Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ

There was another business trip in my life this week, this time a quick 27-hour trip to Boston. One would think that would lend itself to lots of reading time yet somehow it didn't.

I am thisclose to finishing The Master Butchers Singing Club, which is my book club's pick for the month. Since our club meets tonight, it's a good thing I'll be able to finish it over my lunch. This book doesn't fulfill any prompt for me (in any of the challenges I'm attempting) so I will remain at 36/41.

Good news for me is that my niece texted me her list of recommended books. She just started college and had frantically asked me a few weeks ago "how long do I have to give you that book recommendation?" I'd given her til Thanksgiving (late November for you non-Yanks) so she came in 6 weeks early. I'm optimistic I'll be able to finish a book from that list in the coming week to finally knock another prompt off the list.

Update on monthly challenges
I have been lax in my moderator duties to post threads for October and/or solicit books for a group read. So, I've opened up the October threads. I've also opened a nomination thread for a book published in 2016, which is our December monthly challenge prompt. I think giving enough time between the nomination and the voting will boost participation. Or so I hope.

Question of the week: Are there any authors whose work you've read completely?

This is an interesting question for me because, in my 20s, I stuck with my favorite authors and read their new releases immediately. At that time it was Nora Roberts and John Grisham. As I got older, I found their work, shocking to say, formulaic. And stopped reading Grisham altogether. I still read the occasional Nora Roberts' book but consider it a guilty pleasure/light/quick read when I do.

As I child, I read all of Gertrude Chandler Warner's Boxcar Children books and, of course, Laura Ingalls Wilder's books as well.

Now it's your turn! I get to obsessively refresh my Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ page every five minutes to see if someone has posted. (Just kidding. I don't do that.) ;-)

And I don't obsessively check Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ on Thursday mornings waiting for the new check in thread to open! :)

I finished three challenge books this week:

A Work in Progress by Connor Franta. This was a book recommended to me by my 15 year old niece. I'm not hip enough to know who he is, but apparently he is a big time youtuber. The book was an interesting read :)

North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell. My second book that's 100 years older than me. It was an ok read. Some parts were extremely interesting and some really dragged.

The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey for my second book based on a fairy tale. Someone in this group recommended it. I want to say it was Nadine but I could be completely wrong! It is a bittersweet story, but I enjoyed it. My goal with this prompt was to read books based on lesser known fairy tales and this fit the bill.

This puts me at 40/41 and 32/41. I'm getting there!

Right now I am reading:

The Handmaid's Tale
Night

Question of the week: There aren't very many authors whose entire works I have read. Diana Gabaldon is one of my most favorite authors, but I couldn't get into her Lord John series like I did the Outlander series. I have read all the books by Kate Morton and Katherine Reay, but between the two that's only 8 books. Marissa Meyer may become one, but I haven't read Fairest or Stars Above yet. I have read all of Kiera Cass's books too.

Hello! I obsessively check goodreads for updates every Thursday - and brainstorm on my commute in to work on what I have to report :/ I'm *that* person haha

Sara You're killin it girl!

Not the best reading week I've ever had but I still finished 1 book and about 60% through a second book.

I actually finished a prompt this week - I read Ten for book that takes place on an island. It was ok. A young adult version of Agatha Christie, which I don't think I knew that when I added the book to my To Be Read Shelf way back in 2014. But at the same time, I'm glad I'm reading stuff that's been on that shelf for ages!

The other book I picked up and wanted to have read by this check in is Meant to Be which is for Around the Year.

Brings me to 35/41! And 34/52 for around the year. I really have to buckle down and read some good books and finish strong!

QOTW I finished all of Nicholas Sparks books - oh but not his newest release yet... so I guess he doesn't count haha. Colleen Hoover is one that I read all her books.

Same as Sara and Megan. I'm telling myself that 8AM is too soon to check goodreads, but I do it every Thursday. :o)

I am at 36/41 since I finished The Neverending Story. It was a good book, but not as much as I wanted it to be.

I am now reading L'instinct de mort for the autobiography. I really like it so far.

QOTW: There is some authors whose I read all books: Jane Austen, Michel Folco for example. I know they didn't write so many books but it still count. :)

I am at 36/41. Only five books left! I finished Anne of Green Gables for my 20th Century classic. So many of my friends love this book so I had to finally check it out. It was a cute read and I picked up the next book in the series even though it doesn't fulfill any prompts.

QOTW: Laura Ingalls Wilder is the only author I know I've read all of her works. Stephenie Meyer would be a guess though I haven't read the genderbent version of Twilight so maybe that doesn't count. Maybe Jean Auel, though I don't know if she's written anything besides the Earth's Children series. I have plenty of authors who I love and try to read all they publish like Philippa Gregory, Clive Cussler, and the great J.K. Rowling.

Same as all you guys, I check for this thread first thing on Thursday morning when I get into work. Productive, I know. I thought I was the weird one! ;)

I only have one book to report this week, but it's a long one. I'm now at 21/41 (eeeek so behind).

11/22/63 by Stephen King for a science-fiction novel. I've been working on this one for months and I'm so excited to be reporting this one as finished. This book was okay. I loved the plot and the characters, but the length and unnecessary detail of King's work usually makes me stray away from it. I found myself never really wanting to pick it up, but when I did I could easily read a good chunk of it.

I have a few books out from the library that I can now start! I live in the pacific northwest and we're supposed to have a huge storm this weekend. I'll make sure my kindle is charged and my candles are stocked. I work for a roofing company and I get crap for saying I like storms but I do! However our new house does not have a fireplace so I'm really hoping our power doesn't go out...

Question of the week: Are there any authors whose work you've read completely?
Nothing comes to mind that I've completed so far. Except maybe something when I was a child, like Laura Ingalls Wilder's books. A series I've actually been meaning to re-read!

I am on a mission however to complete the works of Jane Austen, Nicholas Sparks, and J.K. Rowling (I've got Casual Vacancy on my bookshelf at home and the Cormoran Strike series on my TBR).

Add me to the list of folks who check GoodReads obsessively on Thursdays! :D

I traveled a lot this past week, so I got a lot of reading done on the plane! Nothing for this challenge, though, so I'm still at 36/41. Sigh.

For Bustle Reads:

- Read a book by an author under 25: The Opposite of Loneliness: Essays and Stories - Nothing special.
- Read a memoir by someone who identifies as LGBTQIA: Where Am I Now?: True Stories of Girlhood and Accidental Fame - Really good! An excellent option if anyone needs a celebrity memoir for a challenge.
- Read a collection of contemporary poetry: Quarter Life Poetry: Poems for the Young, Broke and Hangry - Charming! (I am not a fancy person.)

For Read Harder:

- Read a book over 500 pages: My Sister's Keeper - I'd never read a Jodi Picoult book before! I found this to be pretty much as advertised: compelling plot, average writing, kept the pages turning. I could see reading another one if the plot caught my attention.

Question of the Week: I've read all of Jane Austen, unless you count some of her juvenilia, etc. Beyond that, I really don't think I've read all the books by any author! I'm slowly making my way through the works of Toni Morrison and James Baldwin, but that's going to be a years-long project, I think.

I haven't checked in for some time even though I promptly seeked out for check in every week and then forgot to post what I have read.
I am almost at the end of this year's challenges, 36/40 and Book Riot's at 22/24. I'm stuck with big books and the book set in your home state prompt. I might change this one but I want to stick with 1030 pages and cross the book off my TBR once and for all. The same is for The Brothers Karamazov and Bleak House.
So this week there weren't any progress. Mostly because when I wanted to sit down and read, the dogs asked for a walk or my bf took the kindle and I was deadpanned and couldn't focus on other books.

QOTW: I believe that is reserved for the dead writers because they have done what they had in plan or didn't. But I must say probably Larsson's Millenium trilogy. But I refuse to read the fourth installment because I feel it's kind of a betrayal and gaining money off someone's "foundation" and I cannot accept that and I love Lisbeth so much. If I were younger and if it were 2007 I would also say J.K. Rowling but I was only interested in HP and not her other books. Also Zafon but I just need to read The Prince of Mist trilogy and Marissa Meyer's Stars Above whose half of the prequels I read before I realised the whole collection was published. Also I don't know what is happening with Wires and Nerve, Volume 1. So, in short, no, I haven't yet.

Well at least we can all rest assured that we aren't alone in our obsessive need to post our weekly check-ins!! :)

Fannie wrote: "Same as Sara and Megan. I'm telling myself that 8AM is too soon to check goodreads, but I do it every Thursday. :o)"

Fannie:
I am not a morning person at all. My kids get on the school bus at 8:09 a.m. and I get to work about 9 a.m. But 9 a.m. EST is an OK time to check. ;-)

Juanita

I'll take note for next weeks. :)

I only finished one book this week, but it was a long one, 600+ pages: Queen of Shadows, book 4 in Sarah Maas's Throne of Glass series. I don't actually like these books much, but yet I find them highly addictive. They are like Hershey kisses. This book fulfills the "highest rated book in your TBR" category from Around the Year. I gave it 2 stars.

QOTW. I was about say no I haven't read all books from any author, but then I thought about it, and there are a few. I've read everything from Marissa Meyer except her latest (Heartless), which I've been waiting for on a hold list at my library for a while now. I've read all of Joanna Bourne's books (historical romances set during Napoleon's time) except any short stories or novellas. I've read Robin LaFevers' three books in her Fair Assassin series and I eagerly await more from her, but I'm not sure if she counts because she's written children's books too, under another name, that I have not read. I've read all of Gillian Flynn's books. I'm working to get caught up on J.K. Rowling and Lauren Willig but they (happily) keep publishing more books, so I'm always a few books behind! I used to be all caught up on Sue Grafton's alphabet mysteries, but I'm a few letters behind now. And Emily Brontë only wrote one book, so I've read "all" of hers too!

Sara wrote: "The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey for my second book based on a fairy tale. Someone in this group recommended it. I want to say it was Nadine but I could be completely wrong! ..."

I may have recommended it I can't remember! I didn't love it as much as I thought I would while I was reading it, but it's a very haunting story and it has really stayed with me, long after I finished it.

Hi,

I'm currently reading:

The Heart Goes Last (Margaret Atwood) as a tenuous Romance set in the Future. Relationship in the future that's for sure, but it's not looking too good for them at the moment!

Hotels of North America (Rick Moody). Recommended by family member. Quite entertaining, little bit different style.

The Fishermen (Chigozie Obioma). Culture I'm unfamiliar with. Good so far.

I know exactly what I'm going to read to finish the challenge. Problem is time, I'm only at 29/40 with the 600+ to go!

I quite like reading an author. I have read all of Kazuo Ishiguro's novels, I love his writing but I am getting a bit fed up of the same old themes coming out. Never Let me Go and Remains of the Day are amazing though! I've nearly read all of Haruki Murakami's (1Q84 is my 600+ page category) and I've read all three of Donna Tart's novels too. There might be others, I quite like collecting and ticking off a list :)

Currently in one rainy PNW city instead of another and can't get online with my computer, so a short post from me this week.

I finished two books and I think I'm at 30/41.

I Am Malala was my unfamiliar culture book. I also used The Girls of the Kingfisher Club for my fairy tale.

I forgot my book at work and finished an audio before my vacation started, and haven't had the chance to start new ones yet.

QOTW: I'm not sure right now if I've finished someone's works. There are authors I'm working on though. Arthur Conan Doyle, Erik Larson, and of course Agatha Christie. I've read several stand-alones, all of Tommy & Tuppence, a few short stories left before Poirot's last book, then to Miss Marple.

I'm late to the game this week with my update, but here it goes.

I'm at 33/41. Getting closer and closer!

I finished Just One Day for my book about a road trip. Bit of a stretch since they took a train, but I'll count it. I definitely enjoyed it.

The only 2 authors I know for sure that I've read everything by is John Green and Kiera Cass. However, I don't know if I can count Kiera because I've only read the original self published version of The Siren and not the one that was rewritten for publishing and released this year.

I'm new to the forum, I'm so glad that I found this group. I've been working on the challenge since about June/July, I'm a pretty fast reader and trying really hard to finish by December 31st. By the end of this week I'll have 19 books left to finish.

I'm currently working on a Political Memoir (Madam Secretary: A Memoir), An Autobiography (The Girl with Seven Names: A North Korean Defector’s Story), and a Book by a Comedian (Bossypants).

I have seven more on hold at the library, it's been really fun working on this, I'm excited to start fresh in 2017 with the new list.

Jessica wrote: "I don't know if I can count Kiera because I've only read the original self published version of The Siren and not the one that was rewritten for publishing and released this year..."

I would count it! I didn't read her original self-published one, but I read the one released this year. I don't know that it was rewritten so much as revised and updated. Still the same story :)

I'm down to my last few challenges. So far this year I haven't seeked out specific books to fill the list just check-marked as I went. But with only 5 left to checkmark I was starting to struggle a little.

I'm also in a TBR group where we try to read books we already own instead of buying/borrowing new ones. So I thought why not knock two birds with one stone?

I went through my bookshelf and I found 3 books that fit 4 of the remaining categories for me.

My list for the next little bit is:

The Road. Cormac McCarthy (Oprah's Bookclub)
Cold Mountain. Charles Frazier (National Book Award Winner)
The New Canada. Preston Manning (Political Memoir, Set in my home "state")

The only one I have yet to find is A Book by a Comedian)

I'm at 33/41.

I finished The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins for the Around the Year challenge. Originally published in 1868, this book supposedly the popular genre of the detective mystery.

Question of the week: Are there any authors whose work you've read completely?

I've read all the books of Kate Morton, Laura Ingalls Wilder, and Barbara Pym.

Question of the week: Are there any authors whose work you've read completely?

James Clavell, Colin Dexter, Caroline Graham, J.S. Borthwick