Reader's Choice Fall 2023

[Britt, Book Habitue]

Y'all are killing me with The Gatekeeper. I'm loving it. I mean, it's dumb but it's hilarious!
Did you guys read it or listen to it? Because it's possible listening is the better option for this one.

[Audrey]

I listened to it -- good narration. I think the second half just got too dumb and too political.

[Britt, Book Habitue]

Audrey wrote: "I listened to it -- good narration. I think the second half just got too dumb and too political."

Oh it's dumb. I'll give you that. But I loved it the way I love the movie Sahara. Which is also dumb.... but hilarious.
And I was sad when it was over. Also like Sahara, lol.

I don't think I've ever given an action/thriller 5 stars before.

Also, apparently I forgot to say anything about The Night Shift. That one was interesting.

Running List
The Cartographers - 3
Alias Emma - 4
Killers of a Certain Age - 4.5
Violin Conspiracy- 3
The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches- 5
The Marlow Murder Club- 5
The Tobacco Wives- 5
The Night Shift- 4
The Gatekeeper- 5

[Darin]

I recommended The Gatekeeper for this list, among others. I think I also liked it because it was dumb and hilarious. It was fluff - and don't we all just need some fluff reading/listening sometimes? This is why I read Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series. I don't think it's great literature or anything - just fluff.

I listened to the first six or seven in that series, and then heard that the narrator was changing. Well, by then, I'd had the narrator's characters' voices in my head, so ever since then, I have read the books in the series. I don't actually read a lot of books (no time), but I do commit time to reading this series, because I need the LOL fluff.

Am I just crazy?? Do you or do you not need fluff to read?

Sorry if I deterred from the Readers Choice intention...

[Patty]

I couldn't get into The Stardust Thief. It may have been very good, but that just isn't one of my favorite genres and so I didn't stick with it long.

You all have me reading the Gatekeept next though! lol

Running List:
Alias Emma - 3.5
The Cartographers - 3.5
A Lady's Guide to Fortune-Hunting - 4
The Other Dr. Gilmer - 3
The Night Shift - 4
The Stardust Thief - didn't finish
Take My Hand - 4
The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches - 4
The Violin Conspiracy - 5

[Audrey]

Almost done with The Stardust Thief. It needs about 150 pages trimmed from it. I don't feel connected to the characters, and it's dragging quite a bit, but there's nothing terrible about it.

[Britt, Book Habitue]

I absolutely need fluff in my life, Darin.
Hilarious fluff and comfort reads that I've read a bazillion times!

[Britt, Book Habitue]

And thank you for getting Gatekeeper on this list because the chances that I'd have picked it up otherwise are basically zero.

[Darin]

You’re welcome! And thanks for the support of the fluff…

[Britt, Book Habitue]

Reading Cover Story is a lot like watching a train wreck....

[Debbie]

Britt, Book Habitue wrote: "I absolutely need fluff in my life, Darin.
Hilarious fluff and comfort reads that I've read a bazillion times!"

I call fluff "brain candy".

[Greg]

when is the deadline for Fall? I'm finally through my clear-the-list challenge for the year (141 books!), and I've started reading both the Spring and Fall RC lists.

[Audrey]

Greg wrote: "when is the deadline for Fall? I'm finally through my clear-the-list challenge for the year (141 books!), and I've started reading both the Spring and Fall RC lists."

End of October.

[Audrey]

Violin Conspiracy is so stressful. I will need fluff after this.

[Britt, Book Habitue]

Debbie wrote: "Britt, Book Habitue wrote: "I absolutely need fluff in my life, Darin.
Hilarious fluff and comfort reads that I've read a bazillion times!"

I call fluff "brain candy"."

I equate it with cotton candy.
It's funny how everyone has different "fluff" though. For my friend, it's usually period romances. For me it's usually cozy mysteries.
Very different vibes! 😂

[Debbie]

Britt, Book Habitue wrote: "Debbie wrote: "I call fluff "brain candy"."

I equate it with cotton candy. ."

That's funny! Mine is the same derivation. Cotton candy for the brain, therefore, brain candy. LOL! Great minds, I guess. Cozy mysteries are mine, too.

[Greg]

Audrey wrote: "End of October."

Hmmm. I might be able to do it by then. If I focus on fall before spring. The biggest challenge will be getting all the books by then. Some of them have several weeks of hold time.

[Elizabeth]

Greg wrote: "when is the deadline for Fall? I'm finally through my clear-the-list challenge for the year (141 books!), and I've started reading both the Spring and Fall RC lists."

Oh my gosh, Greg! That is amazing. I had to stop keeping an active list, because it just kept getting bigger, and it was too much. I love that you read all the things!

[Audrey]

If people get through them faster than three weeks, the wait will be shorter. This is likely the case when there are multiple copies. If there is only one copy, someone will lose it.

[Audrey]

I liked The Night Shift. It's short and moved right along.

I'm giving the Irregular Witches a go despite my better judgment.

[Britt, Book Habitue]

I'm apparently behind on my running list. I hope I've actually submitted my online vote for all of these. (I wish there was a way to go back and look 😅)

Cover Story was.... better and weirder? than expected.
The Other Dr Gilmer was interesting.
Nora Goes Off Script-- I was not looking forward to this one. Like... at all. But I ended up kinda enjoying it.

My ratings are way higher overall this round than they have been...so now I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop!

Running List
The Cartographers - 3
Alias Emma - 4
Killers of a Certain Age - 4.5
Violin Conspiracy- 3
The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches- 5
The Marlow Murder Club- 5
The Tobacco Wives- 5
The Night Shift- 4
The Gatekeeper- 5
Cover Story- 4
The Other Dr Gilmer- 4
Nora Goes Off Script- 4

[Audrey]

I did see that the Gatekeeper had a 5-star vote at Hunter when I went on Saturday. I suspect that was you.

I finished The Night Shift and Shutter -- pretty good. Irregular Witches wasn't that bad. I put a few more on hold, but I don't know if any will arrive before the end of October.

Running list at Message 3.

[Britt, Book Habitue]

I have 8 more to read and most of those I have checked out on audio.
I think I'm going to have to get a hard copy of Echo Man...I was partway through when the audio had to go back and it looks like it's going to take way too long to come back in.

[Audrey]

It depends on if people really need all three weeks to listen to them. I've been getting books faster than the estimate.

[Britt, Book Habitue]

Heading out on a road trip to Glacier National Park was a very fitting time to read Everything Left to Remember.
I honestly found her story difficult to connect with in some ways, but they were "my experience is too different" not "there is no emotional connection to be had here".
The writing was often downright beautiful.

Running List
The Cartographers - 3
Alias Emma - 4
Killers of a Certain Age - 4.5
Violin Conspiracy- 3
The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches- 5
The Marlow Murder Club- 5
The Tobacco Wives- 5
The Night Shift- 4
The Gatekeeper- 5
Cover Story- 4
The Other Dr Gilmer- 4
Nora Goes Off Script- 4
Everything Left to Remember- 4

[Patty]

The Echo Man was rough for me.

Running List:
Alias Emma - 3.5
The Cartographers - 3.5
The Echo Man - 3
A Lady's Guide to Fortune-Hunting - 4
The Other Dr. Gilmer - 3
The Night Shift - 4
Take My Hand - 4
The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches - 4
The Violin Conspiracy - 5

[Britt, Book Habitue]

Deaf Utopia was good, though I thought the segues into his sexuality distracted from the "love letter to a way of life". I mean, it's his story and he can tell it however he wants, but when you call it Deaf Utopia, chapters that have little or nothing to do with being Deaf feel.... out of place.
The way the audiobook was done was great. Ironic, yes. But great.
This book made me nostalgic for my high school ASL class.

Shutter was okay. I had a really hard time getting into it and then it picked up some but it felt like it was trying to do too much and not doing it very well. Lots of "this is obviously a first novel" type problems.

Running List
The Cartographers - 3
Alias Emma - 4
Killers of a Certain Age - 4.5
Violin Conspiracy- 3
The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches- 5
The Marlow Murder Club- 5
The Tobacco Wives- 5
The Night Shift- 4
The Gatekeeper- 5
Cover Story- 4
The Other Dr Gilmer- 4
Nora Goes Off Script- 4
Everything Left to Remember- 4
Deaf Utopia- 4
Shutter- 3

Everything has been 3 stars and up so far, which is even more interesting given how much I didn't want to read some of them.
I have 4.5 books to go.

[Patty]

I wasn't sure I liked Cover Story to begin with. I think a lot of that was that I did it on audiobook and sometimes it was hard to follow, but I ended up enjoying it. What really threw me was having "RE:" pronounced as "ray" instead of "ree".


Running List:
Alias Emma - 3.5
The Cartographers - 3.5
Cover Story - 4
The Echo Man - 3
A Lady's Guide to Fortune-Hunting - 4
The Other Dr. Gilmer - 3
The Night Shift - 4
Take My Hand - 4
The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches - 4
The Violin Conspiracy - 5

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[Elizabeth]

Patty wrote: "I wasn't sure I liked Cover Story to begin with. I think a lot of that was that I did it on audiobook and sometimes it was hard to follow, but I ended up enjoying it. What really threw me was havin..."

But "Re:" means "Regarding" how do you pronounce that as "ray"? I would have been super annoyed with that.

It's generally the little things.

[Patty]

Elizabeth wrote: "Patty wrote: "I wasn't sure I liked Cover Story to begin with. I think a lot of that was that I did it on audiobook and sometimes it was hard to follow, but I ended up enjoying it. What really thre..."

That's what I was thinking! When I keep hearing "Ray, Ray, Ray" I wondered why they kept saying this guy's name. I finally got it about halfway through the book.

[Audrey]

Probably a regional thing. I was just listening to an audiobook that pronounced Nevada so strangely, I thought they said Novato at first (a city a couple hours from where I grew up in California).

I've really gotten into The Tobacco Wives despite it being outside my normal genres.

[Patty]

Amanda wrote: "I started second guessing myself reading the responses here, because I have always said and heard Re: as "Ray". Turns out that is the correct pronunciation. Re: is not an abbreviation for regarding..."

I actually searched before posting and found most places said "ree" with a few saying "ray", but it wasn't very easy to find it and I found nothing official so I took it with a grain of salt.

Are you hearing "ray" on that link? I'm hearing "ree".

[Amanda]

On my phone, I hear "ray", when I got on my computer I hear "Raee" I gave up and deleted because I decided I just shouldn't go down that rabbit hole any further than I already had. I did learn that it (was? is?) used on legal documents as "in re:" in which case it will almost always be pronounced "ray", but as it became more common in more casual communications, "ree" became acceptable and even prevalent in some areas.

[Patty]

Amanda wrote: "On my phone, I hear "ray", when I got on my computer I hear "Raee" I gave up and deleted because I decided I just shouldn't go down that rabbit hole any further than I already had. I did learn that..."

Interesting! My husband has been talking to a lawyer lately about his work. I'll have to ask him what he has heard (if he has heard it).

[Debbie]

It's actually Latin so the "e" should sound like in "check". So, technically, both "ray" and "ree" are incorrect. In reality, "ray" is closer to the actual proper pronounciation.

[Britt, Book Habitue]

Oh my gosh, the "re" as ray thing drove me crazy!

[Patty]

Thought the Tobacco Wives was ok.

Running List:
Alias Emma - 3.5
The Cartographers - 3.5
Cover Story - 4
The Echo Man - 3
A Lady's Guide to Fortune-Hunting - 4
The Other Dr. Gilmer - 3
The Night Shift - 4
The Tabacco Wives - 3
Take My Hand - 4
The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches - 4
The Violin Conspiracy - 5

[Audrey]

Who was Anthony in The Tobacco Wives? I somehow missed his introduction and never figured out his relationship to the aunt or the community other than him being a tailor.

[Patty]

Audrey wrote: "Who was Anthony in The Tobacco Wives? I somehow missed his introduction and never figured out his relationship to the aunt or the community other than him being a tailor."

Huh. Apparently, I missed it as well.

[Greg]

I got started late, but I got there in time! Here are my readings and ratings:

09/16/23 - 4 - Mickey 7
09/21/23 - 2 - The Echo Man
09/26/23 - 2 - Alias Emma
09/30/23 - 3 - Cover Story
10/03/23 - 1 - Deaf Utopia: A Memoir
10/06/23 - 3 - Killers of a Certain Age
10/09/23 - 3 - Shutter
10/10/23 - 3 - The Night Shift
10/12/23 - 2 - The Stardust Thief
10/13/23 - 1 - A Lady's Guide to Fortune-Hunting
10/14/23 - 4 - The Other Dr. Gilmer
10/16/23 - 2 - Take My Hand
10/16/23 - 3 - Nora Goes Off Script
10/17/23 - 2 - The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches
10/18/23 - 1 - The Tobacco Wives
10/20/23 - 3 - The Violin Conspiracy
10/20/23 - 3 - The Cartographers
10/21/23 - 3 - The Marlow Murder Club
10/23/23 - 3 - The Gatekeeper
10/23/23 - 3 - Everything Left to Remember

[Britt, Book Habitue]

Anthony is a family friend I think?

I can't remember...I've read a lot of books since that one, lol.

Just what? like 8 days left? I don't know if I'll finish them all...

[Audrey]

Greg wrote: "I got started late, but I got there in time! Here are my readings and ratings:

09/16/23 - 4 - Mickey 7
09/21/23 - 2 - The Echo Man
09/26/23 - 2 - Alias Emma
09/30/23 - 3 - Cover Story
10/03/23 - ..."

Wow, great job getting through them all. You seem to have very high standards.

[Greg]

Audrey wrote: "Wow, great job getting through them all. You seem to have very high standards."

Thanks! I read a lot. I don't 'give' a lot of 5 stars - I reserve those for the best books that I'm almost definitely reading over and over. There were a couple in here that were 4s. And a couple that were just bad.

[Audrey]

I haven't found any 5 stars this time, as well, but not too many duds, either, as I'm skipping the ones that sound unappealing.

[Britt, Book Habitue]

I've honestly been surprised how many higher ratings I've given this round.

[Ellen]

Patty wrote: "Audrey wrote: "Who was Anthony in The Tobacco Wives? I somehow missed his introduction and never figured out his relationship to the aunt or the community other than him being a tailor."

Huh. Appa..."

Wow! Nice work, Greg! I'm always impressed when someone gets through all 20.

Britt is right-- you've got til October 31st to submit your votes! If you can't make it into a branch, you can always vote online: https://www.slcolibrary.org/informati...

[Britt, Book Habitue]

Mickey 7..... kept almost being what I wanted it to be, but then not quite making it... again.... and again.... lol. And aspects of it got...weird.

The Stardust Thief was really good. I'll be reading the next one for sure.

Take my Hand was HARD. How infuriating to know it's based in truth. Well worth reading, but hard.

The Echo Man was a different kind of hard. It works but it's kind of a "everything but the kitchen sink" and then you get to the epilogue and go "ah yes, there's the sink".

I have one left, but I didn't get around to the audio before it had to go back (PTA life, guys. It's wild, lol) so..... I'm going to have to either make it to the library (I have overdue books too, so I really should make that happen) and grab a physical copy or.... bail.
Honestly, I might end up doing both. It's A Lady's Guide to Fortune-Hunting and I'm just... not excited about it. Romance typically isn't my thing and while I've been pleasantly surprised by how much I've liked the books this round, even ones I wasn't sure about, I can't help thinking that the streak just can't last, you know?

Running List
The Cartographers - 3
Alias Emma - 4
Killers of a Certain Age - 4.5
Violin Conspiracy- 3
The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches- 5
The Marlow Murder Club- 5
The Tobacco Wives- 5
The Night Shift- 4
The Gatekeeper- 5
Cover Story- 4
The Other Dr Gilmer- 4
Nora Goes Off Script- 4
Everything Left to Remember- 4
Deaf Utopia- 4
Shutter- 3
Mickey 7- 3
The Stardust Thief- 5
Take my Hand- 4
The Echo Man- 3

[Patty]

Killers of a Certain Age. Another one I thought was just ok.

Running List:
Alias Emma - 3.5
The Cartographers - 3.5
Cover Story - 4
The Echo Man - 3
Killers of a Certain Age - 3
A Lady's Guide to Fortune-Hunting - 4
The Other Dr. Gilmer - 3
The Night Shift - 4
The Tabacco Wives - 3
Take My Hand - 4
The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches - 4
The Violin Conspiracy - 5

[Patty]

OK, Done for this time

Running List:
Alias Emma - 3.5
The Cartographers - 3.5
Cover Story - 4
The Echo Man - 3
Killers of a Certain Age - 3
A Lady's Guide to Fortune-Hunting - 4
The Other Dr. Gilmer - 3
The Night Shift - 4
Nora Goes Off Script - 3
The Tabacco Wives - 3
Take My Hand - 4
The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches - 4
The Violin Conspiracy - 5

[Britt, Book Habitue]

Finished Lady's Guide to Fortune Hunting at.... 1:40 am. So technically November 1st, though if I finish before going to bed I always count it for the day it was before the clock struck midnight, lol.
And the online voting link still let me vote, so I did. 😂
And........
I didn't hate it.
I know, that's not a ringing endorsement. I did have a really hard time getting into it and the tone drove me nuts for at least half the book (I really think audio would have helped....a good British accent would have smoothed some of the weirdness) and it's still not my thing and I have no desire to read the second (also stand alone weirdly) book.
But I didn't hate it.
So I didn't hate anything this round. Which is weird. I'm not mad about it, just confused.

Final List
The Cartographers - 3
Alias Emma - 4
Killers of a Certain Age - 4.5
Violin Conspiracy- 3
The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches- 5
The Marlow Murder Club- 5
The Tobacco Wives- 5
The Night Shift- 4
The Gatekeeper- 5
Cover Story- 4
The Other Dr Gilmer- 4
Nora Goes Off Script- 4
Everything Left to Remember- 4
Deaf Utopia- 4
Shutter- 3
Mickey 7- 3
The Stardust Thief- 5
Take my Hand- 4
The Echo Man- 3
Lady's Guide to Fortune Hunting- 3.5