After how much I enjoyed Station Eleven, I have high hopes for this one.

This is an exceptional novel. I detect notes of Ishiguro's Remains of the Day, a flavor reminiscent of Ian McEwan's wry observation and dry, bitter humor, a dash of Shelley's Frankenstein (what of the monster that made the monster?), and about 20 distinct vocabulary words I have never read or heard in my life.

Also, I love its handling of dialogue. Love.

This is an impressive, insightful, dark, and surprisingly funny book.

I've heard good writers should include nothing that doesn't add to the story. "Every word, every line, should be valuable, essential," type stuff.

But New York Times Bestseller (several times over) Nicholas Sparks is proof that the Hemingway isn't the only way. Half of this novel I'm reading is just descriptions of this guy dressing himself, performing daily tasks, cooking dinner, and repeatedly "letting his mind wander to Natalie" or not.

Yeah, you could say I've got a lot going on.

One of my best friends recommended this book to me and she's gonna be disappointed, but... I kinda hated it.The cover says it's GRIPPING and HILARIOUS. I thought it was a snoozefest and McEwan's showoffy physics blah blah blah was irritating. It literally put me to sleep. Maybe I'm not intillectual enough for this book. Or maybe McEwan is a bit of a brainy bore.

As I dry the tears from my face, I know I'll be recommending this book to everyone.

A love song to story, to hope, to life and all life means — including death.

I have no idea what's going on yet, but I like it. Realized I better read this on the plane... it's technically due back to the library tomorrow. 😬

I just couldn't get into it. I renewed it 3 times and finally realized I just needed to let it go.

As if I didn't have enough reading to do, my next trauma reads came through! #LoriGottlieb #MaybeYouShouldTalkToSomeone #WhatHappenedToYou #BrucePerry

Library haul today! #cloudcuckooland #theartofmemoir #becomingawriter #thestorytellinganimal

This is a zippy, suspenseful, fun and beautifully descriptive travel mystery/romance. I had no idea what I was in for when I started it - not this twisty-turny fast-paced and action-packed whirlwind, that's for sure. But I loved it. A little cheesy in spots, but it was all part of the fun! Couldn't put it down. I read it in less than 24 hours - WHILE on vacation with family.

"I found a wry humour in wondering just what Mark would have said, had he known he was packing me off, with prudent haste, from the perimeter of the affair into its very centre."

Breezing through this un-put-down-able novel!

Thanks for tagging me to post something positive @Christyco125 !

I know this doesnt seem very #ThinkPositiveBePositive at first glance, but I've found understanding myself through insights like this from of Dr. Nicole Lepera to be such a powerful force of altered, more positive thinking and being!

Who's next? Post something positive and tag @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks:

Who knew a book about the end of civilization - no, the end of civilization as we know it to be - could be so magical. It's post-apocolyptic, but tender and true. Because Emily St. John Mandel has captured that thing that makes me love Steinbeck and the other sad literary writers: the human heart is relentless in hope and survival. Which is why as long as we are here, civilization of some sort, the small beautiful things in life, will remain.

Books and bourbon. A match made in heaven.

I just can't. I wanted to stop as soon as I started. I made it to page 80 by allowing myself the mercy of skimming, but... It's just so boring.

I realize I'm doing it wrong: it's a 6-week program. I wanted to zoom through and glean. But it reads like a personal diary — and, though I assume it's meant to promote a meditative mindset, comes off like Ms. Cameron loves to hear herself speak. Excruciatingly. Slowly. And with lots of name-dropping.

Sweet Tooth. Salty snack.

This book was BRILLIANT. I will say: McEwan always makes uncomfortable and bored in places. And yet I keep coming back for more. In Sweet Tooth, the story is enticing, and McEwan's classic genius insofar as metafiction astounds me. I loved it by the end (even if I did skip over some of the boring page-long descriptions of Cold War ins and outs). The ending more than made up for any hard feelings.

New reads from today's shopping trip. Haven't begun yet, but excited to.