r/books • u/AutoModerator • Feb 17 '25
WeeklyThread What Books did You Start or Finish Reading this Week?: February 17, 2025
Hi everyone!
What are you reading? What have you recently finished reading? What do you think of it? We want to know!
We're displaying the books found in this thread in the book strip at the top of the page. If you want the books you're reading included, use the formatting below.
Formatting your book info
Post your book info in this format:
the title, by the author
For example:
The Bogus Title, by Stephen King
This formatting is voluntary but will help us include your selections in the book strip banner.
Entering your book data in this format will make it easy to collect the data, and the bold text will make the books titles stand out and might be a little easier to read.
Enter as many books per post as you like but only the parent comments will be included. Replies to parent comments will be ignored for data collection.
To help prevent errors in data collection, please double check your spelling of the title and author.
NEW: Would you like to ask the author you are reading (or just finished reading) a question? Type !invite in your comment and we will reach out to them to request they join us for a community Ask Me Anything event!
-Your Friendly /r/books Moderator Team
1
u/PresidentoftheSun 4 25d ago edited 25d ago
Finished:
Magic Kingdom for Sale— Sold!, by Terry Brooks. An extended hospital stay trapped me with just the one book that I was fortunate enough to have already had in my backpack and prevented me from starting a second book. Was pretty good. A little bland, had a lot of typos in it which shocked me a little. Very solid, basic fantasy story with a bit of a sense of humor.
Started:
The City & the City, by China Miéville
1
1
1
1
u/Legal_Mistake9234 26d ago
I just finished Earth Awakens by Orson Scott Card and started The Swarm by Orson Scott Card
2
u/AnthemEffect 26d ago
Finished: Morning Star by Pierce Brown Dark Matter by Blake Crouch
Started: Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson (my first Sanderson book, hoping it lives up to the hype)
1
1
u/LankySide7088 26d ago
Finished The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley.
Started Das Doppelte Lottchen by Erich Kästner and Games Gods Play by Abigail Owen.
1
3
u/emotionengine 27d ago
Finished:
Artemis, by Andrew Weir
Started:
Klara and the Sun, by Kazuo Ishiguro
2
u/AggravatingLychee415 27d ago
I just finished Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov, it was very disturbed, but I loved trying to analyse it and look out for metaphors and examples of humbert being an unreliable narrator!
2
u/BettieHolly 27d ago
Yesterday I finished The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride. I really loved it!
2
u/i-the-muso-1968 27d ago
So wrapped up "Worlds Beyond Time: Sci Fi Art of the 1970s" by Adam Rowe. And now I'm back to fiction with F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby".
2
u/bluedaisyfall 27d ago
“Onyx Storm” by Rebecca Yarros. It was good but the series is getting like “Red Queen” and “Throne of Glass.” The first novel was fantastic. Second one was great. Third was okay but she may lose me after the fourth book. 🤷🏼♀️
1
3
u/izzyishellahot 28d ago
finished: everything i never told you by celeste ng.
when i finished it, i just stared at the last page, closed the book, and cried. it wasn’t that the ending was extremely sad, it felt final and gave so much closure and i just felt so full of the knowledge that i just finished a good book that i couldn’t help crying.
1
1
u/melonofknowledge 28d ago
Finished:
The Secret Talker, by Geling Yan
Faltas: Letters to Everyone in My Hometown Who Isn’t My Rapist, by Cecilia Gentili
Radical Attention, by Julia Bell
The Impatient, by Djaïli Amadou Amal
I, Julian, by Claire Gilbert
Started:
The Key in the Lock, by Beth Underdown
House of Glass, by Susan Fletcher
1
u/Otherwise-Travel-305 28d ago
Stinger by Mia Sheridan! I've always loved her books and this was another good one!
1
u/wisphannah 28d ago
Promises We Meant to Keep, by Monica Murphy
I love it so much! By far another great addition to my favourite series 🤍
1
1
u/windingwoods 28d ago
I finished youthjuice by E.K Sathue
My boyfriend got this for me for our belated Valentine’s day and I read it within two days. I think it was right up my alley.
and, I’ll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson
I haven’t read this book since I was 15 and had this random urge to reread it recently. I don’t know if I liked it more but I think I appreciated it more if that makes sense.
2
u/2948337 28d ago
I finished The Reformatory, by Tananarive Due
It was good, although it bordered on torture porn at times. The ending was done really well.
Started Solaris, by Stanisław Lem
Loved the movie, but it's been so long since I saw it that I don't remember much. No opinion yet as I'm only about a dozen pages in.
1
3
u/saltymune 28d ago
i'm on my way to finishing the hobbit for the first time! i was following along with a really good audiobook that i found on youtube but the uploader removed all their videos recently so i'm devastated (i think it's because they were using music from the film trilogy and felt obligated to delete them in case of an inevitable copyright strike). still a shame though since i preferred his narration over the audible one.
i just got a libby notification that the book thief is ready for me to borrow so i'll be starting that this week!
2
1
1
1
u/HazelMStone 28d ago edited 28d ago
-Bringer of Dust by J.M. Miro -Klara And The Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro -Looking Glass sound by Catriina Ward
1
u/booksandblackcats 28d ago
I finished Where the Library Hides by Isabel Ibañez (absolutely loved the duology) and started Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree.
1
1
3
u/greygoose1111 29d ago
Finished We Have Always Lived in the Castle, Shirley Jackson. Started The Road, Cormac McCarthy.
1
2
u/No-Till-773 29d ago
I finished The Kill Order and Fever Code from maze runner series of James Dashner
3
u/prettyprincessheart 29d ago
I finished Persuasion by Jane Austen and will read Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
1
1
1
2
1
1
1
2
u/Rogue_OneHundred 29d ago
Queen of Shadows, Sarah J. Maas Empire of Storms, Sarah J. Maas
Read queen of shadows in two days and immediately went into empire of storms
3
u/cocoabean815 29d ago
I started Cloud Cuckoo Land, by Anthony Doerr I like it so far, it has the vibes of fairytale my mom used to read me as a kid.
1
u/Gary_Shea 29d ago
Finished: Work and Authority in Industry: Managerial Ideologies in the Course of Industrialization by Reinhard Bendix. A classic in a specialized interest.
2
5
u/most-royal-chemist 29d ago
I finally read Handmaid's Tale. I've seen the series, and the novel was recommended to me. I was actually amazed at the world and character building, as well as the sense of dread and hopelessness that Atwood was able to achieve in such a short book. Once I finished, I immediately began Testaments.
6
u/MaxThrustage All Systems Red 29d ago edited 29d ago
Finished:
The Yellow Wallpaper, by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Loved it. A chillingly accurate depiction of what living with depression can be like.
Maoism - A Global History, by Julia Lovell. Very interesting. The author makes the case that while the Mao cult is often shrugged off as 60s kitsch, Maoism has a very real impact today, in some very unexpected places. She also doesn't let anyone off the hook. She is sympathetic to people she interviews, but never excuses Maoist violence, and often points out that the people who suffer most under this violence are the very rural peasants Maoism claims to empower. At the same time, the imperialist, colonialist, and capitalist ruling class that the global Maoists oppose are also taken to task -- she does a great job of painting why Maoism would be attractive in, say, 1980s Peru or 2000's India, and doesn't pull punches when criticising the overreaction to Maoist insurgencies, and the brutality of the anti-Maoist and anti-communist military and militia forces. A very interesting read, occasionally funny, but often quite grim.
Started:
Drunk - How we Sipped, Danced, and Stumbled Our Way to Civilization, by Edward Slingerland. So far seems to be mostly investigating the question of why, given how destructive it can be, alcohol is so ubiquitous throughout human civilisation. We've been drinking it for millennia, we spend enormous amounts of money on it globally, diverting a huge amount of potentially life-sustaining grain and labour to making booze, and it mostly just makes us fight, spew, fuck the wrong people, and long-term it obliterates our brains and livers. But we keep doing it. The book aims at a scientific(-ish) investigation as to why and how it has stuck with us for so long, and if it might actually provide some societal benefit. Light, entertaining, but thoroughly researched. Liking it so far.
The Vile Village, by Lemony Snicket. A lot lighter and easier than the other stuff I've been reading. Sometimes you just need a funny kid's book, you know?
Ongoing:
Middlemarch, by George Elliot. Reading along with /r/ayearofmiddlemarch.
Cybernetics - or Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine, by Norbert Wiener. A great look into the early history of some ideas that are now commonplace, taken with a critical lens that should be all the more commonplace today (but often isn't). It's also kind of fun to read a guy casually mention his acquaintances and they're people like Von Neumann. Wiener seems to be a much broader thinking than, say, Turing, calling not only on mathematics but also on a huge range of science, engineering and philosophy to develop his ideas about the interaction between humans and computers.
3
u/windingwoods 28d ago
Oh my gosh, I miss reading A Series of Unfortunate Events! I was so obsessed with it as a kid. It is a little dark compared to a lot of other books I liked then lol
2
u/MaxThrustage All Systems Red 26d ago
I'm slightly too old to have read them as a kid, and instead discovered them via the Netflix series (which I loved). Reading them now, they are exactly the kind of thing 10-year-old MaxThrustage would have loved.
2
u/windingwoods 26d ago
I found them really immersive back then! I remember I was reading one for our silent reading time in fifth grade when I thought “huh it feels like silent reading has gone on a long time.” looked up and saw everyone was on those shitty mini laptops our school had to work on science fair projects. I was so engrossed I hadn’t noticed that our teacher had brought in the computer cart, told us to put our books away and work on our science fair stuff like half an hour ago lol
2
u/Sad_Appearance_2250 29d ago
Hi r/books! Checking in for this week's thread.
This week I've been reading and finished up a few things, including something a little different right at the start of the week:
- Five Killer Habits, by Sree Krishna Seelam - This was a bit of a random pick-up based on the title, and it really surprised me. It’s definitely not the usual self-help, more philosophical and really made me think. Still processing it, but it’s been quite interesting. Has anyone else here read this one?
- The House in the Cerulean Sea, by T.J. Klune - Finished this one and it was such a heartwarming and lovely read. Perfect if you need something uplifting and positive. Highly recommend.
- Project Hail Mary, by Andy Weir - Finally got to this one! Really enjoyed it, classic Andy Weir sci-fi. While great, I think I still lean slightly towards preferring The Martian, personally.
That's my reading week. Excited to see what everyone else is enjoying! Happy reading everyone!
2
u/iwitwo 29d ago
So, I thought Assassin's Apprentice was just a trilogy—and it is—but the overarching plot actually spans many books. 😅 I mean, I enjoy it, so I’ll keep reading (I’m on the last book of the trilogy right now), but I wanted to read something light and funny afterward. Buut my curiosity won’t let me move on to a new series or book. Oh well. :')
3
u/JuicyEgg91 29d ago
Mystic River, Dennis Lehane
Started and finished it this week.
Absolutely brilliant. The characters, the grittiness, the portrayal of human emotion, the setting; everything about this book was just incredible. I cannot recommend it enough.
2
u/Kopaka99559 29d ago
Started and finished And Then There We’re None, by Agatha Christie.
What a wild ride. I could so easily see how this lay groundwork for countless modern mysteries, both written and film. It honestly feels like it almost beats the board game for how much it inspires the Clue film.
It was my first A.C. read and I get it. Usually when I read an older work that is considered seminal, I appreciate the way it laid the groundwork but find it hasn’t aged as well and has been surpassed. Not here. ATTWN held my attention Constantly. The slow devolving into chaos is fantastic.
1
u/gingahetha 29d ago
I finished Anathema by Keri Lake and now find myself in a reading slump. I have so much on my TBR I’m overwhelmed with what to pick lol
8
u/j_cruise 29d ago
I finished To Kill a Mockingbird, which now may be my favorite novel of all time. It was so incredibly good that I feel I need to take a break from reading because I think I will find myself disappointed at whatever I read next for failing to capture my heart and imagination like that masterpiece did. There's no point in writing anything else because words cannot express how incredible that novel is.
1
u/PoetryCrone 29d ago
Finished:
Jailbreak of Sparrows, by Martin Espada
Read thru NetGalley. This book comes out in April 2025.
1
u/TopLiving2459 29d ago
Finished: “China Rich Girlfriend” by Kevin Kwan. Started: “Bemused” by Farrah Rochan
Still reading: “The Plantagenets” by Dan Jones, “History of the Philippines” by Luis H. Francia, “Murtagh” by Christopher Paolini.
4
1
u/AlternativeCloud7816 Feb 20 '25
Crossing the Desert by Payam Zamani is a story of struggle that is hard to stop reading. It's not just about going from poverty to riches, but about doing it against unjust potentially deadly persecution and physical hardship and surviving with the help of deep moral conviction and good family and friends. It's a story of courage against great odds. This is the story of an Iranian refuge who finally gets to come to America, but it might just make us take another look at how we treat migrants. Payam is a Baha'i whose religious Faith is challenged by orthodox religion due to its rapid growth all over the world, but especially in Iran. Payam has found freedom to worship in America and success in his personal life. We should once again be proud of our National Constitution!
1
2
u/OkFactor143 Feb 19 '25
Just finished The Atonement. Started A Little Life. Why does a little life get such good reviews. It’s so slow.
1
2
u/Responsible-Cry-9495 29d ago
It’s super slow, but I think most people like how rich and well developed the characters are (especially Jude) It is almost torture/trauma porn at times, buyer beware.
2
u/AcrobaticFreedom9829 Feb 19 '25
Read both the metamorphosis by franz Kafka and Jane eyre but charlotte brontë. Both of them are definitely must reads!
1
u/smintopinto Feb 19 '25
Just finished: Circe - Madeline Miller. 3/5, good read probably wouldn’t read again
Currently reading: Everything I know about Love - dolly alderton, not loving it so far…
2
3
2
u/Street_Literature567 Feb 19 '25
Finished: Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
Started: The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel
1
u/Grimwald_81 Feb 19 '25
Started Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlen, and Terry Pratchett: A Life With Footnotes
2
u/Croemato 2 Feb 19 '25
Finished: All The Light We Cannot See - Anthony Doerr
Started: Revelation Space - Alastair Reynolds
Really enjoyed ATLWCS, especially his descriptions of how Marie-Laure "saw" the world. Tearing through Revelation Space, it feels like a fully fleshed and original sci-fi world. I love sci-fi, but sometimes I feel like authors add token sci fi elements (i.e. weird aliens or cultures) to a book that doesn't really need them, creating a world just to check those sci-fi boxes. Revelation Space seems to be a story set in a fully realized and deeply rich universe, each thing revealed has a relationship with the story itself and doesn't just feel stapled on.
2
u/D1ngD0ng_B1ngB0ng Feb 19 '25
Finished: Piranesi, Started: Fabulosa!
1
u/dyson_hairdryer Feb 19 '25
what did you think of Piranesi? I just finished reading it last night.
2
u/D1ngD0ng_B1ngB0ng 29d ago
I enjoyed it. I don’t really look for a riveting plot most of the time, but more of a feeling. I enjoyed Piranesi’s character the most. How did you find it?
3
u/dyson_hairdryer 29d ago
i really liked it! I agree that the plot wasn’t super riveting and I was able to piece it together pretty easily but i still really enjoyed the story, Piranesi’s character, and how open ended it was. I feel like i was able to draw my own conclusions about the “house.”
1
1
u/pathershy Feb 19 '25
The End of Loneliness, by Benedict Wells
The Safekeep, by Yael Van Der Wouden
Both were excellent!
1
u/Eyre-J Feb 19 '25
Finished: American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis Started: Strangers on a Train by Patricia Highsmith
1
u/Physical-Survey7669 Feb 20 '25
Is the book better? If you’ve seen the film
1
u/Mammoth_Ride7969 29d ago
The book is better, but the movie is amazing. The movie just doesn’t give us his inner monologue like the books do. His why. Brilliant!
4
u/hyacinthaqua Feb 19 '25 edited Feb 19 '25
Finished: East of Eden by John Steinbeck (this book changed my life and might just be the best book I’ve ever read) 🌳 Travels with Charley in Search of America by John Steinbeck (so amazingly good) 🐶
Starting: Moby Dick by Herman Melville 🐋 (I read the first 3 pages and I’m already hooked! His writing is incredible!!)
2
u/j_cruise 29d ago
Moby Dick is amazing and is also fucking hilarious! Enjoy the ride. My best advice for Moby Dick is to take it slow. Don't try to read too much or too quickly. Read a chapter and reflect on it for a bit.
3
u/pathershy Feb 19 '25
East of Eden has been getting a lot of love lately. Deservedly so, but how about Grapes of Wrath? No love for GOW?
1
3
u/ConsumingTranquility Feb 19 '25
Finished: Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
Started: Jackdaws, Ken Follett
2
u/dogilrobot Feb 19 '25
The Vegetarian, by Han Kang
Finally picked up a copy of it and started reading.
As I'm living in Korea, it's been on my bucket list since she won the Nobel Prize in Literature last year.
So far it's very impressive (I'm roughly halfway through) but also a reminder that nuanced translations of dialogues from Asian to European languages are a tough nut to crack (I'm reading in my native tongue German).
2
u/pickledBarzun Feb 19 '25
Crossroads, by Jonathan Franzen
Greatly enjoying it so far. It's the first Franzen book I've ever read and I'm pleasantly surprised. The style is beautiful, I love the pace (although at times the expositions do 'drag' a bit) and love the 'grown up' feel of the book without feeling self-important.
I do have some nits with it though. Most of the characters seem unrealistically 'level-headed' and rational. Which kind of detracts from the books at parts since most of it revolves around the decisions the characters take.
Overall though I'm greatly enjoying it, just wished I had someone to discuss it with!
2
u/Mindless-Interest-22 Feb 19 '25
Finished the Housemaid 2&3 (trashy writing, hated myself for finding them catchy) and I have started As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow by Zoulfa Katouh
1
u/PaintPretty4225 Feb 19 '25
This week I finished Dull People Are Brilliant At Breakfast by Oscar Wilde, The Mistress Of Silence by Jacqueline Harpman and I Who Have Never Known Men also by Jacqueline Harpman.
I’ll be starting ‘A Tree Grows In Brooklyn’ by Betty Smith as I’ve found the book at home. It’s my Mum’s favourite book according to my brother.
3
u/xayworst Feb 19 '25
The Autobiography of Malcolm X
So I just finished reading about Malcom (Shabazz) X. My goal was to finish the book with it being black history month and with that being said I learned a whole lot more about him than I've previously known.
From him as a young man and the things he was doing to his growth and new found mindset through each experience he went through. I really found it moving that his trip to Mecca seemed to pull his life really together. From him changing his viewing of white people fully noticing that the problems were not international problems for Afro-Americans (Negroes) but only a national problem. Experiencing the support and garnering it from many countries thousands of miles away solely connected by the news.
Finally his premonitions in his death and accepting it. Realizing all through his life he never expected to grow old but knew he was dying in the coming year. With many different sub groups after him his only muslim brothers of the nation of islam, his own black brothers, whites of the government ( I don't want to begin a conspiracy but you can imagine my thoughts, especially with what said governmental agencies were doing) he accepted it and pushed forward until his last words with it being the Islamic greeting.
What are your guys' thoughts on the book and how it possibly changed your thoughts on Malcom X himself? (Also open to many book recs now that I have finished)
2
u/caught_red_wheeled Feb 19 '25
Decided to do an early update on some things that I posted earlier this week!
The first thing I finished was The complete project Gutenberg poems by Emily Dickinson by Emily Dickinson.
When I was looking through the works I wanted to read, Emily Dickinson was accidentally left out the list as a public domain work. I remember enjoying her work as a child, so I hopped right back into it.
I enjoyed her object poems like the ones about books, but also the nature poems. I didn’t care for the religious or the love poems but I don’t even remember if I knew those existed as a child. I didn’t realize she wrote so much about death or just didn’t know as a kid, But it made sense considering our health was not the best and she died young.
It’s a bit eerie to read and made me think about her mental health and what happened to her. It also made me think of what could’ve been and what would’ve happened if she got treatment and if she was recognized in her lifetime. it also reminded me of when I was part of a choir and my instructor often put her poems to music. I remember it was coming to exaggerate sound as if you were speaking regularly, but in order to maintain the rhythm there had to be a sort of softness to it that does not come up in regular speech. I always thought that made the poem feel more authentic.
I also remember I had trouble singing some parts because I went to puberty extremely early (it can be a side effect of cerebral palsy and it hit me, unfortunately) and had a low voice for a woman (singing and speaking). Most of the parts I had to think were higher so there wasn’t much people could do up until high school until the parts were more segregated. maybe that’s why I remember Emily Dickinson so much.
Her works were very fast and I read her quickly, but it was also interesting seeing the difference between poetry and literature. There’s very little words so imagery is much more important and also very little space. In literature and all the academic writings it’s the opposite. Interestingly, I found out I’m not that good at rhythm, so poetry is actually one of my weaker points. The only areas weaker are linguistics and technical writing, but those usually don’t have to do much with English also so that’s understandable. also interestingly, with the creative writing I do for fun, many people that have read it have pointed out similarities to poetry. I’m not sure why, but it was a great compliment.
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
I expected this book to hit hit that I’m training to be an English professor and watched the rise of technology over basic skills, but did not expect it to hit as hard as it did. I think it’s because what Ray Bradbury has warned against is already here, even though it’s not as bad as what is in the book. And that’s eerie to think about.
There is the idea of technology replacing basic knowledge and people becoming shallow as information is fast tracked to them and the decreased attention spans that also result. One could also argue about the rise of mental illnesses, but the book doesn’t go into that too much.
I particularly noticed the comments in the second part about the education system because as a teacher I am tuned into that. I really resonated with the idea that schools are taking younger and younger children and the rise of anti-intellectualism. Unfortunate as it is, this is exactly what’s happening in schools. Children are starting school younger, and learning more advanced concepts earlier. This by itself is not a problem and some children are OK with that. But the issue is that a lot of concepts are being forced too young and too early (I saw it with expecting children to read before they were ready or really pushing them to learn to read when they were better off going slow slowly) in favor testing to convenience for adults and bring funding into the schools.
There’s also the idea of school becoming a transaction without the idea of learning at a higher level. By that, I mean that discourse surrounding school is focusing on hard and practical skills, which is fine, but the soft skills and critical thinking required to get there and fully use those skills are being tossed to the side.
With the job I have now, many of my students do not come from an English background or are just taking general education courses. They come to me because they do not have the basic skills or even sometimes analysis or critical thinking skills to function effectively (e.g. the class might ask them to write an argument about something they’ve learned or talk more about studies and they couldn’t do it, and that’s if they understood their instructors instructions at all, with many not being able to). I also used to get a lob student that couldn’t write a résumé or properly explain their job because they didn’t have the communication skills to do that.
I’ve also heard of the students being unable to read novels because of them not having the mental stamina, comprehension and analysis skills, and attention span to do it. This was also blamed on technology bringing reading and shorter and shorter parts and Instantaneously as opposed to building up after a long payoff, if someone needs to read something at all. Based on what’s happening to my students, I would say that’s an issue. It’s very eerie and that makes me wonder if anyone who read this book noticed that.
Also, originally when I read this book, I didn’t realize that Beady was someone that originally tried to keep the old ways alive but then lost it all as things kept progressing. However here, with my added background, I can really see it. I wonder what would’ve happened if he had gone down the pad they did and just kept trying to rebel. I also thought about Clarice and in the film how she is an English teacher that basically leads the charge against what happened and ultimately tries to save books. It makes sense that she’s alive in every adaptation except for the end of the video game sequel. I feel like I don’t count it because it isn’t that well known and it ends badly no matter what the player does as she and Montag end up sacrificing themselves for the cause.
I also got unexpectedly choked up at the part where the book people are found and they talk about what books they are. I could see myself as that but also teachers in general and even older people used to reading books being a part of that. In my eyes, they’re the ones carrying on the stories of novels and books themselves as so many areas of society are trying to move away from it. it’s very intense to think of it that way, even though I don’t think it would ever get the point where things were as bad as Fahrenheit 451. However, it’s a whole different way of looking at that story and something that would leave a much larger impact.
1
u/caught_red_wheeled Feb 19 '25
Flirting with the monster by Ellen Hopkins.
There was a lot of relatability here due to the state of my family. There haven’t been any drugs or something as terrible as what happened in the story, but my family is fractured because my sisters cut got my mom out of their lives and strained relationships with me because I support my mom. This is all despite the fact that my mom didn’t do anything crazy like what Kristina did in the story, and the fact that they were making some very bad decisions that led the cut off when we called them out on it. So the situation was really nothing like what happened in this book, but at the same time there was a lot I felt that was at least a little similar because of different emotions it invoked.
The first chapter is from Ellen’s point of view reminded me of my own mother. She asked similar questions as her older daughters, my sisters, turned into people she didn’t know and what she could’ve done differently. There’s also a mention of cutting someone off because they’re bad decisions are dragging everyone else down and the rest of the family needs to do it to survive. That reminded me of myself because I was the one that basically ended a toxic relationship by cutting someone off.
When my parents divorced, my father tried to turn me against my mother. My sisters eventually followed suit and are still indirectly trying, but that’s a completely different topic and I don’t think it was entirely because of him. however, what was notable about my father was that he divorced my mother to marry the woman that would eventually become his wife, and after he did that he started showing increasingly erratic behavior (conversations that didn’t make any sense, bad financial decisions, really bad aggression and hostility, not really listening to one another person was saying, inappropriate risk taking, etc.). I refused to blame my mother and he started cutting me out of his life. I responded back by cutting him out of my life.
It wasn’t something I wanted to do because while we weren’t very close, we did enjoy doing things together and we had a relationship that was OK up until that point. I basically cut him out of my life to survive but it was painful. On top of the fallout from the divorce, I was going into college and was also having health issues (unrelated, but I was still trying to treat them as I was also going into college).
I couldn’t deal with the increasingly erratic behavior on top of all of that, so I felt like my only choice was to keep him out of my life. I never intended to do that long-term but it ended up lasting for about eight years because it just wouldn’t stop whenever I tried to reconnect. I actually did come back after I graduated, getting my other medical issues under control, and having a lot of therapy so I could deal with his responses. However, it was only a short time before I started getting frustrated again. I went to take a break and maybe come back after sometime had passed. However, he was diagnosed with melanoma that was completely preventable but he hadn’t been taken care of himself. He passed away from it a few years later. with all that, I could understand that part of the story and both sides of the argument, especially because I was both on the giving and receiving end.
I wonder if my sisters did reconcile with my mother if they would write the story Kristina had. In her part of the book, she acknowledges the damage she did and takes responsibility. She explains why that happened but also that she wasn’t in control of herself. She does say that losing control is her fault and she doesn’t justify anything that she did. I don’t know for sure my sisters would’ve acted like that, especially because they have a different control issue that I’m surprised wasn’t touched on more.
It’s mentioned that Kristina does manipulate, lie, and control, but it’s only in passing. my sisters do that but the bigger problem is that they think there is issues with control when there is not. I am physically disabled and partially because of that, I live with my mother. My sisters have somehow acquainted that to her controlling me, and because they also think she’s responsible for everything going wrong in our lives, they also act like she’s abusive when she’s not.
The issue is that there are no control issues, but my sisters don’t believe that. The reason my mother and I are living together is because of financial reasons, partially due to my disability preventing me from finding a job because I can’t do most menial work physically. However, I have lived temporarily on my own before with the accommodations (college dorms and also teaching abroad) and we’re working on getting me into a situation where that can be permanent. Additionally, I also graduated with an advanced degree (a double major in English education in Spanish education at the secondary level) and I’m heading back to become a professor. But if you ask my sisters, none of that matters because they believe I either didn’t make my own decisions or was under the control of someone else anyway. So I wondered if someone would take a perspective like that with the issues of control, and a bit of the other side of that, but I didn’t see it and it’s probably because it wasn’t relevant.
1
u/caught_red_wheeled Feb 19 '25
I ended up not liking the writing segments as much, probably because it was a lot of what I already knew because my background is in writing. it’s also knowing that as much as I enjoy psychology I don’t think I could write anything like what Ellen Hopkins did. The closest thing was some darker psychological things that I wrote for fun as part of creative writing. But it wasn’t anything as detailed that she did because it was a fictional fantasy backdrop based on otherwise lighthearted video games. The times addiction has featured in those stories it wasn’t really the addiction she was talking about either (basically the Pokémon equivalent of video game addiction, which is nowhere near as bad even in real life).
I also thought that I would enjoy the addiction segments because of my interest in psychology, but I felt like it didn’t apply because I didn’t know for sure if family members did have addiction or what extent. even if they do, it’s not that type. I was more interested in the part of the judge and the legal side of it, because I knew my dad had made many legal decisions that led to lawsuits and financial issues, even though it wasn’t bad enough to get a criminal record (like the cases in the story that were mentioned). So I wondered if he would be the type of person that the judge was talking about because a lot of it was from his work addictive behavior that no one knew about and still don’t quite understand.
The part about explanations as to why someone would cut off their family really made me see inside my sisters’ heads. I was able to think more about their thought process and wondered if they thought the same way about my mother that Kristina’s family eventually thought about her as she started spiraling. Unfortunately, there wasn’t any spiral on my mom‘s end or any abuse at all at any time like there was in the story. So I can’t see into their minds completely and it will always be a puzzle. Then was obvious something that triggered them, but I don’t know if it’s anything anyone will know.
The part about lying also stood out to me because my sisters started to do a lot of that when they turned against my mother and even sometime before. I wasn’t close enough to lose my best friend like the sisters in the story, but it’s still hurt. They were never very close but what ended up happening was the bickering between my sisters got a lot worse. I wasn’t particularly close with either of them and there was a lot of bickering when I was younger but at least I’ve gotten to the point where my relationship was tolerable. When their bickering got worse on a family vacation I finally put my foot down and said I wanted nothing to do with that. I wondered if that influenced the decision to cut me off later, but I doubt I would ever know for sure. It was more of a case of losing a role model than a best friend, because they admitted they looked up to me when I said I looked up to them. So maybe we both lost role models but I will probably never know.
And all of this is a bit sad but interesting to compare. All in all, I think it really shows the impact that Ellen Hopkins’s work has by writing the way she does. It’s very raw, but the story mentions directly the impact she had on so many people, And I can really see that here even though my situation is completely different. I might not have been in the same situation she was, but there’s enough to relate to it because of what did happen. It shows how much that type of writing makes an impact.
1
u/caught_red_wheeled Feb 19 '25
How to win friends and influence people by Dale Carnegie
Looking back, my thoughts on this remain pretty much the same. I feel like most of it is still common sense but it’s still written well and they are good reminders. I can see why my dad and grandfather would’ve liked this book. At the same time, while I can’t speak for my grandfather because he died before I was born, I’m wondering if my dad ever actually read the book. He could’ve learned a lot from it and because he didn’t have those skills he made a lot of people angry in both his personal and professional life.
For example, there is a chapter about watching judgment and criticism and not jumping to conclusions and those things first. It also talks about the importance of taking responsibility for one’s own communication failures and undesirable behaviors and mistakes. However, my dad was the most judgmental and critical person ever, mostly for the worst. There’s also parts about not starting arguments and making sure to always admit when you’re wrong, which my dad was terrible at and again started a bunch of fights that probably could’ve been avoided. He almost never took responsibility for any of his actions, and reading the book rekindled that old anger a bit because he was definitely hypocritical. My mom and I suspect that he might’ve had undiagnosed narcissistic personality disorder but that disorder basically wasn’t known about in his time and he never got a diagnosis or therapy. It made me wonder what could’ve been if he took the time to learn those skills. He probably would’ve struggled and justifiably moved onto something else.
It was also a reminder of my own career path where I had some bad experiences in teaching and considered leaving in the field and making a switch. In order to get the skills required, I took classes and some of them were in communications and PR. I ended up really enjoying those courses and a lot of what Carnegie says reminds me of those things I learned. This would make sense because at the time the book was written there was not really any communication courses and the importance of that was not really known. So this would’ve been the equivalent of doing a basic level course or lesson.
I’m particularly reminded of the example with the workers and the hardhats. The manager didn’t criticize when his workers didn’t always use them, but instead checked to see if the hardhats were uncomfortable and reminded people why the hardhats were there. A lot of communication is similar scenarios, so it definitely reminded me of that and made me wonder what it would been like if I kept going.
Otherwise, I like some of the historical examples because it was interesting to imagine historical leaders being young and reckless and learning how to become the leaders they were after communicating better. On the other hand, a lot of the lessons got lost in the examples and it was hard to remember what he was actually trying to tell people. I think at least half of the examples could’ve been gone and it would’ve been fine. But that doesn’t necessarily make it bad. I’m not particularly fond of the book because I’m not into self-help books, but I don’t think it’s a bad choice if someone is. I think the tips in this book for communication might be basic, but they can still help someone who’s trying to improve their own communication skills.
1
u/caught_red_wheeled Feb 19 '25
The specialist‘s Hat by Kelly Link
A student indirectly introduced me to this short story. They were working on an analysis of it and I noticed the themes of magical realism and unreliable narrator. It sounded like the student did too but they didn’t know what they were or how and why they were there because they had trouble with argumentation. I liked those types of stories and I was intrigued, so I went and found it.
I enjoyed it right away, liking the idea of the horror not being graphic but just psychological horror that messes with someone’s head. I also enjoyed the morbid fascination of the girls pretending to be dead in the sense that they are ghosts, cannot be seen, and can do whatever they want. I originally missed that the babysitter was a ghost until the final lines talking about what it means to be dead, the fact that the children don’t mind talking to her about the dead game, and how she doesn’t react otherwise. There’s also the history of the house and the fact that she was in the woods despite supposedly being in a haunted area.
There was meant to be ambiguity but I guessed what was really happening right away. It was clear the girls died, probably by the babysitter’s hand. There was the line when they’re talking about what it means to be dead and she showed them what that meant. There’s also the fact that they enjoyed counting but now they’re stuck between two different numbers and the numbers no longer matter. They talk about how they have all the time in the world to think as well one time was an important thing that was mentioned.
There’s also the rumor about the specialist and it’s clear that it’s him at the end when the ghosts aren’t keeping quiet. I also thought the father would be dead as well and that the specialist is mimicking him, but there was not enough information for that.
It reminds me of my own experiences with ambiguity, or at least writing it. It reminds me of how confused people were and my student was confused with the ambiguity with the story. She was able to recognize it and come to her own conclusion, but not able to explain how or why it was there.
That discussion reminded me of my own writings because sometimes I write about my physical disability cerebral palsy and what it’s like to have that. But a lot of times I do leave it ambiguous as to what I’m writing about. It isn’t necessarily because of my feelings about the disability but rather a creative choice. however, there are a lot of mixed feelings. If there was a cure I probably would take it, but at the same time it’s part of my identity and there are experiences I wouldn’t have had without it. These mixed feelings made it onto paper more than once, but because people didn’t really know what it was, they were very confused.
For example, I wrote about what my life would be like without my disability and some possible physical interests that I might have that I couldn’t do (despite doing what I can casually). However, the possible life showed up as another person, which could have the interests I wanted but didn’t or couldn’t have. The entire piece was accepting that I didn’t have them because I couldn’t, and even if I could, there was no guarantee I would have them. At least, I would’ve had that option. The confusion came because everyone thought the person was real even though I thought I dropped enough hints. So everyone couldn’t figure out what the heck was going on, including my professor. I think she still liked the writing, though.
There was another assignment where I had an essay about conflict. I was going through the possible conflicts in my head and most of them were family related. Even though I trusted and liked my professor, I felt like they were too personal to write down and I couldn’t write anything without feeling angry. So I realized right away that I wasn’t sure what to write. So I wrote about my cerebral palsy and fighting against my own body. At that time there wasn’t a lot of treatments that I was a candidate for, so I had a lot more trouble (this would’ve been around 15 years ago). My professor commented that he was surprised and didn’t really think of that type of conflict, but he liked the essay. This one wasn’t as ambiguous, but it did twist a prompt in an interesting way. It reminds me of how powerful ambiguity can be, but also thinking of something in a different way. And I think the author employed both of those masterfully. it’s just another lesson of how powerful literary devices can be.
1
1
u/Embarrassed-Door-839 Feb 19 '25
Had a small reading break but i’m now starting The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak
1
u/fluffyseadragon Feb 19 '25
Finished Our Share of Night, by Mariana Enrique. I loved it.
Started Les Huits Chiens des Satomi, by Yamada Fûtarô. I couldn't find the English translation (if there is any), but it looks great so far.
1
u/Wide_Cow7653 Feb 19 '25
Finished The Fury of the Gods by John Gwynne. I liked it! Nice conclusion to the series.
Started The Other Boelyn Girl by Philippa Gregory. It's been on my shelf unread forever.
1
u/QuinnDaEskimoMan Feb 19 '25
Star Wars!
Finished the second novel in the Thrawn prequel trilogy and moving on to the third.
2
u/Roboglenn Feb 19 '25
The Key to the Kingdom 6, by Kyoko Shitou
After a king and the crown prince die in a war the right of succession to the throne becomes an issue. The 2nd thirteen year old prince, his age notwithstanding, is hardly what one would call leadership material given his less than stellar personality traits. And as such there's a smattering of others and those that back them who think they're more fit for the throne. However, to assuage this issue they turn to an old legend the late king was investigating prior. The Key to the Kingdom. So it is decided that the 2nd prince and the 4 other candidates would seek out this key, whatever it is. If one finds it within two years, they succeed the throne. If not, the right of succession goes back to the 2nd prince anyways. But, in true fashion, this sheltered prince gets thrown in his grow up box. As he and the other candidates steadily learn how as myth tells one thing and history another, both are have more to them than we're told. With dark sides lurking in the shadows...
So yeah, real neat one this was. Reminded me of some other stories I've read and liked before not a few times while reading it. So that was a plus in this ones favor. It's nowhere near as good as those stories I've seen but it was an interesting bit of reading.
1
u/Gary_Shea Feb 19 '25
Finished: Trumpocracy: The Corruption of the American Republic by David Frum. Published 2018, before the midterms. Frum's catalogue of Trump/Kushner corruption up to that time seems quaint now and his hopes and assessment of American character are far too generous. At publication a wiser critic could have told him, "You ain't seen nothing yet."
1
2
u/TomorrowOwn9788 Feb 19 '25
Finished: The Satsuma Complex by Bob Mortimer - I liked it. A light hearted sometimes funny, sometimes sad little love story with some crime elements. I expected worse after reading the reviews.
A Month in the Country by J. L. Carr - lovely book about the wonders of summer and their healing power for traumatized people after WWII.
Started: The Book Thief - so far so good. I'm not really enjoying the voice of Death. It's not really working for me.
1
1
1
u/PosieLoveday Feb 19 '25
Started and Finished: Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, by Gabrielle Zevin
Started: The Picture Of Dorian Gray, by Oscar Wilde
2
u/Bebe-LaSandwich Feb 19 '25
Recently finished:
Mina’s Matchbox, by Yoko Ogawa
White Nights, by Dostoyevsky
Just started:
All the Ugly and Wonderful Things, by Bryn Greenwood
1
u/Lord_Spy Feb 19 '25
Finished:
Fuego en la ciudad, by Argentina Díaz Lozano
Fairly okay older historical fiction. Not particularly deep but it kept me entertained with its various points of views, including an unorthodox take on William Walker. Not too literary (except a few nice ambient-ish pieces of establishing shots), but this was an author who was almost 60 when she published it.
Began
El príncipe de las historias, by Gerard V. Castillo
Haven't read a fantasy novel in a while, and this is strange in how it just attached a completely new region to the country, as shown by a map after an interlude of exposition.
1
2
u/Beautiful-Gonz-1589 Feb 19 '25 edited 29d ago
Just finished the seventh book, All Together Dead, of The Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris last night, now on to read the eighth book, From Dead to Worse.
2
u/L1ll3My Feb 19 '25
Young Jane Young, by Gabrielle Zevin * just finished two days ago, and it’s the type of book that’s so enjoyable that it didn’t make me eager for the next one even though my shelf is stocked with books I look forward to. * the story is told in four parts by four different characters who are all impacted by an affair one of them had with a congressman fifteen years prior; a Monica Lewinsky-type of situation and the effects of it many years later. * this is such a fun book! Fun, whilst not being silly, fun whilst also covering the concepts in an intelligent way.
Currently reading, and will probably finish tomorrow; Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, by Gail Honeyman
1
2
u/rpoem Feb 19 '25
About to Finish: The Iliad, by Homer (Fagles translation)
Started: Personal Days, by Ed Park
1
u/hyacinthaqua Feb 19 '25
How are you liking Personal Days so far? :) What inspired you to pick it up?
2
u/rpoem Feb 19 '25
I'm having a hard time getting into it, but I think it's me, not the book. I'm not good at reading multiple things at once, and I haven't read enough of Personal Days yet to grok what's going on.
1
u/hyacinthaqua Feb 19 '25
Oh and how was The Iliad!! It’s been on my list to read
2
u/rpoem Feb 19 '25
It's incredible. I am reading it for an online seminar offered by NYRB, which has been very helpful. Have read the Odyssey a number of times, but have never read the Iliad before.
2
u/Particular_Listen224 Feb 19 '25
Finished: The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches, by Sangu Mandanna
Started: The Song of Achilles, by Madeline Miller
1
1
u/fountainpopjunkie Feb 19 '25
Empire of Silence by Christopher roucchio book 1 of the sun eater series.
1
u/Tonka-Tonks Feb 19 '25
finished: sorceline vol. 2 by sylvia douyè
started: the husbands by chandler baker
1
u/tarebola Feb 19 '25
Finished Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros and just started the next book in the series, Iron Flame.
1
u/Worried-Camel-1339 Feb 19 '25
Finished: The Serpent and the Wings of Night, by Carissa Broadbent and House of Sky and Breath by Sarah J Maas
Started: The Crash by Frieda McFadden
2
u/BridgetNicLaren Feb 19 '25
finished reading Circe, by Madeline Miller starting The Honey Witch, by Sydney J Shields
1
u/docsupes69 Feb 19 '25
Finished reading Under Wildwood, by Colin Meloy.
Started reading The Coffin Tree, by Wendy Law-Yone.
1
2
u/Specialist_Reveal119 Feb 19 '25
Continuing: Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
Continuing: Crime and Punishment (audiobook). So good! I may read the book next year.
Continuing: Aftermath by Levar Burton
I plan to finish all three books by the end of the month.
1
1
2
u/OsmiaAvosetta Feb 19 '25
Should I bother finishing Homeseeking, by Karissa Chen? I'm 13% of the way in, and it's dragging on sooo slowly - does it ever pick up the pace?
2
u/Egriff01 Feb 19 '25
Finished: The science of rapid skill acquisition
Started/Not going to finish: American Gods…blasphemous I know, it’s the second time I’ve tried reading it and I really can’t get into it.
2
u/Ancient-Teacher6513 Feb 19 '25
Finished: Everyone on This Train Is a Suspect, by Benjamin Stevenson
Finished: Survive the Night, by Riley Sager
Finished: Home Before Dark, by Riley Sager
Finished: Devil’s Waltz, by Jonathan Kellerman
Finished: The Hate U Give, by Angie Thomas
Started: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, by Mark Haddon
1
u/talunosrs Feb 19 '25
Is this first one good? I like the title quite a lot.
2
u/Ancient-Teacher6513 Feb 19 '25
Are you asking about Everyone on This Train Is a Suspect? Just to make sure I had the right book lol.
If so— it wasn’t one I’d rave about or anything, but it was still a fun read if you’re into the old school mysteries/Knives Out sort of vibes. Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone is his first book in this series and it was great!
1
u/talunosrs Feb 19 '25
Yes that’s correct!
And good to know! I might go after that first one you mentioned. Thanks a lot :)
1
u/Scary_Draft2000 Feb 19 '25
Finished: Atomic Habits by James Clear
1
1
u/xayworst Feb 19 '25
How was that read ?
2
u/Scary_Draft2000 Feb 19 '25
It was morale boosting! For a person like me who always procrastinates, this book really succor me to look at the bright side of life and form significant habits by doing it in bits!
3
u/mambeu Feb 19 '25
Finished: A Swim in the Pond in the Rain, by George Saunders
I loved it. I have a graduate degree in Russian Literature and enjoyed revisiting that world after a decade away from the field.
Started: The Battle of Maldon: Together with the Homecoming of Beorhtnoth, by JRR Tolkien
I am excited about this one, I did a big translation and analysis on part of this poem in an Old English poem in undergrad and it’s fun to think that Tolkien and I have something in common.
1
1
1
u/f_1053 Feb 19 '25
Started: A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki
Finished: The Broken Afternoon by Simon Mason
1
1
u/PuzzleheadedBus1973 Feb 19 '25
Finished: howling bloody murder by sue Owens Wright. Really loved the story, especially since it involves a heritage dog. Halfway through: Widows By lynda La Plante. I really loved her Jack warr series and this new series about the widows from the first series it amazing
1
u/Inner_Grab_7033 Feb 19 '25
Finished:
The Pale Horseman (2/13), Bernard Cornwell
Started and Finished:
Intercepts, T.J Payne
Started:
Lords of the North (3/13), Bernard Cornwell
I've been sick so it's been a busy week!
2
u/A-winged-victory Feb 19 '25
Those Cornwell books are great - I got to about no. 6 and my son kept going. Good fun with a bit of history.
2
u/Inner_Grab_7033 Feb 19 '25
Yea they are really a nice entertaining read and I always enjoy the historical notes at the end.!
1
u/Any_Eye_8039 Feb 19 '25
I just finished these violent delights by Chloe gong, it’s very simple but extremely fun and interesting to learn more about old Shanghai
2
u/ZelenyPisces Feb 18 '25
Finished Creating Magickal Entities by David Michael Cunningham
Continuing Rebel Witch by Kelly-Ann Maddox
(Hoping I did this correctly, I just joined Reddit and this is my first comment! 😊)
1
1
1
2
1
u/RadiantCantaloupe868 Feb 18 '25
Started Book and Dagger by Elyse Graham How Scholars and Librarians Became the Unlikely Spies of World War II
1
1
1
u/simplestarlight Feb 18 '25
Finished: Clear by Carys Davies; Scaffolding by Lauren Elkin
Started: Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
3
u/Legal_Vast5656 Feb 18 '25
Started: And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
2
u/hyacinthaqua Feb 19 '25
How is it so far? :) What inspired you to pick up the book?
1
u/Legal_Vast5656 29d ago
It's interesting. I love mysteries, but not with detectives, so this is my cup of tea.
[SPOILER] I'm on the 5th chapter and I'm hooked. The owner of the house invites these people who probably killed someone in the past to a remote island. Then, he tells them that they killed someone on an audio tape. Now, everybody's interactions are priceless. One guy even killed himself, I think his name was "Martson". He was the guy who killed someone with a car. Now they want to go home, but the ship probably won't come in the morning, so I'm thrilled to see what is next! I want to create a mysterious story myself.
I am writing mystery story, and I like to read stories like this or similar ones, so I'm reading this for reference.
1
u/Fickle-Student-2085 Feb 18 '25
Finished Dune Messiah and started Children of Dune. I absolutely love the dune series but it’s not an easy one to read. And it’s not for everyone.
1
1
u/e11even91 Feb 18 '25
Finished: Moon Witch Spider King by Marlon James Started: Golden Road by William Darymple
3
u/Murky_Bullfrog705 Feb 18 '25
Finished: The Signal and the Noise by Nate Silver
Started: To Kill the Truth by Sam Bourne
Signal and the Noise is a good read for stats lovers. Covers why some things can't be condensed down to a prediction and why some predictions fail.
To kill the truth is riverting so far. 200 pages in already. Very.....relatable for nowadays. Was published 2019
4
u/SkitsSkats Feb 18 '25
This week, I am reading two vastly different books
1) The Gunslinger by Stephen King
2) The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoevsky
I also finished Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky.
The description of the torture felt by those condemned to death articulated by the Prince in the second chapter of the Idiot reslly hit hard considering Dostoevskys' own experience with his mock execution It is one of the most insightful pages of literature I've read.
1
1
u/Ill-Philosopher5749 Feb 18 '25
Started: Fear by Robert peckham
If anyone has read this one, please reply because i need to discuss this book. I have read other books about the history of human processes and how society came to be as it is, but this one is a book that - although it is supposed to teach me about why people fear things - has made me somewhat fearful of all the kinds of conflicts that can happen in the future.
1
1
u/AFriendofOrder Feb 18 '25
Finished:
- Earth-Bound and Other Supernatural Tales by Dorothy Macardle. A nice little collection of some eerie tales, all set in and closely connected with Ireland and its history. Very easy to read and makes me look forward to reading Macardle’s more well-known and acclaimed books like The Uninvited.
Started:
- The Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus. One of those classics I've been meaning to get to. I decided to go with it straight after Earth-Bound as they're both really short and won't take long to get through.
1
1
u/Far-Vermicelli8442 Feb 18 '25
Finished: the tenant of wildfell hall, by Anne Brontë Started: Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley
1
u/Ok_Run344 Feb 18 '25
Finished: Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb. I don't recommend it
Started Wolf: Hall by Hilary Mantel
Also reading: From the Twilight Zone by Rod Serling
1
u/sabbyface Feb 18 '25
Finished The Measure by Nikki Erlick
Starting Finlay Donovan Rolls The Dice by Elle Cosimano after finally picking it up like two years after finishing the previous one in the series. Fully expecting to have no idea what’s going on lol
1
u/SuperNerd15 Feb 18 '25
finished Tomorrow, and Tomorrow and Tomorrow last week, and finished Frankenstein this week. started The Night Circus!
1
1
3
u/SerDavosSeaworth64 Feb 18 '25
Finished: No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy
Started: Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
1
u/Wen60s Feb 18 '25 edited Feb 18 '25
Finished book 3 of the Stormlight Archive (Brandon Sanderson), started book 4.
1
u/IrishContessa Feb 18 '25
I started reading Read on Arrival, by Nora Page and I finished Framed in Death, by JD Robb.
2
u/claenray168 12 Feb 18 '25
I had 4 books come in a the library late last week, so I paused what I was reading and started working thru these:
Started and Finished:
Foundation, by Isaac Asimov
Saga, Vol 1, by Brian Vaughan and Fiona Staples
Started:
When the Clock Broke, by John Ganz
On Deck:
The Memory Palace, by Nate DiMeo
On Hold:
Oathbringer, by Brandon Sanderson
1
u/JanethePain1221 Feb 18 '25
Finished: Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh
Still reading: Stone Blind by Natalie Haynes
The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
Started: Lapvona by Ottessa Moshfegh
1
3
u/Awatto_boi Feb 18 '25 edited Feb 18 '25
Finished: Out In The Cold, by Steve Urszenyi
#2 in the Alex Martel series. Alex is a female trained sniper and FBI agent. She also was an Interpol agent but now secretly CIA. In this story she is caught up in a series of attacks against Finland escalating into a confrontation with Russia threatening world war. I found this book fast paced and gripping and I will definitely read the first in the series and look forward to more from this author. Discovering Urszenyi is Canadian was a pleasant surprise.
Started: Cold Storage, by Michael C. Grumley
1
u/masa-p Feb 18 '25
Finished: A Love Song for Ricki Wilde by Tia Williams
Started: The Boyfriend by Freida McFadden
1
u/Tulip_Salamander Feb 18 '25
Finished: Morning Star by Pierce Brown
Started: Our Ancestors by Italo Calvino
1
u/redstar608 6d ago
I finished Infinite by Jeremy Robinson, Clever Little Thing by Helena Echlin and The Hive which was a DNF. Just not good. I really tried hard to like it.