Happy Monday Bookworms!
Ever feel like phoning it in, oh, every Monday of your life? Yeah, me too. It’s been a super busy and fun weekend, and I’ve read several books recently that I’d really have to stretch to make full reviews, so let’s get our chocolate chip cookie on and go bite size!
1. We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves
by Karen Joy Fowler- This book was on oodles of awards lists so I figured I should read it to find out what the fuss was all about. It was good, but not at all what I was expecting. At all. It also went into some territory that made me feel a little squidgy, the details of which I can’t reveal without massively spoiling things. If you’ve read this and want to discuss, though, email me. Because… Yeah. (WordsForWorms (at) gmail.com. Or Facebook. Or Twitter. Or whatever. I’m all up in the internet, you guys.)
2. The Custom of the Army
by Diana Gabaldon- So I was just poking around in my library’s digital offerings when I noticed an Outlander
novella available. It was a little weird to pick this one up because chronologically it felt way out of place to me, considering a character who got married in the latest installment was an infant in this novella. Still. You can’t go wrong with Lord John and his intrigues, can you? (No, you cannot.)
3. 2 A.M. at The Cat’s Pajamas
by Marie-Helene Bertino- I chose this book for my IRL book club this month imagining it would be a fun and funky romp through the 1920s. The description wasn’t clear about time period, and a club called the Cat’s Pajamas? It was a reasonable assumption. I was wrong, of course. It was set in the modern day. I really enjoyed the story… Until the last chapter. Maybe I’ll just pretend it didn’t happen as there was closure just before that point. I will say that throwing magical realism in at the tail end of an otherwise perfectly realistic novel is just mean. Seriously, WTF? Book Club is on Friday night, so it should be interesting. I’d better up my dessert game just in case the gang is disappointed.
Talk to me, Bookworms! How was your weekend? What did you read? What did you do? Was there apple cider involved?
*If you make a purchase through a link on this site, I will receive a small commission. I’ll probably buy more books with it, so you’re all enablers. And I love you for it.*
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Sarah's Book Shelves
Don’t you love it when you’d like to just lop off the final chapter in an otherwise great book?! The exact same thing happened to me with The Shore. But, for some reason, I’d rather have that scenario than a blah book with an awesome ending. It doesn’t bother me that much if the last chapter stinks since I enjoyed the rest of it.
Words For Worms
I suppose I prefer a good book with a bad ending to a
Samantha
I don’t know if this comment getting lopped off at the end was intentional or not, but it made me giggle. 😀
Words For Worms
LOL, I think the internet ate the end of the comment, but I’m not fixing it because that’s hilarious.
Andi
Gersh, I have We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves lying around and I have no idea what THE THING is that everyone talks about and the squidginess in this one, but I want to know! Also, LORD JOHN! Huzzah!
Words For Worms
I can’t be responsible for revealing the thing. Of course, I didn’t even know there was A THING so I was extra super surprised.
Megan M.
I grant you permission to do more bite-sized reviews. Not every book can stand on its own blog post, you know? And I will take all of the Katie goodness that I can get. There was a book by Jennifer Weiner where the last few chapters threw me so badly that I kept wondering if it was a dream that the MC was going to wake up from (nope.)
If anyone needs a good laugh today, head over to “Smart Bitches, Trashy Books” and read their latest “cover snark” post. It had me cackling with glee!
Words For Worms
Oooh Smart Bitches crack me up! I need to go to there.
Joules (from Pocketful of Joules)
I just recently read two books in a series (that will be three total) and the author has NO IDEA how to properly end a book. She just throws in a WTF twist/cliff ending and it makes you rather angry. However, I did read the next book, so I guess she won.
Words For Worms
Gah that’s the worst! Especially when it works and sucks you into the next installment.
Jenny @ Reading the End
I did thousands of tasks this weekend and am now fighting against the feeling that I have done all the tasks I need ever do and can relax completely from now on through the rest of my life. That way madness lies.
So did you LIKE We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves? I went into it already knowing what THE THING was (I always do if I can!), and I absolutely loved the book. It was unexpectedly funny, and exactly as strange and wonderful as I was imagining.
Words For Worms
I have mixed feelings about it! I mean, I actually went back and forth on my completely nonsensical star rating on Goodreads. I think it’s safe to say I LIKED but didn’t LOVE it. Because my emotions are the same as those of a teenage boy.
AMB
Now I’m so curious about the Fowler book! At the same time, though, a book that makes you feel “squidgy” might not be a good choice for me… We’ll see.
Words For Worms
Oh no, you should DEFINITELY read it. It’s got interesting moral dilemmas that are RIGHT up your alley. Actually, I want to read an AMB post on the subject, so go read it. Right now!
Jennine G.
I’m wondering if I should be reading all those Outlander novellas between the actual books…
Words For Worms
It might be fun to read them in the order they are chronologically. Most of the novellas I think fall in the long gap between Claire’s leaving and returning. There’s also the Lord John book series, of which I’ve only read The Scottish Prisoner, because Jamie.
Katie @ Doing Dewey
Now I want to read We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves just out of curiosity! I felt the same way about 2 AM At the Cat’s Pajamas. I love magical realism, so I’d have liked it to be a thing throughout the story, but I didn’t like the way it was thrown in at the end.