33 replies to this topic

[SweeneyxxTodd]

Edit: since I don't really do yearly Reading Challenge topics anymore, I've removed the year designation from the topic title entirely.

 

It begins....

Previous Reviews

 

I know I still need to get caught up on my reviews for like...the last fifteen books I read in 2017, and I will, but since it's now officially 2018, I figured I'd start my now-annual topic where you guys can keep up with what I'm reading and what I think about it.

 

I've set my goal at 60 books again. I almost got to it this year, even though I had to scramble last minute to finish a bunch of half-started stuff and cram in a few novellas, but I was only short by 2 books. If I hadn't gotten in such a crazy bad reading slump in October/November, I might have been able to meet or even succeed that goal. So I'm setting it again, with the hopes that this year I can meet it and then can set my sights higher for the year after.

 

 

Some of my other goals for this year:

 

Read at least 3 nonfiction books (managed to barely meet this last year, so I'm hoping to do so again)

Read at least 1 classic

Read at least 2 of the "books" in my Andrew Lang bindup of fairy tales

Read all of Rick Riordan's currently published books (except Kane Chronicles, of course, which I tried and really did not like) *6 still outstanding as of Jan 1st*

Read all of the currently published Stormlight Archive books (halfway through book 1, 3 books currently published as of Jan 1st)

 

Wish me luck, guys!

[SweeneyxxTodd]

Hahahaha I was looking for my most recent one of these to post my most recent read, and apparently it's this one. And I never posted beyond the topic starter

Anyway. Finally read Oathbringer, the third book of the Stormlight Archive. Tim and I started listening over Thanksgiving weekend and it took until the drive home from our eclipse trip to finish. I really enjoyed it! It took a bit longer to get into compared to The Way of Kings and Words of Radiance. This is Dalinar's book, so all the flashbacks are about his past. And while I appreciate his character journey, they just didn't really capture my attention the way Kaladin's did in book one. Shallan's flashbacks didn't hold me much in WoR either, but I seem to remember that book having more engaging plot in part one to make up for it. Not saying this book wasn't good (it was excellent, I gave it 5 stars), it just starts slower than the others and that's saying something because uh...yeah these books kinda all take a while to get started. Also Words of Radiance has my favorite fight scene ever

Spoiler

AND FOR MY BOON!

. I appreciate that this book's ending climax was very different from the others, being mostly carried by internal/interpersonal emotions and interactions than battle action. It was nice to shake things up, and we did get a big standard battle earlier, in I think part 3?

Tim and I definitely got teary eyed during several moments in the big finale. Always the next step, Dalinar. Journey before destination.

[Katia11]

I'm glad you enjoyed it, Mary!

[Mara=^.^=]

Anyway. Finally read Oathbringer, the third book of the Stormlight Archive.

 

That one's on my list, but my friend Sarah keeps recommending random new stuff every week, so I never get to it

 

~*Mara*~ = ^.^ =

[SweeneyxxTodd]

That one's on my list, but my friend Sarah keeps recommending random new stuff every week, so I never get to it

~*Mara*~ = ^.^ =

Did you finish Words of Radiance already? Last I remember you were at the part about pooping in Shardplate.

[Mara=^.^=]

Did you finish Words of Radiance already? Last I remember you were at the part about pooping in Shardplate.

 

Yeah, I finished shortly after posting that. I just haven't written a review because it'd be like 12 paragraphs and I'm too damn tired for that

 

~*Mara*~ = ^.^ =

[Katia11]

That's fair. I haven't written a review in ages. I don't even star them anymore.

 

I admit that the more I listen to you two talk about this series, the more I am tempted to try it. But as I've mentioned, I'm just.. VERY intimidated. *looks at her copy of the way of kings nervously*

[SweeneyxxTodd]

That's fair. I haven't written a review in ages. I don't even star them anymore.

I admit that the more I listen to you two talk about this series, the more I am tempted to try it. But as I've mentioned, I'm just.. VERY intimidated. *looks at her copy of the way of kings nervously*

Hahaha yeah you could knock someone out with one swift blow to the head with any of those books. I feel like ebook or audiobook are the way to go with that series, so you can't see how huge they are and get intimidated.

[SweeneyxxTodd]

Yeah, I finished shortly after posting that. I just haven't written a review because it'd be like 12 paragraphs and I'm too damn tired for that

~*Mara*~ = ^.^ =

Lol

Abridged version of your thoughts?

[Katia11]

Hahaha yeah you could knock someone out with one swift blow to the head with any of those books. I feel like ebook or audiobook are the way to go with that series, so you can't see how huge they are and get intimidated.

Well, I tentatively started The Way of Kings today. I think I'll go slow and probably pick up other books while working my way through it. But still, I'm going to give this a freaking shot because I have heard SO many good things.

 

I think you and Mara have way too much influence over me. It's frightening. 

[SweeneyxxTodd]

Join us, Katie! Join us!

[Katia11]

Gladly.

[Mara=^.^=]

Lol

Abridged version of your thoughts?

 

Overall, I thought it was a really interesting book. I loved seeing things from the Parshendi perspective. I sorely missed Jasnah's presence, but getting to hear more from Szeth was great. Kaladin's moral struggle felt believable, and I like that the narrative didn't shy away from his flaws. Unfortunately, I can't stand Shallan, and she's just everywhere in this book. All of the other characters feel like living, breathing people, but there's never a point where Shallan comes across as a real person. Sanderson is trying to do way too much with her; at times, it feels like she is actually two characters in a trench coat. And the quips! Dear God are they forced. Unlike Wit, who's actually funny, Shallan just has this energy to her, like Sanderson is wildly gesticulating at her the whole time, saying "Isn't she quriky? Isn't she clever? Eh? Eh?" It's SO TEDIOUS.

 

~*Mara*~ = ^.^ =

[SweeneyxxTodd]

Yeah, the first time I read Way of Kings I was kinda meh about Shallan. She eventually grew on me. I think the audio narrator makes her jokes land better than they do in my internal narration. I also think Shallan is supposed to come off as a bit cringe? I always got the impression that most of the people who laugh at her jokes were just humoring her because they were directly employed by her, or they were her depressed brothers who just wanted any sort of humor to distract them from feeling miserable. Jasnah tells her multiple times that she's not as funny as she thinks she is and she should learn to filter her commentary lol

 

But yeah, Shallan is definitely a divisive character in the fandom. Some people just never end up liking her much.

 

 

 

at times, it feels like she is actually two characters in a trench coat.

 

Definitely intentional. More on this in book 3

[Mara=^.^=]

Yeah, the first time I read Way of Kings I was kinda meh about Shallan. She eventually grew on me. I think the audio narrator makes her jokes land better than they do in my internal narration. I also think Shallan is supposed to come off as a bit cringe? I always got the impression that most of the people who laugh at her jokes were just humoring her because they were directly employed by her, or they were her depressed brothers who just wanted any sort of humor to distract them from feeling miserable. Jasnah tells her multiple times that she's not as funny as she thinks she is and she should learn to filter her commentary lol

 

I actually like groan-worthy remarks to balance out my witty repartée, thank you very much. I get what Sanderson was going for, but the verbal connections Shallan makes are so jarringly unintuitive that they threw me out of the narrative. I had to repeatedly pause and put the book down for a second while I tried to figure out what she was trying to convey. It was frustrating from a reading comprehension standpoint.

There were so many opportunities for her to make genuinely funny (or genuinely cringey) remarks, and Sanderson just...sidesteps them all, in favor of quips that sound like they were written by a sentient word processor. Nobody talks like that.

 

~*Mara*~ = ^.^ =

[SweeneyxxTodd]

 

A modern retelling of The Scarlet Letter, set in a religious small town in the South post-Roe v Wade repeal.

 

The narration was a bit repetitive at times -- phrases like "I tell her everything. How..." and then listing all the things that happened with Tess and her abuser. There was also a lot more telling than showing, which got a bit tedious. I think this book really could've benefited from an extra 50-75 pages, so there could be more on screen development of Tess's new friendships with the kids in the music room, and more variety in the story. I still enjoyed myself reading it, so I'm going with 3 stars instead of 2.

 

Completely random, but I really liked that the church at the center of Tess's life was a Presbyterian one. Usually books choose a Baptist or non-denominational church as the backdrop for this stuff. I was not expecting a Mainline Protestant church lol

[SweeneyxxTodd]

 

 

I've enjoyed every Lisa See novel I've read, and this one was just as excellent. The scenes depicting footbinding were particularly uncomfortable to read, even more so than in her other novels (I'm wondering if its because of the more anatomical description, or just because this is the first time since becoming a mother that I've read one of these books, or maybe a combination of the two). I did very much enjoy Yunxian's determination to create a circle of loving women who support each other, even after they've wronged each other. Yunxian may be my favorite protagonist of any of See's novels so far, because of this trait.

 

4 Stars. I had to knock off a star because the footbinding descriptions were too disturbing and I almost felt sick a few times reading them.

[Katia11]

I have at least a few Lisa See novels on my tbr. Did you have a favorite?

[SweeneyxxTodd]

Either this one or Peony in Love.

[SweeneyxxTodd]

 

It feels a bit weird rating a memoir, almost like rating someone's life story. But the reading experience (or, listening experience, since I listened to the audiobook) for this was engrossing. Jennette McCurdy has a way of writing and reading that holds your attention, and did an excellent job of writing from the perspective she had at that time in her life, rather than her current perspective "looking back", and it made it easier to put yourself in her place and understand her thought process. She did an excellent job showing the complex and complicated emotions she felt (and in some cases still feels) about her abusive mother and the things she did to her.

 

This book was frequently deeply uncomfortable and distressing to listen to, but given the subject matter, that's honestly a very good thing. You *should* feel uncomfortable about all the things this woman was forced to endure and all the ways the adults around her failed to protect her, and often enabled her mother or exploited her themselves.

 

I hope she far out earns the Nickelodeon hush money with the sales of this book, and any other thing she chooses to do.

 

5 stars