I love your attitude. I need to get those books.

Favorite book last month was a graphic novel called ‘Book Love’ by Debbie Tung. All about a girl who loves books so much and would rather read than do anything else. It felt like she wrote my life.

Hexwood is my favorite book by DWJ (who is my favorite author). I don’t know if it’s good for a first one by her though if you don’t really know what to expect with her writing, which tends to be very dense. Her work also really benefits from rereads-I don’t think you HAVE to reread them to enjoy them but because her writing is so intricate and dense there are always new things to find. Anyway, I’m sorry you didn’t have a good time with it! I hope this doesn’t make you give up on her entirely, she definitely has work that’s much more accessible, like Howl’s Moving Castle or Eight Days of Luke.

I really loved chronicles of chrestomanci (there are 3 volumes, each with 2 books) and Dogsbody by Diana Wynne Jones. They were my intro to fantasy when I was younger and they are sooo nostalgic for me. Makes sense you wouldn’t like dwj’s writing if you just read it for the first time as an adult as she’s geared towards children…

The Shining is one of the few books I have read more than once and it still impresses me. On the surface it seems simple haunted hotel that a family stuck in but the depth he gives to the each family member and the internal struggles just makes it a more richer story than you would think it would be. One can see why King was so unhappy with the movie. From the first moment you see Jack in the movie he looks like he is looking for reason to murder his family while the book.shows you his struggling with his inner demons.

I'm so glad to see another Red Queen fan mentioning how similar Fourth Wing is! I always see people comparing to Divergent which I also reed and does have similar tropes just like every other dystopian YA from 2010s but while reading I could ONLY think of Red Queen. Even the plot twist at the end is the same. 😂 Also don't bother with the Iron Flame hoping it gets better, it does not. It's easy to read and I do enjoy the universe but it has so many problems when you stop to think about it even if for just 5 minutes.

At least Ian Fleming is slightly self aware 😂 I haven't read any Beverly Jenkins but have heard great things so interested to hear your thoughts. Congrats on finishing Munro!

I thought fourth wing was gonna be mid but ended up loving it 😂. Maybe cus my expectations going in were low? But also the YA fantasy/ romance formulas and tropes usually work really well for me lol. They are my “guilty pleasure” in that I know they are all mostly the same, but I still usually have a good time reading them.

You’re from LA, right? I checked the LAPL site and you could have checked out Hexwood from the library.

I’ve only read howls moving castle by DWJ and I simply wanted to understand the movie more (why is he sometimes a bird? Neither book or movie would tell me) and I struggledddddd to finish it. I’d still recommend it but I wouldn’t go into it without expecting it to be quite different. I love the movie and it’s taken me years to admit I really didn’t even like the book.

Here's what I read in January The shining by Stephen king Thicker than water by kerry Washington memoir Say you swear by meagan brandy Little women by Louisa may alcott Things we hide from the light by Lucy score A marvellous light by freya marske The lost ticket by freya Sampson The Fraud squad Birthday girl by Penelope Douglas All of our demise by Amanda foody Practice makes perfect by Sarah Adams

Boy, you must have really hated Hexwood that you were willing at one point to part with your money to give to the government in taxes. 😂

My fav book last month was Out on a Limb by Hannah Bonam-Young, really excellent! I also reread Heartstopper so that I could read the 5th one, so that was a great time. 🩷🩷