I know I’m late but I’m obsessed with Goodreads. Every single thing I read is logged and sorted on my virtual shelves so I can look back and see at what pace I am reading.
My favorite thing to do is check my reading challenge for 2024 and see if I’m on track to complete it. This year my goal is to read 90 books and currently, I am seven books ahead of schedule with 35 books read.
Since starting to use Goodreads, I have been able to remember what books I have finished and how quickly I sped through them.
Using my Goodreads shelves, I have complied some of the books I’ve read so far this year and how I felt about them.
The Silent Patient by alex michaelides
3/13/24 to 3/15/24
This book was extremely popular on BookTok and everyone was talking about the big twist at the end. I liked the story and the writing was intriguing but I have to say: the twist was…eh. I don’t want to give anything away so I’ll just say you could tell something was off. It’s an intriguing story about a woman who brutally kills her husband, seemingly for no reason, and then refuses to speak a single word afterward. The main narrator is a guy who is interested in the case and his journey to solve the mystery of the murder.
Overall: 4 out of 5 stars
Book Lovers by Emily Henry
3/1/24 to 3/25/24
I read this one with my book club. We thought that it would be a good, quick book that we could all finish and enjoy. Unfortunately, this is not how it turned out. The book opens by complaining about romance movie tropes and how the female main character seems to be living on the wrong side of them. Not to spoil but she goes on to live the trope that she was just complaining about. It also gave heavy “pick-me” girl vibes and took every member of book club forever to get through.
Overall: 2 out of 5 stars
Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke By Eric LaRoca
2/24/24 to 2/26/24
This book was a way for me to expand my horizons. It’s a collection of horror short stories. The title short story was gory and gruesome and a good look at how the internet is such an odd place. It devolves quickly and I could not put this down. It might sound weird to say but it physically made my stomach turn…and I liked it. It takes a lot for a book to give me a physical reaction and I think it shows how powerful LaRoca’s writing is. The second short story was a lot different than the first one. It had heavy religious commentary and it was gory and I almost liked it more than the title story. The last short story was not as good as the others but was still spooky.
Overall: 4 out of 5 stars
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
3/1/24 to 3/17/24
I read this for my English class and I have a hot take. It was BOOORRRRINNGG. Sure, Jane Eyre is a strong female main character and I liked how self-assured she is for most of the book. However, the relationship between Jane and Mr. Rochester made me uncomfy 90% of the time I was reading. Goodreads user angel sums it up pretty well: “i think i would’ve liked it better if mr. rochester died”
Overall: 2½ out of 5 stars
Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan
4/2/24 to 4/14/24
Another book that I read for an English class. This was for Book History and it had so many references to things we learned in class it was kinda cool. However, there were so many characters and so many details that you had to remember about each of them that it got a little jumbled. There were a lot of little tiny plot points that were mentioned and then disappeared. I bet it would have been an entertaining read had I not been rushing to get it done for class. It lacked a gripping reason to sympathize or really care about the main character. Most of his problems just sounded like he was whining and I would not recommend this book to anyone who hasn’t taken ENG 329: Book History.
Overall: 2 out of 5 stars