ŷ������

I'm so glad to hear you enjoyed it so much. I am just starting it and it is moving along slowly to me. I was planning to pause on it but I think now I will stick it out a while longer.

❤M�������� wrote: "I'm so glad to hear you enjoyed it so much. I am just starting it and it is moving along slowly to me. I was planning to pause on it but I think now I will stick it out a while longer."

I will say that I was pulled in right away, so if you're not, I don't know that it will get better for you. But I hope it does. I love Erin Morganstern's writing; her plotting/pacing isn't always the best, but that's not what I read her for. I want to re-read The Night Circus soon too.

36. I've Got Your Number
5 stars (audio re-read)

One of my favorite comfort reads. Perfect pick-me-up for quarantine life.

Charleen wrote: "35. The Starless Sea
5 stars

I have a feeling this will be a love it or hate it kind of book. For me, after a few less-than-satisfying reads, it was exactly what I wanted. I just l..."

Is the writing just like The Night Circus? That is what is stopping me from reading it. lol.

Elyse wrote: "Is the writing just like The Night Circus? That is what is stopping me from reading it. lol."

It's been a long time since I read it, so grain of salt, but I'd say yes.

37. New Kid

There's a lot to like in this. I think any kid can relate to feeling out of place, and it's a great look at some of the less overt ways that racism and other types of marginalization can be felt.

Charleen wrote: "Elyse wrote: "Is the writing just like The Night Circus? That is what is stopping me from reading it. lol."

It's been a long time since I read it, so grain of salt, but I'd say yes."

Bummmmmer. Guess it'll be on the long-term TBR for awhile.

38. Crucible
3 stars

I loved the AI stuff. There are some new characters I really enjoyed. But in the end, I just don't get the same thrill from Sigma Force as I used to. As long as he keeps writing them, I'll keep reading them, but it's so hard that what was once my favorite series has turned into just a series of momentary diversions.

39. The BFG
3 stars

This is another book I probably would have enjoyed a lot as a kid. As an adult, it's charming and fun, but not much more.

Charleen wrote: "39. The BFG
3 stars

This is another book I probably would have enjoyed a lot as a kid. As an adult, it's charming and fun, but not much more."

Awww you never read it as a child? That's too bad. It was so sweet!

Elyse wrote: "Charleen wrote: "39. The BFG
3 stars

This is another book I probably would have enjoyed a lot as a kid. As an adult, it's charming and fun, but not much more."

Awww you never read it ..."

Nope, the only Roald Dahl I read as a kid was The Witches.

Charleen wrote: "Elyse wrote: "Charleen wrote: "39. The BFG
3 stars

This is another book I probably would have enjoyed a lot as a kid. As an adult, it's charming and fun, but not much more."

Awww you ..."

The movie version of The Witches with Anjelica Huston scared the CRAP out of me as a child!!!

40. A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail
(audio)

I liked reading his experiences a lot more than the history of the trail.

41. Confessions of a Shopaholic
3 stars

Not as strong as some of her other books, but fun fluff is what I expected, and fun fluff is what I got.

42. Let's Talk About Love
4 stars

This book has a lot going on (racial issues, friendship, family, sexual identity) and I thought it all worked together really well.

43. Holes
3 stars

It was good. I might have a stronger reaction if I'd read it when I was younger, and if I hadn't seen bits of the movie so already knew most of the broad strokes of the story. I can definitely see the little man enjoying this a lot when he gets older.

44. Shopaholic Takes Manhattan
3 stars

These books aren't quite as fun as I was hoping for, and definitely not bingeable. Maybe if the character actually starts growing, instead of ignoring everything she learned last time, the series will get better. But I think I've had enough Becky Bloomwood to last me a long while.

45. If It Bleeds

This was a pretty good set of stories. I liked the title story the best, probably "The Life of Chuck" the least (the first section was really great, and then the rest of it didn't live up to my early fascination).

46. The Night Circus
5 stars (audio re-read)

Such a pleasure to revisit this magical place.

47. The Last Best Hope
3 stars

This is a prequel to the new Picard TV series, and my first time reading a Star Trek novel. Unfortunately, it didn't do much for me. It was enjoyable enough as I was reading, but (and this might have been inevitable) I got no satisfaction from the ending. I would have liked more information on certain issues, and maybe they were intentionally left unresolved for future books and/or seasons. Intentional or not, though, it just didn't work for me.

48. The Killing Moon
4 stars

This was an incredible world and magic system. Despite how foreign it all was, I felt fully immersed in the world pretty quickly. I can't wait to see how she builds on this in the next book.

Ooof, June has not been a great month by the numbers. At the beginning of the month I was voted president of the board of directors for the little man's preschool (which is somewhat ironic since he's starting kindergarten in the fall and the little miss is still too little so I won't even have a kid there this year) and between the new responsibilities I would have had regardless, AND trying to plan in the time of COVID, not to mention planning for what our fall will look like (we've yet to get any info from the district, but I've been doing lots of research on homeschooling curricula) and, well... I haven't had as much reading time as I'd like.

On the plus side, the reading I have been doing has been great. My previous book was 4 stars, the one I just finished is 5 stars, and I'm in the middle of a great audio re-read. So I guess I'll take it.

Anyway...

49. The Shadowed Sun
5 stars

A bit of a slow starter, but once the story really gets going, I just loved it more and more. The main character was so interesting to me, a bit of a trope in that "timid woman finds the inner strength she had all along" kind of way, but there was enough unique about her that it didn't feel tropey while I was reading. And of course the world-building, even more fully realized than in the first book. Just give me all the N.K. Jemisin.

50. Eliza and Her Monsters
3 stars

I was torn between 3 and 4 stars for this one. The parts I liked, I really liked. I thought the family dynamics were great, the online world and Eliza's place in it felt very real, and the slowly developing romance was cute. When I only think about those bullet points, I should have really enjoyed this story, but overall I was kind of underwhelmed. But teen me would have absolutely loved it.

Charleen wrote: "Ooof, June has not been a great month by the numbers. At the beginning of the month I was voted president of the board of directors for the little man's preschool (which is somewhat ironic since he..."

Congrats! That is funny that you won't even have a child there. lol. Right, who knows what fall will look like?! Such a crazy time.

Jemisin is AMAZING at world-building. I wasn't blown away by The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms but I did love her world-building. I also think audio wasn't the best format. I enjoyed the narrator but I think I need to read it to absorb it better.

Okay, mid-year check in.

I'm currently 20 books ahead. I'm not going to double my numbers so far, because the rest of the year is going to be a hot mess. However, I'm cautiously optimistic that I can keep up my original planned pace for the next six months, and instead of using these 20 books as a buffer, go ahead and add them to my total goal.

So... 80 books, here I come. (I hope.)

Charleen wrote: "Okay, mid-year check in.

I'm currently 20 books ahead. I'm not going to double my numbers so far, because the rest of the year is going to be a hot mess. However, I'm cautiously optimistic that I ..."

Woohoo great pacing for the first half of the year!

Thanks, Elyse!

51. Millennium Rising
5 stars (audio re-read)

This book is a fusion of faith, philosophy, and politics, all blended together in an extremely intense story. I'd been wanting to revisit it for a while.

52. Joyland
3 stars

I wanted to like this more than I did. The ghost story/murder mystery felt out of place, despite being what the book was "supposed" to be about. Instead it was mostly a nostalgic coming-of-age. If I revisit it in 10 years, I'll probably get more out of it.

53. The Vanishing Half
5 stars

I enjoyed Brit Bennett's first novel, The Mothers, but I LOVED this one! There's so much here about belonging and feeling isolated and not knowing who you are and knowing exactly who you are and letting people in... just so much. I loved reading about all these characters. The time and perspective jumps were sometimes frustrating, but they were also entirely necessary and the right way to tell the story.

Charleen wrote: "Ooof, June has not been a great month by the numbers. At the beginning of the month I was voted president of the board of directors for the little man's preschool (which is somewhat ironic since he..."

I had my reading slump early this year, like around February to April. I usually have it right around June. Don't be too hard on yourself! I mean, come one, you've read 53 books this year so far. Woohoo!!!!!! That's more books than some people read in a lifetime (minus the books during early childhood).

54. Dark Matter
3 stars

This book is just one mind-eff after another. Just when I was settling into one crazy thing, I got yanked in another direction, and I don't say that as a bad thing. There's a lot to like here, but it's one of those stories that I'd like better as a movie than a book. Or since it is a book, I wish it did more with certain ideas instead of leaning so much into the action, especially toward the end.

Charleen wrote: "54. Dark Matter
3 stars

This book is just one mind-eff after another. Just when I was settling into one crazy thing, I got yanked in another direction, and I don't say that as a ba..."

Such a ride!! But very confusing. lol. I do want to read Recursion soon.

Charleen, I thought of you when I saw this!

Elyse wrote: "Charleen, I thought of you when I saw this! ..."

!!!

55. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
(audio)

Maya Angelou narrates the audiobook herself. It's incredibly powerful to hear her story in her own words. The language is beautiful, but the content is very hard. I'm glad I read it. I'm not sure I could say I enjoyed it.

56. Run
4 stars

I love it when I get completely absorbed in a book, and it's even better when I go in completely blind (a combo that rarely happens). This had some interesting things to say about family, and the majority of the book was really engaging, but I thought the ending was too simple.

57. This Is How It Always Is
4 stars

I really enjoyed this. There were some things that didn't really ring true, but since I have no real experience in this area, I don't know how much my opinion is worth. Overall it was very good, though.

58. Oryx and Crake
3 stars (audio re-read)

I wanted to give myself a refresher on this before continuing the series. I will say I could definitely follow it better on a second read. Still not sure I liked it any better, but in my initial review I wrote, "I'm much more invested in the world itself than the characters or plot," and The Year of the Flood explores more of that world, so I'm cautiously optimistic.

Charleen wrote: "58. Oryx and Crake
3 stars (audio re-read)

I wanted to give myself a refresher on this before continuing the series. I will say I could definitely follow it better on a second read. S..."

I couldn't get into the audio, I tried a few years ago. Someday I'll pick up the book.

59. A Scanner Darkly
2 stars

I just couldn't get into this. I was going to DNF, but then it started getting more interesting, so I stuck with it, but then wished I'd followed my gut. It isn't so much that it didn't deliver, but I couldn't connect with any of the drug culture, so that was distracting from what was (for me) the meatier ideas of identity and psychosis and how fragile the mind can be.

60. Don't You Forget About Me
2 stars

Realized I skipped this one, it should have been between #57 & #58. It was just sort of a blah read for me, which is probably why I forgot to post it.

61. The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper
(audio)

This is an interesting book I've been meaning to get to for a while. It's meant to restore the humanity to Jack the Ripper's victims and challenge the narrative. For me, though, it was a fascinating look at everyday life of ordinary people in the 19th century, primarily in London. The author never lets you forget why these are the women she's profiling, but the vivid pictures she creates almost overshadow that common link. They could have been anyone. But I guess that's also part of the point.

62. The Year of the Flood
3 stars

I liked seeing more of this world, but the book didn't grab me any more than the first novel did. I will say I preferred Toby and Ren's stories to Jimmy's fixation on Oryx, but the novel as a whole didn't have the same kind of impact, maybe just because it's not new anymore. Curious to see where Atwood takes this.

63. MaddAddam
4 stars

For whatever reason, this is the book in the series that resonated with me the most. It was more similar to The Year of the Flood than to Oryx and Crake, and after a mixed reaction to the first book, I'm glad I finally finished the series.

64. Charlotte Mason Study Guide
65. Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised In Brief, 3rd edition

I don't usually include reference books, but I did recently read both of these cover to cover, instead of just flipping through, so I figured I earned it.

66. The Answer Is��: Reflections on My Life
(audio)

Though it's understandable, I was disappointed Alex Trebek didn't narrate most of the book (though he does pop in now and then).

67. Crooked River
3 stars

I wasn't blown away, but there were some great moments. I wasn't disappointed, though I did think the ending could have been stronger. I'm also not sure how I feel about trading in D'Agosta for Coldmoon, as that seems the direction they're going.

Charleen wrote: "66. The Answer Is��: Reflections on My Life
(audio)

Though it's understandable, I was disappointed Alex Trebek didn't narrate most of the book (though he does pop in now and then).
..."

Oh that is disappointing. I recently purchased the audiobook.

Charleen wrote: "58. Oryx and Crake
3 stars (audio re-read)

I wanted to give myself a refresher on this before continuing the series. I will say I could definitely follow it better on a second read. S..."

I do that too. I will listen to a book as a refresher if I want to put up the series again.

68. New People
3 stars

I am so conflicted about this one. I liked it more than I expected, but I wanted to like it more than I did. The style turned me off from the beginning, but the ideas were compelling enough to make up for it, and I felt like I was going a little crazy along with Maria. But I still wanted something... else. I don't know what.

69. A Princess in Theory
4 stars

I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this. I read romance very sparingly, and in the beginning this one felt like any other. But I really liked the second half, where there was more going on than just the relationship.

70. Vessel
4 stars

This was a great, intense, fast-paced escape, perfect for right now. I'd definitely read more if there were a sequel, but it was satisfying enough to stand alone, even if I did wish the conclusion was a little more fleshed out.

71. The First Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill George Washington
(audio)

I'd never heard about this plot before (or I had and it just didn't stick). I thought the authors were trying way too hard, but it's an interesting bit of history.