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An introduction to the Fantasy genre, these books are part of the cultural zeitgeist or the 'canon' that many would recognize. Look for more niche titles in later Starter Pack volumes.
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Slow Horses (Slough House, #1)
Mick Herron
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The Inheritance (Breach Wars, #1)
Ilona Andrews
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ericareads commented on a post from the Pagebound Club forum
Is it too early to start reading Christmas books or not? I have started A Not Quiet Christmas and so far I am enjoying it.. I still have about 3 Fall books to read still
Post from the Drop Dead forum
I am living for this rivalry. I hope that Chu goes into more backstory because they seem to have quite the animosity game going.
ericareads commented on jordynreads's review of Reign & Ruin (Mages of the Wheel, #1)
It started off ok but like a wheel that slows and starts to tip over without support, the story got progressively less interesting and fell flat by the end. Characters felt very bland and a lot of telling utilised, instead of letting the story show us whatâs happening. The background of the Wheel and the different types of mages was interesting but so under explained. Itâs more there as nice decoration to a very typical princess-must-overcome-prejudice story.
ericareads commented on ayzrules's review of Soldier Daddy (Wings of Refuge #5)
I added this book to the website specifically so I could leave a review and put it on my profile
Where do I even start? Maybe from the beginning: I joined an IRL writing group in early 2024, and I've been seeing them at least once every 1-2 weeks for over a year now. I've gone on two trips with them. So, when one of the mods/admins of our Discord server found this book in one of the cafes we meet at, and took it from the shelf (this cafe has a "take a book, give a book policy", so she left them something from her bodice ripper collection in return), then told us the entire group would be required to read it, how could I possibly say no? Peer pressure or not, the jokes were too funny and unhinged for me to resist reading for myself.
To be perfectly clear, this book is a blatant Christian wet dream/fantasy/propaganda. Do not expect any nuance in the storytelling. Also do not expect any true discussion of scripture, because Cheryl Wyatt would rather tell you about how her FMC Sarah is such a virtuous chaste motherly beautiful conservative religious Christian woman than actually get into anything that requires more thought, depth, or even a basic level of literacy and intelligence.
Within the first two pages, Cheryl gives us some of the most hard-hitting sentences in the English language that I have ever had the (mis)fortune of reading: the housekeeper's "wise Hispanic eyes", the FMC's "classy but conservative spiked heels", the obsession over how FMC is so "young and pretty", the manly-man paratrooper/rescue (? his military role is never clear beyond that of "sergeant") widowed father MMC thinking to himself, "major duh, Sergeant Goof". If you think this is cringe, I am very pleased to tell you that it gets much, much, much worse.
The basic premise of this book is that Sergeant Aaron needs to go back to full-time duty (not sure what he does at work other than pray with his boss, because of course Cheryl never goes into it), so he's in a rush to find a nanny for his kids (twins, both four years old). Sarah, our classy but conservative and beautiful but virtuous devout Christian FMC, applies to be a nanny despite her "dark past". For some unconvincing and contrived reason, Aaron is hesitant about hiring Sarah because he wants to be sure she's "the right one for his boys". Sarah on the other hand really wants to prove herself to be capable and a good nanny, because she meets the twins once and just LOVES spending time with them and taking care of them, etc. That's how you know she's good Christian mommy material, amirite?
Eventually, Sarah's secret comes out, and it's honestly really dumb because that secret doesn't actually affect her ability to be a nanny at all? But it DOES mean she thinks she's "cursed" and "could never be a mother" (which is tearing her up inside because all women should aspire to be a good Christian mother, of course. #skill issue #couldn't be me). There's a lot of pointless angsting about that, and the resolution of Sarah's secret - the final cinching plot point of the book, where all is finally forgiven - is so blatantly offensive, insulting, infuriating, and enraging that I don't even have the proper words to express how mad it makes me. And it is CLEAR Christian propaganda - this thought that belief in God and adherence to the Christian religion absolves one of all wrongdoing, no matter what that wrongdoing actually was. Literally, no!!!!!! Without getting into too many spoilers, I think this single plot point in Cheryl's stupid book quite literally represents everything wrong with modern USAmerican society.
However. You will notice that I rated this 5 stars in enjoyment, which is not a lie. This is genuinely a comedy show of a book. The prose is not simply mediocre; no, what God-respecting author could settle for simply mediocre? It's actively unhinged. It's insane. The metaphors bring to mind the "worst sentence of the year" writing contest entries, then slide it even more left. Cheryl Wyatt is making comparisons that contort the English language in ways you never thought possible.
The characters are flat and one-dimensional, but at least MMC Aaron has the grace to drop zingers like "the 'roach motel (and I mean HUMAN roaches)" and "major duh, Sergeant Goof". Not to mention the "Taliban interrogation voice" he uses when interviewing Sarah.
Like, holy shit - I cannot stress enough the sheer entertainment value of this book. It's the perfect thing to read with a bitchy little group chat, because I guarantee you'll get 100 new inside jokes just from the sheer absurdity of the prose and plot events (someone outside the "roach motel" breaks into Sarah's car and steals nothing but a few CDs that have Christian worship songs on them, for example). Because yes, I did lose brain cells reading this book, but those brain cells are a small price to pay for the Soldier Daddy-themed dinner my group had on our last trip (the Mountain Dew apple dumplings are actually FIRE). So thank you, Cheryl Wyatt and Soldier Daddy Aaron, for the incomparable gift of friendship this book has given me, in exchange for the last thread of my mental stability.
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Pride and Prejudice
Jane Austen
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ericareads commented on a post
I am enjoying the anecdotal and gradual breakdown of concepts so farâŚ
ericareads commented on a post from the Pagebound Club forum
There's only about 2 months left until 2025 is over (WHAT?!). I'll give you a moment to cry.
Moment over.
I'm wondering what everyone's plan is? For those that do reading challenges are we focused on finishing those up? Is anyone focused on finishing some quests maybe? Are you randomly picking out of a jar? Or are we just vibing until the end of the year? (relatable really)
I have a couple quests that's I'm 1-2 books away from gold so I was considering working on those but I still have to work on reading at least one of the seasonal books. I guess I'm just struggling to decide what I want to do! The seasonal readalongs are timely so it makes sense to get some of those done but finishing quests also makes me happy đ I'm a bit of a completionist!
What about you guys? Tell me all your plans, the more chaotic the better!
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The Yes Brain: How to Cultivate Courage, Curiosity, and Resilience in Your Child
Daniel J. Siegel
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Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World
Adam M. Grant