Melissa Smith > Recent Status Updates

Reading along with Oak Tree tutoring students this summer is going to be fun!

Every page is full of practical encouragement.

I’m rereading with the Mitford Book Club (Facebook group) and adding my comments about writers, literary references, and mentions of music in every chapter. Considering that there are 137 chapters this may take a while!

I’m not sure I’m going to persevere through all 245 pages of this book. I enjoyed a section in the second chapter about Margaret’s memory of a childhood room that later inspired the writing of Goodnight Moon, but nothing else has grabbed my interest so far.

My Beloved is so good that I could fly through it and finish by tomorrow morning! I’ve decided to take my time, though. I’m taking notes and adding to a Spotify playlist as I go, and I’m absolutely savoring every word. Hopefully I’ll finish in time to discuss it with the Mitford Book Club in January!

I may come back to this someday but I have to return it to the library now. I just couldn’t get interested in it enough to finish it quickly.

I chose this book strictly for the title. I was trying to read an Agent Pendergast book for a book club I’m in but just couldn’t stick with it. I decided to look for another “Agent” book as a substitute and this audiobook was available now. So far, so good.

I persevered through the violent death in chapter 2 and the f-word in chapter 3 and then decided I’m just not invested enough in the story to keep reading things I don’t enjoy reading.

I heard Jan Karon say that her writing is “a long obedience in the same direction.” I think she was quoting Friedrich Nietzsche, but when I saw this book title, I was intrigued.

This is either the fourth or fifth time I’ve read In This Mountain. The last time I read it was in 2021, hopefully long enough ago to be able to enjoy it yet again! My goal is to reread all 14 books in the series before the 15th book comes out in October.

This is not my preferred genre, but I’m trying to keep an open mind. The Reading Our Way Through the Year Facebook group’s category for February is Agent Pendergast, so I’m starting with the first book in the series. I’m hoping the monster gore will be just unbelievable enough for it not to bother me. We’ll see!

I can’t finish this! 👎

I had looked forward to this book after hearing rave reviews about the play and the movie. I’m less than an hour in to the audiobook and I am not impressed- so many gross and disgusting encounters in so few pages. Tell me, friends, does it get better?