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#MarvellousMarch2024 #ThePlot #JeanHanffKorelitz #BookSpinBingo #SeriesLove2024

Jean Hanff Korelitz‘s The Plot is a psychologically suspenseful novel about a story too good not to steal, and the writer who steals it. Jacob Finch Bonner was once a promising young novelist with a respectably published first book.

On behalf of those of us who have been meaning to read Marilynne Robinson and haven‘t yet…HEY! 😅

Otherwise, I think I actually liked this? It wont be making any “Best Of” lists for me but it‘s a genre I don‘t normally read AND I was forced to read it for book club AND I was resentful of the fact that I had to make it my first read of the year. So, the fact that it overcame all of that to provide me any enjoyment is truly something!

Regrettably, I have to get the book for my IRL book club out of the way before I can start in on my #AuldLangSpine picks. Probably a good idea, since we‘re meeting in 6 days!

Un-regrettably, the words on my mug are my exact plans for this first day of a brand-new year: let‘s stay home. 🏡 I should be done in no time at all.

Bailing on this. It started out promising and actually hilarious but spiraled into a neurotic narcissist destroying his life with his own paranoia. Not interested. Perhaps someone who loves Woody Allen films would enjoy it.

Image is what AI generated as my author photo based on my social media bio and blog name.

My mom and I have a rule - give a book 100 pages before bailing. I made it to 100. And bailed. And I hate to bail on books. I do. I know reviews say it starts slow but... I just don't have any interest anymore. #sorrybutgottago

There's not enough room here to list all the ways in which this book is terrible. I'll just say that I Bailed once it devolved into some kind of stupid murder mystery. Or at least I think it was heading that way. I don't know, and I don't even care enough to find out.

❤️🤓

4 out 5 stars. WOW!!! I was hooked from the first chapter. I liked the present day tale with the book in between to get a taste of the Crib. Definitely fooled me. Good writers borrow, great writers steal—T.S.Eliot (but possibly stolen from Oscar Wilde)

Book #66
4/5
Unique storyline? ✔️ Surprises along the way? ✔️
I almost gave up on this one - the beginning was a bit slow - but I'm glad I stuck it out.

Slow to start, but decent little literary thriller. I unfortunately figured out the twist kind of early, but it was still a fun read/listen. I think the book club folks will enjoy it and there‘s plenty to talk about!

I'm going to try to participate in #14books14weeks2023 @TheHeartlandBookFairy . These are all books I keep putting off reading, and fit challenge prompts (except for The Mistress).

I listened to the audiobook of this one via Audible,
It was ok, I am not sure if this one was hyped, but it didn't live up to it.

Read for reading challenges.

3.5/5

The tone of The Plot is like a snarkier version of Less – meets Crime And Punishment, meets I Know What You Did Last Summer. It‘s a delightful take-down of the publishing industrial complex and the Writer As Martyr archetype, as well as a complex psychological portrait. Full review: https://keepingupwiththepenguins.com/the-plot-jean-hanff-korelitz/

His expression fits my review of this book.
#celebritybc

📸 JimmyFallon IG

Basically spent my whole day, moving from place to place, finishing up this book! It was recommended by a friend, and now I‘m recommending it to all of you lol started a little slow for me, but damn! It really got good, and I couldn‘t stop reading! This was my #bookspin @TheAromaofBooks

Starting the first one today! I might be going out of order further on, but it doesn‘t say I have to read one a month 🤷🏻‍♀️ my friend is very excited that I‘m starting this one lol I legit have like 6 books going right now, plus a couple I started in the fall and put aside lol I‘ll pick them back up soon, they were both good, I just got into cozies for awhile!

Still from “It‘s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”!!!

It‘s hard for me to accurately rate this as I absolutely hate books that end the way this one did.

The plot is indeed twisty/turny. Hence the still.

But is it worth reading? Yes.

Enjoying my next book club read which is a literary thriller.

#MargaretLaurence, although she died many years ago, is the author I've most wanted to meet. She had such immense wisdom and grace.

New books references come from Litsy (natch!) from award nomination lists, and from friends.

Thanks to @Amiable for last year's #NYWD book with an amazing twist!

It's my 50th birthday today so naturally, I went to the bookstore. 🤓 We have a lovely independent bookstore downtown so my kids took me and then to lunch. #perfectday #bookstorebooty #birthday 🎂

I enjoyed this literary thriller about a struggling author who uses the key plot lines of one of his student‘s work at a writing residency program after he learns of the student‘s untimely death. Some of the twists were predictable which usually makes me crazy but I really liked the inside baseball look at the writing life and publishing industry so I didn‘t mind in this case.

A fun ride! Like many others, I predicted the twists, but I still salivated a bit reading all the details. I‘m a little sick & twisted that way. Some people felt like this book had a slow start. I sort of felt that way until the character of Evan Parker was introduced - such a conceited blow hard! Plus the audiobook narration was great. When Jake kept referring to Evan Parker, Parker Evan, the sarcastic sneers came through loud and clear.

So, I have feelings about this book…the beginning wasn‘t bad, but it was slow. Lots of long, mopey sentences that dragged on. But about halfway through, it got REALLY good. I did not see either twist until right before they happened. I guess other people did, but not me!
⭐️: 3.5/5

I think I just shouldn‘t read psychological thrillers because I don‘t find them satisfying. I‘m going with pick for this because I thought it was well written, but the so-called twists seemed awfully obvious to me. I intended to read this for #NewYearWhoDis2022 but I didn‘t get around to it at the beginning of the year. I‘m glad I finally got there.

A bit disappointed that I was able to figure out the twist early on. I kept reading with the hope that I was wrong. It was well written and still a decent way to spend a few rainy afternoons.

I went into this so blind it wasn‘t even until halfway through that I realized it was a mystery/thriller. I enjoyed this, and while I was able to figure a few things out there was still enough to surprise me. I do want there to be a full length version of the novel in this novel.

I seriously want to read the novel in this novel.

And I have 10% left in The Most Fun We Ever Had and it is destroying me.

Honestly, I wanted this book to be better than I think it ultimately was. The premise is fantastic—struggling author teaching a writing class has a student with a phenomenal plot and then the student dies. So, what else is an author supposed to do? The writing is good but the story starts slow & does not really get going until near the end which is actually quite good although I did guess some of the big twists. Good but I wouldn‘t say great.

The premise was really interesting but I never fell into the story. Jake was one of those main characters that straddled the line between likable and annoying. I‘m going to complain about the ending below under a spoiler guard. I liked this book enough to finish it though.

Finally found a little time for reading...

Finished with work for the day. Tomorrow‘s wake-up is 4am—we start work before the sun is up so we can finish earlier to beat the worst of the midday heat—but all the coffee I drank this afternoon to fight off jet lag has me more than awake enough to read a few chapters. Yay for caffeine!

I‘m ready to commit. After much dithering, these are the six physical books (lots more on the iPad) I‘m taking as I head off to Israel to excavate. I‘ll be posting less as work will keep me very busy but I‘ll definitely be reading and posting when I can. I‘m leaning towards the tagged book for my airplane read but we‘ll see. I have a few hours to change my mind! 😬

Overall, The Plot was a good read, albeit a little predictable. You got drama, suspense, a little bit of romance, and a peek into the author/publishing world. I think you can see the ending coming a mile away, but I enjoyed the road to get there. Bonner‘s book-within-a-book is pretty good, too.

The Plot is a VERY compelling and satisfying suspense novel. I love a book about books, and this one centres of a stolen/borrowed/liberated narrative. It‘s a very engaging premise. The novel is very difficult to review it without giving away the plot (do you see what I did there? Haha) so I‘ll just say that Stephen King was right when he blurbed it- “insanely readable.”

An interesting plot where “plot” has two important meanings in in this tale about a writing instructor and his student and a possible stolen story idea. While I guessed one of the main twists, part of the ending was still surprising and while I didn‘t like the characters much, I was caught up enough in the story to continue reading. The mystery with the twists was engaging and unique. Worth a listen or a read.

I had heard so much buzz about this book and I was in the mood for a good thriller but this wasn't it: it was both far-fetched and completely predictable. Also, I detested almost all of the characters. I think there is a fatal flaw at the core of the book: the novel plot at the center is supposed to be genius, a guaranteed bestseller, but if it were, wouldn't the author . . . just write that book?

I did not love the writing but there is an intriguing story with quite a twist at the end.

Maybe it‘s me? I admittedly read more non-fiction than fiction. To really get into a novel it has to grab me early and pique my interest. This novel didn‘t do that. I was bored and didn‘t really care for the main character. I think she is a good writer and gave the book three stars for that. It just wasn‘t for me. Next.

Book 39

3.5⭐s

I listened to The Plot, an engaging thriller about an author who writes the plot told to him by a student who died before writing it himself. The plot is touted as so original and a definitive success, claims that are impossible to live up to. The twists were predictable, but I enjoyed the journey.

Arrogant student claims he doesn't need Jake's help beacause his plot is so good. Reminded me of a student who told me that revision or editing would destroy his original thoughts that came directly from his soul. Pic of a stage on the #campus of Luther College in Decorah, Iowa where they host a Writers' Festival for authors and readers. I was lucky enough to see Jane Hamilton & Erik Larson there. #SavvySettings @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs

A fun read. Even if you figure out the big ending pretty early, there are still plenty of twists and turns to keep you entertained.

Clever and nicely paced read.

Such a great premise, but didn‘t hold my attention at all.

This was a fun read! I always enjoy reading about a book within a book and the publishing industry. The plot of the story in the story (Crib) was built up so much that it was a bit of a disappointing twist in the big picture, but still a good one if this was a traditional thriller. I was still surprised. I was a but bored during the Crib parts and tuned out a bit while listening. But it was a fun, literary mystery overall.

It‘s never a forgone conclusion that anyone is actually going to see your work, no matter how good it is. And if nobody reads it, it doesn‘t exist 📝

Who doesn‘t appreciate a book about a book? It took me a little bit to get into this one but I really enjoyed the story! I did pick up on the twist a little early but it‘s isn‘t take away from the book. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Fast read but enjoyable

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I thought this was pretty predictable but I still enjoyed the storyline. The Plot is about a washed up author who hears a storyline from one of his students that he knows will be a hit. Years later he finds out that student has died, so he writes the story and enjoys all the fame. Many twists and turns after that.