caer
Sapphire
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Post by caer on Oct 3, 2021 5:20:07 GMT -6
I finished The Last House on Needless Street and it was interesting. I absolutely adored the first half. I thought it was super quirky and fun and spooky. It went off the rails for me a bit in the second half (I’ll spoiler why below but it’s a BIG spoiler so ignore if you plan on reading it). But it was still a solid 4 stars for me. I HATE when DID/multiple personality disorder is the twist in a thriller. I’ve complained before that it’s my least favorite thriller trope. It always feels like a cop out to me. That said, this novel had an interesting twist on it so it didn’t ruin the book or anything. I’m going to start The Ex Hex next. I liked that it wasn't in the way you would normally see it. I thought there was also a good explanation for how/why it was presenting. I understand your annoyance though. What I didn't love was the sister just sort of being thrown away as a character, her death felt a bit random to me I agree. I don’t know if you read the afterward, but the author said she was writing a story about a killer, the girl he kidnapped and his cat and then realized that they were all one person. So it sounds like the first part of the novel - the sister included - was with that narrative in mind and it changed somewhere along the line. I thought that was interesting because it helped me understand why the novel didn’t quite come together for me. I feel like the sister makes sense as the heroine in the first iteration but doesn’t have much of a purpose in the end.
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Lakes
Sapphire
Posts: 3,594 Likes: 13,281
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Post by Lakes on Oct 3, 2021 8:15:15 GMT -6
I attempted to venture off my non-fiction island and failed. Hollow Kingdom (not to be confused with all the talk of House of Hollow) was recommended by a friend. I wanted to like it since it’s about a crow surviving the zombie apocalypse but the writing style and type of humor is not for me. I made it about 30 pages. Then I skipped to the end and skimmed the last two chapters.
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Post by stayingblonde on Oct 3, 2021 11:24:35 GMT -6
I haven't read a book since July. I'm so exhausted from work that when I have time to read I just stare at my phone instead. My library holds have all lapsed. Ho hum.
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junch817
Amethyst
Posts: 6,057 Likes: 16,538
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Post by junch817 on Oct 3, 2021 17:17:42 GMT -6
Sometimes I really struggle trying to picture characters in a book, and I picture these faceless characters and it can really take away from the story. Well, Apples Never Fall has a lot of main characters in it, and I was determined to figure out how they all looked in my head. I finally thought of the snow Parenthood, and it absolutely fits perfectly, and now I’m so excited that I can finally picture these characters lol They don’t necessarily match up age wise but it’s good enough! It helps with spouses and ex’s/boyfriends/girlfriends too.
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leahcar
Sapphire
Posts: 4,491 Likes: 18,842
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Post by leahcar on Oct 3, 2021 19:29:05 GMT -6
I had a good reading month for September.
The princess spy The atomic city girls While we were dating Jasmine Guillory Thin Ice Tonya Harding 44 chapters about 4 men BB Easton The spy & the traitor The storm is upon us Mike Rothschild Isn’t it bromantic? Conventionally yours Out of character Bad blood An unlikely journey Julian Castro The Alice network Kate Quinn Where the grass is green and the girls are pretty Lauren Weisburger Landslide Michael Wolff The things we do for love Kristin Hannah . Outlove Julie Rodgers
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Post by imapenguin on Oct 3, 2021 19:34:41 GMT -6
Sometimes I really struggle trying to picture characters in a book, and I picture these faceless characters and it can really take away from the story. Well, Apples Never Fall has a lot of main characters in it, and I was determined to figure out how they all looked in my head. I finally thought of the snow Parenthood, and it absolutely fits perfectly, and now I’m so excited that I can finally picture these characters lol They don’t necessarily match up age wise but it’s good enough! It helps with spouses and ex’s/boyfriends/girlfriends too. I’m listening to Apples Never Fall now and I think that’s helping me because the narrator is pretty good with the voices. But so many characters! I guess that’s who Liane Moriarty is—complicated family drama.
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Post by mintyblueair on Oct 3, 2021 19:44:31 GMT -6
I finished The Lying Life of Adults by Elena Ferrante. I appreciated what it was getting at, and it explored many of the same themes as her previous novels, but there were many times where her writing fell flat for me. It felt, at times, like she was trying too hard to make thin connections. I was surprised because I am a big fan of hers. Overall, though, it was interesting and enjoyable.
I also briefly started Aria by Nazanine Hozar. It's set in 1950s Iran, through to the Iranian Revolution. A young woman gives birth to a daughter and abandons her on a winter night. The story follows the baby's life as she grows up. The opening scenes were heartbreaking so I feel like I'm in for an emotional ride.
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Post by yellow711 on Oct 3, 2021 20:17:10 GMT -6
Apples Never Fall - I was excited to read it … but did.not.like it.
I can’t pin point what I didn’t like about it
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abs
Sapphire
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Post by abs on Oct 4, 2021 5:31:19 GMT -6
I finished The Love Hypothesis yesterday. It was pretty cute. Standard rom-com with some sciencey moments thrown in.
Started Where the Green Grass Grows. Have heard very mixed reviews on this one so we will see!
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Post by Notarobot on Oct 4, 2021 6:49:42 GMT -6
I just finished Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter and it was so, so incredibly disturbing. Super violent and brutal descriptions. I wish I had not read it but I had to finish it just to have the ending wrapped up so I could put it out of my mind. I skimmed through whole chapters. Would not recommend. I think it was a recommendation I got off booktok and wow...bad call.
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abs
Sapphire
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Post by abs on Oct 4, 2021 7:06:17 GMT -6
Notarobot, yes. I have read several Karin Slaughter books and while I found them to be page turners they were also very difficult to read. They absolutely need TW labels all over the place. Difficult to rate them for that reason, too.
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Post by Notarobot on Oct 4, 2021 7:15:44 GMT -6
Notarobot , yes. I have read several Karin Slaughter books and while I found them to be page turners they were also very difficult to read. They absolutely need TW labels all over the place. Difficult to rate them for that reason, too. This was my first one of hers, I wish there had been more TWs somewhere in the description or reviews. I ended up giving it 1 star because I disliked reading it so much but you're right, it's hard to rate.
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Post by angelashly on Oct 4, 2021 7:26:15 GMT -6
I saw the show and loved it! I forgot it was based on a book, I always think books are better so I'll definitely pick this one up. I actually just watched this show and was thinking about reading it. angelashly is it worth reading? Yes. It was such a good book I have not watched the show though
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Post by angelashly on Oct 4, 2021 7:38:53 GMT -6
Apples Never Fall - I was excited to read it … but did.not.like it. I can’t pin point what I didn’t like about it I picked it up Friday because of all the talk here. I am about half way through and I like it, but is slower than I expected it to be.
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Post by sweptaway on Oct 4, 2021 8:56:37 GMT -6
Mine is so much higher than usual too, but it is because I have embraced audiobooks! Normally I read 30-some each year, but I'm in the 50's this year. What do you use to listen to your audio books? I think I want to give them a try. Now that my kids are at school, I have more time to get stuff done around the house, but I don’t want to because I want to sit and read! Then it ends up making me tired, and I want to nap lol If I can keep myself entertained with an audio book, I think it would help me to get stuff done around the house instead of pretending I don’t see the mess around the outside edges of my book. ETA Specifically for borrowing from the library. I don’t really buy any books aside from BOTM. Check with your library to see what they subscribe too. Libby is a common one but my library does Hoopla and Cloud Library and not Libby. So it will depend what your library uses. I have the apps on my phone and listen on my commute, my walks, amd when I'm cleaning.
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Post by cdnfroggy on Oct 4, 2021 10:23:52 GMT -6
I finished Dead Leaves, which was a short (around 100 pages) short story collection about fall/halloween and some of the stories were so perfect for this time of year.
I started The Exorcist and am really enjoying it! I expected it to be slow going, but it's not and I'm having a hard time putting it down.
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Post by Notarobot on Oct 4, 2021 10:28:52 GMT -6
Melissa Urban (Whole30 founder) shared her Halloween spooky reading list in her newsletter today. I've read a few of her recommendations before and liked them, though I'd share for those looking for themed books this month www.melissau.com/xomu/spooky-reads-for-halloween/
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mathrun
Gold
Posts: 640 Likes: 2,522
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Post by mathrun on Oct 4, 2021 10:50:06 GMT -6
I finished The Premonition yesterday. It’s about the US planning for a generic pandemic and touches on the handling of COVID. So TW if it’s too soon for you on that topic. It is not a full debrief on how COVID was handled as it focuses more on how our preparedness plan was put together during the Bush era and refreshed during Obama era, but the author does describe some of the terrible decisions T.rump and his admin made related to COVID and the shortcomings of the national supply. He also spent a lot of time on the culture and history of the CDC which was maddening. Overall I’d say solid 4 stars.
Up next is World Without End which is hella long at 1017 pages. I’m almost 300 in and liking it so far.
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Post by angelashly on Oct 4, 2021 13:18:19 GMT -6
Got a notice the following are on the hold shelf for me:
The Wish Summer of 69' And Now You're Back The Wonder Test The Guilt Trip
So basically I need to get to reading. And of course this weekend is going to be out because of our anniversary.
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wedding
Emerald
Posts: 14,159 Likes: 76,910
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Post by wedding on Oct 4, 2021 18:48:33 GMT -6
I just finished Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter and it was so, so incredibly disturbing. Super violent and brutal descriptions. I wish I had not read it but I had to finish it just to have the ending wrapped up so I could put it out of my mind. I skimmed through whole chapters. Would not recommend. I think it was a recommendation I got off booktok and wow...bad call. This is one of my favorites by her but I enjoy disturbing. It’s definitely not for everyone.
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Post by sweptaway on Oct 4, 2021 18:50:48 GMT -6
Melissa Urban (Whole30 founder) shared her Halloween spooky reading list in her newsletter today. I've read a few of her recommendations before and liked them, though I'd share for those looking for themed books this month www.melissau.com/xomu/spooky-reads-for-halloween/Ooh this is a good list.
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Post by cargem12 on Oct 4, 2021 19:13:06 GMT -6
I just finished The Chestnut Man.
Holy.Crap.!!!! So twisted/ dark but I could not put it down. Has anyone else read it? I want to start the series on Netflix ASAP.
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Post by mintyblueair on Oct 4, 2021 19:20:35 GMT -6
I just finished The Chestnut Man. Holy.Crap.!!!! So twisted/ dark but I could not put it down. Has anyone else read it? I want to start the series on Netflix ASAP. My mom was just recommending the show, I had no idea it was a book! I think I'll try to read the book before watching.
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Post by cargem12 on Oct 4, 2021 19:20:40 GMT -6
Melissa Urban (Whole30 founder) shared her Halloween spooky reading list in her newsletter today. I've read a few of her recommendations before and liked them, though I'd share for those looking for themed books this month www.melissau.com/xomu/spooky-reads-for-halloween/Her description of The Library on Mount Char is on target. That book is so fucked up. Excellent, but fucked up. I read it years ago and still just randomly think about it. I just ordered this
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snowyowl
Amethyst
Posts: 6,784 Likes: 31,051
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Post by snowyowl on Oct 4, 2021 19:46:45 GMT -6
Melissa Urban (Whole30 founder) shared her Halloween spooky reading list in her newsletter today. I've read a few of her recommendations before and liked them, though I'd share for those looking for themed books this month www.melissau.com/xomu/spooky-reads-for-halloween/Her description of The Library on Mount Char is on target. That book is so fucked up. Excellent, but fucked up. I read it years ago and still just randomly think about it. I reread this recently and I’d honestly forgotten about half the insane shit in this book, but it’s so good. And the ending. How did I forget the ending? And it surprised the hell out of me all over again.
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adelbert
Amethyst
Posts: 6,968 Likes: 40,095
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Post by adelbert on Oct 4, 2021 23:14:48 GMT -6
Melissa Urban (Whole30 founder) shared her Halloween spooky reading list in her newsletter today. I've read a few of her recommendations before and liked them, though I'd share for those looking for themed books this month www.melissau.com/xomu/spooky-reads-for-halloween/Her description of The Library on Mount Char is on target. That book is so fucked up. Excellent, but fucked up. I read it years ago and still just randomly think about it. One of my absolute favorite books. I keep waiting for him to write another one!
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Post by abbandkaa on Oct 5, 2021 6:40:02 GMT -6
Last week, I listened to a podcast episode with author Emily Nagoski as a guest, so I'll be reading her book Come As You Are (revised edition) -- she also wrote "Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle" which I started long ago but never finished (I can't find it anywhere in my house!)
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byjove
Ruby
Posts: 15,148 Likes: 73,890
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Post by byjove on Oct 5, 2021 6:53:25 GMT -6
Her description of The Library on Mount Char is on target. That book is so fucked up. Excellent, but fucked up. I read it years ago and still just randomly think about it. I reread this recently and I’d honestly forgotten about half the insane shit in this book, but it’s so good. And the ending. How did I forget the ending? And it surprised the hell out of me all over again. Her description of the books didn't really do anything to sell them to me (I guess not my typical genre- but I'm open to new things), but if you all liked it I'd consider it. I take it you'd all recommend it?
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Post by Notarobot on Oct 5, 2021 7:15:55 GMT -6
Melissa Urban (Whole30 founder) shared her Halloween spooky reading list in her newsletter today. I've read a few of her recommendations before and liked them, though I'd share for those looking for themed books this month www.melissau.com/xomu/spooky-reads-for-halloween/Her description of The Library on Mount Char is on target. That book is so fucked up. Excellent, but fucked up. I read it years ago and still just randomly think about it. Same! It was so good and so messed up. I'm not sure how the author managed that.
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junch817
Amethyst
Posts: 6,057 Likes: 16,538
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Post by junch817 on Oct 5, 2021 7:23:37 GMT -6
Finished Apples Never Fall last night. I enjoyed it. It was everything I had been missing in Not a Happy Family. It was a bit long though.
About to start The Forest of Vanishing Stars
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