ŷ

On The Same Page discussion

33 views
2024 Independent Challenge > Lea's 2024 Filling in the Gaps Individual Challenge

Comments Showing 1-50 of 398 (398 new)    post a comment »
« previous 1 3 4 5 6 7 8

message 1: by Lea (last edited Dec 11, 2024 09:42AM) (new)

Lea (leaspot) | 3458 comments I am collecting 100 books I want to read in the next 5 years. After 5 years, if I've read 75% of the books I put on the list 5 years before, I'll consider this a success.

I've read all the books selected 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021.

2022 is officially finished as I picked 82 books and there are 4 left. 2023 is also officially finished as I picked 88 books and have read over 75% of them already. I have abandoned one book, so right now, there are 12 remaining books that I'm still interested in reading that I'll have to get to in the next four years.

For 2024, I selected 84 books, to get to an even 100 books. I need to read 63 of my 2024 selection within five years, and have 21 or less books remaining.

So essentially, I've read 75% of every year, but I'm still interested in these books, so I'm keeping them on the list for the moment.

4 2022 The Killer Inside Me by Jim Thompson

5 2023 Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood
7 2023 Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier
8 2023 Six Years by Harlan Coben
9 2023 American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins
11 2023 The Impossible Girl by Lydia Kang

22 2024 Smoke Screen by Sandra Brown
23 2024 Daughters of Lancaster County by Wanda E. Brunstetter
26 2024 The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros
32 2024 Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell
45 2024 The Friend Zone by Abby Jimenez
46 2024 The Happy Ever After Playlist by Abby Jimenez
47 2024 Life's Too Short by Abby Jimenez
49 2024 The Great Hunt by Robert Jordan
60 2024 Mornings on Horseback: The Story of an Extraordinary Family, a Vanished Way of Life, and the Unique Child Who Became Theodore Roosevelt by David McCullough
84 2024 The Invisible Bridge by Julie Orringer
90 2024 The Pecan Man by Cassie Dandridge Selleck
91 2024 The Truth About Grace by Cassie Dandridge Selleck
93 2024 The Lost Library by Rebecca Stead
94 2024 Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner

1 2022 He Started It by Samantha Downing READ 9/10/2024
2 2022 You Love Me by Caroline Kepnes READ 10/17/2024
3 2022 The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren READ 4/3/2024
6 2023 Daughter of Moloka'i by Alan Brennert READ 2/7/2024
10 2023 Stepsister by Jennifer Donnelly READ 6/17/2024
12 2023 Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy by Eric Metaxas READ 11/19/2024
13 2023 No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account of the Mission That Killed Osama Bin Laden by Mark Owen READ 4/27/2024
14 2023 The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Other Clinical Tales by Oliver Sacks READ 10/4/2024
15 2023 The God of All Comfort by Hannah Whitall Smith READ 7/18/2024
16 2023 The Break-Up Book Club by Wendy Wax READ 5/16/2024
17 2024 Home Work: A Memoir of My Hollywood Years by Julie Andrews Edwards READ 9/18/2024
18 2024 Paths of Glory by Jeffrey Archer READ 5/20/2024
19 2024 End Game by David Baldacci READ 1/17/2024
20 2024 Warrior Girl Unearthed by Angeline Boulley READ 1/11/2024
21 2024 Prophet's Prey: My Seven-Year Investigation into Warren Jeffs and the Fundamentalist Church of Latter-Day Saints by Sam BrowerREAD 11/13/24
24 2024 Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler READ 3/12/2024
25 2024 Parable of the Talents by Octavia E. Butler READ 4/15/2024
27 2024 Ring Shout by P. Djèlí Clark READ 12/11/2024
28 2024 Poverty, by America by Matthew Desmond READ 1/10/2024
29 2024 Bleak House by Charles Dickens READ 8/27/2024
30 2024 If I Stay by Gayle Forman READ 2/2/2024
31 2024 Where She Went by Gayle Forman READ 3/13/2024
33 2024 The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder by David Grann READ 4/1/2024
34 2024 Feed by Mira Grant READ 4/24/2024
35 2024 Deadline by Mira Grant READ 5/24/2024
36 2024 Blackout by Mira Grant READ 6/13/2024
37 2024 Feedback by Mira Grant READ 7/19/2024
38 2024 Ford County by John Grisham READ 7/2/2024
39 2024 The Exchange: After The Firm by John Grisham READ 1/26/2024
40 2024 The Book of Lost Names by Kristin Harmel READ 1/25/2024
41 2024 Weyward by Emilia HartREAD 3/6/2024
42 2024 Check & Mate by Ali Hazelwood READ 6/4/2024
43 2024 Happy Place by Emily Henry READ 7/29/2024
44 2024 The Island by Elin Hilderbrand READ 7/12/2024
48 2024 The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan READ 12/10/2024
50 2024 For You and Only You by Caroline Kepnes READ 11/21/2024
51 2024 Holly by Stephen King READ 4/27/2024
52 2024 The Green Mile by Stephen King READ 2/12/2024
53 2024 In the Lives of Puppets by T.J. Klune READ 7/9/2024
54 2024 Yellowface by R.F. Kuang READ 1/31/2024
55 2024 The Honeymoon Crashers by Christina Lauren READ 4/5/2023
56 2024 Small Mercies by Dennis Lehane READ 1/5/2024
57 2024 A Grief Observed by C.S. Lewis READ 8/16/2024
58 2024 Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt by Michael Lewis READ 10/24/2024
59 2024 The Passengers by John Marrs READ 8/7/2024
61 2024 The Housemaid's Secret by Freida McFadden READ 1/6/2024
62 2024 Martin Luther: The Man Who Rediscovered God and Changed the World by Eric Metaxas READ 9/25/2024
63 2024 The House at Pooh Corner by A.A. Milne READ 7/3/2024
64 2024 When We Were Very Young by A.A. Milne READ 7/5/2024
65 2024 Now We Are Six by A.A. Milne READ 7/6/2024
66 2024 Return to the Hundred Acre Wood by David Benedictus READ 8/14/2024
67 2024 Jane of Lantern Hill by L.M. Montgomery READ 2/1/2024
68 2024 Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning READ 1/12/2024
69 2024 Bloodfever by Karen Marie Moning READ 2/25/2024
70 2024 Faefever by Karen Marie Moning READ 3/16/2024
71 2024 Dreamfever by Karen Marie Moning READ 4/6/2024
72 2024 Shadowfever by Karen Marie Moning READ 5/9/2024
73 2024 Iced by Karen Marie Moning READ 6/5/2024
74 2024 Burned by Karen Marie Moning READ 7/26/2024
75 2024 Feverborn by Karen Marie Moning READ 8/18/2024
76 2024 Feversong by Karen Marie Moning READ 9/28/2024
77 2024 High Voltage by Karen Marie Moning READ 10/13/2024
78 2024 Kingdom of Shadow and Light by Karen Marie Moning READ 11/29/2024
79 2024 Bloodsucking Fiends by Christopher Moore READ 4/17/2024
80 2024 You Suck by Christopher Moore READ 5/14/2024
81 2024 Bite Me by Christopher Moore READ 6/6/2024
82 2024 Paradise by Toni Morrison READ 10/31/2024
83 2024 Flawless Execution: Use the Techniques and Systems of America's Fighter Pilots to Perform at Your Peak and Win the Battles of the Business World by James D. Murphy READ 7/4/2024
85 2024 The Last Devil to Die by Richard Osman READ 5/8/2024
86 2024 Fractal Noise by Christopher Paolini READ 1/12/2024
87 2024 The Chalice of the Gods by Rick Riordan READ 5/28/2024
88 2024 Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross READ 10/11/2024
89 2024 Ruthless Vows by Rebecca Ross READ 11/18/2024
92 2024 The Woman in Me by Britney Spears READ 2/5/2024
95 2024 Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder by Nassim Nicholas TalebREAD 11/11/24
96 2024 Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld READ 6/22/2024
97 2024 Behemoth by Scott Westerfeld READ 8/2/2024
98 2024 Goliath by Scott Westerfeld READ 9/11/2024
99 2024 Being Henry: The Fonz . . . and Beyond by Henry Winkler READ 5/27/2024
100 2024 Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros READ 1/5/2024


message 2: by Alondra, Moderator Schmoderator (new)

Alondra Miller | 4045 comments Mod
I love your percentage of completion; you go girl!!!

Hopefully, you finish Suttree before the end of the year. I mean, you have a full month left in the year.??

Good luck and Happy reading, Lea :)


message 3: by Lea (new)

Lea (leaspot) | 3458 comments Alondra wrote: "I love your percentage of completion; you go girl!!!

Hopefully, you finish Suttree before the end of the year. I mean, you have a full month left in the year.??

Good luck and Happy reading, Lea :)"


Yes, I was tempted to take Suttree off the list, because I'm pretty sure that I'll be able to finish that book, but then I was afraid I'd be tempting fate, because I really thought I would have finished this book this month and I'm still a bit less than halfway through. I have the paperback version, so I don't listen in the car to it. And I don't know about you though, but for me, the first 1/3 of the book takes the most time - like maybe 3/4 of the time spent reading is on the first 1/3 of the book. After I'm invested in the book, the rest just flies by and I can't put it down. So, hopefully, I can remove that one and add more books to my list?


message 4: by Alondra, Moderator Schmoderator (new)

Alondra Miller | 4045 comments Mod
Lea wrote: "Yes, I was tempted to take Suttree off the list, because I'm pretty sure that I'll be able to finish that book, but then I was afraid I'd be tempting fate, because I really thought I would have finished this book this month .."

Yeah; it takes me a while to get into a book now; but mostly it's just staying engaged in the middle part. I seem to get restless. I think, I THINK; I am getting past that. I recently started back reading during lunch. I haven't done that in 2 years; consistently.

If I can get back to old reading habits; I can beat up my list/tbr.


message 5: by Alissa (new)

Alissa Patrick (apatrick12211) | 1664 comments Woot woot!! Look at all those buddy reads we have lol


message 6: by Ioana (new)

Ioana | 2055 comments I'm waiting for the longer list...


message 7: by Bill, Moderator (new)

Bill | 3986 comments Mod
I hope to read Alias Grace as well.. You've been very successful.


message 8: by Lea (new)

Lea (leaspot) | 3458 comments Alondra wrote: "Yeah; it takes me a while to get into a book now; but mostly it's just staying engaged in the middle part. I seem to get restless. I think, I THINK; I am getting past that. I recently started back reading during lunch. I haven't done that in 2 years; consistently.

If I can get back to old reading habits; I can beat up my list/tbr."


I need to get back to my old reading habits too. I need to go back to reading at least a couple pages per day of each book that I have on the go. Lately, I have been just focusing on the books that interest me, and not making any progress on the others. :-)


message 9: by Lea (new)

Lea (leaspot) | 3458 comments Alissa wrote: "Woot woot!! Look at all those buddy reads we have lol"

Yes! We will get to them eventually. I love our buddy read list!


message 10: by Lea (new)

Lea (leaspot) | 3458 comments Ioana wrote: "I'm waiting for the longer list..."

Me too, Ioana. Me too!


message 11: by Lea (new)

Lea (leaspot) | 3458 comments Bill wrote: "I hope to read Alias Grace as well.. You've been very successful."

Thanks, Bill. Alissa and I are going to do it as a buddy read sometime. We haven't picked a date yet, maybe towards the end of next year or the beginning of 2025. Feel free to join us, if it works into your schedule.


message 12: by Ioana (new)

Ioana | 2055 comments Lea wrote: "Bill wrote: "I hope to read Alias Grace as well.. You've been very successful."

Thanks, Bill. Alissa and I are going to do it as a buddy read sometime. We haven't picked a date yet, maybe towards ..."


I'm interested too, but intimidated at the same time. We'll see if I'll have the courage to join you...


message 13: by Lea (new)

Lea (leaspot) | 3458 comments Ioana wrote: "I'm interested too, but intimidated at the same time. We'll see if I'll have the courage to join you..."

I hope you will be able to join us. I find that it is more fun to read intimidating books with a group of nice supportive people.


message 14: by Bill, Moderator (new)

Bill | 3986 comments Mod
Lea wrote: "Bill wrote: "I hope to read Alias Grace as well.. You've been very successful."

Thanks, Bill. Alissa and I are going to do it as a buddy read sometime. We haven't picked a date yet, maybe towards ..."


Thanks. I'll keep it in mind.


message 15: by Ioana (new)

Ioana | 2055 comments Lea wrote: "I hope you will be able to join us. I find that it is more fun to read intimidating books with a group of nice supportive people."

Let me know if/when you plan on reading it. I might do it with "a group of nice supportive people" 😉


message 16: by Alondra, Moderator Schmoderator (new)

Alondra Miller | 4045 comments Mod
Lea wrote: "I need to get back to my old reading habits too. I need to go back to reading at least a couple pages per day of each book that I have on the go. .."

Exactly. Hoping 2024 is the year of consistency and good mojo!! 💪🏽💫💫💫


message 17: by Lea (new)

Lea (leaspot) | 3458 comments Ioana wrote: "Let me know if/when you plan on reading it. I might do it with "a group of nice supportive people" 😉"

I try to find such people. :-) :-) :-)


message 18: by Lea (new)

Lea (leaspot) | 3458 comments Alondra wrote: "Exactly. Hoping 2024 is the year of consistency and good mojo!! 💪🏽💫💫💫"

Yes! Let's do this, 2024!!


message 19: by Jackie (new)

Jackie | 1062 comments You have lots of great books on your list that are on my tbr also. Good luck, Lea.


message 20: by Lea (new)

Lea (leaspot) | 3458 comments Jackie wrote: "You have lots of great books on your list that are on my tbr also. Good luck, Lea."

Thanks, Jackie! I hope I picked some good ones this year. Here's to 2024! :-)


message 21: by Karol (new)

Karol | 664 comments I'll be interested to see if you read the Eric Metaxas book about Bonhoeffer. I read Bonhoeffer's book The Cost of Discipleship and found it both fascinating and spiritually challenging.


message 22: by Lea (new)

Lea (leaspot) | 3458 comments Karol wrote: "I'll be interested to see if you read the Eric Metaxas book about Bonhoeffer. I read Bonhoeffer's book The Cost of Discipleship and found it both fascinating and spiritually challenging."

I want to read that book also, thanks for sharing your thoughts on it. I had hoped to read the Bonhoeffer book last month, but I didn't, and with it being December, it doesn't look likely that I'll be able to squeeze it in. It's a thick and serious book and I want to be able to take my time with it.


message 23: by Lea (new)

Lea (leaspot) | 3458 comments The longer list has been updated for all the GRC Award winners and it was super hard to narrow down all my remaining options. I hope I can finish up some extra books because I'd love to add more to this list, but I think I'm already been a little ambitious for December...so here it is! :-)


message 24: by Ioana (new)

Ioana | 2055 comments Great list! Parable of the Sower, Parable of the Talent, Daughter of Moloka'i, Girl with a Pearl Earring, American Dirt, The Book of Lost Names, The Invisible Bridge, The Pecan Man, The Truth About Grace are all good, some very good, some excellent. I hope you'll like them as much as I did.

If interested in a buddy read for any of these, let me know:
Stepsister - in June, right?
Ring Shout
Poverty, by America
Small Mercies
The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder
Weyward
Holly (after I get If It Bleeds from the library) - Aug/Sept?
In the Lives of Puppets
Yellowface
Small Mercies
The Passengers
Crossing to Safety

Happy reading!


message 25: by Lea (last edited Dec 07, 2023 01:08PM) (new)

Lea (leaspot) | 3458 comments Ioana wrote: "Great list! Parable of the Sower, Parable of the Talent, Daughter of Moloka'i, Girl with a Pearl Earring, American Dirt, The Book of Lost Names, The Invisible Bridge, The Pecan Man, The Truth About Grace are all good, some very good, some excellent. I hope you'll like them as much as I did.

If interested in a buddy read for any of these, let me know:
Stepsister - in June, right?
Ring Shout
Poverty, by America
Small Mercies
The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder
Weyward
Holly (after I get If It Bleeds from the library) - Aug/Sept?
In the Lives of Puppets
Yellowface
Small Mercies
The Passengers
Crossing to Safety

Happy reading!"


It doesn't surprise me that you read and loved a lot of different books on my list, because I usually stalk all of your lists. :-)

Stepsister - June with Alissa
Small Mercies - January with Alissa
Poverty, by America - I'm thinking February?
The Wager - shall we say March?
Holly - August/September
In the Lives of Puppets - June or July?
Yellowface - I was going to do February

Ring Shout, The Passengers and Crossing to Safety are all on our Buddy Read list and have not been selected, so maybe the later half of the year?

Let me know what you're thinking. We can always move these around. :-)


message 26: by Ioana (new)

Ioana | 2055 comments Poifect!

Poverty, by America - early Feb for me
The Wager - late March for me
In the Lives of Puppets - let's say July
Yellowface - I might do late Jan, because Poverty above

Nice plan :-)


message 27: by Lea (new)

Lea (leaspot) | 3458 comments Ioana wrote: "Poifect!

Poverty, by America - early Feb for me
The Wager - late March for me
In the Lives of Puppets - let's say July
Yellowface - I might do late Jan, because Poverty above

Nice plan :-)"


Why don't we switch up Poverty and Yellowface? I have 3 weeks wait on Poverty and 8 weeks wait on Yellowface.

July is perfect for In the Lives of Puppets and late May is looking good for The Wager.

Of course, if either of us is not in the mood to read the books at the designated time, we will be flexible.


message 28: by Lea (new)

Lea (leaspot) | 3458 comments I'm thinking maybe August/September for Weyward. I just realized that you had that one on your list too.


message 29: by Ioana (new)

Ioana | 2055 comments Lea wrote: "Why don't we switch up Poverty and Yellowface?"

That would work, I have Yellowface and there is no waiting list for Poverty.


message 30: by Lea (new)

Lea (leaspot) | 3458 comments Ioana wrote: "Lea wrote: "Why don't we switch up Poverty and Yellowface?"

That would work, I have Yellowface and there is no waiting list for Poverty."


Perfect. Now I have to get in the right frame of mind to read all these books when we say we are going to. :-) It's now all on my spreadsheet, so I will work on my mood.


message 31: by Ioana (new)

Ioana | 2055 comments Lea wrote: "I will work on my mood"

I don't know how you do that, but let me know, I'm interested. I just abandon the book if I'm not in the mood, and rarely go back to it. Although, sometimes when I do I end up giving it 5 stars, so I know, it was just me.


message 32: by Lea (new)

Lea (leaspot) | 3458 comments Ioana wrote: "I don't know how you do that, but let me know, I'm interested. I just abandon the book if I'm not in the mood, and rarely go back to it. Although, sometimes when I do I end up giving it 5 stars, so I know, it was just me."

Sometimes it helps me to hype up a book, read some good reviews about it and get interested in the topic. But not always. Sometimes, there is no helping it...I need to read a really good book, but I'm not in the mood for it. It's what's going on with poor Suttree right now. I've been reading it for two months straight right now, and I'm finally coming around to being in the mood. It's a good book and it is just me.


message 33: by Lindsey (new)

Lindsey Gandhi (lindseygandhi) | 1119 comments I'm super excited to read Weyward and Yellowface with y'all. So I do have The Pecan Man if you get to it, just let me know and I'll read with you. Thr other one i was looking at was Where She Went. I read the first book and it broke my heart (it's a good book!). I always wantes to read thr 2nd book and never got around to it. So let me know when you get to that one too. I may need to re read If I Stay


message 34: by Carolien (new)

Carolien (carolien_s) | 502 comments Such an interesting list - it really spans genres! Enjoy!


message 35: by Michelle (new)

Michelle (marcher08) | 1581 comments 75% is impressive! I admire your ability to pick out 100 books and stick to the list well enough to read 75% of them each year. I could never do that. You're a rockstar Lea!


message 36: by Lea (new)

Lea (leaspot) | 3458 comments Lindsey wrote: "I'm super excited to read Weyward and Yellowface with y'all. So I do have The Pecan Man if you get to it, just let me know and I'll read with you. Thr other one i was looking at was Where She Went. I read the first book and it broke my heart (it's a good book!). I always wantes to read thr 2nd book and never got around to it. So let me know when you get to that one too. I may need to re read If I Stay"

I'm excited about all of our buddy reads too. We will definitely let you know when we tackle The Pecan Man and you can join us. If you want to re read If I Stay, I was tentatively thinking to read that in February and then read Where She Went in March. I want to read them close together. :-)


message 37: by Lea (new)

Lea (leaspot) | 3458 comments Carolien wrote: "Such an interesting list - it really spans genres! Enjoy!"

Thanks, Carolien. I was feeling there was more 2009 paranormal books than usual, but I am trying to catch up on the GRC Awards. I hope I don't have too much of the same type of book, and the other books on my list will give me enough variety. :-)


message 38: by Lea (new)

Lea (leaspot) | 3458 comments Michelle wrote: "75% is impressive! I admire your ability to pick out 100 books and stick to the list well enough to read 75% of them each year. I could never do that. You're a rockstar Lea!"

Well, I do give myself 5 years to read the books I pick each year, so that helps. I find that I do better if the "rules" aren't too strict. When I feel too constrained, I get a bit rebellious. It's in my nature. And I think you're the rockstar, Michelle. I cannot believe how many good books you get through each year. :-)


message 39: by Ioana (new)

Ioana | 2055 comments Sorry about this, but my bookclub will read Weyward in March, so I'll have to move it up. Can you do March too? It will be the 2nd half of the month.


message 40: by Lea (new)

Lea (leaspot) | 3458 comments Ioana wrote: "Sorry about this, but my bookclub will read Weyward in March, so I'll have to move it up. Can you do March too? It will be the 2nd half of the month."

I just messaged Lindsey, and if it works for her, we can change. I picked a far off date because my library didn't have many copies, but they added a bunch, and now I should get it in time for March. If it doesn't work for Lindsey, we'll stick with the original date, and hopefully you still remember the book in a good way by the time we get to reading it, so we can keep discussing. Stay tuned, we will let you know. :-)


message 41: by Lea (last edited Jan 12, 2024 02:35PM) (new)

Lea (leaspot) | 3458 comments January Mid Month Report

Books Read: 9 books so far this month and year. 3,222 pages.

Books from Filling in the Gaps: 7/100; 2022 Books 0/4, 2023 Books 0/12, 2024 Books, 7/84

Books from 12+4 Challenge: 4/16

Recently finished:

Killing the Witches: The Horror of Salem, Massachusetts - This is another book in the Bill O'Reilly Killing series. I feel that some books in the series are better than others, and this one wasn't the best one. He was done talking about the witches about 40% of the way through the book and then he pivoted to the Revolutionary War, which I felt had already been covered in Killing England: The Brutal Struggle for American Independence. I also was wondering if this was his way to garner a little sympathy for his personal situation, since he was comparing the pile on tactics from the witch trials to the way we destroy people in the press today based upon what they say. His example was Roseanne Barr, but I don't think it was too far of a leap to suggest that he wrote this book in order to make his point analogous to his own situation. I do agree that we should extend grace to people who say stupid things after they apologize, and offer forgiveness for apologies, but I also believe that people need to offer heartfelt apologies in both word and action in order to emphasize how sorry they are for the things said and done. It's hard to gauge sincerity without such things. Anyway, we are off topic. The book wasn't my favorite. 2 stars. But, I did also discover that I never read another book in this series, Killing the Legends: The Lethal Danger of Celebrity, and I am planning to read that one in hopes that it is much better.

The Alice Network - I don't know. I think this book may have been overhyped to me. I was disappointed in the ending. There were aspects to the book that were fascinating to me - female spies in WW1, etc. However, I didn't care as much about the WW2 storyline and I also didn't love the ending. (view spoiler) 2 stars

Fourth Wing - I was going to wait to read this series, because there is so much hype about it, but since it won GRC Award for the Romantasy category, I decided to start reading it last year. The book kept me interested, I didn't like to put it down, but ultimately, I am not sure it lived up to its hype entirely. It feels very derivative of a lot of different fantasy stories, and I'm not sure the writing is great. But I loved the dragons. 3 stars

Small Mercies - This was a buddy read this month and wow. It's about the 1970's in Boston when high schools began to be desegregated and also about poverty, family and hope. It really made me think. The ending is intense and still sits with me. It's a tough book, but quite worth it. 4 stars

The Housemaid's Secret - OK, so I hated The Housemaid, it is one of the books I one-starred last year. Plenty of people recommended that I read this one, and I finally did, primarily because it won a GRC Award in the Mystery & Thriller category. I did end up enjoying this book much more than the first in the series, but I'm not too sure why it won the award. This book was good, but I'm not sure I would call it award-winning. 3 stars

Poverty, by America - This was a buddy read with Ioana, and I'm not sure how to rate something that brings to life such a serious and important topic. I agree with the author on some of the causes of poverty and the fact that many times, those living in poverty are extremely hard working. And the odds are stacked so far against the poor in many ways, making it almost impossible to obtain the tools needed to dig out of the cycle. I appreciate his acknowledgment that there are not unlimited resources, and in order to provide something to the poor, you have to take something away from the others. And I loved the last chapter, which hopefully was sincere, about the need to reach across political ideologies to work on viable solutions to this problem. I wholeheartedly subscribe to the idea that you need a diverse group of friends and acquaintances to be able to get into the shoes of others and understand the problems. However, I do not agree with all of his proposed solutions to the problem of poverty. In fact, I think his understanding of economics and accounting was a bit sketchy. His explanation of the progressive tax system was either wrong or very misleading. His assertion that the pandemic subsidies did nothing to the the US economy is not accurate, we are still living with the inflation caused by some of those policies. Since every comment where I have a background in seemed full of generalizations and cherry picked statistics, I feel as though the rest of the book must suffer from the same problem. It won the GRC Award for Nonfiction and I think there must be better books. I'm glad I read it, but I don't see it for the great manifesto that it has been hyped to be. 3 stars

Warrior Girl Unearthed - This isn't really a sequel to Firekeeper's Daughter, but because they have so many of the same characters I'm counting it as such. To compare it to Firekeeper's Daughter, I'll say that as a character, I preferred Daunis to Perry. And Firekeeper's Daughter was such a wild ride straight from the beginning. Warrior Girl Unearthed has a much slower start, but that did not bother me. As a novel, I thought Warrior Girl Unearthed was a lot more nuanced and well constructed than Firekeeper's Daughter. I thought the book was as good as Firekeeper's Daughter and I'm really eager to read the next one in the series that I hope will be set in present day with Daunis's children and Shense's daughter. Please make it happen. 4 stars.

Darkfever - Um. This is the first book in an 11 book series. The fifth book won a GRC Award in 2011 that I never read, so I'm trying to get to that book. I think the Fever series is in place of Sookie Stackhouse last year. It's paranormal, about the fae. This book was published in 2006, and it shows it's age. On the other hand, it is easy to read and reasonably interesting. I think it kind of ended on a cliffhanger, which I do find a bit annoying. Overall, it hasn't scared me off reading the next in the series, I hope the writing style gets a bit more compact. 2 stars

Fractal Noise - In 2020, Christopher Paolini's book, To Sleep in a Sea of Stars won the GRC Award for Science Fiction. I read it, and I rated it 3 stars. I remember thinking it was good, but not as good as I had heard Paolini was supposed to be. I moved The Inheritance Cycle further down my TBR. However, I heard Fractal Noise came out, and I always do try to read sequels as soon as possible because I forget so many things, so I read this book and I liked it. I rated it the same as To Sleep in a Sea of Stars, but my overall impression as I finished the book was more impatience to read more of his work. I'm not sure if it is because I had super high expectations when I read the first book, or if it is because this book is shorter and tries to do a lot less, but I did come away feeling satisfied and not disappointed. 3 stars

Currently reading:

End Game - I just started the last book in the Will Robie series.

The Pioneers: The Heroic Story of the Settlers Who Brought the American Ideal West - I'm about to get serious on this one.

Progress on the Whack-a-Mole Series Situation �

Series Completed this year (for the moment...):
1. The Housemaid (1)
2. Firekeeper's Daughter (1)
3. Fractalverse (1)

Series Started This Year with Books Remaining:
1. Fever (10)

Series Started Last Year with Books Remaining:
1. Will Robie (1)
2. The Empyrean (1)

Series That Added Books This Year with number of books I still need to read in that series:
NONE

Series That Added Books Next Year with number of books I still need to read in that series:
1. Xanth (41)
2. You (2)
3. Camp Half-Blood Chronicles (1)
4. Mike Daley/Rosie Fernandez (10)
5. Holly Gibney (1)
6. Thursday Murder Club (1)
7. Comoran Strike (4)
8. Percy Jackson and the Olympians (1)
9. The Firm (1)
10. Stephanie Plum (9)
11. Heartstopper (1)

Abandoned series:
1. Crescent City


message 42: by Michelle (new)

Michelle (marcher08) | 1581 comments Lea looks like you're having a good month. We seemed to have similar thoughts about several of these. I enjoyed Fourth Wing mainly because of the derivative fantasy themes. But the book was marred for me by the unhealthy romance themes. I get why it's considered sexy but the whole submission/dominance thing always bugs me. I feel like it encourages women in some wrong thinking. I just read Poverty as well and I feel that all your criticisms were valid. I haven't organized my thoughts about it enough to review it yet. And finally Warrior. I enjoyed it but not as much as Firekeeper and I have to say my dislike of Perry was the main reason. Love reading your reviews. Whether we agree or not they always give me a lot to think about. Keep reading!


message 43: by Ioana (new)

Ioana | 2055 comments You started the year well!
I read The Alice Network some years ago, and I don't remember anything about it. I thought it was ok at the time, but I'm not sure what I would think about it now, my patience for WW2 themed HF books is very limited.

I'm glad for our buddy reads this month, good choices.

To Sleep in a Sea of Stars was ok, but not a favorite, I don't think I'll go back to the Fractalverse.


message 44: by Lea (new)

Lea (leaspot) | 3458 comments Michelle wrote: "Lea looks like you're having a good month. We seemed to have similar thoughts about several of these. I enjoyed Fourth Wing mainly because of the derivative fantasy themes. But the book was marred for me by the unhealthy romance themes. I get why it's considered sexy but the whole submission/dominance thing always bugs me. I feel like it encourages women in some wrong thinking. I just read Poverty as well and I feel that all your criticisms were valid. I haven't organized my thoughts about it enough to review it yet. And finally Warrior. I enjoyed it but not as much as Firekeeper and I have to say my dislike of Perry was the main reason. Love reading your reviews. Whether we agree or not they always give me a lot to think about. Keep reading!"

Thanks, Michelle. Your comment made me think more about the romance aspect to Fourth Wing, which I hadn't previously given much thought. Romance is never my favorite element to a good fantasy story so I kind of skimmed right past it. The trope where one of the couple is in a position of authority over the other has been so overdone, I think that gives people poor ideas as well. I hope to read more about what you thought about Poverty. There is a lot to think about there for sure. And I get why you preferred Firekeeper over Warrior. I love reading your reviews too! Happy reading to you as well! :-)


message 45: by Lea (new)

Lea (leaspot) | 3458 comments Ioana wrote: "You started the year well!
I read The Alice Network some years ago, and I don't remember anything about it. I thought it was ok at the time, but I'm not sure what I would think about it now, my patience for WW2 themed HF books is very limited.

I'm glad for our buddy reads this month, good choices.

To Sleep in a Sea of Stars was ok, but not a favorite, I don't think I'll go back to the Fractalverse."


It's so true that there have been so many WW2 books, I'm trying to read one or two a year, but not over indulge.

I was glad for our buddy reads this month too and look forward to our upcoming ones.

I don't think you need to read Fractal Noise. Have you read any of the Inheritance Cycle books? (i.e. Eragon) I think those are the books Paolini is more known for, so I might give them a try sometime in the future. :-)


message 46: by Ioana (new)

Ioana | 2055 comments I tried Eragon...it wasn't for me.


message 47: by Carolien (new)

Carolien (carolien_s) | 502 comments You started with a bang, Lea!


message 48: by Alondra, Moderator Schmoderator (new)

Alondra Miller | 4045 comments Mod
Kudos on your progress, and sorry for all the books that were not 5 stars. You did have a 4-Star though!!

I expect nothing less from Dennis Lehane; but like I commented to Alissa. I will not be reading any Lehane books due to having my heart shredded with Mystic River. *cries again*


message 49: by Lea (new)

Lea (leaspot) | 3458 comments Ioana wrote: "I tried Eragon...it wasn't for me."

I keep changing my mind about it! I do like fantasy, but have so many open fantasy series, I really should do something about that too. :-)


message 50: by Lea (new)

Lea (leaspot) | 3458 comments Carolien wrote: "You started with a bang, Lea!"

Thanks, Carolien! It feels good to be reading all of these great books!


« previous 1 3 4 5 6 7 8
back to top