What Are We Currently Reading?

[GHScorpiosRule]

I finished my reading-read of True Betrayals, and Nora never fails to hit me in the gut. This one is pure vintage Nora. 
She continues to make me rage and HATE Grandma Byden no matter how many times I read this. My heart always breaks when I read about what happens with Pride.

Just as with dogs, Nora just has a way about writing horses and making me fall in love with them.

I absolutely love the romance with Kelsey and Gabe; love how Kelsey gets to know Naomi, and comes to love and accept her.

And now I’ve started Anne Stuart’s It Takes a Thief-a new historical. Even if I hadn’t read her blog, I knew she would give me us Rafferty’s story ( To Catch a Thief).
While this is Emma and Nick/Ben’s story, Rafferty just JUMPED out. But she said her next will be a sequel to Black Ice, which I suppose will be Mahmoud’s story? Need to ask her. But I REALLY REALLY REALLLLLLY want her to write Lucifer’s story, from the Fallen series she wrote under Kristina Douglass. 

Sigh.

[Luckylyn]

I’m halfway through Out of the Corner by Jennifer Grey.   It’s an engaging read.  She’s very open and doesn’t shy away from including things that are difficult or make her look poorly.   I really sympathize with the pressure put on her since she was a teen to get a nose job and how harshly judged she was when she finally gave in.  

[sugarbaker design]

I'm about one quarter through The Survivors, a novel by Australian author Jane Harper.  I've read, and admired to a varying degree Harper's three previous novels.  It's a familiar format I've come to like:  a crime in the past, a parallel crime in the present, set in a close-knit beach community in Tasmania.  I enjoy how Harper sets up her characters, I learn about them from their actions and dialogue, not endless paragraphs of exposition.  The biggest problem I have with it is to try and pace myself, watch out for subtle clues and appreciate her elegant prose.

Edited July 6, 2022 by sugarbaker design

[Anduin]

10 minutes ago, sugarbaker design said:

I'm about one quarter through The Survivors, a novel by Australian author Jane Harper.  I've read, and admired to a varying degree Harper's three previous novels.  It's a familiar format I've come to like:  a crime in the past, a parallel crime in the present, set in a close-knit beach community in Tasmania.  I enjoy how Harper sets up her characters, I learn about them from their actions and dialogue, not endless paragraphs of exposition.  The biggest problem I have with it is to try and pace myself, watch out for subtle clues and appreciate her elegant prose.

Which community? I have a lot of family in Tassie. It'd be cool to find out that, say, Devonport, was getting its moment in the sun.

[sugarbaker design]

1 minute ago, Anduin said:

Which community? I have a lot of family in Tassie. It'd be cool to find out that, say, Devonport, was getting its moment in the sun.

Trust me, Devonport wouldn't want the mortality rate of Evelyn Bay, which I hope is fictional.

[Tom Holmberg]

Just finished a new reprint of the 1960s book "The Spook Who Sat by the Door" by Sam Greenlee.  The protagonist is a Black Chicago activist who "tricks" his way into the CIA to learn guerrilla tactics to later teach to Chicago street gangs.  The book was made into a movie (directed by Ivan Dixon of "Hogan's Heroes" fame and shot in Chicago) which according to legend was pulled from distribution due to pressure by the government.  I saw the film when it briefly played in Chicago.

Edited July 6, 2022 by Tom Holmberg

[Anduin]

17 minutes ago, sugarbaker design said:

Trust me, Devonport wouldn't want the mortality rate of Evelyn Bay, which I hope is fictional.

Looks that way. Evelyn Bay is one of those places like Cabot Cove or Midsomer County, then? Surprisingly cheap rent, because people keep dying? Say, has anyone gone for a swim and bloody frozen to death? Because I would find that utterly plausible.

[sugarbaker design]

Just now, Anduin said:

Looks that way. Evelyn Bay is one of those places like Cabot Cove or Midsomer County, then?

No, not that bad, just a stand-alone novel, not a series.

1 minute ago, Anduin said:

Say, has anyone gone for a swim and bloody frozen to death?

Alas, not yet.  Just a body on the beach, but I'm only a quarter through!

[EtheltoTillie]

I started Meant to Be, by Emily Giffin.  It's a thinly veiled retelling of the JFK Jr. / Carolyn Bessette story.  It's so boring I can't continue.  She really used to write better books.  If there's a brave soul who is also reading this and liking it better than I am, can you provide me a spoiler as to the ending?  Will they die in a plane crash?  It's hard to skip to the end, 'cause I'm listening to the audiobook. 

[Ohiopirate02]

22 minutes ago, EtheltoTillie said:

I started Meant to Be, by Emily Giffin.  It's a thinly veiled retelling of the JFK Jr. / Carolyn Bessette story.  It's so boring I can't continue.  She really used to write better books.  If there's a brave soul who is also reading this and liking it better than I am, can you provide me a spoiler as to the ending?  Will they die in a plane crash?  It's hard to skip to the end, 'cause I'm listening to the audiobook. 

Emily Giffin is on my list of authors never to read, but a quick look at reviews say the book does not end in tragedy.

[OtterMommy]

I recently finished  When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill and it was just what I needed--and a great rage-read.  I think it is characterized as fantasy (women spontaneously turning into dragons), but it seem more like magical realism to me.  It was my 5th 5-star book of the year.

[EtheltoTillie]

2 hours ago, Ohiopirate02 said:

Emily Giffin is on my list of authors never to read, but a quick look at reviews say the book does not end in tragedy.

Well, with that in mind, I listened to a couple of end chapters (at increased speed--a great feature on digital audiobooks!), and I gleaned enough of what happened. 

Spoiler

There is a plane crash, but they escape! 

[Bookish Jen]

I'm currently reading Pretty Little Dirty about two young women coming of age in the 1980s. I thought it would be up my alley considering I'm a Gen X-er, but it's such a slog to read with lots of overwrought passages. And the two main characters are so unlikable. 

[lasu]

Have we talked about Go Ask Alice here?  I think we have.  I 100% believed this book was true as a middle schooler in the late 80s, but it served mostly to make me WANT to try drugs.  I don't know what that says about me.  But!  While it's been long known that book is a fakey fake, there is now a book about it being fakey fake: Unmask Alice.  I'm looking forward to reading this.

[EtheltoTillie]

13 hours ago, lasu said:

Have we talked about Go Ask Alice here?  I think we have.  I 100% believed this book was true as a middle schooler in the late 80s, but it served mostly to make me WANT to try drugs.  I don't know what that says about me.  But!  While it's been long known that book is a fakey fake, there is now a book about it being fakey fake: Unmask Alice.  I'm looking forward to reading this.

This interests me. I have never read the original book, but I have watched the movie a few times, including rewatching it a couple of years ago. William Shatner plays the dad!  Wot?  I’ve always found it to be very haunting. 

[Luckylyn]

I’ve started a contemporary romance inspired by “You’ve Got Mail” titled Read Between the Lines by Rachel Lacey which is first in her Ms. Right Series.  Rosie runs a book store she inherited from her mother and has been having an online flirtation with her favorite romance author Brie.  By day, Jane works for her family’s property development company and by night she writes romances under the pen name Brie.   Rosie and Jane cross paths in person when Jane’s company evicts Rosie’s book shop to make room for a new condo.  Online they are a perfect match, in person they are opponents.  One great difference between the book and the movie is that both characters are single.  I never understood why they had the characters romantically involved at the start of the story in “You’ve Got Mail” especially since in the movie they were remaking “The Shop Around the Corner”  both characters were single.  I just got started and am liking the characters so far.  

[peacheslatour]

4 hours ago, Luckylyn said:

I’ve started a contemporary romance inspired by “You’ve Got Mail” titled Read Between the Lines by Rachel Lacey which is first in her Ms. Right Series.  Rosie runs a book store she inherited from her mother and has been having an online flirtation with her favorite romance author Brie.  By day, Jane works for her family’s property development company and by night she writes romances under the pen name Brie.   Rosie and Jane cross paths in person when Jane’s company evicts Rosie’s book shop to make room for a new condo.  Online they are a perfect match, in person they are opponents.  One great difference between the book and the movie is that both characters are single.  I never understood why they had the characters romantically involved at the start of the story in “You’ve Got Mail” especially since in the movie they were remaking “The Shop Around the Corner”  both characters were single.  I just got started and am liking the characters so far.  

I hate, hate hate You've Got Mail but I love Shop Around The Corner.

[Luckylyn]

1 hour ago, peacheslatour said:

I hate, hate hate You've Got Mail but I love Shop Around The Corner.

I don’t hate You’ve Got Mail but Shop Around the Corner is better.  Based on what I have read so far Read Between the Lines does improve on some things I didn’t like in You’ve Got Mail.

[Rushmoras]

Recently completed reading the whole Witcher saga.

SPOILERS AHEAD

For context, who do not know what the books are about, they are set in a parallel world from ours, in middle ages, wherein magic exist. And since magic exist, there exist also magical (evil) creatures, who plague the lands. And to fight these creatures, a sect called the Witchers was created a long time ago (they undergo various mutations and trials, which are lethal, to become quicker and stronger than most humans. In return, they lose their fertility). The first two books were just random stories about Witcher Geralt's adventures before meeting Ciri, who as the books universe expanded, became kinda like the chosen one, whose kid in the future is supposed to save or doom the world.

More coherent story takes place from the third book (if I remember correctly), wherein Geralt, near a forest, stumbles upon a young girl running from an army, who recently ransacked her home town. As it later became apparent, she is the daughter of Cintra's (the town, which has been ransacked) royalty being sought by the Empire of Nilfgaard, because she is also the daughter of Nilfgaardian Emperor Emyr, who in the past had an affair with Paveta and through machinations faked his own death, came to the ranks of Nilfgaard and eventually became an emperor, but, unfortunately, in the process Paveta died for real.

On top of that, Ciri is sought by the Lodge of Sorceresses, who want to use her for their own gains, because, as it became later apparent, Ciri is a descendant of a very powerful Elven mage, whose name I forgotten, who could control time-and-space. In between, there is another sorcerer, who is more evil then the Lodge, who wants to hunt down Ciri and use her for his own needs. Also, also, there will be a fourth party, who wants to use her, but they will only appear in the final entry, and they are more prominent and the main bad-guys of the Witcher 3 video-game.

So, the whole premise is that Geralt has to protect Ciri through all of this.

Spoiler

Um, for the most part, the whole world-building and characters simply are bland and unlikeable. What irritated me throughout all of this story was that every single woman that Geralt meets suddenly becomes horny for him. He has banged probably every woman (barring Ciri, who he considered as quasi-daughter) in the book that had laid eyes on him. Frankly, that's all there is to their characters I think. None of them grow that much, well, maybe Yennifer does, but again, I would have to re-read everything again to say that, I don't wanna do it.

Also, the books kinda want to force you to feel sorry for Ciri, because she goes through all of this fucked up shit that the world pours on her, but, here's the deal: at one point she gives up her magic (though, I don't remember much how that happened; I just remember something to do with a desert storm) and has amnesia. And then bands together with a group of cuthroats and happily murders and steals her way for like an entire book (?) before remembering who she is. Um, even though I did feel uneasiness reading through that whole fucked up shit (or just Sapkowski's BDSM wankings through writing), but no, I did not feel sorry for Ciri after that point.

Also, I want to get back to the point of "I don't remember much how that happened". Well, that's because all of the books start in a way, which makes you think: "Have I missed a book or something? What the hell is going on?" But then you look at the numbering, read the ending of the previous one, look at the numbering of the current book you are holding and say: "Huh, nope, this is in sequence".

The writing or maybe the translation... there are times when there are whole passages (3-5 pages long) wherein for lack or better word village yokels are speaking with their god damn incomprehensible dialogue. In order to understand what each are saying, I have to re-read the sentence a couple of times. It really pissed me off.

The last book 'Lady of the Lake' for the most part sees Ciri hopping through reality to reality trying to evade her pursuers and Geralt, and company being in "Disney land" banging whatever wench (or sorcerers, or succubus, or knight, or duchess) lays eyes on them, while Yeniffer is being tortured miles away. Yeah... And there are times when there are whole chapters about unrelated (to the story) stuff, like. I don't know, chapter 10, I guess, where a character from maybe book four or five is retelling a story of a war and how people died there; it goes on for 40 pages, and I'm like: 'Okey, cool, but what does this have to do with anything?' And that's the problem with all of this saga's books: there are major parts of storyline where you think 'What does this have to do with anything?'

And when you just think that this story might have a happy ending, because the bad-guy is defeated, Emperor finds someone else to marry, Ciri, Geralt and Yennifer are back together, you have 2 or 3 chapters wherein everything is written to either be sad or depressingly sad, and I'm not two pages in to the ending chapters like 'Oh, shit, no one is going to have a respite from all the shit that they have been through, huh?'. And yes, no one does. Geralt and Yennifer die during a pogrom. And, while it may seem that Ciri used her powers to transport them to another reality where they got help they needed and they lived happily ever after, but from her ending speech with Arthurian knight (forgot his name; and, yes, she's is in "our" world, during the reign of King Arthur) - nope, she made up that part of the story.

My opinion? I don't know, maybe others will (or like it) like these books, but Witcher 2-3 video-games storyline, even though its fan-fiction post books, but they are waaaaaaaaaaaay more interesting and compelling than whatever Sapkowski wrote.

Edited July 10, 2022 by Rushmoras

[dubbel zout]

I'm reading The Verifiers, by Jane Pek, and am really liking it. It's about a young Taiwanese woman who works for a company that will check out your dating-app match. There's family drama, a whodunit, and lots of information about the algorithms behind dating apps. I thought the last might be too much, but it's somewhat intrinsic to the story. I don't feel like it's something the author researched and insisted on adding to the story because she didn't want the work to go to waste. (Looking at you, Kathy Reichs, Diana Gabaldon, and many, many others.)

I'm at the point where the killer has been unmasked, but I have no idea where the story will go now, which I like a lot.

[Anduin]

12 hours ago, Rushmoras said:

Recently completed reading the whole Witcher saga.

My opinion? I don't know, maybe others will (or like it) like these books, but Witcher 2-3 video-games storyline, even though its fan-fiction post books, but they are waaaaaaaaaaaay more interesting and compelling than whatever Sapkowski wrote.

I've read a couple of the Witcher books, but I prefer W3.  In fact, reading your rundown makes me want to play a few hours right now. I vaguely remember a whole chapter of two characters speaking to each other, with no breaks between lines of dialogue. As I've said before, I don't like when authors try to get too clever.

[grommit2]

On 7/9/2022 at 2:43 PM, peacheslatour said:

I hate, hate hate You've Got Mail but I love Shop Around The Corner.

LuckyLynn and Peaches:
Wait...are you saying there are books titled You've Got Mail and Shop Around the Corner?
Are they based on the movie?  
That is one of my favorite movies.  Warm, fun, clever. 

[Anela]

I kept seeing A Court of Thorns and Roses recommended, but I'm not enjoying it. Something about it is really familiar, so I'm wondering if I tried to read it once before. Once she gets past a certain point, in the first chapters, that's when it starts to feel familiar. The different characters, the settings. 

Edited July 12, 2022 by Anela

[Haleth]

5 hours ago, Anela said:

I kept seeing A Court of Thorns and Roses recommended, but I'm not enjoying it. Something about it is really familiar, so I'm wondering if I tried to read it once before. Once she gets past a certain point, in the first chapters, that's when it starts to feel familiar. The different characters, the settings. 

I read one Sarah Maas book last summer.  It was terrible.  I'd think her writing was for YAs except for all the sex.

[DearEvette]

58 minutes ago, Haleth said:

I read one Sarah Maas book last summer.  It was terrible.  I'd think her writing was for YAs except for all the sex.

Wait... she's not YA?  I have never read her but for some reason the marketing for her books always felt like it was for the YA market.

[Haleth]

13 minutes ago, DearEvette said:

Wait... she's not YA?  I have never read her but for some reason the marketing for her books always felt like it was for the YA market.

I don’t know. The one I read was pretty spicy. 

[Luckylyn]

16 hours ago, grommit2 said:

LuckyLynn and Peaches:
Wait...are you saying there are books titled You've Got Mail and Shop Around the Corner?
Are they based on the movie?  
That is one of my favorite movies.  Warm, fun, clever. 

The movie You’ve Got Mail is a remake of the original film The Shop Around The Corner.  The romance novel I was reading was inspired by You’ve Got Mail.   There are several movies and probably books that have been inspired by The Shop Around the Corner.  There’s a Judy Garland forgettable remake titled In The Good Old Summertime and the lovely Broadway show She Loves Me also adapting the movie The Shop Around the Corner.  I know I saw Lifetime and Hallmark movies using the enemies in person and in love by anonymous letters trope.

[Ohiopirate02]

5 hours ago, DearEvette said:

Wait... she's not YA?  I have never read her but for some reason the marketing for her books always felt like it was for the YA market.

Her first two series were published and marketed as YA.  She is not and has never been YA, but high fantasy books with a female protagonist and romantic themes sells better as YA than as traditional fantasy.  Sadly, her readership would never consider themselves fantasy readers due to decades of neckbeards gatekeeping the genre.  Her second series A Court of... barely met most publishers' standards of YA.  The youngest character is either 19 or 20, and she is surrounded by centuries old beings, plus some serious sexy times in the second book.  But, it sold well and in ways it never would have if marketed as fantasy, and the series really does not meet the definition of a romance due to the first book.  I never read past the second book, so I can't speak to subsequent books meeting the definition of a romance.  

She has published an adult series that is marketed correctly as an adult series.  

[DearEvette]

Huh.  That is good to know.  I tend to shy away from YA books, because in YA books the protagonists should act like teenagers with all the dramah! that entails. And that is 100% appropriate because the themes and tropes necessary for YA books should absolutely be present and grappled with.  But my ass is too old.  LOL.  I like grown folks business.  I like the spicy sex-ay times.  I don't want to read about young dewey things.  So I curate accordingly. 

It is a shame because I know there are others like me who might bypass a good fantasy because of the makerting.  And I love a great fantasy with or without romance but I like older protagonists and more mature themes.  I don't mind a 20 year old but I want them to be a 20 yo with some miles on them.  

Reminds me of Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder.  I read this back in 2005 before the big YA fantasy push that I feel really kicked into gear with The Hunger Games.  So it wasn't marketed as a YA when it first came out.  But now it is and while the protag is I would say young 20s, the storyline is adult.

[GHScorpiosRule]

Since the publishing world decided that Nalini Singh's latest Psy-Changellng book, which was supposed to have come out this month, but had to be pushed back to August, I'm going through all my Noras for comfort reading.

Just finished Birthright a couple days ago, and one of the BEST things about that one, was how Callie would use her Cello to play the JAWS theme to drive Jake nutso. 🤣

And now I'm reading Genuine Lies, because it's so rich and well, I just really love Paul. I'm imagining Pierce Brosnan, when he speaks, even if the hair color isn't the black that Pierce has.

Whaaat?

I know some say it's dated, but I love it. The stories about Eve, and mixture of real life Hollywood from its "Golden Years" is just fascinating. 

I think I'll read Honest Illusions next. Then Hidden Riches.

[isalicat]

Just finished Sisters of the Vast Black by Lina Rather on the recommendation of someone here (sorry...too lazy to go back and get your name, but thank you!). It was okay...kinda cliched and although it was very short, all the interesting backstory was loaded into a few pages towards the end. I am always interested in anything to do with religious (as in, monks and nuns) so the combination of nuns and far future space stuff intrigued me, but at the end I felt like it a was a good concept done a bit tritely.

[BlackberryJam]

5 hours ago, isalicat said:

Just finished Sisters of the Vast Black by Lina Rather on the recommendation of someone here (sorry...too lazy to go back and get your name, but thank you!). It was okay...kinda cliched and although it was very short, all the interesting backstory was loaded into a few pages towards the end. I am always interested in anything to do with religious (as in, monks and nuns) so the combination of nuns and far future space stuff intrigued me, but at the end I felt like it a was a good concept done a bit tritely.

That may have been me. Have you read the second book in the series yet? I felt like the first was just like…a Pilot episode of a series, and the subsequent books are going to build. I’m down for the books becoming an HBO series starring only women over 60.

[dubbel zout]

A nasty bout of insomnia had me reading Such a Fun Age, by Kiley Reid, in two sittings. It's about a Black babysitter who's accused of kidnapping her white charge when they're in a supermarket late at night. Lots of white guilt/white savior complex. I really, really liked it.

[EtheltoTillie]

Speaking of YA writers, I decided to read Judy Blume's adult book Summer Sisters.  To me, it came off as more of a YA book.  Very cardboard characters, silly plot twists about tweens who go back to the same place on the Cape every summer.  A lot of explicit sex, which would not really appeal to adults.  I think Blume was really aiming this at her YA readers, so they could get a thrill.  Has anyone else read this?  I'd be interested in your comments. 

Then we have Jennifer Weiner, who has released her annual entry in the chick-lit beach-read sweepstakes.  Of course, we all know she resents being labeled as a chick-lit writer, as she tells us repeatedly in her NYT op-ed pieces.  Doesn't matter.  I'm there for it, despite flaws.  It's called The Summer Place, another one with a Cape Cod setting.  One of the characters is a best selling author who wrote a book called Summer Sisters.  Hmm.   There are some absurd plot twists in this one.  I posted something about this one a couple of weeks ago, but I'm repeating it now because of the Judy Blume reference. 

[sugarbaker design]

10 minutes ago, EtheltoTillie said:

A lot of explicit sex, which would not really appeal to adults.

It wouldn't???

[EtheltoTillie]

20 minutes ago, sugarbaker design said:

It wouldn't???

I should clarify.  And I say that as someone who in a long-ago former life may have edited Penthouse letters for a living.  It was written in a style that would be titillating to YA readers.   The tween characters refer to their Power. 

Edited July 13, 2022 by EtheltoTillie

[sugarbaker design]

13 minutes ago, EtheltoTillie said:

I should clarify.  And I say that as someone who in a long-ago former life may have edited Penthouse letters for a living.  It was written in a style that would be titillating to YA readers.   The tween characters refer to their Power. 

This is one of those times I wish I could use more than one emoji, I'll post the "thank you", but I would like to add the "laugh".

[isalicat]

17 hours ago, BlackberryJam said:

That may have been me. Have you read the second book in the series yet? I felt like the first was just like…a Pilot episode of a series, and the subsequent books are going to build. I’m down for the books becoming an HBO series starring only women over 60.

Thanks but...unless you can tell me the writer has significantly improved in terms of her, what I would call pacing, and also is less cliched in terms of "women good, men bad" tropes...I would give this series a pass. It might actually be a better TV series than a series of novels - I guess I expect more depth and richness to a book than I do in an hour long TV episode.

[rina9294]

On 7/8/2022 at 3:35 PM, lasu said:

Have we talked about Go Ask Alice here?  I think we have.  I 100% believed this book was true as a middle schooler in the late 80s, but it served mostly to make me WANT to try drugs.  I don't know what that says about me.  But!  While it's been long known that book is a fakey fake, there is now a book about it being fakey fake: Unmask Alice.  I'm looking forward to reading this.

I just finished this! I remember reading Go Ask Alice back in the 70s but had no clue it was fake. The real story behind Jay's Journal (one of the causes of the Satanic Panic) is truly heart-breaking.

[Starleigh]

12 hours ago, EtheltoTillie said:

Speaking of YA writers, I decided to read Judy Blume's adult book Summer Sisters.  To me, it came off as more of a YA book.  Very cardboard characters, silly plot twists about tweens who go back to the same place on the Cape every summer.  A lot of explicit sex, which would not really appeal to adults.  I think Blume was really aiming this at her YA readers, so they could get a thrill.  Has anyone else read this?  I'd be interested in your comments. 

Then we have Jennifer Weiner, who has released her annual entry in the chick-lit beach-read sweepstakes.  Of course, we all know she resents being labeled as a chick-lit writer, as she tells us repeatedly in her NYT op-ed pieces.  Doesn't matter.  I'm there for it, despite flaws.  It's called The Summer Place, another one with a Cape Cod setting.  One of the characters is a best selling author who wrote a book called Summer Sisters.  Hmm.   There are some absurd plot twists in this one.  I posted something about this one a couple of weeks ago, but I'm repeating it now because of the Judy Blume reference. 

I'm going to go on record with the unpopular opinion that I strongly dislike both of these authors. Nothing to do with them personally, I'm just not a fan of their books. Sure, I read the Judy Blume books growing up because I was a compulsive reader and read just about every single book in both the children's and YA section of the library, but something about her books just bugged me.

And I tried reading Jennifer Weiner's first couple of books when they first came out, and the writing style bugged me too much to finish either. Also not a fan of her NYT columns! I think her fame went to her head, she always comes off as smug and arrogant to me.

Obviously, YMMV. I realize I'm in the minority with these opinions😁

Edited July 14, 2022 by Starleigh

[truthaboutluv]

10 hours ago, Starleigh said:

And I tried reading Jennifer Weiner's first couple of books when they first came out, and the writing style bugged me too much to finish either.

Jennifer Weiner is similar to Jodi Picoult for me, in that they are very hit or miss. I've read some of their books that I really enjoyed and others that were just god-awful. 

It's been far too long since I've posted in this thread but I had to check back in to comment on my current reading selection. It's a very popular one that's on many Best Of lists and so I imagine my opinion may be unpopular. 

I'm talking about We Need to Talk About Kevin. I have been looking forward to reading this book for years but just never got around to it. I started more than a month and a half ago and have barely read 150 pages. 

The struggle I'm having is the writing style, which I really kind of hate. I get that the premise is the narrator writing letters to her estranged/ex-husband detailing the whole journey from having their son to the tragedy that eventually happens.

However, the first chapters were just so uneventful and boring. The language is this weirdly pretentious, constant run-on sentences and half the time I had to read and re-read to know what the hell was even being talked about. I'm sticking with it, hoping that it eventually gets better, since the premise of the book is very interesting. But those first chapters have been rough. 

Edited July 14, 2022 by truthaboutluv

[Starleigh]

I read We Need to Talk About Kevin years ago, before it was "discovered" so to speak. I just randomly picked it up from the new books sections in the library and checked it out, with no prior knowledge or hype to get in the way. I don't remember much about the writing style, tbh, but I did find it to be a page turner that kind of gave you a shock by the end. But, if I was reading it now for the first time, with high expectations (not to mention, having so many horrific IRL tragedies that have happened since then in the background of my mind...being vague so as not to spoiler it), I have a feeling I wouldn't have liked it that much--it would have come across as a cliched stereotype--both characterization and narration style.

I recently read Vacationland, the new book by Meg Mitchell Moore. It was ok. It kept my attention and was a good read, but something about it seemed so familiar--kind of like a deja vu read, like I had already read the same exact plot in a prior book. If it wasn't a brand new book, I'd have assumed I'd read it already and just forgot. It was  a weird reading experience that I don't think I've ever had before. 🤔

[dubbel zout]

They made a movie out of We Need to Talk About Kevin, starring Tilda Swinton, and IIRC, it was pretty good. Trigger alert: Noted creep Ezra Miller is the teen Kevin.

[EtheltoTillie]

13 hours ago, Starleigh said:

I'm going to go on record with the unpopular opinion that I strongly dislike both of these authors. Nothing to do with them personally, I'm just not a fan of their books. Sure, I read the Judy Blume books growing up because I was a compulsive reader and read just about every single book in both the children's and YA section of the library, but something about her books just bugged me.

And I tried reading Jennifer Weiner's first couple of books when they first came out, and the writing style bugged me too much to finish either. Also not a fan of her NYT columns! I think her fame went to her head, she always comes off as smug and arrogant to me.

Obviously, YMMV. I realize I'm in the minority with these opinions😁

I guess these are UOs, compared with the huge fan base of both authors, but not UO with me. 

I was too old for Judy Blume kids' and YA books, meaning I was long past the age of her readers by the time they were published.  As an adult I looked at a couple of the YA books and I understood why they would be so popular with tweens.  I read the Fudge books as an adult, and I thought they were hilarious.  As for Jennifer Weiner, I read her books as a summer beach read and take them for what they are.  The last few were mediocre even for that genre.  

Edited July 14, 2022 by EtheltoTillie

[DearEvette]

6 hours ago, truthaboutluv said:

I'm talking about We Need to Talk About Kevin. I have been looking forward to reading this book for years but just never got around to it. I started more than a month and a half ago and have barely read 150 pages. 

My ex-book club read this several years ago and I didn't participate in the read because quite frankly by that time I knew it wasn't the book club for me because they always picked these sorts of books. They had this knee jerk reaction against reading anything remotely fun.

Anyhoo... I asked one of my friends what they had decided on the book and her response was "It was a 400 page book where the first 300 pages were a struggle."

[truthaboutluv]

2 hours ago, DearEvette said:

Anyhoo... I asked one of my friends what they had decided on the book and her response was "It was a 400 page book where the first 300 pages were a struggle."

That sounds about right and there go my hopes that it will get better soon. 

[Ohiopirate02]

17 hours ago, DearEvette said:

My ex-book club read this several years ago and I didn't participate in the read because quite frankly by that time I knew it wasn't the book club for me because they always picked these sorts of books. They had this knee jerk reaction against reading anything remotely fun.

Anyhoo... I asked one of my friends what they had decided on the book and her response was "It was a 400 page book where the first 300 pages were a struggle."

I cannot imagine choosing to be in a book club where every month you read a new work of depressing Literature.  Shoot, even the NBA and Booker mix it up every year with their longlist, shortlist, and eventual winners.  Books don't have to be a slog in order to be "important."  

I say this as I trudge through Douglas Stuart's latest Young Mungo.  I was able to finish his Booker winning Shuggie Bain when it won, but I don't know if I have it in me to read another coming of age story set in 1980s Scotland with a young gay man as my protagonist who has an alcoholic as a mother.  I really think once was enough on this one.

[EtheltoTillie]

On 7/15/2022 at 10:50 AM, Ohiopirate02 said:

I cannot imagine choosing to be in a book club where every month you read a new work of depressing Literature.  Shoot, even the NBA and Booker mix it up every year with their longlist, shortlist, and eventual winners.  Books don't have to be a slog in order to be "important."  

I say this as I trudge through Douglas Stuart's latest Young Mungo.  I was able to finish his Booker winning Shuggie Bain when it won, but I don't know if I have it in me to read another coming of age story set in 1980s Scotland with a young gay man as my protagonist who has an alcoholic as a mother.  I really think once was enough on this one.

The depressing-literature book club is all too common. My cousin is constantly touting her book club selections, but they’re all virtue-signaling reads about young women in other countries who survive wars and other difficult situations. 

I belong to the informal dermatology wives book club. We’re three gals married to dermatologists who work in the same department; we met at yearly dinners and conferences. We’re the only derm wives who don’t use fillers and Botox LOL.
We’ve become good friends and read anything of interest—serious books and pop fiction. We also watch TV and movie adaptations of the books and other movie and TV programs. We discuss our lives too. We have a lot of fun. Sometimes we find themes inadvertently popping up, and one book or story leads to another.

I liked Shuggie Bain, and I will probably read the new one. 

[Ohiopirate02]

4 hours ago, EtheltoTillie said:

The depressing-literature book club is all too common. My cousin is constantly touting her book club selections, but they’re all virtue-signaling reads about young women in other countries who survive wars and other difficult situations. 
 

I belong to an online book club of sorts that was created partly to mock all of the serious capital-L literature bullshit that permeates the book community on all levels.  We meet every March where 16 or so books face off March Madness style.  Each round is independently judged, and there is room for us to comment after each judgment is posted.  It's a lot of fun, and it has really opened up books and reading for me.  Because the creators who decide the books pull from just about everywhere each year.  You have the serious books that win the Booker and the NBA and other prestigious awards as well as popular titled like Gone Girl and The Fault in Our Stars (which lost out to The Orphan Master's Son in the final match). You also have smaller press stuff and works in translation.  Since I have been participating,  I have read and loved books I never would have read and learned how to really judge a book based on its merits.  

It gets hilarious when the literature must be depressing in order to be literature people find the tournament and feel compelled to comment. It's a silly affair where the winning prize is a live rooster (which no winner has ever actually claimed). 

[DearEvette]

On 7/15/2022 at 10:50 AM, Ohiopirate02 said:

I cannot imagine choosing to be in a book club where every month you read a new work of depressing Literature. 

Yeah, I joined them mainly because my sister in law and a mutual acquaintance and I wanted to get out and do more social stuff outside my regular wheelhouse.   And the  book they were planning to read at the time was The Intuitionist by Colson Whitehead which I had been interested in and did really like. And then I got lulled because the next book was The Rosie Project which I adored.  But I could tell was not as loved by the rest.  And then came a series of depressing lit fics that I barely skimmed.  They were deciding between Orphan Train and We Need To Talk About Kevin and I peaced out.  I think I went on a Julie Garwood re-read binge just to get my equilibrium back.