This has been a bit of a so-so month book wise. I was positively surprised by some and on the other hand felt let down by others. I sold some of the latter already, so I can’t share a photo of the ones I’ve read. Here are the stats of the last 28 days.
Here are some thoughts (aka my reviews on Storygraph) on the six books, starting with the ones I enjoyed the most to the ones that left me a bit underwhelmed.
The Sun is also a Star, Nicola Yoon, 2016
I loved this much more than I expected. What a wonderful story of two young people who meet by chance (or fate) in NYC and fall in love on the day, when she (daughter of undocumented immigrants) is supposed to be deported. The story is told in short chapters, alternating from their different points of view and on occasion the side characters are taking over the narrators voice. It worked very well here and it helped to give the whole plot and story more colour. It also highlighted how much in our lives is determined by chance. Or is it fate after all? A great story and I’m happy to have ended the month on this one.
Cassandra in Reverse, Holly Smale, 2023
I might add more elaborate thoughts to this in a while [scatterbrain that I am, probably not though]. I really enjoyed this one. I like the unique way of time-travelling and could relate to Cassie much more than I thought and more than I might like to admit in public. I sometimes feel like my personality includes various neurodivergent aspects, but I shy away from self-diagonsis. But the comforting routines, staying inside my comfort zone, feeling like I’m not sharing my authentic / real person self with the world, if that makes sense. I loved the (hidden) message in this plot and found it inspiring and encouraging: People in general are kind and lovely and not in general hostile or dismissive and it’s worth the “risk” to be more open about stuff. And myself.
Ugh, I segue into self-therapy-talk, back to the book. I figured out the mystery of the letter writer about halfway through, I think the final revelation about Cassandra’s mum felt a bit too much and on the nose so to speak, but all in all I really, really enjoyed the being invited into this section of Cassandra’s life. Let’s end with positivity: The writing was great, the right variety of fun and emotions and I especially love the intro / finale about “what’s the beginning of a story anyway”.
Thees Uhlmann über die Toten Hosen, Thees Uhlmann 2019
[Audiobook] One of my favourite German singer/songwriters reads his book about the most successful German punkband Die Toten Hosen. Very entertaining, very relatable and beautifully written.
The Last Devil to Die, Richard Osman, 2023
Another enjoyable and this time also quite sad story from the Thursday Murder Club. The plot and how those seniors and the police act and react is quite unrealistic, I know, but that is sort of the fun of it. (15 July 2024)
The Scent of Death, Simon Beckett 2019
This story kept me hooked for the last few days, even though I realized I’m not as comfortable with grisly thriller plots as I used to be. Thus I’m not sure if I’ll read the next one in this series. I thought the plot was well constructed and I had no idea who the killer was until it was revealed, which is always a good thing for a thriller plot. I also mostly enjoyed the variety of side characters and in some cases felt really bad about what happened to them. The subplot of someone from previous stories who (still) wants to kill Dr. Hunter felt a bit too far-fetched for me.
Standard Deviation, Katherine Heiny, 2017
I sort of enjoyed the actual writing in this book and to be fair it’s the only thing that kept me reading till the end. There wasn’t much of a plot and even though I don’t mind a story which tells only snap-shots in lives of some people, at least make these snapshots interesting. For me this dragged and meandered on and on.
