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

Matthew’s comments from the Reading List Completists group.

Marlise wrote: "I'm listening to audio as well, doing about 2.5 hours a week to spread it out over the 3 months. I'm enjoying it and so far can feel for Clyde. But he really is a big naive self-centered dope at ti..."

Just you wait! 😉😁

There was a lot of mid-book build up - but now in part three of the book, things are heating up!

Clyde is the king of bad decisions!

Round 3 voting begins today!

https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/1...

We had a tie in Round 2, so these two titles will be joining Animal Farm in February:

- Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin
- To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf

Something about the pacing of this book overall is somewhat odd. I am not sure if I can place my finger on it. I think it may be that short chapters are covering a lot of ground and then a lot of the story is occurring unseen between chapters and then quickly summarized at the beginning of the next chapter. So much happened today, but I didn't read very much!

Jessica wrote: "Fantasy: 7 (only! That's a surprise... And I did finish Once and Future King haha)
Mystery: 6
Dystopian: 7
Sci-fi: 14
Historical fiction: 18
Horror: 2 (actually impressed I even read 2! This is mo..."

Looks like you are a historical fiction buff!

I also agree about the groupings. A few odd choices!

My totals so far (I am only counting the top 25, not the editor's pick sections):

Fantasy: 14 (Once I finish The Once and Future King)
Mystery: 12
Dystopian: 18
Sci-fi: 20
Historical fiction: 14 (This one is a top 30)
Horror: 16
Thriller: 12
Romance: 6 (Not surprising this one is low!)
Crime: 11
LGBTQ: 2 (Wow! I have not even heard of most of these books!)

What say you about these lists? Some similar titles on our other lists.

Fantasy: https://prowritingaid.com/art/741/the...
Mystery: https://prowritingaid.com/art/692/The...
Dystopian: https://prowritingaid.com/art/649/The...
Sci-fi: https://prowritingaid.com/art/565/The...
Historical Fiction: https://prowritingaid.com/art/577/The...
Horror: https://prowritingaid.com/art/619/The...
Thriller: https://prowritingaid.com/art/730/the...
Romance: https://prowritingaid.com/art/702/The...
Crime: https://prowritingaid.com/art/801/the...
LGBTQ: https://prowritingaid.com/art/768/the...

Round 1 is done and the winner is Animal Farm by George Orwell

Vote in Round 2 to help pick the next book(s) that will be joining it in February:

https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/1...

Jessica wrote: "I also kept reverting back to the classic handsome knight in my head. I think Lancelot was commonly perceived as handsome even by Mallory but White made him an 'apelike man' to underline Lancelots ..."

I did notice on Wikipedia where they mention the many interpretations of Lancelot that White's version was intentionally much different than the others. This includes making him kind of awkward around people.

So, until reading this book I imagined Lancelot being a pretty good looking guy. But, they frequently mention a facial deformity - at one point even comparing him to Quasimodo. Interesting!

The middle of this book definitely hits a slow kind of repetitive section. Glad I decided to listen because I think I would have lost my patience with this part if I was reading it on the page!

Reminder to vote in round one for February's short read!

https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/1...

Round 2 begins on the 16th.

Reminder of what we are doing: The winner(s) or round 1 will be selections for February. Then, round 2 will start over with the remaining books. Then the same with round 3. Whatever books win or tie for the win in each of the three rounds will be selections for February so hopefully you can knock a few titles quickly off the Completist list!

I just started part 2 last night. Still really enjoying the writing in this so far. It keeps my attention. I am listening to this while I am listening to another audiobook that I am not caring for very much. So, this is serving as a nice break from that one and it may be improving my experience here.

Just finished "Book 2" a few days ago.

It was just okay - kind of weird!

Book 3 seems to be the Lancelot book so far

Matthew wrote: "Matthew wrote: "From 37 to 39 in 2017!"

From 39 to 48 in 2018!"

If I counted correctly, it looks like I only added one new one - now 49 - in the past year.

Added one - 17 now!

I am up to 21 now - from the 16 I mentioned above!

"It is good to put your life in other people's hands" - Ill-Made Knight - chapter 2

I have finished and I did enjoy it - despite some issues with the resolution. Click link for my review:

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

Marlise wrote: "Oh man, I just saw a bit of that preview the other day and didn't realize that's what it's based on. It has that kid from Stranger Things who also plays Boris in The Goldfinch!"

Yeah! He is in everything lately!