I try not to subscribe to the whole guilty pleasure concept and proudly read whatever seems good to me, however in real life you’ll never get me to admit I enjoy a historical romance or two when I need some sugar in my life. Most of them are badly written with shallow characters, still entertaining when you need to rest your brain though!

I cried along with my soul for a week when I was first reading Testament of Youth by Vera Brittain. Just can't bring myself to ever re-read it.

Loved this book! It is best!!! ❤️

I didn’t care for Fairy Tale at all either. None of the characters were interesting or memorable, it took too long to get to the Fairy Tale world and it was as compelling as the characters (not compelling at all), and I also really hated the ending for the same reasons as you.

There was one saving grace in the book for me: The tournament. Forget what they call it but it was the only highlight. The training, competition, and escape had me riveted and eager to see how it would go.

I really enjoyed this as well. It’s a great example of a character who is compelling and interesting but morally gray. You can root for Evelyn but not like her either.

The writing won’t win any literary prizes but so what? There is no book report. We don’t have homework as adults. Reading for pleasure is about enjoying yourself.

The cats of ulthar too!

I hear that’s very difficult as well. Curious to hear your experience.

Big Trouble was possibly the funniest book I've ever read. I picked it up because I had read Dave Barry's column and enjoyed his humor. After I read it, my BFF read it. Then her husband. His brother. His wife. Their friends. By the tine it came back to me it was falling apart. A well-loved and much read treasure.

I think I just wasn’t a fan of Miri because I loved Leah’s chapters and her interactions with her team. That lessened my enjoyment as the story is about their relationship.

But there was a lot I did like! The imagery was evocative, and it was a good length for this kind of horror. We get enough pages to feel the build of dread as the past is revealed, but it also doesn’t overstay its welcome.

I just retired from a female dominated trade in public education.

What would you say is the best introduction?

I just finished "Carrie Soto" yesterday after having started it in December. It took me a lot longer to finish reading than the other 3 books you mentioned. Ultimately, I liked it, but I didn't find the tennis easy to follow. I loved the other three books though.

Coleen Hoover. Yup. Not all of them but It Starts With Us remains a favorite.

It’s all good. Doesn’t mean I don’t have substance. As one psychologists said it’s good to have those things. They are “mostly” healthy coping mechanisms. I’m big on looking at where terms come and on purpose trying to reframe them.

Like the term male dominated industry actually means an industry that’s refusing to adapt to accommodate women into it. I should know I’ve worked in such field for years.

We need a book club 😁

I'll say the same thing I said in another Lovecraft-related post a little while ago:

It's an unpopular opinion, but I think The Call of Cthulhu might be one of the worst possible introductions to H.P Lovecraft.

Because, despite its namesake, this might be the one story that goes out of its way to make the mythos as mundane as possible, with probably one of the worst and most anti-climatic endings he has ever written.

The problem with things like this is you assume that people will read the same books as you on the given subject. Say you want to talk about the war and militarism and suggest reading 'The Things They Carried' and 'The Forever War', but I read 'Starship Troopers' and 'Storm of Steel'.

Yeah we both read books about the same problem but we're probably going to come away with different opinions. Or we could both read all four of those books, and then who knows if I'll agree with you or not?

R/fantasy should be able to help.

What I will say OP is that maybe it’s just not the right time for you. I go through about two phases a year where I can get into audiobooks, right timing right mood, and then I’m over them. Don’t give up hope and try again in 4-6 months!

I wish I could read LOTR for the first time after reading the Silmarillion.

I don't really have any book guilty pleasures. I believe everything I like to read has some artistic merit to it. However, if we're talking about the eyes of r/books then definitely the HP series 💀

A Place of Greater Safety. I think Mantel connected with the history and wanted to write about it in part because of her struggles with her health, and so did I, it's not always easy to pin down but it runs through it. I won't reread it, I have looked through for specific passages, but what I did was learn French. Reading the actual words of the people involved feels, often painful but also a privilege.

To me, it's clunky and there are a handful of errors that affect flow and sentence structure (assuming the other poster transcribed correctly). Also, the use of 3rd person present tense is most common in YA. Of course this is just the first two paragraphs and personally I bet I could get used to it quickly.

Well you've sold me on it

I'm 'guilty' of most of those myself.