Denise’s Comments (group member since Mar 28, 2018)

Denise’s comments from the The Perks Of Being A Book Addict group.

I just spent two hours in the new library. I checked out wayyyy too many books. I'll enter some on the planning sheet. Should I stick to the books I'm pretty sure I'll read and not add the maybes? Does it create confusion to add the maybes?

Melindam wrote: "Just realised that Denise's planned read also fits a Reverse card as it was read by Lizzie and with a Draw 2 in that hand we can cover both. So yaayy! 😊
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Nice catch there! I always forget to check for reverses.

Speaking of walking into the library, our brand new library building is opening a few blocks from my house on January 30. It's three floors and has a cozy reading area with a fireplace. I'm so excited! It's been in the works for YEARS. Covid almost permanently derailed it, but it's finally happening on Tuesday!

We've now entered the phase of Uno where I do all this detailed planning and then on Feb. 3rd, I'll walk into the library and see all the shiny new books and crumple up my plan and throw it in the garbage. 😂

I keep seeing ads for the collection of Valentine's short stories that are free with Amazon Prime. It looks like the first one is 101 pages. That would count since it's over 100, right?

Either way, I have been enjoying these freebie collections from Prime. Most of them have been well-written. It's so fun when you know you just have 45 minutes or an hour to read to be able to get a whole story in.

Melindam wrote: "Talking of winning, you all know already that UNO is mostly about luck of the cards, so what we are aiming at here is to try and read for all the cards and mini tasks every month and enjoy our book..."

Honestly, I enjoy the competition, but I really don't care if we win. It's just as fun for me either way.

Elinor wrote: "Surely Hans Gruber would want us to tweak that randomiser? 😇🤭"

😂🤣😂🤣

Chrissie wrote: "📗What are you currently reading? Do you like it so far?

Okay, I have like 5 things running currently which have different priorities or more like moods tbh.
[book:Complete Works of Oscar Wilde|864..."

The only Ken Follett I have read is The Pillars of the Earth. I liked it, but I haven't tried another. They are all such an undertaking with the length of the books and list of characters.

📕 Favourite tropes in a book, if any? Not really any favorite tropes. I like a good revenge story with a dose of humor (Like Someone Else's Shoes by Jojo Moyes)

📙Tropes or plot devices you dislike? Not really a trope, but I don't like the multiverse thing. Not in TV, movies, or books. It feels like cheating. "Sure...Allen died in THIS dimension, but he was alive in an alternate universe and managed to find his way to the portal and now they can be together...." My son loved the Flash TV series and the multiverse there (dozens of Earths in different dimensions) was SO painful for me.

I also can't do detailed child abuse or torture, even when it's historically accurate. I really struggle to get through it. A friend of mine from college just published her memoir about surviving genocide. I need to read it, but I think I am going to have to give myself permission to take lots of breaks or skim read parts.

📔Your favourite book or film villains?

Well, of course, Hans Gruber. Also...Moriarty in Sherlock Holmes and Annie in Misery. I also really like books where the villain is not a person. Maybe it's a spirit in a haunted house or even something like the heat wave in The Dry.

I was watching an episode of American Housewife last night and the family adopts a pig and names it Hans Gruber. OF COURSE I was like, "Yes! Team Gruber!" And my family all thought I was nuts.

Elinor wrote: "Nice!

I particularly like the Terry Pratchett one about going away, and the one about education. Also, the Hosseini one about being kind - at the end of the day, it’s always the good and enjoyable..."

Hello! I haven't read The Kite Runner, but A Thousand Splendid Suns is one of my all-time favorites, even though I think I needed a week to recover. I would say And the Mountains Echoed was good. It has tons of good quotes, but not in the same league a ATSS, in my opinion.

I already answered, but then remembered that there was a quote from My Name Is Lucy Barton that I remember reading and then setting the book down and just letting it sink in. I had to look it up, but it's this one:

“It interests me how we find ways to feel superior to another person, another group of people. It happens everywhere, and all the time. Whatever we call it, I think it’s the lowest part of who we are, this need to find someone else to put down.”
― Elizabeth Strout, My Name Is Lucy Barton

In the interest of participating in the Q&A on a busy day, I'm picking and choosing. :)

I am reading a few books right now. They're ok, but nothing that's blowing me away.

Current reads:
Stalking Around the Christmas Tree
I like cozy mysteries, but this one is dragging a bit. It could use an action infusion.

The Fury
I can't tell you how much I want to love this. But I'm not vibing with the narrator. He's kind of annoying me, but maybe he's supposed to?! Too soon to tell.

If I could change an ending to a book? Ummm...I may have to think about this one. For books I've read recently, I'd say maybe the ending of Iron Flame or The Night House. But this is a fun question to ponder over time. I reserve the right to return. :)

Favorite book quote - there are a lot of great quotes, but I think about this one a lot.

“J’aurais dû être plus gentille—I should have been more kind. That is something a person will never regret. You will never say to yourself when you are old, Ah, I wish I was not good to that person. You will never think that.”
― Khaled Hosseini, And the Mountains Echoed

Michael wrote: "📗 Currently Reading: Let Us Descend - So far I’m enjoying this book even tho the subject matter is very heartbreaking.

📒 I would LOVE for both Jonathan Tropper and [..."

Oh, that's a great quote.

Maybe I was intimidated by the page number total with wheels. I tend to read shorter to medium length books. I loved TT last year because it didn't matter!

Melindam wrote: "Anyone planning on reading System Collapse (Murderbot 7) for UNO?

I bought the audio right after publication last year (so, I am trendy after all, lol) but got distracted by Wheels 8 and then I d..."

I haven't read any of the Murderbot books! I've already never done the Wheels challenge. Is it more complicated? Uno and TT are about as complicated as I can go.

Jhmingos wrote: "Yeah, that was one of the books. It doesn't sound interesting but seems like a lot of people like it. Plus, How to Speak Whale: The Power and Wonder of Listening to Animals seems li..."

I thought that I'd be Weird Barbie for sure after choosing that one. 😂 I can't help with the whale book. I haven't read it.

Jhmingos wrote: "I got stereotypical Barbie which was probably because I was picking classics or really popular ones. I kind of got FOMO from looking at these books. Should I be adding them to my TBR? 🧐"

Any specific books you're curious about? One book on the list that I didn't think I would like, but ended up really liking is Nothing to See Here. It's weird and quirky, but I liked it.

See...I didn't like Carrie Soto that much. It was ok. But just ok for me.

I was stereotypical Barbie. The funny thing about the quiz was most of the categories I had either read and liked most of the books or didn't want to read any of the books. So I felt like I was just picking a random one because I couldn't choose.