1shimmermarie
Hello! I'm Shimmermarie and just discovered LibraryThing by following a white hare I saw in a comment on GoodReads down into this rabbithole :D
I used to be a big reader as a kid but have found it difficult to find the time or the energy as an adult. A bit more than a year ago, I started work in a bookshop and that finally gave me the inspiration I needed! I'm still trying not to be too ambitious with my goals though.
So at the beginning of the year I quietly set myself the goal of reading at least 12 books this year, minimum. Now that I've found LibraryThing, I think this BingoDog seems super fun too! Don't know if I will complete the full thing but I am excited to try!
I used to be a big reader as a kid but have found it difficult to find the time or the energy as an adult. A bit more than a year ago, I started work in a bookshop and that finally gave me the inspiration I needed! I'm still trying not to be too ambitious with my goals though.
So at the beginning of the year I quietly set myself the goal of reading at least 12 books this year, minimum. Now that I've found LibraryThing, I think this BingoDog seems super fun too! Don't know if I will complete the full thing but I am excited to try!
2shimmermarie
2024 Reading List
A place to keep track of everything I read this year. Going with a nice fall vibe with this one, because I am joining so late in the year.
1. All Systems Red by Martha Wells
2. The Kamogawa Food Detectives by Hisashi Kashiwai
3. Gwen and Art are not In Love by Lex Croucher
4. Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett
5. Artificial Condition by Martha Wells
6. Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells
7. Yours From the Tower by Sally Nicholls
8. Weasels in the Attic by Hiroko Oyamada
9.The Red Scholar's Wake by Aliette de Bodard
10. Murder on the Links by Agatha Christie
11. Exit Strategy by Martha Wells
12. The Big Four by Agatha Christie
13. Funny Story by Emily Henry
3shimmermarie
The 2024 BingoDog
1. The Murder on the Links by Agatha Christie
2. Yours from the Tower by Sally Nicholls
3. Weasels in the Attic by Hiroko Oyamada
4. The Red Scholar's Wake by Aliette de Bodard
5. Funny Story by Emily Henry
7. Gwen and Art are Not in Love By Lex Croucher
10. The Big Four by Agatha Christie
12. The Kamogawa Food Detectives by Hisashi Kashiwai
20. All Systems Red by Martha Wells
4shimmermarie
I counted a few of my reads from this past year retroactively for the BingoDog but I did just finish reading Yours from the Tower last night! I had a lot of fun reading it! When I bought it, I was at first simply interested in its beautiful cover and design, but when I realized it was an epistolary novel I just had to buy it. And I am very happy I made that choice!
5christina_reads
Welcome to LT and to this group! I hope you enjoy your reading time this year. I read Yours from the Tower earlier this year and really enjoyed it too -- I love a good epistolary novel!
6LadyoftheLodge
Hi and welcome! I recently acquired Yours from the Tower and I also like cover. I am glad for your positive recommendation.
8dudes22
Welcome to LT and this group. That cover really is nice. I do love a good epistolary read also.
9lowelibrary
Welcome to LibraryThing. It is a great rabbit hole to fall into, there is no end to the wonders you will find.
11shimmermarie
Thank you everyone for the warm welcome!
12shimmermarie
Right now I am on vacation in beautiful Lisbon! The weather is warm, although very rainy at the moment. But that just gives me the chance to focus on the book I brought along for this trip: The Red Scholar's Wake by Aliette de Bodard! So far the worldbuilding has been really fascinating and the way the author's combined romance, sci-fi and piracy makes this book really stand out in my opinion.
13Charon07
>12 shimmermarie: Enjoy Lisbon! Have a pastel de belem for me!
14shimmermarie
>13 Charon07: I tried one and they are delicious! Truly worth the hype :D
15rabbitprincess
Welcome to the group and have fun :) Enjoy Lisbon!
16shimmermarie
Yesterday we visited the Livraria Bertrand - the oldest still operating bookstore in the world! It was super fun but my luggage limited my shopping spree to just one book - Weasels in the Attic by Hiroko Oyamada!
It is a short book, a short story really, but it was very atmospheric. I read it on the flight and spent the rest of the trip home pondering what its message could have been.
The whole story was a bit haunting, filled with a lurking dread you only glimpse from the corner of your eye. The ending was happy, I thought, but the wording of everything and the order of events made me think otherwise. But maybe it was just intentional cognitive dissonance. Have you ever seen famous horror author Junji Ito's slice-of-life comics about his cats? The whole effect of this book was a bit like that. Wholesome but worded in a foreboding way. But I have a theory of what might be the darker twist hidden between the lines...
But the strangeness was very refreshing. It felt a bit like a palate cleanser. Or a bite of some japanese dish. A whole experience in one bite, made to tingle your senses, complementing but opposing flavours combined into something umami. That was the feeling this book left me with.
Despite its length the book was neither bare bones nor just empty fluff. It was lean meat - nutricious and delicious, but you have to cook it slow to bite through it.
17shimmermarie
Just finished The Red Scholar's Wake and I really really enjoyed it! I have a low tolerance for political intrigue - at first it is interesting watching the author build their delicate web of connections but if it goes on for too long and gets too complicated it exhausts me. This one had the right amount of intrigue to be interesting but got it resolved before it could tire me out.
The best part was definitely the worldbuilding! It is the golden age of piracy(or the final years of it at least), set in space aboard spaceships, most of which are sentient and can be pirates too. Filled with Vietnamese culture, the whole mixture was fascinating.
The book didn't spend pages upon pages going over exposition, rather the author managed to imply the vast empire the story takes place in while staying focused on the smaller picture. And still the small glimpses she gave us made me able to clearly imagine the rest of the world and how it might have become the place it was.
It was a bit fast paced at times but not enough to really bother me. I would definitely reccommend it!
The best part was definitely the worldbuilding! It is the golden age of piracy(or the final years of it at least), set in space aboard spaceships, most of which are sentient and can be pirates too. Filled with Vietnamese culture, the whole mixture was fascinating.
The book didn't spend pages upon pages going over exposition, rather the author managed to imply the vast empire the story takes place in while staying focused on the smaller picture. And still the small glimpses she gave us made me able to clearly imagine the rest of the world and how it might have become the place it was.
It was a bit fast paced at times but not enough to really bother me. I would definitely reccommend it!
18MissBrangwen
Although I'm a bit late, I want to say "Welcome to LT" and to this group! I joined the Category Challenge in 2021 and it has done wonders for my reading!
>16 shimmermarie: A visit to Livraria Bertrand sounds wonderful!
>17 shimmermarie: I'm definitely adding this one to my wish list.
>16 shimmermarie: A visit to Livraria Bertrand sounds wonderful!
>17 shimmermarie: I'm definitely adding this one to my wish list.
19shimmermarie
>18 MissBrangwen: Thank you! I hope you enjoy it too :D it really was an interesting book!
20shimmermarie
Yesterday I read The Murder on the Links by Agatha Christie for the BingoDog square "featuring twins". I am ashamed to say that although I grew up on the BBC Hercule Poriot series, I've never read any of Christie's novels. They are on my reading list and have been for years, but I've just never gotten around to it... This square gave me the push I needed to finally do it :D And of course it was great. It reaffirmed my love for the BBC adaptation as well because I could see how well the actors and showmakers had conveyed the character's voices and mannerisms. Definitely need to read another one!
21christina_reads
>20 shimmermarie: I'm glad you enjoyed your first Christie book -- hope it's the start of a long and happy reading binge! :)
22shimmermarie
>21 christina_reads: Thanks Christina! I do hope so, because I want to compare Murder on the Links to other Poirot books. One of my favourite parts about this one was the Captain Hastings lore! Watching the series I've always kind of wondered what he does when he's not following Poirot around? Does he sit around just reading the newspaper until a case arrives?
I must have hit the jackpot because Murder on the Links actually does answer these questions! He has a job, but he doesn't need to do much and has a lot of free time left after the end of his workday :) Now I want to know what other interesting Hastings facts are hidden in the other books haha
I must have hit the jackpot because Murder on the Links actually does answer these questions! He has a job, but he doesn't need to do much and has a lot of free time left after the end of his workday :) Now I want to know what other interesting Hastings facts are hidden in the other books haha
23shimmermarie
Today I had a nice relaxing me-day! I ordered take-away sushi, took a bubble bath and read the fourth part of Murderbot Diaries - Exit Strategy by Martha Wells.
I was super excited when the translation came out this month! So far they've been coming out about once a year and they already released Rogue Protocol earlier this year, so I wasn't expecting another one so soon But it was a lovely surprise :D
Also, while reading this book, I found myself really appreciating the cover art the Estonian translation of the series has. I mean look at these:
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- 
- 
They look super cool! I love how the colours pop and the silhouette leaves Murderbot's features vague even when it's not wearing armour. The whole series is super cohesive and eye-catching. With each new cover I like Liis Roden's designs more and more.
I also really enjoyed the book! It was a joy to see Mensah and the rest of the original human crew again and Murderbot proved itself once again to be the most emotionally constipated sentient in the galaxy. I love the way Wells ephasizes Murderbot's discomfort with looking like or being considered human. It is sentient, but it is still a SecUnit and it doesn't want to be anything else. The action scenes were thrilling and the ending was super sweet and hopeful.
I was super excited when the translation came out this month! So far they've been coming out about once a year and they already released Rogue Protocol earlier this year, so I wasn't expecting another one so soon But it was a lovely surprise :D
Also, while reading this book, I found myself really appreciating the cover art the Estonian translation of the series has. I mean look at these:
- - - They look super cool! I love how the colours pop and the silhouette leaves Murderbot's features vague even when it's not wearing armour. The whole series is super cohesive and eye-catching. With each new cover I like Liis Roden's designs more and more.
I also really enjoyed the book! It was a joy to see Mensah and the rest of the original human crew again and Murderbot proved itself once again to be the most emotionally constipated sentient in the galaxy. I love the way Wells ephasizes Murderbot's discomfort with looking like or being considered human. It is sentient, but it is still a SecUnit and it doesn't want to be anything else. The action scenes were thrilling and the ending was super sweet and hopeful.
24shimmermarie
The year's not over 'til it's over so for square nr. 10 of the 2024 BingoDog I decided to read The Big Four by Agatha Christie!
And having finished it, I have to say... I absolutely hated it.
I had previously suspected, and this book really confirmed it for me, that those "there has been an evil genius mastermind/secret society/league of villains secretly pulling the strings this WHOLE TIME" sort of plotlines are not for me. I think that the cruelty of the world is composed of small, everyday evils, that the road to hell is paved with good intentions and simple human greed. These plotlines, to me, try to excuse the part each and every person's choices play in creating the world we live in. If not for this BingoDog I don't think I would have ever picked up this book.
In the Big Four especially I remember being upset by a line where Poirot first learns of this mysterious quartet who pull the strings behind the scenes for the whole world. It claimed that one of the Big Four was actually the true mastermind behind the communist revolution in Russia and thus the formation of the USSR. Especially as someone from a country that was occupied by the Soviet Union for decades, this feels like it is taking away from, or at least not truly acknowledging the cruel deeds committed by the leaders of the union. As if they were not actually responsible for their actions.
I also think villains on this scale are difficult to write realistically. Christie did very well establishing the reach the Big Four had and especially the ease with which their assassin, number Four, could murder anyone who opposed them or was in their way. Unfortunately this meant that I spent most of the book questioning why they even bothered trying to trick or trap Poirot or Hastings when they could have easily had them murdered in their sleep. They knew where they lived! In the very first chapter number Four breaks into their apartment and kills a man! And after discovering the identity of number Three, French scientist Madame Olivier, Poirot even tells Hastings how easy it would now be for her to destroy Poirot's reputation but for some reasons these so-called geniuses simply... don't do that.
I disliked the way Poirot and Hastings behaved in this novel as well. Hastings struck me as annoying and whiny and Poirot kept lying or withholding information from Hastings and then saying it was because Hastings can't lie well enough about information he does know.
The book became quite repetitive in the middle: Poirot takes a case, we meet the people involved, I try and guess which of them is number Four in disguise, it is revealed which of them is number Four in disguise this time. Then Poirot and Hastings try to outsmart the Big Four, Poirot reveals some information or a plan to Hastings, Hastings does his best, Poirot reveals that it was all a lie and he just needed Hastings to "believe that was true because otherwise Hastings wouldn't fool anyone". Wash and repeat until the end of the book.
At one point Poirot told Hastings that he had a twin brother who lived on the continent who he had simply never mentioned before and I actually groaned out loud. I couldn't even decide what option was least appealing to me: the predictable moment where Poirot would disguise himself as his own non-existent twin or the wonderous and genius Poirot Twins™ joining forces to outsmart the Big Four! Also can I just mention that the fact that Achille Poirot refers to his twin brother as 'Poirot' in conversation as if he is not also a Poirot? That is ridiculous, right? At the very least make him call his brother Hercule! Everyone involved in the conversation is aware that that is Poirot's first name!
There was also some casual orientalism and racism and such that left a sour taste in my mouth, but wasn't unexpected from a british book written while Britain was still an empire.
This post has gotten so long and I haven't even gotten through all of the things that annoyed me about this book but at least this has given me a chance to vent some of that annoyance and hopefully move on to the next book in a more positive mindset.
And having finished it, I have to say... I absolutely hated it.
I had previously suspected, and this book really confirmed it for me, that those "there has been an evil genius mastermind/secret society/league of villains secretly pulling the strings this WHOLE TIME" sort of plotlines are not for me. I think that the cruelty of the world is composed of small, everyday evils, that the road to hell is paved with good intentions and simple human greed. These plotlines, to me, try to excuse the part each and every person's choices play in creating the world we live in. If not for this BingoDog I don't think I would have ever picked up this book.
In the Big Four especially I remember being upset by a line where Poirot first learns of this mysterious quartet who pull the strings behind the scenes for the whole world. It claimed that one of the Big Four was actually the true mastermind behind the communist revolution in Russia and thus the formation of the USSR. Especially as someone from a country that was occupied by the Soviet Union for decades, this feels like it is taking away from, or at least not truly acknowledging the cruel deeds committed by the leaders of the union. As if they were not actually responsible for their actions.
I also think villains on this scale are difficult to write realistically. Christie did very well establishing the reach the Big Four had and especially the ease with which their assassin, number Four, could murder anyone who opposed them or was in their way. Unfortunately this meant that I spent most of the book questioning why they even bothered trying to trick or trap Poirot or Hastings when they could have easily had them murdered in their sleep. They knew where they lived! In the very first chapter number Four breaks into their apartment and kills a man! And after discovering the identity of number Three, French scientist Madame Olivier, Poirot even tells Hastings how easy it would now be for her to destroy Poirot's reputation but for some reasons these so-called geniuses simply... don't do that.
I disliked the way Poirot and Hastings behaved in this novel as well. Hastings struck me as annoying and whiny and Poirot kept lying or withholding information from Hastings and then saying it was because Hastings can't lie well enough about information he does know.
The book became quite repetitive in the middle: Poirot takes a case, we meet the people involved, I try and guess which of them is number Four in disguise, it is revealed which of them is number Four in disguise this time. Then Poirot and Hastings try to outsmart the Big Four, Poirot reveals some information or a plan to Hastings, Hastings does his best, Poirot reveals that it was all a lie and he just needed Hastings to "believe that was true because otherwise Hastings wouldn't fool anyone". Wash and repeat until the end of the book.
At one point Poirot told Hastings that he had a twin brother who lived on the continent who he had simply never mentioned before and I actually groaned out loud. I couldn't even decide what option was least appealing to me: the predictable moment where Poirot would disguise himself as his own non-existent twin or the wonderous and genius Poirot Twins™ joining forces to outsmart the Big Four! Also can I just mention that the fact that Achille Poirot refers to his twin brother as 'Poirot' in conversation as if he is not also a Poirot? That is ridiculous, right? At the very least make him call his brother Hercule! Everyone involved in the conversation is aware that that is Poirot's first name!
There was also some casual orientalism and racism and such that left a sour taste in my mouth, but wasn't unexpected from a british book written while Britain was still an empire.
This post has gotten so long and I haven't even gotten through all of the things that annoyed me about this book but at least this has given me a chance to vent some of that annoyance and hopefully move on to the next book in a more positive mindset.
25christina_reads
>24 shimmermarie: What a great review! :) I love Agatha Christie but have only read The Big Four once, long ago, and remember nothing about it. I think Christie's thrillers tend to be very weak compared with her traditional mysteries, so I hope this book won't put you off the author altogether!
26mathgirl40
>23 shimmermarie: I'm a big fan of the Murderbot series too. Those covers are definitely striking!
27shimmermarie
And that's a BINGO! I'm so happy with myself for managing to at the very least get one complete row for this year's BingoDog despite joining late :D My final (very last minute) read for the square "Current or Recent Bestseller" was Funny Story by Emily Henry.
Picking out something for this square was difficult, because I can sometimes be a bit of a snob about the books I choose to read and I have to admit I can be a bit prejudiced against BookTok books... But oh wonder of wonders, sometimes books are popular, because they are actually...*gasp* good books!
Funny Story was against all my expectations (that were based on absolutely nothing) a great book! I really enjoyed the different characters and the awkwardness of moving in with your ex's new girlfriend's ex-boyfriend and then both being invited to their wedding! I am a bit disappointed that we didn't get to see any shenanigans at said wedding. But the sight-seeing tour of Michigan and library adventures made up for it.
There was a bit of will-they-won't-they throughout the plot but it was mostly understandable. Yes, they nearly got together like 3 or 4 separate times before the end of the book, but I could understand the reasoning for them backing out. They weren't quite ready for a new relationship, didn't know eachother well enough or just had too many other things going on in their life.
All in all a very entertaining read and I would definitely consider reading other books by Emily Henry in the future!
Picking out something for this square was difficult, because I can sometimes be a bit of a snob about the books I choose to read and I have to admit I can be a bit prejudiced against BookTok books... But oh wonder of wonders, sometimes books are popular, because they are actually...*gasp* good books!
Funny Story was against all my expectations (that were based on absolutely nothing) a great book! I really enjoyed the different characters and the awkwardness of moving in with your ex's new girlfriend's ex-boyfriend and then both being invited to their wedding! I am a bit disappointed that we didn't get to see any shenanigans at said wedding. But the sight-seeing tour of Michigan and library adventures made up for it.
There was a bit of will-they-won't-they throughout the plot but it was mostly understandable. Yes, they nearly got together like 3 or 4 separate times before the end of the book, but I could understand the reasoning for them backing out. They weren't quite ready for a new relationship, didn't know eachother well enough or just had too many other things going on in their life.
All in all a very entertaining read and I would definitely consider reading other books by Emily Henry in the future!
28shimmermarie
>25 christina_reads: Definitely not! It just taught me that not all of Christie's books are going to be my taste. Maybe I should pick up a Miss Marple next?
>26 mathgirl40: Glad I'm not the only one to think so :D
>26 mathgirl40: Glad I'm not the only one to think so :D
29Charon07
>27 shimmermarie: Congratulations on your bingo! And especially for overcoming a prejudice while doing it! (I confess that I share many of the same prejudices.)
