24 January 2017

Guest Post: Becca Doherty talks books she read while trying to finish Moby Dick...











When I joined this book club I was so excited to join a community of readers. I love reading, but have never been interested in joining a physical book club. Mostly because I like reading on my own, picking my own books, and don’t want to have to go to a pot luck every month. (I think that’s what book clubs do?) 

The online format seemed perfect to me and just like Meg & Meg, I’ve always thought reading Moby Dick was a certain rite of passage. So I jumped right in! What I soon discovered was that although Moby Dick, further referred to as MD, has a number of literary strongpoints, it’s a very boring book – and that is the best way to describe it.  

Each week I tried to focus on MD, really tried to take it all in and enjoy it, but I found myself longing for something else… just anything better. And with that came the inspiration for this guest post. Here is a diverse list of books that helped me to get through reading MD! 

The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo (2016) by Amy Schumer

This book was the perfect anecdote to my early MD blues. I have
read all of the female comedian books (Mindy, Lena D, Tina F, Amy P), and this was my favorite! I’ve loved Amy since I saw Trainwreck (2015) and subsequently stalked her on the internet.This book was amazing, and made me love her so much more. Her thoughts on female body image, family dynamics, sibling bonds, and grinding to success all really resonated with me and inspired me. Meagan tells me Anna Kendrick’s book is really good too so that is on my list. 

The Rosie Project (2013) by Graeme Simsion

This is an older book that over the last few years I’ve had so
many friends read and rave about. I knew a little bit already about the main character, and that it was a humorous read, so I thought it would be a great fit to ease my MD blues. I will say confidently that I think every single human would enjoy this book. It is HILARIOUS. It has a great plot and isn't predictable which is important. The characters are so great and you will really, really care about them. It was a great, light, fun read, and I immediately needed to read the sequel. 

The Rosie Effect (2014) by Graeme Simsion

Sometimes sequels are disappointing. NOT the case here. The
sequel was just as good as the first one and for me it even felt pretty suspenseful. I’m always in bed reading by 8pm and asleep by 10pm the latest – this was one of those books that kept me up until midnight because I needed to know what was going to happen. I loved it and can’t recommend these two books more… I think anyone, no matter what your typical reading preference is, will love these. 

Everything I Never Told You (2014) by Celeste Ng   

I read this over Christmas and it was a great book. It kept popping
up as recommended to me in Amazon and I was intrigued by the summary and the great reviews. It’s a book that really delves into some dark family dynamics- a theme I love. It is so well written, and so well executed I found myself in suspense and really eager to finish it and find out the ending. This book combines family dynamics with racial issues and teenage mental health, which all really interest me, so I thoroughly enjoyed this. It’s a quick read so I’d highly recommend it if you’re looking for something really intriguing and a little bit dark. 

The Murder Stone (2009) by Louise Penny

Now, I am no Agatha Christie or Ruth Rendell groupie. In fact, I
am very new to the Mystery game. So new, in fact, that I have only delved into the Louise Penny collection this past summer and I have been eager to get started on the fourth in the Inspector Gamache series. When we hit chapter 100 in MD, I knew I’d need something else to help me get to the end of it so I rewarded myself with this gem – get the pun... murder stone... hehe. Anyways, I continue to be surprised each time I start a new Penny book, and find myself again loving it. This one was no different. I love how she combines Canadian history with a lot of Canadian folklore, landscapes, and a really juicy murder mystery – they never disappoint. I am always on the edge of my seat until the last few pages.  If you’re looking at getting into mysteries, I’d really suggest the Penny collection as a good place to start. 

1 comment:

  1. I read The Rosie Project too! It wasn't normally something I would pick up but my supervisor recommended it to me while doing my MA. I laughed out loud so many times while reading .. which I normally never do. I also bought it for my mom for Christmas.

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