2022 ONTD Reading Challenge discussion

Did you enjoy your July pick? Would you recommend it to your fellow readers? Was it difficult or easy to complete this task?

Finished Pretty Girls and found it was extremely thrilling and engaging. It was shocking me at every turn. I plan on reading more of Slaughter's books in the near future.

I read The Favorite Sister but didn't like it. What a disappointment after her last book. Unless you're really into petty fighting between boring characters and a lame twist, skip it.

Finished "Sharp Objects" by Gillian Flynn and I may have issues sleeping tonight. What an amalgamation of a bunch of fucked-up people.

I need to go read something frothy now.

I read The Supernatural Enhancements and found it enjoyable, if weird and confusing at times. It had a bit of a House of Leaves feel.

I read The Hunting Party for this challenge. I have been looking forward to reading it and it was good. I like when there are multiple narrators and the author did a decent job of creating suspense. The 'twist' was good but overall it was a typical thriller which did what it was meant to do. It was nothing new and it wouldn't be one I would recommend straight away. That said, I would read more of the author's books in the future if I wanted something in a similar vein.

I went with A Murder is Announced, a very comfortable Marple story. It's very typical Christie, for good and ill, but I think it's one of the ones you have a best chance at figuring out yourself if you pay attention and ask the right questions.

I reread The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. I apparently got this plot confused with The Mysterious Affair at Styles for some reason. Mostly this made me want to watch the David Suchet version. But, it is a good mystery and I can understand why it's so influential.

So i had thought i'd end up skipping this challenge because i don't like to know a twist is coming, but i ended up picking up a memoir called Have You Found Her that ended up having a pretty serious twist about 80% of the way through, so i guess i did it!

Also, it was a good memoir. it read like fiction. If you have interest in mental health, trauma, and toxic relationships, this book handles those things with a deft hand that doesn't make you feel terrible every time you pick up the book.

I read Rebecca for this challenge. It was enjoyable even though the twist was predictable.

Went back and read the first chapter i.e. the 'dream of Manderley' again just to make everything fit and enjoyed it better. The lead's wandering thoughts into what could happen would get a bit frustrating when you are hooked to know what's happening next. 'Stop thinking what other people might be doing and saying and focus on the problem at hand.'

Also went back and read the comments in January Wrap up and agree that Armie Hammer will not make a great Maxim.

I read The Devotion of Suspect X for this challenge. It was easy once I had the post to suggest some books that would work for this one, so thanks for that! I’ve had it on my reading list for a few years so it made it easy to pick that one once I knew it would fit the theme.

It was ok. It was short and a quick read. Not gory or a thriller like I had expected. But I was uncomfortable in so respects about the idea of a woman “owing” something to a man, etc. I thought the sorry was a bit convoluted though.

Oh, and this is the first month since March or possibly April that I’ve been reading the right book in the eighth month. I’ve been out of sorts. Glad to get back into it.

I read Big Little Lies for this challenge. I knew one of the twists but not the other one so I legit gasped when it was revealed. Overall, the book was ok. It's not what I usually read so it took me almost 3 weeks to finish it even if it was the book equivalent of popcorn.