![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
Kiwiria's February Fables
Feb. 28th, 2022 02:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kiwiriaA slow month, so I'll skip the lj-cut this time.
The Library of the Unwritten - A.J. Hackwith, 3/5, 440 pages
VERY different from what I had expected from reading the back blurb and the first chapter. There was a lot less focus on the library and a lot more focus on the 'quest' Claire and her companions went on. Which unfortunately meant I was less enamored by the book than I had expected to be. It was still good, but as a general rule I don't really enjoy reading about demons and angels. I had hoped this would be the exception that proved the rule, but unfortunately that didn't turn out to be the case.
For the same reason I have no desire to continue on with the series, but will leave it behind here. Fortunately it works pretty well as a stand-alone novel.
Beach Read - Emily Henry, 4/5, 361 pages
I was a bit hesitant to start this one, as I hadn't been too impressed by Emily Henry's other book ("People You Meet On Vacation"), but I needn't have worried - this one is SO much better! It's the old enemies-to-lovers trope, but it works, and I really, really, really appreciated that Emily Henry didn't feel the need to add an additional crisis for more conflict. For once I didn't actually feel like yelling at the characters to just communicate already, because more often than not they did so by themselves at a realistic pace.
Really sweet book that I'll probably have to add to my physical library at some point... and I really want to read the two books they wrote!
Later - Stephen King, 3/5, 264 pages
Honestly, I don't really know... It was one of those "it was good, but..." books. I never really got what Stephen King was trying to do. At the same time, I had a really hard time putting it down, so at the end of the day I'm glad I've read it, but it's probably not a book I'll reread.
The Teacher's Funeral - Richard Peck, 3/5, 224 pages
A charming book with definite shades of "Farmer Boy" - if Almanzo Wilder had been slightly more prone to pranks ;-) I would probably have enjoyed it a lot more if I'd been younger when I first read it, as I cannot pinpoint anything 'wrong' with it - it just didn't blow me away.
It did make me want to reread the Little House series though :-D
People We Meet on Vacation - Emily Henry, 2.5/5, Audiobook ~11hrs
This book suffered from many of the same issues as "The Road Trip" by Beth O'Leary. I just don't appreciate reading about people who used to be close (whether as friends, lovers or family) having a falling out and becoming estranged. This was slightly better than "The Road Trip" as they generally handled it more maturely, but still. I hate the trope of having a couple split up before they can get back together again. Surely a book's conflict can be something other than that - even in a chick-lit.
*Ahrem*... alright, getting off my soap-box now.
I liked reading about Poppy and Alex' friendship, and just wish the book hadn't succumbed to the old "two people of opposite sexes can never just be friends" - but I knew that was going to happen going into the book, so it didn't bother me as much as it could have.
The Library of the Unwritten - A.J. Hackwith, 3/5, 440 pages
VERY different from what I had expected from reading the back blurb and the first chapter. There was a lot less focus on the library and a lot more focus on the 'quest' Claire and her companions went on. Which unfortunately meant I was less enamored by the book than I had expected to be. It was still good, but as a general rule I don't really enjoy reading about demons and angels. I had hoped this would be the exception that proved the rule, but unfortunately that didn't turn out to be the case.
For the same reason I have no desire to continue on with the series, but will leave it behind here. Fortunately it works pretty well as a stand-alone novel.
Beach Read - Emily Henry, 4/5, 361 pages
I was a bit hesitant to start this one, as I hadn't been too impressed by Emily Henry's other book ("People You Meet On Vacation"), but I needn't have worried - this one is SO much better! It's the old enemies-to-lovers trope, but it works, and I really, really, really appreciated that Emily Henry didn't feel the need to add an additional crisis for more conflict. For once I didn't actually feel like yelling at the characters to just communicate already, because more often than not they did so by themselves at a realistic pace.
Really sweet book that I'll probably have to add to my physical library at some point... and I really want to read the two books they wrote!
Later - Stephen King, 3/5, 264 pages
Honestly, I don't really know... It was one of those "it was good, but..." books. I never really got what Stephen King was trying to do. At the same time, I had a really hard time putting it down, so at the end of the day I'm glad I've read it, but it's probably not a book I'll reread.
The Teacher's Funeral - Richard Peck, 3/5, 224 pages
A charming book with definite shades of "Farmer Boy" - if Almanzo Wilder had been slightly more prone to pranks ;-) I would probably have enjoyed it a lot more if I'd been younger when I first read it, as I cannot pinpoint anything 'wrong' with it - it just didn't blow me away.
It did make me want to reread the Little House series though :-D
People We Meet on Vacation - Emily Henry, 2.5/5, Audiobook ~11hrs
This book suffered from many of the same issues as "The Road Trip" by Beth O'Leary. I just don't appreciate reading about people who used to be close (whether as friends, lovers or family) having a falling out and becoming estranged. This was slightly better than "The Road Trip" as they generally handled it more maturely, but still. I hate the trope of having a couple split up before they can get back together again. Surely a book's conflict can be something other than that - even in a chick-lit.
*Ahrem*... alright, getting off my soap-box now.
I liked reading about Poppy and Alex' friendship, and just wish the book hadn't succumbed to the old "two people of opposite sexes can never just be friends" - but I knew that was going to happen going into the book, so it didn't bother me as much as it could have.
