Reader's Choice Spring 2024

[Audrey]

I had been looking forward to Joan, but it wasn't quite as good as I hoped. Still good; not great.

[Patty]

Listening to "Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone" with my husband and man, I'm struggling with it for some reason. It is a book I would normally like and my husband really likes it, but my mind keeps wandering.

I did enjoy "You Should Smile More". It was funny to me in a personal way as way. My husband is 6'6" and is very gentle, but just his size intimidates people sometimes. His resting face is not grumpy, but it isn't "happy" either. His boss actually told him to smile more because he was scaring people.

Running List:
Better the Blood - 3
Collected Regrets of Clover -4
Mr. Perfect on Paper - 4
The Nightmare Man - 3
The Storyteller's Death
You Should Smile More - 4
You Are Here - 5

[Audrey]

I think Killed Someone would be easier to follow as a print book than on audio. The beginning felt like there were a lot of flashbacks, so I was a little confused at first.

[Britt, Book Habitue]

The Other Family Doctor should possibly be read with a box of tissues at hand but at the same time was slow and I was disappointed by a lack of depth.

Running List:

Thank You for Listening - 3
The Nightmare Man - read
You Are Here - 3
The Perfect Neighborhood - 3
You Should Smile More - 4
The Chinese Groove - 3
The Other Family Doctor - 3.5

[Britt, Book Habitue]

Kit McBride Finds a Wife was more enjoyable than I expected. A clean romance that's very Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, but if there were fewer brothers and a pesky little sister.

Running List:

Thank You for Listening - 3
The Nightmare Man - read
You Are Here - 3
The Perfect Neighborhood - 3
You Should Smile More - 4
The Chinese Groove - 3
The Other Family Doctor - 3.5
Kit McBride Finds a Wife - 4

[Britt, Book Habitue]

*Gets a Wife. My bad, lol.

[Greg]

Britt, Book Habitue wrote: "*Gets a Wife. My bad, lol."

you can edit your postings, if that's useful.

[Britt, Book Habitue]

There's not a way to edit in the app as far as I can tell. Unfortunately.

[Britt, Book Habitue]

I don't know how to rate Learning America. Her story is interesting and important but the telling of it.... possibly didn't do it justice. I think the audio was part of the problem- audiobook narration is a skill set and authors don't necessarily do their own books justice.

Running List:

Thank You for Listening - 3
The Nightmare Man - read
You Are Here - 3
The Perfect Neighborhood - 3
You Should Smile More - 4
The Chinese Groove - 3
The Other Family Doctor - 3.5
Kit McBride Gets a Wife- 4
Learning America - read

[Patty]

Audrey - I think you are right about the book - probably better written form.

Running List:
Better the Blood - 3
Collected Regrets of Clover -4
Mr. Perfect on Paper - 4
The Nightmare Man - 3
The Storyteller's Death
Thank you for listening - 3
You Should Smile More - 4
You Are Here - 5

[Britt, Book Habitue]

Enjoyed Better the Blood enough to read the sequel.

Running List:
Thank You for Listening - 3
The Nightmare Man - read
You Are Here - 3
The Perfect Neighborhood - 3
You Should Smile More - 4
The Chinese Groove - 3
The Other Family Doctor - 3.5
Kit McBride Gets a Wife- 4
Learning America - read
Better the Blood - 4

[Audrey]

Kit McBride was cute.

[Patty]

If you see this post twice, I'm sorry. I don't know where it went.

Ended up liking Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone. I think I struggled with a combination of scattered thoughts and doing it audio. Ended up liking it in the end.

Running List:
Better the Blood - 3
Collected Regrets of Clover -4
Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone - 4
Mr. Perfect on Paper - 4
The Nightmare Man - 3
The Storyteller's Death
Thank you for listening - 3
You Should Smile More - 4
You Are Here - 5

[Patty]

I liked The Other Family Doctor, but it seemed there was a lot of repetition and the book could have been half as long if they pulled that out.

Running List:
Better the Blood - 3
Collected Regrets of Clover -4
Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone - 4
Mr. Perfect on Paper - 4
The Nightmare Man - 3
The Other Family Doctor - 3
The Storyteller's Death - 4
Thank you for listening - 3
You Should Smile More - 4
You Are Here - 5

[Audrey]

The Other Family Doctor was definitely a memoir, not a collection of case studies.

I'm finding The Circus Train a bit verbose. Please get to the point.

[Patty]

I enjoyed The Circus Train though I thought it ended oddly?

Running List:
Better the Blood - 3
The Circus Train - 4
Collected Regrets of Clover -4
Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone - 4
Mr. Perfect on Paper - 4
The Nightmare Man - 3
The Other Family Doctor - 3
The Storyteller's Death - 4
Thank you for listening - 3
You Should Smile More - 4
You Are Here - 5

[Britt, Book Habitue]

Lone Women was .... interesting. It implied a lot without answering my questions so.....
I don't know what to do with it.

Running List:
Thank You for Listening - 3
The Nightmare Man - read
You Are Here - 3
The Perfect Neighborhood - 3
You Should Smile More - 4
The Chinese Groove - 3
The Other Family Doctor - 3.5
Kit McBride Gets a Wife- 4
Learning America - read
Better the Blood - 4
Lone Women - 3.5

[Audrey]

The Circus Train was rather long-winded and not much happened. The Other Family Doctor was pretty good; lots of pet deaths.

[Patty]

Britt, Book Habitue wrote: "Lone Women was .... interesting. It implied a lot without answering my questions so.....
I don't know what to do with it.



I sat there thinking as I finished it that we have another Comfort Me with Apples here.

Running List:
Better the Blood - 3
The Circus Train - 4
Collected Regrets of Clover -4
Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone - 4
Lone Women - 3
Mr. Perfect on Paper - 4
The Nightmare Man - 3
The Other Family Doctor - 3
The Storyteller's Death - 4
Thank you for listening - 3
You Should Smile More - 4
You Are Here - 5

[Greg]

I've (finally!!) finished reading all the books for Spring Readers' Choice. Here are my ratings:

3 - Better the Blood
0 - The Chinese Groove
3 - The Circus Train
3 - The Collected Regrets of Clover
3 - Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries
3 - Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone
2 - Joan
2 - Kit McBride Gets a Wife
0 - Learning America
2 - Lone Women
3 - Mr. Perfect on Paper
3 - The Nightmare Man
3 - The Other Family Doctor
3 - The Perfect Neighborhood
2 - The Storyteller's Death
3 - Thank You for Listening
3 - Wolf Trap
4 - Wormhole
2 - You Are Here
4 - You Should Smile More

[Audrey]

Wow, way to go!

[Britt, Book Habitue]

Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries is my first 5 star for this round.
I'm having a crazy week so it took far longer to get through than it should have, so I kinda want to start it over to better appreciate it. It's due in like half an hour though, so not an option right now lol.

Running List:
Thank You for Listening - 3
The Nightmare Man - read
You Are Here - 3
The Perfect Neighborhood - 3
You Should Smile More - 4
The Chinese Groove - 3
The Other Family Doctor - 3.5
Kit McBride Gets a Wife- 4
Learning America - read
Better the Blood - 4
Lone Women - 3.5
Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia... - 5

[Audrey]

Mr. Perfect on Paper was cute, if predictable.
Thank You for Listening was surprisingly compelling.
(running list back on message 21)

[Britt, Book Habitue]

Mr Perfect on Paper was cute....ish.
Maybe I'm cynical but a lot about it felt very...not authentic? I have anxiety and I'm on my fourth 11-yr-old child and the
way both were written felt...off. Honestly, her faith did too but as I can only comment on that in relation to my own I should probably leave that part alone. It gets 3 stars because it wasn't bad enough to only get two.

Running List:
Thank You for Listening - 3
The Nightmare Man - read
You Are Here - 3
The Perfect Neighborhood - 3
You Should Smile More+ 4
The Chinese Groove - 3
The Other Family Doctor - 3.5
Kit McBride Gets a Wife- 4
Learning America - read
Better the Blood - 4
Lone Women - 3.5
Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia - 5
Mr Perfect on Paper - 3

[Patty]

Just finished The Perfect Neighborhood. It was ok.

Running List:
Better the Blood - 3
The Circus Train - 4
Collected Regrets of Clover -4
Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone - 4
Lone Women - 3
Mr. Perfect on Paper - 4
The Nightmare Man - 3
The Other Family Doctor - 3
The Perfect Neighborhood - 3
The Storyteller's Death - 4
Thank you for listening - 3
You Should Smile More - 4
You Are Here - 5

[Audrey]

I'm in the middle of Wolf Trap, which is kind of a slog. It's 16 hours and should have been trimmed down. Also in the middle of Wormhole, which is pretty good.

[Britt, Book Habitue]

I got just past half in Joan and on the one hand, I did occasionally get caught up in the writing. On the other hand I actively.... didn't want to read it. I would never have thought I could be bored by Joan of Arc. But here we are.
The audio had to go back and I don't know if I'm going to bother trying to finish it.
I don't know if it's fair to vote on it if I didn't finish though?

[Audrey]

I asked about that once and they said it's fine to vote even if you gave up on it.

Wolf Trap was way longer than it should have been. The writing was so basic, and everybody was stupid. The last quarter was good.

[Britt, Book Habitue]

HOW are there still THREE MORE HOURS of Circus Train?!?
Holy Hannah

[Audrey]

There's an author interview at the end.

[Britt, Book Habitue]

Yes but it was only like 40 minutes of the three hours.
I really wanted to love this one but it was just....meh. It was fine. It felt very... shallow. And there were things that seemed so unlikely (in a variety of ways) that it jarred me out of the story. Honestly I think it suffers mostly from very typical first novel problems.

Running List:
Thank You for Listening - 3
The Nightmare Man - read
You Are Here - 3
The Perfect Neighborhood - 3
You Should Smile More - 4
The Chinese Groove - 3
The Other Family Doctor - 3.5
Kit McBride Gets a Wife- 4
Learning America - read
Better the Blood - 4
Lone Women - 3.5
Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia - 5
Mr Perfect on Paper - 3
Circus Train - 3

[Ellen]

Britt, Book Habitue wrote: "I got just past half in Joan and on the one hand, I did occasionally get caught up in the writing. On the other hand I actively.... didn't want to read it. I would never have thought I could be bor..."

You can absolutely vote if you couldn't finish it! Especially if you made it halfway-- that's enough to know how you felt about it.

[Audrey]

Yeah, Circus Train felt like a lot of words for not much happening.

[Patty]

Just finished Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries and liked it. Not a normal genre for me. In fact, my husband came in while I was listening at one point and said, "This isn't a genre normal to you."

Unfortunately, I think I'm at the end of the audiobooks that my library carries so I'll have to start reading. I love to read, but I am already reading other books so it's nice to do these in audio.

Running List:
Better the Blood - 3
The Circus Train - 4
Collected Regrets of Clover -4
Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries - 4
Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone - 4
Lone Women - 3
Mr. Perfect on Paper - 4
The Nightmare Man - 3
The Other Family Doctor - 3
The Perfect Neighborhood - 3
The Storyteller's Death - 4
Thank you for listening - 3
You Should Smile More - 4
You Are Here - 5

[Audrey]

Wormhole is the only one not available on audio.

[Patty]

Audrey wrote: "Wormhole is the only one not available on audio."

I live in Phoenix so what is available to to those in Salt Lake is not always available to me. There are about 6 that don't have audio through a library for me.

I did find the Learning one is available though and I'm thrilled! The title is long enough that I never read through it. I didn't realize it was about refugees. This is where I'm at here in Phoenix - working with refugee organizations. One of the things the author said at the beginning was that people don't understand till they start to hear their stories. One of the organizations I am with it Their Story Is Our Story. Here is the Utah page from the website for those who would like to know more about their stories. : https://tsosrefugees.org/community-pr... But here is where you can find stories from all over: https://tsosrefugees.org/stories/archive

[Audrey]

Ah. I'll see how many I can get through.

[Britt, Book Habitue]

The Storyteller's Death had odd pacing but was ultimately quite enjoyable.

Running List:
Thank You for Listening - 3
The Nightmare Man - read
You Are Here - 3
The Perfect Neighborhood - 3
You Should Smile More - 4
The Chinese Groove - 3
The Other Family Doctor - 3.5
Kit McBride Gets a Wife- 4
Learning America - read
Better the Blood - 4
Lone Women - 3.5
Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia - 5
Mr Perfect on Paper - 3
Joan - dnf
Circus Train - 3
The Storyteller's Death- 4

[Whitney]

When is the end date for this round? Do have through April or it ends April 1?

[Darin]

It goes through April 30th

[Audrey]

End of April.

[Whitney]

Oh great! Thank you.

[Audrey]

I really liked Lone Women. It's odd and not for everyone, but I ended up enjoying it quite a bit.

[Audrey]

I quit The Collected Regrets of Clover at 13 percent. It was boring, and the main character was annoying.

[Patty]

Loved Learning America. It was very good about sharing what a lot of refugees go through and also a lot of facts about the whole process. It would be one I would share with others so they understand better.

While reading it I wondered if one of the school here is one of the schools the author started. One of the organizations I am with, Their Story Is Our Story, is doing a video on it that I hope will soon be out.

I've tentatively shelved Wormhole. It isn't a genre I like and while I am not opposed to reading books in those genres I decided I am shelving it for now and may come back to it and try it again.

Running List:
Better the Blood - 3
The Circus Train - 4
Collected Regrets of Clover -4
Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries - 4
Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone - 4
Learning America - 5
Lone Women - 3
Mr. Perfect on Paper - 4
The Nightmare Man - 3
The Other Family Doctor - 3
The Perfect Neighborhood - 3
The Storyteller's Death - 4
Thank you for listening - 3
You Should Smile More - 4
You Are Here - 5

[Audrey]

I am almost done with Wormhole and have liked it quite a bit. It's a mystery first and a sci fi second.

[Patty]

Audrey wrote: "I am almost done with Wormhole and have liked it quite a bit. It's a mystery first and a sci fi second."

That is true. I actually noticed that as I was listening - that it was a mystery first. But every time it went into sci-fi it really irked me for some reason. And it's not so much that it is sci-fi, as I do like some sci-fi. There was just something I can't explain that bothered me about the sci-fi aspect of it. It will be interesting if I pick it up again if that stays with me or if it was just something about the time I was reading it.

[Patty]

After the comments, I wondered how I would like Joan. I liked it much better than I thought I would. I didn't like Joan the character much in a lot of places, but some of the things I didn't like balanced out some of what made it unreal to me. I was glad to read the epilogue where the author said she had changed things from history because I was wondering just how much things were changed.

Running List:
Better the Blood - 3
The Circus Train - 4
Collected Regrets of Clover -4
Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries - 4
Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone - 4
Joan - 4
Kit McBride - 3
Learning America - 5
Lone Women - 3
Mr. Perfect on Paper - 4
The Nightmare Man - 3
The Other Family Doctor - 3
The Perfect Neighborhood - 3
The Storyteller's Death - 4
Thank you for listening - 3
You Should Smile More - 4
You Are Here - 5

[Audrey]

The sci fi elements of Wormhole were very typical -- tropey, you could say. Maybe that's part of what you were perceiving.

[Audrey]

I have two on hold and will probably skip one altogether, and that's the whole list.