Thank YOU, @Mary13 ! We appreciate all you do to keep us moving forward and on track!
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In case anyone was as unaware about this new book as me, hereās an inviting review by GoodReads: Goodreads
Okay , back to Addie for a minute.
My husband is currently reading The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue. He is about a third of the way in and mentioned Addieās stories were getting a little boring. I told him many of us felt the same way at first, but it picks back up again if you keep going. Without giving the story away, I told him to pay attention to the different characters and how art connects them and also mentioned her 7 freckles and the 7 parts of the book. As I was saying all of this the 7 Deadly Sins popped into my head and, with Luc and the selling of souls, I figured there must be a connection. According to the Catholic Church the 7 deadly sins are pride, greed, wrath, envy, lust, gluttony, and sloth. These sins are easy to see in Luc, except maybe sloth? I see some of these sins in Addie - pride, envy, lust, gluttony - greed and wrath can be debated - but again, not sloth. Anyone have any thoughts? Do you think this is another number 7 connection to the story or just coincidence?
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Ah, great thought! The seven deadly sins fit in nicely in Addieās world ā hard to think otherwise when her companion is the devil. (Although to be fair, V.E. Schwab said thatās not what she had in mind when she created Luc. She said that, to her, heās a āmischief god.ā)
Re sloth, I agree that that particular sin doesnāt apply to these characters in actuality; however, in perception, it might apply to Henry. Before the curse, thatās how his family views him ā aimless and unmotivated (and also how he views himself, as his self-esteem is so low):
Henry knows he should probably get another job, because the pay is sh*t and he has twenty-one years of expensive formal education, and then of course thereās his brother Davidās voice, which sounds exactly like their fatherās voice, calmly asking where this job leads, if this is really how he plans to spend his life. But Henry doesnāt know what else to do, and he canāt bring himself to leave; itās the only thing he hasnāt failed out of yet (p. 92).
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For December: Enlightenment - December CC Book Club Selection
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Thanks to @Mary13 for all she does.
And ā¦
what are you reading in the interim?
I have three book club books sitting on the bedside table:
Identity - Nora Roberts
Beautiful Ugly
Intermezzo
I am wading through Accomplice to the Villain. The first in that series is Apprentice to the Villain and was a book club book. (I call that book club āBook Club Liteā since the books tend to be easy reads, light on discussion material.) It was fun enough for me to continue onward but now - with this one - Iām not so sure. Anyway itās hard to tell since Iām in a major reading slump and nothing looks good. Iām 100% sure thereās no way Iāll read the three book club books waiting for me. Maybe, just maybe Iāll finish one.
Anyone care to add what theyāre reading now. (Has anyone read any of the three book club books I mentioned and have any words of wisdom or encouragement for me? Truthfully, Iām leaning toward Identity because I like Nora Roberts; it seems the most likely to be a stepping stone out of the reading slump. Feel free to tell me otherwise.)
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Just finished āHow to Age Disgracefully.ā It was very silly but fun. The author deftly wove a diverse cast of characters together and tied things up fairly nicely at the end. The senior citizens in the book are the stars and several are in their 70s.
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I just read The Masterpiece by Fiona Davis. Really enjoyed it.
Also just finished The Good Sister by Sally Hepworth. Really enjoyed it, with a surprising twist at the end.
Also just finished The God of the Woods, twice. Obviously really enjoyed it.
Iām about to re-read The Book Club for Troublesome Women, which I recommended for one of my book clubs.
Also loved The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict. Historical fiction, from which I learned some stuff I hadnāt known.
Also, regarding non-fiction ā not great literature, but I greatly enjoyed Not My Type by E. Jean Carroll.
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I know that this is about a book that we read a while back, but I thought that people might want to know. Hamnet was one of my favorite books that we have read.
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I loved Hamnet. It is such a wonderful book. But Iām going to have to wait until the movie is streaming, so that I can watch it alone at home, because I know Iāll be reduced to a puddle of tears.
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I agree more Loki than Devil.
Reading? Still working my way through Robin Hobbās very long Realm of the Elderlings series. Iāve almost finished my Spanish thriller Reina Roja. There are two more and I have enjoyed this enough that I will probably read them next. Very entertaining.
I finished āThe Invisible Life of Addie LaRueā in plenty of time to join this discussion, but then totally and completely forgot about it when October 1st rolled around! Yikes!! In my defense, I have been absolutely consumed since June with working with my brothers to clean out our parentsā house in my hometown. (My brothers still live there; I donāt, which meant lots of driving back and forth every week.) Just now I was online to add my latest read to my Goodreads list and it hit me that I missed this discussion.
Anyway, I mostly liked the book, although I thought it dragged in some places. As always, I appreciate this group for all the added insights, connections, and links to relevant articles and information. I knew as I was reading the book that my mind wasnāt entirely focused, so Iām not surprised that I missed many of the points others raised. (In general my summer has been completely off kilter.) I should be more in tune with things for our December book.
As for āwhat Iāve been reading,ā I just finished āBroken Countryā for my RL Book Club. Very thought provoking although I didnāt find the main character very likable.
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Hi book lovers ā I totally missed this discussion and didnāt read Addie.
Life has taken some tough turns. My husband broke his hip, went to rehab, developed other complications, went back to the hospital, on and on ā¦ He is still far from being recovered, and my days are spent going back and forth. We might sell our house and move closer to DS and his wife, who want to help more. Thereās a lot on my mind.
In the midst of this, Iāve heard plenty of audiobooks on Lincoln, Churchill, and Captain Cook (not all together in one book, fortunately) that DH has been using to distract himself. Of the books Iāve found time to read by myself, A Guardian and a Thief by Megha Majumdar stands out. Itās short, just about 200 pages, and exquisitely written. Almost a parable.
Best to all ā¦ hope to join you again one of these months.
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@jollymama ā That all sounds tough. I understand very well what it is to have a DH who needs a lot of help. Come back when you can. If @Mary13 is still game, I imagine weāll still be here for awhile.
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@jollymama, I hope your husband continues to steadily improve. Donāt forget to take care of yourself, too! Iām sure itās been an exhausting journey.
Please keep us updated on how things are going. And please join us if you need a break, even if you havenāt read the book. You may have noticed that our discussions occasionally wander to places that have nothing to do with the text. 
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I just ran into this book in my Amazon November First Reads books (for prime members) and laughed because I thought of the discussion earlier here about whether or not Addie should have encountered more racism. Nella May makes a deal with the devil (or whomever) to escape slavery and subsequently falls in love etc. etc.
Me too! I read the blurb about it and immediately thought the plot sounded extremely reminiscent of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue. Now Iāll have to read it and find out if it actually is!
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