Megan’s Comments (group member since Dec 30, 2017)

Megan’s comments from the EVERYONE Has Read This but Me - The Catch-Up Book Club group.

This was one of my absolute favorite childhood books! Looking forward to discussing it.

I second Americanah, an American Marriage and Beloved

I second The Great Gatsby

I nominate The Life of Pi

I second the Master and Margarita, Great Expectations and Night

Kayla, the Graveyard Book is EXCELLENT! I read it to my son when he was little and it’s still one of our favorite books.

I second the Martian

Beloved by Toni Morrison, the Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

Sadly, the hold list for this is very very long, so I’ll be joining the discussion late.

I second Dark Matter

I nominate The Life of Pi

I second Americanah, the Poisonwood Bible and A Gentleman from Moscow

I love children’s books! Scott Westerfield’s YA Leviathan series is excellent, especially if you can get the audiobooks narrated by Alan Cumming. I just finished A Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue, by Mackenzie Lee, an 18th century LGBTQ historical fiction adventure, also YA. When the Mountain Meets the Moon, by Grace Lin is a lovely middle grade medieval Chinese fantasy, with two equally good companion books.

I nominate The Bastard of Istanbul by Elif Shafak.

Just started.

TBR Challenge:

Books read: 5-6/10

1. Beloved by Toni Morrison. On TBR since 1993 READ
2. Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston. On TBR since 1993 READ
3. A River Sutra by Gita Mehta. On TBR since 1996
4.The City & the City by China Mieville. On TBR since 2013 Read 8/23/19
5. The Secret Book of Grazia dei Rossi On TBR since 2007
6. Streaming by Allison Adelle Hedge Coke. On TBR since 2014 READ 12/31
7. Placenta : the Forgotten Chakra by Robin Lim. On TBR since 2015 READ
8. Yoga of the Impossible by Diane Frank. On TBR since 2014
9. A Pocket History of Sex in the Twentieth Century: A Memoir by Jane Vandenburg. On TBR since 2015
10. Queen of America by Luis Alberto Urrea. On TBR since 2012 ALTERNATE 10. The Devil's Highway: A True Story READ

So I read 6 out of 10, with an alternate 10th book by the same author. Not bad. I'll have to tackle the unread 5 in 2020.

I second Don Quixote

I hated this book when I read it as a teenager, mostly because everyone was pretty horrid to each other, and I couldn’t understand why the relationship between Catherine and Heathcliff was supposed to be romantic— it seemed obsessive to me. It was a book I was glad I’d read, but didn’t really intend to read again. As an adult, I’ve encountered a lot of people who claim it as a favorite (there’s at least one Tedtalk about it’s amazingness) so I’m glad we chose it as a classic read. I’m enjoying it more the second time, probably because I’m listening to an audiobook, narrated by Joanne Froggatt (Anna from Downton Abbey), and she does a great job. It feels more modern somehow than Jane Eyre, I can see why people rave about Emily Bronte’s writing ability. I think Jane Eyre’s still my favorite tho.

I remember being relieved to be done. I think the edition I read back then had a forward which said reading Wuthering Heights was like being in a fever dream, and some critic thought Emily had written a lot of the book while nursing Charlotte, who was feverishly ill after returning from the governess job where she’d fallen in love with her employer (unrequited), who became the inspiration for both Mr. Rochester and Heathcliff. The final chapter feels like a welcome descent into coolness and sanity after the overheated nastiness.

We’ll see if my opinion changes after finishing it the second time.

I second Circe and Americanah

I nominate Wild Seed by Octavia Butler