Have you read the sequel to the Roommate? I’m hoping that one is similar at least!
My week was some romance and finishing up the last book in the Poppy War series.
Book Lovers by Emily Henry - I am not the biggest Emily Henry fan and I've heard her books divided into two camps Book Lovers/Beach Read and then on the other side, People You've Met on Vacation and Happy Place. I am squarely in the Book Lovers camp because I could not stand Happy Place. This was the last Emily Henry I was going to try, and if I didn't like this one, I was going to give up on her as an author. As it turned out, I really enjoyed this! The protagonist of this novel is the cold NYC girlfriend that loses her boyfriends to the small town girl. I enjoyed turning the genre on its head and I enjoyed that the story had amazing substance past this draw. The two sisters had a real relationship with each other and everyone acted like adults.
Do Your Worst by Rosie Danan - I'd previously read The Roommate by this author, which I really enjoyed. This one was a cute romance as well, it requires a serious suspension of disbelief to follow the protagonist, who is a curse breaker, but it's a really steamy and sweet story otherwise.
The Burning God (The Poppy War, #3) by RF Kuang - What can I say about this book that I didn't stay previously? The last installment in this political fantasy series continues to be utterly consumable and the characters continue to walk into traps and do things that make no sense. I feel like the ending was a little bit of a cop out as well, but I still really enjoyed it.
I also DNFed Witch King! In good company.
Oh wild! I had no idea fan fiction could be considered canon by the author!
Oh no, I have the RomCon on my list… but I also kind of love predictable so maybe it will work for me.
I have heard that Book 2 of the Three Body Problem is the worse, but Book 3 is the best… what a conundrum.
I love it when I have weeks of really diverse reads! This is one of those weeks.
Peach Blossom Spring by Melissa Fu - Historical fiction following a family though 3 generations. This had to do with the Japanese War of Aggression, and Chinese/Taiwan politics. The characters are Meilin, the grandmother who escaped with her young son, Renshu, the immigrant to the US and his daughter, Lily. There's nothing about "intergeneration historic fiction" that interests me, but this story goes so much deeper. This is half review and half personal reflection on all the different feelings that this story brought up in me. I had a lot of feelings.
First, a young mother and her son escape west in the Japanese War of Aggression. This is a story I was familiar with from reading The Library of Legends by Janie Chang recently, however, this was a slightly different story as it was a family travelling rather than students. The family also had ties with the KuoMingTang or KMT.
Second, the characters settle in Shanghai, which many people settled in after the war. This was also a parallel that I made with The Library of Legends, however as the characters in the Library of Legends grew to have more support in Shanghai, Meilin and Renshu lost monetary support.
Third, making their way to Taiwan. I knew the background of Taiwan and its ties with the KMT, but this book really laid out the history of how violence of the Chinese Communist Party drove the KMT supporters to Taiwan, displacing native Taiwanese. I also learned about how in those first five years, the KMT had a plan to retake mainland China. Seeing history from his perspective was vastly eye-opening. The people who went to Taiwan during this time were refugees, and could not go back to mainland China for a long time.
Fourth, seeing Renshu make his way to the US for graduate school really reminded me of my parents' own experience. Granted, Renshu came over in the 1950s and I can't help to think that things were so different back then, interracial marriage wasn't legal. Mixed kids were rare then, and were even rare when I was growing up... but contrast that with this next generation where most kids will be mixed race.
Fifth, seeing how cautious Renshu is about Taiwan/Chinese relations, a One China policy, and how your actions in the US could reflect back in your relatives in China. This was something that I had the privilege of never worrying about.
Lastly, Renshu never shared his past in China with his daughter, and that's made me reflect on how very very little I know about my own parents upbringing, much less my grandparents.
Overall, a well written tale that has taught me history, made me reevaluate my own biases and made me think.
10 Things That Never Happened (Material World #1) by Alexis Hall - A light hearted, funny romance written in that classic Alexis Hall style. Sometimes I love their writing, sometimes it falls a little flat for me. This time, it was a little flat-- the characters did not seem to really capture my heart and there was so much lying about faking amnesia. It made it really hard to root for the protagonist.
The Mystery Guest (Molly the Maid, #2) by Nita Prose - A sequel to The Maid that follows Molly a very literal maid, good person, and mystery solver. I enjoyed the cast of characters, Molly and the overall mystery. If you enjoyed the first, you should read the sequel!
I also absolutely loved Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld. The other book I read by her was that Hilary Clinton one... and that didn't really work for me.
I started reading Beartown, but once I found out about the rape, I stopped and DNFed. It did feel realistic and made me very uneasy.
Yes! It was so much fun to discover this town and mysterious estate.
Had a good week of nice reads... and looking forward to Independent Bookstore Day at the end of the month.
A Most Agreeable Murder by Julia Seales - A fun wacky murder mystery set in the 1800s Victoria England. It's like Pride and Prejudice meets a locked room murder mystery. Narrative took place though a third person story, but also various newspaper excerpts. I think the different media types distracted from telling a tight story, but also contributed to the wacky vibes.
This Poison Heart (This Poison Heart, #1) by Kalynn Bayon - A book club read that was fun and ended on a cliff hanger. It's reminiscent of that classic YA book, a little romance, a little mystery, a little magic.
Cocaine Blues (Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries #1) - by Kerry Greenwood - After rewatching the entire first season of the Miss Fisher Murder Mysteries show, I was encouraged to read the original books. It's lovely and charming, but not quite as charming as the show. I really enjoyed seeing the TV characters in the book and seeing what was changed when the series was adapted.
Yes! I think Julia was really just flexing on all her narrating chops. There was no great reason that some of the characters had an accent.
I watched Happiness for Beginners on Netflix and it seemed very cute so I decided to reach for more of her books.
lol I didn’t even notice! Definitely a heavy zither month for me.
I decided I wasn't an Emily Henry fan... but I still loved Book Lovers!
I have a month of book reviews to catch up on! I think I'll only get through some today.
The Honjin Murders by Seishi Yokomizo - A Japanese locked door mystery from 1946, a translated work. I found this short novel to be very eerie and mysterious. A "koto" (zither type instrument) features heavily in the timing and context around the mystery and I feel like I could almost hear this strumming along... creeped me out and reminded me a little of Detective Conan. As a mystery lover, it's great to read some of great originals.
Thank You for Listening by Julia Whelan - I listened to this as an audiobook, and my god, I think this is god-tier for me, especially as an audiobook. The book itself is about an audiobook narrator, about an audiobook narrator struggling to find her footing after leaving acting. There's a side plot about mistaken identities, a steamy book-in-book, and a lot of great behind the scenes of audiobooks. I just started listening to audiobooks earlier last year and this author has also become one of my favorite narrators. **Highly Recommend*\*
Strike the Zither by Joan He - A story inspired by Romance of the Three Kingdoms, which I might have enjoyed until it went completely off the rails with a reveal in the middle of the story. The author has a way of writing where you don't know who to trust and there's betrayals at every turn. It's very engaging, but also predictable... Is that the Main Character's best friend and confidant? Oh then they are definitely going to turn on the main character. Not for me.
The Soulmate Equation by Christina Lauren - A light romance story which I really enjoyed! There's some statistical science in here, which I found charming and otherwise, I enjoyed all the characters and their interactions. Looking forward to the reading the sequel.
The Bodyguard by Katherine Center - I listened to this one as an audiobook as well. The beginning of it was a bit hard to get through... the main character's mom just died and the only thing she has in her life is her job... It's somewhat relatable, but also incredibly incredibly painful to see a character in that state. But as we grow with her, I loved seeing her develop as a person and fall in love. Looking forward to reading more Katherine Center books!
Same, I haven't even picked up a book in months because none of them interest me.
That’s me exactly! Thank you for putting that into words!
A good solid week of reading!
The Burnout by Sophia Kinsella - This author also wrote Confessions of a Shopaholic, and while that series might be too painfully 2000s for me at this stage, I was curious to try her new release. I found myself very pleasantly surprised with this hilarious novel about a woman who escapes a company with too much work and goes on a retreat and gets entangled in hilarious hotel escapades and unravels a very small mystery. Do not come for realism. But otherwise, it delivered everything as promised.
The Widows of Malabar Hill by Sujata Massey - Historical mystery series about the first barrister in India. A truly fascinating story and I learned so much about Zoroastrians in India. My American education taught me these people were part of "ancient history" only. I loved the backdrop of India in the 1920s, the opinions toward the British, the class divide. The story itself also really held up as a fantastic nuanced mystery. I'll definitely be reading more.
The Christmas Orphans Club by Becca Freeman - A book written by a popular podcast host, which can be very hit or miss. Fortunately, this was a great hit with me. While the characters themselves can be self-centered, the book itself was incredibly charming. From a few chapters in, when the main character mentions Call Your Girlfriend as one of her favorite podcasts, I knew this would be a very FOR ME type of book. It's ripe with pop culture references, which could be a pro or a con for you. Ultimately, it's a book about making and keeping friends. I think we need a little more of that in the world.
I'm fine with knowing what I'm getting from an Ali Hazelwood book!
In contrast to the last time I checked in, this was an all fantasy week!
The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea by Axie Oh - A very charming YA story about a headstrong girl who jumped over a ship as a sacrifice to be a Bride of the Sea God. I almost DNFed it in the first few chapters because of how stupidly rash this girl is. She loves her brother. The girl who loves her brother was about to be scarified, so she jumped in instead. Outside of this initial stupidity, the story really improved and I found it quite charming in the end.
Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree - This was described as "high fantasy, low stakes". I really thought they were going to bait and switch me, but the stakes are really really low. The characters just learn what coffee is several times over and build bigger ovens to make more breads. It was so charming and delightful. I had really high expectations for this book and it met all of them!
From Blood and Ash by Jennifer Armentrout - Not for me. This started quite interestingly and I loved the forbidden romance aspect of it... but I couldn't really see the enemies to lovers working. It was too unrealistic for me for someone to stab a person and then have consensual sex with them in the very next chapter.
Thank you for that! I’m newer to audiobooks. That feels rude but I completely agree.
Yes! Or that a prolific author’s work is all on the same level or will appeal to you the same way.
Okay! That is the second stamp of approval I have seen for Funny Story! I may have to add this to my TBR!
Blogsnark Reads! May 12-18
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