I split it into three parts. Check out my story wise reviews here

Part 1

https://sravikabodapati.blogspot.com/2026/10/the-book-of-dead-part-1-edited-by.html

Part 2

https://sravikabodapati.blogspot.com/2026/10/the-book-of-dead-part-2-edited-by.html

Part 3

https://sravikabodapati.blogspot.com/2026/10/the-book-of-dead-part-3-edited-by.html

Okay, the title is very dramatic (I haven’t read that many books so far, but I am working on it.) However, I am glad this book is a part of the few ones I have read because IT IS A WORK OF ART.
Now, I get intrigued quite easily I would say and when I saw the title and the cover of the book I just thought “I must have this”, so I ordered it and read it in a single breath (I’m a slow reader if the book isn’t interesting enough).
Now, I won’t be giving away any spoilers, but beware the book is PRETTY DISTURBING (especially towards the ending).
The whole epistolary novel in the age of internet felt so cool and different to me which actually made it even easier to read (digest not so much). The story is confusing until the very ending and the whole time I had to keep coming back to a certain part thinking I missed something important only to find out it never even happened.
Obviously, the scariest part of the whole story is how comfortable people get when you give them anonymity and how many psychopaths actually are among us.
Also, I would like to point out the fact that this books is, in my opinion, impossible to adapt into a movie or a tv show which kind of makes it even more precious.
Basically, 10/10. Would recommend if you can handle everything that happens inside those pages.

I first became aware of Walker Percy, like many others, through interviews with the historian Shelby Foote. After hearing Foote describe the close friendship the two shared, I naturally wanted to learn more about this interesting author from New Orleans.

While learning more about Percy, I discovered that he had connections to Loyola University New Orleans. I have a personal connection to the university because my father attended Loyola, following my mother, who attended Tulane.

One thing that has always interested me about New Orleans is the number of famous authors who have spent time there. I have heard this attributed to the interesting characters wandering its streets and the generally gaudy atmosphere that makes Bourbon Street and the French Quarter so unique. When I visited New Orleans, I loved this atmosphere, although I may have been more inspired to get drunk than to write a book or contemplate life's deeper questions.

Naturally, when reading about Binx Bolling and his escapades, observations, and wanderings around the city, I greatly enjoyed learning more about New Orleans and its many idiosyncrasies. One of the major themes I noticed throughout the novel was the changing nature of the South and the desire to preserve a way of life that was slowly disappearing. Binx's aunt, with her servants and traditional expectations, seems reminiscent of an earlier era that she wishes were still alive.

Throughout Binx's "search," we are introduced to a variety of troubled and complicated characters who add tremendous depth to the story. At times, I won't lie, this made the novel difficult to follow. However, I felt that this complexity was fitting for a Southern novel. The different personalities, family relationships, and personal struggles reflect the variety of people we encounter throughout our lives, particularly in a region with such a complicated history and culture.

What I ultimately took away from The Moviegoer is that it is okay to live an ordinary life without having all the answers. There are certain feelings and emotions that are necessary parts of the human experience, even when we would rather avoid them. Binx frequently describes experiencing what he calls the "malaise," a feeling of dissatisfaction or emptiness that can appear even during the most ordinary moments, such as driving his car. I think these feelings are important because, without experiencing discomfort, uncertainty, or sadness, we might not be able to fully appreciate happiness.

I would recommend this book particularly to young adults who are searching for meaning in the world and struggling to put words to emotions they do not entirely understand. Percy captures those strange feelings that can creep up during a long drive home or on a quiet Sunday night, feelings that we may dislike but must eventually learn to live with.

Some readers may not enjoy the novel's emphasis on Southern history, traditions, and culture. However, I think understanding these elements is important because they were, and in many ways still are, part of life in the South. Ultimately, The Moviegoer is not a novel that provides clear answers to life's biggest questions. Instead, it reminds us that searching for those answers, and learning to live with the uncertainty along the way, is itself an important part of being human.

My name is Kenneth (18m), and I wrote a book! I have no idea if this is where I can find readers, but it's worth a shot! If you're into paranormal romance, please check out Kiss of the Crow | Barnes & Noble®

I do not send free copies, sorry, and yes, I am upset about the price, but that's the minimum.

Thank you!!

Albert Camus once again succeeds in his observation of society in his last published work. “The Fall” follows Jean-Baptiste Clamence in his Amsterdam bar “Mexico City” monologuing about his judgemental past.

Once a Parisian lawyer, Clamence is now in Amsterdam’s red light district, which he refers to as the last circle of Hell. He considered himself noble until he witnessed a woman falling off of a bridge. He heard a splash, but did nothing.

This occurrence made him recognize that he was not noble at all, but just putting on a performance so others could praise him. Then he judges others and then himself. He becomes the judge-penitent, judging himself first so that he can judge others.

Clamence’s hypocrisy falls in line with Camus' absurdist philosophy. He lives a false life pretending to be more noble than he actually is because he cares about the judgement of others. He does not even like the other people around him, but cares about what they think of him. Self-deprication becomes his shield against a judgemental society. Nobody seems to be genuine or tries to understand each other in society.

Camus wrote, “So what’s the good of dying intentionally, of sacrificing yourself to the idea you want people to have of you? Once you are dead, they will take advantage of it to attribute idiotic or vulgar motives to your action. Martyrs, cher ami, must choose between being forgotten, mocked, or made use of. As for being understood— never!”

Perhaps people should try to be more understanding of one another. People judge way too quickly and that leads to people pretending to be people they are not. As a society we should strive to be more compassionate towards one another and take the time to understand each other more.

Absurdism shows how foolish most people act because of their fear. They treat insignificant things as grandiose and grandiose things as insignificant. I liked Clamence’s monologue and how the whole book was his stream of conscience. I highly recommend this book and the other works of Camus.

The French Illusion by John Grisham is tells of an American hunt for a group of kidnappers with unknown motives. Mr. Grisham is an award-winning, best-selling author specializing in legal thrillers.

​

You know how some books are just good reads, and then there are books that feel like something for the soul? This was definitely one of those for me.

Where do we come from? Where are we going?

What an incredible journey Dan Brown takes you on!

And the craziest part? Reading this in 2026, I genuinely feel like we're already somewhere in the middle of the future he imagined. 😂 The way technology is evolving and the direction we're heading in as a species... it almost feels prophetic. Obviously, it's fiction, but SO much of it just makes sense to me.

I loved how he brought science, religion and technology together without losing the thrill of the story. It's a thick book, but I wasn't bored for even a second.

Dan Brown has been one of my favourite authors for years, and this just reminded me why.

5/5. Easily. ❤️

Just finished reading Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult. The book is based on a school shooting in the US by a student. Fictional story, inspired by reality. This book is banned in the US school districts. I wonder why! I will recommend it to anyone and everyone.

To give you a brief idea, Peter is a 17 year old boy who has been bullied to the extreme every day of his school life. Parents are not aware. If they do get to know, they ask Peter to toughen up. School ignores in favour of convenience. His friends also leave him to be with the cooler kids.  His PTSD leads him to shooting 10 kids down and injuring other 19. He decided to stop the bullying himself. Eventually in the story, it leads to an emotional meltdown for everyone involved and a highly followed court case.

The killings happened. What led to those killings is an eye opener and why everyone should read this book. The PTSD in this book led to killings. In real world, we are increasingly hearing in news about student suicides. Whatever leads to it, be it bullying, academic stress or parental pressure, signs are there. Only if people were more patient, kind, gentle. Only if parents, teachers and even friends were ready to lend an ear than rebuke. A lot of potential bad outcomes can be avoided. It does not take a lot to genuinely ask how someone is doing than asking how well he or she is doing in life!

I am so deeply moved by the book, i would say everyone should read it. Its very interesting & fast paced with a beautifully packed valuable lesson in psychology. I'd say every parent should read it, to understand what your kid might be going through even if they cannot express it in words. Every bully should read it to understand the consequences. Every person bullied to know that there is a way out.

In our Indian society, nobody really understands or is ready to talk about emotions. Stress and anxiety is considered a myth or a taboo. Unfortunately, all of this is real. Mental health is a real thing. The sooner we all understand the better.

..ich liebe diese Schriftstellerin und habe das Werk Autobiography of Red gelesen und weitere Werke, wie findet ihr das Werk.📚📚📚

I spent most of my Thanksgiving long weekend reading The Goblin Reservation by Clifford D. Simak, and I have absolutely no regrets. Well, except that I now want to visit a university where goblins, ghosts, and other mythical creatures are apparently part of everyday life.

This book is gloriously weird!

The story follows Peter Maxwell, a professor who returns from an interstellar trip only to discover that another version of himself has already returned to Earth. And died. Which is a pretty spectacular way to find out your travel arrangements have gone wrong.

From there, things get increasingly strange. There's a mystery involving an ancient civilization, a university populated by some wonderfully eccentric characters, and enough unusual science-fiction ideas to keep a nerd like me thoroughly entertained.

What I really enjoyed was Simak's ability to mix advanced technology with folklore. You've got space travel and alien civilizations existing alongside goblins and ghosts, and somehow it all feels perfectly natural. I don't know how he pulled that off, but I loved it.

Peter Maxwell is also a refreshing protagonist. He's intelligent, curious, occasionally bewildered, and remarkably composed considering the circumstances. Personally, if I came home and discovered that my duplicate had died, I'd have considerably more questions. Possibly accompanied by screaming.

My only criticism is that the story occasionally wanders into lengthy conversations when I wanted the mystery to move forward. But honestly, I enjoyed spending time in this peculiar world so much that I didn't particularly mind.

A wonderfully eccentric science-fiction mystery.

And for the record, I think every university should have a goblin reservation.

It would certainly make campus life more interesting.

Last night I finished The Midnight Library and honestly, I had to lie down and stare at my ceiling for a bit. It made me take a long walk through my own life and really look at my regrets objectively.
What’s so beautiful about it is how it helps you without feeling like a typical self-help book. It shows you instead of telling you, kind of like The Alchemist. I loved it so much at multiple points, I had to put it aside just to digest what was happening.
When Nora inevitably chose the very life she had wanted to escape, I felt that in my soul. Sometimes the life you live isn’t the flashiest, easiest, or most comfortable, but it’s made of small choices that are uniquely yours, and that’s right where you need to be. Now, whenever I start regretting something, my mind is going to take me back to the midnight library. Such an amazing read.
Did you like about it? what did you like or dislike?
I loved the quote « You don’t go to death, death comes to you »

Today we will cover the first of the (thankfuly !) only two novels writen by Indiana writer Ethel Black Kealing, her 1910 "Desra of the Egyptians", which very few seem to have read, seeing that the only description we get of it online is that it's a "lost race" novel.

Oh no my sweet summer child, it's nothing of the sort.

It's....so much worse.

SO

MUCH

WORSE.

I bought this book during some holidays 2 years ago in Cordoba, Spain, and I kept saying I'd start reading until some months ago, when I started to slowly read it.

The beginning is genuinely interesting, how Johnatan Harker starts to realise that Dracula is actually a supernatural entity.

The building of the story is also quite interesting. We get to learn more about Dracula, and Vampires in general, through Van Helsing.

One thing that seemed weird to me is that, nights before Dracula curses Mina by making her drink his blood, it already seemed like he had already drank some of her blood. Yet Seward and Van Helsing, who had already seen the same symptoms on Lucy, didn't suspect a thing.

The ending also felt a bit rushed. In the final scene, Dracula didn't even show up, at least consciously. It's ok, but I was expecting some counterattack from him, or at least, some action (aside from turning into dust).

(Sorry if this review feels rushed or bad. Aside from english not being my native language, I usually struggle to give deep reviews).

🎃 Carve into my review of Death by Jack-O'-Lantern by Alexis Morgan, a fall cozy mystery tripped up by too much redundancy, weak writing, and a huge plot hole.

📖 Enjoy a spoiler-free review, followed by a spoiler-filled discussion with my personal annotations!

📚 Check out my other book reviews, reading topics, writing tips, and more on my blog!

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is a huge name in the literati. She has won a lot of awards, most global of which are: the Women's Prize for Fiction (formerly the Orange Prize), National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction, PEN Pinter Prize (2018), Commonwealth Writers' Prize (Best First Book) for Purple Hibiscus (2005), MacArthur Fellowship's Genius Grant.

If you don't know her she's definitely worth checking out.

She is a Nigerian novelist with a host of great books, and a leading feminist philosopher.

Her latest book Dream Count (2025) is my latest read, and it was thoroughly impressive as expected.

# Review

## Addictive Prose

Adichie is well known for her prose, and I think that's about the greatest thing about her. The ability to write beautiful prose that can make even talking about the most mundane things a great pleasure to read.

As soon as you pick up Dream Count that is what hits you. Great addictive prose. You'll find it hard to keep the book down. I think this should be the most defining quality of a writer, the ability to just be a pleasure to listen to.

## Great Plot

When you mix that with a great plot then it cannot but be a masterpiece. And that is definitely what this book was. The story was about four women and their love lives, supporting their love lives was also their backgrounds, upbringing and their navigation of life.

The sort of things these women went through in their love lives and their lives in general were so remarkable! Reading them gives you a lot of insight into the female psyche and situation. It makes you happy that a great female writer decided to take you on this journey and show you this world.

For male readers it goes without saying how great that is. For female readers I'm sure it teaches them a lot of things they didn't know and a lot more about the things they already knew. And watching all the circumstances unfold including a great showing of what the characters were thinking and their thought process, it is just a phenomenal tour.

## The Characters

The characters were very remarkable too. The main characters gave you different doorways into the female world. Chiamaka showed you a female from a rich family who didn't have to work to make money, who was just rich and beautiful right off the bat and could travel the world with reckless abandon.

Zikora showed you the world of an intelligent, more conservative woman of moderate wealth.

Omelogor showed you a woman who was from a modest background who had to work to get to the top. Who was a free spirited woman who didn't care much for commitment just the fun and pleasure of sex and satisfying her passions.

While Kadiatou showed you a woman from abject poverty who grew up in an African village, timid, conservative, and had to navigate life with those cards.

_The writer clearly started out thinking "I need four women who are different in major ways to bring about so many different circumstances and versions of the female world. " And that's how she created these four._

## Time Setting

The setting was quite a historical ride. All the way from the end of the Covid 19 lockdown to the 80s. Some of the events that happened while the characters were growing up let you know what year it was as the writer never mentioned years.

The killings in Guinea, Nigeria, the killing of Amadou Diallo, etc. events like these let you know what year it was. It was quite difficult to keep up but it was also clearly the writer's chosen means of adding a little challenge for the reader.

It can be criticized as having a good effect but also a bad effect as the reader is left guessing a lot of times and not feeling properly guided. A challenge is good but the feeling of not being sufficiently guided through a story comes off as poor storytelling whichever way you want to look at it.

There's a thin line. No challenge can feel poor, too much can too.

## Location Setting

The story was set in so many places. Lagos, Abuja, America, England, Guinea. And a lot of other locations that played minor roles.

This is a trick Adichie plays so well. She has got to be so well travelled or so well researched. She talks about places and shows her characters experiencing those places as if she knew too much and too many insights about those places. It is always pleasure to read.

Showing Guinea and Guineans was the most impressive. Beginning around the 80s up until the early 2000s, there were great descriptions of the places and great portrayals of what was going through the heads of the Guineans as the historical events affecting them happened.

As Adichie is a Nigerian who grew up in Nigeria not a Guinean it was beautiful watching her show all of these with that much detail and intelligence.

# Negatives/Less Impressives

## Less Talk About Islam

Apart from my disapproval of how time was portrayed in this book that I talked about under the "Time Setting" subheading above I haven't registered any other disapproval. But I have a couple.

Adichie took it upon herself, as she does in a number of her books, to talk about lives that are different from the ones she has lived and to give great insight into them as she talks about them.

For example the character Kadiatou is a Guinean and through her the life of a Guinean was explored and great insights given when Adichie herself is a Nigerian who grew up in Nigeria. It is mind-blowing how she does it so well.

But her not talking about Islam much in this book felt like a fail. Kadiatou was a Muslim but that didn't come up much when her life and the life of her people were so thoroughly explored. Definitely a fail as it made the exploration incomplete.

## Kadiatou's Experience Based on a True Story

After reading the book I read the "Author's Note". It was about what the author had to say about the novel. It was lovely reading about some of the things that went through the mind of Adichie while she began and wrote her book, but it led me to something that reduced how impressed I was with the story of the character Kadiatou's.

And that was the fact that the rape accusation, publicity of it, and the dropping of the case because the accuser had lied about something else was something that happened to a different real life character Nafissatou Diallo.

I had never heard of Nafiasatou until I read that Author's Note. Before reading it I was so impressed by the Kadiatou story and all the twists in it and how it ended, but finding out how much of it was from a real life story reduced how impressed I was with the story.

Because I was in awe, like such Brilliant twists and plot Adichie came up with here only to find out how much of it was real life. The way it ended was Adichie's invention and that was a great final twist but...

Basing a fictional story on a real life story does not make one a less inventive writer, but after real life takes it's glory for it's twists what is left for the writer's glory? Still glorious if the writer did a good job but definitely less for the parts real life has gone with.

So that was how my awe was reduced. Only as regards Kadiatou's story. Still a great book, though.