Kate > Recent Status Updates

Michelle on moving to Princeton: “… several thousand mostly white students poured on to campus … Some kids arrived in limos. One girl brought two limos - stretch limos - to accommodate all her stuff.”
I wonder what that girl would have thought of the stretch horse trailer that I arrived at the UofS with? 😂😂 #worldsapart

I’m not sure which is worse, Miranda depressed and broken or manic Miranda. I can’t say I’m loving this book but it’s grabbed me for some reason. Interesting glimpse into the world of mental illness.

So, it got quite interesting by 25% and has grabbed me in a Black Swan-esque way. At 50%, life is so much better for the main character, while her enemies writhe with the agony she once felt. Awad’s portrayal makes me cheer with evil delight at the suffering of her former tormentors, but with another 160 pages to go, I know that Miranda’s fates will change again … anyway, I’m glad I stuck with it.

I feel like I can’t bear witness to Miranda’s train wreck of a life. Her situation is tragic and Awad does an amazing job of describing the world’s reactions (like mine) to people living with chronic pain so there’s that.

Not loving it so far. It feels like a highbrow book that I know I am supposed to love because it’s clever and evocative and imaginative … but it’s just depressing and the emotions it’s evoking in me are dread and despair. I just did the math on where I would need to be if I decided to quit at 25% ... I need to get through another 25 pages. I’ll force myself to get there then we’ll see.

OMG so good.
“Once she had been a woman called Queenie Hennessy. She did sums, and wrote with an impeccable hand. She had loved a few times, and she had lost, and that was all as it should be. She had touched life, played with it a little, but it is a slippery bugger, and finally we must close the door, and leave it behind.”
Oh, how I wish I could write like that.

2/2 ... It must be the same all over England. People were buying milk, or filling their cars with petrol, or even posting letters. And what no one else knew was the appalling weight of the thing they were carrying inside. The inhuman effort it took sometimes to be normal, and a part of things that appeared both easy and everyday. The loneliness of that.”

Oh, to be able to write like this.

1/2 The silver-haired gentleman was in truth nothing like the man Harold had first imagined him to be. He was a chap like himself, with a unique pain; and yet there would be no knowing that if you passed him in the street, or sat opposite him in a café and did not share his teacake. Harold pictured the gentleman on a station platform, smart in his suit, looking no different from anyone else. .../2

Thank you @Jo-Anne for recommending this book. I’m LOVING it. It’s heart wrenching and charming and uplifting and soulful. And the writing is everything I love about a book. Just what I needed right now! <3

Good so far ... I picked up a library book that needs to be returned so this one is shelved for the time being.

I already love this book. The prologue alone has me bawling like a little girl. THIS is the meaning of a life well lived. I hope the rest of it lives up to the first 6 pages.

How’s the book you ask, Kobo? Not very good. It reads like a Creative Writing 101 assignment and frankly my thought on every second page is “oh barf.” I just came very close to packing it in, then I re-read the promo snippet and thought I’d give it until 25% on my Kobo.

Thought it was a good book right from the first chapter but had a hard time sticking with it at first. Picked it up again after starting and finishing an 800 page library book that had to get read & returned. Enjoying it, the switching of "voices" is a bit distracting but love the narrative of Africa.

I'm trying to decide if I should finish this or not. The story line is dumb. I don't care about the characters. Mostly I can't keep them straight. I don't like the writing style. The only thing that is keeping me going really is that I'm 255 pages in and I've spent this much time on it, I *should* finish ..

Holy long book Batman. Now I remember feeling the same about Pillars ... great historical fiction, fascinating characters ... but about 5/8 through, the subplots seem to lose depth and complexity and the events seem to be included as filler. In spite of this, I still give it 4*'s ... love me a good medieval page turner.

Loving it but I need to stop reading it before bed. Last night I bolted out of bed at midnight yelling to my boyfriend something about being trapped and transported to the Gulags. Scared the bejeezuz out of both of us. :/

1411 pages on my e-reader ... just downloaded this morning and it was probably a mistake to start reading because I haven't been able to put it down. And now I'm gonna be late for work. :/

Some easy reading brain candy ... The story line jumps around a lot and I'm puzzled by the multiple and rather superficial plot directions. Can't even really call them *twists.* Hoping it all comes together in the end ...

I'm quitting. I usually like Picoult but this one isn't doing it for me. I usually give bad books more of a chance than this because I keep hoping it will get better ... but given the number of bad reviews of this here, I'm not feeling hopeful. There are too many good books waiting to be read to waste time on one that I'm not enjoying.

Kind of dark and heavy, but I love Hay's writing and the language she uses.

Loving it so far.