Karen’s Comments (group member since Nov 23, 2019)

Karen’s comments from the VIRTUAL Mount TBR Reading Challenge 2020 group.

38. The Snack Thief by Andrea Camilleri.

4 stars. I am so glad I tried again with Andrea Camilleri. I was not blown away by the Shape of Water but I loved the second book and also this one. Hope to read more when the library reopens its crime section. Inspector Montalbano comes across as even grumpier and crabbier in this book... but particularly at the end his compassionate nature peeks through.

Borrowed from the library.

37. Difficult Women: A History of Feminism in 11 Fights by Helen Lewis.

5 stars. Absolutely loved this book. Tells the story of British women's struggles to get child custody rights, the vote, play sport etc focusing on a key individual in each chapter. It is so nice to read a feminist work that employs common sense and doesn't "cancel" people for not having the same "woke" opinions as nowadays and puts them instead in their historical context. Women have enough troubles without turning on our own side. Loved this. It blew me away. I have already pre-ordered the paperback.

Borrowed from the library.

JUNE

Total books read in June: 22
Total qualifying for this challenge: 4

Happy with that. 24 to go.

36. Small Spaces by Katherine Arden.

4 stars. Beautiful and creepy cover. Creepy book. I really enjoyed this children's book.

Borrowed from the library via OverDrive.

35. Atonement by Ian McEwan.

2 stars. I do not get on with Ian McEwan's writing. I thought if there was any book of his that I would like, it would be this one. But no. I absolutely hated the first section, laying out the background to Briony's "crime". The details of Robbie and the retreat to Dunkirk and Briony working in the hospital were better. But the twist annoyed me, and there are two people out there who need to atone far more than Briony. Unlike "On Chesil Beach" I can see why people like this book though.

Borrowed from my boyfriend.

34.The Godfather by Mario Puzo.

5 stars. I totally count this as a Borgia novel. If Cesare was the youngest son instead of the oldest, if he wasn't seriously ill when his father died and if he had been able to keep power afterwards and if he happened to live in a New York mafia family in the twentieth century. I have never seen the film and have been so worried about reading this book (I was not a huge fan of Puzo's actual book about the Borgia family). I loved it.

Borrowed from the library.

33. The Mirror & The Light by Hilary Mantel.

5 stars. So sad to see this series end. I love the prose, the foreshadowing and doom-laden atmosphere but also the humour and the dialogue. Slightly let down by a fairly pointless storyline involving his fictional illegitimate daughter as this could have been cut. But I loved this book. I can't believe Henry VIII had Cromwell working for him even when he was in the Tower. And I admired the way Mantel hinted at Cromwell's bungled execution but without being explicit.

Borrowed from the library.

MAY

Total books read in May: 33
Total qualifying for this challenge: 6

Happy with that. 28 to go.

32. Our Lady of the Nations: Apparitions of Mary in 20th-Century Catholic Europe by Chris Maunder.

3 stars. Starting with the apparition at Fatima, this book looks at various recorded apparitions of the Virgin Mary in Europe (primarily Western Europe) in the twentieth century, looking at consistencies and differences in the messages and the messenger and the reasons why some were accepted by the Church, some were not, and some are in a half-way stage between the two. I found this study interesting as it is not a topic I know much about. But (perhaps inevitably) the various apparitions seemed to run together in my mind.

Borrowed from the library.

31. Fatal Remedies: (Brunetti 8) by Donna Leon.

3 stars. This one was kind of disjointed. The actions of his wife Paola appeared inconsistent and a bit uncaring towards her family. She sometimes acts like she can get away with anything because of her father, and it happens again here. And she does not explain her motives to anyone other than the police, which begs the question, why bother protesting in the first place? I was less interested in the actual murder than I normally am. I expect more from Donna Leon but I have heard the next book is better so will try again.

Borrowed from the library via Overdrive.

30. Fight Like A Girl by Clementine Ford.

4 stars. Kick arse feminist book. Maybe a little too kick arse for me. A good read though.

Borrowed from the library.

29. The Love That Split the World by Emily Henry.

4 stars. I love the idea behind this book. Time travel. Native American legends. Romance. I thought it might make 5 stars... but I think the end could have been handled better. There is too much info dumping. And it is too ambiguous.

Borrowed from the library.

28. Ensnared by Raven Dark.

4 stars. I am going through a stage of liking darker romance themes.. Mafia romances, bully romances, dubcon...this fit the bill. Eagerly awaiting the publication date for book two as it ends on a cliffhanger.

I borrowed this from the Kindle Lending Library last September. Finally read it.

27. Claudine at School by Colette.

4 stars. Was plagued by feelings that I might have read this book before. I don't think so, but... I loved bits of the novel (the exam) and while I do not much like the narrator I do want to spend more time finding out what happened next, so hope to get the next book when the library reopens.

Borrowed from the library.

APRIL

Total books read in April: 20
Total qualifying for this challenge: 5

Happy with that. 34 to go.

26. You Against Me by Jenny Downham.

3 stars. Okay, call me disappointed. I really wanted to like this book, but I just did not click with it. I felt no emotional involvement with the characters which was not helped by the fact that pretty much everybody behaves oddly. I think this may be my most disappointing read of 2020 so far.

Borrowed from the library.

25. A Noble Radiance: by Donna Leon.

4 stars. After the awfulness of the sixth book Donna Leon comes back with perhaps the best in the series so far.

Borrowed from the library.

24. The Beauty and the Terror: An Alternative History of the Italian Renaissance by Catherine Fletcher.

4 stars. This was such an interesting book. It is a good, popular history of the sixteenth century in Italy not one that strives to add new interpretations. Its downside is it tilts at a myth of the Renaissance that scholars have long exploded although perhaps one that has not fully filtered through to people that don't read many works of history. On the other hand it covers a wide variety of topics including looking at women of the era. I think I may buy this when it comes out in paperback.

Borrowed from the library.

23. The Land Beyond the Sea by Sharon Penman.

5 stars. Another phenomenal novel by the best writer of historical fiction out there. Outremer. Balian. Baldwin "the leper king". Feeling so emotional now.

Borrowed from the library.

22. The Guinevere Deception by Kiersten White.

3 stars. Interesting premise. The real Guinevere has died in a convent and in a world in which magic is outlawed in Camelot, Arthur and Merlin have arranged for a magic-wielding replacement to take her place. I wanted to like this more than I did. It was so slow. However, it is one of those books where you read 200 mediocre pages to get 100 good ones. I will be reading the sequel when it is published. And my library gets a copy.

Borrowed from the library.