September and October Reading Challenges

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Somehow I forgot to post about the September reading challenge, so I'm combining the September and October posts.

September was the month of standalones. I only got two standalones read in September and I've already posted reviews for both of these books, so I'll post the books and links to the reviews here.

 

 

Sweetwater and the Witch isn't technically a standalone, it's part of a very long companion series of books that function as standalones. So, to me it counts as a standalone, especially since I don't plan on reading any of the other books. Here' s a link to my review.

 

 

Here's a link to my review of the Gabriel Hounds. 

The Reading Challenge for October was titled Owned in October. We were supposed to read as many of our physically owned books as we could. I have a lot of books on my bookshelf waiting to be read, but I chose three that I wanted to get to in October.

 

-The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty

-Sanditon: Jane Austen's Last Novel Completed by Jane Austen and Another Lady (Anne Telscombe aka as Marie Dobbs)

and

-Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast by Robin McKinley

 

I ended up reading those three plus an extra one. 

-Farewell My Lovely by Raymond Chandler.

 

Here are my reviews:

  

I already posted a review for this one. See it here.

 

 

  

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult, Classic
Genre: Fiction, Romance
Content: Clean

 

Sanditon—an eleven-chapter fragment left at Jane Austen’s death completed by an Austen devotee and novelist— is a charming addition to Austen’s novels on England’s privileged classes and the deception, snobbery, and unexpected romances that occur in their world. When Charlotte Heywood accepts an invitation to visit the newly fashionable seaside resort of Sanditon, she is introduced to a full range of polite society, from reigning local dowager Lady Denham to her impoverished ward Clara, and from the handsome, feckless Sidney Parker to his amusing, if hypochondriac, sisters. A heroine whose clear-sighted common sense is often at war with romance, Charlotte cannot help observing around her both folly and passion in many guises. But can the levelheaded Charlotte herself resist the desires of the heart?

 

I was looking forward to reading another completion of Sanditon and overall, I really liked this one. This is the one that I actually thought I was reading when I read the one by Juliette Shapiro. There are things I liked about the version by Juliette Shapiro better than this one, but then there are things in this one I liked better. I think this one overall, is a better completion of the story. I like the way this one ends a lot better, and I like the way the romance comes together better. I definitely got some Pride and Prejudice vibes from this book. I did, however, like the stories for a couple of the minor characters better in the Juliette Shapiro version. 

No completion of another author's work is going to be perfect, especially not one of Jane Austen's works. There were some differences in writing style that I could tell, but I didn't find it that different. I couldn't tell exactly where the original story stopped and the new addition began. I had to look it up in both books. I ended up marking it with sticky notes in them so I would remember if I reread them. I went into this with an open mind, and basically just wanting closure for the story. I felt satisfied with both endings, but this ending is the one that made my heart skip a beat. 

 

 

“What harm could there be in returning smile for smile and in allowing the most charming man she had ever met to conquer the few remaining corners of her heart where common sense retained a last fleeting hold?”

 

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Fairy Tale, Romance, Fantasy
Content: Clean

 

Beauty has never liked her nickname. She is thin and awkward; it is her two sisters who are the beautiful ones. But what she lacks in looks, she can perhaps make up for in courage.

When her father comes home with the tale of an enchanted castle in the forest and the terrible promise he had to make to the Beast who lives there, Beauty knows she must go to the castle, a prisoner of her own free will. Her father protests that he will not let her go, but she answers, "Cannot a Beast be tamed?"

 

This book has been recommended to me by several friends, and you would think that I would have read this one a long time ago, since I like Beauty and the Beast retellings, and I've made a point to read them several times. I have no idea why, but for some reason I always overlooked this one. Anyway, I finally got around to reading this and I really enjoyed it. 

I have to say that I believe Disney got quite a few ideas from this book for their version of Beauty and the Beast. Because I've seen that version already, this one didn't feel as fresh or new, but that's just not fair to this book. It was fresh and new when it was published way back in 1978, long before the Disney version. I liked the ideas that it brought to the story. I liked the characters, and the way the Beast's story is told. I do wish we could have gotten another chapter at the end, but overall I enjoyed this book from start to finish.

 

“And since I am the only one who sees you, why are you not then beautiful?”

  

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Category: Adult, Classic
Genre: Mystery
Content: Strong Language, Racial Slurs

 

Marlowe's about to give up on a completely routine case when he finds himself in the wrong place at the right time to get caught up in a murder that leads to a ring of jewel thieves, another murder, a fortune-teller, a couple more murders, and more corruption than your average graveyard.

 

This is the second book in the Philip Marlowe series and I liked it, but not as much as The Big Sleep. I think I just liked the characters better in The Big Sleep, plus I have all those fond memories of watching Bogart and Bacall in the movie. For the most part I enjoy the nostalgic feeling of going back in time to the 1940s when I read these. And, as I said, it also brings back fond memories of watching the old film noir movies that were made from them.

I have to add that this book is definitely a product of its time. There's lots of smoking and drinking and attitudes about certain things were different then. There were several terms used that would never be used today, including racial slurs. In the beginning, I had forgotten I was reading a vintage book that could very likely have those things in it, and it caught me off guard. It's a hard boiled detective book written in 1940, so keep that in mind if you read it.

One thing I enjoy the most about these books are the inner thoughts of Philip Marlow. I get a good chuckle out of it most of the time. It's just so quotable. I could add so many quotes into my review, but it's better to just discover them while reading, so I've only included a few.


“He smiled his first smile of the day. He probably allowed himself four...He was doing an awful lot of smiling that day. Using up a whole week's supply.”


I remembered in the movie that Marlowe gets pretty roughed up, more than once, and it really does happen in the book. I watched the 1944 version of this Starring Dick Powell that was retitled Murder, My Sweet. There were several changes made for that movie version, but I still like it. Originally, I didn't like Dick Powell as Philip Marlowe as much as a couple of the other actors that played him, but after reading a couple of the books I think he's closer to what Raymond Chandler had in mind than the other actors.


“Time passed again. I don't know how long. I had no watch. They don't make that kind of time in watches anyway.”

 

 

 

 “It was a blonde. A blonde to make a bishop kick a hole in a stained-glass window.”

 

 

 

 

 

October 2022 Book Club: Monster Hunter International (Monster Hunter International, #1) by Larry Correia

  

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Content: Strong language, Off page sex

 

Five days after Owen Zastava Pitt pushed his insufferable boss out of a fourteenth story window, he woke up in the hospital with a scarred face, an unbelievable memory, and a job offer.

It turns out that monsters are real. All the things from myth, legend, and B-movies are out there, waiting in the shadows. Officially secret, some of them are evil, and some are just hungry. On the other side are the people who kill monsters for a living. Monster Hunter International is the premier eradication company in the business. And now Owen is their newest recruit.

It’s actually a pretty sweet gig, except for one little problem. An ancient entity known as the Cursed One has returned to settle a centuries old vendetta. Should the Cursed One succeed, it means the end of the world, and MHI is the only thing standing in his way. With the clock ticking towards Armageddon, Owen finds himself trapped between legions of undead minions, belligerent federal agents, a cryptic ghost who has taken up residence inside his head, and the cursed family of the woman he loves.

Business is good... Welcome to Monster Hunter International.

 

I've seen this book around for years, but my sister-in-law is the one that got me interested in reading it. When she brought it as one of the book choices for book club and told us about how the tiny little towns in Mississippi and Alabama that my in-laws and my nephews live in are featured in the book, I decided to try it. And while I can assure you that my nephew's wife, who is from Booneville, MS, does not have pointy ears, or resemble any of the characters you will meet there in the book, it was loads of fun to read about towns I have been to and even somewhat know.

I liked the way this book started.  

"On one otherwise normal Tuesday evening I had the chance to live the American dream. I was able to throw my incompetent jackass of a boss from a fourteenth-story window."

That first line pulled me into the story, plus the book starts off right away with an action scene. There were quite a few things I liked about this book. The elves are not the typical elves, and I laughed a lot at them. The orcs are not the typical orcs, and I loved that. The little towns were a nice departure from the big city settings of most urban fantasy. The humor was nicely placed and helped to lighten a very action packed story. There were also some things I didn't like about it.

You know how Tolkien went on and on about the little details of trees or flowers in his books? Well, Larry Correia does that with guns. I didn't mind the guns to an extent, heck, I even like guns. I love going to range to shoot mine, but the amount of description of them in this book was excessive. There were also a LOT of action scenes. It felt like one of those blockbuster action movies with little character development. Every now and then the action would be paused for gun descriptions, insta-love, and the  occasional humorous incident. And yes, I said insta-love. The main character gushes over a woman he barely knows. He's head over heels at first sight. I liked Julie as a character, she was confident and capable, but the insta-love and the other trope involving this relationship—that I won't spoil here—was  annoying.

Overall, I thought this was a fun read that can only be described as brain candy, and there's nothing wrong with that if that's what you're looking for. I just ended up being disappointed because I thought this could have been more. It had the bones of a good urban fantasy, if only there had been less gun descriptions and action scenes, and more character and story development. The basic ideas are there. Too bad the author didn't slow down and explore them more. If only the elves, the orcs, and the villains, had been fleshed out and explored more, instead of feeling like cardboard cutouts. If only the love story had progressed more slowly. And if only the plot of this one book had been expanded over the course of maybe two or three, instead of rushed in this one book. That feels like a weird thing to say, considering this book is over 700 pages long. The thing is, it didn't need to be. It could have given us the same story at half the length. There was a lot of filler in there. Instead, we could have gotten more in those 700 pages, or two or three smaller books that did all the things I wish this one had. There are several other books in the series, that may address these issues, but after already reading over 700 pages and not feeling like I got enough out of them, I think I'm good with stopping here. That being said, I don't regret reading this. It wasn't bad, and it led to some good, fun discussion at book club.

Three Act Tragedy (Hercule Poirot, #10) by Agatha Christie

  

 My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Mystery
Content: Clean

 

Who wouldn't be pleased to attend a small dinner party being held by Sir Charles Cartwright, once the leading star of the London stage? At his "Crow's Nest" home in Loomouth, Cornwall.

Unfortunately, thirteen guests arrived at the actor's house, most unlucky. One of them was a vicar. It was to be a particularly unlucky evening for the mild-mannered Reverend Stephen Babbington, who choked on his cocktail, went into convulsions and died. But when his martini glass was sent for chemical analysis, there was no trace of poison -- just as Hercule Poirot, also in attendance, had predicted. Even more troubling for the great detective, there was absolutely no motive!

 

Agatha Christie fooled me yet again! And this time around, I feel like she really shouldn't have. Yet again she made me really like the killer too. This book had a slow start for me. Poirot is rather scarce in the book as other people take up investigating for most of it, and he advises them. I kept wondering when he was going to be more prominently featured in the book, and it took a long time. For most of the book, I thought I would probably give this three stars, but then it got really interesting, and that ending surprised me. I know it shouldn't have—for more than one reason, that I won't mention here because it would spoil the book—but it did, and it made me enjoy the book so much more.

Part of me wants to say that this is very convoluted and extravagant, and it would have been much easier for the killer to have done something else, even if it would have been more obvious. But at the same time this ended up being so enjoyable, and I think the way it all happened said a lot about the killer's personality. 

As for the TV adaptation, I thought the ITV episode was very well done. This wasn't one of my favorite books in the series, even though I liked it a lot, but this episode was definitely one of my favorite episodes. It was very faithful to the book, even if there were some smaller details that were changed, and the character of Satterthwaite was eliminated. I thought the changes were the right kind of changes for an adaptation. The tone was perfect, the acting was superb, the music that accompanied the episode was a good match, and Poirot was more present. It actually left me with a lot of feels by the end, that I didn't have after finishing the book. I actually enjoyed the TV episode more than the book this time. That's always a surprise!

There's another adaptation with Peter Ustanov and Tony Curtis that was made for TV. I planned to watch it, but after the perfection that was the ITV episode, I can't bring myself to do that right now. Maybe I will get to it later.

 

“In all the world there is nothing so curious and so interesting and so beautiful as truth.”  

 

 

 
 

"There is an even more terrible possibility that you have not considered," said Poirot. "It might have been me." 

 

 

 

 

The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty

  

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Women's Fiction, Mystery, Contemporary Fiction
Content: Strong language, Off page sex, Infidelity

 

At the heart of The Husband’s Secret is a letter that is not meant to be read...

My darling Cecilia,
If you’re reading this, then I’ve died...

Imagine your husband wrote you a letter, to be opened after his death. Imagine, too, that the letter contains his deepest, darkest secret—something with the potential to destroy not only the life you have built together, but the lives of others as well. And then imagine that you stumble across that letter while your husband is still very much alive…

Cecilia Fitzpatrick has achieved it all—she’s an incredibly successful businesswoman, a pillar of her small community, a devoted wife and mother. Her life is as orderly and spotless as her home. But that letter is about to change everything—and not just for her. There are other women who barely know Cecilia—or each other—but they, too, are about to feel the earth-shattering repercussions of her husband’s secret.

 

Years ago I read What Alice Forgot for a book club I was in. I ended up really loving it, and decided I wanted to read more from this author. Somehow that never happened. It's possible it never happened because, although I loved that book, and it resonated with me at the time, it was still not exactly the type of book I usually read. Sure there was an element of mystery to it, but it also very much read like a regular contemporary fiction book marketed to women. So I mostly forgot about this author until I was in a book store and heard someone talking about this book, or at least what I thought was this book. Now that I've read it, I'm not so sure. Anyway, I found a used paperback copy and decided to give it a try. 

Going in, I was reminded of the things that I didn't like about this author's writing style. There's a lot of inner dialog that at times seems relatable, but at other times seems overwrought, and unrealistic. I don't think some of these thoughts would occur to the characters as quickly as they do. It was slow going at first, but as the story went on, it eventually hooked me, and I remembered all the things that resonated with me about What Alice Forgot. The characters, although not always likable, are so very well drawn and real and relatable in many ways. The dilemmas they face are not easy, and there are lots of moral questions. 

My biggest complaint about this book is that I guessed what was in the letter almost from the beginning, and I even saw the thing that happens at the end coming from a mile away. I knew how things would end up for the characters in the end, what choices they were going to make about their dilemmas—everything. Some of the reason behind that was because I had read What Alice Forgot and could see similar patterns unfolding in this book. Some of it was just because it was very predictable. I also didn't care for the infidelity in the book, but at the same time I could see how this woman got there after feeling unwanted. It was a poor choice on her part though. The 4 stars are for the characters, the moral dilemmas, and how relatable it all is, even though most of us won't ever have to deal with the kind of thing that was in the letter, there are still lots of things in this book that everyday people do deal with. A couple of things I liked in particular were, the gift that's Tess's father sends her, and the advice her mother gives her about not making hasty decisions. A lot of this book is about the choices we make and how they affect our lives, and the lives of those around us, and the things we keep to ourselves, and never tell anyone else. In the end, I was sad that certain things would never come to light, especially the thing about Janie.

“None of us ever know all the possible courses our lives could have and maybe should have taken. It's probably just as well. Some secrets are meant to stay secret forever.” 

 

 

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