Notice
Thread ordered by most liked posts - View normal thread.

slugella

VIP Member
I'm being brave and going to an in person book club this week. 😬 (I say brave because I don't know anyone there haha). The book is Unsettled Ground by Claire Fuller, I don't think I would have picked it up if it weren't for the book club so will see how I get on!
 
  • Like
  • Heart
Reactions: 18

Big_Summer_Blowout

Chatty Member
15 books for me this month.

1 ⭐
Layla - Colleen Hoover
The Idea of You - Robinne Lee

2 ⭐
Green Dot - Madeleine Gray
Red, White and Royal Blue - Casey McQuiston
Hooked - Emily McIntire
The Seven Skins of Esther Wilding - Holly Ringland

3 ⭐
Confession of a Serial Killer (BTK Killer) - Katherine Ramsland
Maame - Jessica George
Black Cake - Charmaine Wilkerson
The Blackout - Ruth McIver
The Devil you Know - Gwen Adshead

4 ⭐
Weyward - Emilia Hart
The Murder After the Night Before - Katy Brent
Funny Story - Emily Henry

5 ⭐
The Women - Kristin Hannah
 
  • Like
  • Heart
Reactions: 18

SaintLeo

VIP Member
Five books completed in June here, but alongside those I’ve also finally followed through on my threats to give Les Miserables
another go and am actually quite enjoying it this time! (I know @LaBlonde will approve!) It does feel slow going in places even when skimming parts, so planning to read in sections and take breaks to mix it up with something lighter which means this one is probably going to be with me for a while. I’m determined to finish it this time though!

Either side of Les Mis I finished -

Midnights Children by Salaman Rushdie - left over from May and had to fight to finish. Felt overly long and wordy, the sort of book people rave about to sound intellectual when really it’s just a bit rubbish!

One True Loves by TJR - needed something light after Midnights Children. Not one of my fave TJR books, fairly predictable but not a bad read.

The List by Yomi Adegoke - like many people here this one fell a bit flat for me. Good premise not executed very well. Meh!

Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt - Love love loved this! And probably wouldn’t have picked it up if it hadn’t been for recommendations here so thanks book friends! Beautiful book, one that will stay with me.

The Body In The Library by Agatha Christie - good fast read, standard Christie!
 
Last edited:
  • Like
  • Heart
Reactions: 18

QueenBW

VIP Member
To all of you who gave up on Circe halfway through and are thinking of picking it up again, let me warn you that it doesn't get better 😭

I finished it on Sunday and I skimmed the last 70 pages. The book started out great, I absolutely loved the first third, but then it just continued flat from then on. The pacing was glacial and I kept waiting for the plot to either thicken or start unravelling. It was the beautiful prose that got me through it, but even that got boring after 250 pages.
Oh no!! It's one of my favorite books ever!! Really goes to show that like we say in Spanish, every head is a world ☺
 
  • Like
  • Heart
Reactions: 18

StephenTJackson

VIP Member
Started yesterday and finished today The Secrets of Strangers by Charity Norman.

What a stunning book, heartbreaking, heartwarming, and just really powerful and I feel like I'm really gonna remember this book. Such well fleshed out characters, all with such depth, and believable characters.
 
  • Like
  • Heart
Reactions: 17

Chocolategoggler

VIP Member
This was obviously a month for loving Lucinda Riley books hence the binge 🤭
Massive mention for the Librarians of Rue De Picardie. Plus I know I really enjoyed the fantasy romance Irregular Witches book, House in the Cerulean Sea and Once Upon A River so I must be into fantasy. Who knew 🤷‍♀️.....and I found the Katie Fforde book intriguing.
So a very good reading month!!! 😁
Screenshot_20240630-104526.png
Screenshot_20240630-104544.png
 
  • Like
  • Heart
Reactions: 17

nbt

VIP Member
A good month for me this month.

5 ⭐ - Prima Facie
4 ⭐ - The Coworker, The First Shot, The Murder After, The List, The Locked Door, The Family Experiment, Asking for It, The Other Mothers.

I’m still going with Pineapple Street and Happy Place but want to finish today read to start afresh tomorrow.

7C1434C7-923E-4EE7-A132-B84F6823EB1E.jpeg
 
  • Like
  • Heart
  • Wow
Reactions: 17

SaintLeo

VIP Member
4 books finished for me this month -

This Family by Kate Sawyer
My Favourite Mistake by Marian Keyes
In Memoriam by Alice Winn
Really Good Actually by Monica Helsey

Really enjoyed the first 3, all for different reasons. In Memoriam has to be the stand out, one that will stay with me for a while. Really Good Actually was just fairly average really. (Sure I’m not the first to make that kind of pun!)

I would have got through more this month but because I was 7 books and 1500+ pages ahead of my StoryGraph targets I decided to pick up on the the chunkier, more challenging books on my TBR - Midnights Children by Salman Rushdie. Currently 2/3 of the way through and won’t finish by the weekend. It’s a bit of a slog but not hating it! I’m already convince though that the 600+ pages could be easily cut in half without missing anything important.

Really valuing my StoryGraph stats this month, encouraging to see that even though books read is lower, pages read is actually higher than other months.
 

Attachments

  • Like
  • Heart
Reactions: 16

SaintLeo

VIP Member
Book friends, I was thinking of you all today. In Porto and took a trip to the Livraria Lello, aka the Harry Potter bookshop. Sooo beautiful (although very crowded) and the price of the entrance fee could be used as a discount on some books. How could I say no. Got two of their own special editions of 2 of my fave classics. Definitely put it on the must visit list if you’re ever here.
 

Attachments

  • Heart
  • Like
Reactions: 16

Ding

VIP Member
1000029982.png
Bit of a slow month and no amazing reads.
The Nanny was an easy, quick read, same with new Housemaid.
My aim for this year was to read 50 books. Halfway though the year and I'm on 31 🙂
 
  • Like
  • Heart
Reactions: 16

StrawberryBanana90

Chatty Member
Visited Waterstones today and made a note of all the books I wanted and managed to reserve most at the library 🥳
Sounds silly but I’m a compulsive book buyer *stares at 17 unread books I’ve recently bought on my shelf* and I really need to use my local library more so I’m proud I didn’t actually buy anything
 
  • Like
  • Heart
Reactions: 16

LaBlonde

VIP Member
A while back, I started reading My Lady Jane, which is an irreverent reimagining of Lady Jane Grey's life, which is obviously a choice. I didn't finish but just found out Amazon has adapted it.

I can't work out if the love interest is a part-time horse in the series as well as the book - anyone know?
never has a spoiler made me want to read a book more 🤣 i am FASCINATED by this.
 
  • Haha
  • Like
Reactions: 16

LaBlonde

VIP Member
my may reads as follows (again a bit of a mixed bag this month, of which the will of the many was an absolute standout):

homecoming - kate morton ⭐⭐⭐
island of longing - anne griffin ⭐⭐⭐⭐
another life - jodie chapman ⭐⭐⭐
a marvellous light - freya marske ⭐⭐⭐⭐
will of the many - james islington ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
wildfire - hannah grace 😴😴
child of fortune - yuko tsushima ⭐⭐⭐
 
  • Like
  • Heart
Reactions: 16

AllieBee

VIP Member
10 books for me this month. My favourite book was All My Mothers by Joanna Glen which I gave 5 stars. Can't take a screenshot of my books this month as I have a lot of dead pixels until my new phone arrives!

5 stars
All My Mothers - Joanna Glen
The Flowers of the Field - Sarah Harrison - really well researched 1st world war era family saga.
We All Want Impossible Things - Catherine Newman

4.5 stars
And Then There Were None - Agatha Christie
This Family - Kate Sawyer

4 stars

Weyward - Emilia Hart
Those People Next Door - Kia Abdullah
Queen Bee - Jane Fallon
The Museum of Ordinary People - Mike Gayle


3.5 stars
The Ice Princess - Camilla Lackberg

Now I remembered why I prefer to screenshot, takes ages to type it all out...
 
  • Like
  • Heart
Reactions: 16

LaBlonde

VIP Member
june reads! a very meh month ngl:

godkiller - hannah kaner ⭐⭐⭐⭐
rootbound - tarah dewitt ⭐⭐
the person who edited rootbound - 👎🏻
babel - r f kuang ⭐⭐⭐
the rachel incident - caroline o’donoghue ⭐⭐⭐⭐
one night in hartswood - emma denny ⭐⭐
neon roses - rachel dawson ⭐⭐⭐
the ministry of time - kaliane bradley ⭐⭐
this summer will be different - carley fortune ⭐⭐⭐
an array of excellent 911 fanfiction ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

(went back and forth on ministry of time as i originally gave it three stars but the more i thought about it afterwards the more i realised how much i’d disliked it so i had to drop it down one)
 
  • Like
  • Heart
Reactions: 16

Caffeine Fiend

VIP Member
I had books to take back to the library today. I deliberately went before dinner because Id be hungry. Told myself Caffeine Fiend, you go in, you take your books direct to the desk and you turn around and you go home. Youve got Blue Sisters and Funny Story to read at home.


I dont need to tell you the rest Im sure, Ive got 2 books renewed and brought home another 3. Right behind the desk is the ittle shelf of 'new in' and I can never resist them. All shiny and unread.

Ive really reduced kindle 99p buys this year and visiting the library again for the first time in years has been brilliant. The stock my library has really is great. However my purchasing of physical books is off the charts. Ive got so many pre orders and I pre ordered a deluxe edition of Ice Breaker by Hannah Grace today. I can share the link with anyone interested. 🙈
 
  • Like
  • Haha
  • Heart
Reactions: 16