Elizabeth > Recent Status Updates

The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker remains an utter delight. Having not read the book in many years, I was thrilled to find it just as enchanting as it was the first time around.

Everything about this book is stunning.

The girl child loves this series and asked me to give the first book a try. How could I say no?

Page 157: Another masturbatory reflection on Fight Club. Chuck Palahniuk seems to be afraid to let this book stand on its own. Or perhaps he's subconsciously aware that he's essentially rewritten Fight Club. Minus another star.

Page 118: Wherein the novel is docked a star because the author couldn't resist the temptation to turn self-referential.

I wasn't expecting to cry in chapter four. It's too early in the book (and day) for this! 😭

Found it in a thrift shop for a quarter and it had to be mine.

Bumpy start, but once the story settled in, it got really good. Am in that blissful 'hate to put it down' stretch.

Frankly this book is not very good. It doesn't hold my interest, even though I was willing--eager, even!--to have my interest held. Wolff's narrative writing is not strong. I'll keep reading, though I'm already ready already for it to be over with.

Restarted a few days ago. For an author of Regency-set fiction, it's unpardonable that I haven't crossed this classic off my list yet!

This might turn into a DNF. The hero is 36. Heroine is a 18-year old COLLEGE FRESHMAN. The fantasy of a rich, older man may appeal to younger women, but as someone roughly the same age as the hero, I cannot fathom what would draw him to a fetal adult. She's not old enough to legally drink the wine he keeps pouring down her throat. She carries a backpack and worries about her grades. This is squicky, not sexy.

This is only the second reading that Goodreads knows of. I've read it six or seven times. A perennial favorite.

It opens with a conversation between the angel guarding the eastern gate of Eden and the serpent. Soon, it comes out that the angel has gifted his flaming sword to two recent evictees because "They looked so cold, poor things, and she's expecting ALREADY..."

Hooks me every time. This book is amazing.

Eye-opening would be an understatement.

DNF at this time. I'm just not in the headspace to tackle this beast. Returning it to the library and my to-read list.

This book is infinite. I still don't know what it's about. What am I doing.

Reading this has been slow going, as I have to keep stopping to look up references. I don't mind it, as I've learned a lot; an annotated version would make for easier reading, though!

The first canto recounts Harold's departure from England and travels through the war-torn Iberian Peninsula.

The second canto moves to Greece, where Byron gets right to calling out the looting of antiquities by his countrymen.

I realized just before starting this that it's number 6 in a series. So far, it seems to work fine as a standalone. Ancient monks and magic perfume, y'all.