I love the whole concept of a person enduring entire lives as if they were decades-long Groundhog Days, changing choices each time he is born again.
You might be interested in checking out Replay by Ken Grimwood and Life After Life by Kate Atkinson, then. Atkinson is doing a follow-up with another character called A God in Ruins that probably works better if you read it after Life After Life. I haven't read A God in Ruins yet; am just assuming on the reading order.
and at this point the main things I recall are Magrat's queen outfit and Pratchett's very creepy version of fairies.
That's mainly what I recall, too, I confess, but those things are enough to make it one of my favorite Discworld books. I'm glad the Magrat fondness effect worked for you (as I was pretty sure it would) :)
Very interesting to read your thoughts on Wonder. I wasn't sure if the kids were realistic for that age (they felt a little bit older to me), but given that you spend way more time with kids that age than I do, I'm happy to have your confirmation that they are indeed realistic. I also found the ending too pat, and it actually soured my enjoyment of the book somewhat -- Augie ended up feeling almost like a mascot to me, which undercut the previous development, I hadn't thought of the different POVs as revealing points of insecurity specifically, but you're right, that is a unifying theme, and a good one
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I wasn't sure if the kids were realistic for that age (they felt a little bit older to me)
Now that I'm thinking about it more I think my perspective might be affected in a different way, as well, since I grew up in New York and lots of what's in the book is super "NYC", like the overnight trip to actual nature, teens taking the subway on their own, the whole knowing people in the neighborhood without feeling any obligation to actually know them...maybe it's possible the kids felt a bit older for you because childhood is a different kind of experience in California? Just a thought!
Augie ended up feeling almost like a mascot to me, which undercut the previous development
Yeah, I can absolutely see that. :/ While I like the other perspectives, I think giving Auggie more time to speak for himself might have helped somewhat in this regard.
I'd like to read Fifteen Lives at some point, though I found Kate Griffin's writing a bit hard to digest -- not in a bad way, but just... it tends to be dense and loaded, and I'm kind of
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maybe it's possible the kids felt a bit older for you because childhood is a different kind of experience in California? Just a thought!
That is definitely possible! I forget what specifically about the kids felt 'older', but it is definitely a potential explanation that we are sweet summer children here in California :P
And, yes, I also wished we'd gotten more of Augie's POV. I did like the different ones, and think that makes the book work well, but I did feel like Augie's ultimately kind of got swamped by the cumulative POVs of everybody else, and his was the most interesting one for me.
Mary would be so proud that you called a book "hard to digest" and then transitioned to Gulp on that topic. <3Ahaha, that was totally accidental, but I'm still claiming credit for it! XD
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Thanks for your thoughts! I think my plan right now is to try to get into Red Rising and Name of the Wind during winter break, while saving Locke Lamora for later. I'm reading another nonfiction now and will hopefully be able to look into the third of your witches books before the break starts.
I read it many years ago, but I was really impressed with Stiff too - interesting to hear it's just as impressive to someone who actually works in the funeral area!
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You might be interested in checking out Replay by Ken Grimwood and Life After Life by Kate Atkinson, then. Atkinson is doing a follow-up with another character called A God in Ruins that probably works better if you read it after Life After Life. I haven't read A God in Ruins yet; am just assuming on the reading order.
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That's mainly what I recall, too, I confess, but those things are enough to make it one of my favorite Discworld books. I'm glad the Magrat fondness effect worked for you (as I was pretty sure it would) :)
Very interesting to read your thoughts on Wonder. I wasn't sure if the kids were realistic for that age (they felt a little bit older to me), but given that you spend way more time with kids that age than I do, I'm happy to have your confirmation that they are indeed realistic. I also found the ending too pat, and it actually soured my enjoyment of the book somewhat -- Augie ended up feeling almost like a mascot to me, which undercut the previous development, I hadn't thought of the different POVs as revealing points of insecurity specifically, but you're right, that is a unifying theme, and a good one ( ... )
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Now that I'm thinking about it more I think my perspective might be affected in a different way, as well, since I grew up in New York and lots of what's in the book is super "NYC", like the overnight trip to actual nature, teens taking the subway on their own, the whole knowing people in the neighborhood without feeling any obligation to actually know them...maybe it's possible the kids felt a bit older for you because childhood is a different kind of experience in California? Just a thought!
Augie ended up feeling almost like a mascot to me, which undercut the previous development
Yeah, I can absolutely see that. :/ While I like the other perspectives, I think giving Auggie more time to speak for himself might have helped somewhat in this regard.
I'd like to read Fifteen Lives at some point, though I found Kate Griffin's writing a bit hard to digest -- not in a bad way, but just... it tends to be dense and loaded, and I'm kind of ( ... )
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That is definitely possible! I forget what specifically about the kids felt 'older', but it is definitely a potential explanation that we are sweet summer children here in California :P
And, yes, I also wished we'd gotten more of Augie's POV. I did like the different ones, and think that makes the book work well, but I did feel like Augie's ultimately kind of got swamped by the cumulative POVs of everybody else, and his was the most interesting one for me.
Mary would be so proud that you called a book "hard to digest" and then transitioned to Gulp on that topic. <3Ahaha, that was totally accidental, but I'm still claiming credit for it! XD ( ... )
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