Wednesday Reading Meme
What I Just Finished Reading: Since last week I read 3 books: The Two Lila Bennetts by Liz Fenton & Lisa Steinke, My Best Friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix, and The Hollow Places by T. Kingfisher. Reviews below.
What I'm Reading Right Now: I'm am a millimeter short of finishing a zombie short story collection by Jonathan Maberry called Empty Graves: Tales of the Living Dead.
What I'm Planning to Read Next: I have a book waiting at the library, but I also have two more in transit so I'm waiting for those to arrive before I go to pick up. I do a thing called "Give Me Five" where you post 5 books and someone picks the next one for you. The Scorch Trials got picked, so I may see if that's available in ebook form from the library. Or I'll finish off my Around The Year in 52 Books prompts with a book by either Dean Koontz or Linwood Barclay.
57. The Two Lila Bennetts by Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke
A week in Lila Bennett’s life unfolds in two different realities: in one, she’s kidnapped and forced to come to terms with her moral failings. In the other, she stays free and gets there on her own. While both timelines were initially interesting, I found they were bogged down by the repetitiveness of Lila’s internal monologues. Yes, some of the things she’s done are definitely immoral, but some are just the nature of the beast (her job as a criminal defense attorney, for example.) Anyway, the endless hand-wringing grew tiresome. I found Free Lila’s abrupt turnaround unrealistic, and the kidnapper revelation in Kidnapped Lila’s timeline was over-the-top mustache-twirling-villain ridiculous. Overall, this one was just average for me.
Dates Read: May 24 to 25, 2023
Page Count: 315
3 out of 5 stars
Lost Challenges Pyramid of Books - Task 18 - read 18 books with a red, white or blue cover (05/18)
LJ Book Bingo - recced by asphaltcowgrrl (10/12)
Challenge Factory Give Me Five pick
Lost Challenges Want to Read Bingo - N33 (06/25)
Crazy Challenge Connections Aah Walkers - Prompt 11 - with a character who has an affair (06/52)
58. My Best Friend’s Exorcism by Grady Hendrix
A mix of humour, horror, ‘80s pop culture references and Hendrix’s signature style. What’s not to love?
Gretchen and Abby are best friends in 1988 South Carolina, and when Gretchen disappears one night and comes back changed, everything and everyone seems to be against Abby as she struggles to save her friend. I loved the themes of love, possession, and friendship here. There’s a sneaky slyness to the writing of Gretchen that is really creepy and some of the scenes are truly pretty gruesome, yet there’s somehow a lightness to the writing that Hendrix masters. I was a ‘80s teen and for me the world was a little off, but I didn’t hold that against him.
Dates Read: May 26 to 27, 2023
Page Count: 337
5 out of 5 stars
Around the Year in 52 Books - Prompt 49 - posted in a Best Book of Month thread (51/52)
Lost Challenges Pyramid of Books - Task 14 - read 14 books that take place in a state [South Carolina] (04/14)
Crazy Challenge Connection Aah Walkers - Prompt 17 - a book with two best friends (07/52)
59. The Hollow Places by T. Kingfisher
A woman discovers a portal behind the wall in her uncle’s oddball museum that leads to a mysterious and unsettling world.
I’ve had this on and off my Want To Read list for the last year because the description of the book made it seem very scary. And while the world Kara and her friend Simon discover is indeed creepy and surreal and weird, any real ‘horror’ moments are tempered by the tone of the book, which is more quirky and amusing than terrifying. Kara and Simon come off as real people who joke and banter both to deal with the stressful situation and because they genuinely like each other and find each other amusing. I loved them both, as well as Beau the cat. A great read.
Dates Read: May 28 to 29, 2023
Page Count: 352
5 out of 5 stars
Lost Challenges Pyramid of Books - Task 14 - read 14 books set in a state [North Carolina’ (05/14)
Crazy Challenge Connections - Task 2 - a book published in October (08/52)
.
What I'm Reading Right Now: I'm am a millimeter short of finishing a zombie short story collection by Jonathan Maberry called Empty Graves: Tales of the Living Dead.
What I'm Planning to Read Next: I have a book waiting at the library, but I also have two more in transit so I'm waiting for those to arrive before I go to pick up. I do a thing called "Give Me Five" where you post 5 books and someone picks the next one for you. The Scorch Trials got picked, so I may see if that's available in ebook form from the library. Or I'll finish off my Around The Year in 52 Books prompts with a book by either Dean Koontz or Linwood Barclay.
57. The Two Lila Bennetts by Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke
A week in Lila Bennett’s life unfolds in two different realities: in one, she’s kidnapped and forced to come to terms with her moral failings. In the other, she stays free and gets there on her own. While both timelines were initially interesting, I found they were bogged down by the repetitiveness of Lila’s internal monologues. Yes, some of the things she’s done are definitely immoral, but some are just the nature of the beast (her job as a criminal defense attorney, for example.) Anyway, the endless hand-wringing grew tiresome. I found Free Lila’s abrupt turnaround unrealistic, and the kidnapper revelation in Kidnapped Lila’s timeline was over-the-top mustache-twirling-villain ridiculous. Overall, this one was just average for me.
Dates Read: May 24 to 25, 2023
Page Count: 315
3 out of 5 stars
Lost Challenges Pyramid of Books - Task 18 - read 18 books with a red, white or blue cover (05/18)
LJ Book Bingo - recced by asphaltcowgrrl (10/12)
Challenge Factory Give Me Five pick
Lost Challenges Want to Read Bingo - N33 (06/25)
Crazy Challenge Connections Aah Walkers - Prompt 11 - with a character who has an affair (06/52)
58. My Best Friend’s Exorcism by Grady Hendrix
A mix of humour, horror, ‘80s pop culture references and Hendrix’s signature style. What’s not to love?
Gretchen and Abby are best friends in 1988 South Carolina, and when Gretchen disappears one night and comes back changed, everything and everyone seems to be against Abby as she struggles to save her friend. I loved the themes of love, possession, and friendship here. There’s a sneaky slyness to the writing of Gretchen that is really creepy and some of the scenes are truly pretty gruesome, yet there’s somehow a lightness to the writing that Hendrix masters. I was a ‘80s teen and for me the world was a little off, but I didn’t hold that against him.
Dates Read: May 26 to 27, 2023
Page Count: 337
5 out of 5 stars
Around the Year in 52 Books - Prompt 49 - posted in a Best Book of Month thread (51/52)
Lost Challenges Pyramid of Books - Task 14 - read 14 books that take place in a state [South Carolina] (04/14)
Crazy Challenge Connection Aah Walkers - Prompt 17 - a book with two best friends (07/52)
59. The Hollow Places by T. Kingfisher
A woman discovers a portal behind the wall in her uncle’s oddball museum that leads to a mysterious and unsettling world.
I’ve had this on and off my Want To Read list for the last year because the description of the book made it seem very scary. And while the world Kara and her friend Simon discover is indeed creepy and surreal and weird, any real ‘horror’ moments are tempered by the tone of the book, which is more quirky and amusing than terrifying. Kara and Simon come off as real people who joke and banter both to deal with the stressful situation and because they genuinely like each other and find each other amusing. I loved them both, as well as Beau the cat. A great read.
Dates Read: May 28 to 29, 2023
Page Count: 352
5 out of 5 stars
Lost Challenges Pyramid of Books - Task 14 - read 14 books set in a state [North Carolina’ (05/14)
Crazy Challenge Connections - Task 2 - a book published in October (08/52)
.