The Queen's Gambit | 
pickI know very little about chess, but this book was so engrossing for me! I read half of it in one sitting (staying up way too late to do so). The edition I have needs an editor, and that was a bit distracting. Overall, the book makes me want to watch the Netflix series just to keep going.
so-soI'm not a genius but I think most books about geniuses get it wrong. Being a genius does not make you inherently good at math or physics or chess or anything. If you are gifted and have a passion and an environment that can encourage and recognize you, then the sky's the limit. This book was not believable. Even Bobby Fischer took longer than this to develop. And he ate, drank, and slept chess. The writing was ok. The chess was sloppy.
pickI never quite got round to watching the Netflix show, but I started the book on impulse and I loved it SO much. I haven‘t found a literary novel this compelling for a long time. I found the writing beautiful but never taxing to get through, and despite knowing next to nothing about chess I found the writing about chess so gorgeous. Beth was a phenomenal protagonist. Even when she did very frustrating things I always felt I understood her
pickA gorgeous book and a gorgeous series. I watched the show first and I will say that reading the book didn't add too much more substance for me, except for maybe some more detail on the chess moves. The character relationships in this story are some of my favorites of all time. Just wonderful.
so-soI enjoyed reading it, but it definitely is a more visual type of story. If you don't understand chess, you would probably have difficulty following along. I had a hard time caring for Beth and the book didn't really ever resolve her addiction, but nonetheless it was a good read. Just not for everyone.
Did some #audiocooking. I‘m a bit divided on THE QUEEN‘S GAMBIT. I find it fascinating as a sports story and it‘s been interesting to see how it compares to the show, but I‘m not a fan of Walter Tevis‘s contraction-free narrative. (He does use contractions in his dialogue.) It‘s choppy and stilted to my ear, and the narrator‘s delivery doesn‘t help. I think maybe she and I both have the wrong accent for what Tevis hears in his head as he writes.
pickI know just some basic chess moves and still found it very entertaining, I imagine it must be fascinating for chess lovers!♟️♟️♟️
I binge watched the TV show right after I finished the book.
Happy World Book Day and International Writers' Day! 📚
I'd seen the tv series, and then just listened to it. The story really was better for me, visually. In the audio the chess moves are spoken, which, was beyond me. The story is mostly the same, and while I enjoyed the story, the narration is very stilted and sounded almost computer generated. So, overall, maybe print is better, but I think for once, I liked the visual production over the audio. #litsyAtoZ Q.
pickI found this a lot more enthralling than I anticipated, though I did tend to slide a little on the scenes of detailed gameplay.
pickI enjoyed this, although I think if I knew what all the chess moves were that the author described, I‘d have gotten more out of it. Still, a fascinating story. No pictures that are anywhere near pertinent, so one from a walk at the nature center last week.
This was an Amazon Kindle deal last week, and I snatched it up. Almost halfway through after starting it yesterday. One of the rare times when I‘ve seen the tv series before reading the book. Enjoyed the series, loving the book.
Sale on the book the Netflix series was based on
pickThis was fabulous! I have only the most basic understanding of chess, and I doubt I would have needed even that to understand or appreciate this. Many chess stories follow similar themes like a child grows up and realizes they‘re no longer a prodigy , or a woman in a man‘s world… I think I fell in love with this story because at its heart it‘s not about one simple thing that can be distilled down to a single sentence.
Beth learned of her mother‘s death from a woman with a clipboard.
#FirstLineFridays
@ShyBookOwl
About halfway through this book so far, and absolutely flying through it! It‘s also a perfect match for this picture of #AestheticallyMatched! Woohoo!
#Jumpstart2022 @Lizpixie
#12Booksof2021 @Andrew65
My favorite book of February was The Queen's Gambit. I could read this book again. Still haven't seen the movie.
pickThis was my bookclub's pick for the month. I enjoyed it more than I expected. I was worried that the chess descriptions would be technical and boring but the author gave a sense of how the game was going without knowing the position of the pieces. I was drawn in by the story of the young orphan and her internal struggles to make a place for herself in the competitive world of chess. I might actually watch the Netflix series now.
bailedQuick rant.
I‘m a social worker and specialize in child sexual assault, so I‘m gonna need a trigger warning for child sex abuse books. I can handle it well at work, I‘ve been doing this for 15 years. But I‘m not a fan of reading about it in my personal life. I wasn‘t expecting it in The Queen‘s Gambit and I def won‘t be watching the tv show.
End rant.
pan2✨ The first chapter was hard to read. After that it had sprinklings of sexuality that I felt wasn‘t needed at all. Like we could say she was maturing without what was stated. The story was pretty good, and I wanted Beth to get a real win. I just had a hard time liking this book as a whole. The series follows the book really well so I didn‘t see much more depth that I was hoping to find.
so-soWorth reading for sure!
https://bookreviewbyjohanna.wordpress.com/2021/11/05/tvserie-vs-bok-the-queens-g...
@catiewithac Ha…what a great card!!! I am saving this one. Thank you so much for the lovely wishes, my friend. 😘
pick18-20 Oct 2021 (audiobook)
A young orphan enters the world of competitive chess during the Cold War era but battles with self doubt and substance abuse.
Despite only a rudimentary knowledge (and interest) in chess and disliking the narrator, I found this riveting. Beth was fundamentally a flawed character - obsessive, self-centred, non-communicative, and incapable of empathy. Yet I did wish her success.
Time to watch the Netflix series now.
Done! Haven't finished a book so fast in a long while. On to the next one!
I watched the show before reading this, and it hasnt taken anything away from the experience thus far. Tevis's writing is so focused--it's easy to get drawn in to Beth's world completely. Also, his background character descriptions are fantastically precise. The "embarrassed" girl from chess club, etc. Loving it so far
...while Beth's mind danced in awe to the geometrical rococo of chess, rapt, enraptured, drowning in the grand permutations as they opened to her soul, and her soul opened to them.
#currentlyreading #bookblurbs
Something in her life was solved: she knew about the chess pieces and how they moved and captured, and she knew how to make herself feel good in the stomach and in the tense joints of her arms and legs, with the pills the orphanage gave her.
Loved the Netflix show, reading the book now!! ♟
#currentlyreading
so-soWell I sort of sped through this book. Can't say I enjoyed all the chess game descriptions and theory, since I know nothing about chess. And for a story about chess, the plot was fairly predictable.
I gather the show based on the book is much better. This seems like fiction for chess aficionados. But it was an easy, fast read with a memorable main character so it's a so-so for me.
pantv adaptation better than the novel? much. all annotation, no style. no anya.
2 stars
#holidayreadingblitz book 5. Lent to me by one student, and buddy reading with another. Plan to send her an email saying, ‘TV series sticks pretty close to text‘. Enjoying it so far.
so-soIf I hadn't watched the movie first, I don't think I would have made it through all the chess game descriptions in this one.
pickThis was so good! I have no idea what all the different manoeuvres in chess are and am not even fully aware of how different pieces move on the board, but this book managed to imbue the games with tension and drama. I sped through this in two days. Couldn‘t put it down!
pickI really enjoyed this book! One wouldn‘t think a book that has so many details about chess in it (unless you play of course) would be so compelling, but it was. I‘m really looking forward to watching the show now. Beth could be considered a bland character by some but that was just her personality & I was rooting for her the whole way. I would have given it 5⭐️ but there was one plot line I was looking forward to that never went anywhere. 4.5⭐️♟
pickHow is it possible that a book about chess is this engaging??? I really liked this even though I wasn‘t initially impressed by the narrator. The main character was very likable and had me cheering for her the whole time.
pickI absolutely loved this book. It sucked me in from the very first chapter. Some of it was a little cringey because... well, this book is from the 80's.
Beth was so straightforward but also kind of just, "yeah" "okay" "bye" and didn't really express herself. Even though she wanted too. It worked through the whole book, even as she got older.. I recommend this one!
pickRead because I loved the TV show much - just as great, how a writer can make chess moves so fascinating and exciting to read is beyond me
#sundayfunday @ozma.of.oz
📚 Yes
📚 A well written story and a fantastic female MC. She had so much depth. Strong but not infallible and very driven.
📚 The age of the MC. For me to call a book YA the MC has to be
4-27-21: My 42nd finished book of 2021! Beth Harmon becomes an orphan after her mother dies in a car crash. While at the orphanage she learns to play chess from the janitor. The trajectory of her life from that point forward is astounding. The novel is good but the show on Netflix is amazing. It stays true to the book only changing the order of some of the scenes. Highly recommend the show. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 👍🏼📖#️⃣4️⃣2️⃣ #thegueensgambit #waltertevis
pickAlthough I had yet to watch the final episode of this series on Netflix my library hold came in so I decided to dive into the book anyway. My knowledge of chess is decidedly limited however that did not detract from my enjoyment of the book or Netflix adaptation. Even though I knew 85% of the plot going in I still raced through this book cheering for Beth Harmon the entire way.
so-so#ShutdownRound3 #Challenge2021 #AxeTheStacks #LitsyAtoZ
Some things I liked, others not so much. I think seeing the♟ games going on as opposed to reading them will be more enjoyable for me. I‘ll be checking out the Netflix show soon.
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks I just love these!!
Literally screamed so excited!!
🤍🤍🤍
pickI wanted to read this after having seen the series which I loved. And even though this is a great book, it‘s slim and doesn‘t add that much too the series. But Beth is a great character.
Paris was a bit like New York but more civilized. The streets were clean and the shop windows bright; there were real sidewalk cafes and people sitting in them enjoying themselves, talking in French. She had been so wrapped up in chess that only now did she realize: she was actually in Paris! This was Paris, this avenue she was walking on;
(Picture found online of Paris)
