From the Bookshelf of Nothing But Reading Challenges…

The Starless Sea

Erin Morgenstern

Start date: January 4, 2020

Finish date: February 1, 2020

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Books of the Month

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last updated Sep 05, 2025 04:38PM

* The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese - Sep 25 Theme BOM - South and South East Asia (Starts 5 September)
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What Members Thought

Nov 23, 2019 Rachel N. rated it really liked it

Shelves: read-in-2019, lgbt, fantasy, love, fairy-tale, books-about-books

Zachary Ezra Rawlins finds a painted door when he's 11 but he doesn't open it. Now he's a graduate student and he find a strange book in the library that describes this experience. Zachary traces the book to a party at the Algonquin and eventually ends up underground at a harbor on the starless sea. Zachary's story alternates chapters with stories from several books Zachary finds. The first 250 pages or so were a bit of a drag for me with the alternating chapters. Once the story began to focus m ...more

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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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Feb 13, 2020 Ketutar Jensen rated it it was amazing

I just finished it. I'm ugly crying right now.

I love everything about this book. Even the ending, because... it never ends *_* It is a never-ending story. She managed to write a real never-ending story!

(Except this: "I don't jest about tea. I have Earl Grey and peppermint and some sort of immunityboosting thing with ginger".
Urgh. Earl grey is flavored. Pergamot isn't everyone's flavor. I bet you don't have milk either. So you have no tea. Tea IS a serious business. Herbal "tea" is not tea.)

This ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Feb 19, 2020 Logan rated it it was amazing

Shelves: borrowed-library, borrowed-ebook, own-bought-paper, 2020-books-read

To quote a familiar adage, this is a book that unfolds slowly and then all at once. I very much enjoyed the journey this took me on, even when I was confused or questioning its purpose.

Erin Morgenstern can break all the rules, in my opinion. I don’t care if her main character is passive, or the pacing is slow, or if the interludes don’t always pay off. Because her world is so delicious that I’m just thankful to be in it for any amount of time. I want it to be a slow and sweet unpeeling of layer ...more

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Feb 03, 2020 Maudaevee rated it it was amazing

Shelves: on-the-shelf-owned-rl-copy

Loved this!! I actually think maybe even a tad more than, The Night Circus. I want to give it a good think before I go into my full thoughts (just so I don't spoil anything) but I will come back with more soon. ...more

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