K Reads 's Updates en-US Sat, 05 Apr 2025 07:08:47 -0700 60 K Reads 's Updates 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg Friend1419865723 Sat, 05 Apr 2025 07:08:47 -0700 <![CDATA[<Friend user_id=94096182 friend_user_id=146012935 top_friend=true>]]> UserChallenge63006337 Fri, 04 Apr 2025 22:18:55 -0700 <![CDATA[ K Reads has challenged herself to read 10 books in 2025. ]]> /user/show/94096182-k-reads 11627
She has read 2 books toward her goal of 10 books.
 
2 of 10 (20%)
Create your own 2025 Reading Challenge » ]]> ReadStatus9224412138 Sun, 23 Mar 2025 20:46:40 -0700 <![CDATA[K Reads wants to read 'The Grace Year']]> /review/show/7429656451 The Grace Year by Kim Liggett K Reads wants to read The Grace Year by Kim Liggett
]]> ReadStatus9224410846 Sun, 23 Mar 2025 20:46:16 -0700 <![CDATA[K Reads wants to read 'I Who Have Never Known Men']]> /review/show/7429655511 I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman K Reads wants to read I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman
]]> Review4733261856 Sat, 22 Mar 2025 18:11:30 -0700 <![CDATA[K Reads added 'Lying Beside You']]> /review/show/4733261856 Lying Beside You by Michael Robotham K Reads gave 4 stars to Lying Beside You (Cyrus Haven, #3) by Michael Robotham
bookshelves: audiobook, british, mental-health, murdery-murderers, mystery-suspense, series, trauma-violence
This short novel checks all the boxes for a compelling mystery /police procedural. I like this author’s works a lot; his main characters are hardly one-dimensional, and I appreciate the particularly difficult characters. This story is told from the perspective of a forensic behavioral psychologist, so its Sherlock-y insights will satisfy those of us who may run to novels like these when we want to escape into British-style murders (lots of knives—no guns). Reliably twisty and overly complex for reasons only fans of this genre will appreciate (and never tire of).

File Under: Safe as Milk ]]> Review7400440938 Fri, 21 Mar 2025 17:33:55 -0700 <![CDATA[K Reads added 'Playworld']]> /review/show/7400440938 Playworld by Adam Ross K Reads gave 5 stars to Playworld (Hardcover) by Adam Ross
bookshelves: american-identity-stories, audiobook, dark-academia, english-majors, family-drama, faves, historical-fiction, literary-fiction, memoir, mental-health, non-fiction
Wow. A Gen X Must-Read!!

There are all kinds of memes out there that try to make light of what it was like to grow up in a generation whose parents famously left us to parent ourselves and get home “before the street lights came on� without bothering them too much in-between. At times, while reading, I found myself feeling nostalgic for the freedom and independence that kind of parenting style afforded us (or, as a parent myself (now), how freeing it might have been to be less entrenched in the claustrophobic parenting style we adopted when raising our own). I liked the story’s resistance of nostalgia, even though its set-design is littered with surprisingly wonderful ephemera (Charlie perfume, Members Only Jackets,—InTelevision!). But nostalgia is just memory without the pain, right? Playworld obliterates any “good old days� tropes (thank God). It seduces us into taking a peek backstage and punctuates scenes with the unfettered pain that often accompany actions in verboten spaces. I, for one, felt validated by the discomfort that never gets airtime—especially in the coming-of-age genre epic.

Ross� book is populated with characters who emulate the complications that arise when the power dynamics of order are less defined by expectations by positions of authority (parent/child; teacher/student, coach/player; older/younger sibling; doctor/patient; president/constituent) while raising uncomfortable questions about power itself through the experiences of people who endured the fallout from switching positions. I was particularly moved by his portrayals of vulnerability; his characters regularly defied tired gender tropes of strength and weakness. Are you strong because you endure pain without bothering your parents? What does it mean for a father to rely on his children to pay his family’s rent? Doesn’t every young man secretly lust over a teacher, a friend’s mom, a mother’s friend? A disciplined athlete follows directions from his coach, but what if that coach manipulates his position for his own weaknesses? Shouldn’t a young man’s masculinity be elevated to hero level if he achieves these fantasy positions so early in his life? I loved the story’s resistance to easy answers to all of these questions. And though it took a long time to write, somehow the timing of its publication seems perfect. The prose is downright gorgeous, and the imagery hits all of the senses: music (operatic to jingles), scent (the inside of a rubber suit to L’air du Temps), sight (his description of sailors� eel-ing vomit will stay with me), touch (too many to list—the scary & the sensual), and taste—really—hunger. The denial and gorging of food left me breathless (and hungry).

This is such a big book. I’m still trying to process it. I started reading the hard copy, but after hearing the author read, I bought the audiobook and listened. I loved the way Ross read it and marveled at his capacity to capture the intense and quiet moments with perfect tension/tenor. I know it is semi-autobiographical and often wondered what parts were difficult to read out loud; which parts may have felt righteous. I was genuinely sad when it ended, and I hope he writes a sequel—with a request that it comes out a bit sooner than Playworld did! ]]> Comment288556901 Fri, 21 Mar 2025 06:58:34 -0700 <![CDATA[K Reads made a comment on K Reads ’s status]]> /read_statuses/9182518230 K Reads made a comment on K Reads ’s status

I’m obsessed. It is so so good. Highly recommend!!! ]]> ReadStatus9182518230 Thu, 13 Mar 2025 11:57:08 -0700 <![CDATA[K Reads is currently reading 'Playworld']]> /review/show/7400440938 Playworld by Adam Ross K Reads is currently reading Playworld by Adam Ross
]]> ReadStatus9016587572 Sun, 02 Feb 2025 14:54:47 -0800 <![CDATA[K Reads started reading 'The Bright Sword']]> /review/show/7116739426 The Bright Sword by Lev Grossman K Reads started reading The Bright Sword by Lev Grossman
]]> ReadStatus8807035900 Sat, 28 Dec 2024 15:48:43 -0800 <![CDATA[K Reads started reading 'The Silent Woman']]> /review/show/5109919669 The Silent Woman by Minka Kent K Reads started reading The Silent Woman by Minka Kent
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