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“It is the horrible texture of a fabric that should be woven of ships’ cables and hawsers. A Polar wind blows through it, and birds of prey hover over it.”
So Melville wrote of his masterpiece, one of the greatest works of imagination in literary history. In part, Moby-Dick is the story of an eerily compelling madman pursuing an unholy war against a creature as vast and dangerous and unknowable as the sea itself. But more than just a novel of adventure, more than an encyclopaedia of whaling lore and legend, the book can be seen as part of its author’s lifelong meditation on America. Written with wonderfully redemptive humour, Moby-Dick is also a profound inquiry into character, faith, and the nature of perception.
This edition of Moby-Dick, which reproduces the definitive text of the novel, includes invaluable explanatory notes, along with maps, illustrations, and a glossary of nautical terms.
It’s been on my TBR for a while now, and it was available as a buddy read in my online bookclub, so I decided now was the time!
The Quotes
“It is not down on any map; true places never are.”
“Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth; whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul; whenever I find myself involuntarily pausing before coffin warehouses, and bringing up the rear of every funeral I meet; and especially whenever my hypos get such an upper hand of me, that it requires a strong moral principle to prevent me from deliberately stepping into the street, and methodically knocking people’s hats off – then, I account it high time to get to sea as soon as I can.”
“Think not, is my eleventh commandment; and sleep when you can, is my twelfth.”
The Narrator(s)
Anthony Heald. It was a wonderful narration and I really enjoying listening to his voice.
My Thoughts
It was not the best time for me to read the book because I had a lot of things on my mind, and had many things to do and catch up on, and I was not in the right frame of mind to savor this book. However, I really enjoyed it very much despite my inattentiveness to the story.
To be fair, there was more lecturing about whales than there was an actual story but I still really enjoyed the story, and I really enjoyed the lecturing; about whales, whaling, fossils, ambergris, history of this and that, Ishmael talks about it all! My issue was that I loved the idea of getting to know more about whales, but I wasn’t in the frame of mind to pay attention to the details, so I didn’t get the full benefit of those parts of the book.
As to the story itself, I love the characters and how vibrant they are! They were all kind of larger than life and caricaturistic, but I feel like that makes sense for how dramatic the story is, and the role each of the characters play in the story. It’s not unusual for me to reread books I enjoy over and over again to understand them better, and I think Moby-Dick falls into that category. It almost seems like this first read was like a primer for me, so that when I reread this I’ll know what to look out for and where I need to pay attention. I’m sure I’ll enjoy it more when I read it again!
My Rating
⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.
Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?
Kahlil Gibran’s masterpiece, The Prophet, is one of the most beloved classics of our time. Published in 1923, it has been translated into more than twenty languages, and the American editions alone have sold more than nine million copies.
The Prophet is a collection of poetic essays that are philosophical, spiritual, and, above all, inspirational. Gibran’s musings are divided into twenty-eight chapters covering such sprawling topics as love, marriage, children, giving, eating and drinking, work, joy and sorrow, housing, clothes, buying and selling, crime and punishment, laws, freedom, reason and passion, pain, self-knowledge, teaching, friendship, talking, time, good and evil, prayer, pleasure, beauty, religion, and death.
“You talk when you cease to be at peace with your thoughts.”
“Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself”
“You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.”
The Narrator(s)
Riz Ahmed. It was good, no notes.
My Thoughts
This book was one of my bookclub member’s favorite book and she chose it for us. I listened to it twice on audio because it was such a short book and I really resonated with a lot of the ideas in the book, but I feel like this is one book that should be savored. Listening on audio, I didn’t get a chance to sit with a lot of the ideas, and I tried to mitigate that by listening twice back to back but I still think I will reread it again on print, slowly, and take time to pause in between sections and think about the ideas more.
My Rating
⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.
Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?
A dying billionaire sends one woman and a cast of dreamers and rivals on a citywide treasure hunt in this irresistible novel by the author of Bellweather Rhapsody.
Tuesday Mooney is a loner. She keeps to herself, begrudgingly socializes, and spends much of her time watching old Twin Peaks and X-Files DVDs. But when Vincent Pryce, Boston’s most eccentric billionaire, dies—leaving behind an epic treasure hunt through the city, with clues inspired by his hero, Edgar Allan Poe—Tuesday’s adventure finally begins.
Puzzle-loving Tuesday searches for clue after clue, joined by a ragtag crew: a wisecracking friend, an adoring teen neighbor, and a handsome, cagey young heir. The hunt tests their mettle, and with other teams from around the city also vying for the promised prize—a share of Pryce’s immense wealth—they must move quickly. Pryce’s clues can’t be cracked with sharp wit alone; the searchers must summon the courage to face painful ghosts from their pasts (some more vivid than others) and discover their most guarded desires and dreams.
A deliciously funny ode to imagination, overflowing with love letters to art, from The Westing Game to Madonna to the Knights of the Round Table, Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts is the perfect read for thrill seekers, wanderers, word lovers, and anyone looking for an escape to the extraordinary.
I needed a book for the puzzle prompt and this book turned up and I was intrigued!
The Quotes
“Tomorrow you could be anyone. Imagine that.”
“Maybe this was how adult friendships happened: by accident, embroidered over time, visible only from the height of years.”
“Don’t cheat your friendships. Don’t ask them to mean less to you than they do, or think they only have value if they’re a stop on the way to a *real* relationship. All relationships are real. Friendship can be as deep as the ocean. It’s all a kind of love, and love isn’t any one kind of thing.”
The Narrator(s)
Lauren Fortgang. I loved it, no notes!
My Thoughts
I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. I’ve had some bad luck with recent books and I tried to manage my expectations for this one. I’m also really into stories about solving puzzles within the books and I’ve read a few that ended up quite disappointing, so I tried to be neutral with expectations going into this.
To be clear, I don’t think the puzzle-solving portion here was the most brilliant thing, but I loved the story and the characters. I really love the characters! Tuesday Mooney is such an interesting, paradoxical character. I like how she’s presented as a mystery and a loner, but she’s got so many people caring about her from the start, and she actually cares about them too, even if she pretends not to. I expected her to be this strong, proper, stoic person, but she does some questionable things, which actually makes me love her more because they make her so much more human.
I love the other characters as well; Dorry, Dex, Lyle, and Archie. They are so vibrant and colorful, and I really want to learn more about them, spend more time with them, be friends with them! I love one of the messages of the book shared in a quote above, about how friendships are important relationships too. I believe very much in platonic love, and they are just as important as romantic and familial love. What a wonderful read!
My Rating
⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.
Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?
From New York Times bestselling and Hugo Award-winning author T. Kingfisher comes Hemlock & Silver, a dark reimagining of “Snow White” steeped in poison, intrigue, and treason of the most magical kind
Healer Anja regularly drinks poison.
Not to die, but to save—seeking cures for those everyone else has given up on.
But a summons from the King interrupts her quiet, herb-obsessed life. His daughter, Snow, is dying, and he hopes Anja’s unorthodox methods can save her.
Aided by a taciturn guard, a narcissistic cat, and a passion for the scientific method, Anja rushes to treat Snow, but nothing seems to work. That is, until she finds a secret world, hidden inside a magic mirror. This dark realm may hold the key to what is making Snow sick.
Or it might be the thing that kills them all.
For the Reading Challenge(s): N/A
The Reason
I love T. Kingfisher’s stories and I was excited about this one as well.
The Quotes
“Learning just makes you aware of how much there is to learn.”
“There is a crazy-wild delight that comes over you when you discover something new, something extraordinary. If you try to share that and people look at you blankly, it’s crushing. But if there’s someone else there to say really?! and take fire with enthusiasm alongside you – well, that will keep you going for a long time.”
“I was a child with a child’s attention span. Many adults think this is no more than a butterfly’s, flittering from thought to thought, but they have forgotten how, in some children, it is as sharp and pointed as a stiletto. Mine was focused now.”
“I had succeeded in pushing off my fears until later. Now later had arrived, and I wasn’t somehow magically equipped to deal with it. Poor planning on my part, clearly.”
The Narrator(s)
Jennifer Pickens. It was mostly fine, but I really didn’t like the way she expressed the vocalizations of the main character. It detracted very much from the story for me.
My Thoughts
I absolutely love how original this retelling is! I love the way Kingfisher uses the classic elements; the apple, the mirror, the poisons, and so on, and created such an imaginative story out of it. I also loved the whole romance story between Anja and Javier; their chemistry jumped off the page very early in the story and I was rooting for them the whole time!
I love most of the characters; Javier for sure, Grayling so much, Lady Sorrell too, but I had a hard time liking Anja although I’m not sure if that’s because of her character in itself or if it’s because I really didn’t like the way the narrator portrayed her. I also didn’t really like Snow, I didn’t feel connected to her character at all.
There were some things I didn’t like about the story; like how they replaced the word “sex” with “uhh”, which felt so cringy to me, and I also felt like it was a cop-out to make Anja so knowledgeable in poisons but so ignorant with healing in general. It makes sense that she may not be an expert in other specialties of medicine, but it’s hard to believe she doesn’t have a general understanding of healing at all. Still, I mostly loved the story despite the minor issues. It’s not one of my top Kingfisher books but I loved it anyway.
My Rating
⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.
Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?
Having just been dumped by his girlfriend, British-born Hugo is still determined to take his last-hurrah-before-college train trip across the United States. One snag: the companion ticket is already booked under the name of his ex, Margaret Campbell. Nontransferable, no exceptions.
Enter the new Margaret C. (Mae for short), an aspiring filmmaker with big dreams. After finding Hugo’s spare ticket offer online, she’s convinced it’s the perfect opportunity to expand her horizons.
When the two meet, the attraction is undeniable, and both find more than they bargained for. As Mae pushes Hugo to explore his dreams for his future, he’ll encourage her to channel a new, vulnerable side of her art. But when life off the train threatens the bubble they’ve created for themselves, will they manage to keep their love on track?
For the Reading Challenge(s): N/A
The Reason
I’ve been craving sweet love stories!
The Quotes
“Most things are easier than you think,” she says. “It’s deciding to do them that’s hard.”
“That’s the thing. You almost never know when you’re saying goodbye to someone forever.”
“His heart aches, not because he loves her—he hasn’t for a long time now—but because he loved her once, and that’s something that never completely leaves you.”
“You don’t know what happiness is – what it really means – until it’s taken away from you. Then you realise the world will never be as bright as it was.”
My Thoughts
I’ve been missing light-hearted romance stories and liked the sound of this one. Two strangers traveling together in a somewhat forced proximity, and learning about each other and themselves in the process of their journey. It’s cute and a little cheesy, but it was sweet and feel-good, and I needed to feel good. I loved the two MCs and the way they interacted with each other. I loved how unique Hugo’s situation was, and how he struggled to find his place as an individual. I loved Mae’s passion for telling stories and eventually finding her own. It got really emotional near the end and I’m not ashamed to say I sobbed like a baby. I’ve read a couple of books previously by this author and enjoyed them, and I think I’ll be reading more.
My Rating
⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.
Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?
Carrie may be picked on by her classmates but she has a gift. She can move things with her mind. Doors lock. Candles fall. This is her power and her problem.
To be invited to Prom Night by Tommy Ross is a dream come true for Carrie — the first step towards social acceptance by her high school colleagues. Until an unexpected cruelty turns her gift into a weapon of terror and destruction that no one will ever forget.
“People don’t get better, they just get smarter. When you get smarter you don’t stop pulling the wings off flies, you just think of better reasons for doing it.”
“High school isn’t a very important place. When you’re going you think it’s a big deal, but when it’s over nobody really thinks it was great unless they’re beered up.”
“Nobody was really surprised when it happened, not really, not on the subconscious level where savage things grow.”
“This is the girl they keep calling a monster. I want you to keep that firmly in mind. The girl who could be satisfied with a hamburger and a dime root beer after her only school dance so her momma wouldn’t be worried . . .”
The Narrator(s)
Sissy Spacek, and Margaret Atwood. I can’t think of better narrators for this book. Love them!
My Thoughts
This is a reread, and although it isn’t one of my favorite Stephen King books, I find that I like it more this time around and appreciate it for the story it is. Carrie is such a fascinating character; she’s not really the bad guy here and yet, she caused hundreds of deaths and a whole town’s destruction. Stephen King has always been the master of writing about regular people who are monsters, and it’s interesting when you realize he’s been doing this since the beginning.
Carrie isn’t the monster here, she’s just a scared little girl pushed to the brink of what she could handle emotionally. Her mother, her school bullies, they are the true monsters. I also read this right after reading Frankenstein and I thought it was interesting with the whole “who’s the real monster” theme. There are some real parallels here that I’m not sure I would’ve realized if I hadn’t read them back to back, especially with some of what I said in my Frankenstein review about bad parenting. I also mentioned about how it was great that Frankenstein was focused more on the father as the parent, while here, we see the mother being the focus of bad parenting.
Maybe I liked this book more this time around precisely because I read Frankenstein right before, but honestly, I find myself noticing a lot more this time too about the rest of the characters in the story, the way they behave, their thoughts processes, and I’m amazed once again by Stephen King’s character study. This is why I love his books.
My Rating
⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.
Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?
From award-winning actor and food obsessive Stanley Tucci comes an intimate and charming memoir of life in and out of the kitchen.
Before Stanley Tucci became a household name with The Devil Wears Prada, The Hunger Games, and the perfect Negroni, he grew up in an Italian American family that spent every night around the table. He shared the magic of those meals with us in The Tucci Cookbook and The Tucci Table, and now he takes us beyond the recipes and into the stories behind them.
Taste is a reflection on the intersection of food and life, filled with anecdotes about growing up in Westchester, New York, preparing for and filming the foodie films Big Night and Julie & Julia, falling in love over dinner, and teaming up with his wife to create conversation-starting meals for their children. Each morsel of this gastronomic journey through good times and bad, five-star meals and burnt dishes, is as heartfelt and delicious as the last.
Written with Stanley’s signature wry humour and nostalgia, Taste is a heartwarming read that will be irresistible for anyone who knows the power of a home-cooked meal.
I love Stanley Tucci as an actor, and I love books about food. ‘Nuff said!
The Quotes
“To me, eating well is not just about what tastes good but about the connections that are made through the food itself.”
“Now, I am not one who is necessarily drawn to the Michelin star. Often I find that many of the restaurants that have earned this coveted award are a bit fussy, to say the least, and I’ve left a few of them completely famished, as I have never found pretentiousness very filling.”
“But perhaps the most precious heirlooms are family recipes. Like a physical heirloom, they remind us from whom and where we came and give others, in a bite, the story of another people from another place and another time.”
“Obviously change is good, but there is absolutely no need for us to obliterate the past while creating the future. They can and should live side by side.”
The Narrator(s)
The author himself. It was absolutely perfect!
My Thoughts
I am a huge fan of Stanley Tucci’s work as an actor and I was fascinated to find out that he was also an avid foodie who has written cookbooks and other books about food. He narrates the audiobook and it was such a pleasure to listen to him talk about his relationship to food, but more so, how food has shaped his relationship to the people in his life. From his relationship with his mother as a child, his extended family, his wife and children, his fellow actors and friends; he tells his stories about them through the meals he has with them, and periodically shares recipes of the food he talks about. I was especially charmed by an anecdote he shares about an interaction he had as a child with his mother, that has now become a similar interaction he has as a father to his child. I really enjoyed the book and discovering more about Tucci as a person.
My Rating
⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.
Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?
A heartwarming story about the power of books to bring us together, inspired by the true story of the underground library in WWII Warsaw, by the New York Times bestselling author of The Last Bookshop in London.
All her life, Zofia has found comfort in two things during times of hardship: books and her best friend, Janina. But no one could have imagined the horrors of the Nazi occupation in Warsaw. As the bombs rain down and Hitler’s forces loot and destroy the city, Zofia finds that now books are also in need of saving.
With the death count rising and persecution intensifying, Zofia jumps to action to save her friend and salvage whatever books she can from the wreckage, hiding them away, and even starting a clandestine book club. She and her dearest friend never surrender their love of reading, even when Janina is forced into the newly formed ghetto.
But the closer Warsaw creeps toward liberation, the more dangerous life becomes for the women and their families—and escape may not be possible for everyone. As the destruction rages around them, Zofia must fight to save her friend and preserve her culture and community using the only weapon they have left—literature.
For the Reading Challenge(s): N/A
The Reason
I loved Madeline Martin’s other books and also books about books. I also somehow gravitate towards books about WW2 and this has been on my TBR for a while.
The Quotes
“Good books were like amazing sunsets or awe-inspiring landscapes, better enjoyed with someone else. There was no greater experience in the world than sharing the love of a book, discussing its finer points, and reliving the story all over again.”
“It whispered to her in the silence, a promise only a book can make to a reader, to offer a journey unique to them, tailored”
“There was power in literature. Brilliant and undeniable. Books inspired free thought and empathy, an overall understanding and acceptance of everyone.”
“We cannot let the atrocities and persecution of the Jews slip between the cracks of history. We cannot allow education to be stifled or cultures to be erased or books to be banned. Nor can we let the memory of those brave men and women who fought for freedom and what is right disappear in the turning pages of time.”
The Narrator(s)
Saskia Maarleveld. I have listened to another book narrated by her and didn’t have a problem with it, but I feel like possibly because of the writing in this book, there was a strong inclination towards susurration that made it difficult for me to hear the story very well. It wasn’t bad during dialogue, it bothered me mostly in the narrative parts.
My Thoughts
I really enjoyed the story, and I love how books and stories play such a big part in keeping spirits up during times of war. I love that Zofia and Janina were part of an anti-Hitler book club, and the way they connected with others through the book club and book discussions. I’ve read many books set in WW2 throughout my life, but they’ve been hitting a lot harder in recent times, and I believe more than ever that reading is one of the most important things for developing empathy.
Martin is very good at writing about friendships and connections, and I love the bond between Zofia and Janina. I love how they looked out for each other and found ways to keep in contact even when it was dangerous for them. Unfortunately I didn’t enjoy this book as much as Martin’s other books, but it’s more so because I didn’t enjoy the audiobook experience. Hopefully, if I reread this in the future, I may change my mind when I read it on print or in some other form.
My Rating
⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.
Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?
It’s love at first haunting in a seaside town that raises everyone’s spirits from USA Today bestselling author Jen DeLuca.
Small Florida coastal towns often find themselves scrambling for the tourism dollars that the Orlando theme parks leave behind. And within the town limits of Boneyard Key, the residents decided long ago to lean into its ghostliness. Nick Royer, owner of the Hallowed Grounds coffee shop, embraces the ghost tourism that keeps the local economy afloat, as well as his spectral roommate. At least he doesn’t have to run air-conditioning.
Cassie Rutherford possibly overreacted to all her friends getting married and having kids by leaving Orlando and buying a flipped historic cottage in Boneyard Key. Though there’s something unusual with her new home (her laptop won’t charge in any outlets, and the poetry magnets on her fridge definitely didn’t read “WRONG” and “MY HOUSE” when she put them up), she’s charmed by the colorful history surrounding her. And she’s catching a certain vibe from the grumpy coffee shop owner whenever he slips her a free slice of banana bread along with her coffee order.
As Nick takes her on a ghost tour, sharing town gossip that tourists don’t get to hear, and they spend nights side-by-side looking into the former owners of her haunted cottage, their connection solidifies into something very real and enticing. But Cassie’s worried she’s in too deep with this whole (haunted) home ownership thing… and Nick’s afraid to get too close in case Cassie gets scared away for good.
For the Reading Challenge(s): N/A
The Reason
Erin @ Cracker Crumb Life featured this book in her Top Ten Tuesday Beachy Reads post a couple of weeks ago and I was intrigued! I’ve been craving more romance and I love haunted house stories. Thanks for the rec, Erin!
The Narrator(s)
Jeannie Sheneman. Wonderful narration, I was fully immersed.
My Thoughts
It was so much fun! I finished it within 24 hours because it was just so easy to read and I couldn’t put it down. The romance itself is sweet, maybe a little cheesy, but honestly, the ghost story was so good! Most of the time when I read romances with side ghost stories, I don’t expect a good story because I see it only as a plot point, but in this case, I got really invested in the ghost story.
I love that it’s also a found family story, and finding a place of belonging among people who care about you and accept you for you. It scratches a lot of itches for me, and I love it more than I expected I would. It makes me so happy to see that there’s going to be another book in the series featuring a secondary character in this book. I can’t wait to get my hands on that when it comes out!
My Rating
⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.
Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?
A dark and electrifying novel about addiction, fanaticism, and what might exist on the other side of life.
In a small New England town, over half a century ago, a shadow falls over a small boy playing with his toy soldiers. Jamie Morton looks up to see a striking man, the new minister. Charles Jacobs, along with his beautiful wife, will transform the local church. The men and boys are all a bit in love with Mrs. Jacobs; the women and girls feel the same about Reverend Jacobs—including Jamie’s mother and beloved sister, Claire. With Jamie, the Reverend shares a deeper bond based on a secret obsession. When tragedy strikes the Jacobs family, this charismatic preacher curses God, mocks all religious belief, and is banished from the shocked town.
Jamie has demons of his own. Wed to his guitar from the age of thirteen, he plays in bands across the country, living the nomadic lifestyle of bar-band rock and roll while fleeing from his family’s horrific loss. In his mid-thirties—addicted to heroin, stranded, desperate—Jamie meets Charles Jacobs again, with profound consequences for both men. Their bond becomes a pact beyond even the Devil’s devising, and Jamie discovers that revival has many meanings.
This rich and disturbing novel spans five decades on its way to the most terrifying conclusion Stephen King has ever written. It’s a masterpiece from King, in the great American tradition of Frank Norris, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Edgar Allan Poe.
“That’s how you know you’re home, I think, no matter how far you’ve gone from it or how long you’ve been in some other place. Home is where they want you to stay longer.”
“People say that where there’s life, there’s hope, and I have no quarrel with that, but I also believe the reverse. There is hope, therefore I live.”
“Religion is the theological equivalent of a quick-buck insurance scam, where you pay in your premium year after year, and then, when you need the benefits you paid for so—pardon the pun—so religiously, you discover the company that took your money does not, in fact, exist.”
“This is how we bring about our own damnation, you know-by ignoring the voice that begs us to stop. To stop while there’s still time.”
The Narrator(s)
David Morse. It was perfectly fine and I enjoyed it very much.
My Thoughts
I liked it very much but I’d hope to like it more. I’d heard so many people hype it up so maybe I went in with overly high expectations. The story itself was really good but not what I expected. I thought it was going to be some kind of church horror in the vein of the movie Midnight Mass, but it wasn’t. Which is completely fine, I like where the story went too!
It was very slow burn, taking fifty years to come to fruition, and it was very interesting to see the characters develop over that time; the way they grow up and grow old, the way their beliefs and values evolve, everything they do to bring them where they end up. I’ve said it before that one of the reasons I love SK’s books so much is because he’s so good at character study. This book was amazing for that, and it’s still one I really enjoyed reading, even if I don’t love it as much as SK’s other books.
My Rating
⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.
Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?
