Week 39 Check In

[Susan]

Hello everyone,
I hope you've all had a good first week of autumn (I don't think anyone who contributes is in the southern hemisphere, my apologies if you are). Monday I head back to help my elderly mother. I will both be busy and distracted alternating with probably a bunch of down time for walking and audiobooks. At a minimum I have many hours of driving to listen to audiobooks.

I finished listening to Slewfoot: A Tale of Bewitchery for neighborhood book club, which isn't for 3 more weeks. It is a great story for October in New England for sure. The book was mostly okay for me. I was really enjoying the first 75%. Then it took a bit of a darker, stranger turn for the last 25% and that part was only meh for me.

I started reading a random light romance paperback I have sitting around my bedroom. Forever My Hero is part of a longer series where I read one other book. I don't know if the first one I read was #1. This one is #7 I think but it really doesn't matter the order. It is fluffy and not memorable but fits my mood.

I acquired and started listening to Margo's Got Money Troubles based on Shel's posting to the Book Nerds FB group. I'm interested in seeing where this one goes. It has a few vibes like Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow (female lead in affair with college professor) that aren't my jam. But it too is light and entertaining.

I need to get back to my kindle sometime soon and the essay collection.

QOTW:
What books have you read that were "normal" for the first 75-80% and then took an unexpected or strange turn?

This question came up on Reddit at the same time I was reading Slewfoot: A Tale of Bewitchery this week. That is my first one that comes to mind. The other recent one that I read over the summer was Woman on the Verge.

Generally I'm not a fan of sudden turns and I tend to round down my rating of a book because of it.

[Rebecca]

It's looking like a rainy start to autumn here.

The Woman on the Ledge - This is a thriller-type story in which a woman claims to have witnessed a suicide, but her story doesn't really hold up, and we slowly find out what's actually going on. This is not my usual type, but it had good reviews, and I found it enjoyable enough. There's a big reveal every quarter or so of the book.

The Mystery of the Peacock’s Eye - So I read the first book in this classic-era mystery series, and I did not like an aspect of it that would not be relevant to future entries (for spoilery reasons), so I decided to try another. This is the third and supposed to be a good one, but it still wasn't really for me. I didn't think the writing was very good; the author seemed to throw em-dashes around with no regard for structure. The plot was OK but did something way too similar to the first book. I'm not inspired to continue with these.

QOTW: I can't think of anything that fits this right now, although I'm sure I've read something that does. The first thing that comes to mind is Smilla's Sense of Snow, which I would not describe as "normal" but did go somewhere I was not expecting (and didn't particularly appreciate).

[Jen W.]

Hello! It's gotten really cold here lately, so it definitely feels like fall here.

Finished:
Anywhere With You by Ellie Palmer - 3 stars - not currently for a prompt. This would work for the road trip prompt, but I've already filled that prompt. This was fine, but I didn't really connect with the characters very much.

The Way You Make Me Feel by Maurene Goo - 3 stars - for Popsugar's book about a food truck. This was okay, but the main character was such an unlikable, selfish brat. I really didn't like her. She does grow up a little by the end of the book, but I would have liked to see her take responsibility for her earlier behavior.

Currently reading:
Ink and Bone by Lisa Unger - for Popsugar's two books with the same title.

Upcoming/Planned:
A Steeping of Blood by Hafsah Faizal - not currently for a prompt

Ink and Bone by Rachel Caine - for Popsugar's two books with the same title.

QOTW:
I can't think of anything right now that fits this.