Shannon's Serendipity-Doo-Dah Reading in 2019 (sturlington)

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Shannon's Serendipity-Doo-Dah Reading in 2019 (sturlington)

1sturlington
Redigerat: okt 8, 2018, 10:11 am

Hi, I'm Shannon. Next year will be my fifth year with this group. I've tried different things every year, and though I haven't always kept up with my challenges, I've always had fun. I like to read a lot of horror, thrillers, and science fiction, and this year I've started reading more memoirs and other nonfiction. I live in North Carolina, I work as a freelance editor, and I have an awesome 10-year-old son and a rather annoying 4-year-old dog (but I love her anyway).

This year has been a tough year for me personally, so I want 2019 to be a happy year. My theme is Serendipity. Instead of planning ahead, I'm going to read what I discover and read what makes me happy. My goal is to read books when I get them or when I hear about them, so they don't go "stale" on my TBR.

For extra happy, I've organized my categories around nonsensical Disney songs. Enjoy!

2sturlington
Redigerat: dec 29, 2018, 3:30 pm

Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah: Happy Books


New discoveries, books that I want to read and that make me happy.

3sturlington
Redigerat: dec 29, 2018, 3:30 pm

Bippity-Boppity-Boo: Magic Books


Unexpected finds while bookstore browsing, in the Little Free Library, or on the library's Feeling Lucky shelf.

4sturlington
Redigerat: dec 29, 2018, 3:31 pm

Hi-Diddle-Dee-Dee: Famous Books


Books I have heard about in the news or that have been nominated for or won an award.

5sturlington
Redigerat: dec 29, 2018, 3:31 pm

Oo-De-Lally: Group Reads


Book-club selections or books I read with others.

6sturlington
Redigerat: nov 6, 2019, 9:19 am

This Is Halloween: ScaredyKIT


ScaredyKIT monthly selections.

January - NPR 100 Best Horror Stories List or 100 Killer Thrillers List - Elizabeth: A Novel of the Unnatural
February - The Corporeal Undead - Positive by David Wellington
March - True Crime - none
April - Chills and Thrills with Modern Horror/Thrillers (2014 - 2019) - You Should Have Left
May - Children's Horror (or Horrific Children) - Baby Teeth
June - Technothrillers - none
July - Vacation Month (read horror/thriller of your choice) - Raising Stony Mayhall
August - Gothic - Kill Creek
September - Ghosts & Hauntings - The Saturday Night Ghost Club
October - Monsters & Creatures - Bedbugs
November - Stephen King and Family - The Institute
December - Small Press/Indie (or catch up on a previous category) -

7sturlington
Redigerat: jan 4, 7:09 am

BingoDOG



1. Debut Novel: Elizabeth (Jan)
2. About or Featuring Siblings: My Sister, the Serial Killer (Jan)
3. Graphic Novel: Fun Home (Jun)
4. Made into a Movie: Devil in a Blue Dress (Feb)
5. Part of a series: The Ruin (Sept)
6. Prize-winning book: Kill Creek (Aug)
7. Animal in significant role: The Only Harmless Great Thing (Mar)
8: Children's book: The Wolves of Willoughby Chase (Dec)
9. Essays: What if This Were Enough? (Jan)
10. Artistic character: Passing Strange (Jan)
11. Eastern European setting: The Bone Mother (Mar)
12. Fairy tale: Snow Glass Apples (Dec)
13. Read a CAT: Spinster: Making a Life of One's Own (Mar)
14. Alliterative title: My Year of Rest and Relaxation (Feb)
15. Cover has at least two figures: The Saturday Night Ghost Club (Sept)
16. 4.0+ Rating: Last Days (Feb)
17. 6+-word title: Who Was Changed and Who Was Dead (Mar)
18. Medicine/Health: Positive (Feb)
19. Book bullet: Cruel Beautiful World (May)
20. Book in Translation: The Hole (Feb)
21. Homophone in title: The Next Time You See Me (Jun)
22. Food-related: Sunburn (Jun)
23. Middle Initial: Golden State (Feb)
24. Mentioned in another book: In a Lonely Place (May)
25. Weather event: The Wall (Apr)

9sturlington
Redigerat: okt 23, 2019, 7:09 am

CalendarCAT

Based on monthly displays at my local library.

January: Best of 2018 - The Calculating Stars (DNF); New Year, New You - Remodelista
February: Celebrate Black Fiction Authors - Devil in a Blue Dress
March: Women's History Month - Spinster
April: National Poetry Month - Blue Horses
May: Daphne Du Maurier's birthday - The Parasites
June: Pride Month - Fun Home
July: none
August: none
September: none
October: Halloween - Bedbugs
November:
December:

10Tess_W
okt 8, 2018, 10:39 am

The idea of non-planning is beginning to appeal to me--I may try that in 2020. Good luck with your reading!

11rabbitprincess
okt 8, 2018, 12:05 pm

Great setup! I hope your reading year takes you to amazing places :)

12Helenliz
okt 8, 2018, 12:41 pm

Excellent setup, love the choice for BingoDog - could it have been anything else! And some fabulous ear-worms for anyone visiting your thread. >;-)

13christina_reads
okt 8, 2018, 1:55 pm

Love the theme! And I totally relate to what you said at the top of the thread: My goal is to read books when I get them or when I hear about them, so they don't go "stale" on my TBR.

14DeltaQueen50
okt 8, 2018, 2:08 pm

I'm placing my star, Shannon and looking forward to seeing how your year goes. I can really relate to the idea of "books going stale on my wish list" I may need to look at being more spontaneous in the future.

15MissWatson
okt 9, 2018, 4:26 am

This is a great idea, Shannon. Especially the "books going stale" prevention. Happy reading!

16Crazymamie
okt 9, 2018, 8:33 am

>12 Helenliz: What Helen said! Nicely done, Shannon - looking forward to following your reading.

17Tess_W
okt 9, 2018, 12:41 pm

Happy reading!

18sturlington
okt 9, 2018, 12:53 pm

Thanks for all the comments, everyone!

19LadyoftheLodge
okt 9, 2018, 3:19 pm

Love the Disney pix! I do like these categories too.

20VioletBramble
okt 10, 2018, 12:00 pm

Love the pics. This is Halloween will be stuck in my head all day now. I'm gonna have to pull out my DVD.
I'm thinking of doing a very loosely structured challenge next year as well. My inner control freak is freaking out but pre-planning sure didn't work for me this year.

21sturlington
okt 10, 2018, 12:41 pm

>20 VioletBramble: Well, it's certainly the right time of year for that movie!

22LisaMorr
okt 19, 2018, 7:09 am

Looks like a nice, free-flowing and upbeat plan! Definitely cheers me up. I'll enjoy following along.

23clue
nov 10, 2018, 7:49 pm

I hope you have a great carefree reading year!

24lkernagh
dec 2, 2018, 6:02 pm

I love your positive approach for 2019! I have become a huge fan of non-planning over the past two years so glad to see your 2019 reading will be of the non-planning variety.

25VivienneR
dec 5, 2018, 1:35 pm

Looks like your 2019 reading will be a lot of fun.

26dudes22
dec 5, 2018, 6:51 pm

Looking forward to following your thread again this year.

27Zozette
dec 13, 2018, 4:49 pm

I will be eagerly following you this year.

My secret pleasure is pulp horror paperbacks from the 70s and 80s. In the last year or two I have started reading the occasional Stephen King book.

28sturlington
dec 13, 2018, 5:26 pm

>27 Zozette: Cool! I have a pulp horror novel from the 1970s all picked out to read in January.

29sturlington
dec 25, 2018, 1:20 pm

Number of Christmas books received: 12. Which naturally leads to another goal of reading one Christmas book per month to keep the tbr like from growing.

30Jackie_K
dec 25, 2018, 1:38 pm

>29 sturlington: Ooh, I like that idea. I got 10, of which 2 are already lined up for challenges, but that's quite a nice way of making sure they don't build up for too long.

31dudes22
dec 28, 2018, 5:31 am

<29 - That is a good way to keep the TBR from growing. IF you don't buy any more...:)

32sturlington
dec 29, 2018, 3:30 pm

>31 dudes22: I bought two books today! And I went to the library. I am a hopeless case.

33RidgewayGirl
dec 29, 2018, 6:02 pm

Your challenge looks fun and lovely. May this coming year be far, far better than 2018.

34JayneCM
dec 29, 2018, 7:56 pm

>32 sturlington: I'm a hopeless case too, Shannon! In my defence, I did say I was going to buy no new books 'in the New Year', which obviously hasn't started yet. So I am good for two more days! :)

35hailelib
dec 29, 2018, 10:20 pm

Love your illustrations for your categories.

36sturlington
dec 30, 2018, 7:48 am

>33 RidgewayGirl: and >35 hailelib: Thank you so much!

>34 JayneCM: That's absolutely right. Besides, what good is a resolution if you can't find clever ways around it?

37The_Hibernator
dec 31, 2018, 6:43 am

Good luck! Happy New Year!

38thornton37814
dec 31, 2018, 11:58 am

39Tess_W
dec 31, 2018, 2:49 pm

40sturlington
Redigerat: jan 28, 2019, 8:39 am



Happy new year everyone! Here is where I will track my reading for January.

Reading:
(1) Passing Strange by Ellen Klages: completed 1/3; category: Famous Books (ALA Reading List); source: Xmas gift; rating: 4*
(2) CalendarCAT: Best of 2018 (from library display) -- The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal
(2) ScaredyKIT: NPR 100 Best Horror/Thrillers List -- Elizabeth by Ken Greenhall: completed 1/11; category: ScaredyKIT; source: purchased; rating: 4*
(3) My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite: completed 1/15; category: Magic Books; source: library lucky day shelf; rating: 4*
(4) Scribe by Alyson Hagy: completed 1/19; category: Famous Books (Indie Next selection); source: Xmas gift; rating: 4*
(5) What If This Were Enough? by Heather Havrilesky: completed 1/20; category: Happy Books; source: purchased; rating: 4*
(6) CalendarCAT Take 2: New Year, Who Dis? (from library display) -- Remodelista: The Organized Home by Julie Carlson and Margot Guralnick; category: Magic Books; source: library; rating: 4*
(7) The Auctioneer by Joan Samson: completed 1/23; category: Happy Books; source: Xmas gift; rating: 4*
(8) The Silence by Tim Lebbon: completed 1/27; category: Famous Books (ALA Reading List); source: Xmas gift; rating: 4*

41sturlington
Redigerat: feb 22, 2019, 1:10 pm

Gorgeous cover alert!


My first read of 2019 fit the bill: light and easy. Passing Strange by Ellen Klages is a lovely love story with a backdrop of San Francisco in the 1940s. Excellent cast of women characters.

42JayneCM
jan 3, 2019, 5:01 pm

>41 sturlington: Ooh, love books from/about the 1940s! And it is a gorgeous cover!

43rabbitprincess
jan 3, 2019, 6:54 pm

>41 sturlington: Glad you liked this one! My cousin also liked it :)

44sturlington
Redigerat: jan 4, 2019, 12:08 pm

Book Meme for Books Read in 2018

Describe yourself: The Outsider

Describe how you feel: Hunger or The Hunger (twofer!)

Describe where you currently live: The Cabin at the End of the World

If you could go anywhere, where would you go: Greener Pastures

Your favorite form of transportation: The Lifeboat

Your best friend is: The Reluctant Fortune Teller

You and your friends are: The Silent Companions

What’s the weather like: Strange Weather

Favorite time of day: Good Morning, Midnight

You fear: American War

What is the best advice you have to give: No Time to Spare

Thought for the day: The Reapers Are the Angels

How you would like to die: Chasing the Dragon

Your soul’s present condition: Rising Strong

45staci426
jan 4, 2019, 2:01 pm

Love your serendipitous theme with fun Disney songs & pics! I like the idea of trying to read something right away once you discover it. I've been finding a lot of books on my to read lists lately with no idea of why I put them there.

46thornton37814
jan 4, 2019, 10:51 pm

Good meme answers! I like your place to go!

47sturlington
Redigerat: feb 3, 2019, 7:21 pm

About two years ago, I discovered Valancourt Books, which reissues out-of-print horror, generally from the 1970s and early 1980s, in really attractive slim trade paperbacks. My latest read from them was Elizabeth by Ken Greenhall (originally published under the pseudonym Jessica Hamilton). What a disturbing little book about a 14-year-girl who seems to be a complete sociopath and also thinks she's a witch.

I think this time period was a Golden Age for horror. Rosemary's Baby had set the stage, Stephen King was just getting big, and a lot of people were experimenting. A lot of the horror was bonkers, just pure over-the-top mayhem, but it still had heart. That seemed to change when the soulless, crass commercialization of the '80s took over and publishers just put out scores of King wannabes writing to formula. It's fun to be able to go back and revisit forgotten gems from time. If you're interested, I highly recommend Paperbacks from Hell, which is a wonderful retrospective of horror and their lurid covers from the '70s and '80s.

I think we're in another Golden Age of horror right now, fortunately, but today's horror is more subtle and psychological. Not disturbing so much as in there might be a monster in your closet who's going to rip your head off but more as in everything you think you know about reality is a lie.

48Zozette
jan 12, 2019, 7:07 am

I love Paperbacks from Hell. There are so many books in it that I read when I was able to pick them up very cheap from secondhand book exchange stores back in the 1980s. Since buying Paperbacks from Hell I have read 4 books that are mentioned in it.

49sturlington
jan 12, 2019, 7:34 am

>48 Zozette: It's such a great book for discovery. Although I also recognized many of the books mentioned from my younger days gobbling up all the horror I could get my hands on.

50sturlington
Redigerat: jan 12, 2019, 7:36 am

I've decided not to give half stars any more in my ratings. I still use them in my catalogue for a specific purpose, but I think it's simpler for recommending purposes (here and on the wikis) to stick to whole stars. Here is my system:

5* - Terrific read; highly recommended
4* - Solid read; recommended
3* - Just meh; forgettable or disappointing
2* - Unengaging; didn't grab me
1* - Terrible; stay away!

51LisaMorr
jan 13, 2019, 2:47 pm

52sturlington
Redigerat: maj 9, 2019, 7:54 am

Another interesting cover!



My Sister, The Serial Killer: This was a quick read with short chapters, set in Lagos by a Nigerian author, with underlying themes of loyalty to family, abuse, and the shallowness of men who "only want a pretty face."

53LittleTaiko
jan 16, 2019, 10:41 am

I've been waiting for this to finally come in at the library. Think there are only 15 people ahead of me right now.

54sturlington
jan 16, 2019, 10:43 am

>53 LittleTaiko: The only reason I got it from my library was because it was on the Lucky Day shelf. That's a new service where they put an extra copy of popular books on the shelf and first come, first serve, but the checkout time is limited to 2 weeks.

55LittleTaiko
jan 17, 2019, 4:36 pm

>54 sturlington: - That's a really cool feature. I don't think ours has that but then again I'm very rarely actually browsing so may not have noticed if they did. I'm typically in and out quickly to drop off books and pick up holds.

56sturlington
Redigerat: maj 9, 2019, 7:54 am

Another book whose cover attracted me:


Scribe--An odd book. I'm not sure whether to classify it as dystopia or alternate history or folktale. It's set in the Appalachians of Virginia, but in a time where there is no functioning government and people rule themselves, and it has a dreamlike quality to it. Lovely writing.

57RidgewayGirl
jan 18, 2019, 1:31 pm

>56 sturlington: I have this on my shelf. The more I hear about it, the more eager I am to read it.

58sturlington
jan 18, 2019, 1:42 pm

>57 RidgewayGirl: It's a quick read. I'm knocking out the short books these days.

59sturlington
Redigerat: maj 9, 2019, 7:54 am

A simple book cover that I find soothing:


What if This Were Enough? is a bit uneven collection of essays, but plenty of gems in here, and I like the way she demolishes dudebro self-help culture.

60sturlington
Redigerat: feb 28, 2019, 8:17 am



Well, it's February.

In January, I completed 8 books and all were four star reads, so that's a pretty good start to the year, I think. (See >40 sturlington: for the list.)

Reading:
(9) Golden State by Ben H. Winters: completed 2/3; category: Happy Books; source: library; rating: 4*
(10) CalendarCAT: Read Fiction by Black Authors -- Devil in a Blue Dress by Walter Moseley: completed 2/8; category: Magic Books; source: library display; rating: 4*
(11) My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshegh; completed 2/11; category: Famous Books (Indie Best list); source; library; rating: 5*
(12) ScaredyKIT -- Corporeal Undead: Positive by David Wellington; completed 2/20; category: ScaredyKIT; source: library; rating: 4*
(13) The Hole by Pyun Hye-young: completed 2/21; category: Famous Books (Shirley Jackson Award); source; purchased; rating: 3*
(14) Last Days by Brian Evenson: completed 2/24; category: Famous Books (Shirley Jackson/Reading List awards); source: Kindle; rating: 3*

61RidgewayGirl
feb 1, 2019, 8:38 am

That's a great January! I've found that the quality of my reading, due to LT and the ToB, has increased every year.

62sturlington
feb 1, 2019, 1:27 pm

>61 RidgewayGirl: I've also become much more willing to abandon a book early on if it isn't engaging me, so I'm more excited about what I'm reading.

63sturlington
feb 3, 2019, 7:18 pm

I've noticed that my covers keep disappearing on me. Not sure what's going on there.

My first book of February is a brand-new offering from a recent favorite writer of mine, Ben H. Winters. I really admire his niche of combining noir detective stories with speculative scenarios. I've read his trilogy set just before a meteor is about to hit the Earth (The Last Policeman; apocalyptic) and his novel set in an America in which slavery persists in the South (Underground Airlines; alternate history). This one, Golden State, is set in a future after some cataclysmic event, in which the state of California has become an isolationist "Golden State," where everything is recorded for the Record and lying is illegal. Once again, though, it is the intriguing detective caught up in events larger than he is at the center of the story that makes it exciting and relatable. Ben Winters has been a great discovery for me, as I think he is truly an original voice.

64sturlington
Redigerat: maj 9, 2019, 7:54 am

A compelling cover:


First five-star read of the year!

My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh is like a fictional recounting of a fantasy I have that I know can never be realized: to go to sleep for a long period and then wake up as a blank slate, to start over again from scratch. The unnamed narrator of this book is intensely unlikeable, but yet she is so relatable, at least for someone like me, who knows from depression. I thought this was much better than Eileen, Moshfegh's other novel that I have read, which also featured an unlikeable female lead. And I think it's very honest, which can make for hard reading. This is not a book for everyone, but I think if it does connect with you, it will connect with you hard.

65RidgewayGirl
feb 12, 2019, 2:11 pm

>64 sturlington: I agree with you wholeheartedly. What a fantastic book this is. Moshfegh writes unlikeable protagonists like no one else.

66LisaMorr
feb 20, 2019, 11:52 am

>63 sturlington: I'm going to have check out Ben H. Winters.

67sturlington
feb 20, 2019, 12:57 pm

>66 LisaMorr: I think The Last Policeman is a good place to start with him.

68sturlington
feb 20, 2019, 12:58 pm

All right, I'm giving up on showing covers in my thread. Every time I reopen it, the covers are all gone. So I guess you'll have to click through to the work page to see the covers from now on. (sad face)

69RidgewayGirl
feb 20, 2019, 1:34 pm

>68 sturlington: It's really frustrating. I have two threads, and the same cover shows up in one thread but not the other. Maddening.

70VivienneR
feb 20, 2019, 2:02 pm

>68 sturlington: Sorry your covers are not showing. I always enjoy seeing the covers and it's a good way to keep the book in my memory. Although one click on the title and all is revealed.

>64 sturlington: Moshfegh's book is intriguing. Your five stars makes it even more so!

71sturlington
Redigerat: maj 9, 2019, 7:53 am

I will keep trying with the covers. Here is another lovely one for a Korean novel.



The Hole by Hye-Young Pyun: I read this book because it won the Shirley Jackson Prize, which is the only award I've found where I consistently like most of the winners/nominees. I think this is one of those horror novels that does its work on you after you finish reading it. I can't say I entirely "got" it, but I think it is subversive. The writing felt quite claustrophobic, and the suspense was a slow burn. By the end of it, I had no sympathy for Oghi (the main character). I believe this was the author's intent. (3*)

72LisaMorr
feb 22, 2019, 12:37 pm

>71 sturlington: I'm glad you're continuing to give it a go on the covers - I like this one! From day to day, sometimes some stuff doesn't appear on my thread, but then it comes back again. I've changed to using https: instead of just http: for the image source, and haven't been having too many problems lately...

73sturlington
feb 22, 2019, 1:08 pm

>72 LisaMorr: Thanks for the tip, I will make sure to use that from now on.

74sturlington
Redigerat: mar 29, 2019, 7:05 am



Now it is March.

In February, I completed 6 books. I had a couple of 3's, but also my first 5-star read of the year, so good balance there. Here's what I'm reading this month:

(15) The Bone Mother: completed 3/4; category: Famous Books (Shirley Jackson Award shortlist); source: purchased; rating: 3*
(16) The Million: completed 3/8; category: Magic Books; source: library; rating: 3*
(17) The Only Harmless Great Thing: completed 3/9; category: Magic Books; source: library; rating: 4*
(18) Bedfellow by Jeremy C. Shipp: completed 3/15; category: Magic Books; source: library; rating: 4*
(19) Who Was Changed and Who Was Dead by Barbara Comyns: completed 3/17; category: Happy Books; source: Christmas present; rating: 4*
(20) CalendarCAT: Women's History Month - Spinster: Making a Life of One's Own by Kate Bolick; completed 3/28; category: Magic Books; source: library display; rating: 4*
(21) The Crime Writer by Jill Dawson; completed 3/28; category: Happy Books; source: Christmas gift; rating: 3*

75sturlington
mar 5, 2019, 8:09 am

I haven't had a lot of focus lately, and when I went to the library yesterday, I found 4 very short books on the New Books shelf. So I think I'm going to embark on a short novel project and read mostly books of 250 pages or less over the next little while. We'll see how that goes, and I bet sooner or later I will want to break the cycle with a doorstopper.

76rabbitprincess
mar 5, 2019, 2:49 pm

>75 sturlington: Have fun with the short novel project!

77sturlington
apr 8, 2019, 8:49 am

I have read back-to-back two novels about recently alive writers that imply those writers may have been murderers, and so now I'm going to compare them. Susan Scarf Merrell, the author of Shirley, about Shirley Jackson, and Jill Dawson, the author of The Crime Writer, about Patricia Highsmith, both show a thorough knowledge and appreciation of their subjects and seem mainly to want to write a book in the style of their favorite authors. I have to wonder then why they don't just write their own novels instead of mining material from a real person's life. When there are still people alive who remember both Jackson and Highsmith, it seems a little icky, especially imagining these women committing murder out of love. It also reinforces a bit too much the fallacy of confusing a writer with what she writes about. These novels were clever conceits but ultimately just curiosities that I'll probably never pick up again, as they stray rather too far into fan-fiction territory. Their subjects' novels, though, remain eminently readable and rereadable.

78sturlington
Redigerat: apr 28, 2019, 9:35 am



Welcome, April.

In March, I completed 7 books, a mixture of 3- and 4-stars. Many of them were very short. See >74 sturlington: for the list.

(22) Shirley by Susan Scarf Merrell: completed 4/7; category: Happy Books; source: Christmas gift; rating: 3*
(23) What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? by Henry Farrell: completed 4/15; category: Happy Books; source: Christmas gift; rating: 3*
(24) The Wall by John Lanchester: completed 4/20; category: Magic Books; source: library; rating: 4*
(25) You Should Have Left by Daniel Kehlmann: completed 4/23; category: ScaredyKIT (Modern Chills and Thrills); source: purchased; rating: 3*
(26) Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage: completed 4/27; category: ScaredyKIT (Horrific Children); source: library; rating: 2*

79sturlington
Redigerat: maj 29, 2019, 1:58 pm



Hard to believe it, but here we are in May.

In April, I completed 5 books and gave out my first 2-stars of the year. Reading was a bit uninspiring last month. Let's hope it will look up this month.

27) An Ocean of Minutes by Thea Lim: completed 5/5; category: Famous Books (ALA Reading List); source: library; rating: 4*
28) In a Lonely Place by Dorothy B. Hughes: completed 5/6; category: Happy Books; source: purchased; rating: 4*
29) Social Creature by Tara Isabella Burton: completed 5/8; category: Famous Books (Shirley Jackson shortlist); source: library; rating: 4*
30) Cruel Beautiful World by Caroline Leavitt: completed 5/26; category: Happy Books; source: purchased; rating: 4*
31) The Parasites by Daphne Du Maurier: completed 5/27; category: Happy Books/May CalendarCAT; source: Christmas gift; rating: 4*

80rabbitprincess
maj 5, 2019, 9:50 am

>79 sturlington: Sorry to hear your April reading was blah. Mine wasn't great either. Hoping for better books for both of us in May!

81sturlington
Redigerat: maj 9, 2019, 7:53 am

Det här meddelandet har tagits bort av dess författare.

82sturlington
maj 9, 2019, 7:52 am


This one was a good discovery, and I loved the cover.

Social Creature by Tara Isabella Burton: Thanks to the Shirley Jackson Award shortlist, I picked up this great read, when I might have otherwise passed it by. This was so refreshing after all the tepid thrillers I've been reading lately. Louise is a late-20-something in New York City who longs to be on the inside but doesn't believe she'll ever measure up. Then she meets Lavinia, a quintessential It girl, and is drawn into her glam world. With a nod to The Talented Mr. Ripley, Burton delves into what kind of person might become a murderer, and what they might do afterward to cover up their crime. Louise isn't necessarily likeable--no one in this book is, really, except maybe Lavinia's little sister--but she is relateable. My only quibble is that I'd like to know more of Louise's back story; Burton gives us hints of past weirdnesses but never really tells that part of the story. However, I tore through this in one day. For once, a thriller that actually thrills!

83RidgewayGirl
maj 10, 2019, 8:47 am

For once, a thriller that actually thrills!

That is rare. Making note of this one. Good review.

84lkernagh
maj 11, 2019, 11:27 pm

>82 sturlington: - I will also make a note to keep my eye out for the Burton book.

85mathgirl40
maj 12, 2019, 10:17 am

>82 sturlington: I'll keep this in mind. I love scary psychological thrillers!

86LisaMorr
maj 22, 2019, 2:09 pm

>82 sturlington: I'll put Social Creature on my list too.

87sturlington
Redigerat: jun 25, 2019, 9:12 am



Summer is here.

In May, I completed 5 books and they were all 4-star reads, so not bad. I think the best reads of last month were unexpected pleasures: An Ocean of Minutes, Social Creature and Cruel Beautiful World were standouts, as they all really grabbed me and wouldn't let go. Unfortunately, this month has started off with a lackluster thriller.

32) Freefall by Jessica Barry: completed 6/2; category: Magic Books; source: library; rating: 3*
33) Sunburn by Laura Lippman: completed 6/9; category: Famous Books (rec by Roxane Gay); source: purchased; rating: 4*
34) The Next Time You See Me by Holly Goddard Jones: completed 6/19; category: Magic Books; source: library; rating: 3*
35) Fun Home by Alison Bechdel: completed 6/21; category: Magic Books; source: Little Free Library (Gold Park); rating: 5*
36) The New Me by Halle Butler: completed 6/24; category: Magic Books; source: purchased (Flyleaf); rating: 3*

88sturlington
jun 3, 2019, 7:20 am

Rant time! I am so tired of thrillers where the "perfect" husband suddenly turns out to be an evil, hate-filled, woman-punching villain straight out of a cartoon. Sure, I like to indulge in the occasional "all-in-good-fun" man-bashing, but men in general are not like this. It's a tired cliche and it needs to stop. The last book I finished had this "twist." The next book I picked up (but quickly put back down) had it too. It's gotten so that I see 'domestic abuse' in the tags, I keep right on moving. There's a reason why Gone Girl was so popular, and it put this plot to rest seven years ago. Thriller writers, it's time to come up with a new story.

89DeltaQueen50
jun 3, 2019, 12:26 pm

>88 sturlington: Totally agree!!

90dudes22
jun 3, 2019, 8:07 pm

>88 sturlington: - I agree too. If I see a tag/description that says abuse, I don't bother either. I suppose if the book were the next in a series I read, then I would read it, but I don't think I read any series where that's likely to happen.

91sturlington
Redigerat: jun 9, 2019, 9:42 pm

>90 dudes22: So the funny thing is, I read yet another thriller with abuse as a theme: Sunburn by Laura Lippman. But it wasn't the premise on which the plot hung, so I liked this book more, although I still had some quibbles with it. The twist was more about how the wife reacts to the abuse than the abuse itself.

92dudes22
jun 10, 2019, 8:28 am

I can see that. I recently read Educated by Tara Westover for a book club read and that had what I would consider abusive parts to it which I was crazy about reading, but since it was a book club read, I kept reading.

93sturlington
jun 10, 2019, 11:55 am

>92 dudes22: Oh, I definitely agree that there was a lot of abuse in that book, and it was hard to read. Did you end up liking it or no?

94dudes22
jun 10, 2019, 2:58 pm

I did end up liking it. I had heard that some of her sisters/brothers said it was exaggerated in places. The two things that usually bother me about memoirs are : 1 - No one ever writes one because their life is great, so they are always somewhat depressing. And 2 - The conversations have to be invented so I always wonder how much they are slanted toward what the author wants it to imply.

95sturlington
jun 22, 2019, 2:02 pm

A second 5-star book for the year: Fun Home by Alison Bechdel, picked up on a whim and read almost straight through. Surprised I loved it so much, but I did. I am being very stingy with the stars this reading year, though.

96sturlington
Redigerat: jul 25, 2019, 9:14 am



Oh my gosh, it's July.

I read 5 books in July, one five-star (Fun Home) and one four-star (Sunburn). I feel like I'm being more stingy with the stars this year.

37) Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler: completed 7/3/19 (reread); category: Group Reads; source: my shelves; rating: 5* -- remains an all-time favorite
38) Raising Stony Mayhall by Daryl Gregory: completed 7/17/19; category: Famous Reads (ALA Reading List); source: purchased; rating: 4*
39) The Last Days of New Paris by China Mieville: completed 7/24/19; category: Group Reads; source: purchased; rating: 3*

97sturlington
jul 25, 2019, 9:15 am

I joined a new book club, which seems promising. It is a SF/F book club. The first read was a reread: Parable of the Sower, an all-time favorite. Next month's read is The Last Days of New Paris by China Mieville. Here are my thoughts on the book:

Like other reviewers, I thought this was a clever conceit for a novella--surrealist art manifests physically in Nazi-occupied Paris, acting as a chaotic-neutral force that somehow keeps the war going well beyond its historical end--but it seemed bloodless. I never really connected to the characters, so I didn't get emotionally involved in the story. I found the jumping around in time confusing as well; on top of the already surrealist imagery, it seemed like too much to ask the reader to keep pace with. My favorite part was actually the afterword, which I wish had really been the preface, and that Mieville had focused on developing those two characters as much as he had developed this bizarre trope.

98RidgewayGirl
jul 25, 2019, 11:54 am

Yay for joining a book club!

99sturlington
aug 10, 2019, 10:48 am

>98 RidgewayGirl: Nobody much liked the book, but we had a very interesting discussion about it, so that was good!

100sturlington
Redigerat: aug 25, 2019, 10:32 am



I seem to have fallen off on my reading AND my updates. I only read three books in July, and one of them was a reread--that's a pretty slow month for me. August doesn't seem to be going any differently so far. I think I'm ready for fall.

40) Kill Creek by Scott Thomas: completed: 8/10/19; category: ScaredyKIT (gothic); source: Kindle; rating: 3*
41) Beachcombing for a Shipwrecked God by Joe Coomer: completed 8/24/19; category: Group Reads (book club); source: purchased; rating: 4*

101sturlington
aug 25, 2019, 10:39 am

Beachcombing for a Shipwrecked God by Joe Coomer is my book club's pick for this month, resurrecting our little club from dormancy.

This is a lovely, quiet book about relationships between women--in this case, three women at different periods of their lives who come together to support each other while living on a houseboat. It's not sentimental or maudlin but rather a realistic look at how we deal with tragedy and the unexpected, whether that be a surprise pregnancy and abusive boyfriend, the death of a husband, or our own mental decline, by just soldiering on. There is a lot of archaeology in this book (and I think a recent visit to the Jamestown dig helped me understand what was going on in those parts), and also a lovely tribute to Anne of Green Gables. For me, it was surprising that this book was written by a man, but that is what can happen when women characters are depicted as just people--it helps us see how much we all have in common and how our friendships can sustain us sometimes even better than our romantic or family relationships.

102clue
aug 25, 2019, 1:00 pm

>101 sturlington: I haven't read any of Coomer's books but a friend recommended One Vacant Chair. After reading your review I want to read both of them!

103sturlington
Redigerat: sep 23, 2019, 7:00 am



I am in a real reading slump. Only finished two books last month--that's way off for me. I've been having a lot of insomnia, which puts me in a state where it's hard to concentrate on reading. I'm going on vacation next week, so maybe I'll be able to pick things back up then.

42) The Ruin by Dervla McTiernan: completed 9/12/19; category: Famous Books (ALA Reading List); source: purchased; rating: 3*
43) The Saturday Night Ghost Club by Craig Davidson: completed 9/22/19; category: ScaredyKIT (Ghost Stories); source: purchased; rating: 3*

104sturlington
Redigerat: sep 13, 2019, 11:10 am

The Ruin by Dervla McTiernan

I keep trying to read police procedurals, but unfortunately, they seem to bore me now. This one caught my eye for the title. It is set in Ireland and has a good sense of place. I thought the prologue was very engaging, but the story seemed to veer off course after that, and the ruin that so caught my interest at the beginning was not as important a part of the story as I wanted it to be (neither the house nor the people in it). I think this would have been a much better book if it had focused on the Jack's sister, Maude, instead of his girlfriend. She was probably the most intriguing character of everyone in the book and was relegated to the background way too much. I also found the solution to the mystery to be rather unbelievable (and convenient), and it seemed to sidestep altogether an in-depth examination of human character and behavior that I think would have made for a stronger plot. All in all, this was okay but blah for me, and while I was reading it, I was never really excited to return to it.

105sturlington
Redigerat: sep 13, 2019, 11:06 am

Speaking of Ireland, I started watching Derry Girls on Netflix last night and binged about 4 episodes. Really great fun.

106RidgewayGirl
sep 13, 2019, 11:08 am

Shannon, I've also read only two books this month. Hoping things return to normal soon!

And I forced my best friend to watch Derry Girls when she was here and we ended up watching the first season in an evening. I knew she'd love Sister Michael.

107sturlington
sep 13, 2019, 11:12 am

>106 RidgewayGirl: Maybe it's the weather. Makes me feel like doing literally nothing.

108rabbitprincess
sep 13, 2019, 6:44 pm

Hope you have a good vacation and that it kicks the reading slump. Glad you're enjoying Derry Girls! I have to watch Season 2.

109sturlington
Redigerat: nov 6, 2019, 9:17 am



The slump continues. Two books read in OctoberSeptember. Two books given up on. I am searching for books that possess me. I don't want to read just to pass the time. I don't want to put the book down and barely remember the characters' names as soon as I stop reading. I am being very demanding, I know it. But unless the reading is all-consuming, my brain just moves on to other things.

I did finally finish Mary Oliver's Blue Horses, which I have been reading in fits and starts for months, and it is both lovely and the kind of poetry that sometimes feels like a stab to the gut. Recommended.

44) The Body Lies by Jo Baker: completed 10/11/19; category: Happy Books; source: library; rating: 4*
45) Bedbugs by Ben H. Winters: completed 10/22/19; category: ScaredyKIT (monsters and creatures); source: library; rating: 4*

110dudes22
okt 2, 2019, 7:41 am

I'd be thrilled to have read two books already in October. Hope you find something to catch your interest.

111sturlington
okt 2, 2019, 7:43 am

>110 dudes22: No, I read two books in September! I haven't read any books in October. I see I have such zombie brain that I typed it wrong.

112dudes22
okt 2, 2019, 8:00 am

Oh - then I'm sorry you had such a bad reading month. I've been slumping over the summer as well, so don't so bad. Only 3 in Aug and 3 in Sep. Not that I read at the volume some people do, but still...

113sturlington
okt 15, 2019, 9:49 am

The Body Lies by Jo Baker is a recommendation I picked up from RidgewayGirl (thank you!). This was just the book I had been seeking at this time. From its opening, when a young woman is sexually assaulted by a stranger on the street, it has a subtle but growing sense of menace and dread. That one event starts a chain in which the woman, now a mother of a toddler, leaves London and moves to a small English town to teach a masters course in creative writing. Her husband stays behind to keep his job. The separation strains her marriage, of course, and one of her students, a well-off full-of-himself brooding type who only writes "the truth," has taken an unhealthy interest in her.

I very much empathized with this narrator (I don't think we get her name). A lot of women could relate to her experiences, I think. In the end, she insists on being the author and protagonist of her own story. Her refusal to conform to men's expectations of how she should behave as a supporting player in their stories has a lot of negative consequences for her, but in the end, she succeeds--in a very believable way, I think. I thought The Body Lies was compulsively readable, tautly written, and not only a compelling commentary on how men see women, but also a cutting critique of MFA programs and academia in general.

114dudes22
okt 15, 2019, 8:20 pm

>113 sturlington: - I'm not sure this is the book for me, but I do have another of her books on my recommended list which I took as a BB from DeltaQueen50 - Longbourn.

115lkernagh
nov 3, 2019, 3:49 pm

Nothing worse than a reading slump. I hope you have founds reads that will, as you mentioned in >109 sturlington:, possess you. nothing worse than a book that just doesn't captivate.

116sturlington
Redigerat: nov 27, 2019, 11:31 am



Unfortunately, the reading slump does continue. Even though I liked the two books I finished in October, I still only finished two books. I'm having a really hard time sticking to other books I pick up, and I've abandoned many.

46) The Institute by Stephen King: completed 11/5/19; category: ScaredyKIT (Stephen King and fam); source: purchased; rating: 4*
47) Semiosis by Sue Burke: completed 11/16/19; category: Group Reads; source: library; rating: 4*
48) Amberlough by Lara Elena Donnelly: completed 11/27/19; category: Group Reads; source: library; rating: 4*

117DeltaQueen50
nov 3, 2019, 11:13 pm

Here's hoping November helps to pull you out of that slump!

118RidgewayGirl
nov 4, 2019, 4:16 pm

>113 sturlington: Oh, I'm glad you liked The Body Lies. It sent me into reading more thrillers and books like that and the more I read in the genre, the more impressed I am with what Baker was doing in it.

119sturlington
nov 7, 2019, 5:25 pm

>118 RidgewayGirl: You always lead me to such fantastic books.

120sturlington
Redigerat: nov 27, 2019, 11:33 am


Semiosis by Sue Burke combines a political story about the struggle to create a utopian society--this time a space colony on another planet--and a first contact story with a truly alien alien--a sentient rainbow-colored bamboo. The story covers several human generations with different points of view so the reader can experience how both the society and its relationship to the alien evolve, and it ends with a suspenseful encounter with a third alien species that introduces ethical questions about genocide and assimilation. I always enjoy when an author does something different within the science fiction genre, and Semiosis certainly qualifies.

121DeltaQueen50
nov 18, 2019, 2:32 pm

>120 sturlington: I have Semiosis on my Kindle, sounds very interesting!

122sturlington
nov 18, 2019, 2:42 pm

>121 DeltaQueen50: I think you'll like it.

123sturlington
Redigerat: nov 27, 2019, 11:34 am


I hope this cover image sticks because everything about it is gorgeous.

Amberlough by Lara Elena Donnelly

There was a lot to like about Amberlough, and in the end it was enough to lead me to recommend it. But this is billed as a fantasy, set in a fantasy world that is really a stand-in for Germany during the rise of the Nazis. There was nothing other than place names and a few references to an old religion to distinguish this world from our own. For me, I think it would have been a better read if it were presented as straight historical fiction. As a fantasy, I expected at least one significant difference that would affect the world--something to do with that old religion, perhaps. I also expected a bit more history of the world itself and how its politics came to be, something that wasn't just a thinly veiled rendering of 1930s Europe. So the whole thing threw me off because it wasn't meeting my expectations, and I would have been a lot more comfortable if I had just known it was a spy thriller.

That being said, I thought the writing was very descriptive, almost cinematic in places, and the three main characters were complex, flawed, and relatable. The story was interesting, if a little dense in places, but I find that to be true of most spy novels. I thought the ending was good, but a bit of a cliffhanger, and I'm not sure I'll continue with the series.

124sturlington
Redigerat: dec 28, 2019, 4:52 pm



It is the final month of the year! My reading is picking back up. I read three books in November, and they were all good.

49) The Poison Thread by Laura Purcell; completed 12/5/19; category: Happy Books; source: library; rating: 4*
50) In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado; completed 12/7/19; category: Famous books; source: purchased; rating: 5*
51) Burial Rites by Hannah Kent; completed 12/14/19; category: Famous Books; source: purchased; rating: 4*
52) Bitter Orange by Claire Fuller; completed 12/20/19; category: Magic Books; source: library; rating: 4*
53) Melmoth by Sarah Perry; completed 12/25/19; category: Famous Books; source: library; rating: 3*
54) Snow, Glass, Apples by Neil Gaiman (graphic novel version); completed: 12/26/19; category: Magic Books; source: Christmas present; rating: 5*
55) The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken; completed: 12/28/19

125sturlington
Redigerat: dec 7, 2019, 8:00 am

The Poison Thread by Laura Purcell

The original British title of this old-fashioned horror tale is The Corset, which I think is much more fitting than The Poison Thread. Not only does a corset feature prominently in the story, but the women characters--the two narrators, Ruth and Dorothea, as well as the surrounding cast--are bound up, restricted by the time and place in which they are living. This is a story about abuse, poverty, desperation, and control. But the young girl Ruth finds her personal power in her sewing; she believes she can embroider death into the garments she makes. Whether she is correct about that is the central mystery of the story. In prison for killing her mistress, she tells her story to Dorothea, an upper-class do-gooder who wants to live an independent life out from under her father's thumb. As Ruth tells Dorothea her story, the two starkly different lives become more intertwined, leading up to a startling ending. The story deftly blends elements of the gothic, horror, and mystery, and I enjoyed it as much as Purcell's earlier novel, The Silent Companions.

126sturlington
dec 6, 2019, 12:54 pm

I just came here to say that I had to stop reading In the Dream House right now because the water heater repair guy is here and I didn't want him to see me crying.

Damn.

127JayneCM
dec 6, 2019, 6:22 pm

>126 sturlington: It certainly sounds like a confronting read. I am hoping to get to it soon. Everyone I know says it is hard to stop reading once you start.

128sturlington
dec 7, 2019, 8:00 am

Here's my review of In the Dream House. I also finished it in one day.

Machado has written an incredibly powerful book that does three amazing things all at once: It makes the nebulous world of emotional abuse feel palpably real. It exposes the hidden world of women abusing women in lesbian relationships and examines without flinching all the uncomfortable questions that raises. And it does something completely new with the memoir form. If it had achieved any of these three, it would be worth reading, but that it can do all of them is an extraordinary achievement.

129sturlington
Redigerat: dec 15, 2019, 7:58 am

Burial Rites by Hannah Kent is based on the true story of Agnes Magnusdottier, the last person to be executed in Iceland, in 1830. The story depicts Agnes's last weeks when a farming family is forced to take her in. Living in close quarters, they gradually come to see Agnes as she really is, and they hear her story of what happened on the night the murders she is accused of took place. What makes this novel special is not only Agnes's resolute character, but also the care given to depicting the mundane details of everyday life in early nineteenth-century Iceland, down to the mud and the blood. This is historical fiction that transports the reader wholly to another time and place.

130JayneCM
Redigerat: dec 15, 2019, 11:40 pm

>129 sturlington: I have had this on my TBR forever and have heard so many reviews saying it is a must read. Reading your review reminded me that it will fit into my 2020 category for reality in fiction. Let's hope I will get to it!

131RidgewayGirl
dec 16, 2019, 10:13 am

>128 sturlington: I have heard nothing but praise for Machado's book.

132sturlington
dec 16, 2019, 10:24 am

>131 RidgewayGirl: My favorite book of the year, for sure.

133sturlington
dec 20, 2019, 8:38 am

Bitter Orange by Claire Fuller is an old-fashioned slow burn of a thriller, set during the summer of 1969 in a dilapidated country house in rural England. Three people--a couple, Peter and Cara, and the narrator, Frances--are staying in the ruin to catalog any valuable architecture for the American who purchased it. Isolated as they are, the dynamic between the triangle gradually grows charged. Frances, sleeping in the attic, soon discovers a hole in her bathroom floor with a telescope installed through which she can spy on the couple's bathroom below. She also starts seeing strange things, unexplained--are there ghosts in the old house? As the summer wears on in its languid, drunken way, lonely loner Frances indulges her fantasies about her companions as young Cara spins stories for her that seem fantastical but that Frances wholeheartedly believes. Of course, reality will intrude eventually, and as older Frances is narrating the story from her death bed, we readers become more and more tense, waiting for the inevitable explosion. I really enjoyed the writing here, the isolated setting, the measured pace, the claustrophobic atmosphere. For me this was a thriller in an old-fashioned sense--and it helped that it was set in the 1960s--one that doesn't rely on twists and jagged writing, but rather on building character and tension up to a breaking point.

134sturlington
dec 28, 2019, 1:35 pm

Melmoth by Sarah Perry: Helen Franklin is living in a self-imposed exile in Prague, where she meets Karel and through him is given a manuscript describing an encounter with a woman named Melmoth. Melmoth, often described as a child's fairy tale, is an immortal witness to the worst crimes of humanity; she is often glimpsed like a shadow, watching. Like Karel, Helen becomes obsessed with Melmoth and tracking down other stories about her. The novel consists of these stories intertwined with the mystery of how Helen came to be in Prague and what she is atoning for. This short novel is long on atmosphere. I thought the story-within-a-story format worked well here, and I found those stories of the past more compelling than Helen's present story. I wouldn't call this horror so much as existential, musing on the sins we are capable of committing and the guilt we all carry, and what we can do with that.

135sturlington
dec 28, 2019, 4:58 pm

And so, with a reread of The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, I have completed my bingo card and finished up my reading for 2019. My reading picked up very much in December, during which I completed five books, several of which were rated 4 stars and one was 5 stars.

This year I read 9 out of 12 months of the ScaredyKIT and completed all 25 BingoDOG squares. I visited through books 16 states in the US and 12 countries around the world.

Here were my top five reads of 2019, which are all wonderful books by women and about women:
In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado
My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh
Cruel Beautiful World by Caroline Leavitt
The Body Lies by Jo Baker
Social Creature by Tara Isabella Burton

Please come join me for my 2020 reading adventures here. See you in the new year!