Maslela’s
Comments
(group member since Jan 13, 2025)
Maslela’s
comments
from the Mount TBR Challenge 2025 group.
Showing 1-20 of 24
Book #23 -
The Grotesque by Patrick McGrath. Why have I not read his book before? Reminds me of Kazuo Ishiguro's descriptive style but also more Victorian, and gothic. Very much my cup of tea! I am intrigued and want to read the other book I've got of his.
Book #22 -
Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism by Amanda Montell. Not very good in terms of detailing the answer to the question of how the cult leaders' language grabs us. Also, everything is a cult - your gym, your firm, your profession - anything that uses language that can exclude others is a cult.
Book #21 -
In My Time of Dying: How I Came Face to Face with the Idea of an Afterlife by Sebastian Junger. It was good for the most part but towards the ending it got too technical, I was quite lost.
Book #20 -
American Mother: The True Story of a Troubled Family, Motherhood and the Cyanide Poisonings That Shook the World by Gregg Olsen. Apparently his writing back in the 90s was terrible. If You Tell is so much better.
Book #19 -
The One by John Marrs. As soon as I came across the line "she let out the breath she didn't know she was holding" on the first page, I threw the book away. Pretty confident that the show is better than the book with THAT sort of sentence.
Book #18 -
Hannibal Rising by Thomas Harris. This is horrible. He isn't good at historical fiction AT ALL. I'd rather not know Hannibal's childhood and how he became that way.
Book #17 -
My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell. It tries too hard to be like Lolita but it isn't. A better book to understand the mind of a child in that situation would be Tiger, Tiger: A Memoir by Margaux Fragoso.
Book #16 -
Can't Wait to Get to Heaven by Fannie Flagg. This one just doesn't hit the same way as Fried Green Tomatoes at Whistle Stop Cafe. Maybe no more Fannie Flagg in my future...
Book #15 -
Castle Ugly by Mary Ellin Barrett. Intriguing, unexpectedly good. I love a surprise find.
Book #13 -
The Cobblestone Flowerpot by Troy Drayton. Dabbling in a little bit of stoic philosophy reading. I liked the chapters on love and relationships, and on introverts.
Book #12 -
Of Human Bondage by Somerset Maugham. I wanted to read something of his that was less talked about first but somehow ended up reading this first anyway. It was a very boring start, at least 260 pages in before it got really interesting to the point I didn't want to put it down. Wow, it was good!
Book #11 -
A Piece of Cake by Cupcake Brown. I thought it would be a good idea to follow up an African American memoir with another one so I can relate better. It was a brilliant idea because it made me chuck this book off my list. 1. Not everybody can write even though they want to tell their story.
2. Not everybody's story is worth telling.
3. Good books are the ones where readers find lessons and reminders to incorporate into their lives; bad books are for some people to vent and others read for outrage.
Book #10 -
The Ugly Cry by Danielle Henderson. I was pleasantly surprised by how well-written this was. It was a little funny, witty, sad, and it reminded me of myself growing up thinking (some) similar thoughts.
Book #9 -
In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex by Nathaniel Philbrick. It was a good enough read after impulsively buying and reading The Terror by Dan Simmons. I was hoping for the heady rush of adrenaline but it was a much tamer story. But hey, I know a little bit more of American history and Nantucket now.
Maslela wrote: "Here we go again for the 6th year! I want to try to read 48 books from my mountain knowing that I will have new books to read too. I hope I read a lot of really good books this year and no time was..." Chickened out of the high peak. Work has become the focus this year due to increased responsibilities, leading to a new role. There was almost no time for reading daily. Just now regaining some sense of balance and playing catch up on reading goals.
Oh dear, I'm late, I'm late, I'm late!
Books #8 -
The Great Railway Bazaar: By Train Through Asia by Paul Theroux. Only a few pages in and I already understand why he is so highly praised!!
Book #7 -
When You Ask Me Where I'm Going by Jasmin Kaur. Not good, very whiny, not something I enjoy. I like the art of classic poets like Wilkinson, Plath, Kipling, Frost...
Book #6 -
Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons. Very cute story, and I smiled to myself multiple times. Comfort indeed!
Book #5 -
A House in Fez: Building a Life in the Ancient Heart of Morocco by Suzanna Clarke. Beautifully written, and in fact more in-depth locally with some interesting historical narratives compared to Tahir Shah's Casablanca story.
