The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty – DNF – 109 pp, 27%
I went to a book club last month. Book club was fun. We read Red Winter. The book was fine. There was a lot I enjoyed and some I didn’t. I would give it about a 3.75-4 stars. I should come up with a better ranking system, but that’s for another time. So, I was excited about this month’s pick: The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi. I got just over 100 pages before I decided to DNF it. There were definitely times I got into the story and those were great, but most of the time I just couldn’t quite stay with it. For reasons. One is the pacing. It starts off well, and then it just really slows down. Character development is huge for me and I wasn’t impressed with any of the characters. I heard someone describe the first half of the book as the “gang getting back together,” and I think that’s probably appropriate. I know people love this, but it was mostly a yawn for me. (I think I could have finished it and it would have been an okay book. I think maybe a 2.5 star read, but I just don’t want to spend time with books that aren’t really for me.) So I am happy for everyone who loves this book and is excited about the new release. I am not, and sadly will also not be reading her trilogy, which I own already. Bummer. (Just a note: Adam is reading it and enjoying it slightly more than I was.)
Is This a Cry for Help? by Emily Austin – DNF – 170 pp, 59%
I heard about this book from the author on social media and was excited to read it. The main character is a librarian and her wife is a book binder. The main character suffers from a mental breakdown and is newly back at work at the start of the story. And there was so much I enjoyed about the book, especially for the first half or so. And then I noticed something that started to increasingly bother me. It felt, far too often as the book went on, that the main character was no longer having an inner monologue about her feelings on a particular topic (not my favorite way to receive commentary in a fiction book anyway), but rather the author was sort of “preaching” at me as an aside from the story. And I didn’t disagree with her sentiments, but I found myself missing the actual story. I may change my mind and end up finishing this one, but I am setting it aside for now. It’s a library book, so if I don’t pick it back up in a few days, I doubt I will. I am sad and disappointed because I liked the story itself and felt the author could have communicated her thoughts a lot more effectively within the story itself. Oh well, But, yay for public libraries! 🙂
I’m hoping to use this blog (forgive me, I AM OLD), as a way to talk about books again. I have toyed with the idea of a YouTube channel, but anymore they are so professional and I am not sure I would be that into the great and wonderful hobby of photo editing, which seems like a considerable component to making content. I have also thought about “BookTok” as a simpler way to communicate, so that might be an option. We’ll see. I have some fun ideas about reading goals and I have found so many fun ways people choose their TBRs (books to be read) that I am looking forward to having fun with my reading again.
If you’ve found your way here, welcome and thanks for reading! 🙂
Caryn Considers 