Shannon's Dark, Deep South Challenge (sturlington)

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Shannon's Dark, Deep South Challenge (sturlington)

Tämä viestiketju on "uinuva" —viimeisin viesti on vanhempi kuin 90 päivää. Ryhmä "virkoaa", kun lähetät vastauksen.

1sturlington
Muokkaaja: joulukuu 26, 2017, 3:44 pm



This year, I wanted an overarching theme for my reading, so I decided to explore the region where I live: the Southern United States. I am going to focus on the dark South, though: Southern gothic, noir, and crime.

I'm going to try something a little new this year and focus on a different category each month, rather than having categories that carry throughout the year. As much as I can, I am going to align my reads with the ScaredyKIT. I think this will satisfy my urge to move to something new while also enabling me to stick to my overall theme.

In addition to my monthly Southern reads, I'll also be reading selections for the SFFKit and RandomCAT (if I have matches), surprise books that I receive in my monthly Nocturnal Readers box, books from the ALA Reading List, recommendations, and real-life book club picks. I hope you all enjoy this foray into the deep, dark South!

2sturlington
Muokkaaja: elokuu 18, 2018, 4:25 pm



ScaredyKIT: Gothic -- ✔Cold Moon Over Babylon (Southern)

SFFKit: There's Always Tomorrow -- ✔Odds Against Tomorrow

Other: ✔Hunger, ✔Sleeping Beauties, ✔Come Closer, ✔Good Morning, Midnight, ✔Reasons to Stay Alive

TV: The Crown (Netflix)

3sturlington
Muokkaaja: elokuu 18, 2018, 4:25 pm



ScaredyKIT: Survival/Disaster: ✔Ararat, ✔The Salt Line (Southern)

SFFKit: Urban Fantasy ✔Vermilion

Book Club: ✔Born a Crime

Movies (theater): The Greatest Showman; Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri; Black Panther

Movies (streaming): The Cloverfield Paradox; Get Out (rewatch); Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire; La-La Land; Geostorm; The Lost City of Z, The Ritual

TV (Netflix): The Good Place

4sturlington
Muokkaaja: huhtikuu 1, 2018, 7:53 am



Southern: ✔The Reapers Are the Angels

ScaredyKIT: Weird Fiction ✔To Walk the Night, ✔The Lamb Will Slaughter the Lion

SFFKit: Off World ✔Six Wakes

Other: ✔Magpie Murders

Movies (theater): A Wrinkle in Time, Annihilation

Movies (streaming): Their Finest, Arrival (rewatch), Ladybird, Coco, The Shape of Water, Up (rewatch)

TV: Absentia, The Swiss Family Robinson

5sturlington
Muokkaaja: huhtikuu 28, 2018, 7:05 pm



ScaredyKIT: Supernatural ✔The Ridge (Southern), ✔Dark Matter, The Fury

SFFKit: Time Travel ✔The Gone World, ✔All Our Wrong Todays

Book Club: The Other Wes Moore

Other: ✔The Lifeboat

Audiobooks: ✔Norse Mythology

Movies (theater): Isle of Dogs

Movies (streaming): The Florida Project, Okja, Phantom Thread, Queen of Katwe

6sturlington
Muokkaaja: kesäkuu 1, 2018, 7:09 am



Southern: ✔River of Teeth

ScaredyKIT: Close to Home ✔The White Road, ✔Unbury Carol, ✔The Outsider

SFFKit: Rise Up ✔The Power

Audiobooks: ✔The Song of Achilles

Other: ✔Shoot the Damn Dog

Movies: The Avengers: Infinity War

Movies (streaming): The Woodsman; I, Tonya; Jumanji; Early Man

TV (streaming): Howards End, A Series of Unfortunate Events season 2, Fleabag, The Terror

7sturlington
Muokkaaja: elokuu 18, 2018, 4:26 pm



Southern: ✔American War, Go Set a Watchman

ScaredyKIT: Adapted to Film: ✔Strangers on a Train

SFFKit: Series: The Fifth Season

Ursula K. Le Guin memorial: ✔No Time to Spare

RandomCAT: ✔Hell Hound

Other: ✔The Hunger

Book Club: ✔The Reluctant Fortune-Teller

Movies (theater): The Incredibles 2, Jaws

Movies (DVD/streaming): The Birds, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Strangers on a Train, In the Heart of the Sea, We Need to Talk About Kevin, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, A Walk in the Woods

8sturlington
Muokkaaja: elokuu 27, 2018, 3:27 pm



Southern: ✔We Should Have Left Well Enough Alone (author is from Maryland, but setting isn't particularly Southern)

ScaredyKIT: Science/Techno Thrillers: ✔The Deep

SFFKit: Autonomous

RandomCAT: ✔Our Spoons Came From Woolworth's

Other: ✔History of Wolves; ✔Her Body and Other Parties (audio); ✔Tangerine

Movies (theater): Ant-Man and the Wasp

Movies (DVD/streaming): Everest; Game Night

9sturlington
Muokkaaja: elokuu 29, 2018, 8:01 am



Southern: ✔Greener Pastures

ScaredyKIT: Series Ring

SFFKit: Makes You Laugh ✔Good Omens BBC dramatization as audiobook

RandomCAT: Let's Go to the Mountains ✔Thin Air

Book Club: ✔Isaac's Storm

Other: ✔The End We Start From, ✔Red Clocks, ✔The Silent Companions

Movies (streaming): Coraline, Nacho Libre

Movies (theater): Crazy Rich Asians

10sturlington
Muokkaaja: lokakuu 1, 2018, 8:25 am



Southern: Grief Cottage

ScaredyKIT: Stephen King and family: ✔Strange Weather, ✔Night Shift (reread--selections only)

SFFKit: Myths/Legends/Fairy Tales ✔Through the Woods, ✔The Changeling

Book Club: ✔Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor

Movies (theater): Searching, The Big Lebowski, The House with a Clock in Its Walls, The Wife

11sturlington
Muokkaaja: marraskuu 2, 2018, 4:23 pm



ScaredyKIT: Ghost Stories ✔Cast a Cold Eye

SFFKit: Historical/Alternate History

RandomCAT: Playing Cards - The Family Arcana, a story literally printed on playing cards

Book Club: ✔Educated

Other: ✔The Murders of Molly Southbourne, ✔Delphine Dodd, ✔The Female Persuasion, ✔The Dream-Quest of Vellitt Boe, ✔Rising Strong

12sturlington
Muokkaaja: marraskuu 29, 2018, 8:06 am



ScaredyKIT: Serial Killers

SFFKit: Creatures ✔Chasing the Dragon, ✔Those Across the River (Southern), ✔Mongrels (Southern)

RandomCAT: All About Money

Other: ✔Agents of Dreamland, ✔The Woman in the Window, ✔The Marsh King's Daughter, ✔Elevation, ✔The Cabin at the End of the World

13sturlington
Muokkaaja: tammikuu 1, 2019, 7:23 am



ScaredyKIT: Psychological suspense - ✔The Natural Way of Things, ✔Foe

SFFKit: This Is How It Ends - ✔When the English Fall, ✔Ice

RandomCAT: Secret Santa

Book Club: Prince of Tides

Other: ✔Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine

14sturlington
Muokkaaja: tammikuu 1, 2019, 7:23 am

BingoDOG



1. Title contains name of a famous person, real or fictional: Song of Achilles
2. Published more than 100 years ago
3. Originally in a different language
4. New-to-you author: Odds Against Tomorrow
5. Relative name in the title (aunt, niece, etc...): The Marsh King's Daughter
6. Money in the title - any form of currency, type of payment, etc...
7. Book published in 2018: The Gone World
8. X somewhere in the title
9. Fat book - 500 plus pages: Sleeping Beauties
10. Book set during a holiday: The Reluctant Fortune Teller
11. LGBT central character: Vermilion
12. Book on the 1001 list
13. Read a CAT (middle square): Hell Hound
14. Number in the title: Six Wakes
15. Book that is humorous: Born a Crime
16. Book bought in 2017 that hasn’t been read yet: We Should Have Left Well Enough Alone
17. Title contains something you would see in the sky: Cold Moon Over Babylon
18. Related to the Pacific Ocean: The Deep
19. Book that fits at least 2 KIT’s/CAT’s
20. Book with a beautiful cover (in your opinion): All Our Wrong Todays
21. Autobiography/memoir: Hunger: A Memoir of My Body
22. Poetry or plays: The End We Start From
23. A long-time TBR/TBR the longest: Ice
24. Story involves travel: Good Morning, Midnight
25. Title contains a person’s rank, real or fictional

15sturlington
Muokkaaja: joulukuu 23, 2018, 2:26 pm

Where in the world did my reading take me?


visited 25 states (50%)
Buy Douwe's Machine Learning Book

Arizona: Agents of Dreamland
Arkansas: Mongrels
Caliornia: The Hunger
Colorado: Vermilion
Florida: Cold Moon Over Babylon
Georgia: Those Across the River
Idaho: Educated
Iowa: The Lamb Will Slaughter the Lion
Kentucky: The Ridge
Louisiana: River of Teeth
Maine: Elevation
Maryland: We Should Have Left Well Enough Alone
Michigan: The Marsh King's Daughter
Minnesota: History of Wolves
Mississippi: American War
New Hampshire: The Cabin at the End of the World
New Mexico: Chasing the Dragon
New York: Odds Against Tomorrow
North Carolina: The Salt Line
Oklahoma: The Outsider
Oregon: Red Clocks
Pennsylvania: When the English Fall
Texas: The Reapers Are the Angels
Washington: Delphine Dodd
West Virginia: Sleeping Beauties


visited 15 states (6.66%)
Buy Douwe's Machine Learning Book

Australia: The Natural Way of Things
Canada: All Our Wrong Todays
Great Britain-- England: Magpie Murders; Scotland: Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine
Ireland: Cast a Cold Eye
Nordic Countries: Dark Matter (Norway)
Mediterranean Europe: The Song of Achilles (Greece)
Eastern Europe: The Power (Moldova)
North Africa: Tangerine (Morocco)
South Africa: Born a Crime (South Africa)
Middle East: Ararat (Turkey); Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor (Israel)
Central Asia: The White Road (Tibet)
South Asia: Thin Air (India/Nepal)
Polar Regions: Good Morning, Midnight (Arctic)

16sturlington
lokakuu 22, 2017, 10:41 am

Open for business!

17whitewavedarling
lokakuu 22, 2017, 10:52 am

This is a great concept, and I'm going to love following along! I'm already cringing at how many bbs I'll be taking...

18virginiahomeschooler
lokakuu 22, 2017, 11:10 am

I was going to comment on how much I love your dark South theme (I was born and raised in Georgia), but then I saw your bingo dog photo and totally lost my train of thought because of that sweet face...the dog's. I'd like to plan my challenge monthly like this at some point. But I'm gonna need to develop more focus, I think, before I can.

19sturlington
lokakuu 22, 2017, 11:44 am

>17 whitewavedarling: Thanks! I hope I will be shooting those bbs.

>18 virginiahomeschooler: Have you seen the movie Best in Show? That's where that pic is from. I find it hilarious because that character from the movie, Harlan Pepper, is just such a Southern caricature but then he's also so sweet and really adores his hound. It's a good movie, if you haven't seen it and you're a sucker for dogs.

20rabbitprincess
lokakuu 22, 2017, 11:56 am

Awesome theme! I like how you've aligned it with the ScaredyKIT.

21virginiahomeschooler
lokakuu 22, 2017, 12:15 pm

>19 sturlington: I am definitely a sucker for dogs, and I haven't seen it, but it looks like it's on Netflix. I'll check it out.

22MissWatson
lokakuu 22, 2017, 12:38 pm

This is going to be very interesting to watch!

23VivienneR
lokakuu 22, 2017, 1:24 pm

Interesting theme! Looking forward to following along.

24DeltaQueen50
lokakuu 22, 2017, 1:32 pm

I love your set up and plans for next year and I am envious at how focused you are as I tend to be all over the place. Your thread is going to be highly dangerous for me! I know I am going to be taking a lot of hits here. I have read The Reapers Are Angels and loved it.

25sturlington
lokakuu 22, 2017, 1:36 pm

>24 DeltaQueen50: This year I read When We Were Animals, which was written by Alden Bell under another name, and I really liked it. So I went looking for other books by him and was excited to see that The Reapers Are Angels might fit my theme.

Thanks for the kind words, everyone. I am hyper-organized by nature, but the real challenge is sticking to it and not getting distracted by all the shiny new things! I've tried to allow some room in my plan for that, though.

26DeltaQueen50
lokakuu 22, 2017, 2:06 pm

>25 sturlington: LOL, see, the year hasn't even started and I've taken a hit! Now I have to go and find When We Were Animals - it sounds good. :)

27sturlington
lokakuu 22, 2017, 2:41 pm

>26 DeltaQueen50: I think you would really like it. I read it in January, and it's one of those books I keep thinking about.

28majkia
lokakuu 22, 2017, 3:14 pm

Hahaha! From the state of the sunshiny south. But cringing since I see you have Niceville listed. I haven't been able to bring myself to read it!

Speaking of the deep south, this weekend is the annual Boggy Bayou Mullet Festival here in Niceville. I should write a book about that. You wouldn't believe what comes out of the swamps for that.

29luvamystery65
lokakuu 22, 2017, 8:09 pm

What a fantastic theme. I love the way you set it up. Now I need to find some South Texas recommendations for you. ;-)

30christina_reads
lokakuu 23, 2017, 11:20 am

I'm loving this southern challenge! I've had The Reapers Are the Angels on my TBR for a while, so I'll be interested to see what you think of it.

31LittleTaiko
lokakuu 25, 2017, 2:14 pm

Love the picture from Best in Show - such a good movie! Have you read News of the World? It might fit your historical category and is one that I recently read and loved.

32sturlington
lokakuu 25, 2017, 2:20 pm

>31 LittleTaiko: No, I haven't. Thanks for the recommendation.

33clue
lokakuu 25, 2017, 8:24 pm

As a Southerner myself, I look forward to following your thread. I have Killing Mr. Watson on my list for next year too. I see several good titles I've read on your lists and several more I want to read. Isn't it fun to plan a new year?

34lkernagh
marraskuu 12, 2017, 12:34 pm

What a great idea! I admit that I am woefully uninformed of the local authors in my area. I am also a fan of Southern Gothic so I am looking forward to seeing what you read to fill that category.

35Crazymamie
marraskuu 12, 2017, 12:51 pm

Great theme - I will be following along to see what you are reading. Like Lori, I'm also a fan of Southern gothic. And noir and crime fiction are favorites of mine. Plus, I live in the Deep South - I'm a transplant from Indiana, currently residing in Georgia.

36mamzel
marraskuu 17, 2017, 2:36 pm

I'm looking forward to watching your monthly progress. I am generally following the same direction in my thread. Have a great year!

37sturlington
marraskuu 18, 2017, 10:41 am

Thanks, everyone. I think this will be a fun reading year.

38thornton37814
marraskuu 24, 2017, 7:29 pm

I'm interesting in seeing which Southern books make your cut. I'll try to post my challenge later this evening or tomorrow.

39Chrischi_HH
marraskuu 25, 2017, 3:03 pm

Very interesting theme! I'm also having a "local focus" neyt year, but not as consequent as yours. Have fun!

40katiekrug
marraskuu 27, 2017, 4:14 pm

I love your theme and set-up - I see lots of books among your possibilities that I've either read or have on my shelves.

And I especially love your BingoDog picture - Best in Show is a favorite movie in my house :)

41sturlington
joulukuu 26, 2017, 1:49 pm

The Christmas haul:

42sturlington
tammikuu 5, 2018, 8:34 am

Hunger: A Memoir of My Body by Roxane Gay - 5★

I got a Kindle Fire for Christmas, and I decided that instead of loading it up with games, I would use it for learning and non-entertainment reading. What a way to start the new year. I've never read a book like this memoir by Gay. Such a powerful, emotional read.

43LittleTaiko
tammikuu 5, 2018, 10:25 am

Hurray for starting the year with a good book. I heard her on the NPR game show Ask Me Another and found her delightful to listen to. The little bit she discussed her memoir made me want to read it. I should probably go place a hold with the library before I forget.

44rabbitprincess
tammikuu 5, 2018, 6:04 pm

>41 sturlington: Strangers on a Train! Nice! I have a different Highsmith on loan from the library: Those Who Walk Away.

45Crazymamie
tammikuu 6, 2018, 11:41 am

Nice Christmas haul! And hooray for starting out with a 5 star read!

46jlshall
tammikuu 6, 2018, 6:45 pm

Interesting setup, and such lovely monthly headers. Well done! I'll be interested to see what you read.

47Jackie_K
tammikuu 7, 2018, 12:57 pm

I have Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body on my wishlist. I might have to put an unsubtle note on it to try and encourage someone to buy me it!

48Chrischi_HH
tammikuu 7, 2018, 1:55 pm

I've seen so many positive reviews of Hunger, I think I should also put it on the wishlist. Great start of your reading year!

49sturlington
tammikuu 12, 2018, 8:26 am

I've finished a couple of meh books for the KITs: Cold Moon Over Babylon and Odds Against Tomorrow. Having a tough time right now, so I need a comfort read. For me, this means Stephen King, since I always find his books completely absorbing, so I'm starting Sleeping Beauties.

50sturlington
tammikuu 18, 2018, 10:24 am

Sleeping Beauties by Stephen and Owen King - 5★

Just the right book at the right time for me. It probably had some flaws, but I loved it anyway. If you are a fan of Stephen King's big fat page-turners, this is a good one to pick up. It was cowritten with his son Owen King, but I couldn't detect two voices in the writing.

What amazed me was that this book was written by two men. The insight into women's anger, their labor, their oppression, and the humanity given to all of the women characters, especially the many women prisoners, inspired and uplifted me. Although not all of the men were as nuanced as characters, enough of them were, especially the two main male characters, who were not quite "hero" and "villain." What I especially loved about this story was that the ending came down to making choices, especially women making choices, and also that, despite the fairy-tale trappings, there was no fairy-tale-like happy ending. Life does go on, and this seemed entirely realistic, if perhaps a little melancholy. What a great read--I don't know if I'll be able to top it for some time.

51virginiahomeschooler
tammikuu 18, 2018, 11:16 am

>50 sturlington: Great review. For some reason I had it in my head this was a book of short stories so I wasn't in a huge hurry to pick it up. I may have to get it this weekend.

52whitewavedarling
tammikuu 18, 2018, 11:56 am

>50 sturlington:, I'm so glad to read your high praise! I've got it sitting on the shelf, and had been trying to decide whether to prioritize it or some other King books I've got hanging around, but it sounds like I ought to get to this one sooner than later. I will say, he's often impressed me with the way he writes women. I'm reading a heavy door-stopper of a sci-fi novel now (which I'm loving), so I may give my wrist a break between this one and that, but it's moving toward the top of my TBR now :)

53sturlington
tammikuu 18, 2018, 12:04 pm

>51 virginiahomeschooler: and >52 whitewavedarling: I hope you both enjoy. It had all the elements I love in a Stephen King novel, but it was also something quite different. I do understand wanting to space out the heavy books, though.

54lkernagh
tammikuu 21, 2018, 2:07 pm

>50 sturlington: - Excellent review! The only King novel I have read so far is 11/22/63, which I thought was quite good. Sleeping Beauties looks like something I might enjoy reading, so on the future reading list it goes.

55sturlington
tammikuu 29, 2018, 3:37 pm

My son has to read 20 books in 9 weeks for school, in different genres. It's his very own category challenge!

I made him make a chart.

56Helenliz
tammikuu 29, 2018, 3:40 pm

>55 sturlington: How else would you do a category challenge? Excellent parental advice there. Good luck to him, that's quite a lot of reading. Is each book in a different genre? As I'm not sure I could think of 20 different genre!

57sturlington
tammikuu 29, 2018, 3:58 pm

>56 Helenliz: No, there are 10 different genres, and they include poetry, graphic novel, personal choice. It's an interesting challenge, but difficult for fourth grade!

58LittleTaiko
tammikuu 29, 2018, 5:44 pm

>57 sturlington: - Wow that is quite a challenge! Is he required to do at least one from each category? Good luck to him!

59sturlington
tammikuu 29, 2018, 6:06 pm

>58 LittleTaiko: Yes, at least one.

60sturlington
tammikuu 30, 2018, 10:12 am

An update on some four-star reads this month:

Come Closer by Sara Gran: This is a short and creepy novel about a woman who is slowly being possessed by a demon. You could read it literally or as an allegory for mental illness. Very effective.

Good Morning, Midnight by Lily Brooks-Dalton: A melancholy and affecting literary science-fiction novel after civilization has ended for unknown reasons. It alternates between an astronomer stranded in the Arctic and an astronaut returning from a mission to Jupiter. Character-driven and moving.

Reasons to Stay Alive by Matt Haig: I bought this because I follow the author on Twitter and his words are always so inspiring to me. This is a frank, honest, sometimes funny, often inspirational account of dealing with depression and anxiety, and I really needed it right now. If you are a sufferer or care for someone who does, you will find yourself underlining passages and flagging pages to return to later.

61Crazymamie
tammikuu 30, 2018, 10:17 am

You got me with Good Morning, Midnight. Sounds right up my alley. Thanks!

62sturlington
helmikuu 1, 2018, 11:51 am

Favorite reads of January:


Hunger: A Memoir of My Body by Roxane Gay
Sleeping Beauties by Stephen and Owen King

63sturlington
helmikuu 5, 2018, 11:39 am

I am having a hard time with dark, realistic, gritty, violent, hopeless fiction right now. Horror and dark fantasy seems more escapist, but the bleak worldview of so many writers is getting me down. Maybe I chose the wrong theme this year? I am thinking of turning to something lighter for a while, even if that does veer me off course of my original challenge.

64whitewavedarling
helmikuu 5, 2018, 1:56 pm

>63 sturlington:, I love southern lit., but so many of the writers I love do write stories that get me down, from Flannery O'Connor to Ron Rash, so I can only do it in small doses. You could try changing it up with some of the crazier southern writers like Barry Hannah and Harry Crews. Lewis Nordan might also be an option--I've only read his Wolf Whistle, but have always meant to revisit him. No matter what, all of these writers are definitely southern lit, but they're also strange enough, style/subject-wise, that I don't find them anywhere near as bleak as most southern lit.

Or, as you said, you could always just turn away from the theme for a while and see where you end up--it was yours to create, so it's yours to play with, too!

65sturlington
helmikuu 5, 2018, 2:51 pm

>64 whitewavedarling: Thanks for the suggestions. I'm thinking about reaching back in time, maybe some Willa Cather? I'm also thinking that I'm just in the mood for more escapist fare right now.

66DeltaQueen50
helmikuu 5, 2018, 4:36 pm

I've planned book in advance and then when the time comes to read them real life interferes and I am just not in the mood for the planned reads. Something light and humorous to take your mind of the dark in gritty sounds like a great idea. Have you read any Fanny Flagg? Some of her stuff is light and funny.

67whitewavedarling
helmikuu 5, 2018, 4:57 pm

>65 sturlington:, I only read a little Willa Cather, way back when I was an undergraduate, and I have to admit I didn't care for it at all. I couldn't tell you why, though, it was so long ago--it just left a bad taste in my mouth :( >66 DeltaQueen50: reminded me, though, I came across a series a year or so ago by Angie Fox called the Southern Ghost Hunter Mystery Series--I only read the first one, but it was a lot of fun, and after I gave the first few to my mom, I heard that she and my grandmother immediately devoured those, and ordered the rest! They're big fans of Fanny Flagg also, which is what reminded me. I wouldn't call the series 'southern lit' per se, but they're southern and light while still being atmospherically dark, so they might be an option. I certainly loved the first, and this note is already serving as a reminder to me to get around to the next one when I get a chance...

68christina_reads
helmikuu 6, 2018, 2:17 pm

If you enjoy mysteries, you might like Carl Hiaassen's books, which are set in Florida. Also, a "lighter" Southern writer I love is Sarah Addison Allen -- try Garden Spells or The Sugar Queen.

69Crazymamie
helmikuu 9, 2018, 1:08 pm

>68 christina_reads: I love Sarah Addison Allen. Also Joshilyn Jackson is very good. Another Georgia author that I like Is Phillip DePoy - he has a mystery series that features Fever Devlin and set in Appalachia - kind of quirky, very well written, but not too dark. The first one is called The Devil's Hearth.

70sturlington
helmikuu 9, 2018, 2:04 pm

Thanks for all the great suggestions, everyone!

71clue
helmikuu 9, 2018, 3:48 pm

>63 sturlington: I am having a hard time with dark, realistic, gritty, violent, hopeless fiction right now. Horror and dark fantasy seems more escapist, but the bleak worldview of so many writers is getting me down.

I've been feeling that way for awhile now but I'm also dissatisfied with a lot of lighter books. Soooo, lately I've been trolling the shelves and library for older books that I may want to read now. I think I'm going to go back to Delderfield for one. We're not the only ones that feel this way, we got into this discussion at my last book club meeting and I was surprised that it was a problem for most of us.

72sturlington
helmikuu 9, 2018, 3:53 pm

>71 clue: Yes, my book club too. I think it's not even light that I'm looking for so much as optimistic. Older books may be a good solution. I've also been turning more toward memoir lately, especially if it's honest and balanced. Our book club's next selection is Trevor Noah's Born a Crime, for instance.

73clue
helmikuu 10, 2018, 10:58 am

> 72 Yes, I agree. I prowled through the shelves last night and pulled several nonfiction from the shelves.

74sturlington
helmikuu 11, 2018, 4:16 pm

Going to start noting recommended TV and movies here as well. So far this year, two good series I've binge-watched on Netflix were The Crown and the first season of The Good Place. Movies seen in the theater were The Greatest Showman, a feel-good cheesy musical for those who like that sort of thing (and I do!), and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, which was darkly funny and very well-acted. On Netflix, I watched The Cloverfield Paradox, which I liked a lot better than everyone else on the Internet, it seems.

75rabbitprincess
helmikuu 11, 2018, 6:05 pm

>74 sturlington: I've just started watching The Crown and am enjoying it so far! I am also coveting all the skirts and dresses :D

76sturlington
helmikuu 12, 2018, 6:36 am

>75 rabbitprincess: It is really captivating. I loved Princess Margaret's outfits.

77mamzel
helmikuu 12, 2018, 12:56 pm

>57 sturlington: If his school has a librarian (or library clerk) they will be his best resource for finding books to fill his categories. Good luck!

78LittleTaiko
helmikuu 13, 2018, 4:59 pm

>74 sturlington: - The Good Place is one of our favorite shows. The second season has been quite entertaining. We're also fans of Blackish (ABC) and Grace & Frankie (Netflix). I've watched two episodes of The Crown and enjoyed them, but I'm really bad at watching shows longer than 30 minutes.

79sturlington
helmikuu 20, 2018, 3:23 pm

Black Panther last weekend: believe the hype. A superhero movie with a good story, a nuanced villain, a plethora of amazing women characters, gorgeous everything, and white people who get called "colonizer." Also, fighting rhinos. Wakanda forever!

80sturlington
helmikuu 26, 2018, 3:56 pm

Favorite read of February:

Born a Crime by Trevor Noah

It was a month for light, escapist reading for me, for the most part. I also enjoyed The Salt Line by Holly Goddard Jones, which I read for the ScaredyKIT (Survival), and Vermilion by Molly Tanzer, which I read for the SFFKit (Urban Fantasy). The Salt Line was set in North Carolina, so it also counts for my Deep Dark South theme. The remaining book I read was Ararat by Christopher Golden, also for ScaredyKIT, which was only okay for me.

Best watch of the month was undoubtedly Black Panther. But I saw a lot of good movies/TV: The Greatest Showman; Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri; The Cloverfield Paradox; and Season 1 of The Good Place.

I know we've still got a couple of days left in February, but I don't anticipate accomplishing much more this month.

81christina_reads
helmikuu 28, 2018, 5:05 pm

>80 sturlington: Hooray for "The Good Place"! Season 2 is really good too. I still haven't seen "The Greatest Showman" yet, but I really want to!

82sturlington
helmikuu 28, 2018, 5:22 pm

>81 christina_reads: It's pretty much the definition of a feel-good movie, Christina. I think you'll like it.

83christina_reads
maaliskuu 1, 2018, 4:04 pm

>82 sturlington: Good to know! :)

84mathgirl40
maaliskuu 1, 2018, 9:40 pm

>79 sturlington: Glad to hear this. I'd read the volume Black Panther: A Nation Under Our Feet by Ta-Nehisi Coates, when it had been nominated for the Hugo Award last year, and was curious about the new movie.

85-Eva-
maaliskuu 6, 2018, 6:23 pm

>80 sturlington:
I just found out (from another thread) that this is actually about his childhood in South Africa (rather than a book about his career), so now it's on my wishlist!

86cmbohn
maaliskuu 17, 2018, 5:13 pm

Hope your reading this month is solid. I have that Matt Haig book on my list.

87sturlington
Muokkaaja: maaliskuu 19, 2018, 8:27 am

March reading is slow-going. I've started and stopped a few things. I'm hoping it picks up. I finished Six Wakes for the SFFKit, a locked-room mystery set on a spaceship, which I found a bit underwhelming. Just finished Magpie Murders, which was very amusing and certainly became a page turner toward the end, but overall was rather fluffy. If you are an Agatha Christie fan, though, you are certain to love it.

88sturlington
maaliskuu 19, 2018, 8:31 am

>85 -Eva-: Yes, it is a really insightful and moving account of his childhood and his relationship with his mother, lightened up by humor. He doesn't really touch upon his career at all. I think you will enjoy it.

89christina_reads
maaliskuu 19, 2018, 3:06 pm

>87 sturlington: Well, I think you just sold me on The Magpie Murders!

90sturlington
maaliskuu 29, 2018, 8:12 am

Finished two novellas for the Weird theme of the ScaredyKIT: The Lamb Will Slaughter the Lion by Margaret Killjoy and To Walk the Night by William Sloane. Both were well written, but it's no surprise that I enjoyed the modern Lamb Will Slaughter the Lion more, with its diverse characters and decidedly weird story about a demon deer that commands undead animals and rips the hearts of out people who seek to harm others -- it was definitely something different! The Sloane was cleanly written for its era (1930s), without all the stylistic bombardment I've come to expect from Lovecraft et al, but I still found it a bit dated, with its othering of the female. This is a theme I've noticed in a lot of older weird fiction that I find very off-putting.

91sturlington
maaliskuu 29, 2018, 8:28 am


Well, March is almost over, and I'm declaring my favorite book of the month to be my last read, The Reapers Are the Angels by Alden Bell, which I have given 5 stars. This was my Deep, Dark South read for the month.

It's hard to believe that someone could come out with a fresh and different take on the zombie apocalypse novel, but Bell has done it here. He seamlessly combines Southern gothic tropes with zombie tropes to tell a story that seems utterly unique. But he doesn't lose sight of his characters, and his protagonist--a 15-year-old girl named Temple wandering the abandoned South--is someone we come to know and care deeply for. Her voice is distinctly her own, and her observations of the world she finds herself in, the only world she has ever known, are both poetic and insightful. This book started off slow for me but built and built until I could not let it go.

Some observations:

Zombie fiction never names zombies "zombies." I liked the names used here, "meatskins" and "slugs." But if there really were a zombie apocalypse, wouldn't we just call them by the name we've always used for them? Why is the name "zombie" never used? Seriously want to know.

This was also a refreshingly different take on the post-apocalyptic genre. Instead of portraying people in a post-apocalyptic situation as reverting immediately to savagery and shedding all vestiges of civilization, which is the norm, this book portrays them as just people, in all their complexity. The survivors maintain their humanity, for the most part, which seems to me much more believable. Even the villain is not purely villainous.

I love, love how Bell managed to fit in the decaying Southern mansion, with its stuck-in-the-past Old South family, and the grotesque, both characteristic of the Southern gothic, in a zombie novel! There is even a Boo Radley-type character.

92sturlington
maaliskuu 29, 2018, 8:35 am

Some trivia about Alden Bell author of The Reapers Are the Angels. Under his real name, Joshua Gaylord, he wrote a book that I read last year and really enjoyed, When We Were Animals. Also, he is married to Megan Abbott, author of thrillers like You Will Know Me and pulp novels like Queenpin.

93DeltaQueen50
maaliskuu 29, 2018, 2:28 pm

I also loved The Reapers Are the Angels and didn't know he was also Joshua Gaylord, who I read for the first time this year on your book bullet. And married to Megan Abbott, another favorite of mine - boy, I would love to have dinner at their place!

94sturlington
maaliskuu 29, 2018, 3:24 pm

>93 DeltaQueen50: It's fun to make these connections, isn't it?

95Crazymamie
maaliskuu 29, 2018, 5:51 pm

>91 sturlington: A direct hit! Adding that one to The List. If you posted your review, I will add my thumb.

96sturlington
maaliskuu 30, 2018, 8:02 am

>95 Crazymamie: Thanks! I did.

97sturlington
huhtikuu 1, 2018, 7:56 am

I watched a lot of movies this month. In the theater, I enjoyed A Wrinkle in Time (watched with my 10-year-old) but was disappointed in Annihilation.

On streaming, I enjoyed Lady Bird and Their Finest (based on Their Finest Hour and a Half), but was a bit underwhelmed by Coco and The Shape of Water.

On TV, I enjoyed Absentia, a thriller streaming on Amazon, and my son and I really liked the old-fashioned series, The Swiss Family Robinson, also on Amazon.

98virginiahomeschooler
huhtikuu 1, 2018, 8:15 am

>97 sturlington: I hate to hear that about Coco. My daughter and I have been really looking forward to it. It's probably not good that we assume it's going to be spectacular. Just sets us up to be disappointed.

99christina_reads
huhtikuu 3, 2018, 10:11 am

>91 sturlington: Glad to see your glowing review of The Reapers are the Angels! I've owned it for years but have yet to read it. You've pushed it higher up my TBR list!

100sturlington
huhtikuu 23, 2018, 6:52 am

What I am enjoying this month:

Norse Mythology: My son and I are listening to Neil Gaiman read his retelling of the Norse myths. His style is straightforward, simple, but often lyrical and frequently funny. Gaiman is a good reader, taking on different voices and bringing his characters to life.

Isle of Dogs: "I love dogs," so of course I loved this animated movie by Wes Anderson. Lots of good voice work and an interesting use of language. Great fun.

Streamed The Florida Project and Phantom Thread: Two very different but captivating movies that I can't stop thinking about.

101rabbitprincess
huhtikuu 23, 2018, 5:59 pm

I enjoyed Neil Gaiman's Norse Mythology as well, especially any of the stories with Thor. Thor is funny to begin with, but Neil makes him even funnier.

102sturlington
Muokkaaja: huhtikuu 28, 2018, 3:39 pm

My new rule for reading: I'm putting down any book, no matter how old, the first time I encounter unironic sexist writing. Latest victim: The Fury by John Farris.

103sturlington
huhtikuu 29, 2018, 7:50 am



Here we are almost at the end of April already, so I'm declaring my favorite book of the month to be The Gone World by Tom Sweterlitsch. I received this book in a mystery box and had no idea what it was about. I discovered a complex and unique story combining elements of time travel, multiverse, police procedural, conspiracy, and horror, with a compelling and realistic female protagonist. A great discovery I probably wouldn't have picked up otherwise.

Honorable mentions go to Dark Matter by Michelle Paver, a ghost story set in Antarctica, and All Our Wrong Todays by Elan Mastai, a twist on the time-travel story.

104sturlington
toukokuu 8, 2018, 7:38 am

I just finished reading River of Teeth by Sarah Gailey for my Southern selection this month. This was a novella, and rarely do I want a book to be longer, but I think this story could have benefited from fleshing out a bit. It's set in an alternate Southern United States where hippos have been imported as meat animals and gone feral along the Mississippi River. So it's like a Western, but set in the bayou on hippos. The characters were interesting, but we didn't see them develop--we didn't see them fall in love, they just were in love; we didn't see why they betrayed one another, they just did. I also would have liked to see more world-building. Promising, but falls a little short.

105sturlington
toukokuu 21, 2018, 3:10 pm

This year, I've been upping the number of memoirs I read, which is surprising to me, because I haven't been drawn to the genre in the past. But I've been having good luck with the ones I've chosen lately, and I've found each one to be inspiring, in its own way. I would recommend any of them.

Here's what I've read so far:

Hunger by Roxane Gay: a book so honest and open that it literally brought me to tears more than once

Reasons to Stay Alive by Matt Haig: a short read full of compassionate nuggets of wisdom for people who have depression/anxiety

Born a Crime by Trevor Noah: not only is this a funny book about some serious subjects, but Trevor's mother was an inspiring woman to read about

Shoot the Damn Dog by Sally Brampton: Just finished this one. This is a tough read, particularly if you have depression yourself, so raw and exposed that I often had to take it in little chunks, but it is extremely inspiring. I honestly couldn't believe that Brampton survived her severe depression, but seeing her come out the other side--and hearing all the things that worked (and didn't work) for her--are invaluable for anyone who is going through something similar.

Next up is No Time to Spare, which are essays by Ursula K. Le Guin.

106cmbohn
toukokuu 22, 2018, 12:59 am

Sounds like some good ones!

107sturlington
kesäkuu 1, 2018, 10:14 am



Another month gone by, and time for another round-up. My favorite read this month was The Power by Naomi Alderman, which I gave five stars. It posits what if a power awakens in women, an innate ability to generate electric power, so that they can defend themselves and hurt other people, so that they, in just a few years, become more powerful than men? I found this book exciting, challenging, uncomfortable, sometimes horrific, and just thought-provoking on so many levels--our assumptions about gender roles, about power structures, about religion, about history and who writes it.

Lot of good reads this month, so I'm giving honorable mentions to: The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller; Unbury Carol by Josh Malerman; The Outsider by Stephen King; and Shoot the Damn Dog: A Memoir of Depression by Sally Brampton.

As for the screen, I really enjoyed the television adaptations of Howards End and The Terror.

OK, let summer reading season begin!

108-Eva-
kesäkuu 3, 2018, 10:24 pm

>107 sturlington:
I'll take a BB for the Alderman book.

109sturlington
kesäkuu 12, 2018, 9:58 am

Did not finish, unfortunately, Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee. I waited a while to read (listen to) this because I wanted to avoid being tainted by the controversy when the book was first published. But I do agree with those early critiques. This is clearly not a sequel to To Kill a Mockingbird, but an early draft, when Lee was still working out her themes and characters. It is more than a bit heavy-handed and not nearly as good, although the seeds of her masterpiece are there, particularly in the childhood scenes. Perhaps I will return to this someday, but I think I've read enough to get the gist of it, and I want to move on to other things.

110LittleTaiko
kesäkuu 14, 2018, 5:27 pm

>107 sturlington: - Hmm, I just finished this but wasn't an enamored of it as you were. I didn't dislike it but found it to be a bit uneven. Loved the concept though and how different groups of people might wield their power. Looking forward to discussing it with my work book club group next week. It's our first meeting so this will be one heck of a book to discuss, especially since I think the majority of people in the group are men!

111sturlington
kesäkuu 14, 2018, 5:55 pm

>110 LittleTaiko: Wow, that should be an interesting discussion.

112sturlington
Muokkaaja: kesäkuu 17, 2018, 10:27 am



For my Southern book this month, I chose a novel written by an Arab-Canadian now living in Washington state. But despite this outside perspective, American War by Omar El Akkad is a very Southern book.

There are two things that books can do that as a reader I live for: one is to create a world that I can completely inhabit in my imagination, and the other is to challenge me to look at our world in a different way. American War succeeds at both of these. Set in the near future after the country has started experiencing the devastating effects of climate change, the book depicts the second American Civil War when the MAG (Mississippi-Alabama-Georgia) refuses to follow a law forbidding all use of fossil fuels. (I'll leave it to the reader to find out what happens to South Carolina.) Sarat grows up during this war, going from child to refugee to insurrectionist to detainee to a bitter and broken woman. Sarat is a character I absolutely loved, a woman who completely belongs to herself but is irrevocably broken by the horrors she experiences. With its science-fictional depiction of familiar horrors from our own unending wars in the Middle East--drones impersonally dropping death, "homicide" bombers, waterboarding--this novel helps us to see our "enemies" in a different way, and perhaps empathize with them. I give this one five stars.

113clue
kesäkuu 17, 2018, 11:37 am

>112 sturlington: I'm putting this one on my list, luckily my library has it.

114DeltaQueen50
kesäkuu 17, 2018, 6:27 pm

>112 sturlington: Great to see you give high marks to American War as I have it on my shelves. :)

115sturlington
Muokkaaja: kesäkuu 24, 2018, 12:42 pm



The Hunger by Alma Katsu: Certain historical events have always held a grisly fascination, and the infamous Donner Party is certainly one of those. Fictionalized accounts cast different members of the party as heroes and villains, because we don't really know--nor can we probably ever truly understand--what these people went through. This account introduces a supernatural element to explain what happens (and also changes up some key details). Most of the book is a gripping, chilling thriller, with the unlucky wagon train constantly being stalked by ... something. Gradually, the monsters show themselves more and more. This was quite a page turner, although I think it rushed too much through the last and most compelling part of the journey, when the party is stranded through the winter in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. With such a large cast of characters, it was a bit confusing what actually happened during this climactic period, and I felt that this part of the story was given short shrift, given all we'd been through with these people. Despite this flaw, I enjoyed this intriguing combination of gothic horror and historical fiction based on real events.

116sturlington
Muokkaaja: kesäkuu 28, 2018, 8:55 am

It's hard to believe the year is halfway done. This was a mixed bag of a month, because I read several books I really liked, but I also abandoned three books, two of them halfway through, because I just couldn't deal with them anymore. So let's just talked about what I liked.

My favorite book of the month was American War by Omar El Akkad (see >112 sturlington: above). Other good reads were The Reluctant Fortune-Teller by Keziah Frost; Strangers on a Train by Patricia Highsmith; The Hunger by Alma Katsu; and No Time to Spare by Ursula K. Le Guin.

For film, I enjoyed The Incredibles 2 and rewatching some Alfred Hitchcock classics, including The Birds and Strangers on a Train.

117rabbitprincess
kesäkuu 28, 2018, 5:57 pm

>116 sturlington: Where has the first half of the year GONE?! Just yesterday it was January, right?

Glad to hear you liked the new Incredibles movie. I'll probably see it on DVD eventually, but for now I need to watch the first one again.

118sturlington
heinäkuu 6, 2018, 8:33 am

History of Wolves by Emily Fridlund: This book started out very strongly for me. Linda is a teenage girl living in what amounts to a shack in the Minnesota woods with her (mostly) benignly neglectful parents when she meets the family across the lake and starts baby-sitting their young son. She only gradually realizes something is off with the family; they are Christian Scientists, and the son is sick but not being treated. This plot line caught me and pulled me in, but there is also a subplot involving Linda's teacher and another girl who first accuses the teacher of rape, then takes it back. Linda is weirdly obsessed with these two people, and the final scene of the book, which involves the other girl, I found strange and unsatisfying. Also toward the end, the narrative jumps back and forth between teenage and adult Linda. Although the writing was good and the sense of place was very strong, the story didn't quite gel in the end.

119-Eva-
heinäkuu 21, 2018, 8:34 pm

>115 sturlington:
BB for me - it looks like it could be "unputdownable." :)

120sturlington
elokuu 1, 2018, 8:30 am

And here we are at August! July was a good reading month for me, as I liked pretty much everything I read. The highlight of the month was Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado, which I started out listening to and then bought a paper copy because I knew I would want to actually read it. I think that book is destined to be one of my favorites of the year.

Another good discovery was Tangerine by Christine Mangan, a first novel that evokes Patricia Highsmith and Dorothy Hughes. I also enjoyed a hidden classic, Our Spoons Came from Woolworth's by Barbara Comyns.

I am staring at a pile of library books (unread) and realizing I need to curb my library addiction. I just bought several books because, presumably, I want to read them, but every time I go to the library, I grab so many books that I never get around to the books I own. I think I'm going to have to just say no to library books for a while, except for book club picks.

121LittleTaiko
elokuu 1, 2018, 12:07 pm

>120 sturlington: - I feel your library pain. I have approximately 30 books on loan and since my library auto-renews them as long as nobody else wants them, there are a few that have been on my shelves for a couple of years. It's to the point that I'm about to do nothing but read library books for a couple of weeks to see if I can plow through a large number of them. For the most part I have stopped requesting books unless it's for my book club.

122DeltaQueen50
elokuu 1, 2018, 12:53 pm

This library addiction seems to be a concern for many of us. I have tried to limit myself to two or three library books per month and reading the rest from my shelves, it doesn't always work out, but it helps.

123sturlington
elokuu 1, 2018, 6:27 pm

>122 DeltaQueen50: I think I am going to try limiting myself to just one per visit, instead of bringing home piles like I've been doing, and I'll see how that works out.

124sturlington
elokuu 2, 2018, 7:29 am

Just finished for book club: Isaac's Storm by Erik Larson, about the 1900 hurricane that destroyed Galveston, Texas. Overall, this was a compelling read. I found the real-life history of Westerners encountering hurricanes fascinating, but the politics surrounding the Weather Bureau was a tad confusing, and sometimes I wasn't sure if the author was injecting his opinion into the text. The description of the hurricane itself, though, was vivid and absolutely terrifying. I got a real sense of what it must have been like to live through such an ordeal.

This book has inspired me to look for other such true stories. I don't read a lot of nonfiction, but I kind of like having a nonfiction book as my "day reading."

125sturlington
elokuu 3, 2018, 1:25 pm

I went to the library today and took back all my unread books, and came home with... three books. But they're all short! Together, they only make about one book! I swear!

*sigh*

126VivienneR
elokuu 3, 2018, 2:00 pm

Your library addiction is a problem for me too. I can't pass the "new books" shelf without picking up something, usually more than one. The worst is that they are rarely renewable because holds are placed on them soon after. If I can't read them right away then they have to be returned unread. However, my wishlist is expanding exponentially!

127thornton37814
elokuu 4, 2018, 8:49 pm

The new books shelf was far more tempting when I lived in Cincinnati than where I currently live. I really wish our local library would build a new building because the current one is so dysfunctional, but I doubt they will anytime soon.

128sturlington
elokuu 20, 2018, 4:30 pm

Red Clocks by Leni Zumas: I seem to be reading a lot of books in the "Angry Women" category this year, which seems appropriate. This one takes place in an alternate United States (or in the near future?), when a Personhood Amendment to the Constitution has made abortion and in vitro fertilization illegal. It alternates among four women, who are named but who, in their narratives, refer to themselves by role rather than name. The biographer is single and wants to have a child but is having difficulty conceiving. The mender gave up her child for adoption long ago and now helps women with various issues, including unwanted pregnancies. The wife is chafing in her traditional role as wife and mother and longs for an identity of her own. And the daughter is underage, pregnant, and desperate. A fifth woman is the biographer's subject, a nineteenth-century explorer who studied Arctic sea ice and never wanted either a husband or children. Zumas explores the interior worlds of all of these women through the lens of the restrictions placed on them by society, and even though her premise is somewhat dystopian, it also feels all too possible. What seems more shocking than young girls being jailed for contemplating aborting their pregnancies is how accepting everyone seems of the situation. The men in particular float through the story like jellyfish, untethered from responsibility, completely unaware of the struggles the women in their lives are dealing with. But Zumas does not make this a story of either hopelessness or victimhood. These women may struggle with indecision, but they do have agency and they do take charge of their own lives. Zumas's writing is often poetic, very absorbing, and both frightening and inspiring.

129sturlington
Muokkaaja: elokuu 29, 2018, 1:49 pm

The Silent Companions by Laura Purcell: I read a lot of ghost stories, so many that it's rare I come across something truly new and disturbing. And then I read something like The Silent Companions, which is creepy and atmospheric and builds the suspense to unbearable levels, finally delivering a satisfying but unexpected twist at the end. The companions of the title are fundamentally unsettling; I could picture them as if in a movie in my mind, but a movie that would freak me right the eff out. If you love ghost stories, as I do, then don't miss this one.

130DeltaQueen50
elokuu 29, 2018, 12:51 pm

>129 sturlington: I am always on the look out for a good ghost story so I have already rushed off to Amazon and picked up a copy for my Kindle. Looking forward to getting to it.

131sturlington
elokuu 29, 2018, 1:49 pm

>130 DeltaQueen50: Looking forward to your thoughts. I didn't want to give too much away!

132sturlington
Muokkaaja: syyskuu 11, 2018, 6:19 am

Read for book club: Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor by Yossi Klein Halevi

At first, I thought this slim book of letters written by a Jewish man living in Israel to a Palestinian living just behind the wall that separates them would not have much of anything to say to me, a nonreligious woman living in America with no personal connection to either Israel or Palestine. But Halevi's writing drew me in, and he had much to teach me about the history of Israel, the history and worldview of the Jewish people, the fundamental nature of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, and possible resolutions he could foresee. It was a very interesting read for all people who are interested in history, the world, and progressing toward peace.

133sturlington
lokakuu 1, 2018, 8:35 am

It's hard to believe we're already at October. I felt September was a bit of blah reading month, although I did really enjoy Strange Weather by Joe Hill. But I didn't read much, and I got impatient with long books. Probably it was the news, and how the news is being reflected in my personal life. I was consumed by online reading.

I did see a lot of movies in the theater this month, so I'll talk about those instead:

The Wife is an excellent story about real people while also being a searing indictment of the patriarchy. This will probably be on my top movies list of the year.

The Big Lebowski is my number-one favorite movie of all time and I loved seeing it on the big screen again for its twentieth anniversary.

Searching is a uniquely told thriller. I knew very little about the movie going in, which I think contributed to its appeal.

The House with a Clock in Its Walls was lots of fun, especially for horror fans.

134sturlington
Muokkaaja: marraskuu 2, 2018, 4:27 pm

I'm declaring October to be novella month. I've got quite a few on my TBR and I need some short quick reads right now. Also, they're all horror, so they'll put me in a Halloween mood. Here's the lineup:

The Murders of Molly Southbourne
Delphine Dodd
The Dream Quest of Vellitt Boe
Chasing the Dragon
Agents of Dreamland
Elizabeth: A Novel of the Unnatural

135rabbitprincess
lokakuu 1, 2018, 8:33 pm

A novella month sounds like a great way to chase away a blah reading month.

136sturlington
lokakuu 11, 2018, 9:13 am

Finished for book club: Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover

Tara Westover grew up in an environment that I found to be completely alien, even though we are both from the same country and time. Her survivalist family is dominated by a paranoid, delusional, bipolar father who denies his children access to school and health care. Her mother starts out subservient but gradually transforms herself as she builds a successful business, yet never really challenges her husband's dangerous beliefs. Tara's home environment is inherently abusive, but she only comes to realize that as she grows older and begins to get out into the world, and the memoir reflects that slow self-realization. Her father forces his children to work in a scrapyard without proper safety equipment or precautions, and the horrific accidents they suffer are harrowing; afterward, they are treated with her mother's homeopathic remedies and must endure needless pain and deformity. It's a wonder none of them died. Tara's older brother is so completely damaged by his upbringing that he becomes abusive toward his sisters and eventually his wife, yet no one in the family will acknowledge his abuse. Eventually, Tara does escape, all the way to a doctorate program in Cambridge, where her reading on feminism and history gradually awaken her inner strength, her realization that what her family has taught her was wrong, and her determination to make her own life. This book was both moving and inspirational, and the only flaw it had was that I had a hard time understanding Tara's almost immediate success in higher education: was it due to innate talent or intense study or what? I wish she had shed more light on that aspect of her life, but otherwise this was an excellent book.

137mathgirl40
lokakuu 11, 2018, 10:53 pm

>134 sturlington: My appreciation of novellas has grown in the past couple of years. I like the fact that they are quick to read but still long enough to have some character development. It's great that publishers like Tor are putting more emphasis on novellas these days.

138sturlington
lokakuu 15, 2018, 7:44 am

Not a novella, but I finished The Female Persuasion by Meg Wolitzer.

I thought this novel, about a young woman coming of age who forms a mentorship relationship with an older, well-known feminist leader, was eminently readable and certainly captures this moment in our culture. Yet... perhaps it was too long, perhaps it focused too much on ancillary characters and was thus somewhat repetitive. There was something missing here, some a-ha moment in the center that makes everything coalesce. This just fell short of being a truly powerful read for me.

139sturlington
marraskuu 2, 2018, 4:26 pm

I finished four out of six novellas listed in >134 sturlington:, and I liked all of them except Delphine Dodd.

140sturlington
marraskuu 10, 2018, 8:20 am


Read The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn:

So once again I am sucked into reading the current hot book and finding it somewhat lacking. This one actually starts out very strong, and I was immediately sucked in. Anna Fox is an agoraphobe, unable to leave her (luxurious) Harlem house as a result of trauma yet to be revealed. So she spends her time spying on the neighbors, a la Rear Window. Of course, she sees a murder, or thinks she does--but later is told that the woman she thought was killed does not exist. Anna also watches a lot of old movies, and as she specifically references Vertigo, Gaslight, and Rosemary's Baby several times, the reader comes to expect that she herself is the victim of some clever mind manipulation. Unfortunately, when you bring such great stories into your own, yours had better measure up, and this one doesn't. Many readers will guess the twists ahead of time--I did, but was hoping the author wouldn't go for the obvious up until the final reveal--and the last part of the book reads like a screenplay for a B movie. I am always getting suckered into these types of books and always getting disappointed. I guess the lesson here is not to mention Hitchcock if you can't bring the goods like he did.

141sturlington
marraskuu 10, 2018, 8:27 am

Y'all, I saw Hamilton! humblebrag

142rabbitprincess
marraskuu 10, 2018, 9:15 am

143sturlington
marraskuu 16, 2018, 8:55 am


Elevation by Stephen King

This is a lovely little book, a novella (not a novel), so yes, it is short. It is also not a typical Stephen King story. Scott is mysteriously losing weight, but not mass; rather, it's as if gravity is gradually weakening its hold on him. His new "lightness" causes him to look at the world with a different perspective, and he particularly regards his new neighbors, a lesbian couple struggling to make a success of their restaurant, with new empathy. This is a one-sitting read, more gentle and dare I say hopeful than a lot of King's work, and I enjoyed it.

144LittleTaiko
Muokkaaja: marraskuu 16, 2018, 12:09 pm

>141 sturlington: - That's great! It's such a wonderful show.

Also, our library conversation a while ago was probably the catalyst for me reading some of the books that had been out for over a year and returning the rest. Now, my new rule is to only have one out at a time. I've reduced my requests to make sure it's easier to keep that goal. It was so freeing to have that empty shelf space to use for other things. Plus, I've been reading more of my own books which is a plus.

145sturlington
marraskuu 16, 2018, 3:17 pm

>144 LittleTaiko: I'm trying to do something similar. I'm only allowing myself two checkouts at a time, and I'm trying to alternate with my own books.

146sturlington
Muokkaaja: joulukuu 6, 2018, 2:48 pm

Playing catch-up. November saw me reading a lot of suspense. Here was my favorite read of the month.



The Cabin at the End of the World by Paul Tremblay

If countless horror movies haven't convinced you that it's never a good idea to vacation in a remote cabin in the woods, this book surely will. Married couple Eric and Andrew are vacationing with their adopted daughter Wen in the New Hampshire backwoods when four very creepy people show up, break in, and tell them that the world is going to end imminently if they don't make a horrendous choice. The action takes place over the next couple of days as the suspense ratchets up to unbearable levels--and Tremblay does not take the action in expected directions. Some readers may not care for the ending, but I thought it was perfect, because the novel captured so well the existential uncertainty we all live in, having to make choices without knowing what the potential consequences may be and having to continue moving forward no matter what--a theme that elevates this above a mere thriller. Paul Tremblay is fast becoming one of my favorite horror writers, and his latest did not disappoint.

147whitewavedarling
joulukuu 7, 2018, 10:20 am

>146 sturlington:, I'm going to have to look that one up.... and then be careful of when I read it. I've spent a lot of time in an out-of-the-way part of New Hampshire and come across a lot of interesting characters, so I fear this will read extremely believably.... Probably not something for me to take along the next time I'm up there and reading in solitude by a lake!

148sturlington
joulukuu 7, 2018, 3:11 pm

>147 whitewavedarling: Oh, I definitely would not do that. You would freak yourself out for sure!

149dudes22
joulukuu 8, 2018, 7:56 am

>146 sturlington: - I'm not a horror reader (or watcher), but your first sentence was great.

150sturlington
joulukuu 26, 2018, 7:26 am



Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

Obviously, Eleanor Oliphant is not completely fine, or we wouldn't be reading about her. However, she is a great character: excessively formal, strangely naive for being 30, judgmental (but in a funny way). Also lonely, damaged, literally scarred, with a past so traumatic she can't remember it. I thought this was a very well-done treatment of depression, both realistic and not overly heavy, and following Eleanor along as she begins to lift herself out of it can feel cathartic. I also liked that this was almost but not quite a romance about people who both seemed real and like people I'd like to get to know.

151thornton37814
joulukuu 31, 2018, 11:25 am

152VivienneR
joulukuu 31, 2018, 3:14 pm

Wishing you a Happy New Year filled with good health and good reading.

153sturlington
tammikuu 1, 2019, 7:30 am

Happy new year to everyone. Here's my wind-down post.

STATS:
Read 73 books in total.
My best reading month was November with 8 books.
I participated in the ScaredyKIT 10 months, the SFFKit 8 months, and the RandomCAT 3 months. I didn't do any other CATs.
I only got 18 squares and one Bingo on the BingoDOG >14 sturlington:
I visited 25 US states and 15 world countries in my reading this year >15 sturlington:

154sturlington
tammikuu 1, 2019, 7:36 am

This year, my theme was Deep Dark South. I read 10 books that fit the theme, which I think is pretty good. Here's the list:

Cold Moon Over Babylon -- a bonkers ghost story set in Florida
The Salt Line -- an end-of-the-world survival story with killer ticks set in North Carolina
The Reapers Are the Angels - a zombie apocalypse story with a road trip from Florida to Texas
The Ridge - a ghost story set in the Appalachians in Kentucky
River of Teeth - an alternate history with hippos set on the Mississippi River in Louisiana
American War - a dystopia about a second Civil War set in the MAG (Mississippi-Alabama-Georgia)
We Should Have Left Well Enough Alone - short story collection by a Maryland author with one memorable story set in Baltimore
Greener Pastures - short story collection mostly set in the Appalachians
Those Across the River - historical werewolf story set in Georgia
Mongrels - contemporary werewolf story with a road trip from Arkansas to Florida and back again

155sturlington
tammikuu 1, 2019, 7:41 am

My five-star books of the year were (in the order I read them):

Hunger: A Memoir of My Body by Roxane Gay
Sleeping Beauties by Stephen and Owen King
The Reapers Are the Angels by Alden Bell
The Power by Naomi Alderman
American War by Omar el Akkad
Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado
Red Clocks by Leni Zumas
Strange Weather by Joe Hill
The Changeling by Victor LaValle

My lowest-rated books were:
Six Wakes by Mur Lafferty
The Woman in the Window by A. J. Finn

You'll find next year's thread here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/297248

156sturlington
Muokkaaja: tammikuu 1, 2019, 10:34 am

Viestin kirjoittaja on poistanut viestin.

157sturlington
Muokkaaja: tammikuu 1, 2019, 7:55 am

Happy New Year everyone! I posted three wrap-up posts and none of them saved so I'm a bit frustrated. Urgh. Anyway, here's my 2019 thread: https://www.librarything.com/topic/297248

158sturlington
Muokkaaja: tammikuu 1, 2019, 10:34 am

Viestin kirjoittaja on poistanut viestin.

159sturlington
Muokkaaja: tammikuu 1, 2019, 10:34 am

Viestin kirjoittaja on poistanut viestin.

160rabbitprincess
tammikuu 1, 2019, 10:24 am

Happy new year! Great stats for 2018 :)

161sturlington
tammikuu 1, 2019, 10:34 am

Hey, my posts came back! Yay!

162christina_reads
tammikuu 1, 2019, 7:44 pm

I'm glad you gave 5 stars to The Reapers Are the Angels, as that's been on my TBR shelves for several years. Maybe 2019 will be the year I finally read it!

163sturlington
tammikuu 2, 2019, 6:35 am

>162 christina_reads: It's a very original take on the zombie apocalypse. You could read it for ScaredyKIT. I think next month is undead month.