Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge discussion
2023 Weekly Check-Ins
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Week 8: 2/16 - 2/23
Crazy that we're almost at the end of February. Time seems to go by fast. As a kid you hardly notice it, but as an adult, it just seems to speed up.Things for me have been going pretty good. Just focused on school, but that's about it.
Although lately, I've been revisiting my teen years and binge-watching Dawson's Creek. I love it! It's been years since I watched. I love going back and being aware of things I wasn't when I was like 14.
As far as reading goes, I have only stuck with one book this week and that's Bittersweet: How Sorrow and Longing Make Us Whole . I normally don't follow Oprah's book club because I rarely find anything of interest, so I'm grateful she chose this one. It's great talking to other people about it.
This is my third read with 'Bittersweet' and now that I'm doing it for a book club, I find myself noticing things in the book that I probably wouldn't have otherwise. My annotations are much deeper compared to the first two times/books that I read before.
Question of the Week
What other bookish social media or blogs do you use regularly?
Love this question!
I usually follow topics on Instagram, but I am extremely close to obsessive mode on TikTok. There's so much I can find there. I have a few favorite followers but in general I search for things such as "book annotating". People post some very fun ways in how they annotate. "Book tabbing"- I love seeing the aesthetic of book tabs. I'll then also look for general things like nonfiction book recommendations, book hauls, book mail.
One of my favorite things on TikTok though is looking up books I've read to see if other people have read them too and what their thoughts are on them.
I also love searching TikTok for "reading wrap-ups" where people share the books they've read for the month.
About 90% of what I find on TikTok though are fiction books/readers (especially on the wrap-ups), so I have to dig deep for the nonfiction ones.
Happy Thursday, everyone!It has been a difficult week.
On Friday morning, while I was taking out the trash, my ankle rolled and I fell down the stairs leading to the garage. I was in a tremendous amount of pain, and my foot started swelling immediately, so I thought it would be a good idea to go to urgent care. It was a good thing I did, because it turned out that I had fractured my ankle.
I’m doing okay, and the pain has actually been pretty manageable. What I’m having trouble with is my mobility. Since I ditched the crutches in favor of a knee walker, that has improved, but there are still a lot of things that I’m unable to do for myself…including getting up and down the stairs, and driving. I’m pretty much restricted to the ground floor of my house as a result. (I’m so grateful to have a bedroom on the ground floor!)
I have an appointment with the orthopedist in a little over an hour, and I’m really looking forward to hearing what he has to say. Fingers crossed that surgery won't be necessary, and that I end up in a boot and not a cast.
While I am in the middle of several books right now, I really haven’t done much reading this week. I am continuing to make progress on The Count of Monte Cristo, but I’ve spent most of my time binge-watching baking shows on Netflix and National Geographic documentaries on Disney+.
Here are my current challenge and TBR totals�
ŷ Challenge: 117/400
Mount TBR Challenge: 87/150 (Climbing Mount Olympus)
📚Physical TBR: 75/634
📱Ebook TBR: 6/236
Audiobook TBR: 6/13
TBR Checklist Total: 87/883
I had planned to head out to the bookstore this week to purchase the ninth volume of The Way of the Househusband, but since I’m currently unable to drive, that didn’t happen. Maybe I’ll be able to talk my dad into driving me to Barnes and Noble sometime this week.
“New� Books Bought in 2023: 40
“New� Books Read in 2023: 25/40
Here are the books I finished this week�
Finished Reading (Fiction):
~A Grimm Warning � The third book in The Land of Stories series was just as good as the first two. 📚: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Finished Reading (Nonfiction):
None
Finished Reading (Manga, Comic Books, & Graphic Novels):
None
DNFed:
None
Currently Reading:
~H.H. Holmes: The True History of the White City Devil � Surprisingly, I actually managed to read a decent number of pages this week. Perhaps I won’t be DNFing this book after all. 📚
~The Count of Monte Cristo � This has turned out to be a very interesting read! Since it has been the only book that I’ve actively read this week, I have stopped restricting myself to only three chapters per night. I believe I’m currently on chapter 58. 📚
~What Happens In London � I’m currently about halfway through the second book of the Bevelstoke trilogy. It’s been good so far. 📚
~Doctor Who: Winner Takes All � I’m currently about a third of the way through this audiobook. Camille Coduri is a great narrator.
~Beyond the Kingdoms � I’m currently taking a short break from the fourth Land of Stories book. It’s been good so far, but I just haven’t been in the mood for fairy tales this week. 📚
~Showcase Presents: Phantom Stranger, Vol. 1 � This has been an interesting comic book collection so far. I usually prefer Marvel to DC, but I do really like DC's supernatural titles. 📚
QOTW:
ŷ is really the only bookish social media that I use regularly, but I also occasionally follow (and post) bookish content on Instagram.
I also enjoy a few bookish content creators on YouTube, including: Alexandra Roselyn, Oliviareadsalatte, and How to Train Your Gavin.
Ron wrote: "Although lately, I've been revisiting my teen years and binge-watching Dawson's Creek. I love it! It's been years since I watched. I love going back and being aware of things I wasn't when I was like 14.."Sometimes it's just fun to go back and binge-watch a show, isn't it? I've been doing that lately, but with "Kitchen Nightmares" of all shows. Yes, I logically know at least some of the drama in that show has to be staged, but it's still a mindless guilty pleasure.
Happy Thursday, y'all.So... apparently someone in my neck of the woods has submitted a petition to their city to dissolve their local library district, on the grounds that the library is giving books with sexual content to minors. I highly doubt this petition is going to actually shut down the libraries in this district, but still... sometimes I don't want to live on this planet anymore.
Books read this week:
Grace Is Gone -- for the PopSugar prompt “favorite prompt from the 2019 challenge (a novel based on a true story)� and the Extreme Book Nerd prompt “based on a true story.� I wish someone would write an actual book about the Gypsy Rose Blanchard case -- both novels I’ve read based on the story have been interesting, but not great.
Dreadnought -- for the PopSugar prompt “book banned or challenged in any state in 2022� and the Extreme Book Nerd prompt “has been banned/challenged.� Reading about a transgender teen becoming a superhero was HARD, but then, reading about any transgender person dealing with unsupportive family, friends, community, and system in general is bound to be hard. Still good.
The Calculating Stars -- for the PopSugar prompt “book written during NaNoWriMo� and the Extreme Book Nerd prompt “about someone with a different belief system than you� (main character is Jewish). A fantastic alternate-history that reads like a sci-fi take on Hidden Figures. One to continue!
Disrupting the Game: From the Bronx to the Top of Nintendo -- for the PopSugar prompt “book you think your best friend would like� and the Extreme Book Nerd prompt “self-help book.� Yes, I'm a nerd -- this book is written by Reggie Fils-Aime, who was the President of Nintendo of America for quite a long time. I thought this was going to be a memoir, but it’s more of the author sharing life stories and then teaching lessons to the reader from them. Not what I expected, but it was still interesting learning about his time working at Nintendo and getting an insider’s view of the development of favorite games and consoles. The audiobook contains an interview that’s well-worth listening to as well.
The Illustrated Al: The Songs of "Weird Al" Yankovic -- graphic novel, not for the challenge. Essentially illustrates several of Weird Al’s original songs in a comic format, done in a variety of styles and with plenty of visual Easter eggs for hardcore Al fans to find. And given that I’m a hardcore Al fan, I loved it, heh.
Currently Reading:
Star Wars: Splinter of the Mind's Eye -- for “book based on a popular movie�
Just Like Home -- for “book about a family�
Contact -- for “favorite prompt from the 2016 challenge (sci-fi novel)�
The Cat Who Saved Books -- for “favorite prompt from the 2015 challenge (book originally published in another language)�
QOTW:
This group, the PopSugar group on Facebook, and a bunch of Bookstagram accounts are the only bookish social media I really follow. (Is this a bad place to say I have my own bookish Instagram account? XD It's at @reading_with_robots if people are curious...)
K.L. wrote: "Happy Thursday, everyone!It has been a difficult week.
On Friday morning, while I was taking out the trash, my ankle rolled and I fell down the stairs leading to the garage. I was in a tremendou..."
Oh yikes! I hope you make a quick and full recovery! Sorry you fractured your ankle. :(
I finished The Snow Leopard as a book bought in an independent book store. I did not care for it that much. I liked the parts (too few) where he's describing the area/scenery, the people and the sheep. But, there is no snow leopard. They see some scat and some scratches and that's it. Horribly misnamed book.I read The Cat Who Could Read Backwards as my book with a pet character. So-so cozy mystery.
I'm now reading Get a Life, Chloe Brown as my romance with a fat lead. It's OK so far, I guess. Not really crazy about romances. Especially the ones where they both start off hating each other because of misunderstandings.
QOTW: Just the Pop Sugar and Book lovers Cafe groups on FB.
book with a love triangleLoveboat, Taipei by Abigail Hing Wen. YA romance. Daughter of immigrants gets some freedom when she is sent to a summer program. Honestly, I hated a lot of the characters and their choices. Like the main uses someone she knows has feelings for her for sex and that's annoying. There is some revenge release of nudes that is promptly forgiven and it shouldn't be. And honestly, it's one of those books where it feels like the author thinks all women are catty and out for themselves except for the main who is of course different than other girls (although she totally uses the one guy). And I hate that whether it is a man or woman writing the book, I hate it when they write women as shallow and catty except the main character. That device can go die in a hole.
no prompts
Maniac by Onley James. Last in the Necessary Evils series. Contemporary romance but about psychopaths so there is murder. Nice end to the series.
The Geek Who Saved Christmas by Annabeth Albert. Cute Christmas contemporary romance.
Parachutes by Kelly Yang. YA. A Chinese girl is sent to America for school. CW: grooming, sexual harassment and sexual assault
To Love and to Loathe by Martha Waters. historical romance. It was a good read but I also read it after Talk Bookish to Me so I may have that wrong.
Talk Bookish to Me by Kate Bromley. Second chance contemporary romance. I would've given this ½ a star if possible. It was an okay book until page 200ish (about 80%) and the third act breakup over the worst reason. If this had happened earlier in the book, and she went to Italy and found love�3 stars. I just can't though.
QOTW:
Booktok and I've curated it so I see all the stuff I'm interested. I follow a lot of authors on Twitter. I used to spend a lot of time reading the blog Smart Bitches, Trashy Books but I haven't in a long time. And I listen to the Fated Mates podcast and All the Books podcast
Kenya wrote: Sometimes it's just fun to go back and binge-watch a show, isn't it?That it is. And now that I'm older I see things differently and because of Dawson's Creek, I'm thrown back to the 90s, because of their tech, the way they dress, etc., and I love it all over again.
Kenya wrote: So... apparently someone in my neck of the woods has submitted a petition to their city to dissolve their local library district, on the grounds that the library is giving books with sexual content to minors. I highly doubt this petition is going to actually shut down the libraries in this district, but still... sometimes I don't want to live on this planet anymoreTell me about it. These situations have gotten way out of hand. It's ridiculous. They're just books. If you don't like it then don't read it, it's as simple as that. Just because you don't like something doesn't mean you should have to force it down other people's throats. You know, I don't like the clothes you wear so wear something else (sarcasm of course, but you get my drift.) It gets me angry to no end!
Katy wrote: "I finished The Snow Leopard as a book bought in an independent book store. I did not care for it that much. I liked the parts (too few) where he's describing the area/scenery, the peo..."Man, I would have been so disappointed to read that book, it sounds like. :(
Happy Thursday! I need to change out the insoles in my shoes because I covered for our shipping guy four times in the past week and my heels are killing me. On the theatre front, we closed The Children's Hour on Saturday evening! Mental note to NEVER work with that "stage manager" ever again. Sheesh. The cast (and director) were wonderful though, both adults and kids, so it was far from an awful experience. Looking forward to my next project, which has auditions in March and then kicks off rehearsals in April.
Until then, I should be able to plow through more books :D
@KL sending healing vibes! I'm so sorry to hear about this! Freak accidents are the WORST
@Kenya oh no, hopefully that doesn't spiral into anything truly serious.
Finished this week:
On the Shoulders of Giants: My Journey Through the Harlem Renaissance - 3.5 stars. I skimmed this one as it got repetitive (I think it would've worked better had I read a print copy vs the audio) but I loved the way Kareem talked about history. This was a spur-of-the-moment BR in my sports GR group, following a discussion about LeBron breaking Kareem's all-time scoring record.
Transcendent Kingdom - 3 stars. Yaa Gyasi is one of my favorite newer writers and she's on my auto-read list from here on out. This one has touched on so many more topics than I was expecting, and I love when short books can pack such a punch. The ending felt abrupt and too neat, and there was a certain vagueness about the whole story that I didn't gel with, but for the most part I liked it considerably. cw for animal experimentation, depression, and opioid addiction. BookTok recommendation
PS 13/50
ATY 10/52
Mount TBR 8/60
Currently:
The Count of Monte Cristo - On the Shoulders of Giants derailed this one for a few days but I'm back at it, just starting ch19 now. I love Abbe Faria so muchhhh
I'm looking forward to starting Roshani Chokshi's newest, The Last Tale of the Flower Bride, this evening. I loved The Star-Touched Queen when I read it years ago and I've been very lax in keeping up with her work. Must remedy!
Also still dabbling in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.
QOTW: What other bookish social media or blogs do you use regularly?
Not much tbh. I'm not on TikTok although I love when friends send me BookTok videos. Bookstagram pics are great but I don't often go looking for them, so I'm pleased when I stumble upon a few (or authors repost into their stories). I follow a lot of authors on Insta and Twitter, and engaging with them in any capacity is always fun. And every once in awhile a BookRiot article will show up in my Google News algorithm, and then I'll go down the BookRiot rabbit hole for awhile, but it's not something I usually look up on my own.
K.L. wrote: "Happy Thursday, everyone!It has been a difficult week.
On Friday morning, while I was taking out the trash, my ankle rolled and I fell down the stairs leading to the garage. I was in a tremendou..."
Oh no!! I'm glad to hear the pain is manageable, but I know ankle injuries are so rough to recover from. All the luck to you for not needing surgery!
Mod
It has been a difficult week.
On Friday morning, while I was taking out the trash, my ankle rolled and I fell down the stairs leading to the garage. I was in a tremendou..."
oh yiiiiikes! I sprained my ankle once, that was bad enough. The worst part was limping my way into medical. If you can't walk, it's really hard to get into the medical office!!!
A short check-in for me today. I move into my new house tomorrow! I still have quite a lot of packing to do before then, but I'm hopeful I'll get it all done in time for the movers...Nadine asked if it's early spring in other places. I don't know what it is in Texas. It was in the 90s two days ago, now it's back down to the 50/60s (and I think the temp is supposed to drop again over the next couple of days). Ah, climate change.
Finished:
Nothing
Currently Reading:
Nothing
BUT, I'm planning to start listening to Beautiful by Juliet Marillier as I pack this afternoon. It'll be my book with a song lyric as the title. Did I just go the easy route and think to myself "there are a million songs with this word, so it'll do"? Absolutely.
QOTW:
I'm technically in the Book Lovers Café and PopSugar groups on Facebook, but I don't do much with them. So ŷ is my main squeeze when it comes to books and social media.
Mod
Sometimes it's just fun to go back and binge-watch a show, isn't it? I've been doing that lately, but with "Kitchen Nightmares" of all shows. Yes, I logically know at least some of the drama in that show has to be staged, but it's still a mindless guilty pleasure.
..."
My daughter and I are almost done w/ our rewatch of Dollhouse!! Same feels.
Happy Thursday once again! This month has flown by and I'm not sure if I'm happy about that or not. I finished one book this week. I've been preoccupied with finishing my cardigan I'm knitting and rewatching Supernatural from the beginning.
FINISHED:
There's Something Wrong in Morrington County
My internet friend wrote this and I'm so proud of them! I used it for prompt #44 A book that was self-published. I love this horror anthology. I also loved that some of the stories and characters are connected.
READING:
Song of Solomon I just started this yesterday so I don't have any opinions so far but I'm a fan of Toni Morrison no matter what.
Question of the Week
What other bookish social media or blogs do you use regularly?
I follow Melanated Reader and Casey R Kelly on Instagram. I've also been following a few Youtubers that talk about books.
Happy Thursday.I finished Allegiant. Someone here warned me that I'd hate it. I didn't hate it. I hated Mockingjay and gave it 1 star. Allegiant ended with all the characters: Tris, Four, Christina, Caleb, Peter, Marcus, and Evelyn acting exactly in accordance with who they told you they were in the other books. It seemed well plotted (even though if I would have written it, I would have written different endings for certain characters). Mockingjay read like it was authorized fanfic or like it was a school assignment done the night before. Allegiant seemed like it had been well thought out.
(view spoiler)
Finished:
Allegiant
ATY prompt: Three books, each of which is set in a different century (23rd or 24th)
Popsugar prompt: A #BookTok recommendation (Divergent is on BookTok)
Nadine's 23 challenge: A book involving genetics and/or genealogy (because we have 23 pairs of chromosomes)
Series - 4/15
Series Completed: - Lying Games, Bronwyn the Witch, Divergent
Nobel laureates - 0/7
Random books - 1/7
ATY - 8/40
PS - 8/30
Nadine's 23 challenge - 6/10
Around the year in 52 movies - 10/52
9. A movie nominated for an award beginning with W - Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
(Washington D.C. Area Film's Critic Association Award)
10. A movie related to one of the Spice Girls' "personalities" - The Menu (Scary)
Currently reading:
A Ballet of Lepers: A Novel and Stories - 75% done
The History of Rome, Vol 1: The Period Anterior to the Abolition of the Monarchy - 65% done
Survive the Night - 70% done
QOTW: none really. I follow one author on Instagram, but I thought she was funny before she was published.
I forgot to add that I'm thrilled Bunny won! I read it last August and wanted to discuss it with someone, but no one I know read the book.
Hi! This week has been and will be eventful! I went to my new job yesterday for more security/background checks on me. I was getting my fingerprints checked and it took so long! The guard kept redoing my fingers because the machine could not read them. Also tomorrow is my sister's birthday and we are going to celebrate with eating fish, which is perfect because Lent has started.I finished two books this week: The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison for the banned book prompt and Black Girls Must Die Exhausted by Jayne Allen for a different book prompt challenge.
Currently reading Every Summer After by Carley Fortune but I haven't thought which prompt this book could go in.
QOTW: I go on TikTok to look at book stuff sometimes and love looking at booktuber videos on YouTube.
Everybody in the house is sick. Not bad... just congestion and coughing and headaches. But it's everybody, including the baby. I'm really glad we do Hello Fresh so nobody has to go the grocery store or make actual decisions about what's for dinner.Challenge Progress: 12/50 I'm at 8/10 on Nadine's First Quarter Challenge.
Completed:
Hell Bent (PS24: a book with a rabbit on the cover) ★★★★
Norse Mythology: I love Neil Gaiman, but this was just okay. I didn't think he did anything special with his Norse retellings. (Q1.4: a book based on Norse mythology) ★★�
Bad Cree: So disappointing. ★★
How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America ★★★★�
The Big Sheep: Sci Fi caper involving the abduction of a genetically enhanced sheep... and clones (but not of the sheep). Weird. (Q1.5: a book about sheep or shepherds) ★★�
To The Bright Edge of the World: Eowyn Ivey's The Snow Child is one of my favorite books, but this one didn't captivate me the same way. ★★�
The Verifiers: Parts were great, but it felt unfinished. ★★�
The Dead Romantics: Best rom-com I've read in ages! ★★★★�
Currently Reading
The Family
What Souls Are Made Of: A Wuthering Heights Remix
The Many Daughters of Afong Moy
Couple Found Slain: After a Family Murder
They Both Die at the End (PS43: a book that takes place entirely in one day)
Opposite of Always
The Matzah Ball (PS47: a book about a holiday that's not Christmas)
QOTW: I'm in a couple of bookish Facebook groups, but I can't say I really enjoy them. Too much complaining about prompts, how prompts are interpreted, people's book choices, and the endless question about whether audiobooks count (Of course they do!).
Kenya,OMG! You're the one who posts those awesome books with Transformers in the PopSugar Facebook group?! I love those!
I may have to check out the Reggie and Al books.
Splinter of the Mind's Eye is not generally my jam (trapped on a planet, only a few of the main characters involved), but I do like the stuff at the very end and the Yuzzem characters.
It's tax season, so that is taking a lot of my time right now (tax accountant here). I did get a chance to do dinner and a show on Sunday. Itzhak Perlman came to town and put on a recital. He still absolutely slays on the violin in his 70's. He did some Leclair, Beethoven, Schumann, Smetana, Prokofiev, the theme from Schindler's List by John Williams (amazing!), and a caprice from a composer whose name I could not hear clearly to finish things off. If you get the chance to see him, and you like classical music at all, definitely do it!
Books finished:
Star Trek: The Amazing Stories by various (3/5, not for a prompt)
This is a collection of some TNG and Voyager Star Trek stories that were published in magazines. They are mostly average and disposable, but I liked "A Night at Sandrine's" by Christie Golden at a 4-star level.
The Spare Man by Mary Robinette Kowal (3/5, a book that your friend recommended, would also work for a book with a pet character and a book with two languages for a few spots of French)
As a mystery, this is so-so at best. It's not really a fair-play mystery, even though some clues and oddities appear at various times throughout the book. The book is more concerned with how the crimes and their investigation impact the protagonist.
Her name is Tesla (an easy indicator of her level of wealth but also lowering my opinion of her), and she deals with chronic pain with the help of her exceptionally adorable dog (a Westie) and a Deep Brain Pain Suppression device that is based on something that actually exists today at a more rudimentary level. Her husband is accused of a crime and held for questioning, so she investigates and interferes more than she would or should ordinarily.
The setting is pretty cool. It's on an interplanetary cruise ship with multiple gravity zones. There are also recipes for cocktails in every chapter, in case you need a book with recipes for one of your prompts.
Question of the Week:
I am a regular reader of Tor.com and like them very much. Book Riot has the occasional good article, and they highlight a lot of the ebook sales that are going on each day.
On the YouTube side, I subscribe to and enjoy Merphy Napier, Jesse the Reader, and the Vlogbrothers (Hank and John Green are authors, but their videos are usually about other things).
Edited to Add:
DNF: The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music by Dave Grohl (a celebrity memoir)
I read one chapter, but the writing style and strange font choices were not working very well for me. I am not too big into Foo Fighters or Nirvana, so I am happy to move on to something else.
PS 2023 progress: 22/50
Edit 2:
I just remembered another site I wanted to mention. At TrekBBS.com, there is a whole section called Trek Literature. Several authors like Una McCormack, Greg Cox, Christopher L. Bennett, and Keith R.A. DeCandido post there pretty regularly, and there are some great discussions between fans about the books and comics.
Finally going to get to a check in, my first of the year, woo.So this past week, I finished:
Nettle & Bone, a reworked fairy tale, which I loved. Put it in for book my friend would enjoy because I already plan on giving it to a couple people for upcoming gifting occasions. Could also work for pet character (aw, Bonedog).
Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands, which, oof. Really powerful and thought provoking. This is the fourth of five books that I've read for the upcoming Canada Reads competition (), and man, it's going to be a tough year, I love all of the ones I've read and would have a hard time voting against any of them! Didn't fit it into a challenge prompt.
Finding Me My celebrity memoir. I thought the parts about her childhood were heart-wrenching and inspiring. When she got to her adult, acting years, it got much more surface level and I wanted more depth.
Nine Goblins Didn't fit it into a Popsugar challenge prompt, but used for ATY's novella. So I'm really trying to keep my want to read shelf from tipping over 1500, but I'm only 15 away. So I thought this might be a quick read that I could use to transfer a number from that shelf to my read. It presents as a light hearted comedic look at a troop of goblin soldiers, but gets pretty gory and dark about the cost of war. Between this and Nettle & Bone though, I will make more of an effort to get my hands on the T. Kingfisher / Ursula Vernon stuff I haven't read yet - I think she's pretty close to can't miss for me.
Emma: A Modern Retelling It's right there in the title, used for my modern version of a classic. Not good though. It felt very muddled as to timing - it was definitely present day but some of the characters attitudes still felt awfully dated. Also, (view spoiler).
Next up is The Gilded Ones, which may be a break from challenge reading, unless it turns out to qualify for one of the content ones I have open.
QotW
Mainly here and Story Graph (I like how they track Reading Challenges).
I follow one book account on Instagram, Books of Brilliance, which has reviews and funny book commentary. Wouldn't mind recommendations if anyone else has other great ones.
For websites, I occasionally check out Book Riot, and Lithub.
And then I follow a bunch of authors on Twitter (Scalzi, Gaiman and Sarah Gailey are the ones who come to mind as pretty prolific on there.)
My big news this week is that I went for a hike on Sunday. I was intending to hike about 2-3 miles as part of my Scotland plan for this year. Well, I got to Phinizy Swamp and had so much fun seeing all the birds and creatures and taking pictures that I hiked further than I had planned. I decided to turn around and head back to the car. When I got to the crossway that would lead me back, there were two huge (VERY HUGE) alligators. So I detoured. The result that my hike ended up being 3.73 miles, and I ended up being sore…oh, so sore. My legs hurt from my toes to my hips…and later my chest/back area started aching. Turns out this hike I overdid the exercise and caused the costochondritis to flare up (inflammation of cartilage of ribs).I took Motrin regularly throughout the day and three days to weather that flare-up!
And, on top of that, I lost the 100 + pictures that I had taken over the week, when I thought that I had uploaded them successfully and chose to reformat the disc!
So…I re-did part of the hike on Sunday again on Monday to try to recapture some of the pictures! 2.3 miles this time.
For a couch potato and an older aged woman, I hike 6 miles in 2 days!
Due to pain and exhaustion, I did not get as much reading done as I had hoped. I did make the decision to return two books to the library that I just could not generate any interest in starting to read. Due date (unrenewable) on both is Sunday.
Oh, and this is the week that I finish with doing the SRC Challenges. I have made the decision to drop out of that group after being in it since I joined in 2008. Still my interest in doing the seasonal challenge has waned over time, and I am glad to be stepping away at this moment.
Finished:
The Christmas Bookshop � ATY. No prompts. I enjoyed this story of a woman who always felt inadequate and who saw her life as a failure. Carmen loses her job and has to move into the home of her perfect sister, who sets her up for a job in a failing bookstore. This story is how her life turns around and how the bookstore is saved. Lots of fun. Lots of interesting characters. Lots of angst…and I rooted for Carmen through it all. Loved it. 4*
Sweep of the Heart � PAS. No prompts. Dina and Sean, innkeepers to the alien world, try to find a kidnapped friend and have to host a spouse finding event for the Dominion ruler in order to get his help in locating the lost friend. Through the trials, the reader is introduced to a variety of other beings and twists and turns keep the suspense high. And, yet this paranormal story is full of wonderful touching moments. All works out. New info is gained. And the friend is rescued. I love these stories (series). 4 *
The Sun Is Also a Star � PS Monthly. I really did not connect well with this story until, in the discussion I responded to a question, and the moderator reflected that my idea was much like Natasha’s view. Once I saw that I started paying more attention to this character, found commonality, and got more into the who of Natasha and Daniel that the what of the story. Ended up giving it 3*. At present I have not used this book for a prompt as I had another planned. I will reassess as the year goes by.
Currently Reading:
Against All Enemies � ALCM, PAS, 0% (haven’t really started, I did read a page or two though)
An American Princess: The Many Lives of Allene Tew � SRC. Kindle. 4% (I will still continue to read this even though I drop out of the group. It is enough interesting�)
Brief Answers to the Big Questions � SRC, ATY, 47%. Really enjoying this info about the universe, although sometimes the explanation is over my head.
The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared � old challenges, 7%. Loving this old man!
The Bluest Eye � PS. 27%.
Betrayal of Trust � ALCM, PAS, PS Seasonal. Ebook. 13%.
Bone Box � No prompts or challenges, reading just because. Audiobook. 45%.
Returned to library unread:
The Book of Names
Start Shooting
On deck:
Flight Behavior � old challenges
The Beekeeper of Aleppo - RwS
PS 4/50 and 3/10 for Quarterly Challenge
ATY 5/52 and 8/12 for Quarterly Challenge
GR 45/200
RwS 20/30
SRC 23/67
QotW: What other bookish social media or blogs do you use regularly?
For me, ŷ is it, as a regular thing, and that is several times a day.
Brandon wrote: "It's tax season, so that is taking a lot of my time right now (tax accountant here). I did get a chance to do dinner and a show on Sunday. Itzhak Perlman came to town and put on a recital. He still absolutely slays on the violin in his 70's. He did some Leclair, Beethoven, Schumann, Smetana, Prokofiev, the theme from Schindler's List by John Williams (amazing!), and a caprice from a composer whose name I could not hear clearly to finish things off. If you get the chance to see him, and you like classical music at all, definitely do it!"This reminded me, I have tickets to see him when he comes to my city in April! Glad to hear you had a good time and I'm SO looking forward to it!
Nadine in NY wrote: "My dog is all better after last week's UTI, so that's good. My tie dyes are still happening - the shirt I hand-painted with the dragon Haku's face came out wonderfully!!."Glad to hear that your dog is better.
And, wow! That shirt is neat!
K.L. wrote: "Happy Thursday, everyone!It has been a difficult week.
On Friday morning, while I was taking out the trash, my ankle rolled and I fell down the stairs leading to the garage...it turned out that I had fractured my ankle."
Oh, no! So sorry for your fall and injury. I do hope your recovery proceeds quickly and well.
Hi All. KL I hope you get good news today about your ankle & you heal soon. I read three books for the week.1. White Tears/Brown Scars: How White Feminism Betrays Women of Color. 4 stars. Popsugar # 44 A book that was self published.
2. The Violin Conspiracy. 5 stars. Not for this challenge. I loved this book. I read it in a day.
3. The Way of the Househusband, Vol. 1 & The Way of the Househusband, Vol. 2. 3 stars. I like this series. I never read magna before but I figured it out quickly & read both volumes quickly. I plan to check out the other volume's soon. Not for this challenge.
Currently listening to Barbarians at the Gate: The Fall of RJR Nabisco. Currently reading The Invention of Wings.
QOTW: I used ŷ. On FB I follow Bookstr, Popsugar book club, PBS Books Reader Club, Peanut Blossom Book Club for Recovering Readers, Book Lovers Cafe, Book Riot. I use Lithub. In November I use You Tube for Nonfiction November. I have been stalking Tournament of Books for years but haven't participated. I don't totally understand what is going on & I feel like I don't need extra reads at this point. It is interesting though.
I can't believe this thread was posted an hour after I pre-wrote my message and had to leave ajhsdkfasdg catching up will have to wait!Another Thursday, another week gone by!
Weather: Chilly. Bit of rain. Not a fan. Bring on some warmth. (warmth, not heat, you hear me, climate??)
Puzzle: I severely underestimated this puzzle, haha! I get stressed and frustrated at times, until I tell myself to calm down, and just *look*. Who knew that actually worked better? And that that means puzzling is fun again? xD It looks like I’ve done nothing so far, with over 17 hours of work into it, but I know it’s a lot so I’m proud. Had some help from my best friend a few days ago (she’s visiting for the week): she looked for pieces, I puzzled. Worked like a charm! First time I ever accepted help, asked for it even, haha! We got so far, my old board was running out of space, so dad and I went to get new boards (1,5m by 1m). I’m really happy with them, but they’re so expensive! Wow. We only bought 5 for now, the rest will come later. Of course the boards were way too big so they sawed them to size for us and with the remains we �.
Bunnies: Yesterday we put up the remains of the boards to the enclosure, to make sure Mia and Mickey wouldn’t be able to see Ezra and his hopefully new girlfriend. We then cleaned out the final bits of the enclosure best we could, and put Ezra and his lady in there. After last time’s disaster I was absolutely terrified, but it seems to be going well. There was some Banja fur yesterday, but nothing alarming, and they were sitting together again eating. They made it through the night, and only a small tuft of Ezra fur was found, and then they ate pellets together from the same bowl so fingers crossed! I am thinking of the name Nancy for her!
With all of this, the Dreamlight Valley update (almost finished! would’ve been fast but the above and my best friend meant less time for playing hehe), I barely read at all. Woops. It’ll happen again for sure when my best friend goes back home so I’m really proud of myself for maintaining a balance so far. (not helped by the fact I reread one of my fics last night and immediately wanted to work on the sequel since I finally figured out what was missing from it, haha!)
So, here goes:
Read
…Nothing. So all my numbers are the same!
Currently Reading
Moby-Dick
Today’s chapter was 23 pages and I need to have A WORD with Melville. This is not what we discussed. At least it was a chapter that wasn’t too difficult to read. I’m at 45%!
The Jealousy of Jalice
Haven’t read it for a few days, but I’m enjoying it. Hoping one of the characters loses her naivite, and fast, cuz it’s getting annoying xD
QOTW
I technically have a bookstagram, but I've only been trying to post again this year and I'm already behind on sharing the books I've read, even without really trying for photos. Woops. Never really been into scrolling through it, though. I don't really spend any time in bookish spaces anymore, and I can't say I miss it. It's sad that sometimes I learn about releases I want late, but I don't miss the stress of it all at all. I get Illumicrate book only and GSFF and that's it, but I'm not even in ICs discord server. Just can't be bothered, haha!
Brandon wrote: " I did get a chance to do dinner and a show on Sunday. Itzhak Perlman came to town and put on a recital."That is SO COOL. I love him! He's so talented and just seems like a very cool and kind person in general.
Mod
So... apparently someone in my neck of the woods has submitted a petition to their city to dissolve their local library district, on the grounds that the library is giving books with sexual content to minors. ..."
I just don't understand the level of fear that these people must live with in order to drive them to think removing ALL sources of knowledge is the best idea. What do they think these kids are going to do? What where THEIR childhoods like that they think this is the best course of action??
(Is this a bad place to say I have my own bookish Instagram account? XD It's at @reading_with_robots if people are curious...)
LOL this is a good place to say that! And I think I follow you!! I'm just rarely checking Instagram.
Mod
Hah! That's one of my favorite themes!! I LOVE enemies-to-lovers!
Mod
Wow that sounds awful. I hate these books that are obviously written by and for women and yet act like every woman EXCEPT THIS ONE is absolutely awful.
This book looks so cute and I always think maybe I should add it to my TBR, but now I'm glad I never did.
Mod
I'm sure you've told us, but I forget: what is your role in the production? Are you the props/scenery manager?
Mod
wow I've never been finger-printed for a job. What field are you in?
Mod
Nadine asked..."
Wow it seems like so many of you all are moving this year!!!
I had a bit of new job blues at the weekend but after another week I'm feeling a bit better about it. Still exhausted and so glad I get Fridays off to sit and stare blankly into space to recover. Hah, well I hope my brain will let me get some reading done this weekend as I only finished one book this week.Goshawk Summer: A New Forest Season Unlike Any Other by James Aldred for ATY (award beginning with W). This is the diary of a wildlife cameraman filming in the New Forest during lockdown. As someone who lives nearby I can relate to his frustrations about how people behaved. Mostly it's focused on the goshawks and other wildlife, his writing isn't anything special but I found it interesting all the same.
QOTW:
I follow loads of blogs because I have a blog myself, and I like interacting with other small book bloggers. I have reduced my Twitter time greatly since Elon took over, but I follow a lot of UK publishing and book people there. Trying to discover more book people on Mastodon now.
Videos where someone sits and talks about a thing isn't really my thing so I have never got into BookTube or BookTok. Instagram just wants to show me videos, and posts from people I don't follow now so I've gone off Bookstagram too. I just want a chronological timeline on all my social media thanks.
Mod
I finished Allegiant. Someone here warned me that I'd hate it. I didn't hate it. I hated Mockingjay and gave it 1 star. Allegiant ended with all the ..."
That may have been me! I HATED Allegiant and I was so sorry I had read it. I dont' remember having any seriously negative feelings about Mockingjay, except that she definitely should have ended up with Gale.
Nadine in NY wrote: "Ashley Marie wrote: "On the theatre front, we closed The Children's Hour on Saturday evening! Mental note to NEVER work with that "stage manager" ever again. Sheesh. The cast (and director) were wo..."I was an actor for Children's Hour (if you ever grab the script and read it, I played Agatha!) and I'll be stage managing the upcoming production of Ken Ludwig's Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery :)
Brandon wrote: "Kenya,OMG! You're the one who posts those awesome books with Transformers in the PopSugar Facebook group?! I love those!
I may have to check out the Reggie and Al books.
Splinter of the Mind's ..."
Yup, that's me. I saw people sharing photos of books they've read, and figured "why not do the same but with a twist?" I try to make the robot in question somewhat match the book, heh...
Finished: Checkout 19 This one grabbed me right away because it described the process of reading and talked a lot about the books that had influenced the main character... but it kind of petered out for me.Collage Your Life: Techniques, Prompts, and Inspiration for Creative Self-Expression and Visual Storytelling This had a lot of inspiring ideas and was fun to just look at.
Started: Living the Quaker Way: Timeless Wisdom For a Better Life Today Pretty straight-forward. Not sure I will learn much that I didn't already know. Based on the tenets of SPICE (Simplicity, peace, integrity, community, and equality.)
QotW: I've started using library thing to catalogue my church's library. I sometimes look at book authority's recommendations which are disaggregated by topic, but not very often.
Nadine in NY wrote: "That may have been me! I HATED Allegiant and I was so sorry I had read it. I dont' remember having any seriously negative feelings about Mockingjay, except that she definitely should have ended up with Gale...."I thought it was you, but I wasn't sure I remembered correctly. Both Divergent and Hunger Games (and the Lying Games) are all lessons to me on why I shouldn't be reading so many series at the same time so that it takes me 5 years or so to finish a series. I think the longer it takes me, the more I get invested and the more disappointed I get if it doesn't end the way I envisioned it in my head. If I'd finished the series in a year, I think I would have been less disappointed.
Mockingjay annoyed me because (view spoiler)
I actually argued with someone at a party (who had read neither series but still had opinions on books he had never read) about why I would rather my daughters turn out like Bella Swan than Katniss.
For what it's worth I didn't rate Allegiant. I would have taken stars off, not because it was badly written, but because I didn't like the ending. I was sorry I read the hunger Games because it lead to Mockingjay, but I'm not sorry I started Divergent. Or the Lying Games (which no one else read) which is another series I had fun reading, but hated the ending.
That might be a good discussion question sometime - can you enjoy a book if you hate the ending?
Happy Thursday, everyone! I don't have too much to report. Work's been keeping me a little busy.Finished:
Just some comics & manga (not for prompts):
Noragami: Stray God, Vol. 25
Kaiu Shirai x Posuka Demizu: Beyond The Promised Neverland
Witch Hat Atelier, Vol. 1
Given, Vol. 7
Fruits Basket Another, Vol. 4
I am currently at 10/50 for Popsugar (5/40 and 5/10). I am also at 4/10 for Nadine's Mini-Challenge #1.
Currently reading:
The Afterward - Hoping to finish this weekend. Despite my slow reading speed, I'm really enjoying it. It's an interesting story about what happens to the adventurers once the big world-saving Quest is done. Most of the main characters are women of color. This will be my book with a queer lead - the two main POV characters are a lesbian and a bisexual woman.
Planned:
Nick and Charlie: A Heartstopper Novella
The Wicked Bargain
QOTW:
Nowadays, I mostly get recs from ŷ friends and groups, or authors I follow on Twitter (which is dying a slow death, sadly). I don't use Facebook or Instagram anymore. I also read Tor.com's blog posts. I subscribe to Book Riot's RSS feed, but rarely read it except to scan the book sale posts anymore. I used to get a lot of recs from a book blog called The Book Smugglers, but they stopped posting in 2021.
Dubhease wrote:Mockingjay annoyed me because (view spoiler)But I think that was part of the point? (view spoiler)
Joanna wrote: "Dubhease wrote:Mockingjay annoyed me because (view spoiler)But I think that was part of the point?..."
I agree, she was walking PTSD, but it wasn't much fun to read about.
K.L. wrote: "Happy Thursday, everyone!It has been a difficult week.
On Friday morning, while I was taking out the trash, my ankle rolled and I fell down the stairs leading to the garage. I was in a tremendou..."
Wishing you a speedy recovery! Almost exactly a year ago my mom fell on ice and broke her ankle and did have to have surgery and took forever to recover, so I hope that's not your fate!
I finished:One True Loves: Love triangle: This one really grew on me. I feel like this trope is so poorly executed most of the time, but that was not the case this time. THIS is how you write a love triangle. Solid character development and no immediately unlikable character. A situation beyond anyone's control.
Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology: Hollywood; This got better after the half way point, but it still wasn't what I hoped for. I wish I had found the audiobook format. It did catch my interest enough to look up the television show.
On the Way to the Wedding: Historical fiction: I had to finish this series and I'm glad I did, but this wasn't my favorite of the books.
The Pledge Not for the challenge: This was a fast read that was not very well written, but did keep my attention.
No Mercy: Not for the challenge: I have started quite a few of Blake Pierce's series and this is the first one that I read that I immediately added number 2 to my TBR list. Was it amazing? No. Was it entertaining? Yes.
Currently reading:
Nothing, because I decided to quit on The Writing Retreat this morning when I was a third of the way through and couldn't think of a single positive thing to say about the book. I looked up spoilers so I could try to figure out what the appeal was and I am glad I didn't continue reading.
QOTW:
None really. I follow some book pages on Facebook, but I try to avoid most social media.
Happy check-in! So back to -40 with Windchill this week plus a holiday made for a lot of reading time. Finished Reading:
Cursed Fates ⭐⭐� (PS mythical creature)
The Big A.S.S. Party ⭐⭐�
So book 5 of this series and the ending was great for a plot twist but awful for my favourite characters. I'm unsure if I'll continue. The novella is supposed to take place after this book but it takes place during the fifth book so it was happier.
Pemmican Wars ⭐⭐� (PS Girl in title)
Daydreaming into the past to look at Metis history.
The Sweetest Betrayal ⭐⭐⭐⭐� (PS pet character)
When you finish a series and all you want to do is reread the series it's a good sign. The entire series works for pet character, love triangle (done well), and mythical creatures.
Disney Manga: Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas: Zero’s Journey ⭐⭐� (ATY ghosts)
Well it was a bit lame, but it follows my favourite character. It would have been nice if Zero visited a different holiday town instead of Christmastown again.
And When She Opened the Closet, All The Clothes Were Polyester: A FoxTrot Collection ⭐⭐� (ATY one of the five W's in title)
Well someone was reading Foxtrot books in a previous check-in and the titles caught me so I borrowed some from my library. This was the last one of the collection and it has some fun computer/apple jokes.
Chobits, Vol. 4 Chobits, Vol. 5 ⭐⭐�
Three more to go.
Wash Day Diaries ⭐⭐⭐⭐�
I loved the friendship that is front and centre in the book.
Cry Wolf ⭐⭐⭐⭐� (ATY setting starts with A, T, or Y)
Finally got around to starting this spinoff series.
PS 18/50
ATY 12/52
Mini 9/10 (Norse mythology left)
ŷ 42/200
Currently Reading:
Strange the Dreamer
Notes on Grief
DNF:
The Accidental Pinup ⭐⭐ I was going to use this for romance with a fat lead but I'm a third done and I just can't force myself to finish it. This would be a great book if it weren't a romance. I don't like the love interest who we get half the POV for.
QOTW:
Every now and then I go to Tor.com but mostly it's just ŷ.
Nadine in NY wrote: "That may have been me! I HATED Allegiant and I was so sorry I had read it. I dont' remember having any seriously negative feelings about Mockingjay, except that she definitely should have ended up with Gale."I feel like you are reading my mind right now. I HATED Allegiant too and it pretty much ruined Divergent for me, which I really loved. I didn't think Mockingjay was as good as the other two in the series, but I didn't think it was bad. I also think she should've ended up with Gale.
Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge
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My dog is all better after last week's UTI, so that's good. My tie dyes are still happening - the shirt I hand-painted with the dragon Haku's face came out wonderfully!! (For the curious, this is my shirt: ) Now I've got a sweatshirt waiting to be washed - it's the first sweatshirt I've dyed, fingers crossed for it - and I'm getting ready to try a new fold called a "Klink."
We made a daytrip down to Corning to visit the Museum of Glass (detouring into Binghamton to get my college kid, of course), and I guess my kids didn't believe me when I said it was a good museum, because they were both amazed at how much they enjoyed it.
I hope your February reading is on track and where you want it to be. Mine's not! I thought I'd get to a lot of Black History Month books this month, but I got distracted by a few new 2023 publications that came in from the library.
Admin stuff
Our
AprilMAY (ETA: somehow I totally skipped April and thought bunnies was was April instead of May!!) group read results are in, it was a tight race, and the winning book is: Bunny! I've heard this book is really weird, so naturally that makes me want to read it and discuss it with someone, this should be perfect.Now we will take a little pause for a month or so on the polls so that we don't get too far ahead of ourselves.
Let us know if you would like to lead discussions for March or April or May (or any future month). March is getting close!! Let us know if you want to step up and lead the discussion of The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea. I feel like somebody DID express interest, but we don't have a name written down, so maybe you weren't' sure? Or Lynn and I dropped the ball haha!
This week I finished 3 books, 2 for this Challenge, so I am now 11/50
The Shadow of Sirius poems by W.S. Merwin - I LOVED this! This year I am focusing on reading Pulitzer prize winners and former Poet Laureates, and that strategy is paying off so far! I love this so much I bought a copy for myself to keep. His poems reminded me a lot of Mary Oliver's.
How the One-Armed Sister Sweeps Her House by Cherie Jones - this was okay. It was a bit messy and disjointed, I'm not sure what Jones' goal was. To my surprise, there was a love triangle so I checked that off on my Challenge. This was also on my short list of books I "must" read in 2023.
Everybody Knows by Jordan Harper - I LOVED Harper's last book (She Rides Shotgun - it was amazing, go read it if you love gritty crime novels), and I have waited years for his next one to come, so I JUMPED on this. With my hyper fervent level of anticipation, it's not really a surprise that I was a little disappointed, because seriously what could live up to the extremely high expectations I had developed? I enjoyed this. It's a solid neo-noir mystery / crime thriller. AND it's all about Hollywood!! Which I was NOT expecting. Two surprises in one week :-) SO I checked off "about Hollywood" on my Challenge list.
Pop: 11/50
Winter: 1/10
AtY: 12/52
2023 must-reads: 2/12
Question of the Week
What other bookish social media or blogs do you use regularly?
I don't really use any other social media for books, other than ŷ, and I guess reddit. I tried to get myself excited about Bookstagram, but I keep losing interest in Instagram, just in general. I do follow some authors on various social media platforms, but - oddly - most authors are not very interesting to follow, I guess maybe they are too busy writing! (there are exceptions, of course.)
Every once in a while when I have free time, or I'm just bored, I'll check out:
* r/books on reddit - they tend to recommend the same stuff over and over there, though. If you like Brandon Sanderson, r/books are your people. There's also r/audiobooks, r/suggestmeabook, and a few others.
* The Tor Books blogs - I'll read an article or two every month, when the headline catches my eye, but mostly I only read these when I am searching for something specific.
* Smart Bitches Trashy Books - I used to read this blog focused on romance novels weekly, but something changed and I just don't go there much any more. I think they used to show up in my FB feed, and then FB changed the algorithm and I just stopped going to FB as often, in general. SBTB tend to be very generous in their ratings, also, and I guess I got tired of picking up one of the books they rated highly, only to be disappointed.
* Book Riot - when I first realized "hey! the internet is a good source to learn about new books!" this was my go-to site. Their format changed, or I just got tired of reading their stuff, because I'm rarely there nowadays.
* Tournament of Books at The Morning News - December is the Month of Lists, and ToB is no exception, when they release their long list, I get excited even though I told myself not to. Then I start reading the books on their short list, and then I become disillusioned because I don't really like those books. LOL. I'm on Year Three of this cycle. I really want to be the kind of reader who loves ToB, but I think I'm not that kind of reader. Maybe I'm just primed to be excited about lists.
* The Millions - twice a year, I become VERY excited about The Millions, when they release their Most Anticipated lists. Other than January and July, I'm never there. But come December and June, I start searching every day to see if they've released the new list yet.