EPBOT Readers discussion

Hi everyone!

Hope everyone's having a good week!

This week I finished:

The Silent Patient - this didn't end up finishing any better. Luckily it was a brisk read. I count it for popsugar for book with a three word title. i guessed the twist about halfway through and said "nah, that'd be dumb and make no sense" well.

The Last Ever After - Another frustrating one. I WANT to really like the series, there's a lot of fun ideas and I love turning fairy tales on their heads. But he just gets so muddy with it. Also it was almost 700 pages and I do NOT think it needed to be that long. There was just a lot of meandering and fluff that could have been edited down. This was another one that got dumped on my by my library buying a book and it auto-checking out years after I requested it.

Her Silhouette, Drawn in Water - I needed a nice quick read after that last one, so I read this novella. I enjoyed it overall, really interesting idea. My main complaint is it felt like one of those novellas that was written as a spin off from a larger series to do a close focus on a character. I wanted to know more about the larger story, even though this smaller one was very good. I counted it as a book with an upside down image on the cover.

Currently reading:

Tell the Wolves I'm Home - got this from my book club's holiday book exchange, I'm really enjoying it so far! It's set in the late 80's New York, during the AIDS epidemic. I was worried it'd be too grim, but so far it's focusing on the lives left behind and wrestling with the media perception and the reality of the people they know and love. I might use it as a coming of age story. Honestly I think this is a much better story than a lot of the ones that I got taught in school (I'm glaring at you, A Separate Piece).

Educated - i just read this in September, but this is my book club's pick for next week. I got the audio this time so I can listen while I work as background, mostly to just refresh my mind so I can talk about it.

The Count of Monte Cristo - I managed to read a few more pages, but haven't gotten a good chunk yet.

QOTW:

Borrowing from popsugar this week.

Does a lot of controversy over a book make you more or less likely to read it? Inspired specifically over the controversy over American Dirt going on right now, but there's certainly been others both recently and in the past. For those unaware, American Dirt is a story about Mexican immigrants, but written by a white woman and it got a movie deal before it was even released. Also Oprah made it a book club pick. It's made a a lot of people upset that works written by Mexicans do not get that kind of recognition, when it's their story being told.

For me, it depends on the nature. I won't be picking up American Dirt, but I'll probably look up something of a similar subject in an own voices format.

However I'd read something out of spite if it made people angry for being diverse. For example, if I hadn't already read all of NK Jemson's Broken Earth trilogy, I'd have read it purposefully after hearing about a bunch of white guys trying to rig the Hugos to prevent her from becoming the first person to win an award three years in a row for all three books of a trilogy. I've done the same thing for movies. I hadn't cared about the new Mad Max a few years ago until I heard MRAs were mad about it having a female lead, suddenly i was really interested. And I ended up loving it.

I somehow missed last week's check-in post, and was actually on here reading it when I saw this new one appear - so I'll just post here instead!

At last check-in, I was in the midst of Swipe Right for Murder on audio, which I LOVED - it was so much fun, but also had surprisingly well-constructed characters and relationships, and brought up some really thought-provoking questions.

I was also reading Along Came a Spider, which I very much enjoyed - unsurprisingly it was much better than the movie, and I wish I hadn't waited so long to read it!

I then moved on to Britt-Marie Was Here, which I was a bit skeptical about - sometimes Fredrik Backman is a little too schmaltzy for me, but this one was perfect - there was some growing and learning, but tempered with plenty of humor and snark. Although the plot is different, the tone and some of the characters are a bit similar to Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine, which I know many of us have enjoyed.

Next up was Alice I Have Been, which was fine, but somehow I expected to enjoy it more than I did. The main character, Alice, seemed inconsistent to me, and the overall story arc wasn't terribly interesting. I know some of that is because Melanie Benjamin does an amazing job of research and she wanted to include documented events that then had to be tied together with the constructed story, but for some reason this one just didn't work as well for me as some of her others.

A friend invited me to come with her to an event at her local high school for women and girls' sports day yesterday evening, so in preparation for Kate Fagan's talk, I read What Made Maddy Run: The Secret Struggles and Tragic Death of an All-American Teen. It was a very quick read, and flows like a very extended Sports Illustrated article (for me, that's a good thing). It's a sad story, but it brings up many new ways of looking at mental health, sports culture, and the pressure we put on kids in ways that I hadn't thought about before. Ms. Fagan's talk was very interesting as well - she was interviewed by the school's athletic director and some of the female student athletes, and she seemed genuinely interested in talking to them, which is always nice to see.

I'm currently finishing up The Secret Adversary, which is a lot of fun - I've read lots of Agatha Christie over the years, but somehow missed the entire Tommy and Tuppence series. I'll definitely be seeking out more of them - they somehow seem lighter and more modern than Poirot or Miss Marple.

I'm also listening to The Paper Magician to complete the Audible challenge (you get a $20 Amazon credit if you listed to three full-length books by March). I'm really enjoying the story, which strikes me as very Ghibli-esque, but it's taken a couple hours to get used to the narrator's approach to the characters' accents - it's just a bit more dramatic than I'm used to, I think.

QOTW: I agree with everything Sheri said about the American Dirt situation and other recent controversies. I am generally willing to give just about any book or author a chance, but if something strikes me as overtly and intentionally racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, etc. I will give it a hard pass regardless of whether there has been a public outcry. Everyone, including authors, has innate biases that they can't help but express through their work, so I wouldn't reject something on the sole basis that the author has different views than my own - but if it seems like there was a conscious attempt to drown out "own voices" alternatives or make a political point through the timing or method of release, then I'm out.

This week seems like it's gone by so fast!

I had one finish, The Bromance Book Club by Lyssa Kay Adams, which is my Popsugar book about a book club. It's a second-chance romance about a man trying to save his struggling marriage with the help of his buddies, who have formed a book club where they read romance novels to try and help them understand women. It wasn't perfect, but it was a fast read, and I enjoyed it enough to give the next book a shot when it comes out.

I'm currently reading Red Sister by Mark Lawrence. This is going to be my Popsugar book with a great first line. For the curious: "IT IS IMPORTANT, when killing a nun, to ensure that you bring an army of sufficient size. For Sister Thorn of the Sweet Mercy Convent Lano Tacsis brought two hundred men." Yeah, that's a great hook! :D

QOTW: I completely agree on the American Dirt situation. I have no interest in reading it due to the way the situation was handled. I think it was more the hi-jinks of the publisher than the author that annoyed me in this specific situation. I don't think every book out there has to be "own voices" to be of value, so long as it's not trying to drown out "own voices" authors. In this case, I think it was just handled poorly all around and would rather read and amplify "own voices".

I generally try to separate the author from the work, but there are some cases—specifically when the author is very publicly hateful or has done terrible things—when I just can't. In those cases, I just add them to my "never" shelf and move on.

I just finished Because Internet: Understanding the New Rules of Language and really enjoyed it. It's written in a very engaging voice and gave a great overview of they ways the internet has promoted and influenced the development of informal writing. Toward the end of the book, the author, Gretchen McCulloch, mentions an article she wrote for The Toast. I went ahead and read that, and then a couple more, and discovered she's now writing for Wired, so I'll definitely be following her there. I'm also feeling nostalgic for some earlier internet things, like emoticons. :)

QOTW: I think controversy surrounding a book impacts me similarly to a book review. in that it might make me aware of a book I hadn't heard of and give me some information about whether I would enjoy (or benefit from) reading it. It provides a look at what people find problematic about the work, and I can decide whether I agree.

My local library is doing a blind date with a book for February, so I thought I'd encourage the initiative.

The first description, "Hunter seeking a pet", was written by someone who obviously hadn't read the book. It turns out it's an Italian book about an aging poacher and the one prey he never caught. Basically, a beautifully written, 80-page version of Moby Dick on a mountaintop. I read the French translation, entitled Le poids du papillon. I used it for the Hufflepuff/Pomona Sprout/book about nature prompt. 10/60

I picked up another book today, under the description "cartoonist and monsters", which turned out to be another translation, this time of My Favorite Thing Is Monsters, Vol. 1. I'll read it because I doubt I can access the original version without buying it, but I always prefer to read the original rather than a translation when I understand the language. Even though I'm a professional translator.

I'm also about 100 pages into Gone Girl. So far, it's ok, but not really my cup of tea.

QOTW: There's one major controversy surrounding a book in Quebec these days. A popular author, who has produced a series of dark/horror twists on fairy tales, has been charged with producing child pornography for a scene depicting sexual abuse in his latest novel, Hansel et Gretel. The book has been pulled from the shelves, obviously, so while I can't read that, it does make me curious about the other books in the series. Is he a hack? Do his works have artistic merit? Where is the line? Being a library reader means I can read and make up my own mind about whether to encourage an author before doing so.

I had one finish last week, The Girl in the Tower, which I think I liked even better than the first book (and I've just received my library notification that my book three loan is in). I missed the forest setting of The Bear and the Nightingale, since this one takes place almost entirely in Moscow, but I loved reconnecting with some characters who'd left the stage early in the previous book and the direction that some of the character relationships took. A new character was introduced who I'm eager to follow into book three.

I'm currently back to the Red Rising trilogy with Golden Son.

QOTW: It really depends on what the controversy is. In general I just read what I want to read, but if a book is in the news and sounds appealing or important I'll add it to my list. I agree with Sheri that I would specifically seek out a book that offends people because of a positive portrayal of diverse perspectives. Tangentially, please enjoy this McSweeney's satire of the American Dirt controversy. Gotta love McSweeneys!!

(and thank you for sharing, Jennifer, because that first line made me immediately add Red Sister to my list!)

I read a book! I had to take a break from Plato for my sanity.
I read Murder on the Orient Express. It's the first Agatha Christie I've read, although I've seen a variety of adaptations of many of them. I really enjoyed it. It was both a good brain break and an enjoyable to boot. Even though I knew 'whodunit' I was still surprised by some of the twists since it's been a while since I saw an adaptation.

Back to Plato now.

QOTW: As many people have said it does depend on what the controversy is. American Dirt specifically I probably wouldn't have considered without the controversy, and if I do want to read something in the general area I'd definitely be looking towards own voices. Certain authors who have opinions or standpoints I vigorously disagree with I might make the choice to either avoid or only read via library copy if I wanted to see how a series continued. A preference for the former rather than the latter.

That said I'm also firmly in the 'I will read this because MRA type people are complaining about it' camp. If people are complaining about 'forced diversity' or 'too queer' or something in that line and its an appealing storyline that is going to make me more likely to pick it up.

Not a great week for reading, unfortunately. I had a last minute work assignment and ended up working late nights this week.

I'm still working on one of the books I started last week, Will Bonsall's Essential Guide to Radical Self-Reliant Gardening. I don't like to read dense books like this at night because I fall asleep and don't absorb the information... so not making steady progress. :P

I did pick up and finish The Orphan's Tale, which last week I had confused with The Orphan Train, by a different author. Because I was confused about the author, I was prepared to not enjoy it, but I did. It's set during WWII, and I appreciated the way the author handled the horrors of that time throughout the story. The reality of war does drive the story and there's no getting away from it, but I appreciated the relationships that the main characters forge, and there's a clever twist I didn't see coming.

QOTW: I rarely read books that have just been released. Most of the time I'm relying on the library or the Library book sale (they have a shelf of "for sale" books that are donated and the money helps support the library). So... while I do try not to support authors/people who hold views/have done things I feel are heinous, I'm not sure that my buying practices make much impact, because I just can't afford to buy much in the first place.

I'm aware of but haven't closely followed the controversy on American Dirt and have mixed feelings about it. Keeping in mind that I'm less educated about everything than I'd like to be... on one hand, there needs to be more representation in our books... so I appreciate the author choosing to tell a story that isn't just another white story. But I can also appreciate the fact that there are plenty of folks out there who could tell their story and aren't getting the chance to because of a white-centered, racist society... and that's no good either. In this case, I don't think I'd not read American Dirt because of the controversy, but I'm not sure it's one I'd pick up to start with.

I *have* read books with controversy about them as a "know thine enemy" sort of thing. I read the Twilight series and 50 Shades of Gray for that reason... and hated both of them. In Twilight's case, at least her writing got better by the end, but both books were idolizing a type of relationship that is deeply unhealthy. (And I will give credit to 50 Shades that at least Anastasia walks away for a hot second in the end. I didn't go on to read the other books though and the fact that she goes back, ugh... my mother was in a controlling/emotionally abusive relationship, and I just have very little patience for those things being portrayed as "good.") To my knowledge though, neither of those authors have come out as anti-lgbt/transgender, or racist, or as child abusers (hello J.K Rowling, Orson Scott Card, and Marion Zimmer Bradley)... so reading their stuff to know what I'm talking about when I say "I hate it" doesn't seem like the same thing.

Shel, I don't know how I completely missed that McSweeney's article until now - thank you so much for the link! That made my day. LOL

I am "this close" to finishing the audiobook The Consuming Fire. I have a half hour left to listen to of an 8 hour book. I am very much enjoying it because of the different story lines, most of the last hour or two has been the ones I find most interesting and they're now joining up. Sadly I just found out that the next book isn't available until the end of April.

I just got The Starless Sea from the library hold so will begin that soon.

I have been reading, fairly quickly, How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free: Retirement Wisdom That You Won't Get from Your Financial Advisor. This book is all about what to do in retirement. It does not really discuss finances at all. My husband and I are nearing the age to think about it and he wants to retire because he does not like his current job (loves the company, dislikes the current project). He needs to read this book to figure out what he might do with his time. I am mostly done with it and his turn is next.

QOTW: Like Dakota I so often read books that are not current or new that I miss all the controversy. I had not heard of American Dirt or anything about it prior to this thread.

I couldn't resist. I spent the last 30 minutes walking laps around the first floor of my house listening to the end of The Consuming Fire. Yes, I am still a Scalzi fangirl. And now I cannot wait until book 3.

LOL - I was like that when I was listening to Swipe Right for Murder - at the end I was even vacuuming with headphones on! I guess that's a sign of a good audiobook! :)

Susan wrote: "I couldn't resist. I spent the last 30 minutes walking laps around the first floor of my house listening to the end of The Consuming Fire. Yes, I am still a Scalzi fangirl. And now ..."

I just requested the first two from my library for a reread before the third one comes out.

This week I read The Dream Daughter which I really enjoyed. It was for my irl book club. Sometimes I feel bad, because I have such low expectations when other members choose a "regular" fiction book (I primarily read mystery, fantasy, scifi) and I am surprised to enjoy it. That being said, I guess the author is a popular mainstream fiction author so it was labeled as such, but one of the main plot lines would have put it in science fiction if it had been someone else. Some of my favorite authors tend to cross genres but seem to always be classified in their original category somehow. For John Scalzi, I find his Lock In to be more of a cop story, but it has robots so called scifi. For Charlaine Harris, she wrote two mystery series first, so they stuck the Sookie Stackhouse books in that section too, but they seem much stronger fantasies to me.

Kathy wrote: "This week I read The Dream Daughter which I really enjoyed. It was for my irl book club. Sometimes I feel bad, because I have such low expectations when other members choose a "regu..."

I just clicked through to the description and I'm intrigued! Adding it to my (endless) list :)