Wednesday Reading Meme
What I Just Finished Reading: A long weekend and no plans made for a busy reading week. I read six books! The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan, Esther the Wonder Pig by Steve Jenkins et al, Married with Zombies by Jesse Petersen, I, Zombie by Hugh Howey, A High Whisk Situation by HY Hanna, and Mrs. Pargeter's Pound of Flesh by Simon Brett. All reviews below.
What I'm Reading Right Now: I'm about 1/3 of the way through Blood Oath by Christopher Farnsworth, about a vampire who protects the American nation and is bound to the president. It's not exactly got me by the throat (heh) but I'm hoping it'll pick up.
What I'm Planning to Read Next: Next up will probably be The Phlebotomist by Chris Panatier. That one was recced by gilda_elise a long time ago and I've been wanting to get to it.
Almost all of my reading challenges are done now so it seemed a good time to join a new one. I joined something called Hallowe'en Roundup which is a team challenge, so I'm working with new prompts as well. Fun. :)
103. 103. The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan
This ridiculously over-the-top book could have been sooo good. Instead, pretty much everything is wrong. The writing is a litany of tells, as protagonist Frida endlessly lists what happens each day. The plot doesn’t know what it wants to focus on - is it about misogyny, racism, the patriarchy, sexism, all of the above? The program the mothers are forced to attend is completely unrealistic and leaves them set up to fail. Is cruelty the point? And then there’s Frida’s crime, her reason for being there, which is that she left her 18-month-old daughter alone for two hours. The fact that the author seems to think - along with Frida - that this is not really all that bad in the grand scheme of things is horrifying to me. I actively could not sympathize with Frida at all.
Dates Read: August 28 to 30, 2023
Page Count: 324
2 out of 5 stars
Lost Challenges Pyramid of Books - Task 8 - read 8 books written by a woman (07/08)
Lost Challenges Bingo - I18 (16/25)
CCC Aah Walkers - Prompt 38 - character gets left behind (48/52)
104. Esther the Wonder Pig by Steve Jenkins
I own this on Kindle, but when I saw a physical copy at a thrift store (*gasp* Who would give this away?) I had to pick it up and give it a reread. The story of a gay couple who adopt a “micro pig” that turns out to be a 650-pound commercial pig is heartwarming, charming and adorable. Steve and his partner Derek fell in love and did their best to manage her in their 1000 square foot home, but they knew they had to find someplace bigger for her. This is the story of their potty training trials, the inspiration they found from Esther to go vegan, the intelligence and personality that Esther shows, and their quest to help other farm animals and found a sanctuary. All the hearts.
Dates Read: August 30 to 31, 2023
Page Count: 207
5 out of 5 stars
Lost Challenges Pyramid of Books - Task 9 - read 9 books with a cover you like (06/09)
CCC Aah Walkers - Prompt 33 - takes place wholly or partially on a farm (49/52)
Challenge Factory Dusty Bookshelf pick
105. Married with Zombies by Jesse Petersen
The mix of comedy and horror is a tough one to pull off. This book attempts for a light, breezy and mildly sarcastic tone, and it starts off well. David and Sarah’s counselor always did recommend that they find a common interest to share, and it turns out that killing zombies is just the thing to save their marriage. I really like the self-help quotes that started off each chapter, and the couple themselves are pretty realistic. I honestly feel like I should have liked this more than I did. I think perhaps it was the combination of the tone being difficult to maintain throughout the book, the lack of true zombie scares, and that some of the situations seemed stolen from other more popular zombie tales. I mean, you can’t put in a scene at a carnival without evoking images of Zombieland.
Dates Read: September 01 to 02, 2023
Page Count: 259
3 out of 5 stars
Lost Challenges Pyramid of Books - Task 16 - read 16 books from your favourite genre (13/16)
CCC Aah Walkers - Prompt 32 - takes place mostly on the road (50/52)
Challenge Factory Hallowe’en Roundup - Task 1: ZOMBIE - Arm 1, Book 1
106. I, Zombie by Hugh Howey
The zombie apocalypse has hit Manhattan, and the zombies wandering the streets in search of fresh meat are still able to think and are aware… they’re just unable to stop themselves. This short novel dives into the heads of multiple zombies with often surprising results. There’s an addict who was in charge of caring for his catatonic mother, a military vet who puts his safety on the line to rescue a baby, and a survivor who hides his bite from his friends. Sometimes we feel for them and sometimes we’re led down a path and then realize that they are not who we assumed they were.
The writing here is top notch and gut-wrenching. Warning for the faint of heart: it’s generally pretty gruesome fare. Zombie fiction fans will be okay, but newbies to the genre should maybe not start out with this one.
Date Read: September 02, 2023
Page Count: 222
4 out of 5 stars
Lost Challenges Pyramid of Books - Task 16 - read 16 books from your favourite genre (14/16)
Challenge Factory Hallowe’en Roundup - Task 1: ZOMBIE - Arm 1, Book 2
CCC Aah Walkers - Prompt 41 - MC gets shot (51/52)
107. A High Whisk Situation by HY Hanna
The 12th book in this series, and I’m afraid to say this one is just getting tired. This time around Gemma heads to Scotland for a mini-vacation, and of course she stumbles onto yet another murder. The victim here is a nasty hotel manager and there’s no shortage of suspects. Then the Old Biddles show up - with Muesli in tow - to get awkwardly shoehorned into the plot. Hanna is now repeating previous Old Biddies misadventures and they’ve lost their luster. And just when I thought we’d gotten rid of Devlin, he appears like a bad penny. I think it’s time to retire this series.
Dates Read: September 02, to 03, 2023
Page Count: 367
3 out of 5 stars
Lost Challenges Pyramid of Books - Task 9 - read 9 books with a cover you like (07/09)
CCC Aah Walkers - Prompt 44 - with a murder (52/52) - Complete!
Challenge Factory Dusty Bookshelf - September pick
108. Mrs. Pargeter’s Pound of Flesh by Simon Brett
Mrs. Pargeter is a widow whose husband was a “businessman”, shall we say, and now his associates are eager to help her out in any way they can. In this case, she’s attending a weight-loss spa with a friend - though she has no intention of participating herself - when she witnesses a dead body being spirited off. She’s quickly calling up her late husband’s former employees to get to the bottom of it.
I quite liked this one. Mrs. P and her cronies are loyal to a fault and it was fun watching them track down the culprit. Everything tied together nicely with a few fun twists and turns and surprises along the way. I really enjoyed all of the secondary characters too.
Date Read: September 04, 2023
Page Count: 187
4 out of 5 stars
Lost Challenges Pyramid of Books - Task 18 - read 18 books with a red, white or blue cover (12/18)
Challenge Factory Hallowe’en Roundup - Task 1: ZOMBIE - Leg 1
.
What I'm Reading Right Now: I'm about 1/3 of the way through Blood Oath by Christopher Farnsworth, about a vampire who protects the American nation and is bound to the president. It's not exactly got me by the throat (heh) but I'm hoping it'll pick up.
What I'm Planning to Read Next: Next up will probably be The Phlebotomist by Chris Panatier. That one was recced by gilda_elise a long time ago and I've been wanting to get to it.
Almost all of my reading challenges are done now so it seemed a good time to join a new one. I joined something called Hallowe'en Roundup which is a team challenge, so I'm working with new prompts as well. Fun. :)
103. 103. The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan
This ridiculously over-the-top book could have been sooo good. Instead, pretty much everything is wrong. The writing is a litany of tells, as protagonist Frida endlessly lists what happens each day. The plot doesn’t know what it wants to focus on - is it about misogyny, racism, the patriarchy, sexism, all of the above? The program the mothers are forced to attend is completely unrealistic and leaves them set up to fail. Is cruelty the point? And then there’s Frida’s crime, her reason for being there, which is that she left her 18-month-old daughter alone for two hours. The fact that the author seems to think - along with Frida - that this is not really all that bad in the grand scheme of things is horrifying to me. I actively could not sympathize with Frida at all.
Dates Read: August 28 to 30, 2023
Page Count: 324
2 out of 5 stars
Lost Challenges Pyramid of Books - Task 8 - read 8 books written by a woman (07/08)
Lost Challenges Bingo - I18 (16/25)
CCC Aah Walkers - Prompt 38 - character gets left behind (48/52)
104. Esther the Wonder Pig by Steve Jenkins
I own this on Kindle, but when I saw a physical copy at a thrift store (*gasp* Who would give this away?) I had to pick it up and give it a reread. The story of a gay couple who adopt a “micro pig” that turns out to be a 650-pound commercial pig is heartwarming, charming and adorable. Steve and his partner Derek fell in love and did their best to manage her in their 1000 square foot home, but they knew they had to find someplace bigger for her. This is the story of their potty training trials, the inspiration they found from Esther to go vegan, the intelligence and personality that Esther shows, and their quest to help other farm animals and found a sanctuary. All the hearts.
Dates Read: August 30 to 31, 2023
Page Count: 207
5 out of 5 stars
Lost Challenges Pyramid of Books - Task 9 - read 9 books with a cover you like (06/09)
CCC Aah Walkers - Prompt 33 - takes place wholly or partially on a farm (49/52)
Challenge Factory Dusty Bookshelf pick
105. Married with Zombies by Jesse Petersen
The mix of comedy and horror is a tough one to pull off. This book attempts for a light, breezy and mildly sarcastic tone, and it starts off well. David and Sarah’s counselor always did recommend that they find a common interest to share, and it turns out that killing zombies is just the thing to save their marriage. I really like the self-help quotes that started off each chapter, and the couple themselves are pretty realistic. I honestly feel like I should have liked this more than I did. I think perhaps it was the combination of the tone being difficult to maintain throughout the book, the lack of true zombie scares, and that some of the situations seemed stolen from other more popular zombie tales. I mean, you can’t put in a scene at a carnival without evoking images of Zombieland.
Dates Read: September 01 to 02, 2023
Page Count: 259
3 out of 5 stars
Lost Challenges Pyramid of Books - Task 16 - read 16 books from your favourite genre (13/16)
CCC Aah Walkers - Prompt 32 - takes place mostly on the road (50/52)
Challenge Factory Hallowe’en Roundup - Task 1: ZOMBIE - Arm 1, Book 1
106. I, Zombie by Hugh Howey
The zombie apocalypse has hit Manhattan, and the zombies wandering the streets in search of fresh meat are still able to think and are aware… they’re just unable to stop themselves. This short novel dives into the heads of multiple zombies with often surprising results. There’s an addict who was in charge of caring for his catatonic mother, a military vet who puts his safety on the line to rescue a baby, and a survivor who hides his bite from his friends. Sometimes we feel for them and sometimes we’re led down a path and then realize that they are not who we assumed they were.
The writing here is top notch and gut-wrenching. Warning for the faint of heart: it’s generally pretty gruesome fare. Zombie fiction fans will be okay, but newbies to the genre should maybe not start out with this one.
Date Read: September 02, 2023
Page Count: 222
4 out of 5 stars
Lost Challenges Pyramid of Books - Task 16 - read 16 books from your favourite genre (14/16)
Challenge Factory Hallowe’en Roundup - Task 1: ZOMBIE - Arm 1, Book 2
CCC Aah Walkers - Prompt 41 - MC gets shot (51/52)
107. A High Whisk Situation by HY Hanna
The 12th book in this series, and I’m afraid to say this one is just getting tired. This time around Gemma heads to Scotland for a mini-vacation, and of course she stumbles onto yet another murder. The victim here is a nasty hotel manager and there’s no shortage of suspects. Then the Old Biddles show up - with Muesli in tow - to get awkwardly shoehorned into the plot. Hanna is now repeating previous Old Biddies misadventures and they’ve lost their luster. And just when I thought we’d gotten rid of Devlin, he appears like a bad penny. I think it’s time to retire this series.
Dates Read: September 02, to 03, 2023
Page Count: 367
3 out of 5 stars
Lost Challenges Pyramid of Books - Task 9 - read 9 books with a cover you like (07/09)
CCC Aah Walkers - Prompt 44 - with a murder (52/52) - Complete!
Challenge Factory Dusty Bookshelf - September pick
108. Mrs. Pargeter’s Pound of Flesh by Simon Brett
Mrs. Pargeter is a widow whose husband was a “businessman”, shall we say, and now his associates are eager to help her out in any way they can. In this case, she’s attending a weight-loss spa with a friend - though she has no intention of participating herself - when she witnesses a dead body being spirited off. She’s quickly calling up her late husband’s former employees to get to the bottom of it.
I quite liked this one. Mrs. P and her cronies are loyal to a fault and it was fun watching them track down the culprit. Everything tied together nicely with a few fun twists and turns and surprises along the way. I really enjoyed all of the secondary characters too.
Date Read: September 04, 2023
Page Count: 187
4 out of 5 stars
Lost Challenges Pyramid of Books - Task 18 - read 18 books with a red, white or blue cover (12/18)
Challenge Factory Hallowe’en Roundup - Task 1: ZOMBIE - Leg 1
.