How do you bust a reading slump?
Read ALL the books.
So I went to the library and got ALL the books.
Okay not really. Here’s what’s up next:

Witchmark by C. L. Polk
Initial impressions: The writing is excellent. I only read the first chapter but it was super atmospheric. It was very easy to picture the setting: people riding bikes and horse drawn carriages in the streets. A bustling city with soldiers coming and going. The shadow of war hanging over them all. The intrigue level is super high. Nothing is really explained. It starts out normal enough with a doctor leaving work for the day, and an emergency patient coming through. And then the magic and witchery starts. I was expecting more magical realism than straight up magic (which honestly is not really my thing) but I like it so far. It seems to be hinting at an underground mage society so I’m excited to see where that leads to. A promising start!

Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Initial impressions: First of all- GoodReads told me this was 182 pages long. It’s not. I’m willing to forgive it in lieu of the fabulous introduction from Stephen King. When he found this book, he said he was looking for a book about “how boys really are.” Golding’s influence on King is obvious. As I read through the first chapters I kept thinking it felt familiar. Finally I realized it was because it feels like King. The characters feel real, the prose isn’t overly flowery (though more flowery than King’s). I’m a little confused about how these boys got to this island, but so far that first chapter is the one that resonated with me the most, so I’ll be continuing with this one before the others.

Blood Meridian, or the Evening Redness in the West by Cormac McCarthy
Initial Impressions: This is confusing as hell.
Seriously- why do authors think writing without quotation marks is a good thing? Not cool man. I had to re-read a paragraph like eight times, move on, and then double back when I realized there weren’t any quotation marks (and honestly I’m still not sure I understood the conversation). Otherwise, the prose is spot on. I’ve highlighted a couple quotes I love already, and if it wasn’t for Lord of the Flies, this would have been my second pick to continue reading. I’m not sure what the judge’s deal is. I know he’s the big bad in this novel though, so I’m excited to see what it’s leading up to.

The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes
Initial impressions: I just read a book where a man gets shot in the chest, kills another man dead for taking his shoes, but pulling the wings off a fat little bumblebee bothered me more. There’s something wrong with me right? Anyway- I was immediately sucked in by the premise. A little girl meets a strange man. There’s something sinister happening with the strange man (Harper Curtis). That much is obvious from the start. He seems to hint that he’s acting under orders from some other organization, but that doesn’t make you like him any more. The writing is great and I’m curious to see where it goes.

Queen of Kings by Maria Dahvana Headley
Initial impressions: I think I’ve only really read the introduction and the prologue so far, but I’m a little disappointed. I’m still coming down from the high that was The Mere Wife, so I had high expectations. My favorite type of writing, my favorite type of book, is one that I like to describe as unapologetic. The author writes in a way that’s bound to make the reader uncomfortable, exposing all the ugly truths within a person or a society or practice, but so far this isn’t that. It doesn’t carry the same level of force that The Mere Wife does. Still, I haven’t read much so I’ll remain hopeful.

The Queens of Innis Lear by Tessa Gratton
Initial impressions: I wasn’t really interested in The Queens of Innis Lear when it first released. The title, the name… it seemed like a pretty generic fantasy to me. It looked and sounded similar to Four Dead Queens and Three Dark Crowns, which all released at about the same time. But I recently stumbled across the title Lady Hotspur which I added strictly because of the title. When I checked out the blurb of that, it referenced this. So I doubled back to TQOIL and read the blurb, and thought what the hell. I liked King Lear, who not give it a go? I hope it maintains the humor and wit of King Lear throughout.
So that’s ALL the books.
Have you read any of them? Are they on your TBR?
Also- please send help.
I’m looking forward to what you think of Lord of the Flies. I’ve always wanted to pick it up, but never had the motivation to follow through.
Good luck! I’ve felt myself slipping into a slump all month and it won’t go away.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m right there with you- nothing seems to be catching my interest at the moment. I’ve been wanting to read Lord of the Flies for awhile though so I’m hoping it convinces me to actually finish a book.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I haven’t read any of these except LotF. They do look very interesting though. Can’t wait to see what you think of them, might cost me a trip to the book store to get them 😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’ll let you know what I think! So far most of them really are off to promising starts. I think I needed a break from fantasy.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I guess this is one way to find the book you really want to read, lol! I’m mad at myself for not reading The Shining Girls yet, and I’ve also tried to read Blood Meridian but didn’t have the patience at the time. Everyone talks about that book though, so I need to try again. And I think the “no quotation marks” thing just takes time to get used to. I’ve read a bunch of books like that and your brain does adjust.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s good to know! I’m definitely going to stick with it I was just so baffled at first. The Shining Girls seems super dark already, but that opening chapter was great.
LikeLike
I read TQOIL… It wasn’t bad. I liked a lot of the world building and magic. And each sister is pretty unique.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s good! I did enjoy King Lear so I’m trying to remain optimistic. I think the timing of the release was not good because I kept confusing it with those other titles.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I totally get that.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I have read The Lord of the Flies, and it’s one of the few required school reading books that I actively disliked. I hope you have a better experience with it — though reading it by choice instead of for class might help a ton in that regard.
Witchmark and The Queens of Innis Lear are both on my TBR, and I’m really excited to get to Witchmark especially. I hope these books help you get out of your slump!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Me too! I am enjoying Lord of the Flies quite a bit so far… but I’m also a big fan of Stephen King, and I think he was largely influenced by this book, so it stands to reason I’d enjoy it.
LikeLike
That does make sense. Also, it seems that just about every book is better when you choose to read it than when someone else tells you that you must read it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Agreed!
LikeLike
I liked The Queens of Innis Lear because I loved the setting and some of the characters, but I don’t remember it to be that humorous – I mostly remember that it was too long and that I probably would have loved it had it been more than 100 pages shorter. But I can say that it really didn’t feel similar to Three Dark Crowns to me.
And I hope you like Witchmark!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Eesh- that’s never a good sign when someone wishes a book was shorter! I’ll give it a try though, and I’m looking forward to Witchmark too!
LikeLiked by 1 person
The only one of these I’ve read is Lord of the Flies – and that was a very long time ago. I recall being a bit surprised by it, but not as shocked as a lot of the adults seemed to be around me – because boys of that age in gangs do seem to revert, somewhat. I hope you enjoy it. I read it nearly a lifetime ago and it has stayed with me…
LikeLiked by 1 person
I finished it just now and I’m not sure how I feel about it! I think it was definitely an important piece- if for no other reason than all the work it influenced later… but the story itself I didn’t find very entertaining. I do think it would have been much more shocking if I had read it in the 50s when it was released.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh yes, I definitely think it’s a book of it’s time… By now, I think we all accept that children (and adults) revert to something more savage if under immense stress and difficult conditions…
LikeLiked by 1 person
Definitely- it’s hard when you read something 50/60 years after it was written. Especially with the speed at which things change these days and “trends” are picked up. Originals are great- but it feels like (and this is so wrong to say) that others have done the theme better since then. But I usually try to give credit where credit is due- so for that reason, I’m glad I read it. I also wonder if I would have been more affected by it if I had read it when I was younger.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes – I do recall the sense of shock when I first read it, but nowadays it is a familiar theme – back then, it wasn’t.
LikeLiked by 1 person