I Hate-Read a Book, and some good stuff
Everything I bought, read and finished in February
Books Finished:
The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters ($$)
June in the Garden by Eleanor Wilde (Gifted/ARC)
The Making of a Marchioness by Frances Hodgson Burnett ($$)
Books Read but unfinished:
The Match by Sarah Adams
Life in Three Dimensions by Shigehiro Oishi ($$)
The Invention of Good and Evil: A World History of Morality by Hanno Sauer
Books Acquired: ($$=I bought it with my own hard-earned cash, 1/2$=I used my author discount, Gifted)
Life in Three Dimensions by Shigehiro Oishi ($$)
The Queens of Crime by Marie Benedict ($$)
The God of the Woods by Liz Moore ($$)
The Story Collector by Evie Woods ($$) (Judi suggestion)
I’m sorry, hold on, who even am I? I only finished 3 books this month? I only bought 4?
I found this so hard to believe that I went in and stared at my #TBR shelf (ok, shelves) in shock and dismay but it’s true. Well, mostly true. I also finished a book I was gifted as an advance copy that I basically was just hate-reading by the end. I’m sorry, I can’t tell you what it was, it’s against author code unless it hits like, all the lists and then it’s ok. I CAN tell you that if you’re reading this, it was not your book.
I can also tell you that it was a romance with a really ridiculous premise and characters who were both so adult and aware of themselves and smart and versed in therapy speak and YET ALSO acting out this ridiculous premise—which was not so much dumb as a premise for a book but ridiculous as in seriously no one does that—that somehow I was compelled to finish it. I do not know why. Some things cannot be known. It’s not that it was badly written. Maybe it just wasn’t for me. (I want to tell you what it is, somehow, without flagging Google alerts or anything of the sort or being mean about a fellow author. Okay, a hint: if you’re in your late 20’s/early 30’s, you probably have a card that bears the name of the book title stuck on your fridge to remind you of a thing you’ll be doing this summer.) (DO NOT FIGURE THIS OUT AND PUT IT IN THE COMMENTS. I AM TRUSTING Y’ALL.)
I mean, I did finish it. So how bad can it… oh, look, I really didn’t like it. I just felt compelled somehow to see the character, who you couldn’t help but like, through.
I can tell you there’s a reason why I bought so few books—that’s next week’s post! Stay tuned.
And that I LOVED The Making of a Marchioness and you should read it if it sounds at all like your kind of thing.
Austen fans, a (not modern) book for you!!
KIDS. This was the best discovery, and I will be re-reading it this summer for sure. Maybe you remember that in January, even though I’m trying not to buy any books I don’t intend to basically take home and read that night, I was in Beacon Hill Books, where they have an entire shelf dedicated to books published by Persephone Books… no! You don’t! Becaus…
And that I said, of June in the Garden, something like that the voice was crazy compelling and I could not stop turning pages (blurbs are hard to write, try it if you don’t believe me) and I’ll tell you that it was kind of giving Eleanor Oliphant but less sophisticated, that the fact that the author is a YA writer under a different name (I do not know what, I forgot to ask) did not surprise me because the book moved at a YA pace which was a good thing, and that I really do hate the title. It makes sense, when you read the book, but I don’t think it will encourage the right readers to actually pick it up… so here, see if you like the premise:
June views the world differently than others. A keen horticulturist, she can name every flower species in the alphabet (J begins with the Jamaica Plum). Yet, when it comes to people and relationships, she's still cultivating an understanding.
After her mother's unexpected death, June must vacate her home. But when the social worker urges her to move into a flat with no garden—clearly, that won’t work. With no other options, she embarks on her first solo trip in search of a father she’s only seen in a single old photograph.
When June unexpectedly shows up at her father’s door, he panics and turns her away, unwilling to jeopardize his idyllic life and new family. On her way out, June spies an unruly backyard and with nowhere else to go, quietly moves into her father’s yellow garden shed. Once again, she can spend her days surrounded by her beloved flowers. But when her father’s 12-year-old son—her half-brother—discovers June, she must choose between being seen for the first time or running away yet again.
If that sounds good, click order—you won’t be disappointed!
I can also tell you that it is now March, and I read The Queens of Crime in, like, two sittings. Maybe three. Because I LOVE DOROTHY SAYERS in any form.
Tell me what you read all in basically one gulp lately!
In all seriousness, in future, I'd love for you to talk more about being both an author and a reviewer. I'd love to hear etiquette for reviewers and lines an author shouldn't cross and what you were referring to about Google alerts. Obviously, I'm against author-bashing or hating on creative people about their book-babies, but I personally appreciate an honest review and I definitely want to know the nitty-gritty which will make me sorry I ever picked that title up—ideally BEFORE I start reading!(Idiosyncratic language in a historical, anyone?) 'Hope you can make room in your newsletter sometime. Thanks!
Your hate-review has only left me more intrigued, and this book has rocketed to the top of my to-read list.
I have finished only one book this week, an upcoming release about an astronomer dating the President called According to my Science. Obviously I am broken. (Part of the problem is the very good but very slow I Leave It Up To You, about a man emerging from a coma to work in his family’s sushi restaurant.)