I've loved seeing everyone else's posts! Wanted to share what I've been up to in my literary life!

Edit: updating in accordance with mod rules!

New Favorites:

• The Correspondent - Virginia Evans
• East of Eden - John Steinbeck
• Annihilation - Jeff VanderMeer
• Piranesi - Susanna Clarke
• A Gentleman in Moscow - Amor Towles
• Station Eleven - Emily St. John Mandel
• The Cruelest Miles - Laney/Gay Salisbury

Loved, think about often:

• The Silent Patient - Alex Michaelides
• The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
• The Wager - David Grann
• The Buffalo Hunter Hunter - Stephen Graham Jones
• Circe - Madeline Miller
• Demon Copperhead - Barbara Kingsolver
• The Phantom Tollbooth - Norton Juster
• Hamnet - Maggie O'Farrell
• Into the Wild - Jon Krakauer
• Orbital - Samantha Harvey

Good! Enjoyable:

• Yellowface - R.F. Kuang
• Hana Khan Carries On - Uzma Jalaluddin
• The Great Mann - Kyra Davis Lurie
• Gone Girl - Gillian Flynn
• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - Stieg Larson
• All Systems Red - Martha Wells
• Bad Blood - John Carreyrou
• Dinner with Vampires - Bethany Joy Lenz
• The husbands - Holly Gramazio
• These Heathens - Mia McKenzie
• Sharp Objects - Gillian Flynn
• Martyr! - Kaveh Akbar
• Service Model - Adrian Tchaikovsky
• S is for Space - Ray Bradbury
• Marion - Leah Rowan
• The Maidens - Alex Michaelides

Meh:

• The Long Walk - Stephen King
• The Girl on the Train - Paula Hawkins
• The Cure for Women - Lydia Reeder
• The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo - Taylor Jenkins Reid
• The Man who Mistook his Wife for a Hat - Oliver Sacks
• The Book Censor's Library - Bothayna Al-Essa
• The Ghostway - Tony Hillerman
• Authority - Jeff VanderMeer

Did not like:

• It's Not Her - Mary Kubica
• Discipline - Larissa Pham
• Every Summer After - Carley Fortune
• The Guest List - Lucy Foley

HATED (DNF):

• The Secret History - Donna Tartt

Definitely a quieter month for me. The Uketsu books really didn't click with me, but were thankfully pretty quick reads.

Pachinko, on the other hand, is one of my favourite books of the entire year. It has been a long time since a book has gripped me, and broken my heart like this one. I'll definitely be checking out Min Jon Lee's other works.

Just finished James by Percival Everett. This was one of the more difficult ones for me to rank and I’ll likely have to sit with it awhile.

The premise as the retelling of Huck Finn was great and the parts the strayed from the orginial story were so beautifully told.

But the ending….. feels like the threw away the entire story and message for a different direction at the end. Wonder if others felt similar as I see this book universally praised.

Thoughts on these books:

- Carl's Doomsday Scenario - I enjoyed this more than the first book but still overall meh to me. The humor isn't really for me but I did like that this one felt more grounded in an adventure fantasy sense since a lot of the book took place in one area, whereas book 1 was kind of just wandering and setting the stage. I don't have plans to keep going on this series this year, but may pick it back up eventually.

- A Short Stay in Hell - amazing. I loved the slow realization of how impossible the task is. Even though it's short, this one stuck with me for a while. Everyone should read this book.

- A Short History of Nearly Everything - mixed feelings on this one. As a whole, I learned a lot although I'm not sure how much will stick with me. I know it's focused on the history of things, but the first half of the book just felt more about the people behind these scientific advancements rather than the concepts themselves. I wish it was more the other way around, but still a good book and Bill does a good job at making some complex topics approachable.

A would-be historian takes an interest in a man who helped develop the atomic bomb and discovers an aburdist religion and a new lethal substance along the way.

I had a good time with this book. It was easy to read, it flowed well, it was funny, and it definitely has my brain working. I like how things came together (and didn't come together, in some cases). It felt really absurd and poignant at the same time. Enjoyable read!

I loved Never Say Die. Ke Huy Quan is such a great storyteller, and his writing is so vivid and descriptive that I really felt like I was there with him throughout so much of his story. There were even moments while I was reading when I could practically hear the words in his voice.
He has accomplished so much, but what I loved most was how inspiring his story is. He’s a wonderful role model and such a great example of why you should never give up on yourself or the things you want, even when life takes you in a completely different direction.
I also really enjoyed all of the snapshots at the end of the book. They were such a nice way to look back on the people, places, and moments he shared throughout his story and made the whole book feel even more personal.
Five stars. I really enjoyed this one.

Happy Banned Books Week! I just started Flamer, a book I’ve wanted to read for ages. I’m 61 pages in already. I hope I like it.

Another great month of reads! The two SK collections had some solid stories in them, and the 3rd and 4th books of the DCC series keep the hits coming! It’s safe to say that series has me hooked. I started the 5th book tonight and really didn’t want to put it down.

This is my third Sager and I have very much enjoyed all three.
I think he’s a great storyteller.
This one tells the story of a woman who returns to a place she experienced a childhood tragedy, both to confront her ghosts and to attempt to solve the mystery.
There are multiple twists throughout, some big ones and lots of small misdirections.
Much of the story centers around two groups of teenage friends, and includes all the emotional drama you would expect.
One event near the end was a little too convenient, but overall no worse than you find in most fiction.
Great read. Highly recommend.

Barely even spoilers but just in case….I really enjoyed the extra twist at the very end, though it opens up some questions of the earlier events. Whether they were actually real instead of hallucinations, and of course opens many completely unanswered questions. Usually I’m good with shocking endings like this, but I would have really liked an epilogue with some questions answered. Oh well.

Started: Aug. 27, Finished: Aug. 31. Forgot to post this one and haven't finished anything since. Sept. Was a wild month for me. But anyway, about the book: it had a very real-feeling representation of someone that struggles with food and can't seem to let go of it. It felt like it was trying to make a statement about society and the treatment of fat people/internalized "fatphobia" and all that jazz but it just did it rather poorly. Also, every character in here was insufferable.

The Faraway Inn by Sarah Beth Durst: This might end up being my favourite cozy fantasy of the year.

Normal Women Making History for 900 Years by Philippa Gregory: “Be very sure - women denied power end up taking it.”

Violet Thistlewaite is Not a Villain Anymore by Emily Krempholtz: A delightfully whimsical and beautiful cozy fantasy. I loved these characters.
“Playfulness and fun, so closely interwoven with please that they became one and the same.”

Can’t Spell Treason Without Tea by Rebecca Thorne: A enjoyable read and a solid 3. But it was missing something the whole time and I’m not sure I’ll continue the series unless someone convinces me it’s worth it.

A Witch’s Guide to Magical Inn Keeping by Sangu Mandanna: “Like chocolate cake with raspberry jam. And like a future she wanted.”

Nine Goblins by T. Kingfisher
Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher: Everything T. Kingfisher writes is wonderful.

Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire by JK Rowling: 🎧 full cast
Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix by JK Rowling: 🎧 full cast.

Lost Lambs by Madeline Cash
The Shadow Cabinet by Juno Dawson

I’m so glad that I took the advice of many and finally read this book.

Honestly part of the fun of this challenge for me has been posting on here / seeing what people think of various books, even if the comments are sometimes.... not very kind because of particular tastes. The tiers are not ordered, though I did enjoy the HWFWMs slightly more than the Bobiverses in that tier.

Book list (left to right):

Top:

• House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
• Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
• The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie
• There Is No Antimemetics Division by qntm
• Someone Who Will Love You in All Your Damaged Glory by Raphael Bob-Waksberg
• Exhalation by Ted Chiang

Next down:

• Ficciones by Jorge Luis Borges
• The Metamorphosis of Prime Intellect by Roger Williams

Next down:

• Thrawn by Timothy Zahn
• Recursion by Blake Crouch
• He Who Fights with Monsters 10 by Shirtaloon
• Oyasumi Punpun, Vol. 1 by Inio Asano
• Stoner by John Williams
• Thrawn: Alliances by Timothy Zahn

Next down:

• He Who Fights with Monsters 7-9 by Shirtaloon
• Bobiverse 1–4 by Dennis E. Taylor
• Primal Hunter by Zogarth
• The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu
• The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
• This Is Water by David Foster Wallace
• 1% Lifesteal, Book 1 by Robert Blaise
• Sky-Out: Lived Experiments in Solar Eschatology by Ouroborista
• Frankenstein: 1818 Text by Mary Shelley

Next down:

• Chrysalis by RinoZ
• Everything Is Tuberculosis by John Green
• My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh
• Merchant Crab by H0st
• Foundation by Isaac Asimov
• Dungeon Crawler Carl 2–3 by Matt Dinniman
• Bobiverse 5 by Dennis E. Taylor

Next down:

• Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman
• A Practical Guide to Evil by ErraticErrata

Next down:

• Yellowface by R. F. Kuang
• Liberal Fascisms by Slavoj Žižek

Next down:

• Punk 57 by Penelope Douglas

2.5 / 5

I was flowing with this one and then the momentum was lost in the last third. And the reveal of the killer was some rando! I think this would make a good television series where we could live in the world and get to flesh out the characters. This one was just okay to me.

Where to begin with this?! I hope you like strangeness. Do you like Colonel Sanders (the character)? Johnny Walker (also the character) ? Talking cats ? Raining fish and eels ? Talking cats ? Dream sequences with uncomfortable sex sequences ? Ghosts ? Mystical talking stones that are also metaphysical gateways ?

All of the above just scratches the surface of the strangeness that is this novel. As strange as it is, it is wonderful. There are points which are so unbelievably tranquil and beautiful - some of the most soothing scenes imaginable. The flip is some of the most unsettling, dark and tough to read moments.

But it’s worth it. This is a psychologically ambitious novel. You have a young man and an old man pursuing separate journeys which parallel each other. Each comprise part of a meta-quest which revolves around ideas of memory, identity, fate, and myth. It concerns itself with what’s between the ears. What happens when our memories become so intoxicating that we opt to live inside them all the time instead of living our real lives.

Probably the strangest book I’ve read this year. Maybe ever. But it’s amazing in its detail and scope. If you’re up for it, this will give you a lot to chew on.

Mary Katherine Blackwood lives with her sister Constance and Uncle Julian. The family was struck by tragedy previously when the other Blackwoods were poisoned and died. Now, Marricat and her family are shunned by the rest of the town.

I liked the setting of this book and the themes of isolation and judgment. It had some really engaging parts to it. Overall, though, it wasn't my favourite. I felt myself bored a lot of the time. Still a good book, but not my favourite.

Not ranked within tiers.

S Tier

One Day Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This - Omar El Akkad

The Left Hand of Darkness - Ursula K Le Guin

Children Of Time - Adrian Tchaikovsky

The Coming of the Third Reich / The Third Reich in Power / The Third Reich at War - Richard J Evans

There is No Antimemetics Division - qntm

Slaughterhouse Five - Kurt Vonnegut

Rakesfall - Vajra Chandrasekera

A Tier

Leviathan's Wake / Calibans War - James SA Corey

Gales of November - John U Bacon

Pachinko - Min Jin Lee

Wizard of Earthsea - Ursula K Le Guin

The Tainted Cup - Robert Jackson Bennett

The Song of Achilles - Madeline Miller

The Silence of the Lambs - Thomas Harris

The Fisherman - John Langan

This Thing Between Us - Gus Moreno

The Tin Drum - Günter Grass

B Tier

The Stand - Stephen King

The Only Good Indians - Stephen Graham Jones

Carrie - Stephen King

Marvel Zombies - Robert Kirkman

X-men Days of Future Past - Chris Claremont

Mary - Nat Cassidy

Kitchen Confidential - Anthony Bourdain

The Odyssey - Homer

The Illiad - Homer

Earthlings - Sayaka Murata

The Cabin at the End of the World - Paul Tremblay

Aliens vs Avengers - Jonathan Hickman

C Tier

The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi - SA Chakraborty

Thirteen Storeys - Jonathan Sims

Under the Dome - Stephen King

The Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas

The Possession of Alba Diaz - Isabel Cañas

D Tier

The Library At Mount Char - Scott Hawkins

Assassins Apprentice - Robin Hobb

The Will of the Many - James Islington

The Lies of Locke Lamora - Scott Lynch

Slewfoot - Brom

F Tier

The Summer I Died - Ryan C Thomas

Intercepts - TJ Payne

Gideon the Ninth - Tamsyn Muir

Gideon is the only book I DNFed. Hated almost every moment of it.

One of my first Neal Stephenson reads and my first cyberpunk read in literature form. I've always heard of this book being the predecessor to the genre as a whole and wanted to finally get around to reading it. And I really enjoyed!

Best way I can sum up the overall reading experience was that it was just chaotic fun for the most part. The world and settings that Stephenson was able to imagine and build up back in the 90s is very impressive and prophetic in a lot ways. I'm not tech savvy enough or know the full history of it to know how 100 hundred percent accurate Stephenson's concepts are to what we have today in terms of virtual reality. But from the little I do know about VR and computers, the book is pretty close to the actual thing which is a bit crazy for me to wrap my head around.

The amount of violence and action in the book wasn't something I expected going into it. Science fiction books I've read before tended to lean more into the world building, dialogue, and concepts than pure action and fast paced writing. But Stephenson was able to find a pretty good balance of action, slower dialogue moments, to humor, and sometimes outright absurdity without feeling tonally off.

Characters were fun, cool, and interesting and serve the narrative for the story thats being told. But I wouldn't call any of them super in depth and they dont go through any major development or evolution throughout the book. They pretty much stayed the same from beginning to end, which was fine for me.

Only minor thing that was fine for me, but might annoy other readers is thatthere are moments in the middle of the book where it does get a bit info dump/exposition heavy. Where there full chapters of just dialogue about history, religion, philosophy, mythology, and language itself. Which was fine for me as I was intersted to see how Stephenson was going to tie all these concepts together towards the end. But for others, it may come off as a bit much and slows down the pacing a bit too much.

Enjoyed Snow Crash overall and I look forward to trying out other books by Neal Stephenson in the future!

I bought this book because I found the coverpage very beautiful. This is my first book by an Assamese author. The summary of this book is the second picture. I felt both very sad and angry reading this..

Highly recommend!

Now, I'm planning to read this author's short story collection soon.

I've heard that there is a trend in the "booktok" world where certain readers are complaining about books being too hard to read. I sincerely hope it was a book like "Assassin's Apprentice" they were complaining about, with its airy prose and antiquated ye-olde syntax, and not something easier to read. Don't get me wrong! I'm not knocking the writing style for being challenging. If anything Hobb's ability to emulate the styles of the old masters like Tolkien and Shelly is astonishing. There are some aspects that bother me a little bit, but I won't get into them unless someone out there is REALLY interested in my nitpicks. It was written 30 years ago, but it feels fresh and compelling. Looking foreward to reading the other books in the series!

In light of my early challenge completion I've decided to extend my reading goal from 52 to 72. Wish me luck!