Book Reviews Suck #9 & #10,
My venn diagram for Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel and A Meditation on Murder by Susan Juby
Welcome to my newsletter Life, The Universe & Everything. I'm on a mission to explore how creativity, community and storytelling support mental wellness. Yes, I read a fuck ton of books!
How I Pick My Next Read
I use a venn diagram:
Current Mood - do I feel overwhelmed, content, tired, joyful or anything?
Life - am I going on a trip, or having people to stay, or just chilling in quiet anxiety?
Last Read - if I just read a space opera I need something different, maybe a contemporary novel or a murder mystery?
The Book Reviews Suck #9 Pick:
Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
The gist from the publisher: “England in the 1520s is a heartbeat from disaster. If the king dies without a male heir, the country could be destroyed by civil war. Henry VIII wants to annul his marriage of twenty years and marry Anne Boleyn. The pope and most of Europe opposes him. Into this impasse steps Thomas Cromwell: a wholly original man, a charmer and a bully, both idealist and opportunist, astute in reading people, and implacable in his ambition. But Henry is volatile: one day tender, one day murderous. Cromwell helps him break the opposition, but what will be the price of his triumph?”
Perfect Read For:
Last Book I Read: City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert - wonderfully light and 1940s fancy!
Author’s note…I’m actually doing a slow read of the Wolf Hall Trilogy so I specifically read this book from January 2024 until mid-April. Come and join us on the Slow Read through
- book lover unite!
Life: I need something that sucks me in, with pretty dresses and death around every corner.
Mood: Looking for something hearty to sink my book reading teeth into.
Liked These Books?
The Book Reviews Suck #10 Pick:
A Meditation on Murder by Susan Juby
The gist from the publisher: “When Buddhist butler Helen Thorpe is loaned out to help Cartier Hightower get her life in order, Helen finds herself working for a young woman entirely unbound by the fetters of good taste or sound judgment. One of Cartier's fellow content creators has recently died in a strange accident. Soon after Helen arrives, another is killed in an equally bizarre way. Cartier begins to drag Helen around on the influencer circuit, where neither of them is particularly welcome. Then comes the terrible incident at the EDM nightclub that turns Cartier into a global pariah, at least according to social media.
Helen hopes a period of simplicity and reflection and an internet detox will help Cartier find her true nature and maybe acquire some social graces. But Helen's job gets much harder when Cartier's friends show up at the lavish ranch where Cartier and Helen have retreated. Soon, Helen finds herself trying to avoid becoming Instafamous while bringing some peace to a girl who very much needs it. This task turns out to be even more impossible when it becomes clear that they have been followed to Weeping Creek Ranch by a murderer.”
Perfect Read For:
Last Book I Read: To be fair I am slow reading Wolf Hall, so I need something light to counter it.
Life: Long and intense reading sessions in the spring sunshine
Mood: curious about murder and the life of influencers - mon dieu that world sucks!
Liked These Books?
If you like my post please heart it. Every little heart helps. xxoo Elizabeth
My Affiliate Links Support Independent Booksellers
All my book links go to Bookshop.org, a certified B Corp on a mission to help local, independent bookstores thrive in the age of e-commerce. I get a small percentage of every sale which I use to fund my writing, my coffee habit and my fabric stash.
Why Book Reviews Suck
I LOVE books, however I HATE reading book reviews. Blerg…
When I scan a boring book review I self debate: Do I jive with this random person's book taste? It seems like they don’t like this book; always a critic, never a writer? What is this person even saying? Oh look, my cat is curled up in a cute way…and I’m out.
Book critiques don’t connect for people like moi and perhaps toi! Instead let us grasp onto the e-commerce industrial complex: If You Like This, You Might Like That.