It's not a huge list this month, but I'm reading a couple of doorstops (one physical book and one audiobook that's more than 32 hours long), so my reading came to an abrupt halt at the end of the month, but I am still reading, just not finishing. Not yet.
****************
.png){kind=spacer}
9/4: Lady Tremaine by Rachel Hochhauser (library, 2026) - Interesting retelling of the Cinderella tale from the stepmother's perspective, but it didn't completely work for me. 3/5 stars
9/7: Habits of the Sea by Shea Ernshaw (library, 2026) - Just two people on an island by themselves. 3.5/5 stars
9/11: We Were Forbidden by Jacqueline Harpman (library, 2026) - Sometimes you just need to sink into some depressing literary short stories. 4/5 stars
9/11: Sea of Charms (Spellshop #3) by Sarah Beth Durst (library 2026) - And sometimes you want some cozy fantasy. 4/5 stars
9/12: Assassin's Apprentice (Farseer Trilogy #1: Realm of the Elderlings #1) by Robin Hobb (audiobook narrated by Paul Boehmer, library) - Look, it's brilliant. 5/5 stars
9/21: London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe (audiobook narrated by the author) - I can't with this story of an entitled teen from an entitled family pretending to be a Russian oligarch. I can't. 2/5 stars
9/22: The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman (library, 2012) - A couple steals a baby and there's quite the aftermath. 3.5/5 stars
9/24: The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook (Dungeon Crawler Carl Book 3) by Matt Dinniman (library ebook, 2021) - It's fine. This series is fine. I'm mostly reading it because the local bookstore has events centered around these books. This one has a dungeon level with trains. Hats play a major plot point, so that kept me entertained. 3.5/5 stars
DNF:
Whistler by Ann Patchett - Look, Patchett does not work for me. What a snoozefest this was. There was some sort of accident in the past and instead of telling us about it upfront, Patchett wants to dole it out in little bits and pieces. I just...don't have time for this. DNF at 20%. (Also, 4.35 on Goodreads! I feel like I'm missing the literary fiction gene.)
****************
Okay, I'm sorry about Whistler, friends. Tell me about a DNF you did for a book everyone loved.
I tried reading Riders of the Purple Sage- and classic western- and could not get past the first cha. Such melodrama!
ReplyDeleteI did finish Habits of the Sea- I found it interesting to a point, but wanted to shake the protagonist. Also, if they were outside of time, how could she get pregnant? The baby wouldn't age, so no development could occur. Maybe the sea was tired of the protagonist rhapsodizing and chucked them up on the shores of Georgia to get rid of them.