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On 12/3/2023 at 3:44 PM, BMURDA617 said:

Anyone have any awesome queer Christmas novel recs?

It's not queer but it's certainly CAMP. I highly recommend The Hogfather by Terry Pratchett.

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ugh goodreads suddenly isn't allowing logging in with facebook.

 

at least it only took a few minutes for me to remember my email. unlike with atrl when it took over a week to remember my long-dormant email to be able to log back in.

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11 minutes ago, needs said:

Anyone here read The Alchemist? I absolutely adored it.

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I read it in 2021 and absolutely hated it. It has a very colonialist undertone while trying to sell watered-down spirituality.

 

Spoiler

I had to read it for a class and I was asked about it in my finals. I sh-tted on the book in my finals too.

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Just now, jesus del rey said:

I read it in 2021 and absolutely hated it. It has a very colonialist undertone while trying to sell watered-down spirituality.

 

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I had to read it for a class and I was asked about it in my finals. I sh-tted on the book in my finals too.

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Oh that's -

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17 hours ago, ChatshireCat said:

the cait drama :rip: i can't believe there exists an author that dumb

hmm, there definitely are people who make fake accounts or pay others to make fake accounts to boost their own books.

 

but going after others out of stupidity is...extra stupid

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  • 2 weeks later...

Finally finished Chapterhouse: Dune and... yeah this was certainly the least enjoyable Dune book. I wouldn't call it "bad" but it just didn't click for me as much as previous books. Even Heretics of Dune, as much as I criticised it, was a much better reading experience.

I read that the author's wife was terminally ill while he was finishing the Dune saga. That would explain why the last 2 books are vastly different from the rest, especially the last one.

 

The ending is nice though, a worthy finale of the saga. Apparently the author was planning 2 new books, which would be THEE finale, but then he died and couldn't finish it. But I'm fine with the ending that we got.

 

After his death, his sons later continued the saga based on some "notes" their father left (they never shared them), but I heard it's just soulless cashgrab and a pathetic parody of the OG Dune, so we-are-going-to-pretend-we-didn't-hear-that.mp4

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Currently reading:

 

The Temple of Fortuna (Part 3 of the Wolf Den trilogy) by Elodie Harper - It’s shaping up to be just as good as the first two. 

 

The Midnight Line by Lee Child. I’m enjoying the 2nd season of Reacher, so I thought I’d check out one of the books.

 

 

Books I've read since February

 

4 to 5 Stars

 

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The Wolf Den (Part 1) by Elodie Harper ——  A whorehouse slave in Pompeii does her utmost to improve her horrible life situation. A truly captivating story that doesn’t sugarcoat the life of a brothel slave in antiquity. It’s probably my favorite book I’ve read this year. 

The House with the Golden Door (Part 2 of the Wolf Den trilogy) by Elodie Harper ——  Just as good as part 1.

The Last Green Valley by Mark Sullivan —— At the end of the 2nd world war, a family in Ukraine of German heritage decides to flee as Stalin's forces push into Ukraine.  A thrilling and moving story about human survival.  Superb!

Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt —— A 70-year-old woman takes a job as a cleaner at the local aquarium, where she forms a connection with an octopus, who helps her solve the mystery of her missing… /// Even though the plot is predictable, it doesn’t really matter since it’s such a heartwarming story. 

Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey —— In the middle of the night, Charlie, a nerdy teenager is awakened by Jasper Jones, an outcast of the town, who needs his help…/// A fantastic coming of age story that deals with some difficult issues, but it’s also laugh out funny at times. 

The Silence of the Girls (Part 1) by Pat Parker —— A retelling of the Iliad from a female perspective. A gripping portrayal of the brutal effects of war. 

The Women of Troy (Part 2) by Pat Parker —— Just as good as part 1.

The Maid’s Diary by Loreth Anne White —— Detectives find a bloody crime scene without a body. /// A suspenseful mystery thriller with twists. It’s the type of book you can finish in just a few sittings. 

Home Stretch by Graham Norton —— A devastating car crash impacts several families in a small town in Ireland. A heartbreaking family drama and a story about a young gay man finding himself. Hard to put down. 

The Murmur of Bees by Sofia Segovia —— During the Mexican civil war in the early 20th century, a wealthy family takes in a disfigured boy found covered in bees. /// A beautiful story about a family's journey through life. The mysticism and sixth sense of the character Simonopio, the boy covered in bees, was particularly captivating. 

Exiles by Jane Harper —— A woman goes missing at a wine festival in Australia. /// Even though it was slow paced and not very suspenseful, I still enjoyed it. 

Still Life by Sarah Winman —— Moments in a friend group’s life, set in Britain and Italy during the end of the 2nd world world to the late seventies. If you don’t mind a book with not much plot, you might like it.  

The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrel ——  A reimagination of Lucrezia de Medici's life, who was rumored to be murdered by her husband.  It was quite riveting, but I think I would have enjoyed it even more if O'Farrell’s hadn’t included constant wordy descriptions of emotions. It got tedious.

 

 

3 Stars

 

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Stone Blind by Natalie Haynes —— A retelling of the Medusa story. /// The book is supposed to be about Medusa but Athene and Perseus take the center stage. The characters lack depth compared to Madeline Miller’s retellings. Haynes' negative rants about Perseus annoyed me. 

Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson —— A classic murder mystery with a modern twist, set in a ski-resort in Australia. /// It was OK. I found it a bit boring at times because I didn’t care about any of the characters. 

Birds of Prey by Wilbur Smith ——  A pretty entertaining action filled novel about state piracy in the 17th century…however…the characters are too flat for my liking. 

 

 

 

Edited by bluceleste
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I’m thinking of doing a cute reading journal and updating it throughout the year. :celestial4:

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  • 1 month later...

So I'm currently about 75% into The Final Empire (Mistborn #1)

It's no "The Way of Kings" (or any book within The Stormlight Archive) but I am thoroughly enjoying it.

I managed to get the newest physical edition by Tor Publishing with the orange-ish cover which feels so good in my hands when I read it.

The gag is that I have to wait a bit for The Well of Ascension, because I want to buy all three books within the same edition, not get an older version, and it is currently in very low stock from where I usually get books.

I'm probably gonna get into The Priory of the Orange Tree while I wait for The Well of Ascension since that book has been sitting on my shelve for a while. It looks intimidating but if I don't pick it up soon enough, I am not gonna start it for another 2 years.

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I did it. I finally sat down and actually read something. Read the first 10 pages of Christopher Finch's 1995 book on Walt Disney. 

 

To experience Disney in the 90s whew, must have been glorious. 

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i'm currently on a mission to read all of my physical tbr before buying new books but somehow barely any of the books are working. i can't tell if i'm in a reading slump, if i'm just trying to dnf as many so i can read the books i really want to buy or if i simply outgrew most of the books. :gaycat6:

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Halfway through 'Priory of the Orange Tree' and I'm enjoying it. It's my first time reading Samantha Shannon but I really like her prose and pacing.

The way there are barely any (extended) fight scenes so far!:jonny5:

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Currently reading 'Emma' by Jane Austen. I hardly read classics so I should make more of an effort to do so. 

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Read In Deeper Waters by F.T. Lukens, it was a nicely written fantasy, but I felt like nothing much happened in the story, definitely needs a sequel or something.

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Finished reading Haunting Adeline & Hunting Adeline (yeah, yeah, I know lol), but damn the second book's 1st part was hard as ****. It was so difficult to read it and it even made me cry (never cried because of the book before lol). And this **** happens in real life... humans are the real animals :chick3:

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Priory of the Orange Tree was really that girl for me.

It had some issues, but somehow my mind was not bothered by them. 5 out of 5  stars for me.

Got myself into Terry Pratchet's City Watch series.. but I need to put the book down because I need some sleep. It is good, but I just don't have the necessary energy to continue with it today.

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For whatever reason, I tend to read mostly nonfiction, but I read this novel yesterday and the day before and I just could NOT put it down. :jonnycat:

 

Spoiler

The ending was a bit anti-climatic to me and I did start to tire a bit of the main character's lamenting for his wife who died, but the rest of the story was engaging enough to more than make up for it.

 

I know this book is a prequel to the more popular To Sleep In a Sea of Stars, but that's a thick ass book and those 500+ page novels are daunting to me as a somewhat slower-than-average reader cuz I feel like it would take me forever to finish. :dancehall: But this one was so good that I just might have to stop by my local library and pick it up when I return this one.

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Guards! Guards! was such a delight:jonny5:

Definitely gonna give it a re-read before delving into Terry's Pratchett's other Discworld books.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Finished The Traitor Game by B. R. Collins, I don't know how it even ended up in my reading list, but it wasn't that bad despite the main character being insufferable and making the worst decisions ever. Some interesting ideas that involve trying to mirror the real life events with the fantasy world created by the main characters, though I kind of preferred the fantasy part to the real world, contrary to the reviews I've read. And I guess I've learned a bunch of new British swear words.

Edited by Suilen
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Currently reading TABSassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb:WAP:

I'm 180 pages in and I've been reading at it little by little for the past 7 days..

The first 20 pages are very slow but once you get used to the paces... whew, what a MASTERPIECE.

The George RR Martin praise for it on the cover is (so far) deserving.

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I've read the four main trilogies of the elderlings Uber series now. Some better than others.

Hobb in theory plans on books about the next gen, but her health has led to a long hiatus

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