ŷ������

Erin wrote: "Happy Friday! And Happy Lunar New Year to anyone who's celebrating. I got reminded today that we have Monday off at my job for the holiday, which is great. I'll have to read through the comments la..."




nice!! I always say we should get that off too. Over half my dept is in Shanghai after all - they have the week off.



The Employees- I feel completely neutral about this book, which is disappointing since I'd really thought I'd like it. A reminder that I don't have to buy every book. The library is there for a reason.


Ironically, I have this book borrowed from the library right now!!! I don't know if I'll get to it before it's due back, but it's so short it can't take me very long to read

This was such a hectic week at work that all I’ve wanted to do in the evening is crash on the couch. I’m just now getting to my check-in because I couldn’t stand to look at a computer or type anything after work. Not a lot of reading done this week either, but I’m hoping to make up for that this weekend.

I’m spending time at the library today using their CD-ROM drive (which I have not seen on any of my computers for years). I bought hundreds of dollars worth of audiobooks back when they were on discs and I had a regular long commute. Now that I have no CD player at home or in my car, I’m starting to worry about those audiobooks. I’m sitting here today ripping audiobook CDs into MP3s and saving them for future listening. Once again, I’m so grateful for my public library.

Finished
None

Reading
Rock Paper Scissors by Alice Feeney

QOTW
A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers. I’m not sure why this book was such a surprise. I love everything Becky Chambers has written, but I guess the summary didn’t appeal to me? I was completely blown away by this book. I’m so glad I picked it up, and I’m looking forward to reading the second book.

The weeks are already flying by, leaving again for my last work trip of January Monday to Charlotte and back home Tuesday night. Three trips planned for February already and then nothing after that!! I really hope it stays that way... I bought a new couch and it's going to be delivered Wednesday and I'm very excited about that!

6/75 GoodReads Challenge
6/50 PopSugar Challenge

Finished:
1.) I Will Send Rain by Rae Meadows (#34-HF) ⭐⭐��: On my backlog of NetGalley ARCs I need to get through, I liked this but didn't love the characters which made it hard to really sink into it.

2.) The Therapist by B.A. Paris (#40- Initials) ⭐⭐⭐⭐: I listened to this in two days because I couldn't stop. BA Paris tends to write pretty twisted dark thrillers, and this is no exception.



Currently Reading:
1.) Book Lovers
2.) Rock Paper Scissors



QoTW: What is the most recent book that has surprised you?
Lessons in Chemistry comes to mind. It completely lived up to the hype for me, which is what I always hope for, but may or may not actual happen. I adored this book and especially six thirty the pup!

Well, hello! It's been awhile since I've checked in, though I have been taking a peak at the threads every week. My progress on the 2022 challenge kind of fizzled out and so did my active check-ins towards the end of last year.

I'm much more excited about this year's prompts, even though several are repeats from previous years, and think trying out a new tracking method is going to keep things fun for me. I'm using a spreadsheet reading log for the first time and have been surprised by how motivating it's been!

I've completed 4/40 and 0/10 of the POPSUGAR Reading Challenge prompts so far, and have read 6/75 for my overall ŷ������ Reading Challenge on far. It feels great to be ahead of schedule on both! 😃

Finished:
* Maame by Jessica George, which I used for "a book by a first-time author." This was a NetGalley copy that I received I don't know how long ago and I'm so glad that I finally read it;
* Mother Daughter Traitor Spy by Susan Elia MacNeal, which I used for "a historical fiction book." I won a ŷ������ Giveaways copy (hard copy, no less!) of this one and loved it! Susan Elia MacNeal is one of my favorite authors and her first standalone novel was outstanding;
* Recitatif: A Story by Toni Morrison, which I heard about on a the What Should I Read Next? podcast and decided to check out. Wow. Just wow. It was brilliant;
* Token Black Girl: A Memoir by Danielle Prescod, which I used for "a book with "girl" in the title." It was one of my Amazon Prime First Read picks and am glad I decided to check it out;
* The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times written and narrated by Michelle Obama, which was one of my book clubs' picks for January. I'm looking forward to discussing it later today; and,
* The Woman in the Purple Skirt by Natsuko Imamura and translated by Lucy North, which I used for "a book with a color in the title." I happened to pick it up on a whim when I visited by library in person for the first time since March 2020 a couple of weeks ago.

Currently Reading:
* The Beige Man by Helene Tursten, which I've put on the back burner since I won two books and needed to read two book club titles this month;
* The Sanctuary by Katrine Engberg, which is the second ŷ������ Giveaways book I won in December;
* The Miracles of the Namiya General Store by Keigo Higashino, which is my other book clubs' pick for January. We'll discuss it next weekend; and,
* Cleo McDougal Regrets Nothing by Allison Winn Scotch, which is another Amazon Prime First Read option I decided to try. It's been a fun fast read so far.

QotW:
What is the most recent book that has surprised you? Of the books I finished this month, I'd say I was most pleasantly surprised by Maame. I really enjoyed the writing style and the story, which presented a range of issues and emotions. I thought it was a terrific debut novel and will definitely keep an eye out for future works by the author.

Someone please make my bunnies behave, I'm exhausted and I just had another coupling/mating go wrong, of which the process triggered the lady of the other newly mated (still unstable) couple to become even more snappish to her new boyfriend. My brain is running with worst case scenarios, I'm super anxious about it all, tensing at every little sound coming from outside, and I can't think of what to do anymore. I pulled them apart for now, and I'm planning on asking the shelter tomorrow how best to proceed (try again or return her) but I just 😭

I love my bunnies, I really, really do. But every now and again you just hit one of those patches with your pets where everything seems to go wrong and be a struggle and you just become so tired.

To quote Hamilton: you've never seen a pet-mom more in need of a break

Finished my third Popsugar book, Pain and Prejudice: How the Medical System Ignores Women—And What We Can Do About It, by Gabrielle Jackson. (A book with alliteration in the title.) Posted a short review here, and a longer one on my website.

Very slowly inching my way through The Madwoman in the Attic: The Woman Writer and the Nineteenth-Century Literary Imagination, in between other things.

Carmen wrote: "Someone please make my bunnies behave, I'm exhausted and I just had another coupling/mating go wrong, of which the process triggered the lady of the other newly mated (still unstable) couple to bec..."


What happens if they aren't coupled?

Nadine in NY wrote: "What happens if they aren't coupled?"

If left unchecked, it leads to the death of one or both of the bunnies. Hence me pulling them apart. There are no wounds, but it was clear it was merely a matter of time and that I went out at the right time.

In this case, you either try again, or you bring them back to the shelter. One to stay, and your own to find a new mate to try with. This is also what happens when you try again and it still doesn't work out.

Cats might tolerate each other if they don't like the other, bunnies will not. They're funny little creatures. Ezra and Sjaan had been cuddling and washing each other for 4 days straight in the shed (after doing great at the shelter for 3 days), and today when I put them in their actual enclosure it went great!

Cut to a few hours later when it was decidedly not great.

Hello everyone...I am back.

It was a horribly crazy December and I have been dealing with a lot of emotional things this month so, while I have been thinking of you all and occasionally checking in real quick...I just have not been in the mood.

As I previously mentioned my step-mom was battling cancer (for about 6 years) and we lost her on the 1st so, that has been a lot to deal with, especially since I have also been kinda starting a new friendship with this guy I've known all my life. So to say the least it has been a rollercoaster of a month emotionally. It's getting better everyday...at least until one day while working some lady wanders over and her perfume reminds you of your granny (who passed in 2019) and you start crying. LOL. GRIEF: Hello I just wanted to come over hear and give you a smack in the face, to let you know I'm still here, bwahhaahaha,

I also wanted to wish everyone a Happy Chinese New Year...year of the rabbit! My nephew's school had a parade on Friday for it, I didn't get to see it but, they had colored these dragon headpieces to wear that he brought home.

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So anyway, I'll try do a quick catch up...

I finished exactly one book in December, The House in the Cerulean Sea. It took me quite a while and I was not really super impressed with it. I felt like it got better later in the book but, still not great.

Here's my final numbers...
2022 Challenges:
Popsugar: 50/50
ATY: 51/52
A to Z: 25/26 (Only letter left is Q)
Read Harder: 16/24 (I gave up on this one)
50 States:
2021��44/54
2022��22/54
2023��3/54 (I'd started counting books for these in Oct/Nov)

ŷ������: 137/150 (My original goal was 100 and I had upped it)

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My plans for 2023 are still kind of up in the air. I decided that I am gonna set a lower goal and also to try to focus only on books I already have and just a few from the library.

2023 Challenges:
Popsugar: 1/50
ATY: 1/52
A to Z: 2/26
50 States:
2021��44/54
2022��22/54
2023��3/54

ŷ������: 1/50

I am gonna slot things into Popsugar and ATY if they fit but for now it is not my main focus, although I will still try to keep a count on them (as listed above). Instead I decided I want to try and read as many of the past and current monthly group reads that I can, because many of them seem like interesting books and I feel like I have maybe been missing out. It also just seems a little more doable for me this year. So along with tackling mount TBR I will work on those.

QoTW:
What is the most recent book that has surprised you?
Honestly, can't think of anything.

JessicaMHR wrote: "Hello everyone...I am back.

It was a horribly crazy December and I have been dealing with a lot of emotional things this month so, while I have been thinking of you all and occasionally checking i..."

My tears for your loss <33

JessicaMHR wrote: "my step-mom was battling cancer (for about 6 years) and we lost her on the 1st so, that has been a lot to deal with."

I'm so sorry for your loss Jessica.

JessicaMHR wrote: "Hello everyone...I am back.

It was a horribly crazy December and I have been dealing with a lot of emotional things this month so, while I have been thinking of you all and occasionally checking i..."




I am so sorry for your loss. May her memory be a blessing. (And I hope you find lots of comfort reading to help.)

JessicaMHR wrote: "Hello everyone...I am back.

It was a horribly crazy December and I have been dealing with a lot of emotional things this month so, while I have been thinking of you all and occasionally checking i..."

Sorry for your loss. Grief sucks. Take care of yourself!

Hello - late checkin for me. Had a nice weekend, though, and getting ready for a busy upcoming week.

I'm at 4/50 for the challenge.

Read this week:

Walt Disney World and Epcot Center by Valerie Childs and Walt Disney Company - read as my book about a vacation, a nonfiction work that I meant to get to last year in honor of Walt Disney World's 50th, great trip down memory lane

Bare Minimum Parenting: The Ultimate Guide to Not Quite Ruining Your Child by James Breakwell - humor, I love James Breakwell but this wasn't my favorite of his, it felt a little harsh(er than usual), still some funny parts and some insightful parts

QOTW: We Were Liars by E. Lockhart, the book itself was surprising, and I didn't think I'd like it nearly as much as I did.

sorry for your loss

JessicaMHR wrote: "Hello everyone...I am back.

It was a horribly crazy December and I have been dealing with a lot of emotional things this month so, while I have been thinking of you all and occasionally checking i..."

So sorry for your loss. You indeed had a emotional rollercoaster.

Thanks for everyone's well wishes.