The History Book Club discussion

11. by Alice Oseman
Finish date: May 3, 2022
Genre: Graphic Novel
Rating: A+
Review: I of course had to read this after watching the Netflix show. This series is quite possibly the cutest thing I have ever read/seen.

Very interesting books, Ragan.

12. by Alice Oseman
Finish date: May 16, 2022
Genre: Young Adult
Rating: B+
Review: Alice Oseman is quickly becoming one of my favorite YA authors. She captures the mindset of teens (especially LGBTQ) teens so artfully and there are always characters in her books that remind me of what I was like as a teen. I wish her books had been around when I was in high school. Though this is my least favorite novel of hers that I have read thus far, it was still really enjoyable.

13. by Meg Mason
Finish date: May 19, 2022
Genre: Literary Fiction, Contemporary
Rating: A
Review: WOW. I needed this book right now. I have been in a pretty bad place mentally and have been wanting to read nothing but books about other women dealing with similar issues. Contemporary fiction is not typically my go to genre, but this was wonderful. It was funny, well-written, heart wrenching at times, and just everything I needed. Trigger warnings for suicide and loss of a child.

Great progress, Ragan. This is in the vein of nitpicking but it appears that for some time we have all missed that you have Finished Date instead of the correct Finish date. So as you have time, beginning with post #35 please just delete the "-ed" from all of your books. Again, I am sorry that we have all missed it. Thank you so much.

Lorna wrote: "Great progress, Ragan. This is in the vein of nitpicking but it appears that for some time we have all missed that you have Finished Date instead of the correct Finish date. So as you have time, be..."

Will do!

JUNE 2022

14. by Madeline Miller
Finish date: June 6, 2022
Genre: Fiction, Retelling
Rating: A+
Review: This is one of my all time favorite books. I hadn't read it in awhile and have been in a bit of a reading slump, so I decided to pick it up again. Miller's writing is absolutely beautiful. This book is just so so good.

Thank you, Ragan.

15. by Ruth Ware
Finish date: June 27, 2022
Genre: Mystery
Rating: D
Review: This was my book club's June selection. I wasn't expecting this to be for me when I picked it up and I was right. I was pretty bored for most of this and I felt like there were a lot of loose ends and things that didn't quite make sense when I finished the book.

JULY 2022

16. by Eireann Corrigan
Finish date: July 20, 2022
Genre: Poetry, Memoir
Rating: C
Review: This was a really interesting approach to a memoir and was beautifully written. At times it was difficult to read because of the subject matter and there are definitely trigger warnings for trauma, eating disorder, and suicide.

Thank you, Ragan for the succinct review. And I really appreciate your warnings about trauma, suicide, and eating disorders. It’s always unsettling to read into those difficult topics when you’re not prepared to encounter them! My obese TBR List thanks you, as do I.
Regards,
Andrea

17. by Julia Armfield
Finish date: July 27, 2022
Genre: Horror?
Rating: A
Review: This was such a weird little book. I am not even entirely sure what genre to put this in; it could be horror, science fiction, literary fiction, or maybe even something else. Regardless, I was completely engrossed from page one. I love a book with an unreliable narrator and the two narrators of this novel, Miri and Leah, would definitely fall in to this category. After finishing this I still have so many questions. I know I will think about this book for a long time to come.

18. by Nina LaCour
Finish date: July 30, 2022
Genre: Romance
Rating: C
Review: I listened to this on audiobook and enjoyed the narration. The story was okay, but not as engaging as I had hoped. I think this had less to do with the writing and more to do with me; this just wasn't necessarily for me.

AUGUST

19. by Tana French
Finish date: August 27, 2022
Genre: Mystery
Rating: C
Review: I enjoy this series, but didn't like this book quite as much as the previous. I guessed who the perpetrator was very early on and the reasoning seemed kind of silly. Even so, I enjoy Tana French's writing and will continue the series.

SEPTEMBER

20. by Alice Oseman
Finish date: September 8, 2022
Genre: Graphic Novel
Rating: A
Review: I love Alice Oseman's work and this series is delightful. Looking forward to picking up volume 3.

21. by Beverly Jenkins
Finish date: September 28, 2022
Genre: Historical Romance
Rating: C
Review: This was my least favorite Jenkins novel I have read so far. Most of that, I think, was due to the edition that I had. There were a lot of editing issues and really obvious grammatical issues that were really distracting and took me out of the story. The ending was also very anticlimactic. Regardless, I liked the heroine and felt that the story line had some interesting elements.

OCTOBER

22. by Alice Oseman
Finish date: October 3, 2022
Genre: Graphic Novel
Rating: A+
Review: Love this series of graphic novels. They are so sweet and heartwarming. Looking forward to picking up the next one.

23. by Helen Hoang
Finish date: October 23, 2022
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Rating: C+
Review: I listened to this on audiobook because the narrator of Anna's chapters is one of my favorite audiobook narrators. Though this is technically the third book in a series by Hoang, you don't have to read these in order (this is the first one I read). I thought that the author's autism representation was done well in this book and I enjoyed that aspect of it. The romance was sweet, but it felt very fast and I wish there had been more build-up. Not my favorite, but it was okay.

Also: trigger-warning for death of a loved one. I was not expecting that going in to this and probably would not have picked it up at this time if I had known. I recently lost my grandmother and that story line in this novel probably also contributed to my lower rating.

NOVEMBER

24. by Genevieve Gornichec
Finish date: November 12, 2022
Genre: Fantasy, Retelling
Rating: B-
Review: This novel told the story of Angrboda, a witch who married Loki and was mother to three of his children. It tells of her life and how she predicted Ragnarok. Overall I enjoyed this novel, but I felt that the middle was a little slow.

25. by Alice Oseman
Finish date: November 16, 2022
Genre: Graphic Novel
Rating: A-
Review: This was my least favorite of the series, but still very cute and heartwarming. Trigger warning for eating disorder and self-harm.

Very good progress Ragan.

26. by T. Kingfisher
Finish date: November 26, 2022
Genre: Horror
Rating: C
Review: I had high hopes for this and, while I enjoyed it, it didn't quite live up to my expectations.

DECEMBER

27. by Agatha Christie
Finish date: December 8, 2022
Genre: Mystery
Rating: C+
Review: In this novel a murder is witnessed on a moving train and Ms. Marple, a housekeeper, and a group of detectives must work together to figure out who the murderer was. This has been one of my favorite of the series so far.

28. by Ling Ma
Finish date: December 15, 2022
Genre: Science Fiction
Rating: B+
Review: In Severance, a plague has wiped out most of the human population of earth. The plague turns people in to zombies who repeat the same actions over and over until they eventually pass away. It was interesting reading this after COVID because there were a lot of similarities in the beginning of the both illnesses. I enjoyed this book, but didn't love the ending.

It sounds like an interesting book, Ragan.

JANUARY 2023

1. by Louise Kennedy
Finish date: January 13, 2023
Genre: Historical Fiction
Rating: C
Review: This novel takes place in Northern Ireland during the Troubles. Overall this was pretty good, but I just could never really get in to it.

2. by Jane Austen
Finish date: January 19, 2023
Genre: Classics
Rating: A+
Review: Pride and Prejudice is one of my favorite novels. This was a reread for me and I enjoyed it as much as always.

FEBRUARY

3. by Tana French
Finish date: February 2, 2023
Genre: Mystery
Rating: C-
Review: This was my least favorite of the series. The random paranormal-like elements that were added in seemed really strange and took me out of the story. The story also seemed to drag in many places and I think it could have been wrapped up much quicker than it was.

4. by Jen Wang
Finish date: February 6, 2023
Genre: Graphic Novel, YA
Rating: B+
Review: This was really sweet and heartfelt. The art style wasn't my favorite, but it was still pretty cute.

5. by Harper St. George
Finish date: February 20, 2023
Genre: Historical Romance
Rating: B
Review: This novel is about an American heiress and a duke who fall in love after initially coming together for practical reasons (the duke needed money, the heiress's family wanted a title). I've been reading a lot of historical romances lately, and though they are always fairly formulaic, I have been having fun with them. I enjoyed this and plan to continue the series.

MARCH 2023

6. by Alice Oseman
Finish date: March 3, 2023
Genre: Young Adult
Rating: C
Review: Though this was not my favorite Oseman book that I have read, I still really enjoy her writing. I wish that her books had been around when I was a teen.

7. by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
Finish date: March 27, 2023
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: D
Review: To be fair, I think that I just don't vibe with Gaiman's writing. This is the fifth Gaiman book that I have read and I have only like one of them. This wasn't for me.

8. by Emily Henry
Finish date: March 29, 2023
Genre: Romance
Rating: C+
Review: I listened to this on audiobook and enjoyed the narration. It held my attention and I finished it quickly. I will pick up more work by this author in the future. However, I did find the heroine a little annoying and thought she was the least interesting character in the book.

APRIL 2023

9. by Natalie Haynes
Finish date: April 2, 2023
Genre: Retelling
Rating: A
Review: This is a retelling of the story of the Trojan war and its aftermath told from the perspective of the women surrounding the war. It was an interesting take on the story and I found it very compelling.

10. by Kiran Millwood Hargrave
Finish date: April 10, 2023
Genre: Historical Fiction
Rating: B
Review: This is Kiran Millwood Hargrave's second adult historical fiction novel. It takes place in 1518 and follows the story of one small village as they deal with a plague that has caused most of the women to dance without stopping in the city center. While I enjoyed most of this book, I felt that the "resolution" to the plague issue was anticlimactic and I really wanted more information/detail.

11. by Elizabeth Wein
Finish date: April 24, 2023
Genre: Historical Fiction
Rating: A+
Review: This was a reread for me and I loved it just as much the second time around. That ending!

MAY 2023

12. by Beverly Jenkins
Finish date: May 2, 2023
Genre: Historical Romance
Rating: C
Review: This novel follows the story of two black individuals who must pose as servants in a white, Confederate politicians home in order to try to recover a stolen copy of the Declaration of Independence. And of course, they fall in love in the process. This was really silly, but fun. I enjoy Beverly Jenkins' romances overall.

13. by Jade Song
Finish date: May 4, 2023
Genre: Literary Fiction, Horror
Rating: A
Review: Wow. This was absolutely the weirdest thing I have ever read, but I loved it. I tore through this in 2 days and annotated it heavily. I don't want to say too much about the plot and give anything away. But if you enjoy weird books with unreliable narrators I highly recommend picking this up. Trigger warnings galore though (abuse, eating disorders, sexual assault, self-harm).

14. by Juliet Marillier
Finish date: May 21, 2023
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: B
Review: Not my favorite of the series, but still enjoyable. I really like Marillier's writing style.

What wonderful progress, Ragan.