Wednesday Reading Meme
What I Just Finished Reading: Three books since last week, none of which were the ones that I had planned to read -- Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid, Reckless Girls by Rachel Hawkins, and Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano. Reviews below.
What I'm Reading Right Now: I'm about halfway through The Woman in the Window by AJ Finn, and I'm enjoying it.
What I Plan to Read Next: I've already raided Amy's bookcase for my next read. It will be This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub.
19. Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
A pseudo-biography told in interview style, this book does easily evoke the style and spirit of the ‘70s. That’s about all it’s got going for it.
The format is incredibly restrictive. Writing the book in the form of interview excerpts means that the entire thing is a TELL. It’s like reading a Wikipedia entry: the facts are there, ut there’s no emotion and no heart. We’re never in the heads of these characters, we’re just listening to the click of the keyboard as the reporter types. We’re being dispassionately told what happened instead of living and experiencing it.
And then there’s the characters themselves. Only Daisy and the band’s songwriter, Billy Dunne, are fleshed out. The rest are pretty much interchangeable cardboard. We’re supposed to feel proud of Billy for doing the absolute minimum as a decent husband. Congrats on not fucking everything that moves, Billy.
And Daisy is the Mary Sue of all Mary Sue’s: she’s beautiful and slim and talented and sexy and independent and also beautiful and her voice is amazing and oh yes, she’s beautiful. Men want to fuck her, women admire her, and little girls want to grow up to be her. Meanwhile she's a self-absorbed narcissistic drug addict and if I had to read one more time how she doesn’t wear shoes I was going to LOSE IT.
UGH.
Dates Read: February 14 to 16, 2024
Page Count: 363
2 out of 5 stars
+ Lost Challenges 74 Letters - April L - where a character falls in love (19/74)
+ Around the Year in 52 Books 19 - related to a flavour of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream [half-baked] (19/52)
20. Reckless Girls by Rachel Hawkins
A man and his girlfriend are hired to ferry two women to a remote deserted island, where they plan to spend two weeks exploring. When they arrive, however, they find another couple already there… and almost everyone is hiding something.
Writing-wise, I thought this was a bit of a mess. It’s sort of clunky, and it’s very obvious what the big secrets are. However, I still enjoyed it immensely. It was a bit like having a big gooey piece of chocolate cake. I know it’s bad for me, and there’s other desserts out there that are more sophisticated and put together ever so prettily, but sometimes I just want to indulge in something over-the-top and a bit ridiculous.
Dates Read: February 16 to 17, 2024
Page Count: 309
4 out of 5 stars
+ Lost Challenges Pyramid of Books - Task 20 - book set on water/water on cover/coastal town [deserted island] (16/20)
+ Lost Challenges 74 Letters - June J - published in a month that starts with J [January] (20/74)
+ Around the Year in 52 Books 23 - related to boats, bars, beaches, ballads or Jimmy Buffet (20/52)
21. Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano
A 12-year-old boy is the sole survivor of a commercial plane crash, and must deal with his recovery in the aftermath.
The story moves back and forth between the day of the flight and the months and years of Edward navigating his new life. It’s a beautifully written story with a lot of subtlety. The author deals deftly with the shock and trauma, especially in the first few years when Edward sleepwalks through his life, struggling heavily especially with the death of his 15-year-old brother and the burden of being the lone survivor. What makes him special?
The sections on the airplane are especially moving as the reader gets to know many of the passengers. We already know they’re doomed, but we fall in love with some of them anyway and really want their lives to succeed, the things they’ve realized about themselves to pan out, for that happiness to find them. I am not ashamed to say that I bawled at their final moments. Edward’s dad’s last moments with his sons. Oh, man.
I highly recommend this one.
Dates Read: February 17 to 18, 2024
Page Count: 336
5 out of 5 stars
+ Lost Challenges Pyramid of Books - Task 20 - set on water/coastal town/water on cover (17/20) [house on a lake]
+ Lost Challenges 74 Letters - May Y - where a character yells (21/74)
+ Around the Year in 52 Books 50 - on ATY Best Book of Month list (21/52)
.
What I'm Reading Right Now: I'm about halfway through The Woman in the Window by AJ Finn, and I'm enjoying it.
What I Plan to Read Next: I've already raided Amy's bookcase for my next read. It will be This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub.
19. Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
A pseudo-biography told in interview style, this book does easily evoke the style and spirit of the ‘70s. That’s about all it’s got going for it.
The format is incredibly restrictive. Writing the book in the form of interview excerpts means that the entire thing is a TELL. It’s like reading a Wikipedia entry: the facts are there, ut there’s no emotion and no heart. We’re never in the heads of these characters, we’re just listening to the click of the keyboard as the reporter types. We’re being dispassionately told what happened instead of living and experiencing it.
And then there’s the characters themselves. Only Daisy and the band’s songwriter, Billy Dunne, are fleshed out. The rest are pretty much interchangeable cardboard. We’re supposed to feel proud of Billy for doing the absolute minimum as a decent husband. Congrats on not fucking everything that moves, Billy.
And Daisy is the Mary Sue of all Mary Sue’s: she’s beautiful and slim and talented and sexy and independent and also beautiful and her voice is amazing and oh yes, she’s beautiful. Men want to fuck her, women admire her, and little girls want to grow up to be her. Meanwhile she's a self-absorbed narcissistic drug addict and if I had to read one more time how she doesn’t wear shoes I was going to LOSE IT.
UGH.
Dates Read: February 14 to 16, 2024
Page Count: 363
2 out of 5 stars
+ Lost Challenges 74 Letters - April L - where a character falls in love (19/74)
+ Around the Year in 52 Books 19 - related to a flavour of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream [half-baked] (19/52)
20. Reckless Girls by Rachel Hawkins
A man and his girlfriend are hired to ferry two women to a remote deserted island, where they plan to spend two weeks exploring. When they arrive, however, they find another couple already there… and almost everyone is hiding something.
Writing-wise, I thought this was a bit of a mess. It’s sort of clunky, and it’s very obvious what the big secrets are. However, I still enjoyed it immensely. It was a bit like having a big gooey piece of chocolate cake. I know it’s bad for me, and there’s other desserts out there that are more sophisticated and put together ever so prettily, but sometimes I just want to indulge in something over-the-top and a bit ridiculous.
Dates Read: February 16 to 17, 2024
Page Count: 309
4 out of 5 stars
+ Lost Challenges Pyramid of Books - Task 20 - book set on water/water on cover/coastal town [deserted island] (16/20)
+ Lost Challenges 74 Letters - June J - published in a month that starts with J [January] (20/74)
+ Around the Year in 52 Books 23 - related to boats, bars, beaches, ballads or Jimmy Buffet (20/52)
21. Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano
A 12-year-old boy is the sole survivor of a commercial plane crash, and must deal with his recovery in the aftermath.
The story moves back and forth between the day of the flight and the months and years of Edward navigating his new life. It’s a beautifully written story with a lot of subtlety. The author deals deftly with the shock and trauma, especially in the first few years when Edward sleepwalks through his life, struggling heavily especially with the death of his 15-year-old brother and the burden of being the lone survivor. What makes him special?
The sections on the airplane are especially moving as the reader gets to know many of the passengers. We already know they’re doomed, but we fall in love with some of them anyway and really want their lives to succeed, the things they’ve realized about themselves to pan out, for that happiness to find them. I am not ashamed to say that I bawled at their final moments. Edward’s dad’s last moments with his sons. Oh, man.
I highly recommend this one.
Dates Read: February 17 to 18, 2024
Page Count: 336
5 out of 5 stars
+ Lost Challenges Pyramid of Books - Task 20 - set on water/coastal town/water on cover (17/20) [house on a lake]
+ Lost Challenges 74 Letters - May Y - where a character yells (21/74)
+ Around the Year in 52 Books 50 - on ATY Best Book of Month list (21/52)
.