Kate

I was in a slump.

You know how sometimes you eat something bland and you're like ugh, that wasn't great and then a bit later after it happens again, you suspect you have COVID and just can't taste anything?

Anyone? Just me?

Anyways, that's how my reading was going. I felt absolutely nothing for books I thought I was going to love, and I was starting to think the problem was me.

That all changed with Book Lovers. this is a proper book! Great characters, amazing dialog, genuinely witty and thoughtful. 5 stars.

This had all the trappings of something I would like, but I felt like it needed to be edited down. I also didn't like the notes to the editor/reader - they ruined the escapism of the novel for me.

Also, TIE UP BELINDA MY GOD.

So gripping I didn't want to put it down. Smartly written. Plot points that in a lesser novel would be the focus of the entire book get subverted, and there are plenty of twists.

I'm a huge fan of protagonists like Diagi that get ahead because they're smart and read something obscure. More!

I tried listening to this as I was painting. It didn't grab me. I realize there's mythology behind a lot of the choices, but the protagonist being amazingly good at everything, and having very little understanding of human nature, made for a boring read. Like “oh she has defeated that guy? Of course. She won but they still reject her? Of course. She doesn't understand why? Of course.”

Engrossing and enjoyable, but not on my all time favorites list. Loved the politics, though!

So stinking adorable. But also, nothing really happens. 5 stars for cuteness, 2 stars for plot and character development, so ~3 stars.

I loved the characters! The ending was a bit confusing and anti-climatic.

very cute! There were some slight continuity errors or things that didn't make sense to me. For instance, the main character, lost in her thoughts, shakes her head because of something she's thinking about, during a recorded broadcast in which she's the interviewer. Didn't that ruin the interview?

But, those things aside, really sweet and cute. I stayed up to finish it.

Gah so cute

The Guncle was cute, with realistic characters grappling with real issues. But (and maybe this is entirely my fault), I felt detached from the emotional depth of the story. It was a bit like Bojack Horseman but less f-ed up and more saccharine. It felt like the main character was doing a bit, in his own head, the entire time. Amusing at first but somewhat exhausting, and made it hard to identify with him. Additionally, we don't actually witness much of Clara, or Greg, or JED, or the other side characters.

A fun read, although it lost steam near the end.

Major spoilers ahead!!

I really liked a few things about this book. The tie-ins to Jane Eyre were delightful and spare. The aunt getting rid of Jane/June was, well, kind of understandable after June burns most of the house down by experimenting. And, the brooding Mr. Rochester is on a planet, alone, and it's only after a fire in the night that you realize his role.

I loved how June is so believably interested in science. I loved the difference in the narration and her agency from when she is 12 to when she's an adult. She goes from narrating as some sort of alien examining human life to competently living her own.

There were a few things I didn't like. The book ends abruptly, maybe making room for a sequel. The love interest is rather monstrous, but less morally excusable than Mr. Rochester is. Because of this, it's not a romance. I had no hope of a happy ending in the usual sense. (Tbh I kind of wished the love interest would die off.) Perhaps this was intentional: the only way in which the book/series could have a happy ending is if June fixes her uncle's technology and saves the crew that's in jeopardy. That's pretty feminist, and maybe that's the point? June's looking for family and her accomplishments let her find it? Maybe.

For what it's worth, the lack of quotes didn't bother me. It wasn't simply that the author dropped them. It seems like she means to allow the narrator to paraphrase, and I thought that was a cool way to experience things from the narrator's perspective more than usual. We don't know what the other characters actually said, as we would if they were quoted. We only know June's interpretation.

This book was utterly bizarre, but in a good way.

I got to page 13, after the forward and introduction, before quitting. The writing sucks.

Danielewski has managed to find a medium in which he can partially disguise the fact that he's telling rather than showing. Kudos to him, but it's painful to read.

For instance, after a brief scene in which Will Navidson is looking at his partner Karen's hairbrush, we get a whole paragraph of academic analysis about how Will removing a clump of her hair from the hairbrush indicates how much he loves her. Same with a scene in which Karen is anxious for Will to return home, but “has quite effectively masked all her eagerness to see him.” We are told explicitly, “What both these moments reveal is how much Will and Karen need each other and yet how difficult they find handling and communicating those feelings.”

Gee, thanks.

Readers of Ready Player One (also terrible in the same emotionally stunted way) will love this book.

I could tell which text was the padding that pushed it just over 300 pages. Very little of the book made sense.

I read this because my book club recommended it. Even though it's not my genre, I thought it might be a good opportunity to stretch myself, to get myself out of my usual reading habits. I thought it might be a bit like The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay - enjoyable because it's impressively well written.

But, this book felt formulaic. It felt like it was steady work for the author, rather than art. Like a paper that'd you'd write for school rather than an essay you're dying to publish.

There wasn't much interesting dialogue or plot. We know hardly anything about Carney's wife, apart from where she works. What would it be like to married to someone on the edge of crime? What kind of fears would you have? How would you know your husband was still alive, day after day? What if you couldn't reach him? Now that would be interesting.

I did really like the details of the neighborhood and the people who lived there. The author must have done a tremendous amount of research. But, the details couldn't really make up for the lack of plot and thin characters.

Edit: I wonder if telling this in the first person might have really improved things. The info dumps of research would have to go, because Carney doesn't seem like someone focused on history. Also, Carney as an unreliable narrator might have created more interest (is Freddie a bum or a victim? Is Carney being fair to him?). The kind of thing I'm looking for is detailed scenes from his perspective: “when I said I was going to be headed out for a bit, Elizabeth set down her glass very slowly, but didn't say anything.” Something that indicates there's tension, without directly saying “if my wife finds out about this, she's going to leave me”. The book actually does say this directly :(

DNF at 39%. The narrator is incredibly dense

The lessons were truly helpful, and Saunders' knack for understanding the psychology of the characters was delightful to read

didn't finish. The first 30 pages were fantastic - a man wakes up in a hospital bed with hostile nurses and no memory of who he is. He has to think his way out, gaining information little by little while never letting on that he knows nothing. That part was great. Everything after his memory loss seemed super boring.

These adults act like children. I didn't feel like this book was as good as their others. Seemed to be pretty hastily written.

Absolutely delightful, and genuinely funny. I couldn't stop myself from laughing out loud. Highly recommend, especially as a balm for this week.

not a smart book.

[mild spoilers] There were a lot of things I didn't like about this book, but it's well worth a read.

First, the main character starts to think through her own religion, complete with scripture verses. I had a hard time taking the verses seriously, since they were so broad as to be meaningless. Second, the romances seemed forced and awkward. Still, there's a ton to think about, especially in the meaning of community and its relevance today.

Delightful. Sally Thorne's best so far.

Super fun. I lol'd, I may have even rofl'd