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Hi everyone!

Sorry I'm late again, keep being busy busy busy.

This week I finished:

Slade House - ATY's book that is scary or intimidating. I don't like horror so i went for more creepy. I also didn't feel like tackling some immense tome of book. It was a decent ghost story, interesting style, pretty creepy. Might read the next if I find a deal/at the library.

Ship of Theseus - FINALLYYYYY. It was a really interesting read, and the book itself is gorgeous. But it was not really fast, or an easy read for relaxing. I was a little let down by the ending, but it might be the sort of thing I have to read through again, putting all the notes in chronological order. That' a project for later. This counts as ATY's book with an unusual format.

Monstress, Vol. 3: Haven - Finished up this, it's really good. The art is lovely, and the story is compelling.

Currently reading: Quicksilver - THis is for ATY's book from the first 10 books on your TBR list. I didn't like this prompt, I don't really keep a tbr list, much less one in any sort of order. I went for "book that has been on my shelves for ages unread". I DNFed this years ago, but it's an author I love so decided to get it another try. Not really liking it any better this time around, oh well. Once this is done, I'll be finished with all my challenges, and can read whatever I want!

QOTW:

Related to my earlier comment, do you all keep TBR lists? It seems to be common over at popsugar, people reference it all the time. People saying they don't keep up with new books because their tbr list is too long, or trying to remove books from their tbr list etc.

If I want to read a book, I tend to read it. I mean sometimes it takes a while if I can't find it on a good deal, and my library doesn't have it digitally. My physical library is a bit of a pain to get to, so that's usually a "ok I can't find this anywhere else" last resort to order it through the library loan. So sure there's a bunch of books that are nebulously "books i want to read", but nothing I keep actual records from or hold myself accountable to. Even for challenges, there might be a handful I plan in advance, but that tends to be books I was planning on reading already but they happen to fit a prompt so I save them.

Happy reading everyone!

This week I finally finished Neverwhere! How long it took me to get through it is not a reflection on the book itself, but rather the fact it was the small softcover I carried everywhere just in case, so I read it in bursts of 5-10 minutes here and there. Neil Gaiman's humor kind of reminds me of Douglas Adams, who's one of my all-time faves, so I'll definitely be working my way through his entire bibliography. This fills my "book received as a gift" prompt, since it was my FoE Bookflood book (are we doing it again this year? I do hope so!). I'm at 38/40+10/10 for Popsugar.

I also finished The Dark and Other Love Stories, which was ok. I suppose I prefer my short stories with more of a twist. These just seem to fall flat to me. This fills the ATY award-winning short story collection prompt, putting me at 44/52.

I've planned out a number of the remaining prompts, but I can only access the e-book, not the audiobook, which is slowing me down as I tend to listen to books on my 8-hour road trips to see the boyfriend. Today I started Mr. Mercedes for the ATY Edgar winner prompt. That should keep me busy for a while (I think it's 14 hours long).

I also picked up two used books, which will be going into the TBR pile: My Boring-Ass Life: The Uncomfortably Candid Diary of Kevin Smith and Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood. I would have loved to listen to Trevor read it, but this will have to do.

The two major book fairs I go nuts at every year are in October, so I'm trying to bring down the TBR stacks to make room for this year's haul! (They're both fundraisers, so I usually donate back the books I've read and don't care to keep.)

QOTW: I don't have a TBR list. I have, over time, accumulated the aforementioned TBR stacks, as well as a private wish list on Amazon, "Want to Read" suggestions on here, and a wish list from my library. I really should consolidate all that. I go through those first to fill in prompts. So like you, Sheri, I would have translated that prompt to "this has been sitting here forever".

Danielle, I gave Neverwhere for my book flood too! :D It's such a good book, and I always feel like it's underrated. Usually when people talk Gaiman they talk American Gods, or Sandman or Good Omens if they also love Pratchett. But Neverwhere is so great and slightly creepy. If you can find it somewhere, BBC radio did an audio drama of it that's fantastic. I'd check BBC radio's website this Christmas, they often do a special audio drama presentation, and often have older ones available for free streaming during the holidays. They've done Neverwhere, Good Omens, Anansi Boys, Small Gods, I think a few others.

This week I read The Fifth Season after she won the third Hugo for the third part of the trilogy. I liked it but took awhile to get through. I understand why it won, the language is beautiful and the structure of the book is clever, but it's a little too apocalyptic for me. I was hoping to be satisfied enough at the end to not read the other two but I'm not. I waited until all three were available before I started, but I think I need a break before hitting the next one.
I guess my library wishlist is sort of my TBR. It is so nice to have available when my library pile gets low.

Kathy, I don’t know if the series gets s less apocalyptic per se, but I found the next two books more engrossing than the first. I think partially because the timeline thing was resolved and less confusing

This week I'm still reading Get Well Soon: History's Worst Plagues and the Heroes Who Fought Them. I am very much enjoying this book about plagues through history. Each chapter focuses on an individual, if one can be found, who had a large, positive impact on that particular plague. It goes in chronological order and I'm up to about the 1960s. I have very much enjoyed the slightly sarcastic style of the author while maintaining a positive attitude. If you want an interesting non-fiction book, consider this one.

I have also started listening to Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe. Someone mentioned this a few weeks ago. I don't often listen to audiobooks but will likely start doing it more. I have a neighbor that has been my walking partner up and down our street for many years. Lately she's been away very often as they prepare to move/retire to another state. So I'm walking alone and listening while I walk will be a good use of that time!

QOTW: I definitely keep a want-to-read list here on Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ. So many of you have interesting ideas and I won't remember nor get to them in any sort of timely manner. I will forget them otherwise. I pulled Get Well Soon off that list. I have no idea where the idea for that book came from but I ordered it from the library because it was the sort of book I was "feeling" at that time.

I also have a written list of various fiction authors and novels from the FoE discussions that have happened. Mostly those are romance, fluffy, feel good type books so I have that handy in my wallet when I go to the library.

Goodness--it's been so long since I've had time to make a posting here, and guess what? I'M STILL READING MOBY DICK. Gah! That's almost a month now. Partly I just haven't had time to read, and partly I just can't stand the narrator. I remember a few weeks ago someone posted about how she had a prof who loved and was obsessed with Moby Dick. Let's just say I'm not in that camp.

I'm in camp, "I see what you're doing here; I understand that it was very innovative at the time; yes, this book is still worth reading from a social, historical, and craft of writing perspective; and yes, we can ponder a lot about the human morality by describing every possible detail you can think of about whales; but holy crap, stop with all the overblown, know-it-all exposition and just get on with the story, dammit!" To be fair, I'm pretty sure the author meant the story to be secondary to the main goal of calling society out on it's nebulous morality. Still, I'm only enjoying this book from a cerebral perspective. While I don't regret taking the time to read it, I can't wait to be done it. And I'll definitely be reading something fluffy when I'm done. I have about 120 pages left. Sigh.

In the meantime, I listened to Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, which I enjoyed enough to request a hold on the next book in the series. This one wasn't for any challenges, I just wanted something to read on my way to work and when out running. While I'm stalled on book challenges with Moby Dick, finishing this book takes me to 56/60 books for the Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ Reading Challenge, so I'm quite happy I've almost reach my self-imposed reading goal for the year.

QOTW: I didn't keep TBR lists until I joined Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ, and now I do. Like Susan, I get a lot of ideas from FoE, this group, and the popsugar challenge group, and this helps me keep track of what to read next. I also find that having an eReader makes me want to keep lists because I can get access to books immediately, so it's good to have a list for when I finish up a book, and I don't know what to start next. I just call up my TBR list and see what I can immediately download from the library.

Daniele, I read Trevor Noah's book last year and I loved it. Now you've got me thinking that I should download the audio version just so I can hear him narrate it!

I suppose my TBR list is actually my library's request list. That's what I do when I learn of a new book i want to read, I search for it on the digital holds, if it's not there i put in a request and mark to be put on the holds list if it ever gets purchased. If it's a book I REALLY want to read, I'll make a point of getting it physically through the inter library loan, but just ones that sound kind of interesting, it's fine if i don't get to it for a few years by the time my library gets it.