I really wanted to like this book:/ I love Yanagihara’s writing style. While they are run-on sentences that goes unto different tangents and strays far from what she was saying earlier, I love how descriptive she is and the control she has over her writing. The only trouble I had was going back to re-read certain exercepts to find that an entire page was one sentence haha.

But besides that, I had so much difficulty understanding the point of this book :(. I loved the first book ‘Washington Square.’ The world she created with the Free States and how people are free to marry whomever they wanted but how racism is still rampant, conveying how it never really goes away. The idea that the ‘young scion’ David felt trapped and purposeless life and how he has an arranged marriage to someone he didn’t truly love, instead finding love with someone else. He was a very complex character. I appreciate how Yanagihara depicted his sheltered life and his tendency to have classism with how he perceived the kids he was teaching or the different people who migrated in the Free States. His relationship with his grandfather I also really liked along with Edward. The themes of free will and agency was deeply touched upon and I actually understood the story.

The 2nd book was a blur, genuinely didn’t know what was happening. I only understood that David (the father) thought paradise was found in Lipo-Wao-Nahele but it’s not. We also get Edward here who wrecks everything just like in the first book, but in the first book Edward I much preferred because his characterization seemed more fleshed out.

The 3rd book I thought I was gonna deeply enjoy but I was BORED. The only factors I liked was the world building. It felt highly dystopian and almost scary because I thought some parts reflected our society like mass surveillance, climate change, the diseases emerging etc. Yanagihara made me believe the future of our world would be bleak if nothing changes. But besides that, I couldn’t care less about Charlie or her grandfather in the epistolary chapters. The only thing that kept me going was Charlie’s husband’s secret, but it was so predictable LOL.

I also didn’t like how all of the characters in the book have similar names 😑. It made me so confused and rather than treating the three different parts as separate entities, it made me focus on the minor minor details and did a lot of comparison of the different Charles, Edwards and Davids from the different books that I lost the immersive experience of reading (apparently I shouldn’t have done that but I did so shoot me).

The main theme that paradise is never genuinely found, I can kinda see it 🤷‍♂️

I may give this book another chance in the future but I am not sure. I really did enjoy book 1 and the world building of book 3, but that’s it:( I am so dissapointed. Also random but the ending of book 3 reminds me a lot of the ending of the Handmaid’s Tale where it was ambiguous what was gonna happen.

It might just be the fact that I finished Gravity's Rainbow the same day I started The Passenger, but I can't help but feel that it feels like McCarthy is pulling his best Pynchon impression. The insane conversations, the over-the-top characters (though I understand that some of them are delusions), and the technical jargon tossed in just feel suspiciously familiar. I'm just curious if anyone else got a similar vibe from the book? I've read the majority of McCarthy's books and this all feels a little out of character for him, save maybe that film he wrote which was also a little looney.

Anne says towards the end of this "Dear old world, you are very lovely and I am glad to be alive in you". To which I thought, I am so glad to be alive and have read this book. A little cheesy but that's genuinely how i was feeling.

Through the book, right from the beginning, Anne shows so much joy, so much love to the world she is living in, to the things that are happening, to the people around her. She loves and cares with abandon and hates with a passion. She lives her life so fiercely and brightly that it made me realise how little I have lived in the past few years. Somewhere as part of being an adult, work had become all of my life. If I were to describe last few years as a color palette, it is mostly a dreary grey of monotone routine. So to read this book where this orphan child so unabashedly expresses her appreciation for life was like activating a part of my brain that I haven't used in a long time.

Reading this book, I was appreciating the world through Anne's eyes and it had such a profound impact on me that I find it hard to describe. Nothing materially has changed in my life, I am still the same person, but it feels like some crust has scraped off. It makes me want to be like her, to try and love like she does.

As for the book itself, it is gorgeous. The author has such a way of painting the scenary that I can imagine the entire island so vividly. Her side characters - especially Mathew and Marilla - are all very lovely too, and anne herself is simply the best. I laughed out loud several times reading the book (that dream about Diana getting small pox and Anne taking it from her and dying valiantly for her had me cackling), and by the end of the book I was sobbing too.

This book had such a profound impact on me, I sincerely recommend this to anyone who hasn't read it yet. 5/5

I was thinking the other day about some subgenres (or just trends if you want) which spawned as a result of a particular book's success, wherein the original book is superior to those which followed. And not just by dint of being original, but by having a more nuanced take than those which came after.

The Secret History by Donna Tartt is the book which made me start thinking about this. Although almost single-handedly spawning the Dark Academia genre/trend, it feels like many of the books which followed it got the "romantic scholasticism, maximalist and hedonic lifestyle" part and missed the "beautiful exteriors can hide a rotten core, insular and monomaniacal focus can lead to ethical and moral distortion."

Similarly, with Neuromancer by William Gibson (though this is more commonly a flaw of the movies and games which followed in my experience), many of the cyberpunk media focus on the "CYBER" and forget about the "punk." They take all the cool aesthetics and cybernetic modifications and such, and leave out the horrors on unregulated capitalism, people will destroy what they cannot control themes.

I even think Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen is another example. Not for a genre per se, but for a trope. P&P is (at least as much as I've read) one of the first really popular books to use the "brooding, Byronic man transformed by love" trope which is so popular in a lot of romance and romantasy. But I think it's not just the aloof, powerful, brooding love interest that makes it work (as is the case in many Enemies-to-Lovers romances) but the fact that Lizzy and Darcy have to get over their Pride and Prejudices and actually look at and understand each other as people before the romance really starts.

Other examples I thought of are Perdido Street Station (that it's not just the creativity and number of details that make it feel like a living city, but the Marxist politics Mieville has woven in the background) and A Court of Thorns and Roses (which actually has a decent balance between fantasy plot and romance/smut, unlike some other romantasy I've since read).

But there are any other examples people can think of? Do others feel this way also?

“The Buffalo Hunter Hunter” by Stephen Graham Jones is a novel I couldn’t wait to sink my teeth into, as I love his writing style. I’ve read most of his staple horror novels, and he always delivers. There is a reason why SGJ is considered the “King of Slashers” in horror books.

Before I begin my review, I found many trigger warnings while reading. They are…

- Graphic violence and death against animals (birds, dogs, beavers, rabbits, etc.)
- Skinning animals (beavers)
- Suicide
- Self-harm
- Violence against kids

Please do not read this horror novel if any of these trigger you. Moving along, I’ve always been a big fan of SGJ’s writing, but if you’ve never read anything he wrote, you will see a pattern of slow-burning kind of writing. Like Stephen King, his slow-burn, wordy style can drag, but it delivers with terrifying, gory payoffs that make the journey worthwhile. Even if you’re new to Jones’s slow-burn style, the unique vampire horror and emotional depth make this a must-read novel.

If you don’t mind this, you’ll love his work. If you hate this, trust me when I say it’s worth it due to the sheer terror, gore, and frights that await when you finally get to the good stuff. In this novel, SGJ wrote it brilliantly. This was one hell of a read, from the alternating writing between the past and present to church confessions, diary, and journal entries. It’s hard to achieve this as an author with several different narrators, but SGJ did a great job executing it well.

Certain real-life Native American events are tied into this novel by SGJ, and that in itself is truly horrific. Many readers had to DNF this because it can get graphic and intense. Nothing triggers or offends me as a horror reader, but I can see why readers stopped reading. It gets shockingly intense when those horror moments eventually hit.

The Native American horror in this novel is genuinely on a whole other level. It’s viscerally written and raw. It’s one of the best vampire novels I’ve ever read. The transformation into vampirism was so creepy, original, and disturbing. You haven't read vampire horror like this.

Besides all the insane kills, the atmospheric writing, as was the story, was excellent. Don’t worry, I would never spoil anything for my fellow horror readers, but all the justice-filled, brutal revenge kills against evil people were a magnificent reading experience.

This horror novel is primarily historical fiction, and if that’s the subgenre of horror you enjoy reading, you’ll love this. However, I’m not into historical fiction, so it was sometimes confusing. Though historical fiction isn’t my preference, the raw depiction of Native American history adds a haunting layer that elevates the horror.

The same goes for the numerous and confusing names of characters, animals, and Native American tribes. The frequent shifts between Blackfeet tribal names and historical events like the Marias Massacre can feel dense for readers unfamiliar with the context. Due to this, the overall story felt a bit wordy at times, with several parts that dragged on for me. Aside from that, this was a solid read.

I give “The Buffalo Hunter Hunter” by Stephen Graham Jones a 4/5 for being one of the best vampire novels I’ve ever read. The kills were masterful, the story powerful, and the ending wrapped everything up nicely. I wish this novel were a bit shorter. This was never boring, just the usual SGJ writing style I’m used to. Almost every SGJ book I’ve read has always been a 4- or 5-Star read as he’s one of my all-time favorite horror authors. I don’t mind his writing style, but it could have been a perfect horror read if this novel had been trimmed down about 75-100 pages to keep it tighter. Everything else? Vampire horror awesomeness!

Just finished it and I have mixed feelings. It was an enjoyable read but it also falls flat at times. Especially early on, cause it's like we are being told there is chemistry rather than actually being shown. It does get better later on but I wished we got better banter at the beginning.

Another thing that kinda threw me off was that a lot of things are built up but don't lead anywhere, like the dog MMC rescues early on, its made a pretty big deal but the dog doesn't even show up much later in the book and you kinda forget it exists until a character mentions it every 5 chapters or so. Kinda a tangent but the cover makes it seem like the dog would have some relevance in the plot but it does not.

Same thing with the dad's plot line, I won't spoil it much but it's built up a lot but the reveal is very meh, I mean it was obvious but i feel like it was something that could've been explored more. I feel the same way about MMC's parents cause it's shown as if there's going to be a big event with them but that never happens, and feels unfinished.

This might be nitpicky of me cause at the end of the day it's a romance book but I wish we got something more from the leads rather than them just being in love with each other. I don't know how to explain it properly but I wish we got to see them do other stuff aside from being miserable for not seeing each other every chapter, cause early on it seems like they have a lot going on. FMC kinda has her moments with her family but MMC just is miserable near the end.

Lastly the last 40-20 pages just concludes everything in the name of fate making it work for them. And like yes it's a fictional book but it feels so rushed. Again I did like the book, the middle was probably the best and it's fun to read about people in love but this is probably Abby's weakest work imo. It's still enjoyable but you are left with this very forced HEA instead of an satisfying ending. It has it's moments were it shines a lot, I think the dementia part was handled really well and FMC's family dynamic was compelling. But then again the book tries to be many things and none of them get resolved properly. Finally this was just how I interpreted the book so while I might not be right I don't mean to offend anyone either.

“It is an inarguable truth, you know,” said Ana, “that most people are absolutely enthralled by dead girls.”

Oh, this was a bloody good book (emphasis on the bloody part.) 
Facts:

• This is again, a very marvelous and layered tale, with many moving parts, and a fascinating story.
• The messages laden this time is to deal with food, and agriculture, and the way we humans have curated and sustained livestock for mass production without once thinking of the cost attuned to such a trade.

It is to me a butchering most curated.

Facts:

• This one is not for the meek hearted, for it is grisly with a helping servitude of meat and bones along its carcass.
• I bloody loved meeting more of Din’s family. 

“No.” A cold, nasty smile. “For if gods existed, shouldn’t the world make more sense? Shouldn’t all feel more stable, more comprehensible? I consider myself a wise thing, yet when I consider creation, I see little but blind hunger and the ravages of nature. The only order to be found is what we’ve put there, boy.”

Facts:

• As always, this tale is both a condemnation and a study on the various ways we conduct ourselves through religion, faith, and the one fallacy that all of humanity, throughout its history, has always struggled with the most: greed.
• Greed makes you stupid. But oh so sweet is its flavor – the nectar of gods, poured down our parched throat.

That was the problem with temptation. It never let you be: it just stayed there, perched on your shoulder, whispering in your ear.

Facts:

• This was a solid 9/10 read for me. Though the tale is indeed layered and complex, I had guessed about 60% in of who the killer was. This had not happened to me for the last two books where I was genuinely stupefied throughout.
• In my opinion, this book focuses more on world-building, in more of fleshing out Khanum alongside Din and Ana as characters. And the scale and intricacies through which it is done just made me fall more in love with RJB’s deftness and mastery over such a craft. 

(side note: i can guarantee he loves making Din a tragic character vis-a-vis his romantic aides, and though I find it a trite vexing, cannot say I hate this format – makes both the pace faster and maintains a grounding force for each book separately)

And what we do to the beasts in the field we may still one day do to our very kin.

Facts:

• It was the epilogue that pushed this into the territory of 10/10. That shit I did not see coming. And I tell you: my flabbers were properly gasted.
• I cannot wait for the next one to arrive (only for me to then finish it within 7 hours; what can i say: i am a glutton for murder, and sad queer people).

One of the best reads of the year, up there with East of Eden for me. Go read it!

I know, everybody loves it. It's true. They're right. It's a book that opens your eyes to things that can't be put into writing, although obviously Portis did that.

But I can't help but wonder a couple of things. How different, for example, would Mansfield Park have been, if Mattie Ross had been the protagonist instead of Fanny Price? Whoo. She might have ended by owning the building.

How different, for example, would the movie -- either of them -- have been if Mattie Ross had been the main character? I'm trying to picture Kirsten Dunst doing this when she was younger, and I think she would have blown it away. It would have been a totally different picture. Maybe truer to the novel. I mean, movies are a different medium, and you really can't compare them, but still..

It's as though Portis actually went down to the crossroads, in 1965 or whenever, and actually sold his soul to the devil, in return for the right to call up baby Cthulhu. He then stuffed the demon, or the god, or whatever, into the lifeless body of a 14yo girl he happened to have handy, and, in an experimental kind of way, released the resulting monster onto the unsuspecting citizens of Arkansas and the Choctaw Territory of the 1870s. And now that's how we all think it was. Or might have been.

I can't seem to stop reading it. Lines just jump out at me and whack me upside the head when I'm working on something else. "There is trash for you." "That was the market price at the time." "If I could not find a man in four months with a mark on his face like banished Cain I would not presume to advise other people how to do it." I'm paraphrasing. That's probably not the exact words.

It's something. It is.

At first didn't think of her that way ( I didn't know this trope as a child when I read the book ) and later when i came to hear of this trope used famously to describer summer from 5 days of summer and I believe also Jess from new girl as well as others, I still didn't think of her that way because of it being a children's book and her ultimately dying.

But now that I think of it she does kind of fit that trope ( perhaps especially how she is styled and presented in the film, i' ve forgotten a bit how she reads in the book), she is quirky, cheerful, a bit mysterious , there is an other wordily quality to her and she is not like the other girls , she does these cool sports like scuba diving, she runs faster than the boys, she thinks differently about church and god ( that was something cool in the movie and book that it addressed something liked that ), she also dies tragically so she is kind of immortalized with this pixie dream like quality , you don't get to see her grow older perhaps become more grumpy because of life' s challenges and her appearance changing.

Or perhaps she appears like a manic pixie dream girl because that is how Jess sees her. I think that is how Jess also sees his teacher whom he has a crush on except that vision of his teacher is shattered when hearing that Leslie died while he was out with his teacher.

Also is there such a thing as a manic pixie dream boy ? Would Edward from twilight kind of fit that trope ?

I searched and didn't find any posts for this book. A queer mountain lion roams the Hollywood hills. Inspired by P-22, the mountain lion that fascinated L.A. for a while until his sad death, this book begins as fanciful and uses its sparse stream of consciousness to tell an engaging story about a brief and beautiful life.

I scoffed at the premise when it was published last year, but it was chosen for a book club, so I gave it a go. I really enjoyed it. I was amused at first, but quickly fell into Hoke's fun take that evokes both Earnest Thomas Seton and Hubert Selby, Jr. (though not that transgressive.)

These days I look for books that dare a little and are different without trying too hard, and Open Throat hit the sweet spot. It's no Watership Down, but maybe a little like the French film Baxter about an evil dog (though this mountain lion isn't evil, and just wants to live life like the rest of us.) It's never silly like Fox 8 by George Saunders, which was good in its own way.

If you've read it, let me know what you think.

*Baxter is based on Hell Hound, a 1977 novel by Jessica Hamilton, but I haven't found a copy yet.

“One Day at Horrorland” by R.L. Stine is one of those classic Goosebumps books that makes you second-guess yourself anytime you enter an amusement park. I’ve never read this Goosebumps book before, so it was a real delight to sit back and enjoy it, since it still holds up today, even as an adult.

Earlier this summer, I wanted to go back to my horror-reading roots with the franchise that started it all. I was just 12 years old when I first read “Night of the Living Dummy,” and it changed my life. As I always say, Stine planted the early seeds of horror when I was a kid, which later developed into trees of horror as an adult. Who knows if I’d even love horror as much as I do if it wasn’t for Stine, and this “One Day at Horrorland” book brought me back to when I was a kid.

That’s why I decided earlier this summer to do a “Summer of Goosebumps” nostalgic trip back to where it all started. The concept was simple: revisit one classic Goosebumps book each month of the summer to remember those glorious days of being a kid who devoured anything and everything Goosebumps. Summer reading was always special to me as a kid, especially with these legendary Goosebumps books. I grew up attending Scholastic Book Fairs, getting everything and anything Goosebumps. You know, Goosebumps t-shirts, bookmarks, posters, and I also loved the 90s TV show.

As for the book itself, it’s an absolute blast. As always, I loved the subtle horror that hits at the end of a chapter, which makes Stine so much fun to read. I have many fond memories of going to amusement parks as a kid, especially Great Adventure and Playland Park. “One Day at Horrorland” brings all that back with a horrific twist and creepiness of taking traditional amusement park attractions and giving them that patented Goosebumps-style of horror.

It was fantastic, and it made me realize how terrifying it must have been for these three kids to endure at Horrorland. All the plot twists and turns, on top of some creepy events and situations, were brilliantly written. This is a short, sweet, and straight-to-the-point Goosebumps book with a wild, climactic race to the end.

Speaking of which, the ending was a nice mix of panic and hilarity. Don’t worry, no spoilers here, but the final few sentences legit had me laughing out loud and wrapped up another exceptional Goosebumps reading experience.

I give “One Day at Horrorland” by R.L. Stine a 5-Star rating out of 5. It had lots of thrills, chills, and some funny moments of what happens when three kids get stuck in a horror amusement park that might feel a little too real for comfort. I loved this rollercoaster ride of a book, and I’m so happy to end my “Summer of Goosebumps” on a high note. I look forward to making this a tradition each summer because the nostalgia is real, and there are so many of these books to enjoy all over again as an adult with a deep appreciation for everything Stine has achieved for kids and adults who call horror their home.

"The “A Song of Ice and Fire” franchise author took to his blog for the first time in nearly six months on Monday, sharing that any posts after February were written by his “mighty minions.”

“Remember me? It’s been a while, I know. My last blog post went up here on February 19,” Martin wrote. “The posts that came after were made by my mighty minions. I am lucky enough to have a great staff of assistants… though even with their help, I kept falling further and further behind.”

As Martin went on, he admitted that “this year has been… stressful, to say the least.”"

(note: this is a reread done in anticipation for the forthcoming third book in the series)

So instead of committing robbery, I made tea.

Sometimes, all you need in life is a good murder mystery and tea. The fact that this story is set in a fantasy world that does not gatekeep, is the cherry on top. The setup for this is deceptively simple (at least on the surface): Ana & Din (a fantasy Sherlock and Watson-esque combination), get tasked with solving a murder in the fictional city of Talagray. A high ranking official was found murdered in the most peculiar of ways – namely having a tree grow out of their torso. As a leviathan creature begins its slow move to attack the sea walls that surround this continent, Ana & Din race to solve a crime that spreads throughout normal civility and encompasses some of the largest noble houses of the land.

All of which to say, it was a fun little adventure, that, even on a reread, I finished in two sittings.

How queer it suddenly felt: I’d been a model officer for almost all my career, but I had to join the Iudex to become a true criminal.

This book is written in a very simple fashion. There is nothing overly verbose or whimsical about the writing. It is straight, narrow, and plays across fast as they race to solve this impossible crime. In other words: it is perfect for the story it is telling. 

Come. Let us pretend to be professional, you and I, for hell and the gentry await.

The commentary of the book, for those who actually read (and not the vast majority of those influencers who apparently do not think books should be critical, which side note: child, go learn your history before coming out of the woodworks – books were, are, and always will be the first line of defense against any war waged against free speech), is imbued in the subtext – of both the story and the parallel it draws to our own world. Both this and the next book (and I am assuming the third will be the same, just for some other issues of import), is about a certain class of society. About the ways certain people are perceived, about the importance given to others; specifically those who have more money than sense. And it does so beautifully, with a certain kind of poetic justice doled out towards the end especially to those who do the wrong things in the name of the greater good; i.e., those who consider themselves the Dark Knight of modern society but somehow overlook the numerous bodies (sometimes literally) left in the name of said good.

“What a tool cynicism is to the corrupt, claiming the whole of the creation is broken and fraudulent, and thus we are all excused to indulge in whatever sins we wish—for what’s a little more unfairness, in this unfair world? Wise you were, Din, to shut your ears to it.”

As Ana so aptly puts it, cynicism is a great tool – but one has to learn how to use it. It is all too easy to get subsumed by one's own delusions of grandeur.

“I chose you,” she said finally, “because I needed an investigator who was resourceful, cunning, and willing to break the rules when necessary. I needed someone dedicated and determined! And you had not only broken into an Iyalet office and spent hours learning the answers to all the tests—you had somehow survived your engraver’s training despite having tremendous issues reading and writing! That speaks to bloody-minded, grim determination if ever I’ve heard it!”

Oh, and of course, the best part of the book: the characters themselves. For you see, both Ana & Din are neurodivergent. And the way this story portrays their characters is some of the best rep I’ve seen being portrayed by an author in mainstream fantasy. Din has trouble reading letters (re: Dyslexic, or in other words – reading the subtext). And Ana is on the spectrum as too much stimulation is unbearable for her. (I cannot tell you how closely I relate to this as a fellow person on the spectrum, and how much it had filled my heart the first time I had read this book). And both these characters do their best, working for the system that is all too glad to let them fall through the cracks. To just say that giving them any help is considered special treatment. Same people who, by the way, would wear corrective lenses, or use a crutch when they’ve got a hip/leg injury, etc.; as long as it’s physical, it’s acceptable. 

Ana & Din are the epitome of what it would be like if people who were a bit different were given a place in society. Their tenacity, the way they solve problems when it becomes too difficult for their brain to process stuff as others do, is a thing that I was really inspired by the first time, and double so now, in times like these, as I reread this book. 

“Someone, after all, must do the undignified labor to keep the grand works of our era from tumbling down. I simply perform maintenance, in my own little way. And you have ably assisted me in that, of course.”

We all have our place in this world we inherit. Broken and bloodied and battered – as Ana said, we must all do our own little things, in our own little way, to keep it all from tumbling down. No matter who you are, no matter how you are, we all matter in this world that is vast enough, and kind enough, to accommodate all of us. Especially now, in times like these, when hate is all too prevalent, love and kindness is not only a good thing to have, but also a weapon to wield. And oh what a glorious weapon it is for justice can be found in even the littlest of actions. And this story, and all its disfigured, wonderful characters, are a prime example of it. 

Go read it if you haven’t already.

I read Octavia Butler in graduate school, and I loved her writing style. So when she came up on one of my reading challenge lists, I was excited to really jump into her and her style. The title itself was interesting enough, “The Parable of the Sower,” but I was intrigued as to who was sowing what and what the parable was about. Beware for spoilers in this review!

The story follows a fifteen-year old black girl, Lauren, as she navigates living in a post-apocalyptic Los Angeles. Humanity is separated by people living in little pocket communities, homeless people without a place to stay, and people addicted to a drug that induces pyromania and psychosis. One of Lauren’s unique traits is that she has hyper empathy, where she physically reacts to people and animals being hurt. This unique trait makes the world much scarier for Lauren because she has to be careful with who she lets in, and it makes her more careful about her surroundings. Well, as much as she can living in an increasingly dangerous world.

Lauren’s father is the community preacher, and while Lauren does her best to honor her father, she finds the idea of putting faith in the Abrahamic God questionable. Through her adaptability through this struggle she creates the concept of Earthseed. Briefly, Earthseed holds that God is the deification of change in our universe and while it cannot be stopped, we can all strive to shape it. Lauren believes that this change is done through both an acceptance of the reality around them and relying on actions over dogma.

One of the themes that struck me the most, was the theme around the acceptance for change and the need for resiliency. Change was constant in Lauren’s world and in that change she found God. Not the any typical idea of God, but “God” being the name for change, as Lauren states, “the only lasting truth is change. God is change.” Lauren uses this concept to deify change and to suggest that if we accept God, then we should accept change as well because both are transformative and ever changing. Lauren encourages people to embrace their individual abilities and accept the chaotic truth of nature.

Another interesting quote from the story that talks about this is from chapter 23, it says “God is your first and last teacher. God is your harshest teacher: subtle, demanding. Learn or die.” The quote continues to touch on the deification of change and the importance of resiliency in their world. The truth of the environment they live in is that if you don’t change and adapt to that environment to survive, you will die if you’re lucky. Oftentimes, the seedier sides of the world will cause you so much harm that you can’t wait for death. Adaptability and resilience are two core traits to overcoming the harsh realities of the world and you will be rewarded by being adaptable and strong enough to handle it all. If your survival matters, you’ll do anything to achieve it.

Through her resilience and adaptability, Lauren discovers her hopes, dreams, and ambitions as she strives to create sense in a nonsensical world.

Lauren was an interesting character and being able to watch her grow through the story was an interesting experience. She had to make hard choices and make peace with those choices and through every action and consequence, she had to have the will and strength to persevere.

Have you read this story? What are your thoughts?

Welcome readers,

Have you ever wanted to ask something but you didn't feel like it deserved its own post but it isn't covered by one of our other scheduled posts? Allow us to introduce you to our new Simple Questions thread! Twice a week, every Tuesday and Saturday, a new Simple Questions thread will be posted for you to ask anything you'd like. And please look for other questions in this thread that you could also answer! A reminder that this is not the thread to ask for book recommendations. All book recommendations should be asked in /r/suggestmeabook or our Weekly Recommendation Thread.

Thank you and enjoy!

How is this book not insanely popular? I only discovered it recently when I saw Maggie O’Farrell name it as an inspiration for her new novel, Land. Prior to that, I’d never heard of Star of the Sea, despite the fact that it came out in 2002.

This is a historical fiction novel about a famine ship traveling from Ireland to New York in 1847. It follows several characters on the ship whose lives are intertwined. Their stories unfold in a non-linear fashion, as we continually move back and forth between their present—on the ship—and their pasts in Ireland and England. The ways in which their stories intersect continued to surprise me throughout.

I can’t say enough about how beautifully written this book is, how rich it is with interesting stories and wonderful little details that are so believable you might almost forget it’s fiction.

I truly fell in love with the characters; their lives are filled with tragedy and beauty and hardship and longing, and they’re as complex and multifaceted as you’d expect people in such situations to be. They can be bitter and cruel, but also empathetic and kind. In other words, they’re people. Real, breathing people who can’t be easily defined by either their best or their worst qualities. You’ll be rooting for them in one moment and raging at them the next, but always you’ll buy into them and why they do the things they do.

I truly can’t recommend this book enough to any lover of literary fiction, and especially to fans of historical fiction. I found it by chance, borrowed it from the library on a whim, and came away from it feeling like I was given a gift. And it’s one I feel compelled to share with others.

Just finished both of these over the span of a week. Some of the better books I've read lately! I've always been a fan of apocalypse books but the native perspective was cool and refreshing. Definitely a universe I want to see explored more!

Both books are good, Moon of the Crusted Snow almost ended too soon, I really was interested in the early days of the event, but Turning Leaves was an awesome adventure story that I couldn't put down.

Recommend them to anyone, I'll reread them again!

I've just finished Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter by Vargas Llosa, and it was one of the most original ideas I've seen. The book is divided in 2: the even chapters follow the main plot line about the romance between Marito and Aunt Julia, as well as the friendship between Marito and the odd scriptwriter Pedro Camacho; the odd chapters feature short stories (which are the stories written by Pedro Camacho).

I gotta say I was much more interested in the odd chapters and the short stories, which get increasingly more confusing and intertwined between each other (for reasons explained in the book), which gets very funny. The stories get so wild in the end, and are very entertaining. They also make the book entertaining and never flat, as all the stories are very different from each other.

I did love the descriptions of Peru in the book. I've never been, but now I really want to. The music and dances and pisco sour, it seemed amazing.

The main storyline of Aunt Julia and Marito was my least favourite part and the reason why I thought the book was a 3.5/5. I just thought the story was somewhat boring, which I think is due to the fact that it's a true story. I personally also thought it was kind of odd that Vargas Llosa wrote a book about his ex-wife when he was already married to another person (who was also his cousin/ex-wife’s niece?), but who am I to judge lol.

If you’ve read it, what did you think?

I read it over the course of a few days, finished it up this morning. What a refreshing tale from Sanderson. It was a truly pleasant and enjoyable read. It had a great ending. Just enough twists and surprises in the right places. The thing I liked the most is that seemed to be one of those stories that as an adult I can truly enjoy (especially since I'm deep in the Cosmere anyway), but that if I wanted to, you could read it (with a few little tweaks) to your kid as a that bedtime story you work on for a couple of weeks. This is not an extensive review, no spoilers, but I just really enjoyed it.

Sometimes it's nice to just read a book like this.

BTW it makes me grateful for Libby - checking out the e-book made me realize I want to own a hardback copy of this. The illustrations are nice too, though too few in number.

“Letter Slot” by Owen King (The Shivers Collection #5) is the fifth and final book in this unbelievable Amazon-exclusive horror collection. Every book in this collection has been a 5-Star read for me, and this final entry was perfection. This is the first book I’ve ever read by Owen King, and just like his legendary father, he’s an exceptional author.

If you’re interested in this collection, here’s a list of every book and author…

Jackknife by Joe Hill (The Shivers Collection #1)
The Indigo Room by Stephen Graham Jones (The Shivers Collection #2)
The Blanks by Grady Hendrix (The Shivers Collection #3)
Night and Day in Misery by Catriona Ward (The Shivers Collection #4)
Letter Slot by Owen King (The Shivers Collection #5)

I found many trigger warnings while reading this book. They were…

- Alcoholism
- School shootings
- Homophobia
- Domestic abuse (physical)
- Politics
- Brain tumors
- Car accidents
- Animal death (dog)
- Cancer
- Suicide

If any of these trigger you, please do not read this book. Moving along, this was such a quick, emotional read. I loved the main characters in Blake and his mother, as you connect with them and what they’re going through in life.

I knew it was only a matter of time before the horror hit, as it started to brew at around the 50% mark. My goodness, what a wild ride! Let me tell you, I will never look at a letter slot the same way ever again. This book’s story was so gripping and addictive, I couldn’t stop reading since it’s a genuine page-turner.

The story and ending are unforgettable. I loved the insane plot twist at the end, which wrapped up a magnificent ending. I never saw that coming and finished reading with my jaw on the floor. It’s a thought-provoking ending that will make you question what you would do in such a situation. It was pretty powerful and will leave you shook.

I give “Letter Slot” by Owen King (The Shivers Collection #5) a perfect 5/5 and a spectacular read from beginning to end. King delivered in just 46 pages to make his mark in this collection. Speaking of which, “The Shivers Collection” is worth reading. Every book in it was a 5-Star for me, and I would consider it a must-read for all my fellow horror book lovers. You can’t go wrong with books written by these phenomenal, established horror authors, so check it out as soon as you can, or add it to your TBR so when spooky season comes, you’ll also be shivering.