Lisa > Recent Status Updates

I'm not sure if this was intentionally written as young adult lit, but it reads that way.

Having a reallllly hard time relating to these people. Trying to maintain interest in their “problems.”

For 52 Week Reading Challenge
- set in a city starting with the letter M

Reading for work (considering for MS summer school novel).

This may be a DNF book for me, but I'll give it to 25% before I decide. Grotesquely clunky writing: zero subtlety or nuance to exposition and super stilted dialogue. It's grating my nerves.

Just got to the part where Isabelle has a conversation with the old man on the porch who remembers having prior conversations with her and remembers her meeting up with him a year ago with Mason...but she doesn't remember any of it. All of a sudden it's SUPER clear why the author needed to spend so much time and effort making sure we knew that Isabelle and Ben's new GF look almost identical.

Well written. Too darn much childbirth.

Giving up. The writing is just too awful, even if the storyline is interesting. Stilted dialogue. Ham-fisted exposition. And, I have a hard time suspending my disbelief because the writer glosses over details as if they don't matter. I can't keep my head in the story because every other sentence is so poorly written it kicks me back out.

Liking it, so far.

LOVE the Five Carat Soul Bottom Bone Band stories! Surprised to find myself reading (and reacting emotionally to) a short story centered on Abe Lincoln losing his son and going walking at night...so soon after having read Lincoln in the Bardo. I love it when I accidentally do serendipitous thematic reading.

LOVE the Five Carat Soul Bottom Bone Band stories! Surprised to find myself reading (and reacting emotionally to) a short story centered on Abe Lincoln losing his son and going walking at night...so soon after having read Lincoln in the Bardo. I love it when I accidentally do serendipitous thematic reading.

One short story finished. Interesting characters. Story Plot: Meh.

Sometimes I'm slow-witted. I *knew* I recognized the author's name, but didn't bother to figure out why before I started reading this. Finally, halfway through this twisted, absorbing story, I decided to figure out whose warped mind created it. Same author as The Heavenly Table (which I thought was only so-so, especially compared to this). His bio and photographs make him seem creepy AF. But man, the dude can write.

Not for the faint of heart.

The other four horsemen are the actual best.

Also, I am excited that a Lisa made her way into the book, even for a brief bit part. Less so over her career prospects and circumstances of her demise.

The other four horsemen are the actual best.

Assessment so far: If you are someone who enjoys The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, you will very likely enjoy this book. (I do. I am).

What I have learned by listening to this on Audible:
The antichrist sounds an awful lot like Jimmy Stewart with a stodgy British accent.

Assessment so far: If you are someone who enjoy's The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, you will very likely enjoy this book. (I do. I am).

What I have learned by listening to this on Audible:
The antichrist sounds an awful lot like Jimmy Stewart with a stodgy British accent.

Glad to be listening to this on Audible. The many many voices involved make this a good choice for listening. Quite the cast of readers, too! The book itself sometimes holds my interest more than other times. Reserving judgement for now.