If you want to chat argue question opine or share a personal tangent about any of the selections join me in the comments π
2024 through April 30
LOVED IT ππ exceptional; resonated deeply; challenging/thought provoking; transcendent storytelling; dynamic/fully believable characters; masterful prose; conceptual original; ambitious in scope
Kindred, The Only Good Indians, Pachinko, Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow
REALLY LIKED IT π central idea is relevant/important/meaningful; effective pacing; compelling, challenging; well-crafted and thoughtfully composed
The September House, Columbine, Shrill, Rebecca, Hellβs Angels, Remarkably Bright Creatures, Beloved, One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest, Hex, The Grownup, Mystic River, Shutter Island,
The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks,
Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine, The Road Under The Banner Of Heaven
πΆ βοΈπ€·π»ββοΈ THE MIDDLE the good qualities are good. The bad qualities are bad.
Theme Music, The Watchers
IT WAS OKAY πsome redeeming qualities, not engaging for me, unremarkable
Zero Hour, An Unwanted Guest, The It Girl, What Lies In The Woods, A Gentleman In Moscow
DIDNβT LIKE IT ππ little/no enjoyment, or significant issues in the writing (plot holes, world building inconsistencies, continuity errors, inconsistent character traits/motivations)
Wonderland, Stillwater Girls
LIMBO π§π€these books are too problematic for an actual slot (the problem could be me)
Parable Of The Sower
I donβt know what frustrated me so much about this story. I feel like itβs probably my problem and not Octavia Butlerβs tho so I didnβt want to push it any further down
A religion to confront human suffering and heal society snβt a bad thing I guess; organized religion has never been part of my life and i find βreligionβ and βgodβ to be very suspect words. I felt like things were maybe heading towards reclaiming the words in the later books? Idk but even so Iβm just not interested. My relationship with the words is pretty low importance for my lexicon. When people reclaim words itβs because the word has a power they want back; these words never have held any power for me I just have a slight distaste for both. Anyway the whole idea of organized religion is such a mess I couldnβt get past it π€·π»ββοΈ
The characters didnt work for me either; I wasnβt invested in any of the side characters and frankly the MCβs preaching made me want to leave and is she so sanctimonious ugh not my vibe
The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Nighttime
strong writing and effective first person POV, some very evocative emotional scenes, problematic representation of autism, and the dog storyline seems like something a psychopath would write
by rebelkat