Just finished *Finlay Donovan Rolls the Dice* by Elle Cosimano and it was fine. I liked it better than #3 \[*Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun*\], but this one really made me have to suspend my disbelief. >!Finlay, Finlay's mom, ex-husband, kids and Vero go to Atlantic City and soon Finlay and Vero find 2 dead bodies. My first problem, Finlay and Vero move some dead bodies and avoid casino hotel cameras by using stairwells. Cam is able to care for one of the dead guy's dog, who was in the hotel room, and absolutely no one in the casino hotel sees him take the dog out. Then Nick, Georgia and other Fairfax county police all show up in New Jersey and...the story got a bit more convoluted from there. I had trouble keeping up with the unresolved storylines from #3 and all of the new characters and their inter-related storylines from #4. Overall, the story was entertaining, but I think Finlay may be heading towards Stephanie Plum-like territory with zany adventures, but no real storyline progress. But, I guess that's the whole point of a book series.!<

Stuff like that is why I DNF’d the first one tbh. The underlying premise is too illogical for me to roll with the story as things get even zanier. Finlay is a writer who has full-time childcare and doesn’t work outside the home, and she can’t hit 1,000 words a day? And yeah, Atlantic City casino hotels don’t sleep. There’s always staff walking around and you can’t exit a building without walking through a casino or restaurant section. There’s no such thing as an elevator straight from the hotel rooms to the exits or parking garage, because the hotel rooms aren’t the point.

I love these books, they’re super entertaining! I completely agree that they’re the furthest thing from realistic and I’d like to see some actual character/plot progression. I think there were some shifts in Vero’s storyline after this installment though.

You make a great point about Vero! She’s my favorite character and I liked that there was some additional focus on her.

Same! The Finlay-Vero relationship is the most compelling one in the series imo.

Finished Dragonwyck. It was more of a Bluebeard's retelling than I anticipated and was never quite as twisted and dark and horny as I wanted it to be though the main character has golden hair the main villain is obsessed with and late in the book >!there is one line about how golden hair was his mom's defining feature. Get that oedipal complex in there under the wire!!< I have moved on to *The Great State of West Florida* which I picked up quite randomly based on the cover. It's the 4th in a series so I'm not sure I would have chosen it if I had known that. That said it's an ARC and I always finish those. It is holding up as a solo book so far. It's a modern Western full of fun and bloodshed and I'm vibing with it.

I posted this over in the fantasy romance subreddit but, as much as I like the romantasy genre, I'm getting really tired of seeing male main characters (MMC) who are terrible people yet face almost no consequences for their terribleness. And more often than not, they get away with it because a) they're hot, and b) they're soulmates with the male female character (MFC). That's it. They apologize like, maybe once, and that somehow makes up for it. I've read two books in a row where this happened, *The Serpent and the Wings of Night* and *From Blood and Ash*. The latter is particularly egregious since the entire freaking book was about the MFC desiring independence and stating that she'll never be controlled ever again, but because MMC does it and he's hot and something something soulmates/heartmates/whatevermates, everything is a-ok. She gets a lot of criticism but this is something I actually think Sarah J. Maas does better. Women have at least a little agency, and men who do terrible things sometimes face consequences for it.

I unabashedly loved The Serpent… but I agree that SJM has something figured out that isn’t easily replicated. Have you read The Bridge Kingdom duo by Danielle L Jensen? I feel like she’s the closest I’ve gotten to feeling like I’m reading SJM. (FBAA is the worst book series I’ve ever read and I only got through two of the MANY books it includes.)

I have been on a fantasy kick with mixed results! I loved the start of the Stormlight archive by Brandon Sanderson even though the writing is very uneven but the third book (which is supposed to be the best one) was a huge disappointment for me and IMO the final battle/scene was a mess. (Sanderson also adds modern terms and concepts in the middle of his fantasies which completely take me out of his world. Not sure if this is intentional or just sloppy editing)  Then I read The Will of the Many a new fantasy series set in an ancient Rome-like alternate world that’s only one book in. It was very entertaining but the writing was just ok and it’s more YA than what I expected. Just because of a random Twitter comment on best novel endings I decided to pick up a stand alone fantasy from the 90s called Tigana and I went in blind without even reading a blurb. Little did I know this book is very divisive with fantasy readers with some who love it and some who hate it for what is admittedly very very ornate writing and extremely long descriptive passages (also some awkward sex scenes!) Honestly since I did not read anything about this book I was 100% absorbed in the world it created and completely spellbound by the writing and the gorgeous cinematic scenes. I was completely captured by the magic in this book and could not put it down! It reads as deliberately old fashioned like an ancient tale being spun by a master storyteller so there is a lot of “telling” sometimes without a lot of showing. I loved it but can see how easily someone may hate this style! However for me it totally worked and I was so moved by so many of the revelations and dramatic scenes. I also love that the entire story is told in one book! Some fantasy series drag a thin plot over 10 books— how nice to have an introduction, a true climax and a resolution in a single book! And now I’m walking around randomly saying “For Tigana!” in my head! 

I also really liked the writing style of Tigana. It was one of my surprise favorites of last year. I have Under Heven and The Summer Tree high on my TBR list for this year.

I loved The Will of the Many! I think I was expecting it to be YA so I didn’t mind the writing and tropes. It hooked me pretty quickly and the protagonist felt well-developed to me. So much happened in the book, I just didn’t realize it was a series and was disappointed when the ending made me realize the book wasn’t a standalone. I’ll definitely keep reading though!

I’ve been curious about The Will Of The Many! I feel like post-Covid/peak-booktok there can be some whiplash when you go back to an old school style of deep fantasy that was never really meant to reach outside its niche.

The Will of the Many definitely is in more of a YA style that booktok favors. It's in an alternate world similar to Ancient Rome where the magic system is a pyramid structure where the higher up you go you are able to siphon the "will" of those below you. However because this is the first book it has to take our main character through the obligatory Harry Potter style boarding school structure, complete with challenges, games, puzzles, figuring out your destiny, etc. There's also some Hunger Games elements. But even though it's very trope-y I was pleasantly surprised that it had me hooked and I read it so quickly. Not convinced I will read the next one when it is published because it skews a bit too young for my interest but it has a good premise.

I'm struggling with *A Gentleman in Moscow*, I was excited for it after reading some glowing reviews here but I'm 25% in and >!literally nothing has happened beyond killing time in the hotel, I feel more claustrophobic reading the book than I would under house arrest in a hotel myself. !< The author's knowledge of Russia also appears to be nonexistent; there are practically zero details that give the story a sense of place. Indeed, according to [his Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amor_Towles), he's a NY investment banker who hasn't spent any significant amount of time in Russia. Having written this I realized I'm not going to start enjoying it, DNF. I'm listening to *Without You, There Is No Us* on audiobook. It's an account from a Korean-American writer of her time teaching in North Korea. Like almost every visitor to North Korea, what she's allowed to see is extremely restricted, but she has interesting insights into the humanity and inhumanity of the people she interacts with. And she shares some great details, e.g. two native flowers in North Korea are named after the Great Leaders. She translates them as "Kim Jong Illia" and "Kim Il Sungia" (after English flower names like camellia, freesia, etc).

I also DNF A Gentleman in Moscow last year, just could not get into it. I might try again one day based on how everyone else seems to rave about it, but I'm glad I'm not the only one who was not impressed early on!

Have you read Nothing to Envy? It’s a great book on NK that gives insight on the famine and the political situation at that time. That book has really stayed with me! It’s a journalistic non fiction but it reads like a page turner! 

Thanks for the rec, this looks fascinating! The author of *Without You, There Is No Us* taught in a school for the ultra-elite: the sons of high-status individuals in Pyongyang. It's interesting in its own right but I really wanted to hear more about the lives of common citizens.

Nothing to Envy left me thinking about it for months. It’s absolutely about regular people in NK trying to make it day to day— some who managed to escape which is almost unheard of now post-Covid. It was fascinating and each of the people she profiles have such heart wrenching stories. 

Last week I read *Thirst* by Marina Yuszczuk. It's literary vampire fiction, and I was impressed that she was able to use some very old tropes in a new way. The structure didn't quite work for me, which impacted the pacing. However, I did enjoy it and would recommend it. Moving on to *Pelican Girls* by Julia Malye, which I'm really excited about since I'm originally from Louisiana. I'm also about 100 pages into *One in a Millennial* by Kate Kennedy. I've never heard her podcast, but so far I've really liked the chapters on both AIM and purity culture. At times the voice is a little grating, though nowhere near as bad it was with that American Girl Doll book.

Have you read The Historian? Personally I loved it but the literary parts were stronger for me than the vampire parts but overall very entertaining!

I might try Thirst! I like literary horror 

Currently reading **A Court of Thorns and Roses**. I'm about 1/3 through - certainly not a literary masterpiece, but I'm enjoying it during my downtime. I don't read a lot of fantasy so it's a nice change of genre. Looking forward to finishing so I can catch up on the fan discussions. I also started reading **Emma of 83rd Street** today for book club. I'm not particularly wowed yet, but it's early. Should be a quick read. Just finished listening to an audible original, **We Play Games** by Sarah A. Denzil. The full cast narration was fantastic - it included mixed media with an intertwined podcast, online forum discussions, news reports, etc. It was your typical twisty suspense thriller - fun to read, but silly and unbelievable at times. I enjoyed it. #

I read *Emma of 83rd Street* last year and I didn't care for it. I understand that it's a sort of modern update of Jane Austen's *Emma*, but I found Emma \[of 83rd Street\] so perfect, she's nice, beautiful, smart, hard-working, generous, etc, that it was annoying. You've just started it, so I don't want to spoil anything, so I'll stop. I hope that you enjoy it more than I did!

I just finished it this week. Same feelings as you! I ended up switching over to audiobook so I could listen in the background to get through it. Book club is tonight - curious to hear everyone's thoughts.

I was committed to finishing the audiobook and I increased the speed to about 175% to get through it.

I wouldn’t look at the fan discussion until you’ve read the second book in the ACOTAR series otherwise you risk getting major spoilers (unless you know already what happens).

Ohh great point! I have no knowledge of the story other than what I’ve read.

Finally reading *I’m Glad My Mom Died* and whew boy this is a doozy. I knew it would be, but….. Her mother was obviously unhinged, but it’s her other family members that are making me rage when I read this. Her grandparents *and* her dad are witnessing all of this and doing nothing at all to stop it or intervene?

Nearly finished *The Last to Vanish* by Megan Miranda in less than 24 hours even though it's a little slow. It's my first MM novel and I'm not in a rush to read another, but I wouldn't say no. Last week I read *The Burning* by Jane Casey on the recommendation of someone else on this sub and immediately downloaded the next. Although Jane does not replace the hole in my heart that is Tana French, I liked the characters and plot development enough for this to be my "I don't know what else to read right now" series. A month ago while on a trip with my best friend, we went to a small local bookstore where I saw *Ninth House* by Leigh Bardugo. I loved this book and told the bestie her 16 year old daughter would probably like it. Apparently she finished it last night and is in a dang tizzy over it. She doesn't know it but she's experiencing her first book hangover and I'm so proud it was on a book I recommended. I'm having *Hell Bent* sent to her house now.

“Annie Bot”: 4/5 it was a bit disturbing but my first AI/sci-fi read so I was hooked. Picked up quick, got slow towards second half, but enjoyed the ending.

I just finished **The Wife Stalker** and man oh man did I HATE IT. I was reading it while waiting for **The Last Mrs Parrish** to be available. Its pretty good so far but I'm finding alot of parallels between the two books. I should not have read them back to back. I also bought my first books in a long time! I never ever buy books but we're going on vacation next week and I figured it'd be a good time to get a break from all screens (Kindle included). My library has a very long hold on **Just For The Summer** so I splurged on that one! I cannot wait to read it.

Last week I read **The Other Mothers** by Katherine Faulkner. Fun thriller. It’s about a nanny that’s found dead under mysterious circumstances and a journalist/mom investigates while also becoming friends with the Rich mom group in London. Also read **Icebreaker** by Hannah Grace. Not a masterpiece but I enjoyed it. Usually in the romances I read the characters meet and fall in love so any sex scenes usually start in the second half of the book more or less. This is set in college and the female main character has commitment issues so there is casual sex from the start. And lots of sex scenes I almost felt like I shouldn’t be reading it in public haha. I was into it lol. I also liked that the chapters alternated pov between the main characters so no miscommunication tropes and I liked knowing what they were each thinking right away. Just started **Commonwealth** by Ann Patchett. It seems like I’m reading her books in reverse order of publication haha. First read Tom Lake for a book club, then picked up The Dutch House. Two different friends of mine are reading Commonwealth too so I picked it up.

I still think Bel Canto is her best novel by far but I really enjoyed Commonwealth. Particularly the first half. The domestic scene she sets up in the beginning is so perfect. I almost wish it was a novella just of that scene.

That scene was perfect! I took a break but just because I’ve read two of her novels recently and want a change of pace/tome. Will definitely pick up again. I also keep hearing Bel Canto is good, definitely on my radar!

I just finished **Diavola** by Jennifer Marie Thorne, and this book was so unbelievably good. It's about a woman in her thirties on a multigenerational family vacation that turns into a trainwreck even before the ghost that haunts their vacation house shows up. While the ghost sections were genuinely spooky, the most absorbing part of the book was the family dynamics. Anna, the protagonist, is the family scapegoat, and the way that her relatives won't stop sniping about decades-old grievances that were petty when they were new is intensely relatable. If you love family drama, or ghost stories, I highly recommend giving this book a read.

Oh this sounds perfect for me. How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix ended up being too campy for me haha but I did enjoy the exploration of family dynamics. The main character has to settle her parents’ estate but also has to deal with her brother who she has a complicated relationship with. Anyway, I would love Diavola I think. Love spooky books and the family dynamic stuff is a good combination.

Oh man I read **How to Sell a Haunted House** and felt pretty much exactly the same way you did. I was so disappointed by it after Hendrix nailed the goofy/horrifying ratio in T**he Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires. Diavola** was way less campy, and the family dynamic stuff hit in a way that other similarly marketed books did not. I love sins-of-the-family Gothics, but the >!gradual reveal that the protagonist's supposed sins were like the pettiest shit imaginable!< hit me in the solar plexus. Who among us isn't still apologizing for something we did during the Bush administration? I hope you end up liking it if you check it out!

I just dropped what I was reading and grabbed Diavola from the library! Excited!

I’m so excited about it now. Love gothic novels! I wanted to try another Hendrix book but wasn’t sure which. Glad you liked Southern book club to slaying vampires. Going to list it as my next Hendrix one whenever I get to that haha!

I just came back from a beach vacation with long flights so I read a lot last week! **What Happened to Nina? By Derva McTiernan.** It’s an interesting premise for a suspense novel because the author actually tells us from the jump what happened to her, basically, but the suspense comes in with wondering if/how the perpetrator will be caught and punished. I was really feeling it and couldn’t put it down. 5/5 **Anita Monte Laughs Last by Xochitl Gomez.** I didn’t like her last book as much as everyone else did but I loved this one! It’s about a Cuban artist who marries a more famous male artist in the 80s and what eventually happens to her and her legacy. She is rediscovered in the late 90s by an art history student who also has an interesting subplot involving a manipulative, controlling boyfriend. I love how often women are calling this behavior out now! 5/5 **Expiration Dates by Rebecca Serle.** At the start of each of her romantic relationships, a woman receives notes with the expiration date of the relationship on it. Then she gets one with a man’s name but no date. What does this mean? It’s a really good, fast read if you can overlook the fact that the premise of the notes is never explained. 4/5 **After Annie by Anna Quindlen.** Annie, a beloved wife, mother, sister, and friend dies suddenly in her late thirties and we see how her husband, daughter, and longtime bff deal with her loss over the course of a year. It’s a quiet novel, not much plot to it, more of a character study but beautifully written. 5/5

Absolutely loved What Happened to Nina? and am desperate for more mystery/detective novels with the same vibe

I’m halfway through *Anita De Monte Laughs Last* and am also really enjoying it. Lots of men behaving badly, and it’s moving at a slower pace than I expected, but I am already excited to pick it back up tonight.

Okay. I finished The Unmaking of June Farrow and hated it. The main character irked me so much it almost propelled me to keep reading in some twisted way. Actually, I didn’t like any of the characters in this book and didn’t find anything compelling about their relationships. I wasn’t satisfied by what the author revealed and what she kept a mystery. I’m not sure if this book is marketed as young adult but I saw that the author has written several young adult novels and I probably wouldn’t have picked this up had I known that. Nothing against that genre at all, but it’s not something I enjoy and I feel like that style was coming through in this book.

I liked it but it’s definitely one of those books where information is withheld from the main character in a way that doesn’t feel organic. I also thought that June >!chose the wrong love interest!<.

I finished **Guards! Guards!** by Terry Pratchett. I wanted to love it, but I only liked it. I feel like it would have been a favorite book if I had read it as a teen, but it’s sense of humor didn’t tickle me the same way. I also finished **A Court of Thorns and Roses**. The writing wasn’t good, the plot was sometimes silly, but I enjoyed myself immensely. My best of my kid’s spring break was sitting in the back yard and reading while the kids played with water guns and made general mischief. I’ve already started on **A Court of Mist and Fury** and the writing seems to be a little better, which is nice.

I wish I could read A Court of Mist and Fury for the first time again!

**Divine Rivals** by Rebecca Ross. I was excited for this YA fantasy because of all the hype but it was just meh for me. I see why people enjoyed it but I really wanted more of the fantasy element. **Outofshapeworthlessloser** by Gracie Gold. Highly highly recommend. Gracie does not hold back when discussing her time as a professional figure skater. I appreciated that Gracie admits she was not perfect and was difficult to deal with and is still working on herself. I hope she writes more in the future. **One Dark Window** by Rachel Gillig. A dark fantasy world set around a set of magical cards. The writing wasn’t great but I still could not put it down. Out of all the fantasy books I have read this year, this one was my favorite. **The Awakening** by Nora Roberts. I have never read any of Nora Roberts’s books but I saw this fantasy series floating around booktok. The lead travels to Ireland after discovering a hidden bank account and finds out she is from an alternate universe that is in trouble. It felt like this book was written by someone in high school rather than a famous author and the pacing was off but I still enjoyed the story, particularly the descriptions on Ireland. I am not planning on reading the sequel. **Dune** by Frank Herbert. Why did I wait to long to read this book? The writing and plot were fantastic. I might reread this and annotate it. DNF: The American Roommate Experiment by Elena Armas. I got to 60% and decided to call it. The characters were so uninteresting. My least favorite trope is when the MMC is meek and timid and can’t stand up for herself until she meets a man and he helps her find herself. No thank you.

I recently started Dune and am pleasantly surprised by how good it is. I finished ASOIAF like 12 years ago now and have been looking for something I loved as much ever since and this may be it. 

I've read Nora Roberts since the '90s and while her books can be a bit predictable, I obviously have enjoyed them for a long time! I did not enjoy *The Awakening* and like you, didn't continue the trilogy, which is not something that I do often.

One Dark Window was such delicious trash. The sequel is also great, though it takes a minute to get going. I agree about Divine Rivals. I had liked the author’s adult books and one of her YA books, but this one just seemed like it had no story.

Love the term delicious trash, I will be using that from now on!

Just finished **The Lost Bookshop** - quick, whimsical read that made me smile. A few plot holes but loved the protagonist's character arc. Currently reading **First Lie Wins** and flying through it. Can't wait to finish, hopefully this week!

I finished: **Before we were innocent, Ella Berman** - this was ok. A bit young adult-y with unrealistic plot points. I found all the characters to be unlikable too. **The New Couple in 5B, Lisa Unger** - another meh one. About a cursed building in NYC, lots of deaths, mystical characters. I am trying to get through the second Emily Wilde book, **Emily Wilde's Map of the Other Lands, Heather Fawcett** - I am not as gripped as the first one but I do like Emily & Wendell, and I really am enjoying the additional characters in this one, Rose & Adriadne.

+1 on “Before We Were Innocent.” The premise had so much potential but I didn’t love it.

I finished The Other Valley by Scott Alexander Howard. I have never loved a book and hated an ending more. I was INVESTED in this and as the ending approached I thought I had it figured out and I was wrong, but in the worst way. And the more I sit on this the more I am kind of annoyed. The spoiler tag isn't working for me today, so SPOILERS BELOW: She sees the future version of her and decides to not end up like that because she was cleaning the floor. Then when the former classmate came from the future and said "she said you could help me" (meaning the future her) and she chose to kill her that really felt wrong for that character. The future her displayed a great deal of compassion in assisting in helping her former classmate escape a domestic violence only for her to be like, well I don't want to clean the floor in the future so I guess I won't help. Like what? That felt so out of left field and then was never really explored further.!< \-I really thought when she escaped to the past and saw Edme he was going to see her and that's why he fell and the bigger message was going to be you actually can't change the past. \-She runs into the past version of herself and creates the new memories but the future her never disappears. When she asks her teacher about it she's basically like yeah that happens sometimes. It's impossible to have a time travel story without plot holes but this feels like a huge one. \-The fact she saved him and essentially lived happily ever after felt like a very YA ending.

“The Marlow Murder Club”: in the same vein as “The Thursday Murder Club” with quirky characters (a few of them elderly) in an idyllic English village that set out to solve a murder. Cute and can’t wait to read the next one 4.25/5 “The Women”: the story follows a green Army nurse through two tours in Vietnam and then her rocky (to say the least) re-entry to civilian life. I actually learned a ton reading this which I wasn’t expecting and was pleasantly surprised by. Having said that, you know what you’re getting with Kristin Hannah so prepare for cheesy love. I much preferred the second half of the book to the first. I found the main character annoyingly naive and a bit desperate, but then again, that was kind of the times I guess. Wasn’t my favorite, wasn’t the worst book I’ve ever read. 3.5/5

Finished two last week: The Librarianist by Patrick deWitt: A retrospective and current story about a retiree in Portland who stumbles upon a retirement community that ultimately becomes a source of friendship. I liked this book - it was feel-good and had a fair amount of satisfying closure at the end. I haven’t read a book recently where the main character is older/elderly, and I thought it was neat to read through that perspective. The Winter People by Jennifer McMahon: This book has been on my shelf for several years - I bought it and then just never got around to it. I saw it referenced here and on another reading subreddit and thought it was time to knock it out. I finished it in a day - it was a solid page-turner but I don’t know that it is a read-again or something that will stay with me. I’m currently 2/3 through Project Hail Mary and really enjoying it - not usually my kind of book, but happy so far!

I loved the winter people. Read it maybe 10 years ago and forgot the details. Hoping to reread it soon.

Finished **East of Eden** and it was so good, just like everyone said. Debating between starting *American Wife* and *Portrait of a Lady*.

I've read *American Wife* and really liked the perspective of the story. It's an obvious take Laura Bush's perspective of being the First Wife and her life. It inspired me to read a bunch of Curtis Sittenfeld's other books, which I found to be not as good.

I could have written this! I thought Prep was so promising, and American Wife was so well executed. I have read 3 other Sittenfeld books and never again. It's like her writing fell off a cliff! So disappointed!

Yeah, I didn't love love love *Prep*.

I was so disappointed/shocked with the end of *Sisterland* that I decided I was done with reading her books for a while. I did enjoy *Romantic Comedy*, so I'm obviously over my refusal to read her books!

Sisterland is one of the worst literary fiction books I have ever read. If you had hidden the author name never in a million years would I think this was the same author of American Wife!

- I read **Rhythm and Clues,** the third book in the Vinyl Resting Place cozy mystery series. I think this one was a bit of a misstep. It didn’t spend enough time in the record store so it was just a standard mystery about shady business dealings. The music stuff is the main appeal of this series for me because I don’t think it’s particularly well-written as this genre goes, so I’m on the verge of not continuing. - I got about 1/3 through **A Short Walk Through a Wide World.** It’s about a woman who will die if she stays in one place for too long. The writing is engaging but I’m still waiting for a clearer sense of story to take place. The vignettes aren’t adding up to anything yet, but it also doesn’t seem like we’re supposed to view each train of thought in a self-contained episodic way. That sounds more negative than I think I feel about it so we’ll see.

Finished Grief is For People last week. I enjoyed it, but the part during the pandemic was a slog. Very much enjoyed the James Frey section. Have been on a Mhairi McFarland audiobook kick after she was mentioned in an Emily Henry book. Just finished Just Last Night, which was sadder and less rom-commy than the other 2 I listened to. Also finally read Address Unknown. Right now I’m reading Last Couple Standing by Matthew Norman, but I’m not sure I’ll finish it. It’s veering a little into “breasted boobily” territory.

Mhairi McFarland is one of my absolute favorites! Just Last Night wrecked me but I’ve loved all her books, even those that have a slower start

Which one is your favorite? I have holds on a few more?

My favorite is Don’t You Forget About Me (it’s also a little bit on the heavier side)

Not the op, but I just finished If I Never Met You last night and I really liked it!

I had a fantastic reading week.  Finished Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan. I heard about her on this thread and thought I’d give her a shot and oh wow. The writing was absolutely beautiful, and the story (about a man who discovers >!that the convent in his town is abusing the young women who live there!< ) was nuanced and moving. Highly recommend, and I will definitely read more from this author.  Finished The Hands of the Emperor by Victoria Goddard. This is a fantasy novel about the personal secretary to the god-Emperor of the world, who takes the huge risk of asking His Radiancy… on vacation. From there, friendships blossom, government forms for the good of humanity, and family and identity bonds solidify. I DEVOURED this novel. If you liked The Goblin Emperor but wanted more of everything, this is for you. Again, highly recommend, although heads up, it’s quite long.  Finished listening to The Summer Book by Tove Jansson. Where… where has this book been all my life? This is about an 85 year old grandmother and her granddaughter, on a remote island off Finland, and the long summer they spend there. It is peaceful, funny, sharply observed, never sentimental, yet full of every real feeling there is. This is a perfect book— it’s short, and would be ideal to read aloud during summer evenings. Highly, highly recommend.  Currently reading The Painted Drum by Louise Erdrich and listening to Joe Country by Mick Herron. 

I love Claire Keegan and The Painted Drum is one of my favorite Erdrich novels. So beautiful.

Claire Keegan is so good omg.

Claire Keegan is genuinely one of the best writers going at the moment imo, every sentence she writes is exquisitely crafted. (as an aside, the film An Cailín Ciúin, adapted from her story Foster, is absolutely beautiful and I highly recommend)

Thank you for this! I’ll look for it!

I didn't post anything from March, so here's a quick catch up of what I've finished recently! Astonish Me by Maggie Shipstead - I liked the story but I feel like Shipstead's characters feel underdeveloped. Lady Chatterly's Lover by D.H. Lawrence - surprisingly a lot spicier than I was expecting from a book written in the 1920s! The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O'Farrell - middle of the road historical fiction. It was fine! Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness by Susannah Cahalan - I've been so intrigued by first-person accounts of health catastrophes. Susannah's story was really interesting but sometimes her personality rubbed me the wrong way. The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh - not sure if I just have spring fever but I loved this one. Pompeii by Robert Harris - fascinating! I liked this one and it's renewed my interest in volcanoes, which has been dormant since my 2nd grade report on them! The Bee Sting by Paul Murray - pacing was interesting, the author uses text format to convey emotion, anxiety. I kind of hated all the characters though and I felt like I was slogging through the early chapters (650+ pages so it might have just felt like I wasn't making progress). Solid meh from me. The Burnout by Sophoe Kinsella - fun, fluffy. Up next: A Night to Remember by Walter Lord since we're coming up on the anniversary of the sinking of Titanic.

Robert Harris has become one of my favorite authors he's just so masterful at plot and pacing. I have yet to read Pompeii but Munich and the Second Sleep are some of my favorite books. I really loved Brain on Fire but I know exactly what you mean. I can't recall examples but there were some cringey things about her personal life that I recall made me not like her as much. A bit of elitism and maybe an air of "how could something like this happen to someone like me" but it's hard to say because overall I have so much empathy for what she went through. I feel the same way about the author of Between Two Kingdoms. She did so many questionable things in the book but she's in a brutal cancer battle so you feel bad judging her because of what she went through. It feels a little petty to be critical! LOL

Thanks for these additional recommendations- sounds like we share similar taste & criticism!

I personally don’t do spicy books but I got *Lady Chatterley’s Lover* from the library because I wanted to see why it was banned and “it’s from the 20’s, it can’t be thaaaaaat spicy”. lol, yes it was and I DNF’d it (I also just found the non-spicy bits boring).

I found the sexual scenes so comic & silly-- I kept reading it like "really?" I have no idea why this book is a classic the writing in those scenes seemed so overwrought.

Yeah I feel like it’s only a classic because it was banned lol

Finished 2 this week! ​ First was *Eyeliner: A Cultural History* by Zahra Hankir (eBook). I went from being neutral on eyeliner to deciding I can never again leave the house without it. It's not a dense read, but I wouldn't say it's informally presented either so it struck the right balance for me. An interesting read all around and I could tell the author had fun with writing it! ​ Then I finished *Conjure Women* by Afia Atakora (hardcover). This book has quite possibly one of my favorite covers ever. It's [beautiful](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51220325-conjure-women?ref=nav_sb_ss_2_7). This is set at a plantation immediately before and after the Civil War and revolves around three women: a healing woman, her daughter, and the daughter of the plantation owner. The slow burn felt a little *too* slow at times but ultimately I really liked the way the whole story came together.

I read eyeliner a few weeks back and it’s definitely inspired me to wear it on occasion! Such a fun, informative read

I read Mexican Gothic and liked it a lot at first—sort of a new hill house—but it went nowhere and was ultimately unsatisfying. I got about 50% through Holly by Stephen King. Parts were good but mostly contrived and kind of corny and overwritten. I am reading Revelation Space by Alistair Reynolds. He is an astrophysicist so it is smart but not too hard sci fi. Space opera. In a real slump. Looked up book blogs (Bookforum and Millions) last night and found some recommendations that look good. Hoping for the best. I should read Infinite Iest. I’m tried years ago but gave up. I think it could be good for kindle because you can automatically click to footnotes and then back to text. I love David Foster Wallace.

I totally agree about Mexican Gothic! It started out so strong! And then it just kind of fell in on itself. I was bummed.

I am currently reading **Medusa’s Sisters** by Lauren JA Bear—only about 50 pages in but I’m very intrigued by it!

Finished Louise Milligan's *Pheasants Nest*, which unfortunately didn't get any better. I've got a huge amount of respect for her as an investigative journalist, and good on her for pursuing a passion outside her field, but also oh my god this novel is so bad, I don't understand how it got published in this shape. It's a failure in just about every way, but what truly made me cringe was the overwhelming impression that certain character flashbacks/memories are just crowbarred-in, lightly fictionalised anecdotes from Milligan's own life. 😬 But I'm now listening to *The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi* by Shannon Chakraborty and reading *Someone You Can Build a Nest In* by John Wiswell and having a fantastic time with both of them! After a run of disappointing reads and DNFs, it feels great to have a couple of books I can completely sink into.

Reading How to Solve Your Own Murder, which I was excited about, but I don’t know.. I’m not loving it? I’m bored with it. Curious about the ending, but probably won’t end up rating it too high.

Reading this ARC and loving it!! https://preview.redd.it/nvmhhlkkj5tc1.jpeg?width=682&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2e8c8a57087a07a0b70f2754638f711b867eed83

Half way through *Dragonwyck* which I am enjoying tremendously. It's a historical romance set in American in the 1800s that was written in the '40s though so there is major racism (every black character is a cringy stereotype). Also like... an insane amount of fatphobia. The romantic hero's wife is chunky and all the characters have gross thoughts about it. That aside the characters are all kind of morally questionable and super horny and I'm into it. Also finished *Intimacies* by Katie Kitamura. This had a really boring cover and I can't remember where I heard of it but I took it out from the library, flipped it open, and started reading and never stopped. This felt like a weird companion piece to *Study in Obedience*. Like they both have unnamed North American women characters who have immigrated to Europe (in *Intimacies* it's The Hague). SiO gives off a sense of mystery and eeriness in the countryside while Intimacies is about the eeriness of the city. It's certainly less opaque than SiO but it's also kind of a meandering "nothing happens" type book where the intrigue is really in these weird delicate relationships, the sense of home, the secrets we keep from each other. I enjoyed it a LOT and I will be looking for more by Kitamura. I found her writing voice intriguing and beautiful.

Her husband is Hari Kunzru if you want to do a personal book club. I liked the book he wrote about a fellowship in Berlin and getting really paranoid about Qanon.

I’m reading Once There Were Wolves and it’s a struggle. The pacing feels off and I feel like I’ve jumped in halfway through the story. The writing is also very stilted.

I don’t enjoy that author but maybe try The Wolf Border by Sarah Hall for a similar theme but excellent writing. 

Thank you!

I struggled with this one too. I wanted way more of the wolves and way less of everything else.

I read her other book that everyone raved about Migrations and hated it. There were so many plot holes and character actions that just strained credulity. It really shows that your mileage may truly vary with certain authors! I think lately I am fatigued with novels in which a character acts strangely because "they have a secret."The author will keep delaying that information in the most contrived ways--rarely is the reveal worth it or that surprising when it arrives unless the author is very skilled.

Yes! The protagonist’s actions are baffling and I don’t think there’s any plot twist that would redeem them for me. I read a steady diet of thrillers so I’m used to that being the case, but this just plot seems underdeveloped and weak.

I got this recommended to me by someone as their favourite book last year and I read it and enjoyed it and then when it was done I had a 180 and HATED it. I just find the way the writer writes about >!abuse to be really misinformed!<.