By Any Other Name

[Marnie]

We are going to start By Any Other Name July 10… all are welcome

[Trisha]

yay!! I'm excited! Thx for setting up the thread!

[Elyse]

Oh good. I asked about it in the thread and no one was responsive! Just those who passed on it.

[Marnie]

Elyse wrote: "Oh good. I asked about it in the thread and no one was responsive! Just those who passed on it."

If I’m on my phone I can’t see lots of comments in the threads. The app is so frustrating. I’m excited for this one and look forward to reading your thoughts.

[Kristie]

Not sure if I'll be able to join this one. I have a widget, but my grandson is visiting in July and I also have the House of Glass buddy read. I probably won't be doing too much reading while he's here. I'll be interested to see what you all think of it though.

[Shruti morethanmylupus]

I ended up taking the widget so I'll join you :)

[Vicki]

YAY! I was granted this book so I'll be joining in!

[Elyse]

I will not be able to start this on the 10th. Maybe by the 17th. I'll catch up.

[Shruti morethanmylupus]

Me neither - I'm a buddy read behind. I'll do my best to catch up

[Trisha]

ooh, the 17th. I like that plan.

I'm so so so far behind. lol
but trying to catch up!

[Shruti morethanmylupus]

I’m with you Trisha... and this is a long one! 17th works for me

[Marnie]

I’ve started this one and am about 30% in. I had a long haul flight so got through a chunk of it.

It’s a dual storyline and per usual I’m enjoying the historical fiction one more. The chapters are long so it doesn’t feel too jumpy between the storylines but it does make it feel like a longer read.

[Shruti morethanmylupus]

I said 17th works for me and then got behind again. 🤦🏽‍♀️Hoping to start this weekend!

[Elyse]

I still haven't started it yet either, Shruti! I just finished Castle of the Cursed and I'm reading House of Glass now!

[Elyse]

Marnie wrote: "I’ve started this one and am about 30% in. I had a long haul flight so got through a chunk of it.

It’s a dual storyline and per usual I’m enjoying the historical fiction one more. The chapters ar..."

Perfect reading time, Marnie!

[Marnie]

I finished it and I’m on my phone so no spoilers but a little hope for those worried about the length of the book. Author’s notes start at 92%. Lots of notes lol

[Kristie]

lol, Marnie! What did you end up thinking of it?

[Marnie]

Kristie wrote: "lol, Marnie! What did you end up thinking of it?"

I am so curious if it’s just me or how others will react. I liked the historical storyline but the present day one seemed just meh to me. A lot of telling about the inequities in the art world instead of showing. Seemed a tad preachy to me. But I very much enjoyed the historical storyline enough to make it a fun read for me. 4 stars.

[Elyse]

20% through (view spoiler)[Nope sorry there's no way in 2023 that someone, even if it wasn't the artistic director himself, wouldn't have googled the playwrights that entered the contest. (hide spoiler)] lol

[Elyse]

I'm pretty irritated by this book lol.

[Shruti morethanmylupus]

Oh dear. Now I really don’t know how to rank my “buddy reads I’m behind on” list… do I put this or the Full Moon Coffee Shop at the bottom of my list? 🫠

[Elyse]

I would put this one since it's mammoth. Full Moon is a pretty quick read and I'm only reading it for less than an hour a day.

[Elyse]

I've been reading this since 8/2 and I'm 67% through. It's so boring. I'm so disappointed. I used a credit on Audible to get the audiobook just so I can get through it faster and then I can return it. I feel like I can't DNF because I usually love Jodi Picoult, she only lives 2 hours away from me! But this is only her second novel that I don't (and won't) own. The other is The Tenth Circle which I did own until I read it and didn't like it. lol

[Shruti morethanmylupus]

I finally started today and … why is the present day part so mid?

Jodi Picoult is usually an author I enjoy (I think I’ve read most of them), but idk what happened here.

[Elyse]

I mostly listened to the last 30%, thank goodness for that. I'm done and I'm glad. Oof.

[Trisha]

I'm 30% and it's just meh for me so far. I wish the "now" story wasn't quite so "beat you over the head with the point"

I would love for it to be more research and a bit of an argument to sway the reader. (view spoiler)[ but I'm not invested as to whether she wins the competition (hide spoiler)]

Now chapters (view spoiler)[ I feel like they are just a little too much. She's writing a play about Shakespeare taking credit for a women's work and then. . .she has her roommate take credit for her work?
Ugh, I hate that I want to roll my eyes because I feel like the Shakespeare part of the story is really interesting - and a more subtle "look things haven't changed much in the industry" would have been a really interesting piece to it. (hide spoiler)]

Then (view spoiler)[ I find this part much more interesting. Less the sex but more on how she learned about play writing and how she learned from her husband.
I'm not sure how I feel about the exact lines from the play - if they feel like they really fit or if they feel forced into the story to make us take note of the lines SHE clearly wrote.

I do think there's an interesting argument that Shakespeare didn't speak all the languages to write them all and he'd never traveled to the placed written about. I'd love to get more information about that! I've definitely heard rumors before that Shakespeare didn't write all his own plays. . . (hide spoiler)]

[Trisha]

I'm done
this was a slog and it took me all day to read!! lol
I kept putting it down and forcing myself to pick it back up

(view spoiler)[ Her life was tough - and we got so many day to day things about her life. Did anyone else feel really bad for Bess, the girl sent to help her but had to live with the awful husband and protect Henry? I felt so bad for her! Bess had even less control of her own life!

I found the note at the end and the parts about Shakespeare the most interesting - I wish it had focused more on that.

And I felt like the "now" parts were predictable and I was the most disappointed with this. I was glad that it was pointed out how awful it was that she had hid behind Andre, who wanted to write and be a success by this own right.
I was sad how long it did derail her but glad she found her way back. (hide spoiler)]

[Kristie]

Well, I'm glad I passed on the widget now. Seems like you all found it to be a bit of a drag.

[Shruti morethanmylupus]

40%

I’m bored

[Trisha]

Shruti morethanmylupus wrote: "40%

I’m bored"

I wish I could say it's about to pick up 😭😭😭

[Elyse]

I literally skipped every rehearsal script scene for the play. That was completely unnecessary.

[Shruti morethanmylupus]

finished.

That was underwhelming to say the least. A big reason I usually like Picoult's books is that they don't just hand you "right" answer and force you to consider. This one did none of that. There's no nuance to this one at all.

[Shruti morethanmylupus]

Elyse wrote: "I literally skipped every rehearsal script scene for the play. That was completely unnecessary."

+1 ...WHY?

[Shruti morethanmylupus]

my review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Elyse]

My review