2022 ONTD Reading Challenge discussion

Use this topic to discuss whether you enjoyed your January picks, and whether you'd recommend it to your fellow readers! Did you find it easy/difficult to complete this task?

I read and finished The Witches in one day! It was a really cute kids book. I’d recommend it for a quick, fun read if you want to get back into the swing of things like me!

I honestly thought the narrator was going to make it out of the conference room, but then I remembered I was reading Roald Dahl 😂 The ending was cute with the boy and his Grandmamma bonding even more. Not sure I liked the “You should die with your grandma” undertones but I can forget that.

I think I’ll also read Death on the Nile since I liked Murder on the Orient Express!

i am 284 pages into the 380 pages that is Rebecca. I had read somewhere that the book doesn't pick up until the last 100 pages and that is true, but i still enjoyed the first 2/3 - it wasn't overly wordy and i really like the narrator, so despite not much actually happening, it has kept my interest.

i finished Rebecca. i wish it hadn't be markets as this tense, unsettling thriller, because while i enjoyed it, it wasn't really any of those things, so i felt a bit let down.
i'll be interested to see how it translates to the screen, because it could get really dull, OR it could be that creepy, unsettling vibe.

I just finished reading The Witches. I never read it before and I enjoyed it! I loved the illustrations that went with the story. I think it helped elevate the whole thing.

Keri wrote: "I read and finished The Witches in one day! It was a really cute kids book. I’d recommend it for a quick, fun read if you want to get back into the swing of things like me!

I honestly thought the..."

I just finished it and the 'dying with your grandma' bit does seem depressing. I too thought he'd make it out of the conference room! Haha.

I read The Witches too! I had never read it and I haven't seen the movie, but I do want to watch it now.

I enjoyed the first half more than the second half. Dahl is just so good at building these worlds that totally make sense within its realm. But after the witch showdown, I guess I expected it to follow more with the protagonist in the future telling the reader more clues to avoid witches, but it wasn't quite the same.

Rebecca was entertaining despite my total lack of surprise about the plot (which I knew beforehand).

Choosing to read the audiobook version, however, deffo helped me keep my attention in the goings on.

In any case, I can see how the book eventually became a classic. The writing was pretty solid throughout (though I deffo side-eyed Maxim's random mean behavior in the beginning. Like, when he tells the nameless narrator that he wishes she could never age to 36 and beyond.)

Alyssa wrote: "i finished Rebecca. i wish it hadn't be markets as this tense, unsettling thriller, because while i enjoyed it, it wasn't really any of those things, so i felt a bit let down.
i'll be interested t..."

I can recommend the 1940s version directed by Hitchcock for moodiness. Also, Joan Fontaine does a good job on being naive without going overboard. Depending on your own feelings abt Lawrence Olivier, his version of Maxim might be kinda meh or smouldering IDK, lol. I've also watched the 1979 version and 1997 one too. They were okay-ish but less creepy than expected. Out of the two, the 1997 is far more solid than the 1979 one.

The fact that armie hammer is Maxim (when so many other good actors are right here to do that role) really makes me salty.

I finished Just Mercy by Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption a few minutes ago (first book of the year!). It was really good and sheds interesting light onto the criminal legal system. It was also infuriating at times because of the classism/racism that is so prevalent in the court and prison systems.

There were times when it felt a little padded, though. It provably could have lost a couple dozen pages. Now I’m ready for the film.

I read Little Fires Everywhere. It was pretty interesting but I have mixed feelings. I can't really picture it as a movie though.

I finished Death on the Nile and thought it was fine (not great, but fine) but I am looking forward to the movie. I feel like I was a lot more into Christie at 13-15 than I am now.

Ariadna wrote: "Alyssa wrote: "i finished Rebecca. i wish it hadn't be markets as this tense, unsettling thriller, because while i enjoyed it, it wasn't really any of those things, so i felt a bit let down.
i'll ..."

i'll be sure to check out the Hitchcock version for sure. I could see where as a film it could be done with an unsettling vibe and have that be really effective, i just didn't feel that coming through the pages. Which, i still really enjoyed the book it just wasn't the creep-fest i was expecting.

I read and liked Little Fires Everywhere, but it didn't get me excited for the adaptation! I just think some things are better left as books, and that's how I felt about this. But I've been wrong before!

I also just finished Little Fires Everywhere. I can see it as a mini-series but I can see them having to cut some bits out, which I have mixed feelings about. The book did a good job of making me invest in the lives of these characters; especially some of the side characters.

I'm another Little Fires Everywhere reader and I absolutely loved it despite going in with low expectations. Ng does an excellent job of world building to invest you in the story. I'm not excited about the series though because I don't like or trust Witherspoon.

I read Horrorstör by Grady Hendrix and gave it 4 stars.

This was a very entertaining horror with elements of comedy and wonderful pop culture references. I enjoyed the story and liked the ending too. The physical version of the book is so amazingly designed like an IKEA catalog.

Jamie wrote: "I read Horrorstör by Grady Hendrix and gave it 4 stars.

This was a very entertaining horror with elements of comedy and wonderful pop culture references. I enjoyed..."

Omg that it's designed like an Ikea catalog sounds amazing! I'm adding that to my tbr list

I did The Turn of the Screw and I ended up just getting through it. It's one of those things where I would probably love an adaptation but I hated how it was written.

Lyn wrote: "I did The Turn of the Screw and I ended up just getting through it. It's one of those things where I would probably love an adaptation but I hated how it was written."

Oh god; that was my original pick and I ended up putting it down in favour for Normal People because it was taking me so long to get through. I had to like, decipher & analyze the writing to know what was going on half the time. Idk if I'm gonna go back.

I almost gave up on The Turn of the Screw because of how it was written. I have never seen that many commas since I first learned how to use them. I liked the setting and would have felt more satisfied with the book if it was better worded.

The top review for the book on Goodreads is hilarious and I completely agree with it.

I read Normal People and I'm going to be honest, I didn't think I would like it. Usually very excessively hyped up books are not my thing, but I actually did like it. It was a very easy read, I could have read the whole thing in a day. I didn't feel invested in the story or the characters but I didn't mind Sally Rooney's writing style and I don't know I was like this is not as bad as I thought it was going to be in my mind.

I read The One and Only Ivan which I somehow never read growing up. It made me hate circus acts even more than I already did. Now I'm curious to see the movie when it comes out later this year.

I finally read Normal People after putting it off all of 2019 out of fear of being disappointed and I liked it a lot! Rooney's writing style is really lovely and I've bumped Conversations with Friends up on my tbr.

I, like many others, read Little Fires Everywhere. I thought it was really well done, especially the characterizations. It was an engaging book and I'm interested to catch the miniseries.

Although I've no intention to touch anything Moffat does, I figured I'd read Dracula.

I enjoyed it for the most part, but the phonetic spelling of "simple working folk"'s speech did my head in, especially downright mocking the swearing one. Not a sport I'd expect from an Irishman...

Dainey, so I watched the Dracula adaptation as I was very curious and it is SO. EMBARRASSING. I don’t know what it is about the source material that makes people come up with such bizarre adaptations. The main actor did his best though, poor guy.

I finished A Suitable Boy!!!!!!!! I fucking did it!!!!!!!! It was great, I can't wait for the TV series. I think it will be fantastic because I have faith in Mira Nair and the excellent cast she picked (Tabu!!!!! queen!!!)

I finished Dune! Finally! Good book. I kept getting derailed looking up thing like pictures of deserts, kinds of sand, and whether Dune is somehow linked to the name “Jessica” suddenly becoming more popular in the mid-60s (still can’t figure out exactly what caused that.)

I finished my re-read of Rebecca. Enjoyed it a lot.

I read two. Dracula and The Secret Garden.
With Dracula, it took a little while to get used to the sheer amount of words. But given its being told in first person - makes sense to have so much being written. Also, I havent read much 19th century literature but I think its fairly standard?
The Secret Garden was I thought a re-read but turns out, I think I had internalised the 1990s film. I very much enjoyed the novel. I can appreciate the novel, the film and possibly the new film as individual items.
I didnt realise it was written in 1911 and so working out that Colin and Dickon were very likely involved in WW1 and definitely WW2 was sad to think about given the magical nature of the novel.

Super late to this, but I finished The Secret Garden last night. The 1993 movie is a childhood favorite, and I don't know how I feel about the one coming out this year.

Back to the book, I enjoyed it! Mostly because Indira Varma narrated it, and she's AMAZING. It was so lovely to escape to a beautiful garden and see two children grow into themselves along with it. I didn't love the racism ingrained in the text; it threw me.

Is anyone watching the Little Fires Everywhere mini-series on Hulu? It premiered last week. This was the book I read for January, but I didn't feel like there was as much black-vs-white racial tension in it between the families? (I know there was because of Brian, but I'm talking the Mia-Pearl-Elena dynamic.) Did I completely misread or was that written in because of the casting?

I know I’m incredibly late but … When this challenged started, I originally wanted to re-read Stargirl for this but then switched to Normal People. Didn’t expect much but I loved the writing.