The Accursed | 
bailedBailed after 200 pages. The book desperately needed a better editor, and after reading some Goodreads reviews, helped make up my mind to just forget about this convoluted story that needed condensing and a better ending. Life's too short for bad books.
I'll go ahead and start a reread of Rebecca.
I thought this sounded good and kinda spooky.. we're only a few days into November, so it's still not too late for spooky season, right? 🙂 hoping it's a good pick.
so-soI‘m not sure what I just listened to, lol. It was strange and at times hard to follow. At the end it made sense but until then it was annoying to be honest. It was a unique-ish story being that it was based at Princeton and had fictionalized real people for characters.
I wish it had been better organized and easier to follow.
Started this one. I feel like I should start it over because I feel lost and confused. I‘m well over an hour into it though. Maybe I‘ll catchup and things will click.
I‘m breaking in my new autumn mug with a favourite herbal tea, Winter Spice by Twinings. It‘s a comforting blend of apple, chamomile, cinnamon, cardamom and cloves - perfect for a crisp autumn day. I have the last 100 pages of my book to finish before book club tonight, so I‘m trying to sneak in a chapter or two, in between meetings and emails.
I‘m making my way through Joyce Carol Oates, ‘The Accursed‘ for my IRL book club next week. Set during the turn of the twentieth century in Princeton, New Jersey. Strange things begin to happen...vampires, ghosts & a powerful curse befall the residents of a normally genteel town. I‘m also loving the real life characters crossing in & out of this twisted & complex novel: Grover Cleveland, Woodrow Wilson, Jack London & Upton Sinclair, to name a few.
The book itself was a slog tbh, but that cover. 😍 #covercrush #7days7covers Day 5
Started this today because I needed a change of pace while I'm fighting a severe Fibro flare!
#winmyheart
Buy me and book and win my heart. Read to me and discuss it and you might as well propose.
Purchases made at the annual used book sale to support a local-ish library are exempt from my book buying ban.
Because I‘m a grown woman and I make the rules here.
Also, because I needed something to put in the tote.
😂
On the first day of my end-of-year, Christmas holidays: what could be better than some postmodern gothic. ‘Tis the season...😝
This book has gotten so many less than steller reviews, I have to admit it has kept me from reading it for years. But, I'm about 200 pages in , and I think it's absolutely fascinating. Really enjoying it so far.
so-soI don't bail on books, unless they are absolutely deplorable. An author had spent valuable time spinning, and researching, their tale, and therefore it deserves a fighting chance. This being said, what I just finished was slow-moving, entirely too verbose, mostly superfluous, and therefore fairly disappointing. There were moments that peaked my interest, and even rare moments of brilliance, but I cannot recommend this book. 3.5/5 😬😕😩🚫🐦
My MIL (hi @Yuki !!) is with the kids so I'm having lunch out alone. Hoping to make some serious progress in this book for my readalong with @BookishFeminist - I'm hitting a groove with it now.
Last book in my first #TBR stack. About 145 pages in, and that barely puts a dent into it. Having trouble with this excessively wordy, tangential narrative style. 😕😩 Hopefully this will pick up soon... #thisisachallenge #stickingtoitfornow
@BookishFeminist your opinion would be appreciated. I think you are reading this, too?
Perfect fall weather means I've moved my Monday reading party outside. (And also caffeine. I desperately needed more caffeine.) Now sitting at Starbucks with a pumpkin spice latte & a scone. ☀️🎃🍂🍁
Picking this creepy, messed up gothic book that's set in Princeton back up. Reading it along with @BeckyMerilatt but I had to set it down when I was in an awful reading slump at the beginning of the month!
#BooksNBucks
The Accursed, the unconsoled, asleep / here I am / a discovery of witches
#readathon #spinepoetry
I was going to try to make a haiku. Maybe I'll try again later.
pickFinished less than 30 minutes before the start of the readathon! This was definitely a labor of love. JCO is overly wordy, which worked in this instance. The Accursed is so creepy and atmospheric, perfect for this time of year. I loved the setting of Princeton and the addition of actual historical figures such as Grover Cleveland, Upton Sinclair, Woodrow Wilson, etc.
I'm going up to PA/NJ for the weekend & don't think I have enough reading. 😉
#AllHallowsRead #GiveAScaryBook
My little sleepy heads finally fell asleep so I am going to squeeze in some much needed reading time. Hoping to finish this behemoth before the readathon but I'm not sure how likely that is.
You know you've got a chunker when you're 100 pages in and you've barely made a dent. #ilikebigbooksandicannotlie
#bookmail from the past week. I made a Thrift Books order thanks to @BeckyMerilatt 's post about The Accursed and then today I got my #BOTM order. I just finished my current book about an hour ago so now comes the impossible question of what to read next?
Three things:
Yesterday I found out via #Pottermore that I am in #Gryffindor. I can't help wondering what house my 11-year-old self would have been sorted into.
Also, trying my best to keep up with @BookishFeminist in The Accursed. It's picking up! I think I'm going to like it.
My Hogwarts mug is fading from overuse.
Gothic novel + blackberry Cabernet sorbetto = cure for a case of the Mondays. ??
Starting this book to read along with @BeckyMerilatt! Princeton is cursed and has ghosts and vampires. The first section is called "Demon Bridegroom." SOLD. ?? Interested to see how realistic this book is to IRL Princeton since every time I visit I'm convinced this book might be a nonfiction account, and that's just the students. ??
#scaretober
Excited to start my readalong with @BookishFeminist ! Anyone else want to join? I just finished Deborah Harkness' All Souls Trilogy. More vampires, you ask? No better time than #scaretober.
#hellooctober
Side note: counting down the days until Tana French day! I'm still debating whether I'll buy my own copy or wait for the library. I'm like 200th in line. 😱
One of my favorite #mapsinbooks is in the inside cover of JCO's The Accursed. It's a map of Princeton in 1905, when the book takes place. It's such a beautifully bound book altogether, from a pearly cover, to deckled edges, to pretty maps. I haven't read it yet but plan to soon because gothic vampires in Princeton? Sign me up. 💯💯
#somethingforsept #septphotochallenge
So many good quotes. Interesting to read this historical fiction. It is a slow go though cuz it has driven me to do research on both Woodrow Wilson and Grover Cleveland.
pickBought the ebook on sale on a whim. I suspected I would need a few uninterrupted hours to get into this book, and I was right. Worth it. Strange, creepy, quasi-alternative-historical fiction. My first attempt at reading Oates; I will definitely read more.
