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A bright and early (8 a.m. EST) check-in from me. I have the rare occurrence of having my home to myself this morning. The kids are off to school and my work-at-home husband is off on an errand. Bliss ... Thought before I left to head to work, I'd pop in and start this thread.

I myself made some progress this week. I finished The Underground Railroad, for "written by a person of color" and bonus that it is our monthly challenge and group read. We've got a discussion going in the Monthly Challenge folder about this book. If you've read it before or are reading it now, pop on in and see what we're talking about.

I also finished The Light Between Oceans, which was a re-read for me. I was invited to join a new book club and this was their book for February. I loved this book and even though I've read it before, I still sobbed uncontrollably for the last 45 pages. I mean blubbering. This won't satisfy a challenge prompt but it was time well spent. Which brings me to Lindi's discovery: ŷ������ is now allowing us to track re-reads. Woo hoo! Check out the thread on that topic over here.

Finally, I finished the audio of Trevor Noah's Born a Crime. He tells a great story. Sad, uplifting, honest.

This puts me at 6/40 and 1/12.

Question of the week:
Thanks to Cheri for sending me some QotW ideas. I am running dry so this was great help. Picking up on the threads we have going for discussing reviews, do you read reviews before selecting a book? If so, what sources do you use? If not, why not?

I am guilty of being the "on the band wagon" type of reader. I heard about The Underground Railroad because of all the hype. I enjoy EW's Books page and I'm a sucker for a book list so Pinterest can be a time suck for me. I do read critical reviews. And some times, I'll look to see if one of my GR friends has read a book I am interested in.

A note for Christophe
I don't know how this ended up on my calendar but I have a note that today is Christophe's birthday so ... Happy Birthday, Christophe! (Maybe Fannie can give us the French for that.) I swear I'm not stalking you. ;-) But I really don't know how/why that note ended up on my calendar.

Hello everyone!

I finished 3 (yes, THREE) books this week. That must be some kind of record for me. First, I finished The Underground Railroad, which as most of you know was our group read for the month of February. I'm going to try to read every group read this year. However, I may sit out March or wait a little while before I read it. I already saw the movie and want some space in between them before I dive into the book.

ANYWAY... The second book I finished was The Fiery Cross. I am so happy I finished this book. I enjoyed it, but every Outlander book is so long, it just makes me feel so accomplished when I do finish one. And this one only took me 4 months so that is pretty good for me!

The last book I finished, I started for another challenge but it fit the set in wartime prompt as well. It was City of Thieves by David Benioff. I really enjoyed this book. It had good character development, and although some parts were heartbreaking, it was wrapped up in a nice bow at the end, which I enjoy.

QOTW: I sometimes read reviews, but not often. I will go to a goodreads page and look at the rating, and scroll down and see which of my friends read it but that is usually about it. I feel like reviews spoil too much of the plot sometimes and I like to go into my books pretty blind.

Here's to another productive reading week!

Hello from India. I finished reading wuthering heights for the prompt a story within a story. Also did my first (and most probably last) audiobook -Bossypants by Tina fey. The only reason I could get through it was because Fey herself has read it. Made some progress on Aiwa Maru for a book written by a person of color and Love stories that touched my heart for a book by multiple authors.IT is a collection of love stories by budding Indian authors. I have taken an Indian book challenge as well and hence trying to accomodate as many books by indian authors as can fill. the prompts. I am 8/52 as of now and making progress on books no 9 &10.

Question:I have never read A Christmas Carol and want to read it this year. Does it fill any prompt???

QOTW :I usually depend on friends for good reviews about books (This also means they have bought those books and can lend it to me :) ) For books that my friends havent read as well I rely on reviews on goodreads before I make a purchase.
Very rarely do I get carried away by the hype created around a book.

Good morning!! Winter weather is back here in NY, we have a fresh coat of snow.

This week I finished five books, and four of them count towards this Challenge. I'm 18/52 now.

I read and enjoyed Girl Waits with Gun by Amy Stewart, for "interesting woman." (I actually finished this on the 2nd, but too late in the day for me to mention it last week.) This is based on a true story, set in Paterson & Hackensack NJ, and since I grew up very close to there in NJ I was very excited to learn about some local history that I was unfamiliar with!

The Underground Railroad, which I loved. This is the first time evuh that I read a monthly pick! (I used this for the "difficult topic" category, since I had already filled "author of color")

March: Book Two - very powerful graphic novel memoir of Congressman John Lewis. I checked off "multiple authors" with this one.

Beggars in Spain by Nancy Kress, which is on my personal challenge list of 41 books I have to read this year, and also part of my general personal challenge to read more women sci fi authors; I checked off "first book in a series" with this. This book came HIGHLY recommended, and I ended up disappointed.

The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros - another book on my personal challenge of 41 books. I've been wanting to read this for a long time, and I think I left it too long. I probably would have liked this a lot more when I was younger.

And, I'm only 32 minutes away from FINALLY finishing my 800+ page book, 11/22/63. Yay me! I'll be glad to be done with this one, I don't like long books.

I really want to read March's book pick, Hidden Figures, but there are almost 100 holds ahead of me at the library, so I don't know if I'll get a copy. I'm having flashbacks to when I was in a irl book club, and the group always picked popular books that I stood no chance of getting in time!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHRISTOPHE! :-)

QOTW Two main ways a book gets on my TBR list: it's by an author I love, or I read the reviews on ŷ������ and decide it sounds good for me. For some books I will primarily try to find the negative reviews, and if the things they didn't like about it don't bother me, I'll add it. Negative reviews have more sway with me than positive reviews! But negative reviews don't always mean I won't read it. I rarely read professional critics, because usually the books they praise to the moon are not the kind of books I will love. (Example from last year: My Name Is Lucy Barton - I read a great review of this in the New York Times, so I put it on hold at my library right away, and ... was left wondering what all the fuss was about. On the other hand, I also read about The Girl on the Train in the NYT, and I ended up loving that one. One thing I've learned about myself: I'm about plot more than character.)

I had a really good reading week.

I finished Letters from Skye. I'm on the fence about this one. It was just an "ok" for me.

Then I listened to The Undomestic Goddess and it was fantastic. If anyone likes chick-lit and is looking for an audiobook this is the way to go. I was laughing out loud. I've read her books before but now I think I will always listen to them. I'm using that as my book by an author from a country you've never visited.

I'm reading Love, Chloe right now. I thought I was going to finish before the check in but I fell asleep so I'm at 83% completion. This will fill my book with pictures, because some of the chapters start with the characters Instagram posts.

5/40 ; 0/12. I have a ton of e-book requests at the library so once those come in I should be on a roll.

QOTW I do read reviews to see if the book will spark my interest. I also will watch non-spoiler reviews on youtube. And while reading the book, I will go to the goodreads page and click on Recent Status Updates and glance through those posts.

Bon matin!

First thing first: Joyeux anniversaire Christophe. (Juanita, I would say Bonne fête, but as Christophe is from France I think, it will be Joyeux anniversaire).

I read a bunch of books this week, but I am not sure how it will fit in that challenge. I discovered the serie Saga, Vol. 1 and read from 1 to 5. I would fit the prompt of cat on the cover and from a non-human perspective, but maybe I'll change it along the way. Sometimes I feel like a graphic novel is cheating.

I finished also The Girl with All the Gifts, but it will fit no prompt too.

I started an audiobook: Tell No One and I kind of like it. My drive to work/home is fun that way. I may rent other audiobook in the future.

QOTW: I sometimes read review and mostly on ŷ������. Or I ask a friend, but that's it. I am becoming selective in my choice of books since ŷ������. I tend to read only books with a global rating of 4+.

I finally finished Me Before You last week due to a temp job I started on Thursday which allows me to read when I don't have work to do. I've done significantly more reading than working as a result.

I started A Study in Silks for my first book in a series I haven't read before and will use A Study in Darkness for my steampunk book. I'm really enjoying this one and am basically halfway done.

Still trying to get through a couple of others, but I''m craving magic and action more than anything else lately, so who knows when I'll finally finish Hag-Seed and The Scribe of Siena. Both are good, I just can't focus on them.

QOTW: I do check reviews. I like to see what others perceive to be the strengths and weaknesses of the books I'm interested in. Some of my favorite reads have only averaged around 3-3.5 stars because they were so polarizing amongst readers and, for me, that's not necessarily a weakness.

Christophe: Bon anniversaire!!

I have not completed any books this week. I was sure I would get lots of reading time since I have been on vacation. Alas, a busy schedule of activities and visiting family limited my reading time.

I have a copy of The Underground Railroad, but I haven't made much progress yet.

A very happy birthday to Christophe :)

Question of the week: I usually check reviews on good reads and sometimes on Amazon. I always try to read a variety of ratings to see what people loved and what they hated.

I finished 4 books (1 audio) this week - they were not the longest books in the world, but still ;-)
Round the Moon for a book with a red spine.
The Man in the Brown Suit written by someone I admire.
The Preacher A book with multiple authors.
The Mystery of the Blue Train A book with an eccentric character

So now I am 14/40 and 1/12 :-)

QOTW: I sometimes check the ratings, if the author is new to me, but my safest bet on good books is my best friend - if SHE says it is good, it most likely is!!!

Hello all from weird weathered Kansas! Cold and slightly snowy yesterday and supposed to be near 70 tomorrow. That's Kansas!

This week I finished one book but I can't get it to fit in the challenge, but that's okay. I read The Pioneer Woman: Black Heels to Tractor Wheels because I really love the Pioneer Woman and wanted to read this one just for fun. I traveled the few hours to Oklahoma a couple weeks ago with my best friend to see her Mercantile, so it was nice reading a bit about her back story.

I have a couple books in proress at the moment:
- The Sixth Lamentation - I'm kind of on hold with this one because I can't decide if I like it, I'm having a really hard time getting into it. I hate that!! Does anyone love this book? Should I just stick it out?
- City of Bones - I just started this yesterday and am really hitting the ground running with this one. It'll fulfill the prompt "the first book in a series you haven't read before"

QOTW: I rely sooo much on ŷ������ reviews anymore! I check a book to see the overall rating and then to see if any of my friends have read it and what they thought. I tend not to read many of the reviews since so many give things away.

Hi everyone!

I haven't been very productive with my reading this week; I only finished Illuminae for "book written by multiple authors". I ended up giving it about 3.5/5 stars, and I would definitely recommend it to everyone.

I also started Alice in Wonderland for "book with a cat on the cover". I'm ashamed to say I've actually never read the book before; I have seen many of the film adaptations, though!

Therefore, so far I'm at 6/52.

QOTW: I only look at reviews of books that my friends on here have reviewed, but for the most part I don't let that sway my decision on reading it too much. I take into account what their criticisms are, and whether that matches my own tastes in books.

I just got back from two weeks travelling abroad so I have not done much reading lately! On our flight back I did finish Let's Pretend This Never Happened: A Mostly True Memoir for a book with an eccentric character. I wouldn't consider Jenny herself to be a character since it's a memoir but she is definitely eccentric!
This week I finished The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo for a bestseller from 2016. I wasn't planning on using this book for that prompt but I needed to find somewhere for it to fit! It was quite good!

I am "currently reading" (really, I've started at some point and need to pick up again...)
The Winter People for January's group pick
Dorothy Must Die for a book with a red spine
Room for either a book about a difficult topic or a book with an unreliable narrator
The Memory Keeper's Daughter for a book with a family member term in the title
A Dog's Purpose for a book from a non-human perspective

I have so many started, now I just need to finish some!

QOTW: I like to check ratings, usually while I'm reading a book, but I'm weary because sometimes they reveal too much without putting spoiler alerts. I also like to read the questions on a books page as sometimes those are more helpful than actual reviews!

Avanti wrote: "Hello from India. I finished reading wuthering heights for the prompt a story within a story. Also did my first (and most probably last) audiobook -Bossypants by Tina fey. The only reason I could g..."

If you're not from England, it fits both country you've never been to and author from a country you've never been to. Depending on how you feel about the challenge, it could stretch to fit eccentric character. And I'm not sure, but if you don't read a lot of classics, it could be a bestseller in a genre you don't normally read. And it would take a bit of research, but it could have been reccomended by a librarian somewhere or could have been mentioned in a book.

It's on my tbr list, but I'm still not sure how I'm going to count it. :)

I kind of fell of the bandwagon for a couple of weeks. Got through a couple of sloggy books where I didn't much enjoy the narrator. But they're gone, finished and marked on my lists!

And I started Born a Crime irresponsibly late last night and got caught right up in it. No regrets! It's good to be reading something that I don't want to put down again.

QOTW
I usually skim reviews, lots of books end up on my to-read list by hearing about then out and about, talking to someone, recommendations based on what you've read etc etc. And then reviews give me an idea of if I actually want to read it or not. I read them even more if I'm halfway through a book and really not enjoying it though, to see if I'm crazy or not.

Happy Thursday everyone!
I finished Great Expectations for a book that's on my tbr. I made really good progress on Winter for my 800 page book too. I also got the winter people from the library finally so I'll read it for season in the title even though I missed the group read. And I've also ordered Underground Railroad, should be here in a week or so!

QOTW
I don't rely on reviews unless I'm really on the fence. Usually this would be for a prompt that I have to research for. Generally I rely on word of mouth.

Avanti wrote: "Hello from India. I finished reading wuthering heights for the prompt a story within a story. Also did my first (and most probably last) audiobook -Bossypants by Tina fey. The only reason I could g..."

Well, if you've never been to England, you could use it for "book by an author from a country you've never been to"

Avanti wrote: "Hello from India. I finished reading wuthering heights for the prompt a story within a story. Also did my first (and most probably last) audiobook -Bossypants by Tina fey. The only reason I could g..."

You're from India so I don't want to be presumptuous but if you are actually Indian then it could be a book with a main character of a different ethnicity than you. Could be a book with an author from a country you've never visited if you haven't been to England. A book on your tbr since you clearly want to read it. You could likely find a copy with a red spine. You could definitely argue he's eccentric. Or finally you could purchase it on a trip or from a used book store or ask a librarian to recommend a classic Christmas story and they'll likely recommend it!!

Hello all from Dallas! Is it possible for life to feel both hectic and uneventful at the same time?? There wasn’t a lot on the calendar, but something happened in my personal life that was emotionally draining. I had a lot of time to read, but it was hard to concentrate on the pages most of the time. Here’s hoping the sunshine this week will help that.

This week I finished 2 more books for the challenge. I read The Good Girl for a book with an unreliable narrator. This was well written and an impressive debut for Mary Kubica. The second book is Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone for book that never fails to make you smile. I know if this series had been written when I was in middle school, it would have been devoured countless times. As an adult, I rarely re-read books (way too many in my TBR pile to take the time to re-read anything!), but I might re-read this one every few years just for the warm feeling it evokes.

I am still reading:
The Invisible Bridge by Julie Orringer �� 28. A novel set during wartime (I need to quit starting new books and just finish this one!)
Word of Honor by Nelson DeMille �� Advanced 8. A book that is 800+ pages long (inching along��)
You by Caroline Kepnes �� 39. The first book in a series you haven’t read before

4/40 ; 4/12. Trucking along and on pace to double my book total for 2016 (thank goodness). I would love for that to happen! For each book finished, though, I feel I am adding 2 titles to my TBR pile. Positive problems, right?! ;) Also, I just got The Underground Railroad this week. I think it will be the next book I start so I can participate in the monthly challenge.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CHRISTOPHE! ��

QOTW: I don’t necessarily read reviews, but I add books to my TBR pile if they had a blurb in the NY Times or other book pages that sounded interesting to me. But if something is in my TBR pile and the rating drops, I might remove it. I generally go by my gut feeling from the synopsis or a recommendation from a friend. And like Nadine mentioned earlier, I read negative GR reviews instead of positive ones.

Hi all, I finished two this week, The Emperor of All Maladies for genre I don't normally read and The Story of A New Name by Elena Ferrante for pseudonym author prompt.

I started Hillbilly Elegy last night- gearing up to be depressing of course. But he does seem to find the humor nuggets to make it not just walk away depressing. I also started A Wild Sheep Chase by Haruki Murakami for book by author from country you've never visited. I'm finding it difficult but it was on Powell's top 25 foreign books so I will keep at it. I always do.

QOTW: I Always read reviews. ŷ������ for the overall rating- often people review too much plot as opposed to an actual review on GR though which bugs me. But the stars are really useful. I would kind of agree with the 3 star assessment because it might mean it's polarizing and people are divided. It will make me read a few to get the sense of what's causing the division. I shy away from overhyped books too. I had the same experience about Lucy Barton- Olive Kittridge blew me away so my expectations were so high for Lucy it was just a letdown when it was just OK. I read New York Review of Books and Los Angeles Review of Books.
I also read book blurbs in catalogues like Daedalus and Common Reader and save in a file for library browsing.

Good morning everyone! AND HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHRISTOPHE!

I finished one book this week, and I'm working on several others.

#GIRLBOSS by Sophia Amoruso for "a book with career advice". This was a solid 3 stars. It was just okay, and an extremely fast read - took me maybe 3 hours? I can't say that I retained much from this, but I do agree with Juanita that I really enjoyed the cover letter section. I wish this was less memoir, more career advice. I feel like I would have liked it more had the timeline stayed in chronological order with the career advice growing as her business grew. I felt it flip flopped around too much, and I found myself wondering more about her business and less about how she got there (after all - she said it wasn't a memoir!)

5/52

The Art of Racing in the Rain - I started this at work and couldn't get past the second page. I have a feeling it will go back to when Enzo is younger and span his life - but I couldn't stop crying! I will start again when I am alone and mentally prepared ;)
Holes - This will be for "a book you loved as a child". Still a favorite.
Darkfever - This came highly recommended by a friend. I wanted to take a break from the "good" books I've been reading and really devour something. I definitely stayed up 2 hours later than normal until I finally forced myself to go to bed - I could have read for longer! (Ah, adulthood...)

QOTW: I definitely look at ratings and read reviews on every book I read. I feel like this negatively impacts my reading as I never really go into a book blind - I always have some preconceived notions. I can't stop though!

I usually stray away from anything less than a 3.8. Anything above a 4 is usually instantly on my TBR (if it's something I'm interested in.) And like some have said before, I usually check the negative reviews to see what they say, if they are similar, etc.

I finished one book this week, the February group read The Underground Railroad bringing me to 11/40. I started Fall of Giants for 28. a book set in wartime. It's been a few years since I read Follett but I usually enjoy his books. I slated all three Century Trilogy books into the challenge this year. Though, at 2,900+ pages we'll see if I'm successful...

QOTW: I am trying to get away from reading reviews before I read a book because they tend to sway my opinion too much. I do always look at the overall rating and to see if any of my friends have rated it already.

Sidebar: Has anyone else noticed their ŷ������ 2017 challenge numbers are off? Mine has me at 12 books read this year but I've only shelved 11 as read in 2017. (I triple checked!) It's making my little type A brain sad.

Abigail wrote: "I finished one book this week, the February group read The Underground Railroad bringing me to 11/40. I started Fall of Giants for 28. a book set in wartime. It's bee..."

I know they just rolled out the re-read feature - maybe that is throwing off your count. Maybe once they are done with that it'll fix itself? That would drive me crazy too. :(

Hello from extremely rainy Oregon!

Not a good reading week for me as I caught a cold and just trying to get through my day so I can breathe.

I started Emma for the prompt "a book that's been on your TBR list for way to long" So since I had a cold I started watching the BBC version and Clueless because it is hard to read when you are sick.

I finished Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone for the prompt "a book you've read before that never fails to make you smile" and since it is a reread I am curious about how to count it- I will see if my cold addled brain can figure our goodreads instructions.

Count: 6/52

QOTW: I love reading reviews but mostly the negative ones. I like finding people who agree with me about certain books. I don't usually decide to read a book based on reviews though. I tend to read the reviews after I have read the book or if the book is boring or really difficult I read the reviews to see if it is worth it to continue.

Hello from Kansas, where I finally crawled out of my blanket fort of general ickiness just in time to post about all the books I didn't read while I was home sick :( Still sitting at 7/40 for this challenge and I am slumping HARD.

I DNF'd 5 (FIVE!!!!) books this week that I just wasn't feeling: Cranford, The Bollywood Bride, Year of Wonders, The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry, and Read Bottom Up.

I did manage to check off two Read Harder book prompts this week: Binti, which I listened to on audiobook for my "book by an immigrant or with a central immigration narrative," and Thor, Volume 2: Who Holds the Hammer? for my "superhero comic with a female lead." Both were good, and just as importantly, both were SHORT.

I'm currently reading 3 books, all of which I feel relatively sure I'll finish eventually, but I think I'm just not in a reading mood right now.

QOTW: I read reviews, but they're not my primary determinants of whether I'll pick something up. I have a pretty firm handle on what I do and don't enjoy, and if something has good reviews but is pinging my "This Is Not For GirlsintheAfternoon" radar, I'll usually give it a pass. And if I read a description and think "oooh, yes please," I'll read it even if the reviews are less-than-kind.

Oh I want to change my answer lol like Larissa I will go to the bad reviews after I finish a book and disliked it to see if other people agreed!

Tara wrote: "Oh I want to change my answer lol like Larissa I will go to the bad reviews after I finish a book and disliked it to see if other people agreed!"

I will do this too! And sometimes I will even sort by the same star rating I gave it - to see if people agree with my thoughts ;)

Bonne anniversaire, Christophe (hope that's spelled correctly - it's been a solid 7 years since my last use of French when I visited Togo.)

Just yesterday I finished Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell for the over 800 pages prompt. I almost stalled out but in the end I really loved it - so thankfully I had a book club deadline that kept me focused.

I also polished off The Art of the Film: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them in the course of my daughter's nap. I'm haven't yet seen the film but the pictures were pretty. Boring commentary along with them though.

I'm not sure what to start next. I'm in the midst of a 35ish hour audiobook, but I need something to read too.

I get emails from ŷ������ with all my friends' reviews and I love the Book Riot website and podcasts. I also listen to the Professional Book Nerds podcast which is done by Overdrive staff. So I listen to and read a fair number of reviews and book suggestions. But I don't go back and consult reviews before picking/starting a book. After I'm done and have written my own review, I do reread the reviews of friends and maybe a few strangers in ŷ������ and sometimes that prompts me to address additional things in my own review.

Hi all,

Very, very rainy in Vancouver today.

So I am now at 9/52! Awesome!

I have been working on #12 - A bestseller from a genre you don't normally read. So I graduated high school over 20 years ago. But since then, I have read very few classics.....I decided to do a classic. I also discovered that my Grade 12 class; we didn't read a bunch of classics! (so now, I am extremely behind), I picked Of Mice and Men -- almost done now. My husband warned me, "Remember, this was written in the 1930s." Yes, he was right to do so....

I also have an audiobook for prompt number four, I just haven't started it yet.

I also have Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race ready for the March read! I got it as a Christmas gift.

QOTW: I don't read that many reviews. I like seeing new reviews for brand new items (2017 publications). I totally fall into the category of someone reads something, and recommends it to me! That's how I've read so many great books. I now have a few friends where we often just talk about the books we are reading or have read -- some of my favorite discussions!

Good morning everyone! Bon anniversaire Christophe!

I only got one book done this week: The Magnolia Story. It was a very light read and nothing special but I enjoyed it. I was just happy to see a copy at the library since it has been checked out non-stop for months.

I've got a pile of murder mysteries courtesy of the library so hopefully I will be able to finish a bunch this weekend. It's been a very busy week so I'm ready for some downtime.

QOTW: I check the reviews, but I don't pay too much attention to the star system. I tend to skim a couple reviews and check for any buzzwords that point to a book not being my cup of tea. On the whole though I think GR has made it easier to try out new authors that I might otherwise skip over. I don't really read critical reviews much though since they tend to pick books I'm not interested in.

Hi all! This was a super productive reading week for me! I am finally back on track. I finished two books this week! Mere Christianity, for bestseller in a genre I don't usually read, and The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer, for book with a subtitle. This makes me 4/52.

I am also halfway through two books:

I am listening to The Shining as an audiobook. I most likely won't finish this week but I've given myself the rest of the month instead.

I'm reading On the Beach for a book with a red spine. I am enjoying it very much. It has the feel of a dystopian suspense novel at this point, which makes it quite hard to put down.

QOTW: I almost never read reviews. There always seems to be a handful of people who love a book and a handful of people who dislike it. If I'm not sure what a book is about I may read a review to find out more about it. Otherwise I go by word of mouth.

This week I read The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis, which fulfills a book of letters. I cannot tell you how much I love this book. It's a book not just about temptation, but about the foibles of human nature, and it makes me FEEL human. The older I get, the more hilarious I find it, too. 10/10 would recommend.

QOTW: I do read reviews sometimes, especially if I don't personally know anyone who has read the book. In reviews I can find things that I can't in the summary. Sometimes people warn about the sexual content, violence, etc., or things like poor character development or dumb story lines. Now, just because someone else doesn't like it doesn't mean I won't, but I like to read a few reviews just to broaden my mind and consider things about a book that I haven't before, both before and after reading it.

Slow week for me; I finished The Bees for my non-human narrator prompt. I threw in an easy one with Meet Me at the Cupcake Café which I used for the prompt about food. The I read The Underground Railroad, I was surprised; most people were complaining about crazy long wait-lists for it but my library had 0 holds on it. I already had a book by an author of colour so I used it to fill Book with a red spine.

I'm currently at 19/40 for the regular and 5/12 for the advanced. I'm also doing the MMD challenges (7/12 for fun, 5/12 for growth), 18/52 for Around the Year, and 3/24 for Read Harder. I'm finding that a lot of books fill prompts for multiple challenges.

Wish me luck! I'm going to attempt to start Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, Jilid Ithis week.

QOTW: I sometimes looks at the average star ratings to determine if I'll read a book but rarely read reviews until afterwards. I don't want my opinion of the book to be influenced by someone else view.

This week I finished the last bit of Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk as my audiobook. I really enjoyed the story and the narration. I find audiobooks are my new favorite thing. I do a ton of driving for my son's appointments (five days a week as it stands now, my poor gas tank!) and I'm able to listen while I cook and do chores. I finish books much quicker this way.

Milk and Honey was my book by a person of color pick. I love celebrations of feminity, and books of poetry are so easy to breeze through in an hour or two.

Winter's Bone was my pick for a book with one of the four seasons in the title. I didn't realize the movie was based on a book! I really loved the movie and the book was even better. It's so bleak and heavy. The scenery is beautifully painted, it was like gothic meets the ozarks. It was relatively short and so engaging that I was able to finish it pretty quick.

I'm currently listening to The Neverending Story and reading Welcome to Night Vale.

So that brings me to 7/40; 1/12

QOTW: I skim reviews. I don't really have much of a method of picking what books to read.

It's been a while since I checked in last. Sadly, I have finished only two books since my last check in that count toward this challenge. They are Going Bovine for the book by or about someone with a disability prompt and Life of Pi for the book with a cat on the cover prompt. Currently, I am reading Dark Matter for my book with a red spine and Beautiful Ruins for my book set in a hotel.

QOTW: I do read reviews before I buy and read books. I mostly rely on reviews posted on ŷ������ rather than Amazon or another retail site. However, even if a book gets bad reviews from my favorite bloggers, I'm usually willing to give it a shot provided I can find the book for a good price.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CHRISTOPHE!

Yet another week of no progress for me. I'm hardly getting anywhere with my bedtime audiobook also. This has been a very stressful couple of months. I did get the audio of The Underground Railroad and it's ready to go once I can find it in me to stop and focus on books again.

QOTW: I sometimes read reviews but rarely. Especially since so many goodreads reviews are more like book reports that just spoil the whole plot. I'll somehow spot a book that catches my eye, a cover or mention in the group, read the blurb, maybe look at the stars. I either want to read it or I don't.

I finished six books this week! I had a sick day Friday and a snow day Tuesday and today, so it was a good reading week.

First I read The Bad Beginning, which was recommended by one of my students. It's also a series that a close friend really enjoys, and I feel like it's something that I really should read in order to know what my middle school students are talking about. It was a decent read, but very predictable. I didn't really like the vocab definitions, but I can see how they'd be good for a younger audience. Although some of the content matter didn't seem like something I'd want a young child reading, but that might just be me! I used this to fill the "a book by an author who uses a pseudonym" challenge.

I also read The Dry which I didn't like as much as I was hoping to. It was interesting enough, but I found myself getting more irritated than anything about the so-called secrets within the town. I couldn't find a prompt that this book would fit into, so I guess I'll use it for my Around the World challenge.

I loved the idea of Night of Fire, but the book itself seemed pretentious and annoying. I had a hard time getting attached to the characters when I knew from the start what was going to happen to them, and the ending just seemed...unneeded and confusing. It was like he didn't want this book to be simply about a fire, so he decided to try and give it some deeper meaning. Unfortunately, the deeper meaning didn't do anything for me. I used this for the "a book about an immigrant or refugee" because of the larger chapter about a refugee camp.

Next up was The Warden's Daughter, which I really enjoyed. I just recently finished teaching a unit using Jerry Spinelli's Milkweed, so I was looking forward to reading something else by him to see if I could recommend it to my students. I feel like this is something they would enjoy, although our library might not be able to get a copy for a while. It is a sort of cliched book, with a lot of 'coming of age' and 'don't just a book' sort of themes going to it, but it's go the sort of life lessons that I'd want my students to read about and understand. The ending reminded me a lot of Milkweed , in that it was highly unsatisfying and seemed to come out of nowhere for the sole sake of pulling one over on the reader. I used this to fulfill "a book with a family-member title in the title."

Yesterday, I finished History Is All You Left Me. So far this is definitely my favorite read of 2017!! It's been a long time since I read a book that could make me cry so easily, and I loved how the real picture of what happened slowly came into focus. I highly recommend this book to anyone! I used it to fulfill the "a book about a difficult topic" challenge.

Finally, I read Everything You Want Me to Be today. It was a pretty interesting read. I liked how I slowly realized what had happened, although my initial prediction about who killed her and why did wind up being correct, which was sort of a bummer. There really weren't a lot of surprises in the story, but it was still an enjoyable read with good writing. I used it to fulfill the "a book with a red spine" challenge.

I think I'm going to start reading Idaho next, which I'm looking forward to. I plan on using it for the "a book published in 2017" challenge.

QOTW: I don't normally read reviews. I tried to way back, but I found there was too much of a risk of spoiling myself. The last review I read was for Carve the Mark, and I feel like it really colored my reading of the book. I normally use book covers, spines, and the blurbs on the back to determine whether I want to read a book or not.

This week I read Sorcerer to the Crown for the character that is another ethnicity than you prompt. Sadly, I found it disappointing. The setup and main character were great but the plot itself was haphazard. I also wanted to beat the female lead around the head with a parasol.

I also read Unmentionable: The Victorian Lady's Guide to Sex, Marriage, and Manners for book that was a bestseller in 2016 prompt. It was easy to read, very snarky, and I learned some things. So I liked it.

QOTW- Before picking a book I usually check on professional reviews and star ratings from ŷ������/Amazon just to see if the general impression is positive. If I finish a book and find it bad or disappointing I will seek out some negative ranty gif filled ŷ������ reviews to make me feel better!

It's been a crazy week for me! I haven't been able to fit in much reading unfortunately. I'm quite behind. I started the Winter People (even though I missed the group read) and am about halfway through. I'm hoping to finish that this weekend and maybe knock a few of the shorter books off my list as well.

QOTW - I'm with you Shannon - I love seeking out reviews for books I didn't like so at least I can feel better that I'm not the only one. Otherwise I don't really read reviews at all, although now that I've gotten into ŷ������, that has changed a bit.

This week, I completed 3 books, putting me at 13/40. I read The Magnolia Story by Chip and Joanne Gaines for a genre I don't usually read, I listened to Little House in the Big Woods for a book set in the wilderness, and I read and listened a little to The Secret Adversary for an espionage thriller. I really enjoyed The Magnolia Story much more than I expected, and Little House in the Big Woods wasn't as wonderful as I remembered it. The Secret Adversary was good if you enjoy Agatha Christie. I do enjoy her, but, in my opinion her stories move kind of slow by today's standards.
QOTW
I definitely read reviews before I select a book to read. I read reviews from both ŷ������ and Amazon, but for some reason I prefer Amazon. I tend to read the lowest and a few of the highest reviews. If the "negatives" are something I can overlook, and if I like the positives of a book, I want to read it. If, however, there are negatives that I really dislike, I'll pass on the book. Life is too short to read bad books!

olá, in last I only finished 1 book: , a story about an interest woman, a red spine book, it had many hotels, travels and wildnerss, I gave it 5*Started a portuguese author book, published this year .QOTW. sometimes I read reviews, but if is a book from a author I love, only my review is important so I must read it.

Hi ya'll!

This week has been pathetically unproductive for me. I've had the stomach flu since Monday evening and I'm just now feeling better this afternoon. I planned to read The Cuckoo's Calling for the pseudonym prompt. I got about 30 pages read, but it's due back at the library tomorrow so I don't have time to finish it. Next week we will be at Disney so I won't be reading either.

Last week I did finish The Book Thief. It was just great! I really enjoyed reading this one. I rented to movie. That was a mistake. It seemed like didn't even read the book at all, just took the concept/characters and did their own thing. Very disappointed.

QOTW:

I try not to read reviews before I read a book. I always let the review sway my opinion of the book even if I don't realize it. I'm the same way with films. If it's something I care to read/see I'll wait until after to read a review, but if it's something I have no desire to read/see I'll save myself the trouble and read a review with a spoiler.

Hello from Kansas! Totally forgot to check in last week (was on my way to Vegas!) so here is two weeks of books:

- I finished The Moving Finger, which I read for fun.
- Finished A Tyranny of Petticoats: 15 Stories of Belles, Bank Robbers & Other Badass Girls, which I read for a book with multiple authors. I *loved* this book and can't recommend it highly enough, and generally I hate short stories!
- Finished March: Book One and really enjoyed it. It's for my book with a month or day in the title.
- Finished The Eyre Affair for my story within a story. I loved this, but then again, I love everything Jasper Fforde writes. I want to get the rest of this series!
- Finished Meow If It's Murder for my book with a cat on the cover. Really, really hated this book, but finished it anyway.

Currently reading:
- A Murder Is Announced for fun
- Norse Mythology for based on mythology, also duh, because Neil Gaiman
- Still working on Literary Wonderlands: A Journey Through the Greatest Fictional Worlds Ever Created and Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, which I suspect I will be forever.

I'm at 9/40 and 0/12.

QOTW: I read book reviews in EW, and I also listen to the "All the Books" podcast from Bookriot, which I LOVE. And then I tend to read reviews on ŷ������. Oh and also I look at what people say on Litsy.

Hi :-)

I read 4 books this week (Some quite short)

36. A book written by someone you admire Persuasion
30. A book with pictures The Dark Tower, Volume 2: The Long Road Home
27. A book with a title that's a character's name A Study in Charlotte
19. A book about food Never Binge Again: Reprogram Yourself to Think Like a Permanently Thin Person

I had hoped to finish The Hobbit today but life got in the way. I am enjoying reading it. I will probably finish tomorrow....

Just started It Ends with Us am at like 16% and it seems quite promising. Hearing it on audiobook and have a drive tomorrow and looking forward to listening on.

The black sheep on my reading list is still Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell. I have managed to read 40 pages...YAY!!! Im sorry to say that this is on the edge of being a DNF book for me. However I am now at 237 sooooo I will try and put my big-girl-pants on and keep reading.... To be continued!

Let me just say Congratulation to Chinook ( I am extremely jealous) for finishing Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell and wish good luck to Tanella for starting it. I hope you will like it better than I do.

QOTW: I usually do read reviews on ŷ������ before I buy a book. However it depends on what kind off book/genre it is, wether its the positive or the negative I look at. Some YA books where the positive reviews is completely decorated with 3 pages of GIF and they are swooning usually means that it will not be for me. Then I go to the negative reviews and if they confirm things that would annoy me. Then Im out. I do take the stars in to consideration. But I think I will actually try and stop reading reviews as some writes there are quite a lot of spoilers in them and just hope the blurp arent the best part of the book.
If I have read a really good book, I usually check out the different list its on. If a list name catches my eye I see what else is on and try some of them out. I have found some great books in genres that are new to me like that.
(I really hope that made sense and there isnt to many spelling mistakes. Am really tired and have been talking nonsense and mumbling the entire day. People were looking funny at me. Its 11 PM here in Denmark. I will go to sleep now)

Since this is my first check in I will say everything I have done thus far.

For a book by Multiple Authors I read Places I Never Meant To Be: Original Stories by Censored Writers
Book with a subtitle The Residence: Inside the Private World of the White House. I LOVED THIS ONE!
-Book thats a characters name I read Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore. I am thinking of switching that into a different category
Book with Pictures- Esquire Presents: What It Feels Like
First Book in a Series you have never read Mr. Mercedes. Probably one of my favorite books I have read in a long time!
-Book recommended by an author you love- The Guest Room . This was recommended by Jodi Picoult in one of her interviews
-Bestseller in 2016 Small Great Things . LOVED

Reading these currently and probably will finish by Sunday:
-Book about an interesting woman First Women: The Grace and Power of America's Modern First Ladies
-Book with a season in the title: Summer at Tiffany

I am at 5/40 and 2/12
I plan to be at 8/40 and 2/12 by Sunday (2/12)

QOTW: I usually read reviews via ŷ������ or Amazon when deciding what to read. The way i decide on what to read usually is from book suggestions from friends, authors, and also based on what books I have liked in the past

I finished The Chemist for my espionage thriller this past week. This is not a genre I ever read, but I loved this book. I have already recommended it to a close friend, and my husband.

QQTW: I rarely read reviews. I do read the description/summary.

Hi, everyone!

This week I read The Last Painting of Sara de Vos for a book that takes place in two different time periods (17th century and late 20th century). It's a very cleverly done historical fiction that includes a mystery/crime and the intertwining of two people's lives in unexpected ways. It is written in the present tense, which really put me off at first, but otherwise I enjoyed the book.

I'm also reading two other books: 1) Reading Lolita in Tehran, which I'm about 25% done with, and am a little disappointed in. I hope I like the rest more. 2) Tangled Vines: Greed, Murder, Obsession, and an Arsonist in the Vineyards of California. I heard the author speak over the weekend and so far am really enjoying the book.

Question of the Week: I often add books to my TBR list based on reviews or recent awards, but by the time I start the book I've usually forgotten what I've heard about them. After I've finished a book I often read ŷ������ reviews or google to find professional reviews -- sometimes I'm curious what others thought, sometimes I'm not sure what I think and want to see how others approached the book.

Woohoo, thank you guys! Indeed I'm arithmetically one year older today... In other words: c'est mon anniversaire! Fannie is right: In France, "Bonne fête" would only be adequate for me on St Christopher's day (which is sometimes in Summer I think, but we don't celebrate these that much) ; "joyeuses fêtes" (plural) on the other hand would be used as a generic greetings around Christmas and New year's day.


Progress report: two books read towards the challenge.

��28. A novel set during wartime: Jaroslav Hašek, Le brave soldat Chvéïk , Folio/Gallimard (ed. orig. 1932).

Would have been a good fit for a more narrow prompt: a comic novel set during war time. Svejk (since English versions of this book use the original Czech spelling and not a somewhat weird translitteration) is a good-for-nothing middle-adged dog traficker and heavy drinker who goes through life with complete incompetence and an unlimited storage of irrelevant anecdotes and of misplaced good will. And, in the context of war time in the decadent Austro-Hungrian Empire, manages to get everybody around him in much greater trouble than himself, keeping a wide stupid smile during the whole process.
On some level, this book is the reverse of The Radetzky March which I read for last year's challenge: comical instead vs. tragical, Czech point of view vs. Austrian point of view...
A nice book, easy to read and refreshing, if somewhat depressing on a deeper level.

��30. A book with pictures: Bezalel Narkiss, The Golden Haggadah , The British Library, 1997.

So, this is basically a book with pictures about a book with pictures. Hard to beat! Haggadoth are illustrated books of prayer that were used in a familial setting during passover. They were often (and still are) richly illustrated, as a way of transmitting biblical stories to the younger generations. The Golden Haggadah is an illustrated manuscript, probably produced in Barcelona around 1330 AD, and it is one of the finer instance of medieval haggadoth. The manuscript is now owned by the British Library, and this book is at the same time a study and a reproduction of the illustrated pages, with detailed explanation on the content and on the form.
This was a book that had been on our shelves since a travel to London around 2000. I took it out because my son asked for explanations about a reproduction of one of the plates. And then I thought of that prompt and jumped on the opportunity!

All in all, making good progress. The pile of books to be read is getting higher though, included some that I started a while back and on which I'm not making much progress... Off to Switzerland for a week on Saturday; not to worry, I'll bring a few books with me!


QOTW: I sometimes read the GR reviews, especially if I want to know a little bit more about a book than its description. I don't use them as an appreciation criterion since, truth be told, a lot of them are quite useless... I'm not using critical notices in newspapers or in magazines for basically the same reason. I chose what books to read using luck, intuition, sometimes personal recommendations, quite often the book or the author's reputation.

And Juanita: you'd really have to do a lot more before I'm beginning to think you're stalking me. In any case, thank you so much for your note!

I read two books this week -
Book with a red spine - The Underground Railroad

A book set in two different time periods - The Rose Garden

Question of the Week: Sometimes I look at the star ratings, and sometimes i'll skim through reviews. I don't usually read a whole review because I find people just sort of ramble on and on and use a lot of memes.

I menaged to read a lot, this week.
I finished The Bear and the Nightingale, my "book published in 2017", and it's really great. The russian legends mentioned are fashinating and the characters are cool.
I read Violins in Autumn, "a book with one of the four season in the title ", and it's good, expecially if you like romance.
When I was a kid I didn't like reading, so it wasn't easy find something for the "book you loved as a child", one of the few book I've read back then - and probably the only one I really like - is The Story of a Seagull and the Cat Who Taught Her to Fly (the link is to my italian edition). It was so nice to reread it! It's a beatiful story.
I read a couple of comics in between, and I just finished A Court of Thorns and Roses, the "book that's becoming a movie in 2017"; it's the only one that was kind of a disappointment in the end.

So I'm at 15/40, but I'm considering to do some moving around with a couple of books that I've already read and use those prompts for something new.

QQTW: Sometimes I read a couple of reviews or at list look at the ratings, if I'm not sure about reading a book. I don't do it often because I don't want other people opinions to influence me. Anyway I usually see if one of my friend have already read what I'm about to read and check their reviews.