|| IF Book Club : The Next Chapter || - Page 13

Hello fellow readers😆😆. I finished "Where the crawdads sing". It was okayish. It gave me the vibes of "the blue lagoon " movie. Too descriptive for my taste. I felt that the author was trying very hard to make it "moving" with highlighting topics such as racism and poverty. Tbh I can't digest the fact that her family left her alone. Who does that? And 6 year old children are not mature enough to ride boats and fend for themselves. She should have been 10 atleast to justify her actions. However, I did like the author drawing parallel in the behaviours of birds and humans. But overall it was a drag for me.

Update 1:

Hello all. I started Where The Crawdads Sing and already 6 chapters in. I am listening to the audiobook while physically reading it as the writing style is a bit hard to get into. It's not necessarily because of the descriptive aspect, it's just a weird thing I am finding hard to pinpoint. Hopefully I can figure it out by the time I finish the book.

No other thoughts so far.

@Shanam: That was quick! It’s a pity you didn’t like the book though. Hope your next tryst with historical fiction is better.

@Shreya: That’s an interesting take. I don’t think I’ve read many reviews (good or bad) on the writing style. Waiting for your further updates.

P.S. Which platform are you using to get the audiobook?

Question for the week:

Name 3 chunkers (books above 500 pages) on your TBR?

Do these books intimidate you or do you have no issues reading chunkers?

Originally posted by: Anam...

Same reason why Keigo Higashino is on my list 😆

Keigo Higashino’s 2 books are on my TBR - Malice and The Devotion of Suspect X.

I plan to start with Malice. Then move onto other works of his, if I like the first.

Originally posted by: Anam...

Question for the week:

Name 3 chunkers (books above 500 pages) on your TBR?

Do these books intimidate you or do you have no issues reading chunkers?

I'm in a classic-reading phase, so...

1. Anna Karenina

2. War and Peace

3. Complete Original Short Stories (Guy de Maupassant)

They make me nervous just looking at the page numbers, which is way beyond 500 each. But I'll read them, someday.

What about you Anam?

Originally posted by: Anam...

Question for the week:

Name 3 chunkers (books above 500 pages) on your TBR?

Do these books intimidate you or do you have no issues reading chunkers?

I have A Dance With Dragons by GRRM on my TBR. I'm intimidated by the size of the book. And I was holding off from reading it coz I didn't want to get terribly excited for Winds of winter. But I'm determined to finish the book this year.

Then there's The Great Indian Novel. But I expect to fly through that because it's a Shashi Tharoor book.

And the third chunker I have to read is Sycamore Row by John Grisham.

I don't necessarily get intimidated by the size of the book but yeah it largely depends on the author. If I am comfortable with the writing style I can finish the book in two days. But if I have trouble getting used to the writing style, I literally groan and moan at the sight of the book.

What about you Anam?

Also, do you have any pet peeves when it comes to reading? Mine is that I can't stand it if an author uses the word "orbs" to describe the eyes of human characters. Like I instantly DNF the book.

With this book I have realized I tend to like historical fictions having more of a contemporary touch to it. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo happens to be one of my all time favourites so I didn't really need to worry about not liking Where The Crawdads Sing since it does have a contemporary feel to it.

my rating: 5/5

I really liked how this book portrayed what constant abandonment does to you. How it shapes you as a person and the baggage that comes along with it. How never feeling loved makes you either mistrust others or end up falling for even a bit of affection. Kya's change in perception of the world everytime she learned a new information on behavior of humans and other organisms throughout the book was heartbreaking. No spoilers but there was a scene where she tries to find reasons in Biology as to why a member of the family left her which truly made me tear up.

I can also see why many people don't like this book. It's extremely character driven and the story doesn't concentrate completely on the mystery, it does more on the prejudices of the town Kya lives in. If you can't connect with Kya and her life then I honestly cannot see you getting any enjoyment out of it. I mean, how many versions of the protagonist cooking fishes and grits can you read before you quit? 😆

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I think at the end of the month, we can have more detailed discussion on each aspect of the book if everyone who read the book would join. (The poems and the A.H. and any quotes that stood out) And, were you satisfied/happy with the whodunnit? I personally wasn't a very big fan of the reveal but I wasn't even invested in the mystery to begin with.

Originally posted by: Anam...

Question for the week:

Name 3 chunkers (books above 500 pages) on your TBR?

Do these books intimidate you or do you have no issues reading chunkers?

That's a great question. Just like @Aparna, I have A Dance With Dragons on my tbr. Also, The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss and The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch.

No issues. I love big books. 😛

P.S. I use my brother's Storytel account to listen to audiobooks, Anam. 😃

I am glad people are enjoying the book :D

I still havent been able to finish my current one😳 its such an effort to get through a chapter