Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge discussion
2022 Weekly Check-Ins
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Week 26: 6/23 - 6/30
Happy Thursday, everyone!This is the final day of the SciFi Summer Readathon, and I have to say that I had a lot of fun catching up on my SciFi backlist this month! I had the chance to read a lot of great books, and I'm really glad that I decided to participate.
That being said, I don’t think I read more than a handful of pages this week. In fact, this week was spectacularly unproductive in general...though it was a lot of fun. I spent most of my free time playing Kirby and the Forgotten Land on the Nintendo Switch. The rest of the week was spent binge watching Murdoch Mysteries and listening to the My Favorite Murder podcast.
ŷ: 307/200
TBR Checklist: 263/1055
TBR Checklist (SciFi only): 33/76
Finished Reading:
Nothing
Currently Reading:
~Generations
~The Counselors
QOTW:
I've been really lucky with the authors whose books have become automatic buys for me. I really can't think of a time when I've been disappointed by one of their books.
Happy Thursday! It's me and the hubby's 4th wedding anniversary, so we're off to the lakeshore for the afternoon/evening. Going to a baseball game with my dad on Monday and probably going to be fashionably late for that. I have zero interest in any sort of patriotic "celebrations" this weekend, in light of the numerous recent SCOTUS decisions.I've been busy
The Silmarillion - 5 stars. It took me six months, but I finished it! Very pleased I stuck it out and it's going on the Reread pile. I think I'll skip the Beleriand chapter next time lol Constellation on the cover - there's stars, I'm counting it.
Dismembering Lahui: A History of the Hawaiian Nation to 1887 - 4 stars. An academic text, so it's dry, but there's still plenty of good information and extensive notes. Pacific Islander author
Base Notes - DNF. I was disappointed in this one after adoring the Amberlough trilogy, but there's so. much. description, while the action is lacking. I may give it a go some other time, since I bought the ebook, but not right away.
Static Shock: Trial by Fire - 3 stars. It was so cool to read the original comic! A little rough around the edges, but I grew up a fan of the shiny pretty tv series.
Persuasion - Finishing this morning, 4 stars. This marks the halfway point of reading all six of Austen's novels (I've previously read P&P and S&S!) and I liked this one a lot. Very funny and with the patented angst of the era. Partly read because of the new Netflix movie, but I don't have high hopes for that lol
PS 32/50
Currently:
Fever Dream
Wrath Goddess Sing
The Living End
QOTW: You have an author you are loyal to and always anxiously anticipate their next release, but you read one of their books that deeply disappointed you. Name that author and tell us whether you kept reading their books or not.
I don't know that I've run into this issue with any of my auto-read authors. Grateful for that. The closest is probably JKR; she tossed some anti-trans rhetoric into the second Strike book, but I read the next two in the hope that things would get better. Needless to say, Lethal White was the last book of hers I touched.
I haven't finished anything this week. My autoimmune thyroid disease has come back with a vengeance, and I have not been able to concentrate on anything. They've put me back on beta blockers while I await treatment, so I'm feeling a bit more chilled out today. Hopefully I can get my reading mojo back because a giant pile of books has arrived in the post this week.@Nadine My birthday is smack bang between Halloween and Bonfire night in the UK, so I feel like I can't go out at all because of the fireworks. My dog was OK with them as a puppy, but I think when she was two someone must have set them off near the house when she was home alone (when I was out enjoying my birthday of course) and she's been terrified ever since. We try and have the TV or music on loud if we know they're coming but sometimes people just set them off at random times.
QOTW:
My auto-buy authors seem to be fairly trustworthy. I've experienced series slowly going down hill more often than a sudden bad book by an author, Laurel K Hamilton and Kathy Reichs come to mind from the distant past.
I wouldn't let one meh book put me off an author that I usually love.
I'm still reading Gentle and Lowly: The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers. It's not long and it's not bad, but it's just not a good "by the pool" book (it would be if I had my own pool, but not with kids around), so I'm having trouble fitting it in. Less than 50 pages left, though.I read Bella Tuscany for my book with a recipe. It was alright.
I'm reading Little Fires Everywhere for my booktok recommendation. I think I'm a little over halfway through and it's amazing. On a completely unrelated note, I just learned I don't know how to spell recommendation. Who knew there was just one C?
QOTW: Charles Dickens. I did not like Martin Chuzzlewit at all. But, I read the rest of his novels. Also not crazy about Little Dorrit.
James Michener. I hated The Drifters. By the time I had read that, I had already read all of his other long historical epics, at that point. I did read Samurai after that point, which I didn't love, but wouldn't go so far to say I hated it. There are only 2 or 3 books of his that I haven't read at this point, and those are the ones I didn't so much care about anyway.
I used to love John Grisham. At some point in time, and I can't remember the first book I didn't love, maybe The Racketeer, he became more hit or miss for me. I still read most of his stuff, though, because when he hits, it's great.
Boy, what a week...I'm still reeling some from the recent SCOTUS decision. And I even ended up taking a break from social media for a bit until I could get my feelings under control. What a country the US has become -- seems the only "freedoms" a lot of people care about are guns, religion (but ONLY Christianity), and being able to spout hateful bigoted speech without consequence. Ugh.
On a somewhat better note... Tuesday I fly out to Toronto for vacation! I'll be gone a week, so if I'm late or miss next week's check-in, I'll try to make the next week. I plan on visiting Niagara Falls and attending a Transformers convention (what else?) with a friend while I'm there. Should be fun.
Books read this week:
A Little Princess -- I’d never read this classic before (saw a film version as a kid�), but I really enjoyed it! I think I like this one better than The Secret Garden.
Eat Your Heart Out -- ugh. I WANTED to like this one. But it seemed to be unable to decide if it wanted to be a campy horror book, a conspiracy thriller, a teen drama, or a satire (it claims to be a satire in the author’s notes), and so it tries to be all four and kind of fails on all fronts. (view spoiler)
Stardust -- I seem to either really love (Coraline, The Graveyard Book, Neverwhere) or really dislike (American Gods, Fragile Things: Short Fictions and Wonders, Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch) Neil Gaiman’s books� but this one is the first one that I found “just okay.� Not great, not terrible, just an interesting diversion.
The Disasters -- entertaining sci-fi heist caper, with a great and nicely diverse cast.
DNF:
The Twilight World -- the story seemed like a fascinating one, but the writing style just turned me off. I’ll have to find another book on the subject (Hiroo Onoda, a Japanese soldier who hid for decades on an island in the Philippines and thought the war was still going even in the 70s).
Currently Reading:
Indistinguishable from Magic
The Night Listener
Al Capone Does My Shirts
Gate of Air
Before the Coffee Gets Cold
QOTW:
Riley Sager. I'm not a huge fan of thrillers, but I ended up loving Final Girls enough that I've kept up on his work ever since (or at least the work he's written under the Riley Sager pen name). But Survive the Night was enough of a dud that I debated for a long time whether to read The House Across the Lake or not. I'm on hold for the e-book at our library at the moment, so giving him one more chance...
Mod
Oh I didn't even think of her! Yes, I kept reading her Cormoran Strike series because I loved Glenister's audiobook so much, but Troubled Blood broke me. It was just SO LONG, so needlessly long. That's a sign (to me) of an author who has become too full of themselves. Plus, there were numerous subtle comments throughout poking fun at people and that just doesn't sit right given what she had been so busy tweeting.
Book #6 is due this year but I don't think I'll be reading it. It's even LONGER, over 1000 pages. There's just no need for that kind of bloat.
Mod
Oh yes! I used to love Kathy Reichs! I picked up each new "Bones" book as soon as it came out!! But then the quality started to taper off. I gave up after book #14 - not that it was exceptionally awful, it had just been a long string of sub-par books at that point.
And before Reichs, there had been Cornwell, who did the same thing with her Scarpetta books - they were so great at first! and then, slowly, they were less and less great, until finally I just gave up.
Hello All, Thursday came quick this week. Happy Anniversary Ashley Marie. Nadine I also suspect this weekend will be rough at our house with the fireworks. Our poor dog shakes herself into a puddle at loud noises. I read 3 books for the week.
1. In This Grave Hour. 5 stars. Not for this challenge. Jacqueline Winspear is an author I have read for years. I love the Maisie Dobbs series.
2. The Hollywood Spy. 4 stars. This has been a happy week for me because I got to read my favorite series. Not for this challenge.
3. Someone to Care. 5 stars. I chose this book because the protagonists are 40 or over in this romance. I liked the romance between an older couple. I didn't know it was part of a series but I thought it read fine as a stand alone. I had never read Mary Balogh before. I will read others in this series at a future date.
QOTW: Believe it or not Ann Patchett. I didn't immediately buy her new books but I enjoyed reading through her books as I came to them. I must have read too many Ann Patchett books at one time because The Patron Saint of Liars was her last book I read. That was in 2019. I thought I would take a break from her & so far haven't read another of her books including The Dutch House.
I want to ask about the Cormoran Strike series. I'm having a terrible time filling prompt #8. A book with a protagonist who uses a mobility aid. I saw The Cuckoo's Calling & was interested. I didn't pick up on the author being J.K. Rowling. Is the first book in the series good? I haven't read J.K. Rowling since The Casual Vacancy. Once her anti-trans comments came out I felt fine not reading her.
I understand about the dogs and fireworks. I have them too. We'll end up keeping ours inside.Can't believe it's the end of the month already. It went by too quickly.
Here are my reading lists so far.
ŷ: 43/25
Popsugar: 39
****
This month I ended up meeting a decent goal with 10 books. It brings my total number of books to 44 for the month which is more than the goal I set for myself.
I'm looking forward to my book month for July since I've got quite a load, well sort of, at least around 8 or 10. Hopefully I can get through them. I think I might be able to.
The first three books I'll be starting with are:
Controlling Women: What We Must Do Now to Save Reproductive Freedom
An Afro-Indigenous History of the United States
90s Bitch: Media, Culture, and the Failed Promise of Gender Equality
QOTW:
You have an author you are loyal to and always anxiously anticipate their next release, but you read one of their books that deeply disappointed you. Name that author and tell us whether you kept reading their books or not.
I have not run into this problem. I don't follow many authors in terms of series books. I just usually have hopes for them. Like this year Tess Gerritsen and Nicholas Sparks both have new releases this year. Tess has another Rizzoli & Isles book which, in the past she's said she was done writing for. And Sparks, well he's Spark. I just hope those books turn out as good as their others.
Hello! My husband stopped with the outdoor projects after being outside in the bad heat/humidity last week, so I did get to enjoy as much of the rest of the vacation as I could. Friday we sat down with our insurance agent for two hours to talk home, auto and life, and we didn't even get into retirement, so we have another appointment with him in a few weeks. I know these are important things to discuss, but sometimes I hate being an adult.Finished This Week:
A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine. The sequel is nominated for a Hugo this year, and I'd heard such good things about the original that I had bought it (instead of waiting for the library). I did enjoy it, although a lot of the terms and people blurred together. I'm sure this is exactly what I experienced reading The Goblin Emperor the first time, so need to keep that in mind. I did enjoy the story, and will read the sequel here soon. Using for #27, A Hugo Winner.
Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley. A non-fantasy, non-Hugo nominee to break up the rest, as my library hold came in and there is a huge wait list. And it was certainly different. Set circa 2004, this is about a Native teenager about to start her freshman year in college who works with the FBI to find the source of meth hurting her tribe. A lot of very heavy topics covered here, but I think done well. I didn't enjoy everything that happened, but I understand why the author made the choices she did. Using for #19, Set during Favorite Season, as takes place at the start of the school year where the leaves have just started to fall.
A Spindle Splintered by Alix E. Harrow. Back to the Hugo reading. This was a delight. I loved the pop culture references, loved the agency the author gave Zinnia and the others, and loved that her phone still worked. I think I got a copy of this with the Hugo packet, but I may end up buying it for my fancy hardcover shelf. Not sure if I'm using it for #5, a Sapphic Book, since the relationship isn't the MC's.
PS: 33/50 RH: 7/27 ATY: 36/52 GR: 88/100
Currently Reading:
Mossflower by Brian Jacques. Have made it to disc 7 of 11. Just finished the parts with the toads and Mask. Need to finish this week.
Eyewitness to Infamy by Paul Joseph Travers. A Pearl Harbor book I found at the library that I hadn't read before. It's oral histories of survivors from all over the island, not just the sailors from Battleship Row (although they're here too), talking about what that Sunday morning was like for them. Written by the son of a survivor. Very good so far. Using for PS# 31, man-made disaster, as war is a disaster and this attack was very much the result of decisions made by men (US and Japanese). Plus I realized I could use it for ATY's Monopoly token prompt, since a battleship was a token.
QotW: You have an author you are loyal to and always anxiously anticipate their next release, but you read one of their books that deeply disappointed you. Name that author and tell us whether you kept reading their books or not.
Honestly, the first author that came to mind was Brian Jacques and the Redwall books. During The Pearls of Lutra, I felt like he was more writing elaborate riddles first and plot second, and I mostly stopped reading him after that. I did read The Legend of Luke and Lord Brocktree when they came out, because they were pre-Redwall Abbey stories, which had always been my favorites, but my auto-buy stopped with Pearls.
Mod
I enjoyed the first four books in the Cormoran Strike series, and I thought the first one was the best, so give it a try.
I see you liked the Mary Balogh book, too. Her series "The Survivor's Club" involves a group of people who all have sustained war injuries. In book 3, The Escape, his injury was to his leg. So if you REALLY don't want to read JKR, you could try more Balogh!
Happy Thursday! It has been a really rough week for us. Lots of people in our immediate sphere have suddenly lost loved ones in unexpected ways. We've been making lots of soup and sending out lots of care packages. Hug the people you love and don't take any day for granted. Finished 21/50
A Prayer for Owen Meany for "a book with a character on the ace spectrum". I'm not sure how I feel about this book. I liked some things and didn't like other things. It was a little weird.
Currently Reading
You Remind Me of Me for "book whose title begins with the last letter of your previous read". This was the last gift I received from my friend who passed away in February. It's also a heavy read so....hopefully I get through this one soon.
QotW
I'm not sure this has happened to me yet, although I really hated Harry Potter and the Cursed Child: Parts One and Two. But I don't read everything of Rowling's, just HP, so I'm not sure that counts.
Finished: Philosophical Inquiry: Combining the Tools of Philosophy with Inquiry-based Teaching and Learning Really liked this book, am already referencing it.Started: The Lost Art of Good Conversation: A Mindful Way to Connect with Others and Enrich Everyday Life a re-read and one of my all-time favorites. This book is a jewel.
Abortion and the Law in America: Roe v. Wade to the Present Because.
Hope: A History of the Future I met this author at a conference. It's a fictional book based on political and scientific documents.
Both Can Be True Really good. Could be used for prompt about gender identity.
Qotw: The first thing that comes to mind is Lynde Mullaly Hunt. I eagerly anticipated her release of Shouting at the Rain It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't nearly as good as Fish in a Tree or One for the Murphies. I will still read books she writes, but maybe not rush out the day of release.
I haven't been reading much, too depressed by this week's turn of events that get worse daily. I only managed to finish one thingI read Sacrificeby Kathleen Heady for the prompt A book whose title begins with the last letter of your previous read (the previous read was A Summoning of Souls by Leanna Renee Hieber)
In theory it was a mystery but I'd call it more of a suspense as the main point of view characters aren't investigating anything really, just concerned about the crime (and the ending was weak and honestly I didn't get the motivation for confession)
QOTW Oh sure, it happens a lot. Jim Butcher & Charlaine Harris in SFF and in mystery Patricia Cornwell & Kathy Reichs spring to mind. Some times it's just a not for me series OR very often (especially with mystery authors) it's that the series has gone on way too long and there is nothing fresh left to do and/or they put their protagonists in unrealistic and unprofessional situations (like no real pro would do these things) just to add tension. Often I do keep reading but occasionally I do give up. Actually at this point I have given up on Cornwell (and James Patterson even before he started being problematic)
It's been 3 weeks since I checked in and I went down a rabbit hole with one author and did nothing but read their books for like six days.no prompts from fave to least fave
My KU subscription was coming to an end and I decided to read some booktok recs. The first one sucked. It was awful but I decided to go ahead and read another and then spent a week reading their entire backlist. M/M romances that are all feelings and spice and the best tropes: fake dating, nerd/jock, rivals to lovers, friends to lovers.
CU series by Eden Finley and Saxon James. This series does have an ACE tertiary character who shows up in multiple books.
Power Play and Straight A's.
Face Offs & Cheap Shots
Goal Lines & First Times
Line Mates & Study Dates
Puck Drills & Cheap Thrills
Puckboys series by Eden Finley and Saxon James
Egotistical Puckboy
Irresponsible Puckboy
Fake Boyfriend series by Eden Finley
Fake Out
Trick Play
Deke
Blindsided
Hat Trick
Final Play
Famous series by Eden Finley
Pop Star
Spotlight
Fandom
Encore
Mike Bravo Ops Series by Eden Finley
Iris
Headstrong by Eden Finley. Contemporary romance. M/M. Like it a lot.
The Good Girl's Guide to Rakes by Eva Leigh. Historical romance and everything I want in a romance. Thoroughly enjoyed.
Undercover by Eliot Grayson. Contemporary romance. M/M. Part of a series that takes place in the same bookstore/wine bar.
Boyfriend Goals by Riley Hart. Contemporary romance. M/M. One of the mains is on the autism spectrum. Very sweet and enjoyable.
Booklover by J.E. Birk. Contemporary romance. M/M. Enjoyed it. Part of the bookstore/wine bar series.
You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson. YA contemporary. Prom King and Queen are a super big deal at the this school and the main character decides to run for scholarship money. This was cute and if you are looking for books with LGBTQ characters at the end of Pride month, the main in this one is a lesbian.
A Blade so Black by L.L. McKinney. YA fantasy based on Alice in Wonderland. Highly enjoyable. Would watch a series�.
The Fascinators by Andrew Eliopulos. YA about a alternate world where magic exists but is looked down upon by a certain segment of the population. Given the cover and description, I felt like it would be a lighter book with a cute romance and that's not what it was. It was okay and maybe when I set with it, I'll like it more. However, the "romance" was kind of shoehorned in at the end.
Unchosen by Kathryn Blair. YA dystopia. Virus has wiped out the population and the main's sister is the chosen one. This was good but could have been great with a better writer or editor.
The Downstairs Girl by Stacey Lee. Historical YA. It was okay.
A Not So Meet Cute by Meghan Quinn. Contemporary romance. Down on her luck main meets the hero who needs a fake fiancé. I did not like the main male character that much so�.
Take Me Home Tonight by Morgan Matson. YA contemporary billed as Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist meets Ferris Bueller's Day Off but it did not work for me. My main problem is that one of the main characters is incredibly selfish and refuses to see beyond her needs or listen to her best friend and is quite frankly annoying and doesn't deserve the romance subplot.
Dial A for Aunties by Jesse Q. Sutanto. This did not work for me at all. The voice was very immature and that combined with the absurd plot points = ridiculous. I also did not care about the romance subplot because the hero wasn't really fleshed out.
QOTW
JKR. I liked the first couple of Strike books but I don't play with the anti-trans stuff.
Kristan Higgins. And not because her books became bad or disappointing but she pivoted from straight romance to women's lit and they don't always hit the spot for me.
Janet Evanovich. I loved the Stephanie Plum series and stopped at like book 12 because it was the same which man will she pick and it was old.
Nadine in NY wrote: " Oh yes! I used to love Kathy Reichs! I picked up each new "Bones" book as soon as it came out!! But then the quality started to taper off. I gave up after book #14..."I just checked and that was exactly where I gave up too. I used to love all the forensic science she put in the earlier books and it seemed to me like she was starting to dumb it down.
Tomorrow is Canada Day, so I have another 3 day weekend. I did well with reading last weekend.Finished:
How the Irish Saved Civilization: The Untold Story of Ireland's Heroic Role from the Fall of Rome to the Rise of Medieval Europe
ATY prompt: A book with a language or nationality in the title
Popsugar prompt: Can't Find One
(summer prompt: By an author over the age of 50)
The Paris Apartment
ATY prompt: A book published in 2022
Popsugar prompt: A book published in 2022
(summer prompt: A book published in 2022)
ATY - 27/52
PS- 23/35
Series -10/13
Clearing my TBR list: 21/40
Currently reading:
The House in the Cerulean Sea - 55% done
Reading with my kids:
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children - finished (summer prompt: Set in more than one country)
At Home in Mitford - 5/24 chapters
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - 2/37 chapters
QOTW: This hasn't happened to me yet. I would probably give them a pass for one bad book. But if the next one was also bad, I'd probably give up.
Happy check-in! Last week I completely jinxed myself by saying we had a covid scare because I tested positive yesterday.🤦♀� I'm feeling better today so that's good. I'm also very happy my grandmother was okay thanks to vaccines.Finished Reading:
Heroic Hearts ⭐⭐�
This is a collection of short stories by various fantasy authors. I like to read these collections to find new authors while enjoying old favourites but the only stories I really enjoyed out of this were from author's I had already read. The Patricia Briggs at the end was the best of the lot. The dedication was for Rachel Caine.
Flowers for Algernon ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Overdrive had list of popular on Booktok and I went through it and surprisingly this was on it. If you liked the writing in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time I think this would be up your alley. A good sci-fi classic that holds up with some outdated language. The Flowers For Algernon short story won the Hugo so you could stretch the novel for that prompt.
The Roughest Draft ⭐⭐�
I saw this on my feed with good reviews from friends and the synopsis made think it would be comparable to Book Lovers, but this was more romance and less comedy so I didn't like it as much as I'd hoped.
The Deepest of Secrets ⭐⭐� (2015 a book you did not finisht)
I finally was able to push through and finish this.
Miss Butterworth and the Mad Baron ⭐⭐�
This was a very silly graphic novel. Julia Quinn came up with the idea and her sister made this happen but didn't get to live to see it published.
Bingo Love ⭐⭐⭐⭐� (2015 set in the future)
This was an adorable sapphic love story in comic/graphic novel form.
The Friendship Pact ⭐⭐�
I keep reading her because they are rather easy reads great for picking them up beore falling asleep.
PS 2022 45/50
PS 2015 41/50
ŷ 158/250
Currently Reading:
A Mirror Mended
QOTW:
Well Kelley Armstrong comes to mind. I have loved multiple series from her but the last few years all of her series have taken effort to read, including a stand-alone that I dnfed. I actually pushed through and finished the latest of hers after borrowing and returning it to the library multiple times.
JKR fits the bill too. I read Cuckoo's Calling and watched the tv series of the books, which was awesome, but I haven't been able to pick up her books since her anti trans stuff came to light.
Over here in the Netherlands we don’t have a SCOTUS. We have angry farmers. About half of their livestock has to be eliminated according to our government. That means half of their business is wiped away. I won’t get political here (I understand their anger, felt it myself 20 years ago, but I disapprove the violence), but this farmer’s protest is a symptom of a bigger issue: our politicians and lawmakers lost touch with the world of ‘normal people�. It makes me scared and uncertain: what if a real crisis is coming over us?? Thankfully the Tour de France starts tomorrow: a perfect hide away in an uncertain world.
PS: 15/40
Total 2022: 29
Finished
Amalia by Claudia de Breij ⭐⭐⭐⭐
PS #24, a book you can read in one sitting.
Easy read of 112 pages. Nice introduction to our future queen, Princess of Orange Amalia. She turned 18 last year and we get a chance to know her a bit by this book. I’m glad we have a ‘republic with a monarchy�. It’s nice having someone representing our country who is as dedicated as she is because she is raised to do this.
The Many Lives of Heloise Starchild by John Ironmonger ⭐⭐�
Interesting idea: you inherit the memories of your mother until the moment you were born. And her mother’s, and her mother’s and her mother’s� It’s a bit like the Midnight Library.
Currently reading
Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder. Made some progress again during my train trip today.
Casting Off. Looking forward to read the last 2 books in this series, love the Cazalet family.
QOTW
Isabel Allende. I usually love her books. But In the Midst of Winter was an absolute disappointment. I didn’t like Ripper that much either. I kept reading her books, because the next book (A Long Petal of the Sea got good critics and was an ‘old-fashioned Allende� again. Her latest novel Violetais waiting on my shelf, I have high expectations again.
Erica wrote: "Well Kelley Armstrong comes to mind. I have loved multiple series from her but the last few years all of her series have taken effort to read, including a stand-alone that I dnfed..."She publishes so often these days and the quality has definitely gone down hill. She seems to write the same characters over and over. Saying that, I have really enjoyed Rockton for some escapist nonsense and the Otherworld books will always have a special place in my heart.
Hi all, Missed last week's check in. Just was too frazzled between work on Thursday and then emotionally frazzled and reeling from the whole Roe thing on Friday. Just didn't have the heart to check in since.
Been trying to pull myself together but it's been difficult.
The last couple weeks I finished:
The Woman They Could Not Silence: One Woman, Her Incredible Fight for Freedom, and the Men Who Tried to Make Her Disappear - this was really well written, powerful, but really made me sick and frustrated to read. I'm really glad I finished it BEFORE last Friday, or it might have outright made me cry. Just gross to how little progress we've made in 150 years.
River of Teeth - I thought this was fun, kind of silly. Didn't seem to have great reviews so I'm apparently in the minority, but oh well. I picked up the second when it was on sale.
The Plot - my next books & brews pick for my in person book club. This was eyerollingly pretentious. The plot was SO hyped up, i knew it was going to be disappointing, and it was. Also i guessed a good part of the plot almost immediately. It kind of reminded me of the Tennacious D song The Tribute, where they kept singing about the best song in the world, but could only play Stairway to Heaven because the best song in the world was too good, they could only play a tribute. Except that was a parody, meant to be funny. This book was being serious in it's claims at having the most unbeatable, amazing plot.
China Rich Girlfriend -audio re-read
Currently reading:
A Memory Called Empire - i've had this for a while and never got around to reading it, I'm really enjoying so far. I like a good space opera, it just always takes a while for me to settle down into them. The first few chapters are always a wall of unfamiliar terms and concepts and world building so I need to be in the right mood to get into it.
Rich People Problems - audio re-read
QOTW:
It happens sometimes. I don't think there's any author that I love every single one of their books equally. Most have at least a few titles that just fall flat, or I just couldn't get into for whatever reason. Or even if i like everything they write, i still have ones i like MORE.
Frederik Backman I was on a roll with after reading My Grandmother Asked if I'd Tell You She's Sorry, A Man Called Ove, and Britt Marie Was Here, and then I ended up DNFing Beartown. but that was partially just the time I read it, the book I read just before I read it, and I just never wanted to go back and try again. But I still like his writing enough that while I'm skipping any further sequels to that one, I still read Anxious People and loved it.
Jim Butcher, I'd read and enjoyed the Dresden Files up to this point. But I am SO ANGRY over Battle Ground, I don't know if I can continue the series anymore. I'm guessing it'll be a while before the next book comes out anyhow, so I guess we'll see by the time it comes out if I've cooled down at all. But I'll probably, at best, let other people read it first and see if they think he's redeemed himself at all before I even consider giving him another try.
And actually yeah, I hated Casual Vacancy so much, i'd pretty much refused to read anything else JK Rowling wrote that wasn't Harry Potter related anyhow, I figured she was a one trick pony. But now with her airing her horrid views I wouldn't read anything else by her in general, HP or not. So I guess she fit pretty well in that category, for me.
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How did you like this book? I've had it on my "TBR maybe" list for YEARS now
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What is going on? Why do they need to be eliminated?
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This was a very silly graphic novel. Julia Quinn came up with the idea and her sister made this happen but didn't get to live to see it published...."
I had not heard about that - what a tragic accident for her family.
Hi!Mama chukar and babies have left. I'm happy that all but two eggs hatched and sad that I didn't get to see the babies. They are precocial, which means they can literally fend for themselves right after hatching.
I'm half way through SRP! Yay! I have a by-week next week because of 4th of July. We are closed for it. Boo-yah! Three day weekend! I'm definitely looking forward to it.
It's been a good reading week. Not that I've read much for PS or ATY. Just reading in general has been on the uptake this week.
Finished:
I'm Standing on a Million Lives Vol. 1
I'm Standing on a Million Lives Vol. 2
I'm Standing on a Million Lives Vol. 3
I'm Standing on a Million Lives Vol. 4
I'm Standing on a Million Lives Vol. 5
I'm Standing on a Million Lives Vol. 6
I'm Standing on a Million Lives Vol. 7
I'm Standing on a Million Lives Vol. 8
Naruto, Vol. 1: Uzumaki Naruto
Naruto, Vol. 02: The Worst Client
Aria: The Masterpiece, Volume 7
Golden Kamuy, Vol. 1
Shad Hadid and the Alchemists of Alexandria
Currently Reading:
Golden Kamuy, Vol. 2
Naruto, Vol. 03: Dreams
Toilet-bound Hanako-kun, Vol. 1
Ceres: Celestial Legend, Vol. 1: Aya
Strike the Zither so many Xin names!!! so many epithets!!! My mind hurts!
The Luminaries i tried but i have to go back a couple of chapters to remember what the heck was going on.
The Bride Goes Rogue Thinking of dnf this one. it's not holding my attention.
Planning:
Naruto (3-in-1 Edition), Vol. 2: Includes Vols. 4, 5 & 6
I'm Standing on a Million Lives Vol. 9
I'm Standing on a Million Lives Vol. 10
I'm Standing on a Million Lives, Vol. 11
And maybe the stack of Library Books that have sat for a long, long time by my reading chair and glare at me every time I lglance at them.
QOTW:
Diana Palmer. I love 98% of her books, but there are a few that just make me want to throw them across the room. I've definitely gone back to read more of hers even after the rare dud. And still anticipate her new ones, which are way more infrequent now because of her age and health.
Erica wrote: Miss Butterworth and the Mad Baron ⭐⭐�This was a very silly graphic novel. Julia Quinn came up with the idea and her sister made this happen but didn't get to live to see it published.
I saw her post on her facebook page. it was so sad. drunk driver killing both her sister and father. I loved how silly the graphic novel was.
The afterword to Miss Butterworth and the Mad Baron is really lovely. I had seen that her sister and dad died but her brother in law also passed away months after due to his injuries which I found out reading this book.
Hi everyone. I'm feeling a little deflated. My new job isn't exactly everything I was promised in the interview. I was so excited for the role but now I'm not sure it's for me. I'm going to keep my eye out for other positions but I'm also going to speak to the guy who hired me because I'm not being used to the best of my abilities. That sounds super self-centred but honestly I'm not great at the self-confidence thing and I'm working on knowing my own value. On the positive side, my new route to work lead me to discover a free book shop in a town near me! There's a three book per visit limit and donations are welcome to keep it running but otherwise it is completely free. I feel like this is going to be bad for my already full bookshelves.
This week I finished two books. First up was Payback's a Witch. I liked the premise but the main character was pretty irritating. She changed her mind every three seconds and seemed to have a breakdown every other chapter (even though she claimed to not be an emotional person?). I was sort of hoping she would leave town and go back to Chicago (which she never stopped talking about) and leave us with the more interesting people. Also, her cute dog was introduced in the first chapter and then barely every mentioned for the rest of the book. Unforgiveable!
Second up was Empress of Flames. It is a few years since I read the first book so I had forgotten a lot of the characters and subplots but after a few chapters I had the general gist. I loved the world and the mythology but I felt like the ending lacked impact (view spoiler)
Currently reading: Nothing! I haven't picked my next book yet. Maybe one of my freebies?
QOTW: Maybe I'm not that loyal to authors to begin with because I can't think of any. I have some series I've sort of lost interest in because they went on too long but I have nothing against the authors.
I had a bit of a rough reading week last week, with the news coming out.I finished Sing, Unburied, Sing, which was a very tough read, especially on top of everything going on in the US. I gave it 4 stars because it was emotional and powerful, but it was a struggle for me to finish. For the Anisfield-Wolf award winner.
Not for a prompt, but I also read The Fall of the House of Usher: An Edgar Allan Poe Short Story in preparation for T. Kingfisher's What Moves the Dead which is a retelling of the story. It was creepy, but nice and short.
After that, I needed to read something lighter, so I read some comics: Heartstopper: Volume One and Dumbing of Age, Volume 1: This Campus is a Friggin' Escher Print.
Wanting some more lighter material, I started All the Stars and Teeth, book 1 of my duology pick. it's a YA fantasy romance, but it's got pirates and mermaids, and so far, I'm enjoying it. Glad I have book 2 already out from the library.
QOTW: JKR for sure, for all the same reasons most of you have cited. I liked Harry Potter and the first of her Comorant Strike books, but I just can't deal with her anymore. Same with Laurel K. Hamilton.
There are a few paranormal romance series that started in the 90s/2000s where I enjoyed the first few books, but then gave up on the series. Stuff like Charlaine Harris's Sookie Stackhouse books, Kelley Armstrong's Otherworld, etc.
Nadine in NY wrote: "Dubhease wrote: "How the Irish Saved Civilization: The Untold Story of Ireland's Heroic Role from the Fall of Rome to the Rise of Medieval Europe ..."How did you like this book? I've had it on ..."
I gave it 5 stars. I play an early Irish bard in a medieval group, so I knew some of history he discussed about Ireland. I knew a lot less about the fall of Rome. One of the author's points was that we sometimes tend to study eras in history classes or books, like the Roman Empire or the dark ages. We rarely study the "hinge" years about how we transition from one era to another.
I rarely read non-fiction, and when I do, it tends to be biography. And I hated History in high school. It's ironic that I loved this history book.
Sarah wrote: "Hi everyone. I'm feeling a little deflated. My new job isn't exactly everything I was promised in the interview. I was so excited for the role but now I'm not sure it's for me. I'm going to keep my..."Bait and switch is the worst.
Happy Thursday! I have an amazing week. I joined Tree Planting Activity, Board Games, Indoor Photography, Nature Photography, Pressed Flowers and Plants, Clean-up Drive, Videography Challenge, Nature Printing, and Recycling of Notebook. It was so much fun. Also, we had a family vacation in Davao, Glan, and Jose Abad Santos which is in our country. Yesterday too was Inauguration Day of our 17th President.I already vote the polls above.
I currently reading The Great Gatsby and Shouting at the Rain
Question of the Week
You have an author you are loyal to and always anxiously anticipate their next release, but you read one of their books that deeply disappointed you. Name that author and tell us whether you kept reading their books or not.
-Uhmm, I think Shannon Hale. I read the 3 of her books because I was interested in them, at first. But, I read the fourth book of a series and it was not getting engaging at all. I think maybe I'm going to keep reading her other books after all.
Happy Thursday. Stats:
PS: 36/50
ATY: 59/75
ATY Reread: 22/52
Books I Finished:
River Marked ⭐⭐⭐⭐�
Prompt: ATY Reread: A book set on or near a body of water.
Continuing my reread of the series.
Seveneves ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Prompt: PS: Palindrome title.
I am so glad that PS had this prompt because I probably wouldn't have ever read this if I didn't need it for the challenge. It's 800+ pages, and the description reads that its a scifi epic and a dystopian story, both of which aren't really my genres. But it was so good. I thought the last section set 5000 years in the future wasn't as strong, but the first 2 sections we top notch.
Books I made progress on:
The Psychopath Inside: A Neuroscientist's Personal Journey into the Dark Side of the Brain
The Hating Game
Frost Burned
QotW
It's not so much JKR's books that left me disappointed, although I just could not bring myself to read the last Cormoran Strike book. I have decide to take a break, so my feelings towards her do not wreck Harry Potter for me. And I also have to pick Kelley Armstrong. Her last 5 books have been harder and harder for me to get through, because she spends most of her books explaining her characters actions so as not to offend anybody. And yeah, she only has 3 or 4 characters. I didn't mind when she had a decent plot.
And I used to read any Tad Williams as soon as it came out, but I slowly have moved away from epic fantasy and I've never liked noir, which is what his urban fantasy series is.
A bit late check-in for me! I have really had a tough month with work, culminating in 2 really intense weeks. Last deal closed yesterday, so today I closed my office until next Tuesday, and went off and played tourist in my hometown with a friend: We took the Circle Line tour around Manhattan! We last did it together 43 years ago...that time on my birthday...and we had an even better tour guide this time. Pretty amazing since the guy from 43 years ago has been the gold standard for tour guides of any kind for us for 43 years! It was wonderful! We ended our evening at the nearby historic Landmark Tavern with drinks and divine food. Felt like I had a week's vacay!I am 39/50 still.
Finished:
Gideon the Ninth - wild ride that I loved.
Ethan of Athos - space opera adventure and works as a stand alone in a long series.
The Black Tides of Heaven - fantasy east asian world - would fit non-patriarchy and gender identity prompts.
Elevation - Stephen King can write without horror
The Foretelling - lovely retelling of myth of Amazon women
Currently reading: no idea!
QOTW:
Ann Patchett - I generally like her work, and adored Bel Canto. But State of Wonder nearly had us parting ways. It did not, as I granted her one slip.
Stephanie Laurens - every few books, one seems weaker in some way. I still love her books, especially as her first book after a dud is often spectacular. The duds are often transition books...in a connecting thread, etc.
It's always so entertaining for me to see so many people who read fiction books. I find it fascinating, especially since it's hard to come around people who read much nonfiction, and if they do it's very little.For the month of June I read 80% nonfiction and 20% fiction (10 books, 8 of which were NF.)
So far with the books I have lined up for the month of July, they're all nonfiction which is perfect.
Just this year alone I've read 82% NF. I really want to increase that number to at least 90 or 95 by the end of the year.
On another note, like many, it's going to take a while to get used to this new reality we live in. This whole incident reminds me of a personal experience I had where I was told I could not do anything for a while. It's a suffocating feeling. The best analogy I have is the feeling of being crushed like Luke, Han, and Leia the trash compactor in Star Wars.
My way of coping and protesting is going to be reading a lot of books that are about feminism and this miss treatment of women. As well as a couple of books on the mistreatment of other races. We've reverted to a country from 200 years ago. Why? What a mess.
Happy July! I'm helping my mom move this weekend, so I don't have my normal 4th of July plans going on. I finished one book this week:
The Recovery Agent by Janet Evanovich (finished 6/26) - used for a book published in 2022, it's a new series with a new heroine and I loved it. Gabriella Rose is an international recovery agent, and she's very good at her job. Nice blend of humor and action that Evanovich is known for, but I like that this character is very capable and of course there's a bit of supernatural thrown in for good measure.
I also finished up the Kindle
Now that my parallel reality and leading a double life PopSugar prompts are filled, it seems like every other book I pick up includes some sort of parallel universe or dual life living.
QOTW: I can't think of one off hand other than V.C. Andrews, whose books have declined in quality over the years - but I don't think that one really counts since it's all ghost writers since her passing and they simply aren't channeling her properly at this point.
Hi all! Gonna be a hot day here in NY. I plan to spend it on the couch with baseball and books and air conditioning! I am also trying not to get depressed over recent current events, but I do have a little hope that maybe this wakes some people up out of complacency. Rights are only rights so long as people are willing to stand up for them. Though for distraction, my mom is trying American Horror Story for the first time, and it makes me want to watch them, too. I'm not a fan of horror, but the couple of seasons I did see were entertaining. I didn't finish anything this week. Some good progress in Full Count: The Education of a Pitcher and Burnt Shadows. My audio copy of The Final Revival of Opal & Nev came back in, too, and I need to get to that before I lose it again.
QOTW: I haven't had any that made me say "never again!", but I do get tired of authors. For example, I haven't read James Patterson in ages, but I would read him again. There are others, too, can't think of them at the moment.
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That's disappointing. Sometimes it takes a few months (or longer!) to really get going in a new job, perhaps it will improve.
And what's this? A FREE bookstore? you just drop off books and pick up books and it's FREE? my goodness ...
Ron wrote: "It's always so entertaining for me to see so many people who read fiction books. I find it fascinating, especially since it's hard to come around people who read much nonfiction, and if they do it'..."I have always preferred fiction to non-fiction, no surprise really since I became a voracious reader after being given 3 Nancy Drew mysteries at age of 10. Mysteries are my #1 favorite genre, though I read eclectically. In college I had an interdisciplinary major tied to French literature and history, so a balance of both. Through my 20s I read a mixture of fiction and non-fiction, very diverse genres and subjects.
Then in my late 20s I went to law school. Pretty much since then, as a lawyer my long work days are, in reality, filled with reading, learning, studying non-fiction. Granted it is in the narrow context of law and subjects related to my practice, but it is still non-fiction. Since law school, my non-work reading is at least 90% fiction of all kinds.
I need to feed my imaginative and creative side. I have many interests and hobbies like needlework, theater, and opera, but I need that escape into fantasy or adventure, into fiction, as a balance. I embrace relaxing into a created world.
Those of my friends who prefer non-fiction reading tend not to spend their days in professions like mine, and they embrace chance to learn from non-fiction. They crave learning rather than craving escape and imagination.
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My mom is a huge non-fiction reader. She has no idea why I enjoy SFF, in particular - even when she reads/watches fiction, she wants it to be based on real life events, or - at the very least - realistic fiction. I know when I was a kid she was convinced that I would grow out of this "phase" - hahaha, joke's on you, mom! I'm 55 now and still reading comic books and watching unrealistic action movies!! (And still listening to heavy metal, another thing she thought I'd grow out of LOL!!) Sometimes we like the same movies, but sometimes we disagree completely. Like, we both loved Fight Club (she's not COMPLETELY averse to speculative fiction) but she loved Christopher Robin (the one with Ewan McGregor) and I thought it was completely sappy and unbearable, and I go see all the superhero movies, but she cannot stand them.
I read some nonfiction, so I see the appeal of course. But my mother does this thing where she just ... picks up a book from the "free" shelf at the library and takes it home and reads it. Just a random book! I can't stand it!! I have this long list of thousands of books I want to read, I'll never get to all of them in my lifetime, I can't imagine wasting my time reading some random book I never even heard of!!! And she doesn't understand why I would waste my time carefully curating my list of thousands of TBR books.
I can't believe we are officially halfway trough this challenge! I wish I was at 50% complete, but I'm not far. haha. Finished:
The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood
This was one of the absolute cutest romances I have read in a while. I gobbled it so fast. I loved the main characters, but the side characters (except one who has a large part in the plot) were forgettable and generic. This didn’t take anything from the story for me though, as I was just absolutely sucked in with the romance, plot, and main characters. Loved the STEM/Academia setting too. If you like contemporary romance, I highly recommend this.
Prompt: A book with a character on the ACE spectrum
Currently Reading:
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
Prompt: A book featuring a parallel reality
Overall Progress:
22/50
QOTW:
Adam Silvera. His debut, More Happy Than Not, was so amazing. One of my all time favorites still. His other two novels after that were good as well. He did such a good job at intertwining small elements of fantasy into the world we live in and I would read anything he wrote. Then came Infinity Son. It was his attempt at high fantasy, but still set in kind of our world and it just did not work for me. I did not continue with the series, which is rare for me. However, he has just released a companion to one of his novels which I will read and a series he wrote with Becky Albertalli that is still on my TBR.
Nadine in NY wrote: "What is going on? Why do they need to be eliminated?"
Nitrogen emissions. There's too much nitrogen close to nature. Our government likes to solve problems by making models and generic measures. So they say: 'get rid of half of the livestock and problem solved according to the model'. But if there's anything that can't be handled 'generic' it's nature.
That said, we really do have too much nitrogen emissions. And farmers really do have to change their business models. But not this drastic. And not after 40 years pushing them into this old one and now suddenly force them to change within 8 years without any help.
Nadine in NY wrote: I have this long list of thousands of books I want to read, I'll never get to all of them in my lifetime, I can't imagine wasting my time reading some random book I never even heard of!!!I know what you mean. I have two lists on my amazon alone that are filled with books I want to get.
Just this past week alone I've ordered like 7 to 10 books from those lists (I've lost count in just this past week alone. LOL!) I try to get in what I can but I'll never read them all of course. Still, it's fun to at least attempt the ones that are on my 'must' list as hard as that is since I'm a mood reader.
Thanks you guys, for sharing your reasoning behind your preferences on fiction. Those are reasons I've heard before so it's interesting how people can have the same take aways from a genre that is so vast.That's what I love about nonfiction: there are so many sub-genres so it can be hard to pick from the plethora of them all.
I mean heck, my sub-genres of NF currently are completely different from one another:
An Afro-Indigenous History of the United States - deals with the history of Native Americans and Blacks and how they melded as well as were independent of each other.
90s Bitch: Media, Culture, and the Failed Promise of Gender Equality - This one is about the anti-feminism of the 90's.
Cosplay: A History: The Builders, Fans, and Makers Who Bring Your Favorite Stories to Life - Here it gives a vast history of cosplay and what makes people so drawn to it.
So I've got racial studies, feminist studies, and entertainment/cultural studies. Like I said, various sub-genres that fit under a whole genre.
Nadine in NY wrote: "My mom is a huge non-fiction reader. She has no idea why I enjoy SFF, in particular..."My boyfriend mostly reads non-fiction but if he's gonna read fiction it will almost always be science-fiction. I don't think he sees the point in reading fiction too close to real life.
I would have guessed I read about half fiction and half non, but looking at last year's totals, it was actually closer to 1/3 (6 out of 22) was nonfiction. But most of my fiction reading is realistic. I find fiction (good fiction) takes emotions I might experience and heightens them. I don't usually get that out of nonfiction. Because of the emotional impact of the writing, fiction can better put me in situations that I haven't or wouldn't experience and give me a glimpse into them.
Sherri wrote: "I want to ask about the Cormoran Strike series. I'm having a terrible time filling prompt #8. A book with a protagonist who uses a mobility aid. I saw The Cuckoo's Calling & was interested. I didn'..."I remember thinking the first one was decent, if you absolutely need it, but I can totally understand wanting to stay away from all of her books on principle.
If you're into manga at all, I loved Perfect World, Vol. 1.
I read about 30% nonfiction, 70% fiction. If I read too much fiction, I start craving a good nonfic book, but I love fiction's ability to let me live a life completely different than my own (Which is why I tend to prefer fantasy) When it come to non fic, I can be all over the place with Linguistics, European Royalty, Entertainment related books or Medical Science being my favorites. And I love when my nonfic ends up connecting to my fiction. Seveneves had a bunch on epigenetics which ties in to the non fic I'm reading right now (The Psychopath Inside: A Neuroscientist's Personal Journey into the Dark Side of the Brain), as well as it had ethical debates about gene editing babies (The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race) and the future section connected to Words on the Move: Why English Won't—and Can't—Sit Still with discussions on how the language had changed...
Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge
Books mentioned in this topic
A Catholic Introduction to the Bible: The Old Testament (other topics)How to Be Perfect: The Correct Answer to Every Moral Question (other topics)
Spies in the Family: An American Spymaster, His Russian Crown Jewel, and the Friendship That Helped End the Cold War (other topics)
Agent Sonya: Moscow's Most Daring Wartime Spy (other topics)
The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Brant Pitre (other topics)Michael Schur (other topics)
Jesmyn Ward (other topics)
Katie Gutierrez (other topics)
Marie Benedict (other topics)
More...
My new neighbor has organized a block party for the 4th of July. She got approval from the town for fireworks, and I really wish she had not. Sigh. My poor dog. I asked her to at least not set them off in front of our houses. She said they wouldn't be the "really loud" kind - I don't know if I should trust her on that (I mean, she's got a dog too), or take my dog elsewhere for a few hours.
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Admin stuff
June group read of Beloved is wrapping up here: /topic/show/...
July group read of Piranesi will be getting started
here: /topic/show/...
And the final poll to choose the October book about WITCHES is live
here: /poll/show/2...
Note about the poll: Circe and Discovery of Witches slipped through and got on the nomination poll, but they are both previous group reads so they are not eligible. Sorry about that confusion!!
Just to check the group's pulse and make sure we still want to keep disqualifying past group reads, I created a BONUS POLL: /poll/show/2... VOTE VOTE VOTE!
And, for anyone who participates in the Around the Year challenge, they are starting the process to choose their 2023 list now!
On a very sad and sober note, I just learned that Jenny "Reading Envy" Colvin passed away in May. I am starting my day with sadness. I'd never met her in person, but she was a GR friend, and I considered her many book reviews on here to be a constant. The last book she read was one of Julia Quinn's Bridgerton novels - I hope it brought her joy in her last days. She will be missed.
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This week I read 1 book, none for this Challenge, so I remain 37/50
You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty by Akwaeke Emezi- apparently this title is from a Florence + the Machine lyric. I don't know what went wrong here - I LOVED Emezi's other two adult novels, and I generally love the romance genre, but I did NOT love Emezi's take on the romance genre.
Question of the Week
You have an author you are loyal to and always anxiously anticipate their next release, but you read one of their books that deeply disappointed you. Name that author and tell us whether you kept reading their books or not.
My answer this week is: Akwaeke Emezi. I had been fairly "loyal" to Emezi, up until this year I'd read everything they'd published. But I was really disappointed in this recent novel, and even more disappointed at how Emezi used their public forum to go after negative ŷ reviews. I'm reluctant now to read anything else from them, because what if I don't like it? will they hunt down my negative review and blast me? I'm not saying I for SURE will NEVER read their books again, but I'm a lot less enthusiastic now, that's for sure!