Karen’s
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(group member since Nov 23, 2019)
Karen’s
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from the VIRTUAL Mount TBR Reading Challenge 2020 group.
Showing 21-40 of 85
55. Men Who Hate Women: From incels to pickup artists, the truth about extreme misogyny and how it affects us all by Laura Bates.
4 stars. Insight into various groups in the "manosphere" from Incels, PUAs, MGTOW, MRAs to trolls. She highlights how society as a whole makes it easy to dismiss men's behaviour as silly, and just boys being boys but that the reality is that men influenced by these sites have been driven to kill others; yet despite leaving clear misogynistic manifestos behind, in only one case has someone been charged with terrorism offences. It is a pretty horrifying read. Laura Bates treats the young men and boys influenced by these sites with empathy and compassion. They will not have done the same to her.
Ultimately, this is a growing movement, and she makes key suggestions about how to fight the situation. But can anyone imagine such proven misogynists as Donald Trump and Boris Johnson doing anything to force tech companies to properly implement their own codes of conduct? She is right to suggest that it is male guidance and better role models that are a key way to counteract these views.
Borrowed from the library.
54. Piranesi by Susanna Clarke.
4 stars. I literally could not put this book down. Susanna Clarke's prose is beautiful and I loved the world she created. The revelation of Piranesi's origins ends up being a little underwhelming which is why I awarded 4 stars not 5, but I definitely want to re-read this in the future. I feel like rereading Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell first though as that book absolutely blew me away.
Borrowed from the library.
53. Midnight Sun by Stephanie Meyer.
3 stars. I don't think this book needed to be written, and I was never that impressed by the leaked chapters of Midnight Sun, but at the same time this was always going to be a book that I was going to read. My main issue is it is far too long without adding enough to the story although I liked the detail surrounding the Phoenix-set part of the storyline and I also liked viewing the Blacks from Edward's eyes. Ultimately though, I preferred the narrative through Bella's eyes.
Borrowed from the library.
52. Sucker Punch: Anita Blake 27 by Laurell K. Hamilton.3 stars. Not the worst in the series but definitely not the best. Could have been at least 40% smaller in size and does not really move the overall series arc on in any huge (definitive) way. A wasted opportunity but I daresay having got to book 27 I will continue reading.
Borrowed from the library.
SEPTEMBERTotal books read in September: 18
Total qualifying for this challenge: 7
9 to go.
51. Lethal White by Robert Galbraith.
4 stars. Easily the best of the four Strike novels I have read so far. Bring on the fifth!
Borrowed from the library.
50. Sisters by Daisy Johnson.
5 stars. I enjoyed both Fen and Everything Under when I read them last year but just felt they weren't quite an ideal fit for me. This book is brilliant though and I was gripped from the first page. The sense of atmosphere is amazing and I loved pretty much everything about it.
Borrowed from the library.
49. Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith.
4 stars. I really enjoy these books. This one may be my favourite so far. I have just started on the TV show as well and am hoping to get to the fourth book soon.
Borrowed from the library.
47. The Smugglers' Secret by Elly Griffiths.
4 stars. I like boarding school stories, mysteries and Elly Griffiths so no surprises that I liked this book.
48. A Conspiracy of Bones by Kathy Reichs.
4 stars. I enjoyed this story and it was worth the wait. I really want a story set in Quebec again though, because these are usually better (and what happened to Luc Claudel?)
Both borrowed from the library.
46. Smoke Bitten: Mercy Thompson: Book 12 by Patricia Briggs.
4 stars. Lots of trouble for Mercy and Adam in this book - smoke beasts, a vampire stalker, rogue werewolves and the aftermath of the conflict with the witches in the last book. I really enjoyed this and it is clearly setting up for troubles to come in future books.
Borrowed from the library.
45. Goddesses, Whores, Wives and Slaves: Women in Classical Antiquity by Sarah B. Pomeroy.
4 stars. I really enjoyed this. It is a book from the 70s and I wish the author had issued an updated version. Covers both Greece and Rome.
Borrowed from the library.
AUGUSTTotal books read in June: 32
Total qualifying for this challenge: 6
Need to read a few more this month. 16 to go.
44. Death on the Cherwell by Mavis Doriel Hay.
4 stars. I think this may be my favourite of her three novels. Set in the 30s, in a fictional all-girls Oxford college. A couple of characters from Murder Underground (book number 39 on this list) turn up as guest characters.
Borrowed from the library.
43. Bridget Jones’s Baby: The Diaries by Helen Fielding.
4 stars. Just what I wanted to read at the moment. I had forgotten that Daniel Cleaver was in the book (unlike the movie). Laughed out loud a few times. Maybe it was too short. But at least Bridget wasn't still counting calories.
Borrowed from the library.
42. Say "AAAH!" by Mick Inkpen.
4 stars. An epic tale of bear versus dentist. There can only be one winner.
Borrowed from my boyfriend.
41. Chosen by Kiersten White.
3 stars. I love Buffy the Vampire Slayer. This spin-off was good but nowhere near as good as Kiersten White's Conquerors Saga or the original show.
Borrowed from the library.
40. Lover Eternal by JR Ward.
4 stars. When I started this series I was in my 20s I loved it and was addicted to it. This was my favourite in the series at the time. But...I just stopped picking the books up. I never actually meant to stop reading them. This is the second time I have tried to re-read the series and my previous attempt stopped after this book. Now, I want to continue, library permitting.
Borrowed from the library.
39. Murder Underground by Mavis Doriel Hay.
4 stars. A golden-era murder mystery. I had read one book by her and enjoyed it and had been waiting to get this one when the library re-opened the crime section. It was worth the wait. Slightly unusual in format; we spend most of the time following someone we know did not commit the crime but who did not inform the police of everything he knew. Amusing in places.
Borrowed from the library.
JULYTotal books read in June: 21
Total qualifying for this challenge: 2
Need to read a few more this month. 22 to go. I hit my 60 book target on the Mount TBR challenge and have just started climbing El Toro so I need to focus on this challenge this month if I can.
Well, you liked The Guinevere Deception more than me! I was bored for 2 thirds of it and fascinated by the end so I am hoping for good things from book 2. Glad to see your challenge is progressing so well.
