Hooked on Books discussion
Do Not Open This Challenge
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Clue Crew: Team 6
Mod
This one opened both ways.
Not all understanding comes from mirrors.
How did your partner’s book choice expand your understanding of them—or the world around them?
I found it interesting to see how the book made you reflect on motherhood, Carrie. Does the mother in your book reflected on these questions? Do you think know you would have preferred to be q bit older when getting a child? All these things give me a better understanding of who you are as a person, and I recognise a lot.
I think motherhood can vary a lot depending on the age you get a child. I was 26, my daughter was 36 and that is such a difference. It seems like getting children young is esp. helpful because of the energy you have then.
She does reflect on these questions. She knows she's older and also single and that the father is a married man. She worries that her choices may not make her a good mother. I am pretty happy about when I had my child. I feel like it was not too old and not too young. I have a friend who had her son at 40 and she's running around for sports and activities all the time. It seems that would be harder in your late 40s than in your 30s.
My daughter is 28 and has not had any children yet. I think women are waiting until they are older nowadays overall.
I love books abut animals. I love anything with fur or feathers lol. Animals are so fascinating. I like that the book taught you ways to connect better with others!
🔐 Week 6 Prompt: Same Word, Different BookOne lock. One word. Two keys.
Pick a single word together—any word.
Then each of you finds a book with that word in the title.
No need to interpret it the same way.
Do you have a word in mind? I've read: So Thirsty and Famous Last Words this week.
I'm pretty flexible and can read whatever.
Oh I forgot to check, I’m sorry. Maybe we pick an easy word? I’m reading the daughter of time which has two easy words. Or anything with library or bookshop would fit me too. Or a book with ‘night’ in the title? If you have another proposition, I can look for it.
I’m also reading a book with the word Bookshop in the title of that works better. I’ll have it finished first.
Week 6 Prompt: Same Word, Different BookBook: Midden in de nacht
Author: Riley Sager
Read: 20 october
Pages: 399 p.
How it fits: Has the word ‘night’(nacht) in the title Middle of the Night
: 🔐 Week 7 Prompt: Echoes and PatternsYou’ve been here before.
Choose a book that reminds you of something you’ve read before—whether it’s comforting, repetitive, or unsettling.
Is it a coincidence? Or a pattern?
Claire wrote: "Week 6 Prompt: Same Word, Different BookBook: Midden in de nacht
Author: Riley Sager
Read: 20 october
Pages: 399 p.
How it fits: Has the word ‘night’(nacht) in ..."
What did you think of Middle of the Night? I really like Riley Sager but this wasn't one of my favorites!
Carrie wrote: "Claire wrote: "Week 6 Prompt: Same Word, Different BookBook: Midden in de nacht
Author: Riley Sager
Read: 20 october
Pages: 399 p.
How it fits: Has the word ‘ni..."
Agree. She has better books. I thought it was too long for the story told. On the positive side: it’s a fast read.
I didn't finish my night book yet. I have my book for the Week 7 prompt finished though. Sorry I did this out of order. I hope to finish my Night book by tomorrow and I'll post and sign us in once I do.
Week 7 Completion Post: Book: Chaos at the Lazy Bones Bookshop
Book:
Author: Emmeline Duncan
Pages: 248
How it Fits: This book is very similar to other cozy books I've read before. I grabbed it because I loved the cover. I didn't really enjoy the book that much though. I find that I grab cozy mysteries and often am disappointed by them and yet I still grab them and read them. It's kind of nice to have a quick, light read now and again though.
Week 7 Book: De bibliotheek van Saint-Malo
Author: Mario Escobar
Read: 21 october
Pages: 336
How it fits: this book is very remeniscint of All the Light We Cannot See. Not only it is set in the period of WW2, it also describes the lives of French ordinary citizens during the ocuupation. Both books are set in Saint Malo, both heroines take care of important valuables. It almost feels to me like some kind of idea stealing.
However: the original book All the Light We Cannot See was way better than this book. It had depth, the characters were very interesting, it had an interesting tension and the juxtaposition of the two MC was interesting. The second book felt much more like ‘ I want, but I can’t’
Carrie, I cannot make a completion post: unless I completely missed it, your book with ‘night’ in the title is not yet here. We need to post week 6 before week 7, I guess.
Completion Post for Week 6 - Same Word, Different BookBook: The Night Guest
Author: Hildur Knútsdóttir
Read: 10/22/2025
Pages: 197
How it Fits: We both used the word Night in our titles
I posted completion posts for both Week 6 and Week 7 for us in the check in. I finished my books in the wrong order. Sorry about that!
Mod
The same word can tell a thousand stories.
Or maybe it tells one, just sideways.
Mashup time! If your two books had a chaotic love child, what would the plot be?
Mod
The box recognized this story before you did.
We all echo something.
If your shared word were a secret password, what would it unlock?
Week 6 response Both of our books were thriller/horror. Yours had a missing person. Mine had a lot of missing cats. (I typically would DNF this but thankfully it was short and I reminded myself it’s fiction).
Our chaotic mash up would definitely be things that disappear and/or go bump in the night in my opinion.
Also, I feel an unreliable narrator theme running through both as well.
Thoughts on Week 7 response? This one I need to think about!
Carrie wrote: "I posted completion posts for both Week 6 and Week 7 for us in the check in. I finished my books in the wrong order. Sorry about that!"
No worries:-)
One way or another the chatic love child for task number six will be a mystery/thriller where night plays an important part. While you had missing cats, I had a missing boy so it will surely will include themes about loss, or feeling lost of uncertainty and trying to find solutions. If things were ideal, the chaotic love child would be set during the day to resolve difficult issues.
As to task 7 my shared word would unlock history. The box would show the importance of cultural objects being important for identity. Most of all the box would show the importance of people to hold on to, of courage in difficult times and love that can conquer anything, even the biggest evil.
I really like your response for Week 7. It's well thought out.I think my word would be comfort. I think there is a feeling of safety and security in stories that are set in small towns where everyone seems to know one another. The neighbors all look out for each other and everyone helps those around them. It conjures images of small shops, tiny diners, cozy bookstores, and charming cottages.
Carrie wrote: "I really like your response for Week 7. It's well thought out.I think my word would be comfort. I think there is a feeling of safety and security in stories that are set in small towns where ever..."
That sounds really cozy. I love those cozy books once in a while, but not as the main part of my reading. I understand completely what you say about the disappointment, I’ve been there too. However, there are some great ones too.
Mod🔐 Week 8 Prompt: Unexpected Reading Conditions
This lock prefers the unexpected.
Read somewhere unusual. Or while doing something unusual.
Then reflect on how it changed—or didn’t change—
Completion Post Week 8Book: The Amalfi Curse
Author: Sarah Penner
Pages: 336
Date Read: 10/30/2025
Unusual place where I read: at a doctor's office while waiting for someone
How it changed: I discovered that I'm easily distracted. I really thought because I found the book so engaging and interesting that it would hold my attention completely. What I learned is that the slightest movement or people talking easily broke my concentration.
🔐 Week 8 Prompt:Read somewhere unusual.
Book: Vermist
Willow Rose Read! 30 october
Pages: 272 p.
How it fits: I read this while my grandson was playing in an exhibition in the museum. I read often on unusual places, but don’t think I’ve ever read in a museum. Most of the time in public, I can concentrate to read.
I love going to museums. Did you enjoy the visit?
Mod
Where you read isn’t always where the story lives.
But sometimes it leaves a mark.
If you swapped reading conditions with your partner, how would your book have felt different?
Carrie wrote: "I love going to museums. Did you enjoy the visit?"Yes, it is a great museum. It’s very close to where we live. On the place where the Red Star Line, the shipping company that brought 2 million Europeans to the Us, they made a museum in the old buildings.
Are there a lot of museums in your neigbourhood?b
When I was reading at your place, the doctor’s office, it might have been a bit more quiet. I can focus well, but got tired of reading in the middle of all those little ones.
That sounds like a great place to visit. We have a few small museums locally. About an hour drive from where I live, we have quite a few. I have always loved going to museums and enjoy natural history museums in particular.
I actually think sitting in a museum reading my book may have made the reading feel more authentic. The MC visits archive museums to research old documents and items that dealt with shipwrecks and Italy’s past.
Week 9 Prompt: What You FearThe ninth lock is colder than the rest.
Choose a book that represents something you fear—big or small, abstract or real.
A phobia. A theme. A truth.
You don’t have to explain it. But it will be seen.
Completion Post:Prompt: What you fear
Book: Disclaimer
Author: Renée Knight
Read: 11/7/2025
Pages: 357
How it fits: What happens to the MC (in multiple ways) is a fear of mine.
Completion postHet genootschap van onkenbare objecten
Author:
Read: 8 november
Pages: 410 p.
How it fits: in general I fear people who look like they are perfectly friendly and okay, but who may have bad intentions. And the danger of enormous power in the wrong hands
Carrie wrote: "That sounds like a great place to visit. We have a few small museums locally. About an hour drive from where I live, we have quite a few. I have always loved going to museums and enjoy natural hi..."
I added your book to my reading list. Sounds like something I’d enjoy.
It wasn't quite what I expected but I read it in one day. It has quite a few trigger warnings.It explores the idea of one woman who stays quiet because she fears no one will believe her story anyway.
Did you enjoy your book? Sounds like it may be fitting for the USA right now...
Thanks for checking us in!
Mod
You opened it anyway. That says something.
If you faced the fear in your partner’s book together, what would each of your roles be?
Carrie wrote: "It wasn't quite what I expected but I read it in one day. It has quite a few trigger warnings.It explores the idea of one woman who stays quiet because she fears no one will believe her story any..."
Haha, it’s pure fantasy, but I thought it was very enjoyable. But even then what happens in the USA is like a bad fantasy book.
If we’d face the fears in your book together, I think I might be the one who wants to understand why I am afraid some things will happen and what I can do to prevent getting in a certain situation. This way I can try to rationalize the fear. If it were my book, I’d try to find out which dangers there are precisely. The power some people have (here by powerful magical objects) is way above my head. Not a lot I could do, but I’d sure make I warned as many people and wouldn’t spare my criticism.
Not that it helps, but I found by experience that sometimes using your voice can be powerful too.
I like your explanation for your role in my book. I think my role would be to encourage stepping up and being heard even if you are worried you won’t be believed or it won’t make a difference. This is ironic because it is essentially what you said about your book. So while we read very different books, I think we have similar messages. A voice can be powerful and make a difference.
Week 10 Prompt: Story SoupThe tenth lock demands a strange recipe.
Together, pick three random words—any words at all.
Each of you must then find and read a book that includes all three in the plot, title, or general vibe.
Make it work. Or make it weird.
I am reading this week: The Husband's Secret and SteelheartWe could easily pick words? What about something like water, fire and earth? Or voice, power and people? Other suggestions?
Hooked on Books
Books mentioned in this topic
Brandende meisjes (other topics)The Burning Girls (other topics)
Edge of Dark Water (other topics)
The Husband's Secret (other topics)
Steelheart (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
C.J. Tudor (other topics)Joe R. Lansdale (other topics)
Renée Knight (other topics)
Willow Rose (other topics)
Sarah Penner (other topics)
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Book: Zijn we slim genoeg om te weten hoe slim dieren zijn?
Author: Frans de Waal
Read: 8 october
Pages: 369
This book helped me to understand animals, esp. Apes and some types of birds. It showed me how animals understand what we want to say. The book gives a great insight in what animals are capable of and how they get to do certain tasks. It also discusses the questions on feelings with animals. But it also asks questions about what intelligence in about.
In a way this book learned me a lot about people too and how we can better learn to understand eachother.