2022 ONTD Reading Challenge discussion

Let us know what you read this month, if you liked it and if you'd recommend it!

I read The Haunted House: A True Ghost Story Easyread Large Edition and it was boring lol. It was published in the late 1800s but that doesn't excuse its boringness imo. There was all this supposed paranormal activity that took place but the book didn't show it in an interesting or exciting way at all. Oh well, at least it gave me something to read on the train, and I'm very curious about the "true story" behind the book.

I read almost everything I planned to this month:

Animal Farm - 5 stars, loved it so much
The Strange Library - 2.5 stars, it was so middle-of-the-road for me that I don't have anything really to say about it
The Ballad of Black Tom - 4 stars, I've found I'm not a fan of Lovecraftian horror but I enjoyed this for the most part
The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories - 2 stars, only a couple stories in here worth reading
Binti - 4.5 stars, super interesting sci-fi, will definitely check out the other books in the series!

I also read Passing Strange but even though this is called a novella, it was over 200 pages! So it doesn't count :)

Only one I planned to read but didn't was The Turn of the Screw, and that's because I tried the first 5 pages or so and couldn't get into the writing at all.

I read Lyra's Oxford which was ok, I liked that Pullman read the audiobook and I was pleasantly surprised to find that it took place AFTER the events of HDM, not before like I had originally assumed. Nothing much happened tho so I don't really feel like it added anything, but it was nice to step briefly back into that world and see the character again.

I read The Strange Library and yes, it was strange. It felt almost more Goosebump-ish at times. My first completed Murakami work that I've read.

I read:
Unfit to Print by KJ Charles, M/M historical romance featuring a mystery and the Victorian pornography industry, REALLY loved it.
Point of Knives by Melissa Scott, second 'book' in the Astreiant series, a fun mystery where the heroes of the first book finally get together.
A Taste of Honey by Kai Ashante Wilson, beautifully written fantasy romance-with-a-twist with amazing worldbuilding.

Also read Wilson's The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps, which, though excellent, and marketed as a novella, was well over 200 pages - yeah I definitely call it a novel lol

I read The Alienist by Machado de Assis, and it was great. It feels very modern, and the humor especially doesn't feel like it's from the 1880s. I laughed when the barber immediately converts to moderation and compromise after leading a popular revolt. Plus ça change.

I also read or reread all the Spindle Cove novellas, because that's about all my brain can take this month.

I read The Turn of the Screw and it honestly just stressed me out. Between run-on sentences that were so long I would have to reread them to get the point, and the language style being really...extra, I found it tedious to finish. Even though the story was compelling once it finally got going, reading it was a constant struggle all the way through.