Eva

Too quirky for me, even though the writing is excellent.

Listened to ~10% but will abandon this now, as the narration feels too detached and doesn't get me invested in the characters.

Got 14% into this, and don't quite feel in the mood for this May-December romance. I already had a share of naive-girl-with-older-men by reading [b:The Lesser Bohemians 28363987 The Lesser Bohemians Eimear McBride https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1469511945l/28363987.SY75.jpg 48208213] and [b:Conversations with Friends 32187419 Conversations with Friends Sally Rooney https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1500031338l/32187419.SY75.jpg 52827120]. This one squeaks me out a bit more, considering she's in her early/mid twenties, while he is in his 60ies/70ies?

I got an hour into this, but this feels too lightweight on both the scifi and the literary scale. A lost astronaut unexpectedly returns to earth, no one knows what happened to her. Not even her, but she's got a secret she's not sharing, which is annoying because we are experiencing the story from her perspective. Also she just called her NASA investigative operative “cute”, so I will stop this now.

Even though I really enjoy her writing ([b:Heimsuchung 3038002 Heimsuchung Jenny Erpenbeck https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1328635749s/3038002.jpg 10864336]), I have a hard time committing to stories fragmented into multiple short stories. Even if they tie together. So I won't continue (after reaching only 5%) - for now.

Started this on audio, got to 12%, but am not inspired enough to continue.

I like Seethaler but not enough for a 30-fates short story collection.

Got almost a quarter into this, but I am not warming up to the characters. They rather unnerve and disgust me.

I listened to ~10% of the audiobook, but will dnf this now, because I'm not feeling engaged. The writing is fine, it's a simple lack of interest in the character/plot at this moment in time. What peaked my interest most were the Romy Schneider references. Not enough though.

I'm going to DNF this, got almost 25% in. I tried, and I do see the quality of the world she's building, and her writing. But i can't even blame the fantasy element this time. I just couldn't connect to the story, and I caught myself drifting. Everything still feels too mysterious, even though I am a quarter into it. And the second person POV really is unfamiliar and a bit annoying. And also, why have one POV in 2nd while the others are in 3rd person!?

I gave it an hour but I might be allergic to the word “magic”.

This was not what I expected. Instead of a personal memoir interspersed with stats and psychological findings on loneliness in cities, the author focuses on reducing artists' lives and careers down to the fact that they were lonely in nature. It is well written, but there is something about the language of art interpretation that makes me scream “show me the facts”. I made it a third in, but I'll stop now and shelve this as DNF.

I made it a third into it, but I think I'm going to stop now. Even though I enjoyed the beginning, it started to drag soon. Plus, the novel suddenly went from 1 narrator to many,many,many narrators which I truly don't like. Not up for listening to another 18 hours of this, sorry.

A quarter into the book, the charm of the humour has faded, and now I just would like the plot to move on. Because it's been painstakingly slow, while the author - to my taste - overindulges in overly-clever overly-long funny sentences. I am sure [b:The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy 11 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, #1) Douglas Adams https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1513003890s/11.jpg 3078186] must have done it better, or maybe scifi humor (and humorous books in general) aren't doing it for me anymore. Gonna stop reading this now.

Listened to about two chapters and it was intriguing and well told, but the story felt too harsh and it didn't offer me any likeable protagonist, so I decided to bail. Maybe a right book at the wrong moment.

I'm gonna stop, got an hour into the audiobook, but I am not feeling it. Everything is so oversimplified, and there's no hook to this dystopian story (neither in characters, plot nor writing style). It's not bad, and it obviously has lots of positive reviews, so I feel partially bad, but allowing myself to drop this feels better.

Got about a third into this, but even though it's slim I decided I won't finish it. The narration is too loose and running wild, missing structure between long rambling sentences. And even though there's a gripping coming-of-age story somewhere in there (so the back cover promises) I am not feeling this.

Reminded me a bit about my problems with Eve Out of Her Ruins.

I'm gonna pause on this one too. Even though it's quite ok, just not in the mood for a sweeping family saga apparently. Plus I've just been mildly annoyed by the characters so far.

Made it halfway in the audiobook, but decided to stop it now. It's the story of a grumpy old man, he's pretty much annoyed by everything, and shows his displeasure at all times. Which nearly made me stop the book after the first couple chapters. But then there was a reveal at the end of chapter four which was rather touching. So I kept going. But, everything just is so predictable. Grumpy old man, forced by circumstances and people around him, unwillingly finds new reasons to enjoy living. There's no mystery I feel i need to stick around for, and the prose alone isn't good enough for me to keep going.

Got to about 40% into this audiobook but I have to stop it because it's making me mad. It's based on the splitting multiverse theory but the actual physics is simplified for the everyday reader. Which should be fine. But then the protagonist - a theoretical physicist - has a partner in his company who ALSO doesn't understand how the science works our hero has brewed up. Plus our scientist hero keeps running from all the people who have all the answers he's seeking. It's all bent towards a very black-hat white-hat action-movie plotline, where the hero wants to escape the world in which he's the ambitious family-less workaholic to get back to the timeline where he's less ambitious but has a fulfilling family-life.

Started this on audiobook, listened for ~15min and then just had to stop, because it felt it was written for people who know 0 about the tech/digital world.

I'm gonna have to put this on my stuck-halfway pile, without much desire to continue. Because, even though some of the short essays are good, there is only so much variety the ~200 essays can/seem to have. It feels like rereading the same basic 2-3 arguments again and again.

What a well told story. It feels simple and quiet, despite the tragedies at its heart. A tale of families and siblings, of mentors and a fascination for nature, of dreams handed down from generation to generation, and of responsibilities, guilt and broken expectations. And how those can eat away at you for years on end. Mary Lawson expertly took me along for this emotional journey and had me sobbing quietly through the last pages.

Little Bo!

This book had quite an influence on me and my path.

Giving myself permission to DNF this even though I got 60% into this.
It started out well, plot-driven, the twist seemed obvious but ok, but then it got tangled in character building in the middle, slowed down, and my engagement evaporated.