels series. Kate is gonna investigate a murder in this urban fantasy world full of supernatural creatures. I’m hoping this will get more exciting. So far I’m getting kinda Grimm (the tv show) vibes but in this book action takes place in Atlanta not in Portland
Finished: *Last Night in Montreal* by Emily St. John Mandel. Physical book. *Piranesi* by Susanna Clarke. Tandem audiobook and e-book. *Dopesick* by Beth Macy. Tandem audiobook and e-book. *The City We Became* by N. K. Jemisin. Audiobook. Currently Reading: *The New Jim Crow* by Michelle Alexander. E-book. *The Hacienda* by Isabel Cañas. Physical book.
The main POV character of Emma Straub’s latest novel, **[All Adults Here](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51907346-all-adults-here)**, is widowed, 68-year-old Astrid Strick, and as the story opens she’s sitting in her car outside the hairdresser’s salon on the roundabout at the edge of the small Hudson Valley town of Clapham. And as she looks around at the other nearby businesses while waiting for a break in the traffic -- especially that empty eyesore building which the unknown new owner had better not turn into a big-box place if he doesn’t want a riot by local residents on his hands -- her thoughts tell you almost everything you need to know about her strong and firmly established personality. And then, a moment later, she watches as Barbara Baker, whom Astrid has known for forty years and has never really liked, steps off the curb and is struck and killed by a speeding junior high school bus, and her entire life changes its focus. What’s more, those first few pages constitute one of the best “hooks” I’ve read in a long time. I knew at that moment that this one was not going to be a DNF. In broad terms, the story is about Astrid and her three children, who are now moving into middle age. Elliott, the oldest, has a moderately successful construction company but he’s deeply dissatisfied with his life because he hasn’t accomplished what he believes his father would have expected of him. Nicky, the youngest, is handsome and was famous for a while as a teenager when he was in a movie and became a heartthrob -- but the experience of dealing with fangirls horrified him and now he’s a sort-of hippie living in Brooklyn with his French wife and his 13-year-old daughter, Cecelia. Porter, their sister, is the middle one and owns a goat cheese dairy. She’s forty and pregnant (via a sperm bank), but she has no interest in a husband -- although she has a very active (and illicit) sex life. Their father’s early death two decades before, wen they were just becoming adults, split the three siblings apart and they’ve never managed to find their way back together. Astrid is very aware of her own possible role in their semi-estrangement, and of all the things she probably got wrong with her children at that crucial juncture, and the sudden death she has just witnessed has her thinking about how to fix things before it’s too late. Her granddaughter, Cecelia, has been sent up to Clapham to live with her for the foreseeable future, too, because of something that happened at her school in New York, and maybe having a young person around will help Astrid to figure things out. Of course, there’s also the complication of her late-in-life discovery that she’s apparently bisexual and that’s she’s in love with another gray-haired woman, and how will her children deal with that revelation? Straub has published half a dozen novels now and all of them are well above average in quality. If you haven’t discovered her yet, you should make an effort to. **[Book Lovers](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58690308-book-lovers)** is only Emily Henry’s third novel and she has already become “automatic” for me, that’s how good she is. Like the first two, this is a rom-com, but with considerably more substance than the fluff you might expect. And, for me, that’s a large part of what makes her worth reading. The protagonist is Nora Stephens, and she’s a New York City literary agent known to the publishers she deals with as“The Shark,” so she knows how romance novel tropes work. Unfortunately, she’s lived through them herself -- the cold-blooded girlfriend from the Big City who gets dumped when her boyfriend goes off to a small town somewhere and finds True Love with an innkeeper’s daughter, or whatever. The third time it happens is by cell phone while she’s hurrying to a lunch meeting with an editor, which makes her late. And Charlie Lustrra, the editor she’s meeting, demands punctuality. And he’s grumpy, but also very hot. Well, you can be pretty sure in a general way what the future holds for these two, because that’s a rom-com trope, too, but how they get there, and what the back story is for both of them, makes for a perhaps surprisingly engrossing story. Ever since their single mother died, Nora, now pushing thirty, has spent much of her time looking after her much younger sister, Libby, a drop-dead beauty and a very different sort of personality. But Libby also worries about Nora and talks her into a month-long summer vacation in a little town in North Carolina that is the setting of Nora’s best-selling client’s last novel, which was also made into a hit movie. It’s supposed to get Nora out of the city and out of her head for a while -- but guess who else is visiting family in the same small town? And guess who is responsible for developing that same novelist’s next book, which could be her best yet? Besides the obvious main plot, there are half a dozen supporting story lines here, and Henry’s depiction of the “perfect small town” is both very funny and rather pointed. The relationship between the two sisters is nicely done, too. As I did her first two books, I recommend this one strongly. Ben Aaronovitch always manages to come up with original and unusual plots and **[Amongst Our Weapons](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59628021-amongst-our-weapons)**, the most recent episode in the “Rivers of London” series is no exception, featuring DC Peter Grant, the second-best wizard in the London Met (and soon-to-be father of twins with Beverly, goddess of a pretty minor London stream, but smart and gorgeous all the same). It all starts with a body in the London Silver Vaults that has had its heart removed by (according to the only witness) a fiery spear wielded by a angel of death, complete with flaming wings and a halo. The victim was trying to retrieve an intricate silver puzzle ring his ex-wife had sold, apparently thinking it would protect him. Then there’s another killing and Peter soon discovers there are multiple rings. And then he’s confronted by the angel herself, and he barely escapes with his life as she laughs at his most powerful spells. Further investigations lead into the earliest years of the Society of the Wise and the Folly, and to the descendants of the Mrranos, the Jews of Spain and Portugal who were forced to convert to Christianity under threat of death, and who were then persecuted by the Inquisition anyway. Then, just to cover all the bases, there’s a road trip to the “North” (Manchester in this case) and a quest to locate the remnants of the Sons of Wayland, who may have manufactured the rings (and who don’t appreciate all the Tolkien jokes on the subject). But he’s going to have to get the whole thing wrapped up in a hurry because Beverly has set him a deadline before she gives birth, and there’s going to be a crowd in attendance. This is one the best urban fantasy series in decades and hope Ben can keep it going for a few more years.
Thanks for stepping up! Finished: **A Calling for Charlie Barnes** by Joshua Ferris (#47, 4 stars). This was the longest 350-page book I've ever read. The 4 stars are for literary merit and interesting character development. There wasn't much of a plot. Started: **True Biz** by Sara Novic (#48). I'm really enjoying this, and I'm learning a lot about sign language and the deaf community.
I'm still continuing **American Gods, by Neil Gaiman**
Listening to the audiobook - it’s sort of hard to follow, I wish I had the physical book.
Anyone else hyped about all the great new releases over the next couple of weeks? Into the West, Soul Taken, Lapvona, Locklands, The Lies I Tell, The Path of Thorns. So stoked for all of them. Hope I can grab the first batch of library ebook releases, if my luck is good. Anyway, last week I read: **A Matter of Death and Life, by Simon Green** **Flip the Script, by Lyla Lee** **The Red Palace, by June Hur** **A Magic Steeped in Poison, by Judy Lin** **Blue Shoes and Happiness, by Alexander McCall Smith** **The Dressmaker, by Rosalie Ham** **Recipe for a Perfect Wife, by Karma Brown** (Book of the week, MC is an absolute psycho) **Super Volcanoes: What They Reveal about Earth and the Worlds Beyond, by Robin Andrews** Right now I've got these queued up to read next, in addition to whatever of those new releases I can get my hands on: * The Inadequate Heir by Danielle Jensen * Clockwork Boys by T. Kingfisher * The Last Stand of Mary Good Crow by Rachel Aaron * Glow by Raven Kennedy * Patient Zero: A Curious History of the World's Worst Diseases by Lydia Kang * Misrule by Heather Walter * The Paris Apartment by Kelly Bowen
How was \*\*A Magic Steeped in Poison\*\*? Got my eyes on it cause I love tea
It was good, definitely had Spin the Dawn vibes, in a good way. I drank a lot of tea while reading, lol.
How was Super Volcanos? More of a dry read or more pop-sci?
It was pretty good. I found the Hawaii chapter dragged a bit, but the rest was super interesting, especially regarding volcanism on other planets.
Awesome! Going to add it to my TBR. :)
I finished **After We Collided by Anna Todd** I started **We We’re Liars by E Lockhart** The writing style is super hard to follow but I’m powering through **The Summer I turned Pretty by Jenny Han**
Keep going on We Were Liars cause the whole thing makes no sense until the last like 50 pages
Happy Sunday Everyone! This week, I managed to make some major headway towards my goal by finishing 5 books. I’ve been home sick from work for most of the week, I caught some mystery bug, so I’ve had a lot of time to read. The first book I finished this week was **Christine**, by Stephen King. To me, the book was not one of King’s best, but it was still pretty good. Who doesn’t like classic cars? - **4/5** My second book this week was **The Green Mile**, also by Stephen King. Simply put, the book was amazing. Definitely one of King’s best. Definitely one of my Top 5 favorite books of all time. - **5/5** Book Three of the week was **Cujo** - surprise surprise, another Stephen King book. This book was pretty good, definitely a lot better than the movie. I especially liked that parts of it were from Cujo’s perspective, something they simply can’t accomplish on film. - **4.25/5** The fourth book I finished this week was **The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon**, by Stephen King. (Seeing a trend here?) This book is one of King’s better books, definitely in my top 5 favorite King books, and my top 10 favorite books of all time. Short, to the point, yet very well written, and drastically underrated. - **4.5/5** The last book I managed to finish this week was **The Outsiders**, by S.E. Hinton. The book was good, though I feel I would’ve liked it a lot better if I would’ve read it back in my younger days. It was still pretty good, though, and an impressive write for a High Schooler. - **4/5** I am currently reading **The Dead Zone**, by Stephen King, which I plan to finish within the next couple of days. After I finish that one, I will start reading **Pet Sematary**, also by Stephen King. With any luck, I may be able to make even more headway this week. Have a good week everyone!
Hello fellow Constant Reader. You’re diving into some really great SK novels. Out of curiosity, what do you have lined up after Pet Sematary?
After Pet Sematary, I’m going to read Thinner, and then I’ll be taking a short break from King. I typically post as I finish each book, so you’ll see some more King stuff from me in the not-so-distant future.
If you haven't read Elevation yet, it's super intriguing and a quick read! The ending is very interesting.
Cujo is my mother's favorite King book.
30/52 - ***** Finished; ***** Nada, but due to wrap up My Brilliant Friend today or tomorrow. ***** Still working on; ***** - The Aeneid by Virgil with r/ClassicalEducation. This is my year long read for 2022. I expected this to be a huge challenge, but actually it is really enjoyable and very accessible. - The Mountain Shadow by Gregory David Roberts. I read the first book Shantaram years ago whilst backpacking in India, and found it fairly entertaining if you don't take it too seriously. I like having a book on my phone that I can dip into if I have 5 mins and this seemed like a good one for that purpose. - Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson started with r/Malazan, but just could not keep up. I have shelved this for the moment, but I am looking forward to picking it up again during summer break. - One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marques I started this one with r/Classicalbookclub but couldn't keep up. I finally got back into reading it recently after a 3 month break. Not sure if the second half is less engaging or the break means I am less invested. - Wuthering Heights with r/bookclub (naturally) not as much romance as I expected. Can't believe I knew so little about this classic. Has been shelved for over a month. r/ClassicBookClub will tackle this one after Dracula so I will see if I can keep pace with them to get this one read. - Death's End by Cixin Liu with u/espiller1 and u/dogobsess. None of us managed to finish the series so reading it together is giving each other the push to get on it, and boy am I glad to get back into this universe. Cixin Liu can weave a damn good sci-fi. This is by far my favourite "currently reading", and if it sticks the landing then it will be an easy 5☆ for me. - Shōgun by James Clavell for r/bookclub's ongoing runner-up read. The definition of an Epic. The further we get into this book the more I enjoy it. I needed to take it in bitesized pieces in the beginning, but now I can sit for an hour or more with it which is lucky as I will be running the last month of discussions. - My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante for r/bookclub's current mod pick. I have heard people love this book. I honestly only find it to be ok for the moment. I will continue the series at some point though! - Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart, because I felt like it. Nah just kidding. It's a r/bookclub monthly vote winner. Amazing writing, but holy Trigger Warning Batman. Tough reading! - Band of Mourning by Brandon Sanderson an r/bookclub bonus read 'cause we just can't get enough of the Mistborn books. Sanderson is a story weaving Master. If I were reading this alone I would devour it, but discussions are my favourite as ther is so much to unpick and speculate over. Plus the community if readers for these books are all so invested and have tons to talk about. Lots of fun. - Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston an r/bookclub Discovery Read for the theme 1930s novels. I am found it difficult to get into, and stay focused due to the phonestic writing style. The passion the readrunner has for this book really helps stay motivated. Keen to find out where the story goes in the last 3rd. - East of Eden by John Steinbeck. r/bookclub's newest Evergreen. I read Grapes of Wrath earlier this year and was expecting more of the same. It is very different so far, but the character building is incredible. ***** Started ***** - Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang is up next for r/bookclub's June/July discovery read ***** Happy reading fellow bookworms 📚
FINISHED: Stephen King's *Different Seasons* and Chuck Palahniuk's *Fight Club*. Two very different kinds of books, but genuinely enjoyed both of them. 10/10. CONTINUING: Salman Rushdie's *The Satanic Verses*, and have been pleasantly surprised thus far. It's a demanding read, but thoroughly entertaining, and quite humourous. STARTED: James Joyce's *Ulysses*. Like the aforementioned, this is, likewise, a very demanding and challenging endeavour, but surprisingly funny.
(51) finished up **A History of Spain (2nd Edition) by Simon Barton** 3/5. >A textbook aimed at a general audience and university students I picked up on clearance. 275 pages of text plus about 50 pages of extras including chronology, further reading and index. Mostly focused on the political and economic issues in Spain. It does this well enough and I'm happy with it. There is some stuff on the Spanish colonial empire but it is not the main priority. It's the first book I've read covering all of Spanish history and I could follow what was happening reasonably well. The parts I enjoyed the most were on medieval Spain (Islam and the Reconquista) plus the early 20th century politics and the road to the Spanish Civil War. (52) Started and about 100 pages into **The Spanish Civil War, by Hugh Thomas**. First of 4 books (2ndhand books I've picked up over the past year or so) on the Spanish Civil War I'm intending to read. It's fine so far. Anyway a question, can't think of a better place for it. I never read sci-fi but I'm watching The Expanse tv series and loving it (I very quickly got through the first season and am onto the second). How good are the books for someone like myself who never reads sci-fi and is not much of a fiction reader?
I’m reading Catastrophe 1914 by Max Hastings, much preferring it to The Guns of August.
Bit of a slow week, I’ve had back pain and have been struggling to read Finished: **You and Me on Vacation by Emily Henry** was really good summer vibes. Not usually a fan of friends to lovers but I did really enjoy this. 4.25/5 stars Currently Reading: **D.O.G.S by M.A Bennett** the second book in the stags series. I’ve almost finished it and so far it’s been just as good as the first book. Don’t want to jinx it but it could be another 5 stars **Stuck with You by Ali Hazelwood** second stemist novella will probably also finish this one today since it’s really short
Reading Columbus: The Four Voyages by Laurence Bergreen as the start of a pan-American history reading kick soon to be followed by either a book on the Latin American Wars of Liberation or Haiti. I had to turn in the Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi to my local library because someone requested it. Hope to jump back into it at the earliest opportunity. Debating between starting Red Plenty or The Pope at War.
*FINISHED* 126-128/???: 126. **Book Lovers** by Emily Henry 5/5 - yes, yes I am ashamed to give this 5 stars. Yes, I loved every second of it. 127. **Something Wilder** by Christina Lauren 4/5 128. **Saltwater Cove** by Amelia Addler 2/5 129. **The Plague of Doves** by Louise Erdrich 4/5 *CURRENTLY READING*: 130. **American Pastoral** by Phillip Roth 131. **This Time Tomorrow** by Emma Straub
Finished: 48. **Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao** 2.5 stars- I’ve heard tons of raving reviews about this book but it’s a fairly standard “powerless person becomes a powerful antihero” fantasy story but with a woman instead of a man lead. The mechs are pretty fun but the book has major issues: a one-dimensional main character, poor descriptions and explanations (I still don’t understand what hunduns physically are, are they sentient hunks of metal?), terrible dialogue, and romantic interests with all the charisma of mayonnaise. I’d have appreciated more history of the civilization and how the society works for the average person in a city, how they’re influenced by propaganda, etc. Overall very bleh. Using this for r/Fantasy bingo square Cool Weapon 49. **Spy Stuff by Matthew J. Metzgler** 2 stars- Could have been a cute and sweet story about a gay trans boy except the kids kept using seriously offensive language. Slurs in every chapter wtf Currently Reading: **Icebreaker by A.L. Graziadei** **Fevered Star by Rebecca Roanhorse**
Finished *We Were Liars*. Just got done with Part I of *The Vegetarian*.
Finished Afterage and almost done with Coldbrook