Oolookitty > Recent Status Updates

Pretty disappointed in this one so far; I thought this was going to be an interesting look at life behind the scenes in the theater, but so far it’s mostly people preaching Christianity and talking about Jesus.

I am really enjoying this, but I am a bit surprised that no one else has mentioned the extremely problematic nickname of one of the children in this book. I’m not a fan of updating literature for modern sensibilities, but it is a bit rough to come across this child’s nickname so regularly and not have a strong negative reaction.

OK I

Almost done with the audiobook but I just don’t think I can continue to the end. One of the readers is driving me up the wall with his very flamboyant, constantly dramatically pausing, 19th century barnstorming actor performance and I just don’t think I can listen to him anymore.

These people have the most expository conversations I have ever read. Nobody talks like this. People in the film industry do not have to explain to each other, constantly, how films are made. I’m exhausted.

DNF.

Well written but I am on page 9 million, with 7 million pages left to go, and it is so so obvious what has happened in the story that I really just feel like skipping to the end to confirm. If the book is going to be this long, please don’t make the mystery so obvious so early.

Not really getting along with this book so far. Liza is an absolute vapid doormat of a woman. I am hoping that the worm turns at some point, but I am starting to lose that hope.

This is the kind of book in which everybody gets together to have long conversations about things that they all already know. Really sloppy way to do exposition.

I am on chapter 4, and so far the characters have had the same exact conversation four times. My hopes are not too high for this one.

Yes, this is a product of its time, but I’ve read plenty of YA of this period that have characters so flummoxed at having to interact socially with dark-skinned people who “might have come from the same family as their maid Delia back home.” I’ll keep reading, in the hopes that Peggy will have her consciousness raised. ;)

I am listening to this on audible and I am so bored. I’m sorry.

Not very far into this one that is part of my “discovering forgotten women writers” personal project. This is a tough one because the lead, Sally, is such a brat, and there are so many Racisms already. So many. Not unusual for 1935, but seriously.

Also, this is one of those plots that is going to hinge on a giant misunderstanding that is which could’ve been prevented with one sentence, so 🤷🏻‍♀️

Further thought: If you are looking to reinforce your own negative feelings about the horse world, I guess read this book.

I was really looking forward to this, but it is actually making me depressed. No one in this book so far seems to feel the joy of connecting with an empathetic creature of another species. So much of it is about the negativity of the idea of a “horse girl,” and not fitting into that world. I don’t have perfect thighs or blonde hair either, I’m just in it for the horses. Not sure I’m going to finish this.

Fairly interesting but I am very tired of the author constantly inserting stuff about “she didn’t need feminism back then, she just got on with it“ and so forth. And “you couldn’t do that now because criticism culture“ about stuff like sexual-harassment and driving home drunk. I don’t know, those things don’t seem like sweetly nostalgic things that make me want to return to the past.

I’m about halfway through and pretty much enjoying this one, but yikes, there is some racist stuff (typical of the period) going on here at times. There is a domestic servant at the beginning who talks in cliched dialect, but then, later, there is a very sophisticated young female musician who manages to escape the racist stereotypes.

I am on chapter 6 and I don’t know if I will continue. This is interminable. So far we’ve gotten the history of the nutcracker, the history of ballet, lists of books she’s read about ballet, 7 million pages of taking online surveys to determine how she feels about her body and how she really feels about dancing and whether she should do this and self analysis about why she might even have thought of it. 😐

HOW IS THIS SO TERRIFYING? 😬

So far, finding this really tedious. Lots of people just having conversations about other people, relating stuff that has happened, and we see things happen apparently just so that these people can then write letters to other people and tell them what just happened. I think we have now gotten the backstory of the new lady who’s arrived in town four times. I enjoy this author but this one’s tough to get through.

This is very well written, but I need something to happen pretty soon other than girls being jealous and bratty to each other.

Had to stop reading for the night because it is too damn spooky. Great read so far! I just don’t want to have nightmares.

I am finding this absolutely delightful so far.

This book is so peculiar. The author leaves the stressful situation in the house for a long trip to a film studio, during which the existence of professional trade unions is bemoaned for many pages.

Very well written, but the situation in this book is stressing me out so much that I’m going to have to go read something very fluffy before I can finish this one. 😬

Based on things I’ve heard, I was expecting this to be more like a Noel Streatfeild book. However, the characters don’t really stand out, and the descriptions of their performances feel interminable. I wound up owning the whole series so I will keep plowing through and hope to enjoy the future volumes a little bit more than I am enjoying this one. It’s fine, just nothing special.

Enjoying an unconventional, sports-loving girl of an earlier era; Not enjoying the casual and ugly racism typical of that era. I’m intrigued enough by the mystery involving, possibly, the ghost of Madame Eliza Jumel, to keep going for now, but CW for sure.