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Hi all, apologies for no post last week. It's...been a week. Busy week at work last week, followed by the worst storm I can remember over the weekend. Downed powerlines and trees uprooted everywhere, no power for over 2 days. Finally got it back Monday afternoon, then the internet went down just before bed and was out for over 24 hours, so I missed Monday and Tuesday at work. I work from home, and have for the last 10+ years, so there IS no office for me to pop into. Then I got some sort of back/stomach issue Tuesday night, would have called in yesterday if not for having been out Monday and Tuesday. Still not feeling great today. Just...want this week to be over.

Book Club: I put up a finished reading thread and some questions for Project Hail Mary. Feel free to check it out and post your thoughts if you are finished!

Finished:

A Closed and Common Orbit - audio re-read, I love that book!

Project Hail Mary - loved this! I put some of my thoughts on the thread for a change.

Solutions and Other Problems - this was fun, I enjoyed. I never followed Allie Bosch much when she was doing the comic, but I am aware of it and read some. I do remember her disappearing from the internet and it causing a stir, was interesting/sad hearing the reasons behind it. Reminded me a bit of Jenny Lawson style, but with comics.

Currently reading:

Fables: Compendium Two - down to the last quarter or so of this. These books are massive! Hard to believe there's still two more of these monsters. Glad the library has them, I don't think I'd ever finish the series otherwise, at my "buying the little omnibus every couple years' pace.

The Priory of the Orange Tree - not sure why i thought it was a good idea to read two massive books at the same time haha. no actual finishes this week because of it, in spite of tons of extra reading time due to all the outages. About half through it. Liking it a lot so far.

Record of a Spaceborn Few - audiobook reread, while i cross stitch and do art. This is probably my least favorite of the series, but still pretty good.

QOTW:

Borrowing from popsugar again: Have you ever come across a character that felt like they were you in fictional form?

I don't think I've ever 100% related to a character. Probably about closest was a combination of Hermione and Luna. Especially early Hermione, I had that grades obsession, following all the rules mentality. But I was also dreamy and weird and had strange interests compared to other kids. Not quite as picked on as Luna but still not as many friends as most girls had.

Whom do we lobby for the universe to give Sheri a break? I'll be writing a strongly worded letter. My week was OK, and I've got the afternoon off waiting for my sister and her husband to visit in about an hour. I didn't do so well with book selection, though - several misses this round.

Wide Sargasso Sea - PBS's "It's Lit!" did an episode on Jane Eyre and discussed this fairly extensively. I was a Wuthering Heights girl, so Rochester isn't my problematic fave or anything, but this didn't really work for me. There was a section from his perspective, but the style and tone were so different from Jane Eyre that it was hard to identify him as the same character. I think it would've worked better to keep the wife as the POV character. Also in terms of explorations of madness and misogyny it's hard to beat The Yellow Wallpaper for me.

The Kennel Murder Case - This was basically a new Golden Age detective for me (I'd read one or two short stories), and I don't think I'll be continuing. The narrator kept going on at the beginning about how the detective's particular hobbies would be critical - like, OK, you could show rather than tell that - and then the detective kept going on about how tracing the ownership of a dog would give them much more information but then he kept doing other things instead of that... It wasn't great.

Dead Dead Girls - I've been waiting for this one for a while, as I put it on hold before it came out. Sadly it didn't quite live up to my internal hype. I thought the Harlem Renaissance setting was a great choice, and the protagonist was fantastic, but unfortunately the plot kind of ran aground in the middle, floundered about for several chapters, and then wrapped up hurriedly in a few pages that left a lot of questions unanswered. I think it could be tightened up into a good movie script, and I would probably give the author another chance with this setting and character, but this one fell short of being a mystery, really.

QOTW: I can't really think of an "it me" character. There are plenty that I wanted to be like, but I think they're all cooler and/or more competent than I am. (This includes most Unconventional Princesses and such.)

I'll sign that letter, Rebecca! Sheri, don't feel bad about skipping a week...life happens!!

Since I last posted, I read:
The Dark Forest by Liu Cixin, the second book of the Remembrance of Earth's Past trilogy. I used it for the "book that makes you think" prompt because it was a fascinating thought experiment - how would humanity cope with the news that (spoiler for The Three-Body Problem behind the cut) (view spoiler)[aliens are coming to destroy the earth...in 400 years? (hide spoiler)] I'm reading the trilogy with my other GR group and can't wait to start book 3 in a few weeks.

That was a pretty heavy book, so next I picked upThe People You Meet on Vacation byEmily Henry, which was just delightful. Sort of a book version of When Harry Met Sally and exactly what I was in the mood for. I've never read this author before but I will read more! I used it for the first person prompt.

Kiddo and I finished The Blood of Olympus just in time for him to leave for summer camp (he's been gone just over a week - comes back on Tuesday - the house is awfully quiet and my 6 year old misses her big brother terribly). I used it for book with a three word title (I decided "The" doesn't count). I think we're going to keep on with Rick Riordan and read the Magnus Chase books next - at least, that was the plan before he left, we'll see if he's still in the mood when he comes home!

I've just started The Raven Tower by Ann Leckie.

QOTW: Not a book, but my mom and I were in hysterics during the opening song of "Beauty and the Beast" with Belle walking around with her nose stuck in a book and re-reading the same book over and over, because, yeah, that's me.

As a student I probably would have identified strongly with Hermione, but the books hadn't been published yet when I was that young :). At this point in my life I'm probably more of a Molly Weasley (disorganized mess but overflowing with love and don't you DARE mess with my children)!

finished Shadowed Steel and Spell or Hgh Water. now I'm reading The Woman They Could Not Silence: One Woman, Her Incredible Fight for Freedom, and the Men Who Tried to Make Her Disappear, a biography about Elizabeth Packard, who was committed to an insane asylum in 1860 by ber husband because the had the audacity to think for herself.

i'd heard about things like that happening, but this was the first time I'm reading a biography about it happening first hand (I also don't usually read biographies, either.)

also, my reading goal every year is to always read more than the previous year. last year I read 36 books. my current book is #38!! woot!

Adding that to my list - I loved The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women by the same author!

Yikes, Sheri! :( That sounds awful! I hope you're feeling better soon.

I had a few finishes since the last check-in:

I'm Not Dying with You Tonight - this was my Popsugar book that's set mostly outdoors. It wasn't bad, but I thought they could have done so much more with the concept, plus the ending is too abrupt and doesn't show any way in which the two girls changed because of their meeting and ordeal.

Love, Lies and Spies - used for my Popsugar book with a black-and-white cover. It was cute, but ultimately kind of forgettable.

The Power - my Popsugar book that has won the Women's Prize For Fiction. It was compelling and a very fast read, but also very dark and brutal. Something I'm glad I've read, but probably won't ever reread.

Some comics and manga:
Wires and Nerve, Wires and Nerve, Volume 2: Gone Rogue - graphic novel sequels to the Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer starring Iko. I really enjoyed getting to see old friends from the books.
Yona of the Dawn, Vol. 30 - One of my all-time favorite manga series, long but highly recommended. it's such a shame the anime was only one season; it barely scratches the surface of the story.
Library Wars: Love & War, Vol. 1, Library Wars: Love & War, Vol. 2 - A kind of dystopian future where censorship is rampant, and the library forms an armed force to protect its books from government raids. Fun so far.

Currently reading: I needed something lighter after The Power, so I went with The Invisible Library. Using it as my Popsugar book where the main character has your dream job, because who wouldn't want to be a dimension-hopping librarian who pulls book heists. ;)

QOTW: There's a lot of characters I empathize with and see bits of myself in, but there's not really a single character I can point to and say, that's book-me.

Sheri, I was just thinking about you yesterday because we finally went up for the Henson exhibit - I'm sorry to hear that it has not been a magical time for you lately. I'll also sign on to Rebecca's letter. :)

It has been quite busy around here, too - not nearly as much drama as Sheri's had, but family in town, lots going on at work, and the Olympics occupying all of the leisure time...so I haven't finished much in the weeks since I've checked in.

I did finish The Song of Achilles after the last check-in - I loved it by the end, once I got past that it wasn't Mary Renault and I needed to appreciate it for what it is - much more high level and emotional rather than getting into the details and continuity.

I also finished listening to A Desperate Fortune, which I really enjoyed - the narrator was great, and made a story that doesn't seem to lend itself to the audio format work surprisingly well. I just saw when I added it on here that there's a sequel, so I will seek that out.

I quickly reread And Then There Were None for IRL book club #3 - I hadn't read it in years, and I appreciated how efficient it is much more now that I've read so many knockoffs. It is what it is - a puzzle to solve, not character development, poetic phrasing, etc. - and I appreciate that in a book.

I'm currently reading Six of Crows, which has been on my TBR forever. I think I wrote it down years ago after enjoying Leigh Bardugo's Wonder Woman book, so I didn't bother to look up what it was about before starting. I'm about 2/3 of the way through, and really enjoying it - definitely one of the better "heist" type stories I've read.

Now that I'm back in the office a few days a week, I'm progressing more quickly through audio again - I'm about 1/5 of the way through The History of the United States, 2nd Edition, Vols. 1-7 (The Great Courses, Lecture Transcript and Course Guide), which has been sitting on my Audible account for years after a 2-for-1 great courses sale they had when I had a subscription. It's interesting - I was lucky enough to go to reasonably diverse and modern schools, so even as a history major I never really was forced into the Eurocentric white male landowner gaze. So this is really my first time going through U.S. history that way. It really is a totally different story. The lectures are very well done in terms of being engaging and not inaccurate - but I 10000% understand why so many people reflexively say that they don't understand why history is relevant to them if this is how it was presented. It is absolutely worth 42 hours of my time over the course of a couple months to listen to, but I'm REALLY glad that I didn't have this as the starting point.

QOTW: The answer that immediately sprang to mind is the way that a certain movie character is generally depicted in fan fiction, and I'm not going to get into that here. :) But as I've been sitting here thinking about it the last few minutes, I've realized that the vast majority of characters that I've seen myself in (including that one) are male. I'm not sure why I've never noticed that in 40+ years of reading (and watching movies and TV shows, listening to music, etc.), but I think it has more to do with how male and female characters are written (even by female authors) than any gender identity considerations on my part.

I did once attend a book event that featured an author I had not previously heard of who looked and sounded so much like me that other attendees assumed we were related, so I suppose I should read some of her books to see if I literally see myself. :)

I discovered audiobooks and am crushing my goals. Hoping my budget holds to buy more! I listed to the first three books in the L.J. Smith Vampire Diaries series and was blown away by the differences between the books and TV series. I love listening on my runs. Waiting for my next Audible credit to pop up.

Tricia - I read the Vampire Diaries when they first came out, and Damon was my first vampire boyfriend from the get-go. to me, the first book seems to be somewhat, kinda close to the show, or at least the show was trying to have events similar to the book, but then things went really different. I've read all four series on the Vampire Diaries, even the last two that were not actually written by LJ herself.