Kym > Recent Status Updates

Enjoying these essays. Some lighthearted, some thought-provoking. Nice to listen to 2-3 essays between books.

Florence is self-absorbed and whiny. She broke up with the man she thought was the love of her life, and since has been unable to write. Because she doesn’t believe in love. You have to *believe* in something to write about it? What if you’re writing sci-fi? Do you have to believe in aliens to write that book? Also, why doesn’t her BFF suggest therapy instead of alcohol?

One of the whiniest heroines ever.

Essays. I can listen to one or two between books to break things up. But I’m definitely needing thinking time with those reads. Even in his YA fiction, John Green provides thought provoking material

First novella, by Tessa Dare, is as well written as one would expect from her. Her characters are well-rounded, complete with backstories, which I have found spotty in other works of this length. The plot is tight and includes a couple of points of conflict that are resolved at the end, and the denouement is lovely. My only issue is that the conflict resolution is somewhat rushed.

This book. Argh!
I started & stopped a couple times. But now I’m sticking. Maybe. As you can probably tell, I have issues.
First, outside of a children’s or middle-grades book, I really dislike a story told from a kid’s POV. It is difficult for most adults to convey the world as a 7-10 year old experiences it. So, yeah, there’s that.
Second. Head-hopping. It’s not omniscient, and it isn’t multiple POV. It’s intrusion

I am really not liking these people.
Also, so far it’s pretty darn passive - so much telling. And most of what is shown isn’t all that compelling.
I really hope it gets better. I don’t want to DNF another book.

Approximately 70%. It’s audio, so it’s a guess.
The romance is a little easy so far. Not much miscommunication, but no drama or angst either. No tension.
It isn’t a spoiler to say that the father Alexis never knew needs something that supposedly only she can provide and I get p*ssed off every time it comes up. He *can* survive more than 2.5 years on non-surgical treatment.

Possibly at 10% maybe less. Beginning of chapter 4. And it has already made me mad. Ms Adams obviously did not do research on renal failure. A person on dialysis can live longer than 2 1/2 years. Unless the patient is extremely non compliant

The communication between the h/H is surprising good. Why is she still stupid? I mean really, she’s freaking out that their sexual tension is on video forever, like a wedding video after a divorce. Well don’t watch it!!!

The blurb is a bit wrong. Jolene, a bartender from west Texas worn mummy issues did NOT inherit the Magnolia Inn, a B&B in East Texas. Her aunt & uncle are on a cross-country in their RV. Jolene got 1/2, and her horrible cousin got 1/2. Luckily he sold his half in to an ex-cop, week-end drunk, carpenter with issues of his own.
This is a light-ish romance. Love stories in a time of COVID is what I need now.

This is, so far, a relatively low energy story. Stuff happens, but a lot of it does nothing to move the plot or even illuminate the characters. My biggest problem is Penelope mentions her brother was “murdered at the Peterloo” because he was a Luddite. Nope. The Luddite movement was 1811-13 and the Peterloo massacre was in 1819. They weren’t even about the same thing. Labor in the first, suffrage in the latter.

So far, most of it has been popping back & forth between POVs of Sadie in the 1940s and Libby in 2020 — though there was one discordant bit from the POV of Martha (the Carter family cook) in 2020.
This very much comes across like Susan Elizabeth Phillips, especially the Libby POV. More so when listening to the audio rather than reading the Kindle. The narrator just has that sound.
Anyway, it’s only mildly annoying.

Engaging story. The audio performance not so much.

I just can’t help but think that out hero is an idiot.

Halfway thru and it’s a DNF. I not only don’t like these characters, I truly do not care what will happen to them. I will mark it as read/DNF and write a review (hidden, because ranting requires detail).
Maybe I will pick it up again in the future, but probably not.

I am so not liking these people. If Tess’ grief is so deep she gave up her life to move to backwoods TN, I think she needs a therapist, not a relationship. And whatsisname (I paused the audiobook and have already forgotten) is so whiny. At 37, too old to do street art, but doesn’t know what he wants to do when he grows up. And then there’s Tess being verbally abusive to the baby. Cute dialogue? No, not so much.

This book complex. With stories within parallel stories. And intricate, yet those intricacies are what draws you in to the labyrinthine depths. The language is Lovely and immediate. The character development - and there are many characters, both major and minor - is clear, but you aren’t slammed with everyone’s backstory at once.
I don’t know if I’ll be able to write a decent review on this one.

Just went through a couple of chapters that don’t move the plot at all. This is very frustrating. The premise of the book is so interesting, but the plot is passively plodding along.

Serafina seems to be an interesting character, but the passiveness of the prose keeps her from being compelling. Granted, this is a middle grades book, but I can’t imagine a child being patient with the slow build-up.

I first read this morality tale about 33 years ago at university, in a women’s lit class. It says something about a book to be remembered for that long. I have read literally thousands of books since then, but I remembered the travails and sorrow of poor Charlotte. What I didn’t recall was how florid the prose is! But it’s short, so I shall persist...

This is a strange and delightful book. The language is so beautiful. I feel it wrapped around me like a blanket. I taste it as I sip it up like hot, rich coffee, or gulp it down like a fruity cocktail. I see the landscape of the words, their peaks and chasms. I smell the flowers, the honey, and the dust the words form. Hear the music and their rhythm. All this even without yet consuming the plot and characters.

Alrighty then... see how long this has been on the currently reading shelf? Unlike the academic book sharing the space, this one came to a full stop at chapter 24 (75-80%). Why? Because I have a dreadful fear of stupid as a plot device.

Can anyone assure me that the heroine doesn’t (temporarily) lose the guy by being or doing something stupid for the sake of the plot?

We’re on chapter 35 of 48, down to the last 6hr 33min of a 24h 28min lecture series.

This book is going so slowly! But it’s 24+ hours long, and I’m listening with Kevin during dinner, 20-30min/day. Plus I went to visit my sister, and then holiday activities...
Anyhoo, we started with a brief intro in the Paleolithic, followed by a multifaceted examination of living in Mesopotamia, Egypt, had a stop in Mycenae, then Greece & Rome. Now Britain. About 6 hours left.

This book is going soooo slowly. It’s 24 hours long Of course, I’m listening to it with Kevin, 20-30 min/day. I went to visit my sister for a couple of weeks, and then we had all the holiday activities...
Anyway, we have now learned about daily life of the common people in the ancient world. So far we have been to Mesopotamia, Egypt, Mycenae, Greece, and Rome. Now on to Britain for the last 7 hours.

Still slow going. I wonder if we’ll finish this year...
we are now learning about the other side of history in Rome.

I don’t know if I’ll finish this. Depends on how much eye-rolling inducing social gaff and slap-stick type stuff I run into. I like funny, but not foolish.