|| IF Book Club : The Next Chapter || - Page 50

Originally posted by: Unique.Sheep

I finished the shining...it wasnt as good as I expected! Maybe the movie is scarier🤔 I asked my hubby because he has watched it but he didnt enjoy it much either. Though hes a fan of Stephen King. He loves IT.😆 The last few chapters were way too violent for me and took so long to get through

I also finished Anxious People yesterday...I guess we will review it tomorrow?

You must be happy to finish both the books.
I get why The Shining may not have appealed to you. There were parts that didn’t appeal to me either. I felt that a good 50 pages of the book could have been shaved off. In my case, I’m glad to have read a classic but I will not re read it for sure.
IT is too massive an undertaking for me at this point although I want to read it. If I find an audiobook for it, then I’d definitely start reading the book.

Originally posted by: 23Diya

The first two are on my list too.

Besides that, the books I really want to read from my huge pile are:

1.The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga

2. 1984 by George Orwell

3. Home Before Dark by Riley Sager

4. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

5. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

6. Judge and Jury by James Patterson

Want to read the first 4 books on your list especially, Home Before Dark & The Picture of Dorian Gray. The Kite Runner is a beautiful book and like Shreya said, it leaves an impact. I even liked Hosseini’s other book And the Mountains Echoed. I really want to read A Thousand Splendid Suns which is supposed to be really good.

Originally posted by: Shanam_77

I just finished The anxious people. I will keep my opinion to myself till tomorrow.

For next year, I have decided to read books from authors that I have tried before. The famous ones obviously.

Also to try new genres. Thanks to the book club i read some books that I would never have picked on my own. And ended up liking most of them.

Waiting to read your review on Anxious People. Are you doing to re read It Ends With Us this month?

Originally posted by: oliviamartin78

Here is my list for next year

• The Good Sister by Sally Hepworth.
• Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir.
• IQ84 by Haruki Murasaki
  
• Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro.
• Beloved by Tony Morrison

Hey! I’m Anam. Would you be interested in joining the book club, do you want me to add your name?

Interesting list of books. 1Q84 and Beloved are books I want to read as well? Have you read any books by Kazuo Ishiguro?

@Shreya: Don’t keep your expectations high, you might end up being disappointed if you are going in expecting a certain kind of book. Storytel has the book in audiobook format if you are not in the mood to actually read the book.

Take your time in reading Anxious People. Whenever I push myself to read a book when I’m going through a reading slump I don’t enjoy the book.

It’s decided. You and Diya are picking the Fantasy BOTM for March. I had earlier said it needs to be a standalone but it’s okay if it’s part of a series (just not a series with more than 5 books).

Sidney Sheldon was my go to author when I was in college. I think I’ve read all his books. My favourites were The Sands of Time, Tell Me Your Dreams, Master of the Game and The Doomsday Conspiracy.

Originally posted by: Mayashika

Books I would definitely like to get to in 2021 are

1. If Tomorrow Comes by Sidney Sheldon and few of his other works. My mom owns many of his books and is a huge fan so there's where my interest comes from.

2. The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater. There's a found family trope so it's guaranteed that I am gonna love it!

3. Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan. I was definitely the one who read Harry Potter again and again instead of trying other middle grade series so I just want to read these books before the Disney Plus PJ series comes out.

4. Wayward Children by Seanan McGuire. I have heard it's quite whimsical.

5. Any Grace Draven book especially Phoenix Unbound and Radiance.

sidney sheldon is my fav writer❤️ i havent read if tomorrow comes but Are you afraid of the dark was amazing

Opinion on Anxious People

The book has an interesting premise - a bank robbery gone wrong which turns into a hostage
situation with 8 very different characters stuck together in a flat.

The book started off a good note especially the chapters with the witness interviews. Backman’s humour is a little different from the usual humour one reads in books, maybe Swedish humour is like that. Backman has the knack for writing characters that seem like real people you might know. His characters and the humour in his books are his strong points.

The book loses steam about a 150 pages in and what makes you stick around are the characters and their back stories. Backman tackles this so beautifully and the characters make you root for them. Based on the two books I’ve read, you can’t dislike the characters Backman writes. They are not perfect, can be annoying but you can see things from their point of view and understand and empathise with them.
I liked all the characters but Zara was my favourite. I also liked the portrayal of the husband wife relationship shown between Ann Lena & Roger. Very rarely does a book explain the way love changes when you have been married for years. It was sweet and poignant. I also loved the relationship between father and son, Jim and Jack. The book highlights the father son awkward relationship so realistically.

Anxious People deals with themes of suicide, depression, loss of a loved one, wanting to do right by the people you love and feelings of anxiety when you feel you are not good enough.

The theme of suicide stood out most for me in this book especially because of what happened in the second half of this year and how widely and heavily it was covered by the media.

Where this book goes a little off track with respect to the story, it more than makes up in delving in the various relationships and themes.

This is not a perfect book but it makes you feel - it will make you smile, tear up a bit and just warm your heart.

Fredrik Backman is a beautiful writer. His books are far from perfect but they do warm your heart. I think many might find his books boring and I understand where that opinion comes from but I think I’ve found an author I can turn to when I want to read something touching.

Also, this book is filled with a whole lot of beautiful quotes.

All in all, this was an easy 4-star read for me.

I thought since this year has been horrible for all of us, we’d put an end to this year by reading something light and fluffy.

The BOTM for December is -

Genre: chick lit, contemporary, romance, humour

Link: https://psv4.userapi.com/c834701/u470368449/docs/d7/25c072b4b98f/Kevin_Kwan_-_Crazy_Rich_Asians_01_-_Crazy_Rich_Asians.epub?extra=pItBaq24z5EstYjio5zW_w3PpCUIhnbWx8o2qfQFOwAg_bqYayN8Ib-Od7PjCTkdCDMGCyy0kR9xpHPRtR-vlX9NANm3qSkx9arr4wMbUElY7Qo2AGgU74dW9aQaZy6p4kgWS5zFyK9nNU9U&dl=1

Originally posted by: Anam...

Ugly Love might be the more hyped one but It Ends With Us is the more liked one, I think.

It’s Atlas and Lily for me and for most of the readers as well.
There was to be a movie made on this book, I wonder what happened to that 😕

Glad I am not the only one! I get feels when their scenes come. I dont feel anything for Ryle yet.

I would love to watch a movie on it!

Originally posted by: Anam...

You must be happy to finish both the books.
I get why The Shining may not have appealed to you. There were parts that didn’t appeal to me either. I felt that a good 50 pages of the book could have been shaved off. In my case, I’m glad to have read a classic but I will not re read it for sure.
IT is too massive an undertaking for me at this point although I want to read it. If I find an audiobook for it, then I’d definitely start reading the book.

Yes, I am relieved to be done. Especially the Shining. It was sooo long.😆

IT is huge which is why I still havent read it. Is it just one book though? Because I think the movie was in 2 parts.🤔

Another Stephen King book I want to read is The Long Walk. Story looks interesting.