Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge discussion
2017 Weekly checkins
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Week 43: 10/20 � 10/26
Olá, from sunny Algarve. this week I finished two books: A Caverna andA Última Entrevista de José Saramago. currently reading two other: O Jogador and Outlander V - A Cruz de Fogo, but alsoStroke Survivor: A Personal Guide to Recovery.QOTW: I liked that classification, seams perfect.
Hello! We also have a busy month ahead, as we are in the process of moving so I've been packing, and cleaning, and stressing like crazy. I was able to finish Goodbye Days for my difficult subject. It deals with a car accident caused by texting and driving and we follow the kid who sent the text. There was something lacking in this story for me.
I started The Raven King and I'm 50% in. I don't know what it is about these books but it takes me forever to get fully invested in the story even though its a series. I'm curious to see how this ends and then I'll be able to complete another series.
So I'm at 11/12 and 36/40, still need Q, X, Z for the alphabet.
QOTW Its so interesting how everyone rates their books. I rate the second I'm done with the book so its fresh in my mind. That's an interesting rating scale.
I was on fall break for most of the week of this check-in. Aside from taking my mom to the doctor and a trip to a wine walk, I just lounged around in pjs and read and I finished both the Popsugar and Book Riot challenges over my fall break. And it was a magnificent fall break. So here is my massive update.Books that ticked off Popsugar prompts:
Turtles All the Way Down by John Green for the author you admire prompt. I love his Crash Course series on Youtube and I respect his advocacy for openness about mental illness and care for it.
The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender for my book about food. I usually love these magic realism contemporary books (a la Sarah Addison Allen) but this one really didn’t do much for me.
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas for my book recommended by a librarian. I loved it. I sponsor a book club at school and this is their pick this month and I can’t wait to talk about it with the kids.
A Million Junes by Emily Henry. I’m using it for the book with a month in the title prompt. Fun YA to read with a nice dose of magical realism.
Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Coast Trail by Cheryl Strayed. I’m using it as my travel memoir. I read some of the more recent reviews that called her self-absorbed and stupid. But I loved the book, I don’t think she shies away from her bad choice (affairs and drugs) and she’s very upfront that she was not prepared for the trail. Plus, I totally get making ill-informed decisions while you are grieving. I’d passed up this book many times in bookstores but I’m glad this challenge prompted me to finally read it.
Cinder by Marissa Meyer. Using it for my last prompt � non-human character. This is another book that I’ve passed on multiple times. I quite enjoyed it and ordered the second one.
Books that ticked off Book Riot prompts:
19 Ways of Looking at Wang Wei by Eliot Weinberger. I’m using it for the book of poetry in translation on topic other than love. It was the same poem that has been interpreted in many different ways.
The Safety of Objects by A.M. Homes for my collection of stories by a woman. This book really didn’t work for me. I felt like the stories were shocking just for the sake of being shocking which is utterly boring.
Boyfriends by Tara Atkinson. I’m using it for my micropress book. It was ok. I’m not mad I read it but I don’t think I’d pick up another.
Perfect Days by Raphael Montes. I’m using it for the Central/South American setting with a Central/South American author. It really didn’t do much for me. Sometimes it was too creepy and sometimes it wasn’t creepy enough. I felt like it was rather uneven.
Books that don’t tick off prompts for me:
First and Only by Abbie Zanders. I don’t think I should count this for anything because I skimmed through the last third. I hated it. I kept skimming because I was hoping it would change. Contemporary romance with a too Alpha hero and a seriously stupid heroine. All their problems could have been solved with a conversation. Everyone thinks the hero is still hooking up with another woman. He keeps thinking why does my insta-love and my brothers think this but he never tells them he’s not until the end. She has a serious (super rare of course) illness that she doesn’t tell the hero about and his brothers/father know but they don’t tell him either and she ends up almost dying because she’s dumb. The ending was ridiculous. I truly, truly disliked this book.
¶Ù³Ü³¾±è±ô¾±²Ôâ€� by Julie Murphy. This is another book that I’ve passed up on quite a few times before finally ordering it and I’m glad I did. I found it to be absolutely delightful and can’t wait for the movie.
Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli. This is another book that I passed up many times but it’s one of the book clubs� upcoming books and I decided to get a head start and I’m glad the kids picked this one because I found this one to be delightful as well.
QOTW:
I much prefer that rating scale. I can acknowledge a book is very well-written and just not for me. And I love some books that are pure brain candy. They aren’t great literature but they’re fun to read.
Good morning! We are still having a gorgeous fall here.This week I finished Grave Sight by Charmaine Harris and really liked it. I used this for a book from a genre I've never heard of (urban fantasy).
QOTW: I think this is a valid way to rate books but it's not detailed enough for me.
Good morning, all! It's going to be a late summerish day with a high of close to 80 today, and then a definitely fallish weekend with highs only in the 40s & 50s. That's how we roll in Oklahoma!On to the check-in. I actually managed to finish up quite a few things this week & am feeling quite accomplished. Still behind on my GR goal, though, so trying to plow ahead.
Finished
Evergreen Falls by Kimberley Freeman. This was a dual timeline, historical mystery type of book. I got quite pulled in to both stories, one set in 1926, the other set in 2014.
I Survived the American Revolution, 1776 by Lauren Tarshis. My son LOVES the I Survived series, and we have read all of them, including the three collections of nonfiction. This was a really good one, and told about a battle we hadn't really heard about previously.
Hanna Who Fell from the Sky by Christopher Meades. I decided if I was going to have any hope of meeting my GR goal for the year, I needed to start listening to more audiobooks. I started this one last week, and wrapped in up pretty quickly this week. It was interesting, but I felt that the main character was very wishy washy and I wasn't her biggest fan.
Walt Disney World(Little-Known Facts About Well-Known Places) by Laurie Flannery. This was a book I had been reading piecemeal, because it is basically 200 pages, but each page has one fact about WDW on it. It's a pick it up, read a few pages, put it down kind of book. It was a quick way to finish off a book and add one to my total.
America Is Under Attack: September 11, 2001: The Day the Towers Fell by Don Brown. My son got this book at our library's book sale over the weekend, and wanted to read it last night. It is a very good book to introduce 9/11 to kids, but I would say kids who are upper middle school. It does talk about how many people died and some things like that, which might be too much for younger kids or older kids who are sensitive to those kinds of things. We started my son with Fireboat: The Heroic Adventures of the John J. Harvey by Maira Kalman, and that was a good one for younger kids. They both make me cry, though.
Currently Reading
The Yes Brain: How to Cultivate Courage, Curiosity, and Resilience in Your Child by Daniel J. Siegel. Will I ever finish this book? It is a good book, and has some good insights into helping your child develop their "yes brain," which basically means making sure you raise a resilient, kind, insightful child, but I'm just not much for these kinds of books. I have to make myself read it, just so I can get it marked off the list. My goal is to have it finished by the next check-in.
The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work: A Practical Guide from the Country's Foremost Relationship Expert by John M. Gottman. This is the book we're reading for Sunday School, and we're reading a couple chapters a week, so it will probably be a while before I finish. It's also difficult, because my husband and I have pretty crazy schedules, and he works on Sundays, so I'm basically reading the marriage book alone, and we don't really have time to sit down and go through the questions & activities, so I'm not sure it's really going the way it's supposed to. Oh, well. It's at least giving me some insight, and hopefully he'll get to read it soon & we'll find time to sit down together to go over the questions and things.
Bleaker House: Chasing My Novel to the End of the World by Nell Stephens. I am apparently on a nonfiction kick this week, although I don't know why. This book is mostly nonfiction, with some fiction thrown in as the author includes excerpts from her novels that she's trying to write while she's isolated on Bleaker Island. It's an interesting concept, but I'm not really hooked. This is another audiobook, though, so I just started it yesterday & am already 50% through, and hope to finish it today. Go, audiobooks!
I finished my Popsugar challenge a little over a month ago. As for my Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ goal, I'm currently at 79 of 100, which means I am two books behind schedule, according to the GR front page. I think (hope) the audiobooks and reading some shorter books with my son will help me get caught up soon. For my A-Z challenge, I still need J, V, X, and Z, plus I need to finish The Yes Brain: How to Cultivate Courage, Curiosity, and Resilience in Your Child for Y. I'll get there, but I'm going to have to really make an effort to get those books picked out and read.
QOTW
I don't know about my personal rating scale. If I personally don't like the book, I have a hard time rating it well, even if it may be written well. I'm not very objective like that, I guess. My scale is more of a 5 - Loved it, one of my favorites, 4 - Liked it a lot, 3 -Liked it okay, 2 - Not a big fan, 1 - Couldn't stand it.
Hello from Cleveland. This is our first week of true fall - cold nights, chilly days, and lots and lots of rain. I'm excited to curl up by our fireplace this weekend!This week I read Rebecca for a character's name as the title. (Side note - it was so weird to see my own name written out so many times!) I *loved* My Cousin Rachel and I *loved* the first 60% of this - it had that same creepy, foreboding atmosphere, and then it became so...mundane. I had seen lots of people saying they could see re-reading this many times, so I expected more twists or open-ended questions, and there really weren't. Plus that 20+ year age gap in the relationship was just gross. I laughed every time the narrator talked about growing old together - girl, your husband is already being acknowledged by other characters as being old.
QOTW: I like those verdicts. ("This is trash but I like it" made me laugh out loud.) I use 2* for a book I hated but can see some sort of merit in - which seems to be this is good but I don't like it - and I use 3* for a book I feel ambivalent about but would recommend to someone if I thought it would appeal to them specifically. I'm not planning to change my system, but the verdicts are a nice way to think about the enjoyment-literary merit dichotomy.
Hello everyone! I’ve been on the road � again � for work the last couple of weeks, but at least it has let me enjoy fall. Last week was in Kansas, where it was warmer than I expected, but I got to wear a jacket in the mornings. This week I’ve been in Minnesota where the evenings have been cold and today it will snow. I’m not prepared for that!I’ve finally checked off another couple of prompts after being stalled for months reading books for other challenges! I’m now at 43/52 and in progress on 2 more. I feel like the Little Engine That Could.
I finished:
The Marriage Pact by Michelle Richmond. Such a page turner, but I have no idea what I think about this book. All of the marriage statistics and studies were really interesting, but the Pact cult was so creepy!
Hallowe'en Party by Agatha Christie for a book set around a holiday other than Christmas (38). I seem to be on a Christie kick this year, with this being my 4th so far for 2017. This wasn’t as good as others, so if you haven’t read Christie before start with one of her earlier classics.
The Lying Game by Ruth Ware. The suspense slowly built, and while I figured out the who/what of the major event that occurred in the past about halfway through the story, I still enjoyed reading this.
I am currently reading:
Theft by Finding: Diaries 1977-2002 by David Sedaris. Still plugging along…I’ll probably be done with this in 2 more weeks.
It by Stephen King for a book over 800 pages (A8). Mostly doing this on audio while driving to visit customers in the middle of nowhere. It is 45 hours, so I’ve been listening for a while, but I’m enjoying it! Steven Weber is the narrator, and he is doing a fabulous job. I am down to just 10 hours remaining�
The Windfall by Diksha Basu for a book where the MC is a different ethnicity than you (31).
Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard.
QOTW: I think that is a valid rating system. I use something similar, I suppose, but I am a bit more generous with my 4-star ratings, and if I give a book 2 stars I don't like it and wouldn't recommend it.
Good morning, everyone! It's getting chilly here in Lawrence, Kansas. Finished
- Call Me by Your Name - I used this for Popsugar's "book becoming a movie this year" prompt. I listened to the audiobook, and it was gorgeous. Now at 37/40 for this challenge!
- Spectred Isle - I may slot this into a challenge if I think of a prompt it fits, but mostly it was just a very enjoyable historical romance with some fantasy elements. I wasn't planning to read it, so I'm glad a friend encouraged me to pick it up! I liked it a lot.
- Not Your Sidekick - I used this book for Around the Year's prompt of "a book you meant to read in 2016." It does such important representational work, so I wish that I'd enjoyed it more - the writing was pretty clunky, and I really had to force myself to finish it. Now at 42/52 for this challenge.
In Progress
- The Secret History - I like this book SO much, but it really needs to be read in chunks, and I just haven't had time to sit with it the past week or so. It's really good, though.
- The Wedding Date - I got this as an ARC, and it's so charming! I may wait and try to read it next year, though; it really doesn't fit any prompts I have left, and I want to prioritize finishing my challenges.
QOTW
I've written about these before! I work in a library, and I love this way of thinking about books because I so often think, "Well, this isn't for me, but I bet someone who liked XYZ would like it," or "I can tell this is only a B- example of this type of book; I would recommend it to people who generally like this type of book, but I wouldn't recommend it across-the-board." It's very useful!
Good morning! I had a train ride to and from NYC this weekend and I finished a couple of GREAT books (though nothing for the challenge).Finished: The Dry. This books was EXCELLENT. I was reading faster and faster as we got to the end and I kind of guessed some of the mystery but not all of it.... So good.
Turtles All the Way Down. Also fantastic. I read 3/4 of it on the train then finished it Sunday night. I plan to lend it to everyone.
The Boyfriend Swap. Yet another disappointing arc. I have to quit requesting chick lit, there are too many duds for me.
Currently reading: Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M.: Audrey Hepburn, Breakfast at Tiffany's, and the Dawn of the Modern Woman for my books with pictures (there's a photo spread in the middle with a lot of set pictures, etc.). It's structured a bit like an oral history of the making of Audrey Hepburn as a style icon. It's a breezy little read.
QOTW: I enjoy that system when Anne mentions it and I wish I applied it more! I sometimes struggle with a star rating because of the books that are on this spectrum somewhere.
Hi all. I FINISHED!40/40, since I finished A Night in the Lonesome October ahead of schedule. Loved it as always.
Now I'm just trying to keep up with my library holds. A bunch of stuff hit at once, and I have no hope of completing everything before I have to return some. I'm very torn between Leviathan Wakes and What the Hell Did I Just Read.
But then I sat down "just to peek at" Drama. Read the whole thing, LOL. I liked it - it was cute and relatable and *gasp* treats queer kids like normal kids.
QOTW:
I definitely notice sometimes when something has amazing technical merit, but I just don't enjoy it. These days I don't tend to read anything I think is truly poor quality, but I do happily read things that are far from High Art.
I guess my philosophy is like an inside-out Kon-Mari method: I read things that spark joy in me (while letting physical clutter pile up around my house because I'd rather read than tidy up.)
Hi all! This week has been insanely busy with work and with the closing on my condo/moving, so not much time for reading. Hopefully things will change over the next few weeks as I settle in. Finished
- At the Edge of Summer - book with a season in the title. A lovely love story set in WWI, about a boy and girl who fall in love as teenagers, only for the war and life to separate them. The author also wrote Letters from Skye, for those who've read that. I enjoyed this book more.
I'm now at 29/40 and 9/12, for a total of 38/52.
Currently Reading
- The Runaway Wife by Elizabeth Birkelund - book set in the wilderness. I'm about half-way through this book, which is set in the Swiss Alps. It's about a man going through some personal changes who is tasked by three daughters to search for their mother who has escaped to the Alps in the midst of a scandal. It doesn't have the best reviews on Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ, but I got it during a deal for my kindle, and it fits the prompt. It's so-so so far, nothing extraordinary about it.
QOTW I can relate to this rating system -- I have read far too many books that are probably trash, but I've enjoyed them nonetheless.
Mod
Nadine wrote: "Oh Sara, I loved The Big Sleep!! I was really surprised by how much I liked it, and now I plan to read everything Chandler has written. But ... I really did not like Hammett's The Maltese Falcon, e..."I love Chandler's style and am enjoying the overall writing, but I need at least one character that I can cheer on. I've been told that Philip Marlowe is that one, but I'm not feeling it. I plan to keep reading so maybe my opinion will change :)
Hi, everyone!Only one finish for me this week, and it wasn't for this challenge, Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann. It was a difficult read, full of pain and loss, but well written with a clever way of joining several stories. I bought the book on a Kindle sale several years ago, but every time I thought about reading it, I chose something else instead. Too painful! Now I'm glad I've read it, and am glad it's over.
I have 3 books left for this challenge, and they are all currently underway:
52. A book based on mythology - When They Severed Earth from Sky: How the Human Mind Shapes Myth. I'm about one-third done.
49. A book from a used book sale - What is Not Yours is Not Yours. I'm about half-way done with this one.
36. A book by someone you admire - A Call to Action: Women, Religion, Violence, and Power. This is by former President Jimmy Carter, whom I admire very much. I had it on hold at the library and just picked it up.
I'm also reading A Question of Belief, a Commissario Guido Brunetti mystery, which I have on my Kindle and I read it only in bed at night. I love the Brunetti mysteries! My last book was so upsetting that I didn't want to read it right before I went to sleep, so I started this one. And my other books are all paperbacks, which are harder to read in bed.
Question of the Week
I like this rating system! I often think about books this way, but I'd never put it down to a system before. I find the star ratings on Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ to be really difficult for me because we all approach books differently and respond differently, and rate books on very different criteria.
This week I managed to finish my "book with a red spine" Dorothy Must Die. I am relying on the fact that someone else said it has a red spine as 95% of my book experience is either audio or e-books.My current reading list is:
Indulgence in Death for "book by an author who uses a pseudonym". This is the book that sits on my desk at work to read on my lunch hour.
The Chocolatier's Wife for "book with a family member in the title". This is my kindle read for when I'm standing in line and just before bed.
From a Certain Point of View is my "book by multiple authors". I'm doing this as an audiobook for my daily commute. I am LOVING this book.
QOTW:
Pretty much I have
1. LOVE IT and will tell everyone I meet they need to read it too.
2. Like it and may or may not recommend it to certain people.
3. It was OK and I finished it but probably won't recommend it.
4. I finished it but disliked it , but could see how others might like it.
5. HATE IT but finished it (usually to fulfill a challenge category) and will not recommend it.
6. HATE IT and did not finish it and will tell everyone I meet they need to avoid it.
Well, it seems that my math skills are suffering this week - I thought I had 3 books left in the challenge but I actually have 4, and a book I read this week that I was sure fit a challenge category did not, so here I am, still with 4 left.Finished this week:
The King's Confidant by Jean Plaidy - I took a break from Plaidy's work a few years ago, but recently decided to pick it back up. I enjoyed this one because it approached the Tudor court from another angle.
Indian Scout Talks: A Guide for Boy Scouts and Camp Fire Girls by Charles A Eastman - I found this a really interesting look at Native American customs in the early 1900's, and I loved how well this guide played to its purpose, which was sharing the knowledge with children in the just created (at that time) Boy Scouts and Camp Fire Girls organizations. I found this ebook free on the public domain.
The Man in Lower Ten by Mary Roberts Rinehart - I liked this book a lot, though I rated it a little lower for my opinion of the quality of writing. I think the story aged well, I only knew it had been written in the early 1900's because of the modes of transportation.
Currently Reading:
Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination by Neal Gabler - I thought this was going to be my over 800 page book, but when I looked at the page count I realized that there's a pretty big chunk of pages dedicated to end notes and indices, so I don't think I'm going to count it. I still want to finish the book, but that derailed my progress a bit I think.
QOTW: I love this rating system - I often feel guilty for rating a book low just because I don't love it, even if I know it's a great book. I'm very likely to power through a book that is good even though I don't like it, but it's much harder to get through a book that is bad and I don't like it.
I finished one book this week for the challenge: When Autumn Leaves, which I didn't like much. I wouldn't have finished it if it wasn't a challenge book. (A book with a season in the title.)Still in progress: The Golden Compass (steampunk). After that, I will have four categories out of 52 remaining: cat on the cover, non-Christmas holiday, bought on a trip, and over a character's life span.
QotW:
I think Mrs. Darcy's rating system is better than trying to smash all the criteria for how good a book is, how readable it is, how much I enjoyed it, and how much I think others will enjoy it (especially friends who follow my reviews) into a one-to-five-star number system. But the stars give us a quick guide for deciding whether a book is worth starting, at least. So each has its merits. (I'm not that deep a thinker, to be honest.)
Hello from a cool and crisp Columbus! Y’all I am struggling with my last two books for this challenge. Once I made the connection between me being an auditory learner and the wide availablity of audiobook, I’ve been able to get through so many more books than I used to. There are not audiobook options for my last two and they’re slow burns so I’m dying. Someone please come read to me so I can focus 😂. At least I got some reading done for the book riot challenge. Exit West fit the immigrant prompt for the book riot challenge. I had this sitting around from my BOTM subscription but I just not got to it. It was quick and packed a powerful emotional punch. Related to the QOTW, I know it was good but I didn’t particularly enjoy it.
House of Many Ways was a fantasy pick for the book riot challenge. It’s the third and final book in the Howl’s Moving Castle trilogy and I’m just so sad that it’s over. I really, really loved how sweet and fun these books are and I plan on getting more of her books. My 11 year old daughter adores them too. Ita a huge shame her books don’t get more love in the states.
Writing on the Wall: Social Media - The First 2,000 Years was my book riot nonfiction technology pick. I was so mad at this prompt. I am not a techy person, and while I can work my way around apple products with ease, I don’t care in the slightest about the hows and whys nor the history of technology. But I came across this book, which fits more in with my interest in psychology and sociology and my love of social media. This is actually a very interesting book and I really enjoyed it.
So I’m still at 40/40; 10/12 with 79 books read this year.
QOTW: I do like the rating system, but I have hard time distinguishing between good and bad vs my own personal tastes when it comes to books. Like, I strongly dislike The Great Gatsby but I guess I can’t really argue with it being considered good at this point. The writing is nice but I don’t understand how anyone could enjoy those characters or the story. Oddly enough, I’m very good at analyzing shows and movies lol.
Hi all,Beautiful fall day in Vancouver!
I am so close now at 36/40 and 2/12.
I'm going to mainly focus on finishing the main challenge!!
If I get some of the advanced items, that's just a plus.
Currently reading, The Wolves of Winter: A Novel, for the prompt with a season in the title. So far, I love it. It's set in the Yukon and it is reminding me of Station Eleven -- one of my favourite reads of 2017. I have this book as an ARC.
Just a bit of planning, for the books I have left to read for the challenge! But it's kinda fun, I only have a few choices left.
QOTW - I much prefer this ranking system. On Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ, I've only handed out a few FIVE star rankings. And books that I can't decide on, I often give them longer, while I mull over a possible ranking, especially when it is three or four stars... hmmm.
Hello!I feel stuck in a bit of a reading rut. Too much going on in real life (including a move) and I can't seem to focus at all on what I'm reading. I hope my mojo comes back soon. I have 13 books left in the challenge and enough time to finish if I can manage to concentrate. I'm currently poking my way through Americanah and A Confederacy of Dunces.
QOTW: Fun question! I tend to evaluate books similarly even if I never thought of it in so many words. Books that I think are 'good but I didn't like' usually get one more star than I'd otherwise give them. Maybe it's just peer pressure but I tell myself I do it to reward good writing even if it didn't resonate with me. For me, this is the case for a lot of classics.
This week I finished 2 books. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies for a book from a subgenre that I've never heard of (Manner Punk). It was kinda fun. I enjoyed the twist on a classic. Since I wasn't sure exactly what to expect I think I was pleasantly surprised that it didn't feel like an absolutely crazy concept.
Candle in the Darkness for a book I got at a used book sale. I was pretty sure I would love this book just solely based on the author, Lynn Austin, and I was right. I tried not to be too critical of the historical time or try to find any inaccuracies and enjoy a good story. I enjoyed it so much I started watching the civil war documentary on Netflix just to refresh my understand and perspective on this tragic event.
32/40 and 6/12 overall 38/52 so if my math is correct 14 more books to go. Steady goes the course!
QotW: I would have to think about it a little more but I think it is pretty spot on. I think there is a little bit of peer pressure involved in "liking" some books especially classics.
Hi everyone, had a few wonderfully autumnal days here lately. I love this time of year!This week I finished Queen of Hearts. I picked it after the A-Z discussion a few weeks ago to try and finish off the alphabet but I still can't find an X I want to read so probably won't finish it. The book was an origin story of the Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland. I did enjoy it but it seemed to end when the story started. Like the last 3-4 chapters should have been the first 3-4 chapters, but I guess that's a good ploy to try to get you to read the sequel.
Currently reading This Savage Song. I only discovered Victoria Schwab this year and I have been making my way through everything she's written. I haven't read enough of it to form an opinion yet but should be good.
This might be the last book I read for a while. Nanowrimo is fast approaching and I try to not get distracted by reading during it or I'd never get anything written! So if I'm invisible for a few weeks, I haven't disappeared, I'm hopefully furiously writing :D
QOTW: I quite like that system. I would probably change the "future self might like it" to "past self would have liked it" I have definitely felt that before.
Mod
This week I finished three books, all published in 2017 so they would all work for that category.
How the Duke Was Won by Lenora Bell - this was recommended by a NYPL librarian, and I'm really glad because I loved it and I wouldn't have considered it if not for that rec. This book might qualify as "this is trash but I loved it."
The Refrigerator Monologues by Catherynne M. Valente - I really love this author's tweets, but I've had mixed feelings so far about her books. This one was just ok. I wanted all the stories to build up to something, but they didn't, it was just: "so I met this guy, and then I died, and here I am in the Afterlife now. Cheers!"
She Rides Shotgun by Jordan Harper - OMG I LOVED THIS BOOK SO SOO MUCH!!!!! This gets ALL the stars. My favorite book of this year. The last book I loved this much was All the Ugly and Wonderful Things.
QOTW I really like these categories and I do think of books this way, but I never broke it down like this. I agree with all of them except the one that's "I might like it if I persist." If I have to work to like a book, then I don't really like it much.
My Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ rating system is all about how much I enjoyed the book and not really about how well written I think it is, though.
Hi everybody! It's been a bit busy so I'm updating for the last two week's worth of reading. Sailing Alone around the World: This was good, but also not at all impactful. You would think that doing a solo circumnavigation of the globe in a sailboat would involve at least a few harrowing moments, but no not really. It's well written, which is great, but most of the book is just him saying how wonderful it is to be at sea, how great his boat is, and how nice everybody is to him at all the ports he stops at.
Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore: 4 stars.
Meddling Kids: This a humorous thriller-ish homage to Scooby-Doo and Mystery Inc. The basic premise is that the now-adult members of a teen detective club get back together to tie up the loose ends of their last case. It was fun and weird and I liked it a lot.
Turtles All the Way Down: The long and short of my review is that John Green does a really excellent job of showing the reader what it is like to have an anxiety disorder, but the characters and plot are pretty average YA. I don't agree with either the people calling it a masterpiece or the people saying it's garbage. It's just an average YA novel.
...And that's about where I ran out of steam. I started If We Were Villains because it was Spookathon and I was overambitious, but I only got about 40 pages in. I need a little break and then I'll pick it back up.
There's a bunch of books I'd like to read before the goodreads awards voting starts, but I think I'll be lucky to finish 1 book in that time.
QOTW: I try to keep things like this in mind when I'm reviewing, so that especially if I'm giving something a low score, I'm clear whether I personally hated it, or if I think it's so poorly written no one could like it, or whatever. Somebody else said there's a lot of pressure to like classics, and I think that's totally true. I would even go beyond that though and say there's a lot of pressure to say that classics are high quality when there's some that definitely aren't. I have no qualms about giving a "masterpiece of literature" a 1-star if it deserves it. Lord of the Flies, I'm looking at you.
Dani wrote: " Like, I strongly dislike The Great Gatsby but I guess I can’t really argue with it being considered good at this point. "I teach The Great Gatsby to juniors and last year I was doing my cafeteria duty and one of the juniors set down at the teacher table and said he had finished the book and asked if it really was considered an American classic. I said yes and asked why he was asking and he said, "they are all just horrible people. There's not a good person in the story. At all." And then he just got up and left.
Chrandra wrote: "Dani wrote: " Like, I strongly dislike The Great Gatsby but I guess I can’t really argue with it being considered good at this point. "I teach The Great Gatsby to juniors and last year I was doin..."
It's almost like, maybe, possibly, that was part of Fitzgerald's point...
I hit my 200 books for the Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ Challenge this past week - maybe about 40 or so of those are picture books and maybe another 40 are graphic novels or short stories/novellas, but it’s also considerably more pages than I’ve read since joining Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ, which was what I was aiming for - I’m on a short book kick because I find that being able to finish things in a shorter period of time when I have less actual reading time is key to me not just wandering around the Internet aimlessly instead. But I’m pleased to have hit it anyway!Six Months, Three Days - I loved All the Birds in the Sky and when I got another library card for a nearby library system, I happened across this short story. She has several other shorts but so far no others in any of my libraries. The idea behind the story was intriguing.
Leviathan - Basically, I like hearing the Scottish accent and Alan Cumming narrates this. He’s a bit overly dramatic for me but it was a fun listen. I saw in other reviews that their are pictures in the book, so I borrowed the ebook to glance through them but haven’t done it yet.
±á´Ç°ù°ù´Ç°ù²õ³Ùö°ù - This month’s book club read and I didn’t pay attention to the hold date so I ended up reading it all one evening until 1 in the morning. Super creeped myself out.
Bronx Masquerade and Teenage Diaries: Then and Now - I downloaded all the free summer audios but didn’t listen to them. Lately my phone’s been squawking about being low on space, so I thought I’d power through some of the shorter ones. These are clearly from the same week, since they are basically the same idea - what a teen thinks of their life/challenges. I preferred the non-fiction selection.
The Metamorphosis - another short audio to clear my phone, plus it’s weird that I haven’t read any Kafka yet. I enjoyed it. He’s a weird guy, Kafka. But in a good way.
Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood - I really loved this. I found it quite insightful about race relations and segregation without trying to be. Trevor’s life is fascinating. I wish I’d had access to the audiobook but apparently it’s an Audible exclusive.
Wishful Drinking - Listenig to Carrie Fisher after her death is emotionally challenging for me. We lost an amazing author/entertainer when she died.
Binti - This was so refreshing - finally a space story that isn’t just another white guy astronaut. I loved the details about Binti’s tribe and the idea of the university. The jellyfish aliens were interesting too. I can’t wait to get to the next book, which is on hold as we speak.
Currently I’m listening to Shadowshaper and loving it - I’ve already put the short stories and the next in the series on hold. For ebooks, I briefly started Little Fires Everywhere but to finish it before it expires, I would have had to be totally sucked in and have read a giant chunk of it and that didn’t happen. So I returned it and haven’t yet picked a next read. I think this weekend will be super busy with Halloween activities and so maybe I’ll just do some audio until next week.
QOTW:
- I can see this is good and I like it
-I can see this is good but I don’t like it
Yep, I totally agree with these. For me, these are 4 and 3 star reads. 5 is I can see this is good, I like it, and I read it at the right time so it blew me away.
-I can see this is good and, though at present I don’t like it, I believe with perseverance I shall come to like it
For me, this is I can see this is good and I didn’t read it at the right time. This is another 3 star type of read for me.
-I can see that this is trash but I like it
-I can see that this is trash and I don’t like it
This doesn’t quite work for me. I think there is actual trash and then there is something that’s maybe just silly and/or formulaic. Actual trash is either sexist, racist, homophobic or just really bad writing. Actual trash I hated. I probably finished it but because I hated it so much that I wanted to rip it a new one in a review and be able to say I hated every last page. This is my 1 star.
But for me there’s also silly/fun reads. They tend to be formulaic - often I find this with series books, like the vampire books by Lyndsay Sands. I also tend to think this of very plot driven books, like some action/mystery books. If I like them, they are going to be 3 and maybe even 4 star books, depending on my mood when I go to rate them. If I didn’t like them they will be 2 stars.
Seems like everything is still the same here in NYC - still waiting for cooler weather and autumn (Central Park is still green, with minimal tree color change -so odd). Still really busy with work and conferences. Still plugging away at my last challenge book - that 800 page gorilla. I'm at about the 40% mark in Hunger’s Brides: A Novel of the Baroque. This is not a quick easy read as it's told from at least 4 different narrators between 2 distinct time periods, and oh, there is poetry interspersed (think Possession alternating between 1990s Calgary and 17th Century Mexico) - and it is over 1300 pages long. Yeah, I did not pick 'easy' for this category. I get most of my reading done as I commute on public transport, but this week was not a good commuting week - too many cabs taken. I am really enjoying it, but it is a challenge!
QOTW: I do rate books on GR, and obviously there are books I rave about and recommend to everyone I know, and books I read for fun and escape, or because it is a subject, location, style I always adore. I don't really rate them all that scientifically. Some books grab me in the first couple of pages. Others take a while for all kinds of reasons. I am bothered by poor writing or poor editing (which is an increasing problem on ebooks -- I so want to mark them up and send them back with a note to the copyeditor saying 'I just did your job for you'). I am also bothered by books with no real sense of place or time - or just don't hang together and provide a reading experience of some kind (The White City fits this last category - I do not understand why it was even published let alone translated into English!). I don't have to like the characters, the plot, or agree with the POV to thoroughly enjoy a book and recommend it (The Ice Beneath Her fits this). I read for all kinds of reasons, so all kinds of books -- well written and not so well written -- give me pleasure.
Sara wrote: "Good Morning/Afternoon/Evening everyone! I hope you are all having a great week. We have a busy month ahead in my house with two birthdays, a big day at the orthodontist plus the beginning of the h..."Happy Thursday! I'm in windy Fort Collins, where yesterday it was 80F and today we're slated for "wintry mix." I wish they wouldn't call it that. It sounds like a holiday snack or perhaps a packet of instant cocoa, and then I am bitterly disappointed.
I'm trying to get ready for both NaNoWriMo (starting next week) and Mile Hi Con (starting tomorrow) and also hoping to get a variety of things accomplished while I'm in Denver, like an IKEA run and dropping off my first full-size violin with an artist for transformation into an objet d'art. I'm really excited about that! But I haven't accomplished as much reading as I would have liked. The only thing I've finished was Baking with Kafka, which was highly amusing and I recommend it to any and all book nerds. Especially of the NaNoWriMo variety.
QotW: I like the Modern Mrs Darcy system, but it's missing the one I would likely use frequently: I can see that lots of other people think this is good, but I can see that it is trash (and I don't like it).
I often find myself in situations where I'm forced to use a 10-point scale, and I've noticed I can get really weird about assigning rankings that way. I end up giving something an 8.75 and then I'm all, what does that even *mean*?? Oddly enough, the Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ scale in all its 5-star simplicity works really well for me. If I start hemming and hawing about whether it's a 3-star book or a 4-star book, I just ask myself, did I like it? Or did I *really* like it? And there's my answer.
Then there's my friend Caitlin. The best part of book club is when it's her turn to rate the book. She compares it to food. I think one read was "like eating a bag of Skittles."
Greetings from Book City, where it really is quite lovely and Autumnal this week.I'm getting close! I finished the advanced challenge this week putting me at
36/40 - 48/52
I had been listening to The Lost Hero for one of the myth books but the narrator was HORRIBLE. I gave up halfway through, after 8 hours, and returned the book. I'll clearly need to read these myself.
I found myself killing time in an uninspired branch library the other night, and browsed the shelves looking for inspiration. I did find a picture book, Pandora's Box: A Greek Myth about the Constellations, which I didn't enjoy. It is a book based on mythology, but if I have time to read a better one I'll replace it on the list.
I enjoyed the newest Peter Clines book, Paradox Bound. It isn't tied to the two I read recently but did, thankfully, have the same narrator. I do like Ray Porter. This doesn't fill a prompt for me.
Biggest news is I finally finished the print book I've been lugging around for three months! The Sisters Brothers is my family member book. It also has a fantastic cover. It's two cowboys in front of the moon! It's a skull! It's one of my favorites.
Currently reading:
The Sorceress (The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel #3) which will end up as one of the myth prompts.
Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg is the remaining print book I need to focus on finishing now.
QOTW:
This is a bit how I think of it, although I don't usually consider books "trash." I also rarely think about how well written they are. I found The DaVinci Code to be a fun puzzle adventure, even though a million people call it garbage. It's not that I ignored the garbage, I just don't see it. I guess my not having been an English major pays off in being able to enjoy a fun story without angsting over it's structure, or whatever it is people are seeing that I don't.
I will, on the other hand, see flaws in films. I'll catch a bad edit or predict camera angles. I'll also spot craftsmanship most people don't consciously notice. I've left theatres gushing about sound design. I will usually find something I like in most movies, though. "I didn't like that movie but it had amazing costumes."
In both mediums, I do consider both how much I enjoyed it and how "good" I think it is. I clearly just have a less critical eye with books.
Hello all. Even though I’ve already finished the challenge I’ve missed check in Thursday too much not to participate some still.Things are a bit tough for me recently. The house I live in is still in shambles from flooding during Harvey and I’m losing my job in January. Could be worse though and I’ve tried to focus on good self-care which for me means lots of reading!
I discovered Book of the Month Club through the What Should I Read Next podcast and am loving it so far. I’ve enjoyed getting back into “analog� reading and I love getting a subscription box that I can really get excited about. I think having the choice of five new books or skip the month is really good for me. I think I benefit from the curation.
I am currently reading three books.
The Male Factor: The Unwritten Rules, Misperceptions, and Secret Beliefs of Men in the Workplace on audio.
The Four Tendencies: The Indispensable Personality Profiles That Reveal How to Make Your Life Better as an ebook.
The Power for one of my BOTM picks.
QOTW- I’ve heard Ann talk about this on her podcast and I think it’s an interesting system. I’m not sure I’d feel comfortable labeling any book as trash though. I can strongly dislike a book and think it’s really bad but “trash� seems like a bit much!
Kristina wrote: "This week I managed to finish my "book with a red spine" Dorothy Must Die. I am relying on the fact that someone else said it has a red spine as 95% of my book experience is either audio or e-books."If it makes you feel any better...
Hey people,Still sunny in Austin, TX - a bit more chilly in the mornings though. Can't believe we'll have to go back to Paris in two month!
Finished one book for the (advanced) challenge:
�2. A bestseller from 2016: Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid's Tale , Anchor Books, 1998 (1st ed. 1985).
Somehow, this 30-years old book made it to the NYT bestellers - because of the TV show, I guess. I definitely liked having a not-new book for this prompt! This is a very well written book, and quite a page turner. Quite unsettling obviously... Some narrative devices feel a bit phoned in though. Still, a very good dystopian novel.
I'm now at 11/12 for the advanced challenge; still 32/40 for the regular one.
On the alphabet front: still lacking books for letters K, Q, X, Y, Z.
QOTW: I like the way this system has multiple scales; like many others I'm not fully comfortable with the trash/good scale though. Maybe I could use a easy/hard read criterium instead, which would be pretty much orthogonal to the enjoyment scale.
I finished 3 this week, one each of audiobook, ebook, and paper. The Sellout is a good one for the QOTW rating system. Parts of it I liked a lot, but much of the time I was pretty confused and feeling like it was going over my head. The narrative structure was difficult, bordering on stream-of-consciousness. But I see why it was well received by critics. The narrator was great.
Three Bags Full was a wonderful premise (“the best sheep detective novel ever�) and the sheepy characters were great. I had a hard time getting all of the plot, because the sheep POV meant that some information got garbled in translation. But that is also one of the cool things about the book! I think I admired it a bit more than I enjoyed it. My husband loved it, and read it in a day right after I finished. That’s a win!
The Pearl Thief turned out to be a kind of cozy mystery and a bit of origin story for Code Name Verity. I liked it, and enjoyed the writing a lot. I also like this author for writing about same-sex attraction as no big deal, like any other character detail.
QOTW: I like the idea, but there’s a lot of space between “good� and “trash�. I’d like to rate on 2 axes, one of how much I enjoyed reading the book, and one on the quality of the writing. Both of those are a spectrum, not a yes/no for me. For example, I think I’d give The Sellout a 3 for my enjoyment and a 4 or 5 for quality. Reading back, I think I am in complete agreement with Christopher in the comment right above mine!
¹ó±õ±·±õ³§±á·¡¶Ùâ€�.Tangles: A Story About Alzheimer's, My Mother, and Me â€� (book from a sub genre - Graphic Pathographies -- illness narratives in graphic form)
This book was really wonderful. The details are not all the same, but I am also the daughter of a women with Alzheimer’s. Reading it felt like someone understood what I have gone through. I had to read it in small chunks because it made me cry. It made me want run to my mom’s place and hug her, then thank the author.
Pashmina � (book published in 2017)
I have been excited about this ever since Nidhi Chanani announced she was writing a graphic novel. It is no surprise that the art was beautiful and she did a nice thing where she used color to differentiate between a magical realm and the real world. It was also a nice look at both Indian culture and strength of women. I hope she writes more graphic novels.
A Man Called Ove � (a book that takes place over a character’s life span)
So, it may not have a been strictly a life span book, but you do get a picture of the character through out his life. (This late in the year, I will count it!) People have mentioned the book so many times on is this group, I was worried it might be over hyped. I found it to be delightful…and it helped that I read much of it with my kittens at my side. I didn’t know when I started reading, but this was the second book this week that included someone living with Alzheimer’s.
East o' the Sun & West o' the Moon � (non-challenge book)
Initially I was going to use this book to fill another challenge prompt. I changed my mind, but it was ready at the library, so I read it anyway.
Reinventing Comics: How Imagination and Technology Are Revolutionizing an Art Form � (for a prompt from another challenge)
I finally finished it! It was quite interesting. The book was written 10 years ago, so the last section on technology was outdated. One of these days I really should check out Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art by the same author.
I am now 49/52 for novels & 50/52 for graphic novels.
IN PROGRESS�
Outlander
The Brightest Fell (non- challenge book)
I am giving myself a little break from the challenges to read the latest book from my favorite series. (aka I am reading an October Daye series in the month of October with my kitten, October.)
QotW
Other ways of rating are always interesting. The basic stars do seem to be lacking. Sometimes I can't quite remember why I didn't rate something a little higher or little lower. Years ago I got used to rating movies in Netflix and that actually got me really good recommendations. (Of course now they have a stupid thumbs up/thumbs down rating system that is not very helpful.)
Chrandra wrote: "Dani wrote: " Like, I strongly dislike The Great Gatsby but I guess I can’t really argue with it being considered good at this point. "I teach The Great Gatsby to juniors and last year I was doin..."
Haha, I feel his pain. It was well written, but I just got nothing out of it. (Yes, I do realize that was like, maybe, possibly, the point). It was just up there with The Red Pony in terms of “good lord what was the point of putting this on paper�. But hey, I’m known to enjoy absolute trash so if someone loves that storyline, more power to them 😂
Tania wrote: "The Man in Lower Ten by Mary Roberts Rinehart - I liked this book a lot, though I rated it a little lower for my opinion of the quality of writing. I think the story aged well, I only knew it had been written in the early 1900's because of the modes of transportation...."
I had a similar reaction when I read The Haunted Lady a few weeks ago. Definitely has me planning to read more Rinehart.
Hey everyone. It's a dark day here in West Michigan - no sun today but yesterday was a nice day so I'll roll with it. At this point, I'm just hoping for mild weather for my kids' Halloween activities for the next four days.This week I finished the audio of Atonement, which I am using for "a war novel." This was my book club's pick for September but none of us read it so we cancelled book club and moved this discussion to November.
I also read The Story of My Life for a book "by or about a person with a disability." This book really surprised me. She wrote it when she was very young (23, I think) and her vocabulary and language are just amazing:
“In a word, literature is my Utopia. Here I am not disfranchised. No barrier of the senses shuts me out from the sweet, gracious discourse of my book-friends. They talk to me without embarrassment or awkwardness. The things I have learned and the things I have been taught seem of ridiculously little importance compared with their 'large loves and heavenly charities.'�
That brings me to 34/40; 3/12 - so I should be able to complete the general challenge. Still not convinced the advanced is in my future. I will have four book club books to read in November-December and at least two won't fit any remaining prompts.
QotW
Definitely like that rating system. Unfortunately, I've had too many books that were trash and I did not like them this year. Maybe there should be a sixth category: "Everyone thinks this book is amazing and I think it's trash." Catcher in the Rye, Brave New World and The Corrections: I'm looking at you!
Dani wrote: "Chrandra wrote: "Dani wrote: " Like, I strongly dislike The Great Gatsby but I guess I can’t really argue with it being considered good at this point. "I teach The Great Gatsby to juniors and las..."
I feel the same way. I read The Great Gatsby in high school, and didn't care for it at all. I decided maybe I was just too young, or maybe I just didn't get it, so I read it again this year for the book mentioned in another book challenge prompt. Still didn't like it one bit. I didn't like the characters, didn't like the story, didn't like anything about it. I get that this was probably the point of the book, but for me, personally, I can't like a book if I don't like the characters, if I have no one to root for. I'm not good at rating writing separately from my likes/dislikes, because I'm focused on how much I don't like the book & how I just want it to be over already! I like MMD's rating scale, but it doesn't suit my purposes. I read & rate more emotionally, I guess, than actually stepping back and being objective about it.
I tend to rate my books based on how I felt about them which may or may not include objectively considering the quality of the work. But I'll often clarify my feelings in my comments about my rating. I try to always make a comment if I give a 1 or 2 star rating because I think that it's better to explain so people deciding whether to read it can determine if my reasons seem to resonate with them and their tastes.
Bonjour,I finished the challenge last week with two books:
Rendezvous with Rama for the book bought in a trip. It was fun even if dated. I liked the imagination with the science.
Seconds for the food prompt. Liked it also and it made me want to read Scott Pilgrim.
Now I will try to either read some books for the advanced challenge or lower my to-read-list.
I am now reading Shades of Grey. It could work for the book recommended by an author (Pat Rothfuss). It is really fun, I am laughing out loud in the train. In the vein of Terry Pratchett or Douglas Adams.
QOTW: It seems like a good rating system but not for me. I rate my books only on how I like them or not.
This week I finished one book for the 'by or about a person who has a disability' category - Good Kings Bad Kings. I loved it - it was very hard to read at certain points, but I thought it was excellent. Books like this are why I'm doing this challenge - to push me out of my comfort zone and encourage me to read things that I otherwise wouldn't. This leaves me at 29/40 for the main challenge so I'm hoping to finish, even if I don't finish the advanced challenge.
QOTW: I like this system because I've read quite a few books that I could see were objectively well written but I just didn't like them. I don't think it correlates to my GR rating system though. That goes something like:
5 stars - I absolutely loved this and will read it again, and will probably bang on about it to everyone for a while
4 stars - very good but I probably won't re-read
3 stars - OK but with some obvious problems or things that annoyed me
2 stars - Did not like at all, but finished it
1 star - Hated it and DNF
I didn't do much of anything this past week other than work so I didn't get a lot read.The only book I finished was Cupcakes, Pies, and Hot Guys a cozy mystery and while the protagonist IS a baker, and in spite of the title, food doesn't play that big of a role if someone was looking for the food category still.
I also finished クイーンズ・クオリテ� 1 Queen's Quality manga which was fun.
I'm working on Cycle of the Werewolf which would work for a mythical creature is anyone needs that.
QOTW: Honestly that rating system is about what goes on in my head when I do rate and usually makes it into my review. I rarely just do a star review without a text review to go with it.
I finally unlocked the advanced challenge! :D
Hi from Sydney! A good reading week for me. Although the book I finished did not fit a challenge prompt, it did help me move one step closer to my 2017 reading challenge as now I just need one more to complete this!So no movement to my challenge totals:
40/40 + 10/12 = 50/52
Total books read in 2017:
59 (50 for PopSugar challenge + 9 non challenge)
Completed:
The Well of Lost Plots - this was my third read of the Thursday Next Series. I preferred reading the first two, so think I won't listen to any other titles on Audible.
Rating: 3 stars
Currently reading:
Outlander - I am 25% through this book on Kindle. I haven't really enjoyed this book and so I took a few days off from reading to decide whether I wanted to continue with it. Giving it a second chance, and will see how I go.
Taken for Dead - this is my go to favourite thriller series and provided the much needed style break from Outlander. This is the fourth title in Graham Masterton Katie Macguire Series. Early days and I'm only a few chapters in but enjoying every page.
QOTW:
I think the MMD post about five possible verdicts has it merits. I personally don't usually this method as I appreciate the whole rating of books is so subjective. But it's great if people can use this system to evaluate their books.
Hey guys,good reading week for me this week. I got through two books bringing me to 44/52. The Time Machine for steam punk. I don't really see how this book is steam punk but I saw it listed under the prompt discussion so I'll count it. If I finish early maybe I'll try to replace it. I didn't love this book but it was short.
Magpie Murders for a book recommended by a librarian. This was a good mystery book and would also work for the Red spine prompt.
Just book around holiday other then Christmas and the Hardy Potter series to go!
I finished two books this week; neither of them fit a challenge prompt. However, since I'm down to the final two prompts, that's ok with me. I finished:
* Sons of Sparta, which I was going to use for the other challenge I'm working on (BookRiot Read Harder); however, I'm second-guessing whether it fits the category (Read a book published by a micro-press). I may just stick it in there for now and circle back after I finish the other two prompts if there's time before the end of the year.
* The Unquiet Dead, which I really enjoyed. My library had a copy of the second book in the series (The Language of Secrets, so I picked it up and am already about 100 pages into the story.
I also started Evil Under the Sun, which is my book club's pick for November.
My totals remain at 38/40 and 12/12. Two remaining prompts: "a book you bought on a trip," and "a book you've read before that never fails to make you smile." After going through my TBR stacks, I've discovered that I only have two books bought on a trip (and aren't coffee table-type books) that I haven't read yet. I'll see which one I'm in the mood for when I tackle that category.
QotW:
I only recently discovered MMD and started listening to the WSIRN? podcast, but this rating system was mentioned in a recent episode and I really liked the concept! It's pretty similar to how I react to books naturally, and those reactions factor into how I rate/review a book. I hadn't really thought about it before, but it definitely resonated with me.
Another factor I consider when evaluating Books is their discussion factor. I used to teach and between that and contemplating book clubs, if I’m wavering between star ratings, a book that would inspire a good discussion will get rounded up.
Hi everyone, checking in late this week. Partially it's because I was busy, partially because i was waiting to have something to report. I needed a break from heavy reading, so I spent most of last weekend/early this week just going through my comics backlog. That means I didn't finish The Essential Dykes to Watch Out For until this morning. However, it means that I'm done with Read Harder! I counted that for my book printed on a micropress. Obviously it was a compilation, printed on a normal press. But back when the comic first started, it was printed on a micro press so I'm counting it. I didn't want to buy a random book just to fill the prompt, and my library didn't really have anything that I could find. I liked it overall, and I'm glad I read it. But man is it hard to read. It's just depressing to see how little progress has been made through the years. The compilation ends at 2008, so a lot of the worries and concerns, particularly towards the end of the book, were very familiar to today and it was just depressing. Glad to be done and moving on.
Now I'm officially done with reading challenges for the year so can just read whatever I want. Freedom!
Currently I'm readingThe Girl Who Takes an Eye for an Eye. Getting through this and one more library book and then I can finally dig into some of the books I have bought through the year and haven't read because they didn't fit a challenge/was too busy reading library books with deadlines.
QOTW:
I can see the merit of that rating system, but since most the rating I do is on goodreads, that doesn't really fit into the star system. I tend to rate books based on my gut reaction to them. I have a hard time appreciating "good writing" if I hate the book anyhow. I generally have to take other people's word for it that they say it's well written.
Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge
Books mentioned in this topic
The Penelopiad (other topics)The Essential Dykes To Watch Out For (other topics)
The Girl Who Takes an Eye for an Eye (other topics)
Evil Under the Sun (other topics)
The Language of Secrets (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Graham Masterton (other topics)Lenora Bell (other topics)
Catherynne M. Valente (other topics)
Jordan Harper (other topics)
Victoria Schwab (other topics)
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No books finished this week. I have been struggling to get through a book with a day or month in the title. I have tried three or four different books, and I am about halfway through several. I just can’t quite power through any of them though. This is not the prompt that I expected to trip me up!
Currently reading:
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling. This is a comfort reread for me. Listening on audio with less than 3 hours left.
The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler. Trying to get through this one. I can appreciate Chandler’s writing skill, but I just hate everyone! (See QOTW for my thoughts on what this means).
Still have 3 books left to go.
Question of the week:
We all have our own rules and methods for evaluating how much we like or dislike a book. Several years ago Modern Mrs. Darcy wrote a post on the five possible verdicts (based on the book The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction by Alan Jacobs). You can read her full post here:
These are the five verdicts:
-I can see this is good and I like it
-I can see this is good but I don’t like it
-I can see this is good and, though at present I don’t like it, I believe with perseverance I shall come to like it
-I can see that this is trash but I like it
-I can see that this is trash and I don’t like it
What do you think of this method of evaluating books? (Just to clarify this isn't meant to equate to a 1-5 star rating system. It's just a different way to look at a book. Even if you don't like it personally you may still be able to see that it's good. Or you could read a book that you know is low quality but you still love it.
Most of the books I read fall into the first two verdicts listed. I rarely read books that are truly poorly written, but I will often read a book that is well-written and just not for me (The Big Sleep appears to be one).