On The Same Page discussion
2022 Independent Challenges
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Lea's Filling in the Gaps Independent Challenge
Mod
Good to hear I'm not the very last person to see The Shape of Wate..."
Good luck. I'll keep an eye on your future selections.
Bill wrote: "Good luck. I'll keep an eye on your future selections."Obviously, my aching TBR and I have been keeping an eye on yours. :-)
Mod
Yay! And onto another Alondra recommendation, I'm really loving All the Pretty Horses. It had been far too long since I read any..."
Glad you ended up "enjoying" it. I could read his writing on a paperbag. I usually don't go for darker themed lit; but after No Country for Old Men; I was a forever fan of McCarthy.
Highly recommended.
re: An American Marriage, Lea wrote: "It is likely neither of us are the proper demographic for the book, but I am glad I picked up the book, though. I'll keep reading."Yeah, it wasn't a bad book. It had a lot of hype when it first came out, and was on Obama's reading list, so I'm glad I read it, too.
July Mid Month ReportBooks Read: 16 books this month and 100* year to date
*Includes loads of children's books and short stories
33,496 pages year to date
Books from Filling in the Gaps: 68/100; 2020 Books 4/7, 2021 Books 6/11, and 58/82
Books from 12+4 Challenge: 14/16
Previously Discussed:
King of Scars
The Shape of Water
Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism
Sadie
Closing Time
All the Pretty Horses
Wrecking Ball
Recently Finished:
The Complete Robot - I can't seem to stop reading the Robot short stories from Isaac Asimov. Some of the stories in this compilation were repeats, or something I'm going to read later, so I breezed right through this book. It was funny and just what I needed. 3 STARS
An American Marriage - This book was good, but my expectations were high since this book had been so hyped when it came out and I wanted more. The plot was a good one, a story about a person falsely accused and the implications of that on both the individual and their entire family and community. I think it is hard for people who have never had a family member be incarcerated to understand what that's like for everyone else, and I appreciated the book for attempting to portray that. But, it disappointed me that that the characters came across as shallow and thoughtless, and that kept me from becoming too invested in their outcome. 3 STARS
The Lincoln Highway - This book is not for everyone, but I loved it! It's about Emmett Watson, who has served a year for involuntary manslaughter, but has to return to his farm in Nebraska to take care of his younger brother, after the death of his parents. Amor Towles has become a favorite author of mine. His books are about one thing, but really about something else. There is more happening in this one than A Gentleman in Moscow, but if you don't like books that are heavy on the characterization, this one probably still isn't for you. And if you like the author to just tell you what happened, this one probably isn't for you. I had to work a little to make sense of some of what happened, but in the end, I just loved it. One of my favorite books this year. 5 STARS
Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty - This nonfiction book is another wonderful surprise, and I loved it. It is about the mysterious Sackler family and their connection to the opioid crisis. I learned so much from this book, it was extremely well written. The reason it is earning 4 stars instead of 5 stars is because the author lost a bit of credibility for me when he compared the responsibility of pharmaceutical manufacturers to gun manufacturers THREE separate times. I think the corporate responsibilities of manufacturers are very important issues that we, as a society, need to address, but I don't think you can conflate the two. If the premise is that false advertising caused doctors to prescribe and innocent people to begin taking medications that were more addictive than they realized, that has nothing to do with gun manufacturers. I don't see people receiving recommendations to purchase guns and then being unable to stop themselves from purchasing more and more firearms that have addictive properties and side effects of which they were previously unaware. Unfortunately, gun manufacturers advertising is a little too honest and gun purchasers appear all too aware of what they are procuring. 4.5 STARS rounded down
Rule of Wolves - This is the last book written in the Grishaverse thus far, and is a fantasy story about a group of characters that have special powers. I really hate books that end on a cliff hanger and I really hate books that repeat the same plot over and over and I hate books that take on too much of a plot. All three of those things are true about Rule of Wolves, in my opinion. Thus, it is a testament to Leigh Bardugo that it got 3 STARS from me. I was entertained, but it will not be a favorite.
Olive, Again - This is the sequel to Olive Kitteridge, and I might have liked it better than the original. Please, let's not say it is because I'm older, crankier and more socially awkward than I was when I read the first book, so I can relate more. 3 STARS
Red Clocks - This books's subject matter won't be for everyone. It was published in 2018, and it a dystopian(?) novel about an America where abortion is illegal. Without getting into that discussion here, the book is about five very different women and what it means to be a woman under the changing regulations. However, the narrative structure is choppy and I felt very emotionally distant from all of the characters. In addition, I have probably read the first chapters six or seven times before I was finally able to push through and get the book read. 2 STARS
Wickham's Diary - This is a book about the early life of George Wickham in Pride and Prejudice. I'm not rating this book very high because it was very forgettable, but I was very tired after reading such emotionally challenging books this month and I needed something different. This book fit the bill and was one I was able to read quite quickly when other books weren't "taking." So, there's that. 2.5 STARS
The Deep End - Book #15 in the Wimpy Kids series, and this one was pretty funny. I always love the vacation stories and this one had some great parts. The camping van, the skunk and the watermelon slinging were some of my favorite parts. 3 STARS
Currently reading:
Piranesi - This book hasn't quite caught me yet, but since I've finished the other fantasy novels I read last month, maybe it will work better now.
The Crossing - The second book in Cormac McCarthy's Bprder trilogy. I loved All the Pretty Horses.
Surprised by Joy: The Shape of My Early Life - No progress
Holy Bible: New International Version - I'm on target to finish this by the end of the year.
Progress on the Whack-a-Mole Series Situation –
Series Completed this year (for the moment...):
1. A Court of Thorns and Roses (1)
2. Sweet Sanctuary (2)
3. Lunar Chronicles (1)
4. Greentown (2)
5. The Henna Artist (2)
6. Charlie Bucket (2)
7. Shadow and Bone (7)
8. P.S. I Love You (1)
9. Capitaine Nemo (2)
10. Bill O'Reilly's Killing Series (1)
11. Robot (6)
12. The Thursday Murder Club (2), with another book coming out in September
13. Twilight (1)
14. Six of Crows (2)
15. Jane Austen's Heros (5)
16. Catch-22 (1)
17. King of Scars (2)
Series Started This Year with Books Remaining:
1. The Border Trilogy (2)
Series Started Last Year with Books Remaining:
NONE
Series That Added Books This Year with number of books I still need to read in that series:
1. Mike Daley/Rosie Fernandez (8)
2. We Were Liars (1)
3. Xanth (40)
4. Deathless (1)
5. Jake Brigance (1)
6. Lore Olympus (1)
Series That Added Books Last Year with number of books I still need to read in that series: (so you can see how I really made no progress!)
1. Ender's Universe (5)
2. The Tattooist of Auschwitz (1)
3. The Diary of a Wimpy Kid (1)
4. Stephanie Plum (7)
5. You (1)
Series that added books this year that I'm abandoning, until I change my mind and read them anyway:
1. Crescent City
2. The Spanish Love Deception
3. Detective Erika Foster
Book of the month: For me, it was The Lincoln Highway, but I also loved All the Pretty Horses and Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty
Worst book: Closing Time
Biggest Surprise: The Lincoln Highway
Greatest Accomplishment - 2 5-star books (I've only had 5 this year) and another one that came close this month! 100 books!! That's my goal every year, and it's done in July. I also finally got into my 2020 list, reading over half (4!) of them, after seven months without picking any of them to read.
Alondra wrote: "Glad you ended up "enjoying" it. I could read his writing on a paperbag. I usually don't go for darker themed lit; but after No Country for Old Men; I was a forever fan of McCarthy.Highly recommended."
I loved No Country for Old Men, that was my starter McCarthy book too. I'm excited to continue reading the Border trilogy. I've barely started The Crossing, and I'm already loving it.
Laurel wrote: "Yeah, it wasn't a bad book. It had a lot of hype when it first came out, and was on Obama's reading list, so I'm glad I read it, too."Me too. Obama's reading list has had some really great selections on it. This one just had so much potential and didn't live up to the hype, in my opinion. On to the next great book!!
Lea wrote: "JBooks Read: 16 books this month and 100* year to date*Includes loads of children's books and short stories
33,496 pages year to date"
I don't care what you say, that page count is almost my count for a full year, so children's or not, long or short, you are doing great. Congrats!
Ioana wrote: "I don't care what you say, that page count is almost my count for a full year, so children's or not, long or short, you are doing great. Congrats!"Thanks! I'm a little ahead of last year's pace, which is good. But there are still way too many books I want to read, so a lot of hard decisions always have to be made. :-) Especially after looking at all the great books you've been reading.
Lea wrote: "there are still way too many books I want to read."LOL, don't we all?
You had a great month, Lea. Looking at all the comments, I'll add All the pretty horses to my TBR.
Lea wrote: "The Lincoln Highway - This book is not for everyone, but I loved it! It's about Emmett Watson, who has served a year for involuntary manslaughter, but has to return to his farm in Nebraska to take care of his younger brother, after the death of his parents. Amor Towles has become a favorite author of mine. His books are about one thing, but really about something else. There is more happening in this one than A Gentleman in Moscow, but if you don't like books that are heavy on the characterization, this one probably still isn't for you. And if you like the author to just tell you what happened, this one probably isn't for you. I had to work a little to make sense of some of what happened, but in the end, I just loved it. One of my favorite books this year. 5 STARS"Great month Lea!
Also, I'm so so so happy to read your thoughts on The Lincoln Highway. Unfortunately, I've read a lot of negative reviews. I'll be reading this later on in the year and I've been dreading it. Now I can go into it with a little more excitement.
Mod
Carolien wrote: "You had a great month, Lea. Looking at all the comments, I'll add All the pretty horses to my TBR."This one was just great on audio, so if you need something to listen to as you walk to work, this could be a good option to consider. :-)
Lillie wrote: "Great month Lea!Also, I'm so so so happy to read your thoughts on The Lincoln Highway. Unfortunately, I've read a lot of negative reviews. I'll be reading this later on in the year and I've been dreading it. Now I can go into it with a little more excitement."
I hope I didn't steer you wrong, Lillie. Two things to note: 1) The story is told from a lot of different points of view. At first, I was wondering why certain points of view were included, but at the end, I think I understand why those characters were introduced. Just go with it. 2) The ending is very controversial. The author has an explanation on his website, if you find you just can't with the ending. I liked it. :-)
Bill wrote: "You've had a great month and your year seems to be going well too. Good luck with your Aug selections."Thanks, Bill! Good luck with your selections as well. I look forward to seeing all the books you've read this month.
Love reading about your selections. I recently read Olive Kitteridge; mostly because I heard so much about her newest Oh William!. I did enjoy it but maybe I wouldn't have 20, 30 years ago.--I'm looking forward to reading Lincoln Highway but will have to wait as my library book club will be reading it in the spring. Well, I don't have to wait, but I'm already rereading Cloud Cuckoo Land for this group, so I think I'll wait. My memory is not the greatest.Happy Reading!
Patricia wrote: "Love reading about your selections. I recently read Olive Kitteridge; mostly because I heard so much about her newest Oh William!. I did enjoy it but maybe I wouldn't have 20, 30 years ago.--I'm looking forward to reading Lincoln Highway but will have to wait as my library book club will be reading it in the spring. Well, I don't have to wait, but I'm already rereading Cloud Cuckoo Land for this group, so I think I'll wait. My memory is not the greatest.Happy Reading!"
Patricia, I'm glad to hear you enjoyed Oh William! but now I don't know what to do. LOL. :-) I didn't care for My Name Is Lucy Barton, so I haven't read the next books in the Amgash series. But, maybe I should reconsider when I'm in the mood?
I think The Lincoln Highway is a great book for a group read, hope you enjoy and prepare for a lot of divergent opinions. :-)
I have also been ignoring Cloud Cuckoo Land, because while I liked All the Light We Cannot See, I wasn't over the moon about it like everyone else on my friend list. But maybe I should try it sometime and see what I think?
Happy reading to you too!!
Mod
I need to grab it soon. *sigh*
Alondra wrote: "I need to grab it soon. *sigh*" Wait until you're in the mood for it, or it will not go well. There are some long parts in here that philosophize, and I wasn't super into that bit of it. I'm about 60% in, and based upon how things are going, no doubt McCarthy is about to devastate me again. So many people on my friends list have said that this is the best book of the trilogy. I'm not sure. So far, All the Pretty Horses has the edge, but I'm still reading. :-)
Laurel wrote: "I read An American Marriage recently. An okay book, but I couldn't relate to any of the characters, and decided I am not the target audience for this book. In my review I wrote (no ..."Laurel, I agree with you about An American Marriage, I really could not relate to the characters at all. I was married, so don’t think your being single was really the issue. This couple was having marital issues just two years into their marriage, and the husband was already ‘just looking’ at other women. The affluence was not a problem for me, but felt the wife was pretentious and kind of so absorbed in her career, she also was not taking her marriage too seriously. All this happened before the Racial Injustice. I felt this marriage would not have lasted probably more then another year or two, and the husband’s arrest was significant as an issue by itself, but the marriage was not going to last before this. I agree the characters were shallow and selfish. The husband thinks not much of cheating and does. I never felt a strong connection to them as people and certainly not as a loving couple. I only rated this book 2 stars, which I very rarely do. I thought the author wrote well, and would try another of her books, but this one did not work well.
Kristine wrote: "Laurel, I agree with you about An American Marriage, I really could not relate to the characters at all. I was married, so don’t think your being single was really the issue. This couple was having marital issues just two years into their marriage, and the husband was already ‘just looking’ at other women. The affluence was not a problem for me, but felt the wife was pretentious and kind of so absorbed in her career, she also was not taking her marriage too seriously. All this happened before the Racial Injustice. I felt this marriage would not have lasted probably more then another year or two, and the husband’s arrest was significant as an issue by itself, but the marriage was not going to last before this. I agree the characters were shallow and selfish. The husband thinks not much of cheating and does. I never felt a strong connection to them as people and certainly not as a loving couple. I only rated this book 2 stars, which I very rarely do. I thought the author wrote well, and would try another of her books, but this one did not work well."Kristine, I agree, I wanted to be more outraged about the breakup of their marriage, but I felt like they weren't right for each other before the accusation. I mean, the time when she found the receipt showing that he bought more than one piece of lingerie that she received as a gift would have likely been the end for me!!
I think the book would have been stronger if it depicted a couple with a more solid relationship before incarceration and maybe some side characters separated by their jobs or the military, and the resources, or lack thereof, available for each. Because most long distance relationships are super tough to navigate, but being incarcerated adds that extra layer of complications and shame.
Lea wrote: "Kristine wrote: "Laurel, I agree with you about An American Marriage, I really could not relate to the characters at all. I was married, so don’t think your being single was really the issue. This ..."Lea~great observations. Yes, I know the husband is looking to cheat at the beginning of the marriage and think he was taking attractive women’s business cards, just in case. Then, forgot about that receipt for the lingerie. The incarceration would have been sooner, but for the wife, b/c I would have had her kill him~LOL. I agree if the relationship was really solid and you got to know these characters, then you would have felt awful with the long distance relationship and incarceration with all that shame you mention. Side characters would have been a great idea, too. Then when hubby gets out of prison, he must stop at a lady friends first. Please! He doesn’t even go to see his wife right away. This was a book so many people liked and got The Women’s Prize for Fiction, which I usually really like their choices, but NO for this one.
Mod
Wait until you're in the mood for it, or it will not go well. There are some long parts in here that philosophize, and I wasn't super into that bit..."
Got it. Maybe for fall
Kristine wrote: "Lea~great observations. Yes, I know the husband is looking to cheat at the beginning of the marriage and think he was taking attractive women’s business cards, just in case. Then, forgot about that receipt for the lingerie. The incarceration would have been sooner, but for the wife, b/c I would have had her kill him~LOL. I agree if the relationship was really solid and you got to know these characters, then you would have felt awful with the long distance relationship and incarceration with all that shame you mention. Side characters would have been a great idea, too. Then when hubby gets out of prison, he must stop at a lady friends first. Please! He doesn’t even go to see his wife right away. This was a book so many people liked and got The Women’s Prize for Fiction, which I usually really like their choices, but NO for this one."Wow. I didn't realize this award existed, so of course I had to make a list and see which books I have already read. Because of course I need a new Excel worksheet! I've only read 8 of them, but Bel Canto, We Need to Talk About Kevin and Home are three of my most favorite books. The other five books that I've read on the list are all right. I just finished Piranesi and was underwhelmed, I didn't love Hamnet the way everyone else did, I wasn't in the right mood for The Song of Achilles, I don't really remember much about The Tiger's Wife and of course there's An American Marriage that we've been talking about. I've read some of the other works from the authors that have books on the list, though, so I think I will try to read more. Any favorites from your perspective?
LOL, that was great about the wife going to prison because she killed her husband after finding that receipt. That would have been a good story. I agree with you about the husband looking to cheat. He clearly did not care enough about his wife and her feelings, he was always focused on himself and his own needs. The wife was pretty much the same way, focused on herself, I'm not sure how they could fall in love with each other when they were clearly so much in love with themselves.
Alondra wrote: "Got it. Maybe for fall"It might be a good fall book. It is slow and meandering. I'm clinging to hope right now, but pretty sure that McCarthy is about to extinguish that. As he does in his own beautiful way. :-)
August Mid Month ReportBooks Read: 6 books so far this month and 106* year to date
*Includes loads of children's books and short stories
35,419 pages year to date
Books from Filling in the Gaps: 70/100; 2020 Books 4/7, 2021 Books 7/11, and 59/82
Books from 12+4 Challenge: 15/16
Recently Finished:
Anne of Green Gables - This was a re-read to get me in the mood to finish out the series by reading The Blythes Are Quoted and Christmas with Anne and Other Holiday Stories. I'm happy to say that this book held up to my memory of it. It was a great book to listen to while falling asleep and I mean that in the nicest way possible. 5 STARS
Piranesi - I expected more from the ending, so I was left unsatisfied and not really moved by this book. I also didn't enjoy The Starless Sea very much, so this genre probably just isn't my jam.
The Crossing - This is the second book in Cormac McCarthy's Border trilogy, and I had heard that it was even better than All the Pretty Horses. That wasn't my experience. I felt like All the Pretty Horses was a well constructed coming of age novel. The first 1/3 of The Crossing is similar, but then the author goes off on a philosophical tangent and the novel is not as tightly constructed. I didn't dislike the book, perhaps I expected too much after hearing so many good things about it. 3 STARS
Fantastic Mr. Fox and Other Animal Stories - I am totally off list, reading all these Roald Dahl books! I did enjoy this book, maybe some of the other stories even slightly better than Fantastic Mr. Fox. 3 STARS
The Blythes Are Quoted - This book was provided to the publisher in this format just before L.M. Montgomery died, and was not published. It was reimagined into The Road to Yesterday, but in 2009, The Blythes Are Quoted was published and it was so nice to realize that there was something left to the series. I was so happy. To be fair, most of the stories have been told before, but some have not. I did feel like the author wrote a bunch of stories, and then tried to figure out a way to make them sell, so she would make a random reference to one of the members of the Blythe family in each. It kind of felt like when Diana was adding in the Rollings Reliable Baking Powder into Anne's story in Anne of the Island, with the Blythe quotations being unnecessary to each of the short stories. It was still very fun to read. 3 STARS
Christmas with Anne and Other Holiday Stories - Another compilation where I had read almost everything, but not everything. I think now I've officially finished the Anne of Green Gables series, but not everything written by L.M. Montgomery, so I do have those other books to look forward to reading!
Currently reading:
Robot Dreams - I'm still working on these robot books by Isaac Asimov.
The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle - Buddy read with Denise and Alissa, I'm enjoying it so far, but it is super complicated with lots of characters. I kind of feel like I'm reading about a game of Clue. LOL. :-)
Surprised by Joy: The Shape of My Early Life - No progress
Holy Bible: New International Version - I'm on target to finish this by the end of the year.
Progress on the Whack-a-Mole Series Situation –
Series Completed this year (for the moment...):
1. A Court of Thorns and Roses (1)
2. Sweet Sanctuary (2)
3. Lunar Chronicles (1)
4. Greentown (2)
5. The Henna Artist (2)
6. Charlie Bucket (2)
7. Shadow and Bone (7)
8. P.S. I Love You (1)
9. Capitaine Nemo (2)
10. Bill O'Reilly's Killing Series (1)
11. Robot (6)
12. The Thursday Murder Club (2), with another book coming out in September
13. Twilight (1)
14. Six of Crows (2)
15. Jane Austen's Heros (5)
16. Catch-22 (1)
17. King of Scars (2)
18. Anne of Green Gables (2)
Series Started This Year with Books Remaining:
1. The Border Trilogy (1)
Series Started Last Year with Books Remaining:
NONE
Series That Added Books This Year with number of books I still need to read in that series:
1. Mike Daley/Rosie Fernandez (8)
2. We Were Liars (1)
3. Xanth (40)
4. Deathless (1)
5. Jake Brigance (1)
6. Lore Olympus (1)
Series That Added Books Last Year with number of books I still need to read in that series: (so you can see how I really made no progress!)
1. Ender's Universe (5)
2. The Tattooist of Auschwitz (1)
3. The Diary of a Wimpy Kid (1)
4. Stephanie Plum (7)
5. You (1)
Series that added books this year that I'm abandoning, until I change my mind and read them anyway:
1. Crescent City
2. The Spanish Love Deception
3. Detective Erika Foster
Look at you reading all these Roald Dahl books! lol
I'll be interested in hearing what you think about Evelyn Hardcastle. My library mystery group read it last year & none of us liked it! Not to be discouraging as it is quite popular, so probably just us.
Alissa wrote: "Look at you reading all these Roald Dahl books! lol"It's all your fault! :-)
Children's books are such a nice read when everything is going a bit crazy. :-)
Patricia wrote: "I'll be interested in hearing what you think about Evelyn Hardcastle. My library mystery group read it last year & none of us liked it! Not to be discouraging as it is quite popular, so probably just us."I'm about 70% of the way through the book, and I have so many questions. There are so many characters in the book and it is so gruesome. But I don't know exactly what is going on and none of my guesses seem to be right, so there is something right there. Hopefully, I'll finish this week!
Lea wrote: "Alissa wrote: "Look at you reading all these Roald Dahl books! lol"It's all your fault! :-)
Children's books are such a nice read when everything is going a bit crazy. :-)"
That's true, I do enjoy reading at least one children's book a year, although mine are normally Enid Blyton (amazingly, I do remember a lot of them)
Desley (Cat fosterer) wrote: "That's true, I do enjoy reading at least one children's book a year, although mine are normally Enid Blyton (amazingly, I do remember a lot of them)"Yes! I remember a lot of children's books too. I love re-reading old favorites (although I don't have a lot of time to do too much re-reading) and reading new friends.
One of my favorite parts about my 2023 list making is selecting the children's book / series that I intend to re-read! :-)
Not that I'm already talking about 2023. (much!)
Lea, I am thinking 2023 also. So many ideas but I need to read my 2022 books as I am so far behind.
August Month End ReportBooks Read: 15 books this month and 115* year to date
*Includes loads of children's books and short stories
38,234 pages year to date
Books from Filling in the Gaps: 72/100; 2020 Books 5/7, 2021 Books 7/11, and 60/82
Books from First 12+4 Challenge: 16/16
Books from Second 12 + 4 Challenge: 4/16
Previously discussed:
Anne of Green Gables - Re-read
Piranesi
The Crossing
Fantastic Mr. Fox and Other Stories
The Blythes Are Quoted
Christmas with Anne and Other Holiday Stories
Recently Finished:
Robot Dreams - This isn't really in the robot series, and there are some duplicated stories in this short story compilation, but I decided I wanted to read all of the robot stories this year, so that I wouldn't be tempted to re-read the duplicated stories. It was an efficiency thing. I really do enjoy Asimov, but I'm not going to read the Foundation series for awhile, I need a short break. 3 STARS
Big Shot - So this Wimpy Kids book was about Greg's mom wanting him to try out for a sports team, and his selection of basketball. At least the whole book had a cohesive theme, but unfortunately, it wasn't for me. I just wasn't that interested in the basketball championship. It wasn't unreadable, but it wasn't as good as some of the other books in the series. 2 STARS
The Dictionary of Lost Words - This is a fiction account of the making of the Oxford English Dictionary and the words that were not included in it. It was good, I'm not mad I read it, but it wasn't amazing. 3 STARS
Fight Club - For sure, I'm not the demographic for this book, but I wanted to read it, because I've heard so much about it. I haven't seen the movie either. The first rule of Fight Club is that you can't talk about Fight Club, so I really can't say anything more about this book. 2 STARS
The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle - Wow, this book was very clever, but also a super hard read, because everything is changing. It's like playing Clue. Except who you think is Mrs. Peacock is actually Miss Scarlett. And there was more than one weapon used. That was meant for someone else. But as soon as you move out of the room, the answers change. It is a very clever concept, but was super hard to keep track of the multiple storylines and all the characters. I had to resort to taking notes about the time lines and referring to the invitation (list of characters) and the map all the time. That said, I loved it. There was one thing that bugged me (view spoiler) 4 STARS
Lore Olympus: Volume Two - I thought the first one was better. It seems like the author is dragging out the plot line here, and I may have lost interest in continuing. It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't as good as I'd hoped. 2 STARS
A Room of One's Own - For years, I've resisted reading this book. I thought I'd already heard the main points of it, and I was sure I wouldn't totally agree with it. And some Virginia Woolf fans seem strongminded in their determination that this is the feminist manifesto and anyone who doesn't subscribe wholeheartedly to everything she wrote is in opposition to progress. This book is dedicated to Virginia Woolf's point that in order to create good writing, you need a dedicated quiet place and enough money to support yourself while you undertake the effort, or it won't be possible to write anything comparable to what others can do. Being that J.K. Rowling wrote the first few books in the Harry Potter series in a coffee house, flat broke, I'm not entirely convinced that such things are absolutely essential. And sometimes it's not even beneficial. People who are too comfortable sometimes like the drive to create something or the need to share their creations with others. But, there are some solid points to the essays about women and the changing times, and how times have not really changed at all. I enjoyed it far more than I thought I might. And it is super short and easy to read, for those who are on the fence. 3 STARS
Surprised by Joy: The Shape of My Early Life - I usually love everything that C.S. Lewis writes, but this book was good without being amazing for me. I might have enjoyed it more if I'd been able to read it from start to finish, but we were buddy reading it with some people, and there were way too many stops (for over a month) and starts. I ultimately decided I had to finish the book - we'll see if anyone else finishes as well. This story is about C.S. Lewis's early life and his religious decisions during the period. To me, probably because of all of the starts and stops, it just seemed meandering. 3 STARS
Robot Visions - And with this, I think I'm done reading robot books by Isaac Asimov. I did enjoy reading this one, but his essays were repetitious (after you've read one, you've read them all). It was interesting to think about all that Asimov has done to create robot lore and the different predicaments that he put robots/humans into to create these stories. I don't think I gave any of these books more than 2-4 stars, but his overall body of work here is very important and I'm glad I read it. I will probably try to re-read the Foundation series sometime, but not for awhile. I think a break will be a good thing. 3 STARS
Currently reading:
Before and Again - I really hope this picks up, I'm so bored.
Holy Bible: New International Version - I'm on target to finish this by the end of the year.
Progress on the Whack-a-Mole Series Situation –
Series Completed this year (for the moment...):
1. A Court of Thorns and Roses (1)
2. Sweet Sanctuary (2)
3. Lunar Chronicles (1)
4. Greentown (2)
5. The Henna Artist (2)
6. Charlie Bucket (2)
7. Shadow and Bone (7)
8. P.S. I Love You (1)
9. Capitaine Nemo (2)
10. Bill O'Reilly's Killing Series (1)
11. Robot (8)
12. The Thursday Murder Club (2), with another book coming out in September
13. Twilight (1)
14. Six of Crows (2)
15. Jane Austen's Heroes (5)
16. Catch-22 (1)
17. King of Scars (2)
18. Anne of Green Gables (2)
19. Diary of a Wimpy Kid, with another book coming out in October
20. Lore Olympus (2), with another book coming out in October
Series Started This Year with Books Remaining:
1. The Border Trilogy (1)
Series Started Last Year with Books Remaining:
NONE
Series That Added Books This Year with number of books I still need to read in that series:
1. Mike Daley/Rosie Fernandez (8)
2. We Were Liars (1)
3. Xanth (40)
4. Deathless (1)
5. Jake Brigance (1)
6. The Miniaturist (1)
7. Comoran Strike (4)
Series That Added Books Last Year with number of books I still need to read in that series: (so you can see how I really made no progress!)
1. Ender's Universe (5)
2. The Tattooist of Auschwitz (1)
3. Stephanie Plum (7)
4. You (1)
Series that added books this year that I'm abandoning, until I change my mind and read them anyway:
1. Crescent City
2. The Spanish Love Deception
3. Detective Erika Foster
Book of the month: The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, since I'm not counting my re-reads
Worst book: Piranesi - Not my thing
Biggest Surprise: A Room of One's Own
Greatest Accomplishment - The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle - that was a tough book to read!
Jackie wrote: "Lea, I am thinking 2023 also. So many ideas but I need to read my 2022 books as I am so far behind."Jackie, that's my problem too. About this time of year, I am bored with my previous lists and want to read something else. So, I start making new lists and reading other things. I compared January to August, and you can tell I'm not into reading books on my lists anymore. :-)
January vs. August - the struggle is real!!
January 13/15 books read were on my lists
August 4/15 books read were on my lists
I've resisted Virginia Woolf to date, but read some of her short stories this past weekend. Still not sure if she is my cup of tea, so I suppose I'll have to try something else to see.I've been contemplating Evelyn Hardcastle, maybe I should actually add it to the list based on your review.
2023 lists - I have mine as well. I suspect I am going to start framing at least some of them as part of my ongoing reading. It's not like I have finished anything yet this year...
Carolien wrote: "I've resisted Virginia Woolf to date, but read some of her short stories this past weekend. Still not sure if she is my cup of tea, so I suppose I'll have to try something else to see.I've been contemplating Evelyn Hardcastle, maybe I should actually add it to the list based on your review.
2023 lists - I have mine as well. I suspect I am going to start framing at least some of them as part of my ongoing reading. It's not like I have finished anything yet this year..."
So, the end of my audiobook for A Room of One's Own had four short stories by Virginia Woolf at the end. I didn't particularly like any of them, but two were so much not to my taste that I had to listen to them three times each in order to get the sense of what was happening. The author was weaving perspectives from a variety of sources, and I appreciated the art of it, but I just wasn't that interested in the stories.
If you read Evelyn Hardcastle, I'll be very interested in your take on the mystery. It makes me want to read Stuart Turton's other book, but I've heard it isn't the same as this one, so I want to give it some time.
I am continuously working on my list for following years; it is so hard to narrow down books. I'm reading a lot of books that I would have put on next year's list, but the books I should be reading are on this year's list. We'll see. Here's hoping for a new burst of inspiration for some of the books on list, but whatever. As long as I'm still reading...
Lea wrote: "Jackie wrote: "Lea, I am thinking 2023 also. So many ideas but I need to read my 2022 books as I am so far behind."Jackie, that's my problem too. About this time of year, I am bored with my previ..."
I totally get that, Lea. I keep reading the reviews from others and so many of them sound good. I am back in face-to-face book clubs beginning in September so maybe that will help inspire me again.
Lea wrote: "The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle - Wow, this book was very clever, but also a super hard read, because everything is changing. It's like playing Clue. Except who you think is Mrs. Peacock is actually Miss Scarlett. And there was more than one weapon used. That was meant for someone else. But as soon as you move out of the room, the answers change. It is a very clever concept, but was super hard to keep track of the multiple storylines and all the characters. I had to resort to taking notes about the time lines and referring to the invitation (list of characters) and the map all the time. That said, I loved it. There was one thing that bugged me (view spoiler) 4 STARS"What a perfect description of this book! You really had to pay attention but so worth it.
As for starting that 2023 list, thanks to you & several other enablers 😜 I've got my initial list completed but I'm open to changing my mind on any of them up until Dec 31st 😂
Lea wrote: So, the end of my audiobook for A Room of One's Own had four short stories by Virginia Woolf at the end. I didn't particularly like any of them, but two were so much not to my taste that I had to listen to them three times each in order to get the sense of what was happening. The author was weaving perspectives from a variety of sources, and I appreciated the art of it, but I just wasn't that interested in the stories.I read 3 of her short stories this weekend, one of which I absolutely don't understand at all, one which I kind of get (only because I found a commentary on it) and one which I understood because it was discussed in the book on Houses in Fiction which I had read. Which is indicative of both our experiences that we will think long and hard before trying more of her work!
I find it funny that we read way more than 16 books a year (a month for some), but once we put 16 on a list, we struggle to read them!! I've had occasional thoughts of next year, but waiting till October before I put pen to paper
Jackie wrote: "I totally get that, Lea. I keep reading the reviews from others and so many of them sound good. I am back in face-to-face book clubs beginning in September so maybe that will help inspire me again."There's nothing like a good face-to-face book club. I hope they pick some good books that you review on here, so we can all read vicariously through the good ones!
And I keep reminding myself, "too many good book choices" is a lot better than "not enough." :-)
Lillie wrote: "What a perfect description of this book! You really had to pay attention but so worth it.As for starting that 2023 list, thanks to you & several other enablers 😜 I've got my initial list completed but I'm open to changing my mind on any of them up until Dec 31st 😂"
I'm glad you have your initial list completed. I am on at least my Fifth Draft of my Initial List, so we'll see. It's hard to narrow down my choices, and then sometimes, I just decide to go on and read the books...it's a vicious cycle. I may keep changing my mind through December 31st also! :-)
Mod
Exactly!!
I see that I gave it 4 stars; so, maybe I was just twisted enough to get it..... mmmm.
LOL
Carolien wrote: "I read 3 of her short stories this weekend, one of which I absolutely don't understand at all, one which I kind of get (only because I found a commentary on it) and one which I understood because it was discussed in the book on Houses in Fiction which I had read. Which is indicative of both our experiences that we will think long and hard before trying more of her work!"Yes, I couldn't agree more. I'm glad you shared your struggles with her short stories, sometimes I feel like it is all me, trying to figure out the point of some of these works. I don't mind occasionally working hard at something if there is a payoff in the end.
That said, I think the essays were pretty straightforward and short (116 pages), so that might be something that could be read without seeking commentaries to help you understand the point of it all.
But, wait until you're in the mood for it. I waited for years until I felt like it was something I wanted to read.
Desley (Cat fosterer) wrote: "I find it funny that we read way more than 16 books a year (a month for some), but once we put 16 on a list, we struggle to read them!! I've had occasional thoughts of next year, but waiting till October before I put pen to paper"Waiting until October is probably smart, Desley. I am on at least my Fifth Draft of my 2023 list. I keep changing my mind.
You are so right about us reading more than 16 books a year, just not the books on our list! I am doing a bit better with my List 2 because I didn't give it much forethought - just threw a list of 16 our there - but it wasn't as much fun to create.
So probably I should do what you're doing and wait until the last minute to create my list...I'll have the best chance to finish it quickly...but that just isn't as much fun for me!
We'll see how many more drafts I make of my list! :-)
Alondra wrote: "Exactly!!I see that I gave it 4 stars; so, maybe I was just twisted enough to get it..... mmmm.
LOL"
I can definitely see giving it 4 stars - the writing was pretty tight and the plot was good. I'd love to think I'm not twisted enough to get it LOL, but it is probably more like I am super sensitive to the details of gory violence, my imagination sees it all, and I get a little sick. So my two stars is probably more indicative of my reading experience as opposed to the true worth of the book. Back to sunshine and rainbows and fluffy puppies for me. OK, with a little murder and mayhem sprinkled in. Just not graphically detailed. LOL. :-) :-) :-)
Mod
I see that I gave it 4 stars; so, maybe I was just twisted enough to get it..... mmmm.
LOL"
I can definitely see giving it 4 stars - the writing was pretty tight and th..."
I completely get it; then maybe you shouldn't read anything else he writes. He's pretty out there.
On The Same Page
Books mentioned in this topic
Kindred (other topics)Wayward (other topics)
Wanderers (other topics)
The Stand (other topics)
Holy Bible: New International Version (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Chuck Wendig (other topics)E. Lockhart (other topics)
Robert Silverberg (other topics)
Portia de Rossi (other topics)
Isaac Asimov (other topics)
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Laurel, thanks for your thoughts on An American Marriage. You put your finger on the thing that bothers me most about the book and that is that the characters come across as very shallow, despite the author's efforts to portray honesty. I am 47% through the book, and that is the part I'm struggling with most. It is likely neither of us are the proper demographic for the book, but I am glad I picked up the book, though. I'll keep reading.