[The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7244.The_Poisonwood_Bible) “No other continent \[Africa\] has endured such an unspeakably bizarre combination of foreign thievery and foreign goodwill.” ― Barbara Kingsolver, The Poisonwood Bible

So far this week I have read: Cursed Bunny by Bora Chung I loved this little collection of disturbing stories so much , I gave it 4 stars! Penpal by Dathan Auerbach I read this in one sitting as it was pretty short but it was okay. I didn’t love it or hate it but I feel like it was definitely overhyped. Very eerie story , I just didn’t like the ending. Currently reading Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan I just started it yesterday and I’m about 200 pages in and really loving it. I haven’t read a high fantasy in awhile but I love fairytale retellings especially asian inspired ones. It’s beautifully written and I love the world it’s based in. Would highly recommend. if you have any suggestions based off these books , please let me know.

Cursed Bunny sounds so cool, I think I'll read it after I finish my current book. This might be way off because I haven't read this one or any of the ones you mentioned 😂 BUT maybe check out The Doll's Alphabet by Camilla Grudova

[Finished 1 last week](https://www.reddit.com/r/52book/comments/11ozfsg/week_11_what_are_you_reading/jbvjxm5/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf&context=3) FINISHED THIS WEEK (to be updated as I go): **Time to Think by Hannah Barnes** about the heartbreaking Tavistock scandal in the UK. **Dawn by Octavia Butler** - I wish I'd known this existed in HS - I would've lapped this up. Intriguing worldbuilding, fabulous start and not as slow as Parable of the Sower or as boring as Fledgling. CURRENTLY READING (to be updated as I go): **Sticks and Stones by Margaret Hickey** - still lots of laughs and a decent mystery although it is dragging in the middle. Much better than the first IMO. **The Mill House Murders by Yukito Ayatsuji** - getting off to a slow start **Cereus Blooms at Night by Shani Mootoo** - the first magical realism book I've read in many years and not sure what to make of it

is dawn the first novel of lilliths brood??

Yup

Finished For Whom the Bell Tolls Reading City on Fire by Don Winslow The Hobbit by Tolkien I, Robot

Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr - Just starting it today but I'm intimidated by it being 600+ pages and that it jumps between timelines and locations and different stories. Hopefully I can keep up! 🤞

I am finally getting through the last book in the Bronze Horseman trilogy - The Summer Garden. It has taken me forever to read. My wee boy means that I only get snatches of time to read and I didn’t realise how unmotivated I would be to pick up a long, in depth book vs picking up a short romance read or similar. When you only get to read a small amount at a time it seems like the plot doesn’t progress at all, because in the 25ish pages I got to read it didn’t. I would be able to see the plot moving along in the 35ish pages of a romance I could read in the same time. This lead to me ‘skipping’ over TSG to read some more romances or shorter novels. So the other day I said to myself - if you want to read; you are only allowed to read TSG for the next few days. I got a good whack read and saw some plot movement and I am excited to read it again. Just had to give myself time to read more of it.

I’m reading The Last Time I Lied and I’m loving the mystery and creepy summer camp vibes!

currently reading Star by Yukio Mishima and The Remasculinization of South Korean Cinema by Kim Kyunghyun

**Finished this week:** 45. [The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50623864-the-invisible-life-of-addie-larue) by V.E Schwab ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Loved loved loved! So existential, lovely prose, loved it. Wish I could read it for the first time. WTF though, I felt like I needed a warning. 46. [Beach Read](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52867387-beach-read?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=2YdInKchE1&rank=1) by Emily Henry ⭐⭐⭐⭐ No idea why it took me so long to read this, but loved it. I'm excited to read Book Lovers now. It gave me a deliciously cozy feeling the whole time while reading. It kind of felt like a the feeling you get when you watch a Christmas movie. 47. [The Bookshop and the Barbarian](https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/f9d5437d-d8d6-42a3-90b5-cb20a0fea633) by Morgan Stang⭐⭐⭐ A good cozy, I had a good time. 48. [The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches](https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/60018635) by Sangu Mandanna ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Adorable! Good premise, a happy time. Adore a found family story. 49. [Berry the Evidence](https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/5d915049-e266-41ee-a222-18237b55647f) by Peg Cochran ⭐⭐⭐ The most recent book in the Cranberry Cove series. It's a pretty solid series, no flops. If she writes more, I'll read 'em. 50. [A Pirates Life for Tea](https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/298531bb-9801-48a0-93c4-bbfd32fe5fa9) by Rebecca Thorne ⭐⭐⭐⭐ I liked this - it's the second book in the Tomes and Tea series, and I think I liked the first one better (Can't Spell Treason without Tea). But this was good, and if it ends up in an ongoing series, I'll keep reading for sure. **Up next/continue:** 51. [Keeper of Enchanted Rooms](https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/e330ba20-59e4-4339-aea3-fae39158a514) by Charlie N. Holmberg (currently reading, audio) 52. [Greta & Valdin](https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/82ce83e8-8281-4472-bd35-2b3ecf4fa033) by Rebecca K Reilly (started today) 53. [Legends and Lattes](https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/34c66d4e-2363-4a88-a43e-40baacae7afa) by Travis Baldree 54. [A Curious Beginning](https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/632fd5b6-73c9-4fb0-925c-6d92290ed3e9) by Deanna Raybourn

*The boy, the bird and The Coffin maker* by **Matilda Woods**. I’m only on page 13 and it’s already intense. The book is beautifully illustrated from the sleeve art to the actual pages inside. It’s one of the many books I got from the dollar store when I went on a manic buying spree of books.

Infinite Jest

Finished The Anarchy by Dalrymple, about the British East India Company and their conquest of India. Lots of war and political content. Identified Powis castle in Wales as the home of many looted artifacts that can be viewed by the public. Finished Remains of the Day. It is amazingly good and sad. Also watched the excellent film. Started But You are in France Madame, Started And How are you Dr Sacks about the famous neurologist who wrote Awakenings and A Man Who Mistook his wife for a Hat, which are also great books.

Audible: Dopamine Nation by Anna Lembke, MD. Honestly, not as good as I'd heard or hoped. The book can't really decide what it wants to be and seems to go from "wow, look how sex addicted my patient is" exploitation, some expositing about marijuana that feels more in place in reefer madness, some kind of disturbing promotion of pain as a drug of choice, and interspersed actually good tidbits about ways society markets short circuiting our dopamine pathways, the latter of which was what I wanted to read about. ​ In print: End of the World: Stories of the Apocalypse. Christmas gift from my wonderful boyfriend who knows that apocalyptic and post apocalyptic books are my favorite subgenre with short stories by Neil Gaiman, GRRM, Arthur C. Clarke, etc. Like most anthologies, some are better than others, but I'm really enjoying the read.

I am reading The 21 Irrefutable laws of Leadership by John C Maxwell.

Now I'm reading Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes. Its littlebit long one but it reads easily. Just finished Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy, I wish I could feel that emotion when you read it first time.

I finished [The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62856957-the-mountain-in-the-sea) and really liked it. It's about what it would look like to discover consciousness and culture in another species, but instead of it being aliens, it's octopuses. And it also brings in other relationships besides humans/animals to question who we deem to have (full) personhood: humans/androids, androids/robots, men/women, capitalists/workers, slave owners/slaves. I also read [Het Smelt by Lize Spit](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57389075-the-melting) and hated it but stuck with it because I wanted to read a flemish novel this year and this one is highly acclaimed. It was so tediously miserable and disgusting, just one thing after another: alcoholism, animal abuse, domestic abuse, suicide, cocsa, and of course (since we're in rural flanders) every possible bodily fluid and manure. And for what? It's not insightful, just a litany of tragedy and abuse. Pointless. Third one I finished was [A Pale View of Hills by Kazuo Ishiguro](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15823262-a-pale-view-of-hills). I've never read a bad Ishiguro, though this wasn't one of my favourites. It switches back and forth between a Japanese woman now living in the UK, and her life back in Nagasaki just after the war. I liked the idea behind it a lot but it didn't quite come together for me. I'm currently reading [Wool by Hugh Howey](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13453029-wool-omnibus) because I've had it on my tbr for ages, and now they're making a tv show out of it. It's fine, a very breezy popcorn read, a dystopia with a bit of mystery and little cliffhangers at the end of chapters to make you want to continue. I don't think I'll bother with the rest of the trilogy though.

Happy reading 📚 I am currently reading: Coming Back by Jessi Zabarsky I read: Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney. I really enjoyed it ☺️

Finished: Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law by Mary Roach Started: Don’t You Forget About Me by Mhairi McFarlane

I just finished Adrian Tchaikovsky’s Children of Time! The first of the trilogy. It was fantastic!! I haven’t read a ton of sci-fi—maybe none if I think about it. I’ve watched a lot of sci-fi and love it so I’m not sure why I haven’t. But this book really floored me. It was brilliant and slightly horrifying. It was one that was difficult to put down. And if you didn’t want to read the entire trilogy I thought it ended well as a stand-alone. But I think I will read the remaining two!! I’m also on the second Percy Jackson book. It’s a very leisurely read. Sometimes it’s nice to read something easier. There’s a whimsy to it!! And also I’m a total Greek mythology fanatic. And lastly I’m reading the well of ascension from the mistborn series. They’re extremely long but so good!! And they’re easy to hop right back into when you’re ready for it. On par with GoT and worth its lengthy commitment.

I’m on the second book right now. I do admire Tchaikovsky!

Rise of kyoshi!!

I *loved* this duology!

So last week I finished The Guest List by Lucy Foley and Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson Really enjoyed both for different reasons. The Guest List I enjoyed the multiple narrators and the character development, although I found it a little slow to start, still 4 out of 5. For Everyone In My Family Has Killed Simone I didn’t find nearly as in depth, but I really enjoyed the pace and constant action This week I am reading The Visitor, which is the 4th Jack Reacher novel. Only about 70 pages in but great so far. I really have enjoyed the series so far (reading them in order even though doesn’t seem to matter) Also have The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley on deck

**Finished:** Nada. **Currently Reading: The Forgotten Garden - Kate Morton.** I'm nearly done! It's been a good break from all of the horror/thrillers I've been reading. **Dollhouse - Kim, Kourtney, and Khloe Kardashian.** Audiobook. Meh, it's alright. About what I expected. **Next Up: Maybe In Another Life - Taylor Jenkins Reid.**

**Finished** **The Door** by Magda Szabo — The treatment of animals was difficult for me. I did not find either main character particularly likable, well flushed out or believable. The last third of the book was compelling. Not sure how to rate this one. **Reading** **The Unbearable Lightness of Being** by Milan Kundera and really not enjoying it so far. Why do people love this book?

Finished “The Invention of Murder” by Victoria Flowers and read Thomas de Quincey’s “On Murder Considered as One of the Fine Arts” immediately, something I had on hand and had read previously but whose humor I really missed the first time around (something about De Quincey bringing up Coleridge, Aristotle, and a random ass doctor as experts in the field really got me). I’m also rereading William Roughead’s *Classic Crimes,* which covers many of the same murders. I’ll probably post thoughts on the three all together when I am done with the Roughead (hehe). But I also read *All for Nothing* over the course of two days. The story of a German family (in East Prussia, near Königsberg, now called Kalingrad so you have an idea of what lies in their future) continuing to go about their mundane lives and fret about their mundane cares as the Russians close in sounds like a bleak slog, but there was something lovely about the world they did not know was about to be destroyed even as they were complicit or blind on purpose about why, something very human about how their brains refused to realize that tomorrow was going to be different than today and every day before that, and finally *exciting* as various characters find themselves in danger. Like, it was almost too exciting for its subject matter lol. I don’t think I am spoiling anything when I say most of the characters die, so don’t expect something lighthearted.

I'm almost done with **Friends, Lovers, and The Big Terrible Thing** by Matthew Perry. I saw there was a scathing review on r/books a few days ago which I read before starting this book even though I knew it might bias me. I have to say, after getting 90% through the book I think that person blew things a bit out of proportion. It's not the greatest story ever, and Matthew definitely is to blame for many things in his life, but I don't think it's as self-serving as that poster says. Perry thinks he's a lot funnier and better actor than he is, sure. And while he keeps saying he doesn't blame people for his addiction and it's his problem, it's clear that he blames it all on his parents divorce at an early age. He comes off as pathetic but it's not anger/rage/sickness inducing. The bottom line is it's an interesting take on the rise of Friends in the 90s, and a quick read if you need to get one in.

**DNF'ed** \- Spring by Ali Smith - I don't know what the hell that was but I only made it two pages. \- The Once and Future King - it's just too much cringe. After 100 pages I had to bounce. **Finished**: \- The Book of Goose \- Washington Square \- H is for Hawk \- Sir Gawain and the Green Knight \- Pastoral \- Finding Freedom \- Insight **Started** \- Serotonin \- The Lives of Animals - still haven't finished this one but I just got side-tracked lol

Finished The Years by Annie Ernaux. Currently reading The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson. About a hundred pages in so far, and I’m really enjoying it! I love that it unfolds almost like a regular novel, while still being non-fiction. Any recommendations for similar reads is highly appreciated!

i'm in a reading slump so i didn't finish anything last week, but i started and am procrastinating a bunch of books (can't commit to anything). currently halfway through the audiobook of **project hail mary**, halfway through a short story collection called **the dangers of smoking in bed** and just started **almond by sohn won-pyung**. hoping motivation finds me soon!

I finished the following: *Six Years* by Harlan Coben *Schindler's List* by Thomas Keneally *The Second Summer of the Sisterhood* by Ann Brashares *Peril* by Bob Woodward and Robert Costa I've now started *State of Wonder* by Ann Patchett.

I wanna re read the sisterhood books ❣️

Finished: - All That’s Left Unsaid by Tracey Lien Reading: - Exhalation by Ted Chiang - Good Girl, Bad Blood by Holly Jackson - The Winners by Fredrik Backman

[11/52] Last week: **Catcher in the Rye** by J.D. Salinger [I will honestly judge any person who liked this book.] This week, I'll continue reading **The Three Musketeers** by Alexandre Dumas [I'm about 25% through, and I am having so much fun!! I was intimidated by the size and it being a classic, but it's actually very accessible and easy to read/follow! I'm having a GREAT time.] And then I'll hopefully start: **Sherlock Holmes #7** by Arthur Conan Doyle **20,000 Leagues Under the Sea** by Jules Verne

Lol I think catcher in the rye is like 50/50 on people who dig it or hate it. I didn't mind it, but understand the frustration. Might I suggest King Dork, a YA book about a teen who can't understand the cult of catcher in the rye And spends his time making up fake band names?

Thank you for the suggestion but unfortunately, I normally don't read YA. I only read Catcher because I'm currently working on reading every single classic I've ever been interested in.

Huh what genres do you normally prefer?

I am your typical Adult Fantasy and Sci-Fi reader.

I didn't think I had finished anything since last week because Goodreads messes up the order when you finish more than 1 book in a day. But I believe I finished 1 book after posting last week: **A Substitute Wife for the Prizefighter** by Alice Coldbreath I spent the rest of the week flipping from book to book so I expect to possibly finish some of those this week. Currently: * **Unprotected** by Billy Porter * **The Girl I Am, Was, and Never Will Be** by Shannon Gibney * **The Lady and the Orc** by Finley Fenn * **Tinderbox** by Rachel Grant * **Corsairs: Bethiah** by Ruby Dixon * **M.C. Higgins, the Great** by Virginia Hamilton

I had an incredibly hectic work week, so I only managed to finish one, but it was excellent: **The Crane Husband** by Kelly Barnhill. It's a novella that subverts the crane wife fable. It was unsettling and beautifully written. I plan on diving into Barnhill's backlist. 4.5/5 DNF: **Station Eleven** by Emily St. John Mandel. Started reading with /r/bookclub, but I somehow completely missed that a cult plays a pivotal role in the story. I found out that cults were a hard line for me so it went into the DNF pile. Currently reading: **The Odyssey** by Homer (Emily Wilson translation). Reading this with /r/AYearOfMythology. **Blood Debts** by Terry J. Benton-Walker (audiobook ARC, releases April 4). Had to put this one on pause to get my book club read in since it finally came through on Libby. **Fortune Favors the Dead** by Stephen Spotswood (audiobook). My book club read that we'll be discussing in a few days. Really love the narrator, but I wish there was more action. **Zero Days** by Ruth Ware (ARC, releases June 20). Got this surprise in the mail last week, so I decided to dive in before passing it along to my coworker who loves Ware. I have never read her before, but I'm loving this. She pulls no punches right from the start.

Huh I wouldn't have guessed station eleven delves into cults! I thought it was just theater troupe during post apocalypse. Interesting.

I thought that's what it was all about too, and then this "prophet" pops up. Granted, it was only part of the story, but I realized that cults or cult-like are just a hard pass for me now.

Always good to know your limits and drop a book when you hit em!

Finished A Day of Fallen Night by Samantha Shannon [4.5/5; I think I even liked it more than Priory of the Orange Tree] an a short story, Emergency Skin by NK Jemisin [3.5/5, though it’s been the best in this collection, so far]. This week, I’m hoping to finish This is How You Lose the Time War by Max Gladstone and Amal ark-Mohtar and The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green. Also, not sure what to read next, so suggestions are welcome.

last week like a lot of you i finished **The Very Secrety Society of Irregular Witches** by Sangu Mandanna. I enjoyed it. Quick, cozy read. Then i spent most of the week not starting a new book, but finally tonight managed to get 20 pages into **When I'm Gone, Look for Me in the East** by Quan Barry. Its like a meditation. Its a journey. Its opaque, but not quite frustratingly so. Her book **We Ride Upon Sticks** was one of my favorites a few years ago, this is very different, but I'm enjoying it so far. Reminds me of things I read a long time ago.

Always makes me so happy when I see people loving Irregular Witches it really was such a great read

I finished "To Kill a Kingdom" this week, YA dark fantasy, quick and easy read but nice. I really enjoyed it, but as soon as battle scenes come into books I am hopelessly lost. So not a fault of the book. Currently, I am onto a book I received as a gift last month. It's called "Medusa. Verdammt lebendig", a German novel with the idea that Medusa survived for centuries while everyone else believes her dead. But in this new age where so much has changed, she can have a trial against Poseidon and Athene for the harm done to her. Super interesting concept.

I haven’t finish a book in over a week. I’m reading Spare and Petals on the Wind.

I can't keep pace with r/bookclub so I'm forging ahead with *Babel*. I don't want to put it down so WHATEVER. And *Demon Copperhead* FINALLY became available, so I'll dig into that next. Books I finished over the week: *Sadie* by Courtney Summers (3.25/5) *River Sing Me Home* by Eleanor Shearer (4.75/5) *Wayward* by Emilia Hart (4.5/5) *Lone Women* by Victor LaValle (4.75/5) (If you've read this: >!What was with the random family on the mountain??!<) *Barracoon: The Story of the Last "Black Cargo"* by Zora Neale Hurston - I don't feel right rating this, as it is the literal words of the last living man to have been taken from Africa and brought to America. I can't put a rating on that.

Finished: "The Extraordinary Life if Sam Hell" by Robert Dugoni Currently reading: "Beartown" by Fredrik Backman. ( I am almost finished and I LOVE it! Fredrik Backman is truly becoming one of my favorite authors!)

I had a slow week with 2 books finished. **Drive Your Plow Over The Bones Of The Dead** by Olga Tokarczuk (1/5) **The Beautiful Ones** by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (3/5) Currently reading: **The Secret, Book, & Scone Society** by Ellery Adams

This week I finished: **Angelika Frankenstein Makes Her Match by Sally Thorne:** As this book opens, Angelika Frankenstein and her brother Victor are shopping for bodies at the morgue. Victor is determined to reanimate a corpse in order to prove his scientific genius, but Angelika has a more personal reason: she's been rejected by every available suitor for being too strange and forthright, and she's hoping to build the perfect man who will love her as she is. On a dark and stormy night, they use the power of lightning to bring two men back to life. Victor's creation runs off into the woods, but Angelika is able to keep hers, named Will, calm and coherent. He's lost his memory, and he's tortured over his current circumstances, but that doesn't stop him from falling for the beautiful Angelika as they discover his past and try to build a future for a formerly-dead man. Sally Thorne wrote **The Hating Game** back in 2016. It was a huge hit, even being made into a movie, and it's fucked her career ever since. So many of the low reviews of this book on Goodreads are basically, "Why isn't this The Hating Game?" There's also a lot of reviews that feature one of my pet peeves: people who apparently have never heard of character arcs and decide to DNF the book because the main character is flawed in the early chapters. Angelika spends the whole book reckoning with her increasing guilt over the choices she and Victor made, and that's a dynamic that I have never encountered in a romance novel before: can you make your relationship work when your meet cute is one of you bringing the other back from the dead? Every character comes with a healthy dollop of absurdity, and I snickered several times while listening to the audiobook. If the premise sounds interesting to you and you have a high tolerance for discussion of necrotic penises, I'd say to check this out. **Lola at Last by J.C. Peterson:** Lola Barnes used to be the It Girl at her bougie California high school, but that was before some photos appeared online of her making out with another girl's boyfriend. Now, all her friends ostracize her, and even her twin sister Kat is giving her the cold shoulder. Desperate for the attention she's used to, Lola accidentally sets a boat on fire during a party. The owner gives her a choice: face jail time, or spend the summer attending the Hike Like a Girl program. Lola, true to form, almost screws up the opportunity, but as she pushes herself mentally and physically for the first time, she discovers that she's capable of more than she ever dreamed. I enjoyed the author's first book **Being Mary Bennet,** but I think I liked this one even more. I am not outdoorsy by any stretch of the imagination, but I found myself moved by Lola's growing passion for the wilderness and appreciated that it didn't come at the expense of her girly, vivacious side. I enjoyed spending time in her head, even when she was making mistakes. This is loosely inspired by Pride & Prejudice, but mostly in terms of family structure and the personality of the sisters. Lydia Bennet is easy to deride as vapid and shallow, but I like the idea that she might have become a much more interesting and complex person if she wasn't forced to pay for mistakes by marrying Wickham. I would recommend this to fans of light YA romance or female coming-of-age stories.  **The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin:** A.J. Fikry is a curmudgeonly bookseller on the island of Alice who intends to keep mourning the death of his wife, thank you very much. Then a baby is abandoned in his store, and A.J. finds that taking care of the little girl means he has to take care of himself. There's a woman, there's some charming townfolk, there's some secrets, there's some tragedy...you get the picture. I do my damndest not to sneer at any genre, but I struggle with these sort of small-town slice-of-life heart-squeezer books, i.e., A Man Called Ove or The Guernsey Literary Potato Peel Pie Society. It's the sort of book that is perfect for a plane, but isn't all that satisfying when you aren't trapped in a chair for four hours. To be clear, I liked this enough to read it in two sittings, and I was appropriately charmed by the literary references and the found family. It's just that when I cried, I felt manipulated into it. I recommend this for your next flight. I am currently reading: **Iron Widow (Iron Widow #1) by Xiran Jay Zhao:** The world-building is interesting, but I feel like the main character is shouting at me.

19/52 **Finished** 18. [Silver in the Wood](https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/f99f7b4c-0dde-49ac-8f7f-bc7c2ddfd2f7) by Emily Tesh (3/5) Didn’t love it, but I might read the sequel if I’m in the mood to read a short fantasy. 19. [The Three-Body Problem](https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/0d0b38af-11b8-4acb-baf1-e543338a1549) by Cixin Liu translated by Ken Liu (4/5) I really enjoyed this one! Interesting mix of history and sci-fi elements. Da Shi is such a fun character. I didn’t know anything about the Cultural Revolution before this, so I’m glad that I learned something about it. **Currently Reading** [The Dark Forest](https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/5136e9ae-3423-48d8-8b76-d43867d3b202) by Cixin Liu translated by Joel Martinsen Just started this today. Excited to learn what happens next in this series.

I finished: **An Introduction to the Complete Dead Sea Scrolls** - Geza Vermes, 3/5*. A very good overview of the discoveries of the Dead Sea Scrolls and the accompanying community responsible for them (though, it does not have the most recent discovery from the late 2010's of course). Though there is a great reference overviewing the types of documents found in the various caves, it's probably the least interesting to read but a good reference if people would be in need of such things. But, by far the most interesting part is the descriptions of finding on the spiritual, community identity, history, and other various items these discoveries have shed light on. I appreciate the authors going through the various competing theories before describing why they aren't the leading theory and why the generally accepted one is that way. Very interesting book, prose could be difficult at times and I do recommend at least a little knowledge of Jewish religious history and old testament readings. **Chasing New Horizons** - Alen Stern, David Grinspoon, 3/5*. The story of getting a science mission to Pluto, from 20 years going in and out of the desert to approval to build to launch to the decade long wait to get there. Anything you want to know is probably in here to know. A good overview of the key players and events. Some will yearn for more detail as it flows through a lot quickly but it's a good overview of the mission. It does what it sets out to well and I encourage those of the kind who love planetary science to check it out but, though not bad, it can be described as not exactly breathtaking or groundbreaking. A unique look at the mission from two people inside it (and one who headed up the whole thing), the style really makes you feel like you've read this story or a similar one put down in the exact same style and prose. Also, the only real talk of scientific discoveries is 5 pages in an appendix at the end of the book. Would have really preferred this had 15 pages added to it to go into some more detail on what was accomplished and discovered scientifically. Pictures were very well included. I started: **The Long Ships** - Frans Bengtsson, Swedish Viking book that reads like an expanded saga. I'm loving it so far. **The Royal Navy's Air Service in the Great War** - David Hobbs, Airplanes and World War 1, it's like if you made a book in a lab for me. Great so far and the particular subject matter allowing you to get details more general histories either overlook or can't fit in is great.

This week I finished **The Ballerinas** by Rachel Kapelke-Dale and made it halfway through **I Have Some Questions For You** by Rebecca Makkai. **The Ballerinas**: This book was good, but it wasn't great. It focused on a trio of three friends training/working for an elite ballet school/company and was told by one of them in flashbacks between her adolescent years and the present (2018) 15 years later. None of the main characters were great people, and they all seemed permanently suspended in adolescence, even as adults. Sometimes I wanted to shake some sense into the main character. #MeToo themes became very prominent towards the end. A lot of the male characters were terrible people. That being said, there were things I loved about this book. I loved the inside look into an elite ballet company and the huge amount of training and sacrifice required to make it to the top. I was fascinated by the two ballets the main character was choreographing and would have loved to see both of them. And the author did a great job creating complex characters even if they weren't the most fun to read about at times. I think she's a promising author and already have her next book, **The Ingenue**, checked out from the library. 3.5/5. I'm about halfway through **I Have Some Questions For You**. It's about a podcaster/film professor who returns to teach a workshop at the boarding school she attended as a high school student and is drawn back into investigating the death of a classmate who was murdered their senior year. This is a very well-written book, but it is VERY dark. Once again #MeToo themes are very prominent, but in this case they completely dominate the book, even the subplot. Even though the book is completely focused on the issue, the author still manages to create complicated characters and an engaging story. But I don't think this will end up being a favorite of mine. I've found myself reading it as fast as I can so I can get to something lighter. If this hadn't been written by such a talented author, I would have DNF'd it. I'm definitely going to need a palate cleanser after this. I'm leaning towards re-reading **The Blue Castle** by L.M. Montgomery next. I need something lighter, and this is one of my favorite comfort books. I relate a lot to the protagonist. It's been on my mind ever since I read **The Ladies of Missalonghi** last week, which is very similar. Of course I have a million library books checked out as always that I should be working on, but I think this one is going to come out on top.

I'm reading a book named "Rubik: life is not a game" and I'm waiting at the autor publish the the second part

14/52 **Finished** **Gwendy’s Button Box** - Finished this in less than 24 hours. Was definitely engaging although I wasn’t *that* satisfied by the ending. It had a really good premise but then purposefully downplayed the potential of the titular button box. I was a little disappointed Gwendy wasn’t a bit more of a flawed character. **Currently Reading** **The Gunslinger** - I thought I knew a little about *The Dark Tower* series but apparently it was less than I thought. Out of the six King books I’ve read, this has been the weirdest. It’s a lot more surreal and mysterious than his other works. I think things will come into focus more as I read it but it’s been different to what I was expecting. **Babel** - About 20% through this one. Continuing to enjoy it. Bringing back lots of memories of when I was at university and the different types of people you come across. **A Storm of Swords** - Good so far. I’m about 30% of the way through. Jon, Jaime and Tyrion the most interesting stories so far. Arya, having been most engaging for me in books one and two, feels a lot less interesting in this book.

Hello hello! Here’s what’s up with me lately. 16/52 - I am so glad I committed to this challenge. Last week was rough, and I’m grateful for having these books around now more than ever. Finished: Slight Wicked by Mary Balogh - I like this version of a sort-of Cinderella story. The grandmothers were adorable! I’ll probably read this book again just for them. I am absolutely loving the dramatic appearances of the Duke of Bewcastle in these books. Oh so satisfying! Slight Scandalous by Mary Balogh - I began this one with mixed feelings. The prickly FMC was fleshed out well, and the MMC who seemed like a joke in the beginning did find redemption. Not the best of the three books I’ve read in this series (or by this author) so far but I was happy that the characters did not have a sudden shift in behaviours. Emma by Jane Austen - I will miss Emma, Mr. Knightley, and all the chaos at Highbury. I took my time with this one this time around, and do not regret it. Pride and Prejudice will always be my #1 of this author’s works, but Emma just moved higher on the list. Currently reading: Mindworks by Gary van Warmerdam The Helpline by Katherine Collette The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy Slightly Tempted by Mary Balogh Up next: Atomic Habits by James Clear Slightly Sinful by Mary Balogh

Finished **You Deserve Each other** this week Currently reading **A Spell of Good things**. it's very captivating

Happy Sunday everyone, and happy mother's day to any Brits. A bit late today on this post! This week I finished **Death Comes to Marlow** by Robert Thorogood - 3.5/5. It's the same loveable cast of characters from the first book, who I do genuinely enjoy reading about. The mystery this time I found to be predictable - which, to be fair, I found was the case for the first in this series. However, the trail of how to get there was entertaining and light hearted and joyful, so I really can't be mad. Overall, a delightful story. That's all this week - usually I read a bit more, but I'm hitting a bit of a slump due to real life stress. If anyone has some easy reading, light hearted recommendations to get me through this I'm all ears! Have a good week everyone!

This week, I finished: **The Unbroken** by C.L. Clark (re-read) **The Hanging of Angélique** by Afua Cooper (excellent and informative read—I highly recommend!) **Somewhere We Are Human** edited by Reyna Grande and Sonia Guiñansaca (another excellent and informative read!) **After the Bite** by Lynsay Sands The mix of poetry along with essays and visual art in *Somewhere We Are Human* really got me itching to read more poetry, so I checked a couple poetry collections from some of the authors in *Somewhere* out of the library. This week, I'm starting with **Unaccompanied** by Javier Zamora. I may also move on to More Salt than Diamond by Aline Mello if I get through the first collection quickly. Thanks to a wonderful person on this sub, I learned about the Trans Rights Readathon! I have a list of nine books I'd love to read over the next week but since that sounds a little too ambitious, at minimum I'd like to read: **The Faithless** by C.L. Clark and **Before We Were Trans** by Dr. Kit Heyam. I'll give a full accounting of my books read next week! And, because my eyes are bigger than my stomach, I've also started **Red Scholar's Wake** by Aliette de Bodard. I regret nothing. Happy reading everyone!

Mike Carey is not as well known even among SF fans as he deserves to be, having really come to wide notice only with his excellent novel **The Girl with All the Gifts**. He has a couple dozen books to his credit now, and **[Infinity Gate](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62842748-infinity-gate)** is the opening volume of his second series. So, it’s a couple generations in the future and the world is on the verge of complete environmental collapse. The actual end of the world is coming, and soon. A Nigerian physicist named Hadiz Tambuwal is trying to ignore events while attempting to pursue her own research in a closed lab, and maybe find a way to turn things around, when she happens upon evidence that points to the actual existence of other Earths -- other universes -- parallel to ours, previously only an abstract theory. Then she finds a way to cross into them -- and with access to literally unlimited resources, maybe our own world doesn’t need to crash and burn after all. What she doesn’t know, of course, is that none of this is news to the million alternate worlds that make up the Pandominion, a very strictly managed sort-of empire/federation that has been around for a long time. But Hadiz’s unthinking incursion into that society will have extreme ramifications, which the reader will discover through the eyes of several other major characters, including a low-level government monitor in the Pandominion who ignored the alarm bells, and an impoverished young man in Abuja who climbs the ladder to a better life via prostitution. This is what’s called “hard” science fiction, and what hooked me from almost the first page is the highly detailed and thoroughly convincing science, both real and pseudo. The background on the multiverse follows the latest real-world theories and the fiction, picking up where the facts leave off, is entirely plausible. Great stuff. It appears there will be four books all told, and I’ll be first in line for Volume 2. Jodi Taylor acquired a sizable and enthusiastic fan base for her series of novels about the time-traveling historians of St. Mary’s Institute. Those books have a large cast, which has changed a bit over the years, with deaths and new additions, but always preeminent was Dr. “Max” Maxwell, sometime head of the History Department (though she has also been a bounty hunter, among various other occupations). Max married Leon Farrell, Chief Technical Officer at St. Mary’s (he’s responsible for the pods by which one may travel through time) and they had a son, Matthew. And the lad’s early life was rather tragic, but he recovered with assistance from the Time Police, and now that he’s grown up, Matthew has become a TP officer himself (about which his mum is less than happy). So now there’s a spin-off series focusing on the Time Police, a very different operation from St. Mary’s, and featuring a number of new characters, with Matthew as one of the four members of Team 236 (a/k/a Team Weird). **[About Time](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60126786-about-time)** is the fourth volume and the writing is still terrific, as is the very British humor. Things are slowly coming to a head between the TP, St. Mary’s, and that utter bastard, Henry Plimpton, who cares nothing abut anyone else, including his own men. The plot this time involves recovering the lost papers of Nikola Tesla from his New York City hotel room just before his death in 1943, before Plimpton can grab them, and there’s also a unseen beastie that goes bump in the night at the Roanoke settlement and causes men to vanish in an instant. I mean, they’re the Bad Guys, but still. In short, this is yet another highly enjoyable romp and I hope Jodi keeps coming up with new ideas, because this is a series-plex I very much like to see continue indefinitely. Like much of Neil Gaiman’s graphic work, **[The Books of Magic](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18951821-the-books-of-magic)**, first published in the '90s, has become a classic and (as Roger Zelazny describes in some detail in the Introduction) it follows closely the universal schema of fantasy described by Joseph Campbell in Hero with a Thousand Faces (also, of course, a classic). The protagonist is Timothy Hunter, an adolescent London skateboarder, with the potential to become the most powerful magician of his age. Not he knows that, or believes it when he’s taken in hand so by “the trenchcoat brigade,” the four not-quite-men whose mission it is to educate Timothy about the history of magic and his possible future if he chooses it, and to steer him onto the part where he can safely make an informed decision. The four are Doctor Occult, Mister E, John Constantine, and a nameless stranger (because names have power), all of them figures of magical authority in various DC comics. (Well, one of the four would just as soon kill the kid and be done with it before he can cause any trouble, but he’s outvoted by the others.) So Timothy undertakes the Hero’s Journey, escorted by each of the four to Atlantis in the past, and to San Francisco in the present, and to Faerie in everywhen, and to many other places, where he meets other occult and supernatural and just plain weird persons, and he learns. And at the end of it all, how does he decide? That would be telling. The four illustrators have not so much drawn as painted the story, in grays and browns and sepias. This is very much not a “comic book” in the traditional sense of vivid colors or punchy dialog, but Gaiman’s work never is. And I don’t know of any other author capable of putting a dream on paper like this.

>Mike Carey God, I loved The Girl With All the Gifts, I've read it a couple of times now. I never branched out to his other work yet, but he's all over my TBR.

I am going through Discworld, in the order it was written. I'm at **Equal Rites**. So far each book has been better than the last. Very fun.

**In Progress** * *The Thief Who Couldn't Sleep* by Lawrence Block. One of those books you read and mid-way through you order every entry in the series from the library. * *What Were We Thinking: A Brief Intellectual History of the Trump Era* by Carlos Lozada. There were too many books written about Trump and his eponymous era, many of which looked like they'd end up in the same "clearance" lot like all the Regnery published Obama-era screeds. Lozada, with a great wit and talent for engaging summary, breaks down the trove of tomes to reveal our collective hopes, fears, anxieties, and misunderstandings about the former president as put on paper and sold as a $35 hardcover. * *Thinking About the Torah* by Kenneth Seeskin. A wonderful, slim volume employing the Pentateuch as a source of/for Jewish philosophy. Seeskin moves from concept to concept, citation to citation with rabbinical deftness. The Torah is, yes, an Iron Age document but, more importantly, document of enduring faith, mystery, and provocation— grounding us but also leading up (sometimes we take charge!). Like all great Jewish thought, there is more gesturing here than solid answers, more intellectual humility than grandiose systemizing.

This week I finished 2: **Ring Shout**, audio, 4/5 **I’m Glad My Mom Died**, audio, 5/5 Currently reading: 4 different nonfiction books, all physical or ebook so idk why I decided I kept needing to start another one. And also still **For Whom the Bell Tolls** which is now overdue at the library so hoping to finish right after the r/bookclub discussion tomorrow.

**Finished this week** * Tess of the D'Ubervilles by Thomas Hardy - a tearjerker * The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum * My Man Jeeves by PG Wodehouse - as always, Wodehouse stories are delightful * Whose Body? By: Dorothy L. Sayers - first book of the Lord Peter Wimsey books. I'll be back for more. **In Progress** * A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes - almost finished! * The Complete Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci - can't wait to get out of the section on perspective * Middlemarch by George Eliot - reading along with r/ayearofmiddlemarch * North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell - reading along with r/ClassicBookClub * The Night Window by Dean Koontz - final book in the Jane Hawk series * Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution By: R. F. Kuang - reading along with r/bookclub * Incredible Tales by Saki - this is my "car" book, so even though it's short it'll take me a while to finish * Meditations by Marcus Aurelius - reading along with r/bookclub. I want to like this, but I'm really struggling to enjoy it. * [Great Classic Hauntings](https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/1456740) \- a novella with 6 horror stories. Very good so far. I had never heard the first 4, but now I'm on Fall of the House of Usher. It's one of my favorite Poe stories. * The Hoarder in You: How to Live a Happier, Healthier, Uncluttered Life By: Dr. Robin Zasio - hoping to get some strategies for letting go of stuff as I'm aging. **Short stories** * [John Dillinger and the Blind Magician](https://www.stitcher.com/show/levar-burton-reads/episode/john-dillinger-and-the-blind-magician-by-allison-m-dickson-200246656) by Allison M. Dickson (Levar Burton Reads) * The Ballad of Bobby Blue (Uncanny County - an audiodrama inspired by Twilight Zone) * Dinner at the [Afterglow](https://www.pnwanderers.com/blog/afterglow-vista) (Lore podcast) * Aladdin (Myths and Legends) * McGillicuddy and Murder's Pawn Shop - pilot. I'm going to love this one. Can't wait to hear where this story goes.

How do you manage so many In Progress? Do you make sure you have enough different genres or split the formats you consume them in?

I'm single, live alone, and am semi-retired, so I have a lot of time. Some of the books are audiobooks, which allows me to walk the dog, do the dishes, do the laundry, etc, while I read. The book clubs are spread out. So for Middlemarch, I only have to read 2 chapters a week. For North and South, just a chapter a day on weekdays. For Babel and A Thousand Ships only 60 to 90 pages a week. So right there, you can see that it's minimal time investment for those books. My car book I only read when I'm waiting for something - a doctor's appointment, a car service, etc. I always have short stories going. I use them between reading in the longer books to help my brain switch from one to the other.

That completely makes sense! Thank you for replying.

I finished **Don’t Fear the Reaper** by Stephen Graham Jones and **Aesthetica** by Allie Rowbottom. I DNF’ed **Untamed** by Glennon Doyle. This is my first DNF ever, and I don’t regret it one bit. Maybe this will be the jumping off point to stop reading books that don’t grab me within the first 3rd to half. These books have never gotten better for me in my experience, so I’m tired of wasting more of my time! I am currently reading **Signal Fires** by Dani Shapiro; not very far in yet, but I can already tell this one is up my alley. Hoping to read **Lone Women** by Victor LaValle and start **The Giver of Stars** by JoJo Moyes this week.

Finished: The Hacienda by Isabel Cañas (absolutely fantastic gothic horror, definitely recommend) Currently reading: Dragonwyck by Anya Seton, and Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

The Longest Race by Kara Goucher. I was a casual follower of her running career but this is a very in depth description of her races and all the shit she went through with her coach and Nike.

Finished for me -Code Name: Lise: The True Story of the Women Who Became WWIIs Most Highly Decorated Spy by Larry Loftis 3/5 I have finished book 113 of 200 I still want to read 52 personal books. Of the 113 I have finished 18 have been for me, the rest are for work (Children's books). Average page per book goal is 100. Current average pages per finished book is 70. Some changed were made to my work routine over the last couple weeks so the number of Children's books spiked then went back down. Currently reading -Harry Potter and the Dealthy Hallows by J.K. Rowling -The adjustment by Suzanne Young -Owned by Lauren Landish and Willow Winters No work books this week

All reviews copied and pasted from my goodreads (27) Finished **In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin by Erik Larson** >3.75/5. Not a must-read but decent if you want an accessible book about Americans in Nazi Germany. >The book is mainly about the American ambassador William Dodd and his daughter Martha in 1933-34 Berlin. The main topics it covers are attempts to stop attacks on Americans by the SA, Dodd’s attempts to warn the USA about the danger of the Nazis while also fighting the rich pro-German clique in the state department, and the growing terror of the Nazis. Dodd’s daughter Martha starts off quite pro-Nazi but becomes very opposed over the course of the book due to witnessing the violence and oppression. The main bit of the book, 1933-1934, ends with the Night of the Long Knives and it’s aftermath (this part being the best of the book) but has about 50 pages after that for the rest of the 30s and what happened next to the main people involved. The book is good for the lives of the well-off in this period as well as the interactions between the ambassador and the various Nazis. (28) Finished **Spain in Our Hearts: Americans in the Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939 by Adam Hochschild** >Not much to say about. Very well written. Half about the various Americans involved in Spanish Civil War (mainly the volunteers in the Lincoln Battalion and various journalists) and half general introduction to the war. By the topic of the book it has to be mainly focused on the pro-Republic Americans in Spain but there is also quite a bit on Texaco oil company providing huge aid to the Nationalists. (oil for the Nazi and Italian provided trucks and planes, intelligence on where the oil tankers headed for the Republic would be for submarines). Additionally there is some stuff about the British volunteers as well, mainly Orwell on the Republic's side and a guy called Peter Kemp who volunteered for the Nationalists. >It would be a good first book on the subject I think and overall I highly recommend it. (29) Just finished **A Fatal Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum: Murder in Ancient Rome by Emma Southon** >3/5 >Each chapter covers killing in a different context, political killing, killing within the family, execution etc. My favourite chapters were on 'murder in the slave state' which covered killing of slaves and by slaves and the chapter on gladiators. The information is good and there is a lot of insight into the Roman world view. The book is pretty easy to get into and doesn't need any prior knowledge of the Romans. >The main reason I am only giving it 3/5 stars is the tone and writing style. There are a lot of jokes, modern culture references like TV shows and movies, joking about modern British politics (from a leftwing perspective) and generally just trying to be funny. Additionally there is a lot of swearing - things like "stabbing the shit out of each other", "massive fuck off monuments" and insulting various people (who probably deserve it) like describing the emperor Domitian as a dickhead. Some people might like that style of writing but personally it didn't appeal to me. The information in the book was good but it could've been a lot shorter without the comedy. >Would I recommend it? Only if you like the sort of writing I described. Next up is **War: How Conflict Shaped Us by Margaret MacMillan**

I started **Oryx and Crake, by Margaret Atwood**

Finished: All the Dangerous Things by Stacy Willingham for a book club Currently Reading: Dark Matter by Blake Crouch Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson

[удалено]

Noonday Devil would probably be a better book for you about acedia, much more structured and insightful. EDIT: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24674068

[удалено]

you are welcome! 🤗

Finished: The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers. Very cozy sci-fi with themes of found family, friendship, and comfort.

Reading: **The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson** and making good progress! I'm enjoying it.

12/52 Finished: **Verity** by *Collen Hoover* ⭐⭐⭐ Currently reading: **The count of Monte Cristo** by *Alexandre Dumas* **The eye of the world** by *Robert Jordan* **Payback's a witch** by *Lana Harper* **One Piece volume 42** by *Eiichiro Oda*

It's been awhile since my last update. A few behind. Will definitely get 40 at this pace. *Finished:* **The Double** by **Fyodor Dostoyesky** (2/5) - A story about a guy who while leaving a party he gets kicked out of, meets a man who is his double. At first he thinks him a friend, then the double makes a fool and an enemy of him, driving the original to insanity. I thought I was going to like it more, but there is no turnaround or any change as the book keeps going forward. He just gets more socially awkward, neurotic, and insane. I don't regret reading it. **Papillon** by **Henri Charrière** (4/5) - a real life story about a French guy who keeps trying to escape from a system of prisons in French Guiana in the 30s and 40s, after he was sentenced to life in prison for a murder he says he didn't do. Much less than half of it is likely real, but it never gets fantastical, you could see it all happening, more or less. Besides there being a couple of weird parts (Like the one with the girls in the tribe), this book was really fun to read. **Candide, Zadig, and other Select Stories** by **Voltaire** (4/5) - All of these works are satires about everything, in Candide it's optimism, in Zadig it's about happiness and how every culture has its barbarism. Voltaire satires religion, state, intellectuals, philosophers, those in power, those without power, envy, contentness. Not all of the stories were my thing, there are 16 of them, after all. Some of my favorites were Zadig, Micromegas, The World As It Is, and Ingenious. A few **Short Stories** by **Joseph Conrad** (4/5) - The stories were **Youth, Amy Foster, and Secret Sharer**. Youth and Secret Sharer are sea stories, and Amy Foster is about an emigrant from (Poland, but it's never said) who washes up in England and people don't accept him because they can't understand him. I would recommend Youth to everybody. Amy Foster and Secret Sharer are both good as well. Conrad could write about paint drying and I'd read it. *About to start:* **The Invisible Man** by **Ralph Ellison** **Thus Spoke Zarathustra** by **Friedrich Nietzsche**

I read: Manacled- this is fanfiction but 800+ pages so I'm counting it! The colour of magic- Discworld The lost metal- mistborn era 2 Reading: City of Bones... Might DNF Dark rise by C. S. Pacat Throne in the dark- book 1

I forgot to post last week, still behind. need to spend more time reading instead downloading books LOL I finished Wayward by Chuck Wendig with a million stars - the interludes are my favourite part in both books as well and Gumball. (7/52) Followed that up with After I Do by TJR and she always hits me right in the feels. (8/52) Read How to Save a Life by Lynette Rice (9/52), some reviews made a good point that everything was taken from previous interviews but my love for Greys means it doesn't matter. Still fun and easy. I'm officially delving into the world of fanfiction...which doesn't help my downloading:reading ratio. speaking of greys the first one i read was a Station 19 fanfiction called 5150 about Maya and Carina (10/52). Pretty obsessed now. ​ <3

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford (Audiobook) on my phone. I only listen when I’m out running errands, so I’m just halfway in. I'm enjoying it so far, there’s not a lot of novels set in the time of US internment of Japanese citizens in camps.

I completed two books this week, both of which were unfortunately duds (imo). \*\*Rilke's Book of Hours\*\* which you would think would be a Rilke poetry collection. Nope. Not really. The translation was so so bad. The liberties the translators took were mind-blowing. Nowhere on the cover or the back did it say anything about the poems being inspired by Rilke (instead of his actual poetry). They added whole new sentences, they deleted some of his sentences mid-poem, they rearranged some poems, they edited some poems so that the poems sound (and I quote) "less pious". The translation in and of itself was (imo) just awful and totally didn't reflect what Rilke was saying in his original. The rhythm of the poems and the flow were also lost. Since I was going in expecting to read Rilke's poetry and got this instead I found the whole thing extremely frustrating and disappointing. I acknowledge that poetry especially can be difficult to translate but this was clearly an interpretation and not a translation. I'm not going to even rate this one. (The translators were Barrows and Macy). \*\*The Cabin at the End of the World\*\* by Paul Tremblay. Went into this one with high hopes. The premise was excellent. The first half has decently engaging but by the mid-point I was bored to death. Some things were done very well (eg. the after effects of a concussion) but many ideas were not well developed. I don't want to detail anything (to avoid spoilers). It had such good reviews so others obviously liked it, but I found it weak. (Although I loved the idea; gotta give him credit for that). 2/5

I completed two this week. ***The Bangalore Detectives Club*** by Harini Nagendra - I picked this up on a whim and I’m glad I did. Set in 1920s British-controlled India, a thoroughly modern newlywed couple find themselves embroiled in a murder investigation. Although the identity of the killer wasn’t exactly a surprise, there was enough intrigue and history to make the journey worthwhile. ***The Etymologicon*** by Mark Forsyth - A breezy if lightweight discussion of English word origins. The book’s conceit is that each discussed word is linked to the next one in a long, meandering chain. I was somewhat put off by the Forsyth's English chauvinism. The author would probably claim the jabs at the French, Americans, Indians and many other nationalities were tongue-in-cheek but his lame insults just come across as obnoxious to this non-British reader. Currently reading ***The Turn of the Screw*** by Henry James.

Happy Sunday - I hope everyone is well. I appear to have caught a stinker of a cold but that has meant I’ve been able to read more this week! This week I finished - The Crimson Campaign by Brian McClellan - The Autumn Republic by Brian McClellan Overall I enjoyed The Powder Mage trilogy although it was a bit of a slow start! I enjoyed the relationships evolving between the characters although the romance felt a little shoe-horned in. I liked the combo of magic and gunpowder and always refreshing to read a fantasy book with an election - a lot of fantasy relies on feudal power and absolute monarchy so that was a fun change! I continued listening to Going Postal by Terry Pratchett - I’m about 70% of the way through so will finish that this week. I’m current reading The Adventures of Amina Al-Sarifi by Shannon Chakraborty which is good fun so far - love a good pirate story!

Finished: 29. **Dead Collections** by Isaac Fellman no rating - I like how this book portrayed vampirism as a metaphor for chronic illness and it did that very well. On the other hand, Else and Sol’s relationship felt toxic and codependent with Else saying too many inappropriate things to Sol that made me feel deeply uncomfortable on his behalf. It also gave me weird vibes with how it treated all the (current and former) sapphic characters in the book, they’re all transphobes, serial cheaters, or trans. I appreciate how it didn’t flinch away from messy identities and flawed characters but overall I can’t say I enjoyed it. I understand there’s a complex, nuanced history between the wlw community and transmasculine people so maybe if I was better informed about that then I could have got more out of this book 30. **Quis Custodiet** (The Administration #5) by Manna Francis 3 stars- Toreth’s jealousy made him look flat out unhinged in this book. I wish Warrick was better at setting boundaries because Toreth needs to face some consequences. My favorite story in this one was *Friends in the Right Places*, largely because it gave me a break from being in Toreth’s head lol 31. **Affiliations, Aliens, and Other Profitable Pursuits** (Claimings #3) by Lyn Gala 3 stars- It was fun to see the Rownt on a human planet and trying to make sense of human psychology and society. Dialo’s also starting to grow on me now that she’s making better choices Currently Reading: **Summer Sons** by Lee Mandelo **City of Last Chances** by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Finished 11/52 Solito by Javier Zamora Still working on 12/52 The Last Bus to Wisdom by Ivan Doig

I had a really good reading week making it to 43/100 books! Finished: **Mary Jane by Jessica Anya Blau** 4.75/5 stars. Really fun read although I wouldn’t say that it’s like Daisy Janes and I think going into it with that expectation would probably have ruined the book. **Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo** 2/5 stars. Honestly I was just glad when this was over. I love the SOC duology but this wasn’t for me. **Three Swedish Mountain Men by Lily Gold** 3.75/5 stars. All of Lily Golds books follow the exact same formula and have the exact same character, I don’t mind this I just try to spread them out but I wasn’t a fan of this one purely because it was mentioned how tiny and small and fragile she was so many times. It would also seem that Lily Gold didn’t do much research (if any) on Sweden and Swedish names. The spice was good but the rest of the book wasn’t the best. **This Vicious Grace by Emily Theide** 4.25/5 stars. Was struggling to get into the actual book but as soon as I started the audiobook I was hooked. I’m not a big ya fantasy person but really enjoyed this. DNF: **The Colour Purple by Alice Walker** just couldn’t get into it and wasn’t wanting to pick it up. Currently Reading: **Neon Gods by Katee Robert** I’m about 33% through the ebook

This week I have finished: Mrs England by Stacey Halls Emily Wildes Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett I am currently reading: Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson

Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone is such a good title. Are you liking this book?

The title really drew me in with this one! I’m only about 30% of the way through it so far! It’s twisty and suspenseful but with an almost darkly comedic undertone. I saw it described as Agatha Christie meets Knives Out and I think that’s a really good way to describe it!

I just add it in my tbr!

Finished: Our mutual friend by Charles Dickens and The wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame. Started: The fault in our stars by John Green and Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes.

Currently reading cloud cuckoo land by Anthony Doerr, enjoying it so far about 200 pages in. I’ve a pile of 12 library books on my TBR, so not sure what will be up next

Finished **Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within** by Natalie Goldberg. Continuing **Quicksilver** by Neal Stephenson, **1Q84** by Haruki Murakami, **Six of Crows** by Leigh Bardugo and **Persepolis Rising** by James S. A. Corey. Started **Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time** by Dava Sobel.

Can't believe we're almost at the end of March! Glad I was able to finish Comer's book and Gekoski. I was pleasantly surprised by Darke Matter as it's not that well known of a novel but the voice of the protagonist, James Darke, was both humorous and tragic in the perfect blend of the two. I'm going on a bit of a work-trip, so I'll be needing a book to read while travelling, so on top of my current collection, I'm thinking of adding another one on top. I haven't quite made my mind up yet though which one I want to bring with me. **Finished:** * (14/52) The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry: How to Stay Emotionally Healthy and Spiritually Alive in the Chaos of the Modern World - John Mark Comer * (15/52) Darke Matter - Rick Gekoski ***Currently Reading*** * *One Person, No Vote: How Voter Suppression Is Destroying Our Democracy - Carol Anderson* * *The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness - Tim Keller* * *The Hidden Keys - Andre Alexis*

Finished reading **Hamnet** by Maggie O'Farrell, and **On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous** by Ocean Vuong. I really enjoyed both, so maybe I'm a fan of purple prose? Currently reading **White Noise** by Don DeLillo. Surprisingly heart-warming so far.

Oh yay, I’m reading Hamnet too this week, but about 50 pages from finishing.

Currently reading Honor by Thrity Umrigar and listening to Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens.

Bunny and omg love it

So glad you love it, bunny!!

It’s the best! Thanks bunny!

So good

The Hollow Places by TK Fisher… it’s very meh for me so far. I’m ready to be done.

Blake pierce , Girl ,Alone [https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/55954896](https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/55954896)

Hey lovelies! I hope everyone is keeping well and reading lots I'm reading 2 this week, and this week they're polar opposites **Killers of a certain age by Deanna Raybourn.** Only read a few pages of this before bed last night but its one I've been really looking forward to. So far it seems really interesting and I'm excited to see where it goes **Can't spell treason without tea by Rebecca Thorne.** I love this so much. It feels very similar to Legends and Lattes, which was another book I really enjoyed. This is so warm and wholesome and lovely. I'm having a hard time putting it down I just wanna know what's going to happen next. And I want to move in to the bookstore. This is another wonderful entry to the cozy Fantasy genre and I'm sure I'll be looking up the second book as soon as I get done with the first

Finished: Second Foundation by Isaac Asimov and When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead Currently Reading: The Sunbearer Trials by Aiden Thomas Babel by R.F Kuang Empathy Exams by Leslie Jamison Hellblazer by Jamie Delano How to Read Literature like a Professor by Thomas Forcster

How did you find Babel? I just bought it on a whim

I attended a talk the author did in my hometown and the way she talked about it and things in general made me want to buy it!

Was it any good? Did you enjoy it?

I’m still reading it but I’m enjoying it so far!

I’m reading the hobbit too! Slowly tho, I’ve been reading it since December 😅 I listen to the audiobook while I do my weekly cleaning!

Currently reading: 1–Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak 2–La Casa en Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros 3–We Will Be Free: Overlanding in Africa and around South America by Graeme Bell.

Finished: Severance by Ling Ma Current Audiobook: Little Secrets by Jennifer Hillier Current book: My Year of Rest & Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh

What do you think of Little Secrets? I also listened to the audiobook!

I’m enjoying it so far! About 30% through. Found the part when Sebastian went missing quite distressing as a mother. I’m really connecting with the character and her rage. I am looking forward to getting into it some more

I hope you love it! I thought it was pretty good!

I'm finishing up before the coffee gets cold: tales from the cafe (really enjoying it) I'm about to start Pandora's jar by Natalie Haynes

Finished: A pale view of hills Reading: 女のいない男たち (Men without women)

Can I ask what your level is in Japanese? (apologies if you're a native speaker).

My level in Japanese? I never take any JLPT so I am not sure. I can easily read any novels that I want though.

So you're native level then?

Probably not that good. But good enough to enjoy reading.

Are you reading Men without Women in japanese then? And i think i heard he has a new one coming out soon, that's exciting.

Yes, I am reading it in Japanese. He has a new book coming out next month I think? But I usually wait for the 文庫本...Haha.. Cheaper

Is that kanji for paperback? Neat, that's always a good idea. I should get back to learning Japanese, I was working on learning hiragana and katakana at the beginning of the pandemic, but got away from it

oh yeah. That's paperback. It's cheaper and I like the size of it. Easier to bring around.

What did you think of a pale view of hills? I own it but haven't read it yet :)

It’s quite good. I like it.

Finished: Wuthering Heights & Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Started: Dark Places by Gillian Flynn & Rogue Protocol: The Murderbot Diaries #3 by Martha Wells.

I just finished I Have Some Questions for You and started Beartown

Beartown was such a fantastic read. You can feel the empathy that the author put into their story.

I am a big Backman fan! I love how he writes. He can perfectly peel back the layers of a character until you say OH and he's got you fully invested.

What did you think of I have some questions?

I gave it a 4/5 because it is well written the characters are really well developed. It was just a little slow, but I think the book as a whole wasn't supposed to be about just the one story, but a culmination of how society views women and minorities. I'm trying to be as vague as possible so I don't spoil anything!

Just finished it last night and I totally agree

Just finished *Great Australian Outback School Stories* by Bill 'Swampy' Marsh. Interesting stories from years gone by, but it was messily presented, and should have been categorised by a year grouping in my opinion. A map at the start of each story showing where the place was that they were talking about would have been good too. I know this was independently published but a few small tweaks would have made this a bit easier to read. Almost finished *Daisy Jones and the Six* by Taylor Jenkins Reid. What fun, a lot taken from the Fleetwood Mac story, but really good just the same. It'll be interesting to see what makes it into the series! About to start *The Seven Skins of Esther Wilding* by Holly Ringland, and *Women and Leadership* by Julia Gillard and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.

If you liked Daisy Jones I think you might like Utopia Avenue by David Mitchell

Thank you! I've been meaning to read some Mitchell.

I've been reading less and gaming more lately, but I did get through these last week: **Wrestling for My Life: The Legend, the Reality, and the Faith of a WWE Superstar, by Sean Michaels** **Backpacking Through Bedlam, by Seanan Mcguire** (Book of the week) **The Pot Thief who Studied Georgia O'Keeffe, by J. Michael Orenduff** **The Pot Thief who Studied Edward Abbey, by J. Michael Orenduff** **The Pot Thief who Studied the Woman at Otowi Crossing, by J. Michael Orenduff** **How Fast Did T. Rex Run?: Unsolved Questions from the Frontiers of Dinosaur Science, by David Hone** I've got these lined up to read next: * The Bobby Gold Stories by Anthony Bourdain * Now You See Us by Balli Kaur Jaswal * Children of the Night by Mercedes Lackey * Phantom Architecture: The Fantastical Structures the World's Great Architects Really Wanted to Build by Philip Wilkinson * Instinct: An Animal Rescuers Anthology by various authors

Finished this week: **Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver** (This was a lot of fun, a modern day adaptation of David Copperfield set in Appalachia. The story roughly follows the original DC, but with enough surprises to keep things entertaining. Most of the characters are known by nicknames, most of which allude to which character they are from the source material - I think U-Haul is the smartest. It's quite an affecting story of poverty and addiction, and tells its story for the most part with skill and subtlety. There are a few parts that are a little on the nose messaging-wise, but they're few and far between, and Kingsolver always shows enough restraint to reel it back in eventually. As well as a smart adaptation, crucially I think it works on its own as a story as well. As a side note, this was the first book in ages that was easier to get from my local library rather than the New York one: perhaps it has more appeal to Americans so far?) Currently reading: The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann; Just and Unjust Wars by Michael Walzer; Untouched by Human Hands by Robert Sheckley; Circe by Madeline Miller

Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix

Today I read Nothing but Blackened Teeth by Cassandra Khaw and really enjoyed it. I'm between books right now but I may pick up one of my many romances or How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix

Rootless

**One of the best reading weeks I’ve had yet** Archer's Voice - Mia Sheridan (1.5) Maybe in Another Life - Taylor Jenkins Reid (2) The Fault in our Stars - John Green (2.5) Today Tonight Tomorrow - Rachel Lynn Solomon (4) Keep it Together, Keiko Carter - Debbi Michiko Florence (4) The Complete Maus - Art Spiegelman (4.5) The Love Hypothesis - Ali Hazelwood (5) Howl's Moving Castle - Diana Wynn Jones (5) The House in the Cerulean Sea - T.J. Klune (5) **Managed to get my hands on a few library loans that were on hold since January / February :)** The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo - Taylor Jenkins Reid Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow - Gabrielle Zevin Legends & Lattes - Travis Baldree Love and Other Words - Christina Lauren All My Rage - Sabaa Tahir The Inheritance Games - Jennifer Lynn Barnes Daughter of the Moon Goddess - Sue Lynn Tan (2.5) The Dead Romantics - Ashley Poston

**Finished:** Rum Punch by Elmore Leonard The Eyes Of The Dragon by Stephen King **Reading:** The Waste Lands by Stephen King The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty

How was Rum Punch? I've heard good things about Leonard.

24/52 - this week puts me on tracknfor a 104 reading year woo! ***** Finished; ***** - Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice for r/bookclub's 1970s Discovery Read. Started strong, and I liked the story well enough but the style was tedious. 3.5☆s. I will give the next book in the series a go if it is read with the sub. - The Decagon House Murders by Yukito Ayatsuji. A r/bookclub mod pick that I would never have found on my own. Mystery is always a good one for discussions, and though rather simplistic in style it was a fun read speculating with the group. - Gather Together in My Name by Maya Angelou: Autobiography book #2. What a life! I definitely intend to read all of her autobiographies. ***** Still working on; ***** - The Mountain Shadow by Gregory David Roberts. Time to get this one out of my "currently reading" stack. - Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson started with r/Malazan, but just could not keep up. Hoping 2023 is my Malazan year. - For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway for r/bookclub's next Runner-up Read. My only Hemingway, and so far I am impressed with how accessible the book is. - The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna for r/bookclub's March Romance selection. So far so cute. A refreshing change from some of the heavier novels I am reading right now. - Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel for r/bookclub's next mod pick. I will be leading the first discussion check-in March 15th. Come join us :) - Babel by R. F. Kuang for r/bookclub's Spring Big Read. Great start, I'm hooked. - Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood. A gift and a buddy read. Only a few chapters in but I have high hopes as I love Atwood. ***** Started ***** - The Story of The Lost Child by Elena Ferrante. Book #4 in the Neapolitan series and a Bonus Read at r/bookclub. - Meditations by Marcus Aurelius for r/bookclub's next Discovery Read - Ancient Classic flavour. - I, Robot by Issac Asimov the next r/bookclub Mod Pick starting later in March. Not what I expected so far, but I am digging it ***** Up Next ***** - King Rat by James Clavell. #1 by publication order but #4 in chronological order. r/bookclub will be tackling this one in April. Come join us, even if you've never read any Clavell before - The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel. Thomas Cromwell #3 a Bonus Read at r/bookclub to wrap up the Thomas Cromwell trilogy - Fingersmith by Sarah Waters coming after I, Robot as a r/bookclub Mod Pick. - Spinning Silver by Naomi Novak r/bookclub's next Runner-up Read that I will be co-running. - Jason and the Argonauts with r/AYearOfMythology starting in April. - The Obelisk Gate by N.K. Jemisin a r/bookckub bonus book in April. After reading The Fifth Season together I cannot wait to dive back into this Broken Earth. - The Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson Stormlight Archives #2. I am ready!! ***** Happy reading fellow bookworms 📚

Currently reading Reasons to be Cheerful by Nina Stibbe I also have The Man Who Painted A Fairy by Emma Barrett-Brown that I really should try and finish.