Happy Book Day! I had nothing to show last month but this one was a little better.
Linking up with Steph & Jana for Show Us Your Books!
Ok. Here we go.
Lumberjanes: Friendship to the Max by Noelle Stevenson, etc.
★★★/5; Young Adult, Graphic Novel 
These little stories take 15-20 minutes to read so I figured I’d give volume 2 a shot. Unfortunately, I still didn’t love it. The main characters (including counselor Jen) are all fantastic and wonderful in their own way but I don’t love the dialogue or how the story comes together or really anything about the actually plot so…. I’m done with these. This second book tied up the story from the first book so it makes it pretty easy to walk away. I don’t know… the whole thing felt random and spontaneous, but not in a good way. Haha. Maybe a younger audience would enjoy these, but I think I’d have had a tough time following and getting hooked when I was younger, too.
Read it? I gave them a second chance & didn’t love it, so no.
The Whisper Man by Alex North
★★★★/5; Thriller 
This was the October pick for Influenced the Podcast‘s book club. I definitely wouldn’t have picked this up on my own- thriller isn’t my choice genre. That said, this one was great. I liked the spooky element, I really liked that there wasn’t an unreliable narrator in charge the whole time, and I love that I figured very few things out before the reveal. My issue with thrillers/mysteries is that I try to figure out the bad guy the whole time. I did that with this one, but I was only right about one thing and it was after a major hint. Of course, I have a few issues… there was one or two dangling storylines. And it was super convenient that this town was the crux of everything. I was wrong about quite a few things and sad about certain resolutions, but I’ll go into detail in the comments with y’all individually if you want to get into it 😉
Read it? Given that I don’t read thrillers and I really enjoyed this one, yes. Go read it.
Soulless by Gail Carriger
★★★/5; Fantasy, Steampunk, Romance 
Man… I really wanted to love this book and dive into this series. I didn’t dislike the book, but I don’t think I’m going to continue. I enjoyed Alexia & I really enjoyed Lord Maccon. I liked their tension and romance. I think it was the victorian/steampunk slowness that turned me off to this story. I don’t mind historical or proper romances but this one didn’t feel consistent. I really liked the secondary characters and the supernatural parts and the reveal of the bad guys but… I don’t know. The speed felt off and I never really connected to the story. I know some people really love this book/series so it could definitely be a me thing. Haha.
Read it? I know a lot of people enjoyed this one, but my vote is no.
Three books is definitely better than zero. And while none were five stars, I still enjoyed them enough. We’ll see what I pick up between now and the end of the year.
What did you read this month?
Life as Louise 
I have The Whisper Man so I’m glad you enjoyed it. I might read it in December.
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I really did enjoy it! Hope you do, too!
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I really loved The Whisper Man and glad you enjoyed it, too!
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So glad you and Christine picked it! I’d have never picked it up on my own!
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Sorry you didn’t LOVE any of these, but yay for getting through a few books last month. I really want to read The Whisper Man. I love a good thriller/mystery.
-Lauren
http://www.shootingstarsmag.net
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I was mostly just happy to get a few read. Haha. The Whisper Man was the best from the month!
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The Whisper Man sounds interesting… Gonna add that to my list. I’ve only managed to read one book so far this month – The Shape of Night. Paranormal romance thriller.. Doesn’t sound like it’s up your alley 😉 I’m not into paranormal stuff normally, had no idea that this was going to be this book! Lol
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It was pretty good!
Paranormal romance… hmm. I’ll try anything once but at first glance it sounds a little outside my reading zone. Lol. Hope it was good!
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I’m still undecided if I’ll read The Whisper Man soon or not, or put it on a maybe someday list that turns into like six years from now LOL
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Hahaha. I don’t read many thrillers but for the ones I have read, this one was pretty good. It was just slightly haunting and the twists were mostly believable and realistic.
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I’m not 100% sold on the Whisper Man but it’s high praise if you liked it so I’ll definitely consider it.
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Haha, wow! Thanks! I liked that I couldn’t guess much (but not because the information wasn’t presented). I also liked that I didn’t have to wait TOO long for certain reveals. That kind of crap drives me nuts and makes me skip ahead. Lol
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I just started listening to the Influenced The Podcast (& one of them is a LOUISVILLE GIRL!!! HELLO) – but I hate I was late on reading that book with everyone else. I’m still adding it to my list!
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You can always listen to that episode later 🙂 I listened to it a week late because I didn’t finish in time. Love their podcast!!
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I had a “meh” month with books too! I almost feel left out because I can never get my act together to read the book club books in time for the Influenced book club and then once I’ve “missed” it I just let them sit on my list instead of picking them up and then listening to the book club episodes haha
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I was a week late finishing this one so I postponed listening to the episode. I’ve only read two for the podcast- Columbine and this one. The others just didn’t tickle my fancy so I decided not to force it. I’m curious to see what they pick for 2020! I really enjoyed The Whisper Man and I wouldn’t have chosen it on my own!
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Talk to me about The Whisper Man! I loved it. A favorite for the year!
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Loved the twists and the father-son relationships. I loved the ghost aspect. I hated that the one person died, though. I really wanted him to have a good life with his newfound family. And I thought it was SUPER convenient that everything just happened to circle back to this town (like Tom’s wife having lived there? What? How?) but I could suspend my cynicism for the sake of the story. Lol
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Ooh yes, The Whisper Man is on my TBR! I’m glad you gave a thriller a try and liked it!
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Me too! I’ve read a few in the past but I don’t usually pick them up. Haha.
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I have The Whisper Man on my kindle right now! My plan was to read for Halloween but that didn’t happen with the move but I still hope to read it this month. Thrillers, I know aren’t your jam but they typically are mine, although I have discovered that I do have limits with them. LOL! I felt exactly the same ways about Soulless. It was okay. Not bad, not great but okay. Maybe it was the steampunk aspect that threw me off too, but I just had a hard time connecting to the story when I expected to love it.
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Ooh, definitely still squeeze it in this year. I didn’t find that it was *too* much as far as thrillers go, although the victims are children. It wasn’t crazy graphic or anything… More sad when it came to that part.
I really wanted to love Soulless. And there were parts that made me laugh SO hard and loudly. But all in all, it just didn’t grab me and suck me in like I wanted.
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I haven’t read Lumberjanes but would be open to reading them. A graphic novel now and again can be fun. Have you read Saga? I loved the first one and now need to read the rest, lol! I will check out that thriller. Coming from someone who doesn’t love them either I will take your endorsement!! I loved Soulless, but I can see how it’s not for everyone. I just loved their banter and that was enough for me. I thought the rest of the plot was kind of slow, but the book itself was so quick that it didn’t bother me too much. That being said I read it in 2017 and haven’t re-read it or continued .. .so there you go! LOL XO – Alexandra
Simply Alexandra: My Favorite Things
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I think you might really like them! The style just wasn’t for me. I’ve read the first few Saga novels! I don’t know why I abandoned them- I think it was a library hold issue.
For being a thriller, it was the right speed and reveal and twistiness for me 🙂 Hope you like it! Soulless made me laugh really really hard sometimes! There were definitely moments that I loved. I was just a little bored and distracted sometimes. I’m also in a bit of a slump, though, so that didn’t help.
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