PopJustice Book Club

BubblegumBoy

BubblegumBoy

He/him
Haven't posted in here for a while, here's a few of my recent reads:

Currently reading: Cloud Cuckoo Land - Anthony Doerr (Found this hard to get into but its getting there, about third the way through.)

After the Flood - Kassandra Montag: I'm a big dystopian fan but have tried to limit myself on those lately so not to get burnt out. This one was really well presented with a nautical theme. The dystopian world was a great backdrop for a beautiful adventure of a mother trying to track down her lost daughter.

Mercury Pictures Presents - Anthony Marra: I love anything related to the Golden Age of Hollywood. This focuses on the Italian community in Hollywood during that age. Really enjoyed this.

The Cartographers - Peng Shepherd: I'm not a huge fantasy fan but this fantasy/thriller really drew me in from the onset and kept me intrigued throughout. The ending wasn't quite what I expected. But highly recommend this. Also the cover is gorgeous.
 
Alphableat

Alphableat

Hamnet was fine, but I’m not sure I get the hype? Reaaaaaally overwritten, in my opinion. Most sentences could have been about half the length.

Got copies of Babel and Demon Copperhead for Christmas, and very excited for both!

Up next though is Richard Powers’ The Overstory. Been wanting to read this for years so I’m buzzing to get started.
 
Trinu 3.0

Trinu 3.0

It completely destroyed my will to pick up a book this year, but I finally finished To Paradise.

tiffany-pollard-new-york.gif
 
Trinu 3.0

Trinu 3.0

Jonathan27 said:
Please throw me a morsel and tell me you were somewhat satisfied? In parts of it?
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Book III could have been its own novel and I would have given it 5 stars. That was Yanagihara at her best.

But Book II… it honestly pulled me into such a reading funk I haven’t experienced in years fff how didn’t they edit the fuck out of that?!

Ohwell, book resolution for 2023… just DNF boring books and move on.
 
colouroffensive

colouroffensive

He/Him
I’ve admitted defeat with my reading goal this year. I set a goal to read 25 books and I managed 22 but truthfully some of them I just read for the sake of reading and I didn’t enjoy them or remember them. I love having a target and goals to work towards, but I think it’s sucking the fun out of actually reading for me.

In 2023 I will read as many or as little books as I want but I’ll make sure they’re all GOOD books that I enjoy and get something out of.
 
jordxn

jordxn

he/him
I’ve picked up a few new books over the Christmas period to read - Babel, The Ruin of All Witches, I’m Glad My Mom Died and Taste.

My reading really fell off in the final quarter of 2022 so I’m not going hit my goal of 52 books for the year but I’ve still read more this year than I have in years so that’s an accomplishment in itself. For 2023 I don’t think I’ll set an actual number of books I want to read and set the goal of reading 5/7 days of the week to try stay in the habit instead.
 
colouroffensive

colouroffensive

He/Him
jordxn said:
I’ve picked up a few new books over the Christmas period to read - Babel, The Ruin of All Witches, I’m Glad My Mom Died and Taste.

My reading really fell off in the final quarter of 2022 so I’m not going hit my goal of 52 books for the year but I’ve still read more this year than I have in years so that’s an accomplishment in itself. For 2023 I don’t think I’ll set an actual number of books I want to read and set the goal of reading 5/7 days of the week to try stay in the habit instead.
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I like this approach a lot!
 
Alphableat

Alphableat

Trinu 3.0 said:
Book III could have been its own novel and I would have given it 5 stars. That was Yanagihara at her best.

But Book II… it honestly pulled me into such a reading funk I haven’t experienced in years fff how didn’t they edit the fuck out of that?!

Ohwell, book resolution for 2023… just DNF boring books and move on.
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Honey I warned you!!!

I’ve rounded out the year on 60 books, which is my most ever. I think it probably meant I didn’t read things as deeply as I’d have liked, and I skewed towards shorter books than I usually would. So I’m going to read fewer books in 2023 but up the quality of my reading (not quality of book necessarily, just how I engage with the ones I read).

The Overstory is magnificent so far. Richard Powers is a genius.
 
eatyourself

eatyourself

He/Him
eatyourself said:
My first Elena Ferrate read was The Days of Abandonment and it was horrible. By the end I was having physical reactions against it and wouldn't stop thinking about how unnecesarily grotesque and bleak it was. I also watched The Lost Daughter and hated it (I know I'm alone at it) so I thought she just wasn't the right author for me.
Some friends heard me complain and begged me to give My Brilliant Friend a chance and I'm glad I did - she managed to take the good parts of Abandonment and build something more solid. She's so good at describing these complex, ugly feelings that we try to avoid or pretend we don't feel when in fact they say a lot about us. Reading it in Italian made some parts of it feel a bit too close to home - sometimes it felt like I was reading about how my aunts hated each other dd.

The thing is that I'm halfway through the second book and I'm starting to lose steam. I enjoy her stream of consciousness style and how the plot points are never as important as the character's feelings and relationships, but I don't know if that will work for another 1.500 pages. At this point I desperately need Lenù to get. over. herself. and stop crying around corners.

I might try to start something new and see if I miss her.
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Okay I kept on reading and I'm glad I did. Halfway through the third book and it's marvelous.
 
Jonathan27

Jonathan27

I'm capping out at 65 books for the year but it feels like an outlier because this was the first time I've really committed to reading again long term in years and the initial excitement provided a lot of momentum. My primary goal for next year is to chip away at the Booker shortlist over the last several years.

I'm wrapping up with The Secret History going into the new year: I've heard great things and want to get around to all three of Tartt's novels.
 
dirtypony

dirtypony

Jonathan27 said:
I'm capping out at 65 books for the year but it feels like an outlier because this was the first time I've really committed to reading again long term in years and the initial excitement provided a lot of momentum. My primary goal for next year is to chip away at the Booker shortlist over the last several years.

I'm wrapping up with The Secret History going into the new year: I've heard great things and want to get around to all three of Tartt's novels.
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Oh I envy you, I’d love to read The Secret History for the first time again!
 
Robert

Robert

Alphableat said:
Who are everyone’s favourite booktubers?

I’m partial to a bit of Jack Edwards, Simon Savidge, and Books and Bao.
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The one I watch the most is
- Lauren and the Books

I also like
- Mercy’s Bookish Musings
- Jen Campbell
- Simon Savidge

I’ve recently found some that discuss mainly fantasy novels and have been enjoying their content:
- The Brothers Gwynne (their dad is author John Gwynne
- William Gwynne
- Library of a Viking
- Andrew Watson
- Daniel Grenne

Subscribed to loads more but don’t watch their content as frequently.
 
Soygirl

Soygirl

I’m starting the new year by re-reading Le Guin’s The Dispossessed. I’m also aiming to read as many Korean books as I can in 2023. I was reading about Utada Hikaru and how they avidly read books in both English and Japanese to avoid becoming semilingual, and that struck a chord with me.
 
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