Books 2019 - three more books

[byslantedlight]

Okay, let's catch up again...


This is my second category substitution - First Peson PoV, substituting for Horror, which I had every intention of reading, but I don't particularly like to. And The Lie is a kind of horror even so, about a man haunted by the horror of his experiences in the trenches in World War I, and the deaths in his troop, and particularly of his childhood friend. It's absolutely fabulous, and I do recommend it! It was loaned to me by a friend who loved it, and I've taken long enough to read it that it also counts for my Mount TBR, for which it zooms me up to 11/24.

Mount TBR so far = 11/24
Lj Book Bingo Masterpost

I also read the third book in the Lockwood and Co. series, which I'm still enjoying, but which seem to be getting worse as far as you-can-tell-this-book-was-written-by-a-bloke. The main protagonist is Lucy, and we see Lockwood and Co. through her eyes. But who's on the cover of all three books I've read so far? Lockwood - the boy. And despite Lucy being completely kick-bottom, do we still get things like "You ran like a girl" in the story? Why, yes. Just - things that no kick-bottom girl like Lucy would actually put up with are included as ordinary life, as if they were acceptable to females of any age, and what girls should expect life to be like (technically this is a children's book). Gaargh! Pick up your game, author Jonathan Stroud! You can write - now think as well, please! ... Hmmn, turns out he's a former editor too, so I suppose the fact that he doesn't know better is one of the reasons that such annoyingly sexist books are still being put out and are still on the shelves. It's so annoying - it would be so easy to edit out!

And finally - another one for Lj Book Bingo! I wasn't expecting I could use the book we read for this month's book group, but it was Elena Ferrante's My Brilliant Friend, and it turns out that it's a HBO mini-series for tv, which totally fits one of my squares - TV tie-in/Turned into a TV show!

I almost didn't finish the book though - it felt miserable and grubby and I didn't like any of the characters to start with. I'm not entirely sure I liked them by the end of the book (which turned out not to be the end, but a convenient breaking point before the next chapter book. Gargh!) but something did keep me reading, and not just cos it was a book group book. *g* I suppose I was catching some of the reason that everyone raves about it, but I really was tempted not to keep going after the first chapter or so, so... It'll be interesting to hear the book group consensus!

And that's another Bingo line, too! So now just three squares to go until I've filled the card - and I know my books for two of them. *g*

Comments

[thesmallhobbit.livejournal.com]

'The Lie' definitely sounds like my sort of book. I've reserved it from the library, which means I now have 4 reservations. What bets 3 of them turn up at the same time.

I felt the same about 'My Beautiful Friend'. Definitely not reading any more of the series.

[gilda-elise.livejournal.com]

The Lie does sound intriguing. Another of the books you've reviewed that I may pick up. :-)