Benedicte’s Comments (group member since Mar 23, 2025)

Benedicte’s comments from the Hooked on Books group.

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Jul 21, 2025 11:54AM

Catherine wrote: "Hello not in this group but wanted to join the discussion because I read the book. I'm gonna be honest. I am not a historical fiction girlie so this month is HARD. I read this book for the title in..."

I feel the same. It gets better when you get past the first third of the book, though personally I still find it a little bit hard to read.

D&D: Chaos Crew (254 new)

Jul 21, 2025 11:49AM

Yohoo! New superpowers!

... but also dangerous scars :(

And a difficult choice. Do we reunite the group or do we choose to separate? What do you think?

D&D: Chaos Crew (254 new)

Jul 21, 2025 11:48AM

Yohoo! New superpowers!

... but also dangerous scars :(

And a difficult choice. Do we reunite the group or do we choose to separate? What do you think?

The Silence of the Librarians (98 new)

Jul 20, 2025 03:26AM

Bernadette wrote: "Dearg (odd name)"

My initial reaction as well 😂

Do you pronounce the "ea" sound like beard or bird? I think I say it more the bird way in my head.

The Silence of the Librarians (98 new)

Jul 20, 2025 03:21AM

Through Chapter 14

I agree with you, Bernadette and Robin. It wasn't easy to start reading. Too many characters, not introduced well enough. I was having a hard time remembering all the characters, and it did indeed feel like I had missed a prequel. I can understand why you'd want to DNF.

I have to admit I don't know much about Biltmore going into this book. I have vaguely heard about it before, but have no further knowledge. Very interesting to learn more about it though.

So far, I dislike Lilli and Grant. I haven't made myself an opinion of the other characters.

(view spoiler)

The Silence of the Librarians (98 new)

Jul 19, 2025 02:01PM

Read the first three chapters today and will try to get in a good reading session tomorrow morning. Looking forward to joining the discussion ☺️

HOB Partner Pick ~ June & July 2025 (74 new)

Jul 19, 2025 10:31AM

Kathy wrote: "My selections for you are:
because I was able to translate the title all on my own even though I don't know the language it is written in.

The bonus bo..."

I have now finished both books. Thank you so much for the picks! I would have put off reading The Old Man and the Sea way longer if you had not picked it for me. I did not like it much, but I am glad to have read it. Howl's Moving Castle was very cute and comforting, I enjoyed it 😊

Ridiculously Random Reading Challenge: Benedicte (54 new)

Jul 19, 2025 10:25AM

Prompt #2/ Name: Chef's Hat
Book: Le viel homme et la mer
Author: Ernest Hemmingway
Date Read: July 15th 2025
Pages: 189
Task: 👩🏼‍🍳 1. Read a book with a mostly white cover. {Your discretion.}

July 2025 FBR - Main Buddy Read: The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles (4 new)

Jul 19, 2025 07:10AM

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on it! 😊

July 2025 FBR - Main Buddy Read: The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles (4 new)

Jul 19, 2025 07:09AM

I finished this one a couple of days ago, and it gets 3.5 stars from me. I really enjoyed reading this it. Although it touched upon serious issues, it felt like a cozy, light read

Positives
- The author's note at the end. I loved that the characters in this book were real, and I liked the additional information provided in the author's note
- The atmosphere (in Paris, not Montana)
- It is a book about books, so of course I will appreciate the references to other books, the dewey numbers and just to reading in general
- The idea behind this book. What's not to like? Paris, I love. Books, I love. Libraries, I love. Historical fiction about WWII, one of my favorite genres.

Negatives
- The timeline in Montana. I wish it had been made more meaningful to the story, or just cut out completely. What this book should be about is "The Paris Library", not an overdone coming-of-age story of an overdramatic 14 year old. (view spoiler) Luckily, the majority of the chapters were in Paris, and Lily's chapters were quick to get through
- I had a hard time feeling emotionally attached to the characters. Sure, I liked them, but many of the friendships felt rushed and not very realistic. This resulted in me not feeling as much as I should have when (view spoiler)
- This is a minor thing, and maybe it's just me, but I found the first maybe 30-ish % of the book kind of boring and poorly written. I can't tell you exactly what it is, but I found that many of the paragraphs did not flow well together and jumped a lot from one thing to another. Also, I liked the dewey numbers scattered throughout the book, but I found it very overdone in the first few chapters. Ok, we get it, the MC knows all these numbers by heart

Overall, I liked this book, as it had an interesting story and a good setting, but I wish I could have been able to get more emotionally invested in it. It is a good book, but in the big sea of WWII historical fiction books, it doesn't stand out.

IBR - The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers (35 new)

Jul 19, 2025 05:33AM