From the Bookshelf of EVERYONE Has Read This but Me - The Catch-Up Book Club…

The Starless Sea

Erin Morgenstern

Start date: December 1, 2020

Finish date: December 31, 2020

Discussion: MODERN / POPULAR READS

Why we're reading this: Dec 2020 - Modern Classic/Popular group pick
[close] Dec 2020 - Modern Classic/Popular group pick

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MODERN / POPULAR READS

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What Members Thought

Jul 02, 2020 Brenda rated it really liked it

This was a hard one for me to rate, and I couldn't decide between 4 and 5 stars, but ultimately I settled on 4 because I felt like it could have been better. The story was so magical and beautiful, and I loved how it was so focused on books and stories.

That said, by page 300 I was kind of tired of reading it. It began to drag, and I really think if this book had been shortened by about 100 pages or so in the middle, it might have been on my favorites list. I may read it again someday, now that I ...more

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Apr 15, 2020 Laurel Bradshaw rated it liked it

Shelves: audiobook, chunky-450, audible-purchased, books-bookstores-libraries, fantasy-fiction, themes-stars, color-rating-green

I loved The Night Circus, and even read it twice, so I have to say I was very disappointed with this book. Maybe that's too strong - it has all the wonderful descriptiveness of The Night Circus, that ability to paint with words and create vivid images - but it gave me very little to hang those images on. It went from one to another to another in a bewildering series of nested stories that seemed to have no connection to each other. At the end, I'm still not sure who was who and what was what, an I loved The Night Circus, and even read it twice, so I have to say I was very disappointed with this book. Maybe that's too strong - it has all the wonderful descriptiveness of The Night Circus, that ability to paint with words and create vivid images - but it gave me very little to hang those images on. It went from one to another to another in a bewildering series of nested stories that seemed to have no connection to each other. At the end, I'm still not sure who was who and what was what, and I'm not sure I cared. Yes, there were references to Alice in Wonderland and Narnia and Harry Potter, talking cats, bunny pirates, and my favorite bird - owls. I even read a detailed synopsis of the book, and I still don't understand it. I like a good challenge, but this was way too much work. I might begin to see "something" with a second or third reading, but that isn't going to happen any time soon.

Description: Zachary Ezra Rawlins is a graduate student in Vermont when he discovers a mysterious book hidden in the stacks. As he turns the pages, entranced by tales of lovelorn prisoners, key collectors, and nameless acolytes, he reads something strange: a story from his own childhood. Bewildered by this inexplicable book and desperate to make sense of how his own life came to be recorded, Zachary uncovers a series of clues—a bee, a key, and a sword—that lead him to a masquerade party in New York, to a secret club, and through a doorway to an ancient library hidden far below the surface of the earth. What Zachary finds in this curious place is more than just a buried home for books and their guardians—it is a place of lost cities and seas, lovers who pass notes under doors and across time, and of stories whispered by the dead. Zachary learns of those who have sacrificed much to protect this realm, relinquishing their sight and their tongues to preserve this archive, and also of those who are intent on its destruction. Together with Mirabel, a fierce, pink-haired protector of the place, and Dorian, a handsome, barefoot man with shifting alliances, Zachary travels the twisting tunnels, darkened stairwells, crowded ballrooms, and sweetly soaked shores of this magical world, discovering his purpose—in both the mysterious book and in his own life. ...more

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Jan 25, 2020 Marcia rated it really liked it

Reading this book felt like I was walking through a delicious ethereal dream, fantastical but real enough. Everything felt floaty and just within grasp...and when I thought I understood what was happening, the feeling slipped from my hands and left my brain a little buzzy and fuzzy....and always wanting to know where the dream was going to lead me to next. Fate, time, moon, Max....all so beautifully stitched together.

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