SoapZone Community Message Board

Dark Matter by Blake Crouch A- A really good sci-fi thriller (and I know I need to see the Apple TV show), and like everything I’ve read by Crouch so far, the less you know, the better.

What We Can Know by Ian McEwan A- A hundred years into the future, after some climate catastrophes, researchers discuss the meaning of a poem written in 2014 that disappeared until recently. Then it flips back to 2014 to reveal what really happened.

Thirty Love by Tom Vellner A- Two rival tennis players end up falling for each other after the one publicly comes out. I would have liked this one even more if I actually cared about sports.

B-List

Hollywood Payback by Jon Lindstrom B+ Yes, the former Ryan Chamberlain/Kevin Collins and current Joey Armstrong (I think is his character name) wrote a second thriller! And it’s even better than the first. It felt more like Dennis LeHane or James Ellroy. A man is released from prison and finds himself framed for another murder.

What Mattered Most by Ty Herndon B+. The country singer’s memoir about his struggles with coming out and meth addiction. I met him when he performed at the local county fair in 1996. He seems to be in a good place now.

One Word, Six Letters by Adib Khorram B+ A teen is dared to shout a gay slur at an assembly and it affects a classmate and how they deal with the aftermath. 

The Glass House (B+) and The Oasis (B) by Anne Buist & Graeme Simsion. A new psychiatrist (or psychologist, I can’t remember which she is) resident is thrown into the midst of things at a public hospital in Australia. Some of the things she encounters are tragic (like anorexia)…she sees it all. I liked the first a bit more than the second. I’m not sure when the third will be published in the US (The General Hospital is the name…)

All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Mariah Remarque B+ The classic book about World War I. I remember seeing a part of the movie in my World History class back in 1998…but didn’t remember much. The book is probably better as always.

That’s What Friends Are For by Wade Rouse B A group of elderly gay men (more Sophia’s age than Blanche/Rose/Dorothy, who weren’t all that elderly…) who perform a drag version of The Gold Girls deal with life. It would have been better if it had focused on ONE, but it was too many plots in too little pages to be really good.

Cycle of the Werewolf by Stephen King (RR) B. Short King re-read of the month about a town terrorized by a werewolf.

C-List

The Best Little Motel in Texas by Lyla Lane C+. A woman inherits a hotel from her aunt and finds out that it’s a brothel. It turns into a generic murder mystery…I would have liked it much better had it been just about dealing with the characters in this small town.

All My Friends Are Going To Be Strangers by Larry McMurtry C+. I like McMurtry’s writing, but the characters seem to be lacking a lot of times.

Did Not Finish:

Bird School: A Beginner in the Wood by Adam Nicolson. I started reading this about a British man who built a special shed for bird watching, and then checked out a couple of GoodReads/TheStoryGraph reviews and saw that he used AI for some of the pictures in the galley version, so as I couldn’t trust what was AI (maybe the whole thing?) And what wasn’t, I returned it to the library unfinished. I hate AI.