Heena’s Comments (group member since Oct 13, 2014)

Heena’s comments from the RMFAO (Reading My Frigging A** Off) group.

Cheryl wrote: "The second story, 'Loaded', made me a bit angry at the heavy-handed preachy approach the author took in writing the story. He really made it political. I did read the entire story, in spite of thes..."

I'm only 2 pages in and I'm not sure if I want to continue it. I have no idea what it is about the story, maybe the way it is written or the characters (or maybe the way they think - everything leading to some or the other kind of racism), but I might not complete this one and after the last story's ending I'm not sure if it would be worth it to read it only to see it end badly. I'll read another couple of pages to see if it manages to engage my mind at all.

Cheryl wrote: "I just wonder if this was going to be a novel at some point but it fizzled out and the author just decided to publish it in a collection, instead. ."

I agree, even I felt that it would have read better as a complete novel rather than a short story that seemed to have ended at a point that made very less sense on the whole.

SPOILER ALERT!! ---- Don't read if you haven't finished reading Snapshot

Umm... I guess by the time Shelly died, the story of Polaroid Man was already revealed. I have no idea why he went on and on about his kids and the playground and the fair (or wherever the end part took place.) I loved the concept a lot, but then the narration continued for so long that I wasn't even sure if it was even gonna end. At one point I even thought that maybe the Polaroid Man will be seen again at the end by his sons or something like that. Lol.

I read the first one - Snapshot. I enjoyed it for the most part but didn't like the ending. I mean, the build-up was great and I enjoyed till the part where Michael (the lead) clicked Shelly's pics and the next day she dies. After that, I saw no point and have no idea why Hill continued the narration. For me, it kind of killed the entire fun. Still, I'd rate it 3/4 if I would have to rate the story individually.

I started reading it but then the guests came and I had to take a break on page 9. So far, I'm really intrigued by ShellyBeukes' fear/paranoia for The Polaroid Man. Will start reading again tonight. Can't wait!!

Dagny wrote: "That reread didn't take long! This book just flies by - did for me also."

Yes, it does! I enjoyed the re-read as much as I enjoyed it the first time. And last night I happened to see the movie as well.
I'm looking forward to reading the next in the series, Origin, as I'm planning to get an audiobook for it. Though I'm going to read this one after a couple of days as I need to read a couple other books first.

Cheryl wrote: "Since I am moderating this Buddy Read, I thought I'd post some general things about the book.

First, this book is actually a collection of four novellas. They are from four different genres: super..."

Thanks a lot for the info, Cheryl! I'll be reading all 4 stories.

Starting today :)

Cheryl wrote: "Heena wrote: "Thanks for the interesting recommendations, Dagny. Please share more if you come across some more such titles."
Those who like Lovecraft might also want to try stories by M. R. James..."

Thanks for the reccs., Cheryl. I'll definitely check them out.

Series: 1
Book: 4
Name: Inferno
Rating: 5/5
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Dagny wrote: "The Lost Symbol is my least favorite also, Heena. Inferno - super exciting! Non-stop action which begins immediately."

Yes! I read it first in 2014 and after reading it again, it's still my favourite in the series!

Dagny wrote: "I listened to Lisa Lutz's Izzy series. They're very light weight, fun for listening. I thought the first one rather choppy with bits and pieces, almost like reading a diary. I think the others weren't so disjointed - or else I got used to the style. Quite humorous, so all were enjoyable listens.
So far I've only listened to the Izzy series, but have The Passenger in my queue since I liked the series well enough to try a stand alone. "

Then I guess I'll give it a try. Thanks :)

Thanks for the interesting recommendations, Dagny. Please share more if you come across some more such titles.

Dagny wrote: "49. The Last Word (Izzy Spellman #6) by Lisa Lutz"

How was it? I have one book by her - The Passenger, but I'm sure if it'd be good or not as it has mixed reviews. How's her writing in general?

Dagny wrote: "I've tried several of Baldacci's series since my library has almost all of them.
I think the only one I stuck it out with is the Will Robie one. I didn't read it for a long time because Will is des..."

I'll keep in mind Will Robie series then. I hate too political reads myself, so I'll skip Sean King & Maxwell series (and on top of that they'll be about American politics of which I have not even a single clue except for the fact that most Americans seriously hate Trump.)

I'm 4 hours into The Winner and I can already say it is a pretty good read. I'm totally hooked! So far I'm really enjoying it!

Cheryl wrote: "I have a few horror books on hold at my library, so I should get them within a week or 2. I won't name anything yet, in case I don't like those books after I get them. I find that I have better luc..."

I can relate to this, Cheryl. Same's been happening with me since the last couple of weeks. That's the reason I'm trying not to get too excited about Strange Weather too. I hope it doesn't turn out like Sleeping Beauties.

I did a post on this buddy read, thought I'd share the link here: https://thereadingbud.com/rmfao-buddy...

Also, I shared it on my Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, so feel free to share or retweet on your social media as well :)

Looking forward to reading this book so much!

Dagny wrote: "I haven't read any of his stand alones. His series, some I like, others, not so much."

This one is my first stand alone by him too. I have another stand alone audiobook but it didn't have very impressive ratings, so I thought I'd start with this one as this will be the longest audiobook I'll be reading till date - 19 hrs.
I've also downloaded some of his series - A. Shaw, Camel Club, Will Robbie, John Puller and Sean King & Michelle Maxwell. So I thought I'd start with a stand alone before starting with these audiobooks. Have you read any of these series? And if you know any other series by him that you like, then do let me know.

Finally, we are here. Humour month was one hell of a long slog and I'm so happy that it is over (and that we're never having a Humour only month ever again!)
I'm planning to read a couple of classics this month by SK and one book by Dean Koontz that I had previously tried to read and ended up DNF'ing because it was too creepy. So, my list of books for this month is:
1. Strange Weather
2. Bag of Bones
3. The Shining
4. 77 Shadow Street
5. The Mask Shop of Doctor Blaack
6. Home to Roost
7. One Night's Stay by C.B. Collins

Here's the link to the next month's thread - October'18: Horror - https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...