To no one’s surprise - least of all my own - I am putting aside War and Peace for good. 
I joined my friend in participating in Simon Haisell’s (Footnotes and Tangents on Substack) year long Readathon. The plan was to read a chapter each day for 361 days and to have a marvellous, educational, time. I love this idea and really love Simon’s commitment to making ‘big and scary’ books more accessible - his passion, enthusiasm, and excitement is palpable. But … War and Peace just isn’t for me. Not at all. And especially not with this spirally, blue, meh brain I’ve got at the moment. 

I’m sad to step out even before giving it a whole month (I haven’t read any since chapter 17) but I know that it’s the right decision. Even when I was reading it I wasn’t really reading it. It was a daily tickbox and what’s the point of that. 

I wish all the readingalongers a fantastic time. 

DNF - 26th December 2023
Page 40. 

The Authenticity Project has been on my radar for a long time and I finally picked it up thinking that it sounded like the perfect uplifting, lighthearted read for this time of year. However, while the premise is there the execution feels lacking. I probably could push through and enjoy parts of it, I don’t predict, at this point, that it would ever be above a 2.5 star read and I’m struggling to want to read it. 

Reviews are mixed, a lot of them glowing so maybe I’m missing something wonderful. However, I just don’t think this book is going to give me, personally, what I’m after. I’m DNF’ing and moving on.

One of my least favourite things in books is miscommunication purely for the sake of plot and conflict. This book is entirely that because … they don’t talk. Lauren and Ryan don’t miscommunicate, they simply don’t communicate and we’re supposed to believe that this is how they fix their relationship …. Right?! 

Told purely from Lauren’s POV, Ryan barely exists (but this is a book about a couple trying to fall in love with each other again) and Lauren … Lauren is annoying. Neither party is faultless but because we’re forced to spend so much more time with Lauren her faults are at the forefront. 

Maybe things pick up in the latter half of the book, although judging from some of the reviews possibly not, but I just can’t bring myself to spend anymore time with these characters while they don’t talk and instead Lauren criticises every opinion Ryan has that doesn’t match with her own. This might make sense if it was about big things but she’s just grumbling that he doesn’t like Greek food and would rather have a burger …..

DNF - 26th April 2023, 111 pages. 
I am very sad that I didn’t love this one, I really thought I would. 
The first few chapters, those pertaining to the Aberfan disaster, were interesting and incredibly emotional. However, my interest wained as soon as I realised that that was probably it and that we weren’t going to be following William’s life after the event but leading up to it. 

Why was Aberfan included?

I found it really difficult to connect with or care about William as a child and was having to force myself to continue reading / not skim the pages. 
I am also fairly certain that I know the conflict between William and his mother - if I’m right, I have no interest in reading about it. 

It is only fair to acknowledge that I only made it about 25% and maybe things would have picked up but. Maybe I should give it more time. The trouble is that I don’t want to. I will leave this for the people who love it and declare that A Terrible Kindness and I are just not a match for book and reader - and that’s okay. 

Started on the 31st March, admitting defeat on the 22nd April. I was intending to read this and take notes as an academic exercise and for 47 pages I did. The trouble is that even those 47 pages, read over a 2-week period, were a slog. This is not what I was expecting. Instead it’s more of a reference book for Queer Theory. The graphic element didn’t really adds much - but does make it feel less intimidating - and instead take up value page space where more information would have been better. Dense whilst lacking substance. 
I’ve also seen some critiques that imply it could be problematic. I am not in a position to comment on those. 

Will be keeping this as an introduction/ reference text book but won’t be sitting down to read it from cover to cover anytime soon. 

I was so excited to read this as it came highly recommended and would give me a chance to learn more about Desi culture. But ..: something about the writing style did not click. It felt very pop culture, millennial, online jokes and references but none of it was organic. 

I also didn’t warm to any of the characters (although maybe I would have if I’d read further). However, the real decision maker was other reviews. I looked them up to see if it was worth persevering (nope!). The majority of what I found were people commenting on the fact the main guy refers to his penis as Charlie … and the quotes. Just no thank you! 

I picked this up as it was mentioned at an author talk I attended. I was hoping for whimsy and magic but instead I found it overwritten and hard to follow - although this may be down to the 1907 writing style. 
The main characters were hard to differentiate and basically … I was bored. 

Also, while I appreciate that it is off it’s time, I found the repeated use of the N word and references to Indians very jarring.

Recommended to me from by a very trusted source, How to Kill Your Family had so much promise. It’s not my usual read but the premise was intriguing and, from flicking through, I thought the writing would be entertaining … maybe even funny. 

Nope. For a book about revenge and murder it was utterly lifeless. The main character, Grace, who you are supposed to sympathise with was just so unpleasant … and not because she killed multiple people! She despised being condescended to and looked down upon and yet that’s all she did. This felt like a diatribe against anyone or anything  that Grace felt was below her; ie. everything - social media, the internet, women (strange considering her motivations), teenagers, takeaway coffee, people with interests she didn’t care, people with money, people without money, people who were trying to strike out on their own ….
The murders which were the most interesting part and should have been the central parts of the book felt secondary to societal observations that, while they did tie in (just!), felt like a way for Bella Mackie to get some things of her chest. It’s a shame because the central theme to this book was class but anything meaningful was lost in passages that were too long and delivered in a really alienating way. 
Ultimately this book tried way too hard to be clever and funny; to say something. And, in doing so it hugely misses the mark. 

I’ve been wanting to read this for a while so as to complete my reading of The Bone Season series and it’s novellas. Tired, not particularly in the mood for reading, or any of the books I have on my TBR, but not wanting to destroy my reading streak, this seemed like the perfect thing. 
It’s only around 40-pages long but even at only 20-pages in, it was already dragging. Perhaps my current feelings and energy levels are to blame but I also just don’t think I’m this invested in the series. I love The Bone Season but, as it turns out, I really, really, don’t need a pamphlet explaining this level of detail …