Way back in November I made this post predicting what I thought were going to be five 5-star reads for me. It took a little longer than I thought, but I’ve finally read all five, so here’s my update!
Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis: ★★★★★
The Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie: ★★★★☆
Days Without End by Sebastian Barry: ★☆☆☆☆
Medea by Christa Wolf: ★★★★★
Asking For It by Louise O’Neill: ★★★★★
So with one glaring exception, I mostly did pretty well! Three 5 stars and one 4 star aren’t half bad. The notable exception, obviously, is Days Without End, which took me the better part of five months to read, and which I did not click with at all. But Till We Have Faces, Medea, and Asking For It are all extraordinary books that I’d highly recommend!
And since I think it’s fun trying to predict my own tastes and this is a relatively stress-free exercise, I think I’ll do it again!
ROUND 2:
How to Be Both by Ali Smith: I’ve never read any Ali Smith which seems to be a crime in certain literary circles, so I’m really looking forward to this. What’s particularly noteworthy about this book is that it’s split into two halves, and half the copies are published with one character’s POV first, and the other half start with the other character’s POV. So I’m really excited to see how that’s going to work, but I have a feeling I’ll like it.
A Natural by Ross Raisin: I recently had this recommended to me by a friend who’s usually stingy with her 5-star ratings, but she hasn’t stopped raving about it. It’s about an English football player coming to terms with being gay, and I’ve been promised that you don’t need to know the first thing about sports to enjoy it.
The Quiet American by Graham Greene: This just seems like a good book? I’m interested in the Vietnam War, and after reading so many contemporaries lately I’m in the mood for a classic.
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid: I’ll be honest, I barely even know what this is about. But I’ve had it recommended to me more times than I can count, and I have heard nothing but good things. I’m pretty excited.
I’ll Be Right There by Kyung-Sook Shin: I usually have pretty good experiences with Korean lit, and I have a feeling this is going to be an intense emotional roller coaster, and I haven’t had one of those in a while.
I tagged a few people to do this last time around so I won’t tag anyone this time, but I encourage you guys to join me and make some 5 star predictions!
pace, amore, libri 
I haven’t read any Ali Smith yet either, but I’m very intrigued by her work as well.
Good luck with your predictions!
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Oh good, I’m not alone! The more I delve into booktube the more convinced I’d become that I’m the only person who hasn’t read Ali Smith yet.
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Good job guessing this last round, you were pretty much on point! I really hope you love How To Be Both. It’s a really great book and a good way to start reading Ali Smith. I also recommend her novella Girl Meets Boy. That one really took the cake for me 😊
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I’m really excited about Ali Smith! And I’d love to read Girl Meets Boy since I’m very interested in Greek mythology retellings. Autumn and Winter sound fascinating too – I hope I love How to Be Both so I can start my Ali Smith journey!
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Wow 3 out of 5 is really good! I’m hoping The Seven Husbands will be a five star read too, really excited to read it 🙂
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Everyone I’ve talked to about it absolutely loves it, so my hopes are pretty high! I think I’ll start it today.
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I’m sorry Days Without End was such a disappointment, but so glad that you made it through! I’ve still only read two of my five star read predictions (or 4.5 or 5 stars in my case) but so far I’m two for two. I really must get on the rest!
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Thank goodness I am finally free! And YES you should get back to your predictions, I want to see how it goes!!
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It’s always so disappointing to find a book you hope to be amazing ending up being bad 😦 I’ve heard mixed reviews about Sebastian Barry.
Personally I don’t think I’ve ever read any Korean literature. I love emotional books, can’t wait to see if I’ll Be Right There ends up being your favourite, and hope you’ll write your thoughts about it in the future.
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I always feel so betrayed when there’s a love-it-or-hate-it book where I’m CONVINCED I’m going to love it but I fall on the ‘hate it’ side. (See also: Wuthering Heights.)
If you don’t mind fiction that’s a bit weird and very dark, I’d highly recommend checking out Han Kang! And I’ll definitely review I’ll Be Right There when I get around to reading it, I really hope I love it.
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You did so well! That is very impressive. I still have not read most of the ones on my list. I really need to remedy that because I so want to do another round of predictions but I am making myself wait until I have read the ones on my first list.
Also, I am very much looking forward to your thoughts on I’ll Be Right There because that sounds like it could be amazing!
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Yes, you do, I’m looking forward to seeing how you did with your list!
I’ll Be Right There has been on the TBR for so long and I’m excited that I’ve finally given myself an excuse to read it.
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