I’ve worked with kids that come from disadvantaged and neglectful backgrounds, so it makes me quite mad when parents do preventable damage to their kids. I do not have any personal experience though which keeps it from hitting uncomfortably close to home.

Some of the stories are infuriating. Like, I wish I could get a window into the parents heads to see how they justified their actions. It takes a special level of cognitive dissonance to be too proud to apply for welfare/accept charity, but not too proud to let your children starve, dig through dumpsters, and sneak chocolate behind their backs.

When I read through Goodreads reviews, there was a lot of criticism towards the author regarding how she framed the story and the innocent nostalgia and love for her parents that was present even after everything they put them through. Personally, I thought it was quite impressive. I suspect that capturing the conflicted emotions was not easy to do. It would be very easy to paint the parents as outright villains, but she found a really good balance.

Yeah, it’s the same with how to wear a suit and who to tip at a salon, there are parts of the book where you hear other characters say the same thing verbatim, which is a hint towards the reveal at the end.

We don't know that Coldhands is Benjen

Totally agree. It took me a while to convince myself that it was OK to 'DNF' a book. There's just that expectation that you have to finish every book - and I say, that's not true at all. If it's not holding your interest, put it down and pick up something else.

I had to read this book in high school. I’ll never read it ever again. It hit way too close to home (always moving, money issues, family making uneducated choices), and despite only reading it once at 13, the stories have stuck with me for over a decade. As an adult, thinking about this book makes me upset and disappointed on her behalf because I understand a lot more of the causes and consequences of her family’s lifestyle.

If you want a movie recommendation, The Florida Project had a similar vibe.

3 books and a million years.

You just know it's going to be a single copper jot in there. No significance to it at all.

In ASOIAF he comes back a lot earlier. He helped Samwell Tarly and his wildling girlfriend get to the Wall when they were North.

Yes that's something we can understand. I do think the subject is very important in relation to how it clearly influenced world politics and individuals.

I myself would have ended up likely on the wrong end of this ideology, namely killed, by Nazis, determined to eliminate those with disabilities.

The nature of the topic is unsettling, not least because its real, a part of our history, not all that long ago either.

Anyone who may find this topic in any way offensive, that was certainly not an intension. All the best and let us all prey for more peace and understand for the future. Thank-you.

Ahaha I love this one, what good memories! I’m going to have to find it in my mums house and look over the artwork and silly story. Thanks for this post!

A Series of Unfortunate Events, hands down. I still have the whole box set from when I was a kid

Looks like a good one to start the list off with! Thanks!

try “You Never Forget Your First” by Alexis Coe

I look for books I want to read on Libby and place a hold. I have a backlog of books on hold so I just always read whatever is available next!!

Books about US presidents similar to A Promised Land?

I just read (listened to audiobook read by author) A Promised Land by Barak Obama. I loved the candidness of the book and the way he lets the reader in on some of the intimate details of his political career from a more personal perspective than I’m used to experiencing from a politician. It is long but very engaging and makes the complex job of being the worlds most powerful person seem like something simple and understandable. It made me feel a lot of empathy for him as just a regular guy with a big responsibility. I highly recommend it to anyone regardless of where you live or what your political views are.

Anyway… after reading this book I thought it might be a fun challenge for myself to read a book about all (or at least some) other US presidents. Does anyone have any favorites or good recommendations?

If they are similar to the autobiographical A Promised Land that I just read, that would be great but they don’t have to be. Just an interesting and engaging book that entertains while informing about the life and times of a US president. (Also open to recommendations of books similar to A Promised Land that are about other figures who weren’t US presidents).

Thanks!

Probably gonna be Kvothe's box from Name of the Wind.

Those people are not wrong. If you like Colleen Hoover, you do need to read better books. I get people want to read her for enjoyment or shit, I get that. I understand that.

My issue is with people who act like she has published some groundbreaking piece of literature that's so deep with layers of onion. No. That's not true. Her writing sucks. And love, if you like her books, you might as well read some better books written on Wattpad by 14 year olds.

Thirdly, her books are problematic. Their plot is problematic. I am specifically going to talk about It Ends With Us. That book justifies sexual assault, no accountability for bad and abusive characters. And you know what? I understand that characters can be morally bad. What I don't understand is that CoHo doesn't provide any sort of accountability or acknowledgement for that shit.

Fourthly, it glorifies toxic relationships, grooming and is just very unrealistic. Now why I say unrealistic? Because according to the strategically placed Author's Note in the end, it's supposed to highlight her mother's story. Atlas is some guy who out of nowhere became a successful chef? But okay, I'll give my willing suspension disbelief. My other problem is with how bland her characters are. The main character is called Lily Bloom for fucks sake. And she's the most one dimensional, half-assed and generic character i have ever seen.

Fifthly, the writer herself is problematic and I'm sorry if I have trouble supporting someone who tries to conceal her son's sexual assault attempts. I am not going to go into depth, you can that on twitter.

Sixth, how am I supposed to take a writer seriously who makes her characters laugh at their son's "big balls". Like are you kidding me?

I apologise for my lack of politeness but i get really angry when people act like hating on CoHo is because of her success or something. We have our reasons, very valid and real reasons to not enjoy her work. You can enjoy reading her but for god's sake stop acting like she's some groundbreaking literary artist.

Actually Amazon has it new and used. Read it.

The NHGRI has some good resources for understanding eugenics in a modern light. It can be an extremely offensive and taboo subject for obvious reasons, so I wouldn't talk about it lightly. Check out https://www.genome.gov/about-genomics/fact-sheets/Eugenics-and-Scientific-Racism. Again, not a topic you want to bring up lightly.

Isn't the Harry Potter series full of these things? Stuff from book 1 resolves or is explained in like Books 5 and 7, etc etc (things from each book play roles in subsequent books)... I no longer have the memory to recall examples, but I was always impressed with her attention to detail or impressed by the amount of patience she had to keep so many secrets for so many pages.

It’s a hive mind. Even the people who primarily read toxic romance novels are jumping on the colleen hate train because independent thought is illegal

Where The Red Fern Grows. dogs are the best and you are DEVASTATED when they die. the end.

The Animorphs! It had a stupid title, but shit got real in the Animorphs. Those kids fucking murdered innocent people and got PTSD and shit.

Yeah, Harry Potter might have “hooked a generation on reading” or whatever. But did Harry ever have to weigh the ethics of enlisting disabled kids as cannon fodder in a desperate war? Did Ron ever murder a former friend in cold blood because he knew he’d be a liability down the road? Did Hermione ever transform herself into a worm, forever, just to try to prove to herself that she hadn’t lost the moral high ground that she felt slipping through her increasingly-desensitized fingers? Nah man, and that’s why Animorphs were the best.

I used to be one of those kids who would read a big ol' chapter book every couple of days and would just get LOST (in the best way) in the story, the characters, the world building, etc. Now, I still enjoy reading but I can't remember the last book that I just couldn't put down because I was so immersed in it. Even as an English teacher, I struggle to read because I struggle to find books I love.

What book suggestions do you guys have for adults who want to get lost in reading again? What are some good can't-put-it-down reads? As for genre, I'm looking for books in the fantasy or maybe even mystery realm. I read several books in the Mistborn series and enjoyed it, but not enough to continue past the third book or so. Wheel of Time also hasn't really gripped me.

I'm pretty open to suggestions across many subgenres of fantasy as well as teen/YA books. Honestly, I'll take anything good at this point 😅

What do you mean?

Choose your own adventure book, because life is just an endless stream of decisions you need to make that affects what is to come