Matthew’s Comments (group member since Mar 08, 2015)

Matthew’s comments from the Reading List Completists group.

Here is a link to my review - I did enjoy! But, only about 3 stars for me and it was middle of the road enjoyment and a struggle to stay focused.

One thing I mention in my review, and I think was mentioned in the general discussion, is that if you think about the fact that this was released in installments, it helps because it makes it episodic instead of one huge, meandering tale.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

May 2020 Poll Winner is The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

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Brooklyn wrote: "I read this - The Fall of the House of Usher, The Masque of the Red Death, and The Cask of Amontillado. I have not read Poe since high school/college. I was very impressed by his writing - not chee..."

I cannot remember exactly which ones I read back in school, but I can say that I don't remember connecting to his writing as much as I did this time. Always worth trying and retrying something - you never know what you might find!

Last day to vote!

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Marlise wrote: "I felt that the last dozen or so pages of this were pretty stellar. I'm an atheist so the subject matter wasn't really something I found especially compelling personally but there were some other t..."

I did some follow up on this book right after I read it and it sounded to me like the point of this was to criticize the church a bit, so maybe not surprising you enjoyed it okay being an atheist.

And, yet another reason I love Goodreads. We have had some great book conversations on here. I am a Christian, you are an atheist, and that is just fine by me! 😁 (And, yes, I know all Christians are not that way - which is sad and disappointing to me!)

Slow and steady wins the race! Also, Spark Notes has been my friend again on this one. One thing that has helped me is knowing that he released this book originally in installments. So, instead of one big book, I try and think of it like I am binging episodes on Netflix! :D

Eileen wrote: "I both listened to and read this book and I have to say that listening to it the second time made it even better. The narrator did a great job and even though I knew how the story ended, just heari..."

Glad you enjoyed, Eileen! And, I am impressed you read it twice during a time I can barely get myself to read things once!

Listened to the entire thing on my lunchtime walk yesterday - Chick is so right about the timing of this one!

See my review here:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Eileen wrote: "Matthew wrote: "Eileen wrote: "I'm pretty sure I've read all three of those, but my memory of them is a bit hazy. I do remember what Tell-Tale Heart is about though!"

One of the Pendergast books h..."

Yes - that's it - but off the top of my head, I couldn't tell you which one that was (title).

Scarlett wrote: "Yes on both. I am thankful that it isn't very long, I just read a tome, so this was great and I am delving into some of his other short works I hadn't read before. I really like Poe. He had such a ..."

Great to hear that this was the perfect selection for you this month, Scarlett! 😁

Eileen wrote: "I'm pretty sure I've read all three of those, but my memory of them is a bit hazy. I do remember what Tell-Tale Heart is about though!"

One of the Pendergast books has many references to The Cask of Amontillado! I can't remember exactly which one - you may have read it already!

Eileen wrote: "Yes, my copy comes with the Pit and the Pendulum and other tales. So yes, I'm planning on reading all of them. :)"

Awesome! I remember reading that one years ago - along with The Tell-Tale Heart and The Cask of Amontillado. I feel like I have read The Fall of the House of Usher before, but I don't remember for sure.

I am thankful that this is a very short one - with my reading slump, that is what I need!

However, I noticed that many versions of this are grouped with some other Poe tales. Are any of you using this as an opportunity to try out a few of his other stories, too?

Feel free to share your review of Bleak House here

Feel free to share any memorable quotes from Bleak House here

Feel free to share your review of Swan Song here

Feel free to share any memorable quotes from Swan Song here

Eileen wrote: "I will admit that I started this near the end of last month because this was going to be a long read. But I ended up finishing it today, lol. I ended up liking it much more than I expected, which i..."

I am impressed! Great work! And, glad you enjoyed!

Carol wrote: "I gotta say I'm not much of a Dickens fan, except for A Tale of Two Cities. I saw a miniseries of Bleak House on TV many years ago and enjoyed it well enough, but since most of his books (including..."

I always worry about "paid by the word"!