Joanna’s
Comments
(group member since Nov 17, 2010)
Joanna’s
comments
from the Reading with Style group.
Showing 761-780 of 2,306
20.7 RatingsRush by Maya Banks
This is a cookie-cutter billionaire romance. I didn't like the characters, I didn't connect with the story. To the extent there was plot, it was not particularly novel or interesting. There was lots of sex here, but it felt cold and clinical rather than sexy and entertaining. The narrator for the audiobook didn't help the situation with a sort of flat reading that added little to these flat characters. The relationship is billed as BDSM, but it's really more controlling jerk than interesting power exchange. This author is quite popular, so maybe I'll give her another chance, but I wasn't impressed with this one.
+20 Task (76K+ ratings)
+10 Review
+5 Combo (10.4)
Task total: 35
Grand total: 685
20.4 Southeast AsiaMan Tiger by Eka Kurniawan
I originally checked this book out from the library, then I left it behind accidentally. Luckily, some good Samaritan found it and returned it to the library. I wasn't sure if I would finish it, but I ended up buying a kindle copy and reading the rest on my phone. I'm so glad I decided to keep going.
At first, I found the book meandering and sort of slow. I'd been expecting something more fantasy-based, more magical. This is really a book about life in a small village in Indonesia. The magical realism aspect related to the tiger that lives in the protagonist's body is almost an afterthought to the story. But somewhere around the 35% mark, I found the rhythm of the book and was able to be carried along with the different stories being woven together.
I know nothing about Indonesia or its authors. I'm glad to have had this chance to broaden my knowledge of the world and its people.
+20 Task (Set entirely in Indonesia)
+10 Review
+10 Combo (10.4, 20.10*)
*this had mystery on the first page when I had the old book page, which I had when I put it on my list; I'm not sure with the new book page whether it still counts if it's behind the "more" on the genres
Task total: 40 (or 35?)
Grand total: 645
10.6 MapHamnet by Maggie O'Farrell
I suppose my expectations for this were quite high, which made it harder for the book to live up to them. Also, this book did not translate well to audio format. This is definitely one to read in print--the beautiful writing and lyrical descriptions were too quickly glossed over as an audiobook. Then again, the audiobook won an earphones award, so maybe I'm in the minority on this.
The book was slow to start for me, but by the end I was engulfed in the story and the heartbreak of it all. The descriptions of the time period felt accurate and compelling.
+10 Task (on Evans' map)
+10 Review
+15 Combo (10.4, 20.2 - story of Hamnet, Shakespeare, and Shakespeare's wife, 20.7 - 195K+ ratings)
Task total: 35
Grand total: 605
20.2 BiographyTyphoid Mary: An Urban Historical by Anthony Bourdain
Pretentious but also boring. I expected a lot more from Bourdain. I mean, I expected pretentious because really, that's who he is. But I also expected more humor and maybe some real insight. What I got was more like a high school research paper with some musings on what Mary Mallon must have been feeling or thinking thrown in.
I could only tolerate this book in short bursts. Luckily, the book is short and easy to read, so I managed to finish it up over the weekend while also overseeing a birthday party attended by a gaggle of fifth- and sixth-grade girls.
This is absolutely skippable.
+20 Task
+10 Review
+5 Combo - 10.4
Task total: 35
Grand total: 570
I'm having trouble sticking to any one book. I find myself reading a bit of one thing, then picking up something else.Right now:
Man Tiger - was reading a library book, but left it behind at the hospital and someone graciously returned it to the library. Now I have it on my kindle, but keep ignoring it.
Hamnet - listening to the audio, but not liking it as much as I expected to.
We Were Kings - listening to the audio, and enjoying it more than I expected, so end up choosing it more than Hamnet
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow - really like this, but only have it in hardcover, so it's not always at hand
Typhoid Mary: An Urban Historical - finding the writing a little pretentious, so reading this a few pages at a time
The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry - listening to this with my 11 year old
Stellarlune - reading this with both kids (11 and 13)
The Pure and the Impure - the first of Colette's books that I've found insufferable. It's short, so I'll finish it, but not loving this at all
10.5 JourneyA Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers
Don't listen to me. At this point, I'll read anything that Becky Chambers writes. I'm smitten with Chambers' lefty utopian futures where people are nice to each other and generally mean well. The books are lovely, the interactions peaceful and kind. This book has the monk (Dex) and the Robot (Mosscap) journeying about their planet interacting with different towns and villages, talking to each other and the folks they meet along the way, and generally going about their days.
There's discussion of the environment, community, balance, family, and identity. It feels like a break from thinking of people as inherently selfish and mean-spirited.
The narrator does a great job.
+10 Task
+10 Review
+5 Combo (10.7)
Task total: 25
Grand total: 515
Finally was forced over to the new book page. Yuck!On the new book page, is there any way to see your own history with that book? On the old page, you could see a little list that showed the dates you added the book to different shelves. I can't find that on the new page anywhere.
I can go to the book on my "my books" page, which will tell me the date added, but it doesn't give the whole history (e.g., to be able to see when I moved it from wishlist to TBR).
ETA: I found it. Down where you see Your Review, you can click on the three dots, then click on View All Reading Activity.
10.7 Out of this WorldA Feast for Crows by George R.R. Martin
These books do not stand alone--you must read the series in order to have any hope of understanding what's happening with the giant cast of characters and all of the different plotlines. So, if you're thinking of reading this book, that means you're already more than 3000 pages into this series and have decided you like it.
I'm glad that I waited to read this. I've listened to all of these books read by the wonderful Roy Dotrice. When this book first came out, Mr. Dotrice wasn't available and John Lee narrated the originally released audiobook. I like Mr. Lee and have listened to his other books, but Mr. Dotrice is the voice of these characters for me, and, apparently for many others. There was enough of an outcry from listeners that they convinced Mr. Dotrice to read this volume and it was released much later. So, dear listeners, now you can continue this series with the same narrator.
+10 Task
+10 Aged
+10 Review
+25 Jumbo
+10 Combo (10.5, 20.7)
Task total: 65
Grand total: 490
15.7 Alpha OmegaThe Fates Will Find Their Way by Hannah Pittard
+20 Task (H-D)
Task total: 20
Grand total: 425
Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Wow! Both an X and a Z in one post! Well done!"And a book that I was actually planning to read. I'd read a profile of the author...it's her debut novel. The author has a lot of promise even though this novel shows some rough edges in pacing and plotting.
10.9 Covid 19 HitsThe Golden Enclaves by Naomi Novik
My whole family enjoyed this book, even my husband, who hadn't read the previous two books that the kids and I read. This was an excellent finale to the trilogy that expanded on the world-building in really cool ways that fleshed out the magic used and gave readers insight into the politics of this magical universe. The book stayed true to the original sarcastic voice of the protagonist, but also showed a lot of character development and growth over the span of the trilogy. It's tricky to pull that off and these books made it seem effortless.
We liked these books so much that we have started listening to the series of books by this author that are historical fiction + dragons (starting with His Majesty's Dragon). We like that series as well, but not quite as much as this one.
I continued to adore the narration of the audiobook. The book is told in first person with a very specific and sarcastic narrative voice, and the narrator (who narrates all three books in the trilogy) nailed it. I highly recommend these books in audio format.
+10 Task
+10 Review
+5 Combo (10.8)
Task total: 25
Grand total: 370
20.10 MysteryGirls with Razor Hearts by Suzanne Young
I listened to this book with my fifth- and eighth-grade children. They both really liked it and are anxious to continue to book three in this series. As the adult reader here, I liked this book much less. The author has solid anti-racism, feminist goals, so the messaging here is fine enough, if a little (or a lot) heavy-handed. But the author also doesn't have a lot of faith in the readership understanding what's happening, so she emphasizes and exaggerates each situation to a pretty far extreme. The girls aren't just quietly harassed in the school cafeteria by the jock-boys; they're publicly and loudly touched and mocked.
But my bigger problem is still with the whole premise here. The entire series is premised on the idea that these robot-girls are created by a corporation to be perfect female companions for men. To what? Replace women entirely? Show female ideal so women are cowed into being nicer to men? Not sure, not really clear. And these robot-girls are working to overthrow the corporation. I'm just not finding this entire plotline compelling or believable.
I also don't really like the narrator for the audiobook here.
In any event, I'm sure I'll end up reading the third of these because my kids are sufficiently invested in the series.
+20 Task
(low lexile - no styles)
Task total: 20
Grand total: 335
10.8 The ThreesThe Children's Blizzard by Melanie Benjamin
This is my bookclub's choice for January. I'm not sure there will be much to really discuss about this book other than, wow, what an interesting moment in history that we didn't know about. But, whatever. Fine enough. I'm sure there will be women in the bookclub that really liked this book.
A perfectly adequate historical fiction novel about a small bit of history that I'd never heard of. In January 1888, a blizzard quickly swept through Nebraska and surrounding midwestern states catching many people by surprise and resulting in a number of deaths. Because the cold swept in just at the time that school was letting out for the day, many children were caught outdoors or trapped in schoolhouses with inadequate weather protection.
I was somewhat interested in the history, but I never connected with the novel or the characters. The emotions of the characters all felt one-dimensional and overly simplistic and the effort to address race relations felt forced.
The narrator for the audiobook was also adequate. Nothing special, nothing to detract.
+10 Task
+10 Review
Task total: 20
Grand total: 315
20.6 IndustryLast Night at the Viper Room: River Phoenix and the Hollywood He Left Behind by Gavin Edwards
This was a strange book. I'm not sure how it came to be on my radar at all. I'm not particularly a fan of River Phoenix and knew nothing about his life or early death. According to GR, I added it to my TBR list in 2014, but I have no memory of doing so and don't think the book is actually on my shelves.
This is a biography of River Phoenix, a once-famous actor. It's also the telling of the actors around him during his life and the start of the careers of some other famous actors. But for a biography, it's a weirdly judgmental book. The author has a lot of armchair-psychology theories about River's family and upbringing, about how River was feeling about different things, and about his drug problems.
I'm clearly not the target audience for this book since I'm only barely familiar with the most famous movies described and only vaguely aware of the lives of any of Hollywood's stars.
+20 Task
+10 Review
+5 Combo (20.2)
Task total: 35
Grand total: 295
Our heat isn't working--it was 57 in the house when I woke up this morning. Luckily, I'm at the office now, where it's warm. Heating repair coming this afternoon.Also, pipe to kitchen sink seems to have frozen, so plumber also called.
And washing machine tech coming to figure out why the washing machine is leaking.
When it gets to -6, everything goes haywire.
10.1 SeriesPicture Perfect Cowboy by Tiffany Reisz
This is book 8.5 of the Original Sinners series and it doesn't live up to the standard set in the other books. The first four books in the series are outstanding for the erotic romance genre. They turn many conventions on their head and present a wonderfully sex-positive picture with compelling characters that I've been willing to read eight novels and several short stories about. The second four books in the series are also good, but not as fresh as the first four. By the time you've already met these characters, reading more about them was entertaining but lost the feeling that the author was doing something daring.
This book takes one of the side characters from the main series and gives her a chance to have her own story. But the story itself is very conventional and sort of lacking in development or interest. Characters from the main series make cameo appearances.
The narrator for the audiobook is a different one than the person who read the set of short stories that I listened to and I found her voice for Nora and Soren to be strange and not what was in my head from reading the main novels. Always a danger if you listen to a book where you've read a lot of other books already in print.
+10 Task
+10 Review
Task total: 20
Grand total: 245
