Books #28

[StephenTJackson]

Just finished reading Arthur and Teddy are Coming Out - Ryan Love.

And I'm really conflicted on my opinion of it. It was a heartwarming and heartbreaking story, told beautifully and genuinely. Two very honest and very genuine and believable portrayals of coming out of people from different generations and the struggles of that.

But the book had every possible cliche in it that you could possibly imagine and it really frustrated me because it made it so predictable and unoriginal. It made it a disappointing read overall. Which was a shame for the core story it told was beautiful.

 

[BWGossip]

Spent 2 hours at the independent bookstore and thank god I didn't have my wallet with me because I'd have bought 20+ books The Woodworth Editions have the most beautiful books/covers! There was a hardback of The Song of Achilles, it was so beautiful I was tempted to buy it even though I don't like hardback/beautiful books as I destroy them.

Was intrigued by The Cockroach by Ian McEwan, as the blurb makes it seems a copycat of The Metamorphosis. Is it any good? Loved Expiation from him but The Comfort of Strangers was disappointing and weird (and not in a good way)

Edit: @Elle Read The Mill on the Floss in February and it became on of my all time fav! It's very different from P&P so hopefully it will be more to your taste! Please, give us your opinion, love reading about it!

 

[Tofino]

Do lots of National Trust places have secondhand bookshops? I saw one at Quarry Bank Mill and had forgotten there was one at Tatton Park too until I saw this.

 

[ordinaryjelly]

Our local National Trust place has a delightful used book shop. It is all higgeldy piggeldy, steps up and down all over the place, alcoves to hide away in. It is really lovely. And so much cheaper than other used book shops.

 

[Caffeine Fiend]

I’m busy finishing Beartown (the whole series). I’d avoided it before because I thought, ice hockey I’m not really going to enjoy it.
But, after reading a few of Beckman’s novel I’ve realised he’s a master at writing words that touch my soul. So, I started. And all I can say is he is swiftly becoming one of my favourite authors ever. He writes about life / humanity (I can’t find the write words) so well. He really touches my soul, in so many ways. He makes me chuckle out loud, he makes me nod in agreement, sigh in desperation, cry at the depths of his understanding, his insight touches me deeply.
What more can I say without sounding like I’m besotted with him, which I am by the way.

You have summed up exactly how I feel about Backman. His observation of human behaviour and actions is the best Ive ever read. He translates it so well. The emotion he puts into his writing. He has this knack for getting you to care about his characters, all his characters. Even the morally corrupt ones. His characters are so well rounded and fleshed out. Theyre believable, theyre flawed, theyre human.

He is my favourite author. I havent read anything of his I havent enjoyed.

I feel like you can dislike the way he writes as it is quite unique but there is no way you could criticise the content.

He has my whole heart.

P.s follow him on Instagram, he is so witty.

 

[cill2019]

I’ve just been looking at Jodi Picoults new book to pre order…. £20 for a paperback!!! I am shooketh

 

[OH.FFS]

You have summed up exactly how I feel about Backman. His observation of human behaviour and actions is the best Ive ever read. He translates it so well. The emotion he puts into his writing. He has this knack for getting you to care about his characters, all his characters. Even the morally corrupt ones. His characters are so well rounded and fleshed out. Theyre believable, theyre flawed, theyre human.

He is my favourite author. I havent read anything of his I havent enjoyed.

I feel like you can dislike the way he writes as it is quite unique but there is no way you could criticise the content.

He has my whole heart.

P.s follow him on Instagram, he is so witty.

Oh I’ll have to go and follow him too. I can imagine he’s witty in real life and I’m sure if I ever met I would love him in person too becuase I feel like he speaks to me.
---

I’m busy finishing Beartown (the whole series). I’d avoided it before because I thought, ice hockey I’m not really going to enjoy it.
But, after reading a few of Beckman’s novel I’ve realised he’s a master at writing words that touch my soul. So, I started. And all I can say is he is swiftly becoming one of my favourite authors ever. He writes about life / humanity (I can’t find the write words) so well. He really touches my soul, in so many ways. He makes me chuckle out loud, he makes me nod in agreement, sigh in desperation, cry at the depths of his understanding, his insight touches me deeply.
What more can I say without sounding like I’m besotted with him, which I am by the way.

PS I can spell his name Backman, I hate it when I make typos and don’t realise quick enough to edit them.

 

[Katykatykaty]

I’ve just been looking at Jodi Picoults new book to pre order…. £20 for a paperback!!! I am shooketh

For that price I’d want it gold plated not a paperback!

 

[inksmear]

I finished A Little Life and omg wtf. I feel like I spent the last 3rd of the book

Spoiler: Spoiler

waiting for Jude to kill himself. Horrifying all the way through.
it was beautifully written BUT perhaps got a little cartoonish - I could have lived without the Dr Traylor storyline, or it could have been written slightly differently? It just seemed a bit far-fetched at that point. And the brutality of the relationship with Caleb was also sort of silly. It just felt like it was adding to the pile on of misery, but there was none of the heart that made us understand the relationship. It was too one dimensional. I enjoyed how the friendships were depicted and I loved Harold.

4 out of 5.

 

[Custard cream]

I have & I really liked it! Caveat being that I also liked Happy Place, so probably good to wait for someone who also didn't like HP to let you know what they thought I'm definitely an easily pleased Emily Henry fan (save for PWMOV, which I did not like).

I have loved all of her other books - apart from Happy Place

 

[Albrouze]

Its been quiet here this week! Are we all just reading lots or not reading at all so nothing to talk about?

I read/finished two memoirs this week. Grief is for People by Sloane Crosley and Did I Ever Tell You by Genevieve Kingston. I found Grief is for People a bit of a slog and I don't really know why. Loved Did I Ever Tell You. They are definitely not for everyone though as they deal with death, illness and suicide.

I’m busy finishing Beartown (the whole series). I’d avoided it before because I thought, ice hockey I’m not really going to enjoy it.
But, after reading a few of Beckman’s novel I’ve realised he’s a master at writing words that touch my soul. So, I started. And all I can say is he is swiftly becoming one of my favourite authors ever. He writes about life / humanity (I can’t find the write words) so well. He really touches my soul, in so many ways. He makes me chuckle out loud, he makes me nod in agreement, sigh in desperation, cry at the depths of his understanding, his insight touches me deeply.
What more can I say without sounding like I’m besotted with him, which I am by the way.

Reading this actually made me feel emotional You've perfectly described how his writing makes me feel. I tried to explain what Beartown was about and why I loved it so much to someone recently and couldn't!

 

[QueenBW]

Has anyone finished Funny Story? What’s your verdict? I got a Waterstones voucher for my birthday and I’m itching to spend it but I hated Happy Place so am a bit reluctant!

I read an ARC and loved it and I'm now rereading it. It's completely different from HP, it's lighter - still deals with serious issues but it made me happy, not depressed like HP did.

I hated HP and loved Funny Story. It's now my second favorite EmHen, so I say spend that voucher!

 

[Caffeine Fiend]

I think on the last thread I had said about listening to Kulti as part of the audible plus category and it being removed suddenly. So I get this email yesterday... I click the link, Im excited... to get this. Amazon do things like this all the time. Its annoying.

 

[Brightlycolouredbowels]

This week I finished reading Everyone in my Family has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson and The Wicked King by Holly Black.

Everyone in my Family has Killed Someone was a fun, easy read, I enjoyed the chatty narration and liked the idea that he told you what pages the murders happened and the link to Knox’s 10 commandments of detective fiction.

The Wicked King is the 2nd in the ‘Folk of the Air’ Trilogy, got the first on a kindle 99p deal, then this one and the third on prime reading. I don’t really care much for the characters but it‘s easy reading and now I’m halfway through the third one I want to see where it ends.

There’s been a discussion this week about Leigh Bardugo. I’ve only read 2 of her books and only in the last 6 months. The first, Shadow and Bone I found a bit slow. I just couldn’t get into it and didn’t really care about the characters. It ends on a cliffhanger and I haven’t bothered to buy the sequel to find out what goes on! The second one of her’s I read was Ninth House. Again, found it a big of a slog, slow paced and hard to get into. It didn’t help that when I read the blurb I didn’t realise it was about the magic of secret societies in universities rather than the secret societies themselves so that may be one of the reasons I didn’t get into it as much as I could have. After seeing some of the comments on here though I have bought Hell Bent in a 99p kindle deal, some of the reviews said it was better than Ninth House so fingers crossed.

 

[Custard cream]

I read an ARC and loved it and I'm now rereading it. It's completely different from HP, it's lighter - still deals with serious issues but it made me happy, not depressed like HP did.

I hated HP and loved Funny Story. It's now my second favorite EmHen, so I say spend that voucher!

Yay!! So happy to hear a positive review from someone who didn’t like HP either. You’ve convinced me …. Trip to my local Waterstones today I think

 

[tp1986]

Yay!! So happy to hear a positive review from someone who didn’t like HP either. You’ve convinced me …. Trip to my local Waterstones today I think

I was going to hold off on buying Funny Story but now you're all convincing me, this thread is bad for my bank balance

I got a nice haul on my Bath trip- A Fragile Enchantment by Alison Saft, The Gifts of Imperfection by Brene Brown, Find me (call me by your name sequel) plus a bunch for the kids and husband. I'm still reading The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo at the moment, it's not like her other stuff but enjoying it for now!

 

[ScoutFinch]

Do lots of National Trust places have secondhand bookshops? I saw one at Quarry Bank Mill and had forgotten there was one at Tatton Park too until I saw this.

View attachment 2901239

There’s one at Dunham Massey too, which sounds like it might also be local to you!

 

[Chocolategoggler]

I read an ARC and loved it and I'm now rereading it. It's completely different from HP, it's lighter - still deals with serious issues but it made me happy, not depressed like HP did.

I hated HP and loved Funny Story. It's now my second favorite EmHen, so I say spend that voucher!

Here's a preview of 42 pages of the book to get an idea of if we'll like it:
Funny Story https://g.co/kgs/bw8rYN3

 

[CommentBelow]

I read an ARC and loved it and I'm now rereading it. It's completely different from HP, it's lighter - still deals with serious issues but it made me happy, not depressed like HP did.

I hated HP and loved Funny Story. It's now my second favorite EmHen, so I say spend that voucher!

As a Happy Place hater who has just bought Funny Story this is very reassuring!!

I’m reading The Familiar and You are here atm then I’ll move on to Funny Story.

 

[cherrymoon]

I haven’t read a thing since finishing notit () on audio. I’ve listened to a few hours of shuggie bain on the train. I feel like such a failure

really need to stop bringing my work home with me.