The Silent Patient | Alex Michaelides

Next up from my books purchased 2 weeks ago is The Silent Patient.  

Barnes & Noble has quote from Entertainment Weekly as "...A mix of Hitchcockian suspense, Agatha Christie plotting, and Greek tragedy." I love Hitchcock and Agatha Christie so, I'm hoping this is really good.  The book is 359 pages long so it's going to take me a while to read this one.  I'll read a chapter tonight and since I'm off work this week, I can fit in a chapter or two a day.

Convenience Store Woman | Sayaka Murata

Started reading Convenience Store Woman about 2 weeks ago and I just finished today.

It started out interesting but I felt it went off track when they introduced the character of Shiraha.  So much so, that it became a different story.  Now, I've been watching and reading all about Japan and the culture since the early 90s.  I don't know everything there is to know socially (everyday etiquette, etc.) but I tried to kind of decipher what the story was trying to convey.  I know this was translated from Japanese so it seemed to me some of the translation was off.  There were a few parts where the main character refers to the food she was giving Shiraha as "feed".  I wasn't sure if she was being sarcastic or not because he had referred to people as animals.  But if I recall correctly, she said it again when she was talking to her sister (or maybe Shiraha's sister-in-law).

The ending was flat.  It wasn't an ending for me; it felt more like a cliffhanger.  Not that something happened and I was left to figure out what the outcome was.  It was more like the story just stopped.  It wasn't a satisfying ending for me.

Then, after the story, there seemed to be more.  I thought maybe like an epilogue, but it wasn't.  The author had written an essay that was really odd.  I dunno, maybe it's me and I just didn't get "it".

Overall, it was a good story until it wasn't.  Not writing off this author yet though.  I have a few of her works on my wishlist.

I'd give this book 6.5/10

What You are Looking for is in the Library | Michiko Aoyama

 This is the one I'm in almost done with.  To me, it's not really a novel as much as it's a collection of short stories that are kind of related to each other.  

Read synopsis HERE

Books On Deck

 Here are the books I bought today.  I've listed them in alphabetical order by author.  The ones in orange are the ones that I did not have on my list but they called me from the table or shelf there were on.  The others, in black, are what were on my list.

I plan to read all of these and 1 or 2 that I already have but haven't started, before I go back and buy a couple more.

Right now I am in the middle of a book which I should be able to finish off in an hr or 2.  

What You are Looking for is in the Library
Michiko Aoyama

I think I started this the day I got it and I just never went back to it.  I have about 55 pages left so I can finish this today and start a new one.

Gate to Kagoshima
Poppy Kuroki
Read synopsis HERE

Before the Coffee Gets Cold
Toshikazu Kawaguchi
Read synopsis HERE

The Silent Patient
Alex Michaelides
Read synopsis HERE

Convenience Store Woman
Sayaka Murata
Read synopsis HERE

A Tale For the Time Being
Ruth Ozeki
Read synopsis HERE

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe
Benjamin Alire Saenz
Read synopsis HERE

The Memory Library
Kate Storey
Read synopsis HERE

Bingsu For Two
Sujin Witherspoon
Read synopsis HERE

So there is my list.  Welcome to my little blog about books I'm reading and books I've read.  My own little virual bookstore.  I'll let you know what I thought about the books once I am done. 

Feel free to let me know if you've read any and what you thought.  I also welcome any recommendations and/or comments!  All I ask is that you keep it nice.  I won't tolerate any negativity outside of your opinion/review that you did not like a certain book and why.  

My New Book Blog

The reason I started my Asian drama blog many years ago, was to keep track of all the dramas I was watching.  At the time, I didn't have access to many shows but as the internet became a thing, there were plenty!  I don't have as much time to watch as I used to but I still manage to get a few hours in every week.

This weekend I remembered how much I used to love to read.  The last time I read a book, was last October (2024).  I was forced to find ways to entertain myself because we had no electricity for about 5 days after Hurricane Milton passed by central FL.  Before that book, I can't even remember when I last sat down to read a book.  So today, even though I probably have about 50ish books on my shelves that I haven't started, I went to Barnes & Noble and got 8 more.

It wasn't my Intention to get so many.  I had a short list of 5 that I was planning to grab maybe 2 or 3 of them.  Unfortunately, as I was passing by some of the tables, there were a few that jumped out at me and after reading the back cover, I couldn't leave it behind.

So, this blog is going to be just like my drama blog.  I'm going to keep track of what I read here.  I'm not going to summarize them because I suck at that.  I will link the book to reviews from one of my favorite sites.  Read the reviews for the summary and NOT the review. I don't care if someone didn't like it or not.  If I read the summary and I like it, I'm going to read it.