Just finished Susannah Clarke’s Piranesi. In the end I did like it, but the first half of the book was confusing (as intended) and for my tastes overly detailed on description of the unusual setting/scenery.
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I really liked Wrong Place Wrong Time and All the Dangerous Things.
I just finished Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout. I really liked it.
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Have you tried “The Midnight Library” by Matt Haig?
I also really enjoyed “The Night Circus” and “The Starless Sea” by Erin Morgenstern.
V E Schwab has many other books too.
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A non-fiction book I enjoyed lately was “The Intimate City” by Michael Kimmelman. He walks through several NYC neighborhoods while talking with people such as architects, historian, urban planners, etc.
I did! But it wasn’t so much the fantasy aspect more like the chemistry/characters/writing. Maybe the slow burn between her and Luc lol - but not in the form of trashy romance.
There are books that just make me love the characters. Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow was a big like that too.
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I’m reading Book Lovers by Emily Henry which is a pretty popular book (rated 4.21 on GoodReads and on lots of best seller lists) but for some reason I’m not feeling it. It’s fine but seems very generic . About 28% in …I’ll give it a little while longer to take a turn for the better/more interesting!
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I really liked that one, and her first one; I didn’t connect with her second one. If you can, give it longer. But I’m also a supporter of abandoning books that aren’t working!
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I liked Book Lovers but I listened to it on audio & it was well done. I most read non-fiction and listen to fiction on audio in the car. Several of my daughter’s friends were reading Book Lovers last summer. I tried one or two of her others on audio and couldn’t get into them, but like Book Lovers quite a bit.
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I’ll stick with it awhile! 
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I enjoy pretty much any book read by Julia Whelan.
And yes - she read Addie LaRue and did an outstanding job. So that is probably why I liked it so much haha.
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Per sticking with books - I once read a rule of thumb that you should always read at least 50 pages. Unless over age 50… where you can subtract 10 pages per 50+ decade (ie 80 year old only need to read 20 pages to decide).
I don’t follow the rule but thought it was interesting. Currently I’m 200 pages (ie almost done) on Bunny - a novel by Mona Awad. Thinking perhaps I should have followed the rule. (Perhaps it would have been OK for a book club, with discussion / genre-stretching. But so far to me the good aspects are outweighed by the weirdness, just not a fun read.)
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I tried reading “Beach Read” by Emily Henry and simply could not get into it. I gave it 100 or so pages and then gave up.
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I read Beach Read but was incredibly under whelmed by it. It just didn’t ever really go anywhere, just added chapters. I finished it because I’d gotten pretty far, but probably won’t look for others. It felt like a concept that fizzled, to me.
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On the other hand, just finished Now Is Not the Time to Panic, by Kevin Wilson, and it was an entertaining read–lots of funny/quirky bits, at the same time thoughtful about people and how/why they do the things they do. Definitely recommend.
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I just got notified this audiobook is available for me to borrow! I really liked Nothing to See Here. The audiobook is very well done so I’m looking forward to this one. I think I would have liked it in print too, but wouldn’t have gotten the right southern accents in my head.
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I’m a big fan of giving up on books too. I used to feel the other way and felt like I had to finish it if I started it, but then I realized that was dumb. If it’s not working for me right now, no need to torture myself.
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I just recently gave up on “The God of Small Things”. I couldn’t get through it. I can’t figure out all of the hype about it.
Oh my, one of my all time favorites! I loved the writing and that sense of dread as you saw all of the threads of the stories leading to the same horrible knot.
Funny how different people like different things!
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Whomever suggested This is Happiness by Niall Williams-thank you! I feel like I have been sitting in a pub listening to a storyteller. lovely.
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