Shauna > Recent Status Updates

Alright he's winning me over! Now that we've gotten past the inexplicably obvious intro, and the over attention to the Born to Run premises, we're getting into some interesting anthropology and physiology, and the writing continues to be very engaging

Okay we've gotten past the Captain Obvious parts and are starting to dig into more detailed and nuanced info. A lot of it I've actually heard before but that's not the author's fault. Also he's starting to win me over with the relentlessly charming writing style

Alternative book title: "Why 'Born to Run' is Wrong"

I get the feeling this book is aimed solidly at people who read "Born to Run" and either made it their religion or were made anxious by it. I did read Born to Run but I wasn't really affected by it. As a result I'm finding the detailed and fervent debunking to be kind of uninteresting.

Not appreciating the shade thrown at Iron Man athletes. Let people enjoy things, jeez

I hope this gets better because so far it's so obvious as to be a bit insulting. So far we're being beaten over the head with the very dead obvious message of "ancient man didn't go in for recreational exercise because his life was already full of physical labor and modern subsistence farmers and hunter gatherers think recreational exercise is crazy." Oh really, ya think? 🙄

Alas, I think it's a DNF for me. More YA than expected and the plot is a pretty classic rebels-vs-empire. Nothing wrong with it but not really my speed right now

Okay I guess? Traumatized hero joins the rebels to fight the evil empire. Is it supposed to be Star Wars with new window dressing? Not sure. Will keep reading a bit to see if there's any surprises but if it keeps going this way I might not finish.

Enjoying the heck out of this! A light mystery with a cute dog and found family, set in the Sonoran desert. Likeable characters and witty dialog, typical for Kingfisher. Looking forward to seeing what happens

The overly simplistic storytelling style is starting to get a little jarring: "They went to tell the high priestess the news. But she was dead. They would have to choose a new high priestess." O..kay?

It's almost like a story for (or told by?) children, except there's graphic murder and a lot of sex.

Simple language continues. This would be a great read for someone learning English as a second language and wanting some practice.

Separately, wow this author does not like faces with sharp noses and thin lips! I didn't realize that all of us sharp-nosed, thin-lipped people were naturally villainous.

Cute writing style so far. Very simple and direct sentences. I think this must be deliberate, to make it feel like it's a fable or a story being told around a camp fire.

Only on page ten and so far we've been introduced to all the standard template characters of a Ken Follett novel, and I'm pretty sure I know how this story is going to play out 😆 Will it be Pillars of the Earth, just with the names swapped out, and a cathedral swapped for Stonehenge? Let's find out!

Really enjoyed the previous books in the series but by this one kind of lost some steam. Put it down one day and just never bothered picking it back up - probably best to acknowledge at this point that I just won't finish it

Having a hard time getting into this. Does it get better? So far the plot isn't moving, and after reading Murderbot (which is excellent) I can't help but find this AI narrator boring. Also I guess the gimmick of defaulting all individuals to "she" when you don't know the gender is supposed to be wooo sO MiNd BeNdInG but it's just annoying. Just use "they" for crying out loud.

Continuing to plod through. Nothing wrong with it (writing is fine, world building is creative) but I still can't figure out *why* I'm reading it. Dude is an outcast, then he isn't, now he's having adventures. Shrug. I dunno, it's not silly enough to be fun, not challenging enough to be thought provoking. But I'll probably finish it.

Ehhhh I dunno. I loved the Murderbot series by the same author, so thought I'd check out this earlier series. It's... fine, I guess! Nothing wrong with it, but I keep wondering why I'm reading it. Maybe I'm just not in a fantasy genre mood atm.

This is cute and light and the characters are perfectly charming, so I'm not sure why I'm having trouble getting through this. While I'm reading it I'm having a nice time, but then once I put it down I'm not really motivated to pick it up again. Maybe it's just *too* light, it doesn't feel particularly compelling. Let's see if I ever really finish it.