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

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

Forgot to update here:

#3 That Affair Next Door by Anna Katherine Green - 5/5
Loved it. I really loved Amelia Butterworth and the story was really twisty.

#4 The Outsider by Stephen King - 4/5
Typical SK book - great build-up, killer atmosphere and settings, but shitty ending that literally ruined the entire book for me :/ Still it had a lot of good stuff if you like dark fiction.

#5 The Inn at Rose Harbor by Debbie Macomber - 3/5
A typical chick-lit story. I wasn't overly impressed by the plot, but the writing was good so I might explore more titles by the author (preferably the most popular ones only.)

Donna wrote: "3. The Widows of Malabar Hill by Sujata Massey (HB) 4/5
This is the first in the Perveen Mistry mystery series. Perveen is a young female lawyer, a first in 1920s Bombay, who has j..."

Sounds interesting, Donna.

#5 The Inn at Rose Harbor by Debbie Macomber- 3/5 stars

This is my first book by this author and it turned out to be okay if not great. The writing was good, so I might explore more of her books. The author was recommended to me on this group only by someone (sorry I don't remember as we had this conversation while back) but thanks for the recommendation! I really liked the writing style fo the author.

Hi Beth, sorry to hear you were not well. Hope you're doing better now. And wow, you've read a lot of good books, great going!

#4 Hashtag Authentic: Be your best creative self via your Instagram online presence by Sara Tasker - 4/5

A surprisingly beautifully written book which touched on a lot of topics which Instagram enthusiasts, like myself, often wonder about. It also tackled the big issues of finding one's identity and being unique while also being your best creative self, in general, very well!
If you spend even an hour daily on Instagram, then do read this book!

#3 Is There Still Sex in the City? by Candace Bushnell - 2/5

I read it because of Candace Bushnell (who else!) I absolutely fell in love with the movies Sex And The City and Sex In The City 2 and so, obviously, when I saw Bushnell's latest on NetGalley, I had to read it. But unfortunately, the book on the whole and the writing, in particular, failed to seduce me the way the movies did. It lacked the whole charm and charisma the movie and its characters had.
Moreover, the story progressed so speedily that in just two-three kindle pages, the main character went from the back of a taxi with a dead dog to being broke and got divorced and bought a new place and sold the old one and bought to new poodles (not at all in that order, but that was a major information dump!) And the entire book was that way, as if the author was just telling about what's happening and not writing a book. This makes me wonder how her Sex In The City book might be. I always wanted to read it, but now not so much as I can see how the writing might be in that too and I really don't want to ruin the movies for myself as I absolutely love them!
I think you may enjoy this book only if you are hardcore a Bushnell fan (which, for the love of me, I cannot fathom why.)

Bonnie wrote: "Bonnie wrote: My first women's fiction book this month will be which is women's historical fiction."
And I am also reading [bookcover:A Spark of ..."

Do let us know what you think about A Spark Of Light.

Hello, Vijay, Charvi and Aisling. Welcome to RMFAO! As mentioned by Dagny and Cheryl, we have a lot of fun reading challenges, so do take a look around and see if there's any that you'd like to participate in.
Hoping to see you all around!

Dagny wrote: "Great! I've got the three Amelia books as part of my Series Challenge for this year. Just need to fit them in now! I'll be curious to see if we like Gryce any better after reading them and want to read the other books featuring him. There are fourteen counting Leavenworth and the three Amelia ones. "

I'll also count the 3 Amelia Butterworth books for the series challenge. I was wondering the same. We'll have to see because in The Leavenworth Case there was Raymond and in these books, there's Ms Butterworth, so I am pretty curious to see if the other Gryce books will also feature a second character. If yes, then they might be interesting.

#3 That Affair Next Door - 4.5/5

A really good read!

2) That Affair Next Door - 4.5/5

A really good read!

3) That Affair Next Door - 4.5/5

I loved this book! I loved Amelia Butterworth and loved her humour. The book's pace was very slow at times, but I am more than happy to overlook it because I really, really liked the plot. The ending felt a bit random, but again, as I enjoyed reading this book, I'm ready to overlook anything. I enjoyed the writing too, which for me is not common when it comes to classics, so I'm really glad I read this book. Also, the detailing was really commendable and the fact that everything was answered and accounted for and there were no loose ends at all, which is also very impressive considering how elaborate the mystery got in the middle acts.

#1 A Touch of Death by Rebecca Crunden - 4/5
A good dystopian read. Very good for a debut novel. Had a very interesting plot and believable characters.

Carolyn wrote: "Wow, February is over and I have so many books to list for all the challenges this month. Here are my February Audiobooks!!!
7) Lady Audley's Secret by Mary Elizabeth Braddon
8) [book..."

Wow... great going, Carolyn!

Oh, no. That's not good news for me too. I have to listen to some parts twice in order to understand the expressions as Dawn Larsen is not good with expressions at all (she says everything in one tone only) and also whenever there's a twist (again, she just says everything in a single tone without any emphasis.)

The story though is taking great shape. I had no idea I'd say this but I'm enjoying this one even more than The Leavenworth Case!

And I already started reading it! I just couldn't wait after having finished commenting on my thoughts here. I was just trying out the audio version and before I knew it, I was already 2 chapters in. This is a really good story, Dagny. I'm on Chapter 8 and loving Miss Amelia Butterworth. I LOVE her jibes, especially the ones directed at men. Ha! She is something! I love, love, love her. This was a connection I never felt with Miss Marple. Though I liked her well, I was never able to connect with her. But Miss Butterworth I can connect with!!
Thanks a bunch, Dagny. I feel like I've stumbled across a hidden treasure!
And you were right about the audio. It is a bit weird, but I have no option other than that if I want to finish it this week, so I'm going to go ahead with the audio anyway. I just hope the next book would have some other narrator (preferably Kirsten Ferreri.)

I'm finally marking The Nightmare as DNF as I am not able to read it, so that'd be my 3rd for this month.

#3 The Nightmare - 1/5

I'm beginning to think that the problem is not with the writing, but the translation. Maybe the edition I'm reading is translated by another translator than the one by whom the previous book I read in this series was translated. I'll have to look into it. If that'd turn out to be the case then I'll try and get a hold on a different edition (translated by the translator of the first part.)

Bonnie wrote: "I'll be doing Women's Fiction, not sure yet level 2 or 3. I have several books in mind about women, but not sure they are strictly women's fiction or more serious than I think of that genre."

They'll count as long as they even losely fulfil the criteria of Women's Fiction genre - that is even if the book is based on a female lead, it can be counted. :)

Dagny wrote: "Glad you enjoyed it, Heena. It is probably her best known book. I listened to the next one in the Gryce series, A Strange Disappearance, and found it a bit of a disappointment. I'm going to try her three Amelia Butterworth books. They're also part of the Gryce series, but I'm not a particular fan of Gryce yet. Amelia Butterworth is described as a 'spinster sleuth' a la Christie's Miss Marple. I actually started listening to the first Amelia book, That Affair Next Door, but was having a difficult time understanding the narrator, so I'll probably opt to read the eBook instead. "

I agree about not being a fan of Gryce. Though I did like Everett Raymond and was hoping that he might make an appearance in other books too. I just went through our earlier conversation and see that you recommended Amelia Butterworth books after The Leavenworth Case, so even I am going to stick with your recommendation and go for Butterworth series instead. I love Miss Marple books (though I haven't read them all) and feel that I might actually have a thing for spinster sleuth! I had no idea those are called cosy mysteries, but I did enjoy them a lot when I read them, so I'm feeling more and more positive for the Butterworth books.
What a shame about the narration. I was looking forward to the audio as I've finally figured out how to nicely incorporate them in my day while doing my daily chores.

I hear you, I'm having a hard time with Lars Kepler's second one as well, The Nightmare. I would have left it a long time back had it not been for my love for the first book (this book is the main reason why I didn't read anything else and wasted my time slogging through this one's pages.) But I think, I'll have to mark it as DNF now as it is almost a month now and I'm not able to read past page 50. What a disappointment!

Dagny wrote: "Don't worry about it, Heena! Unexpected things often happen to distract us from planned projects. (Just a shame they couldn't all happen during a least favorite genre month, lol.)
Hopefully Eva is on the mend. Now Katie got to repay all the attention Eva lavished on her after her operation."

Yes! If only it was the non-fiction month in Feb.

Yeah... Katie is trying her best. Though her love comes out mostly in the form of pouncing on Eva and biting her thighs, tail, ears and head(!) She's just trying not to jump on her too hard. Lol.
It is so amazing how different their personalities are!