Just a Little Book Talk - Share Your Current Books Chit Chat

Dracula Daily is a nice way to consume Dracula, can confirm.

Is it an enjoyable era at least?

Books I have read so far this year ranked. A lot of my favorites feature morally questionable/psychopathic protagonists . . .

1. A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers (BRILLIANT and creative exploration of humanity's relationship to technology and the natural world, also funny and heartwarming)

2. Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo (immersive and historically accurate piece of queer and Asian historical fiction with a lot heart)

3. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck (it's a classic for a reason!)

4. The Laughter by Sonora Jha (smart and gripping story with a narcissistic and awful main character who embodies every "ism" you can think of and more)

5. Yellowface by R. F. Huang (a portrayal of white privilege so sharp it will cut you, main character is terrible person)

6. The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka (gritty, graphically brutal, and often confusing story told with a lot of creativity and compassion)

7. Really Good, Actually by Monica Heisy (witty and humorous portrayal of a privileged millennial's slow decline in mental health, main character is not a great person)

8. Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay (Amazing storytelling and fantasy world, exactly what you'd expect from Guy Gavriel Kay)

9. Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid (easy read, superb and exciting character arc, but valid criticism to be made against white author and her portrayal of Hispanic, Asian, and queer characters)

10. Matrix by Lauren Groff (difficult to get into, flowery language, beautiful story and message)

11. The Golem and the Jinn by Helene Wicker (Unique premise, great character complexity and development)

12. The Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki (unique blend of genres, great trans and Asian rep)

13. The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle (ingenius premise, well-written, but marred by awful fatphobia and bad ending)

14. The Chinese Groove by Kathryn Ma (quirky read with a main character easy to root for)

15. The Godfather by Mario Puzo (like the movie, fun read)

16. Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume (important and fun coming-of-age story, could be longer)

17. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon (entertaining and epic historical fiction, a little too discursive)

18. The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin (philosophically fascinating and brilliant world building, dense and slow-paced)

19. Trust by Hernan Diaz (super smart experimental story structure, but requires patience for the payoff)

20. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut (clever and philosophical, slightly too long)

21. The Problim Children by Natalie Lloyd (fun middle-grade book, ending not very satisfying)

22. Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen (lots of good Jane Austen stuff, ending a little rushed and somewhat convoluted at times)

23. A Master of Djinn by P Djèlí Clark (cool world building, slightly weaker plot and characters)

24. The Thursday Murder Club (fun elderly main characters and clever, mystery underwhelming though)

25. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (weird mix of some of the best and worst writing/plotting/characterization etc. that I've ever read)

26. Beach Read by Emily Henry (breezy read)

27. The Escapement by Lavie Tidhar (brilliant but had really awful depiction of indigenous people as literal clowns)

28. The Crane Husband by Kelly Barnhill (decent but forgettable horror novella)

29. Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross (again, to YA for my liking)

30. The City Beautiful by Aden Polydoros (adequate fiction, a bit too YA for my taste)

31. The Writing Retreat by Julia Bartz (decent "popcorn thriller")

32. Beautiful Little Fools by Jillian Cantor (Great Gatsby retelling, mix of interesting, bizarre, and terrible character choices)

33. Paperboy by Vince Vawter (good disability representation, but odd mash-up of autobiography and fiction)

34. Our Share of Night Mariana Enríquez (well-written, but not for me)

35. Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt (breezy read, one really entitled and obnoxious MC)

36. Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld (interesting at parts but awful pacing)

37. The Underground Railroad by Colton Whitehead (bold but puzzling use of alternative history and flat characters)

38. The Magician's Elephant by Kate DiCamillo (stilted and weak storytelling)

39. Weyward by Emilia Hart (cliche after cliche, completely predictable)

40. Driving with the Top Down (fine until it got weirdly homophobic and victim blamey)

41. Her by Harriet Lane (most boring "thriller" I have ever read)

42. Wild Beautiful and Free by Sophronia Scott (failed fanfiction/rewrite (?) of Jane Eyre)

43. Y/N by Esther Yi (insanely pretentious garbage)

I'm gonna be starting the Moth Keeper soonish.

Finished "We Have Always Lived in the Castle" yesterday for school purposes and it was ... okay. Not bad. I was getting Adams Family vibes all throughout, but okay.
Note I like the Adams Family, this one just felt not that, but enough like that to have me catch myself up.

That happens with me a lot. I've started a little book reading thing with my friend and we message out play by play of three chapters per day. It helps a lot, even if the book isn't really that great.

Just jumping in with a random question;

Which book did you enjoy the least this year?

Yes! I am/was! I had to stop as, well, life.
Front page needs updating, heh. I should do that at some point ... whoops.

The one I enjoyed least this year?
Recently read The Adventure of Wisteria Lodge by Arthur Conan Doyle. I tend to like Sherlock Holmes, but I was bored out of my mind.

Any books people are currently reading?

I’m reading The Naked Sun by Isaac Asimov. Trying to catch up on his robot series so that I can return to the prequel/sequel Foundation trilogies. Already read the first Foundation trilogy and wooooh boy!! That thang was goooood man

Yooo I read This is How You Lose the Time War!!

Also, I’ve noticed that there is a pretty bad glitch with the spine pictures, I don’t mean AVOS repeating DOTC, I mean every spine of book 6 that I get is somehow a dud and book 1 of the next arc is always the exact same picture. Happened with the Raging Storm and Lost Stars, and again with a Light in the Mist and River.

I would attach a picture but I don’t know how to do that.

It”s funny because the only reason I’m waiting for the paperbacks is because I need the pictures to line up, but then they don’t even line up right