The end of this month was dire. I was DNFing like crazy and struggling with my reading after a stellar early month. Oh, well, it comes and goes in phases, I guess.
6/1: Penric's Progress (World of Five Gods, Penric & Desdemona #1-3) by Lois McMaster Bujold (library, 2020) - This series is absolutely wonderful to read. 5/5 stars
6/3: Leviathan Falls by James. S.A. Corey (The Expanse #9) by James S.A. Corey (library, 2022) - A fitting end to an amazing series. 5/5 stars
6/4: Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus (library, 2022) - What an exciting debut from Garmus! Very good book. 4.5/5 stars
6/5: Still Life (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache #1) by Louise Penny (library, 2007) - A reread of a book I've read before and I stand by my "meh" review. I want to read Louise Penny like everyone else, but I guess she's just not for me. 3/5 stars
6/6: One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston (library ebook, 2021) - Too long. Fine, but not great. 3/5 stars
6/8: Accidentally Engaged by Farah Heron (library ebook, 2021) - Not my type of romance. 2.5/3 stars
6/10: When She Woke by Hillary Jordan (library ebook, 2011) - Dystopian novel in which felons are "chromed" - their skin is altered to a different color - instead of imprisoned. Hannah is a Red because she had an abortion. I have relatively few thoughts about this novel except that the pro-religious stance was too overt for the likes of me. Interesting concept, though. 2.5/5 stars
6/15: A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher (library ebook, 2020) - Funny, smart. I liked it a whole lot. 5/5 stars
6/17: Take a Chance with Me (The O'Callaghan's #5) by Kristen Proby (Kindle purchase, 2022) - I am a big Proby fan, but this book was one of the most generic, boring romance novels I've read in a long, long time. Disappointing. 2/5 stars
6/24: Dark Lover (Black Dagger Brotherhood #1) by JR Ward (library, 2005) - A reread for book club. This went over surprisingly well with my book club members - everyone thought the worldbuilding was interesting and surprising. It's not the best book in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series, but a solid start. 4/5 stars
6/27: When the Reckoning Comes by LaTanya McQueen (library, 2021) - An interesting debut about what happens when a black woman returns to her hometown after a decade away to go to a wedding at a plantation. The creepy atmosphere was a particular strength. 3.5/5 stars
Average star rating: 3.6/5 stars
Did Not Finish:
The Road Trip by Beth O'Leary - I really loved The Switch and The Flatshare by this author, but The Road Trip was practically unreadable to me. All of the characters were mean, they weren't talking about what needed talking about, and I found reading it to be an incredibly frustrating experience. DNF at 45%.
We Ride Upon Sticks by Quan Barry - There are a lot of players on a lacrosse team and the book starts at a lacrosse camp with multiple teams and there were so many characters and I was so confused and I actively started to avoid the book. DNF at page 30 or so.
Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon - I knew this was probably not going to work for me when the author's note mentioned rape and genocide and I was one chapter in and there had been domestic violence and attempted murder. The name should have been a tip-off that this was maybe not the right book for me. DNF after the first chapter.
I Feel Bad About My Neck by Nora Ephron - I know this is supposed to be humorous, but it actually just made me feel bad about aging. DNF after the first two essays.
Crosstalk by Connie Willis - This was like an incredibly confusing episode of Black Mirror and it was clear I was not a patient enough audience to get to the meat of the story. DNF at 8%.
I find reading to go in phases too. I'll go from reading a ton to barely reading at all, or hit a long string of DNFs, and it's hard to tell why. It's like the tide, it comes and goes.
ReplyDeleteI am glad you included your DNFs as that is as interesting for me as book reviews! I DNFd a book last week - The One by John Marrs. It was an interesting couple - a company matches you with your perfect match based on your DNA/a cheek swab. But early on there was a serial killer character and I wasn't up for that. I haven't tried the Road Trip. Sounds like I should skip it - mean characters are not my thing. I lived that in HS so have very little tolerance for it in a book.
ReplyDeleteI wish more people included DNFs. It's always interesting to hear why people didn't like books - like you said, maybe as much or more interesting than books that hit the mark.
DeleteI wanted to like Louise Penny as well and I just couldn't get in to the book that I tried!!! Chemistry was a 4.5/5 for me as well. I read I Feel Bad About My Neck a long time ago and loved it, but I was in my 30's so I wonder if I would feel differently about it now. If you want to give Nora another shot, I read Heartburn earlier this year and adored it.
ReplyDeleteI do sometimes feel bad when popular authors don't resonate with me (like Penny), but not every author is for every reader. I'm a bit scared off by Ephron right now, but I'll keep Heartburn in mind if I decide to give her a try again in the future.
DeleteHmmm! I've read three of yours. I really liked When She Woke- yeah, there were some problems with it but it was interesting and engrossing for me. Lessons in Chemistry was a "meh" for me- I know everyone else loved it though. And, I liked the first several Louise Penny books but have found them not as good as the series went on. A couple of the ones you mentioned are on my TBR list also- we'll see when I get to them!
ReplyDeleteI was surprised by the religious undertones at When She Woke. In light of what's going on in the news right now, it hit me a bit more uncomfortably than maybe it would have six months ago. I'm surprised that Lessons in Chemistry didn't hit for you! I thought it was wonderful, although it was surprisingly dark in many places.
DeleteStill Life is a very "meh" book for sure, but it just sets the stage for the rest of the series, which is so, so, so good. I know you don't have to give her another chance, but I wish you would because the books further in the series are exceptional.
ReplyDeleteI DNF-ed The Road Trip, too. What a disappointing book!
Why was The Road Trip so bad?! Her other books have been SO SO good. Disappointing is exactly the right word for it.
DeleteI'll keep in mind Louise Penny for future reads, but I will admit that she's way down on my TBR list. I would have to be in pretty dire reading straights, I think, but sometimes that does happen!
It's interesting to read your book list. I'm not familiar with any of these except Lessons in Chemistry and Still Life. Louise Penny's series is one of my favorite mysteries. But I do understand why her type of book may not appeal to everyone. And I also understand what you said (on your comment on my blog) about some heavy duty issues in Lessons in Chemistry. However, I think if the author wanted to make the book focus on the heavy duty parts of her story, she wouldn't have written the story the way she did. And had so many hopeful things happen during the story. I think one of the best things about reading is we can all interpret things based on our own views and roads we've traveled. Writing about them and having people comment helps expand that view. Thanks for stopping by. And happy July 4th.
ReplyDeleteInteresting list! I rarely DNF, but sometimes I regret not DNFing, if that makes sense. I remember reading a book highly recommended to me by a friend, and I think it was the second chapter when I realized this book was about sexual abuse and incest, and I literally threw it across the room. That book I definitely did not finish. Back to the library it went within minutes.
ReplyDelete