Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge discussion
2020 Weekly Checkins
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Week 45 10/29 - 11/5
Ooooh Nadine I'm hoping to start Veronica Speedwell in 2021! I just discovered Lady Julia Grey during quarantine this year and I have one more book in her series to finish, hopefully in December.We got snow in Ohio a few days ago, and it actually stuck overnight so I marked it on the wall like we do (because we're heathens). Bit early compared to recent years but when you consider we were also getting snow in MAY of this year... yeah. I don't expect our actual usual accumulation/blizzarding to commence until at least January, so that leaves a little breathing room.
Reading this past week, I finished a pair of rereads and a pair of new books:
- The Cask of Amontillado - A quick Halloween reread, and probably my favorite Poe story. 5 stars.
- Every Heart a Doorway - My first Seanan McGuire book and I'm looking forward to more! Weird enough that it deserves to be named alongside books like Narnia and Alice, with maybe a touch of a Miss Peregrine vibe and plenty of LGBT rep. 3.5 stars.
- The Old Guard, Book Two: Force Multiplied - I watched the movie, read book 1, read book 2, and watched the movie again. Can we have a pair of sequels now please? Book 3 and a sequel movie? I would love that very much. 4 stars.
- The Alice Network - I love it when three years' separation is enough to make me forget the ending. 5 stars again.
Currently reading--
(Still) Catwoman, Volume 1: Trail of the Catwoman - This is an e-read, and lately when I've had my laptop open I've been distracted by other things.
A Great and Terrible King: Edward I and the Forging of Britain - Rather dry, but a lot of good information. I especially like the explanation of the fact that 'Edward I' is a misnomer - he was not, in fact, the first Edward.
Still at 49/50, I set aside Beloved so I need another banned book. Shouldn't be too difficult.
QOTW: What book are you most anxiously anticipating to read before the end of 2020? Why did you wait until now to read it?
Hahahahaha. The Burning God doesn't release until mid/late November, so I'm kind of stuck with it that way.
QOTW: Um, none? When I'm ready to read a book, I just read it. I don't read that many new releases. I did want to read Alex Trebek's book, but it didn't work out, but hopefully I'll be able to get my hands on a copy eventually. Also, I want to read the Winds of Winter, but I'm not holding my breath.
Hello it’s been so unbelievably long since I’ve posted here. How overwhelming has life become haha. I started working, and then school started, and so on. I have one book left on my popsugar challenge which I will get to this week. I have a few left on book riot. I’ve barely touched back to the classics. I did finish the popsugar summer challenge over summer break. So I guess I’ll start at my list of spooky books I picked for October as a starting point:Sawkill Girls - very YA, kinda sad, pretty intense monster that the main characters have to find a way to beat.
The Haunted Forest Tour - so much gore. So. Much.
Home Before Dark - haunted house, or is it?
The Doll: The Lost Short Stories - most of these fell somewhere between spooky thrillers and just kinda sad.
H.P. Lovecraft's Book of the Supernatural: Classic Tales of the Macabre - fun collection of supernatural short stories
The Birds - classic short story
Anna Dressed in Blood and Girl of Nightmares - YA ghost hunter story. Pretty dramatic, not my fave but interesting enough to get through quickly.
The Deep - The titanic, but also there’s a ghost. Very long, not enough spook.
The Amityville Horror - the ultimate haunted house story. Very spooky, but kind of skeptical once you realize people live in that house now and say it’s just a normal home lol
Dead Voices - sequel to Katherine Arden’s Small Spaces. Not as endearing as the first but still fun and filled with spook.
The Return a woman’s best friend goes missing while hiking, and then turns up two years later with no explanation. Really weird book but I think I liked it.
Neverwhere and How the Marquis Got His Coat Back - Classic Neil Gaiman book. Thought it’d be a bit more fitting for Halloween but it was still a solid choice.
Night Film - my all time favorite, cannot recommend it enough. I read it every year at halloween.
Watch Hollow: The Alchemist's Shadow - another middle grade sequel that wasn’t as endearing as the first.
20th Century Ghosts this one was for the popsugar �20 in the title� prompt. Collection of short stories. Very interesting.
Im powering through the rest of my unfulfilled prompts, hopefully I finished the challenges I started! I haven’t been reading as much and I get sidetracked easily.
It's Thursday again already and I feel like the weeks are blending in together. Thanksgiving is only 3 weeks away, which feels like nothing at all. And I still have lots of reading to do to finish my challenges for the year. I finished three books this week. One for my hardest prompt to fill, which was the gold, silver, bronze prompt. I started so many books for this thing and I couldn't get into them. Ultimately, I read Silber: Das erste Buch der Träume. I usually like Kerstin Gier, and this book was fine, but I doubt I'll read the other two books in this trilogy. But I was super excited to get that prompt filled!
I also finished Shit, Actually: The Definitive, 100% Objective Guide to Modern Cinema, which someone on here had said they were reading last week. I love Lindy West and I thought this book was really funny. There were a couple essays about movies I either don't remember or know I never saw, which were more difficult to follow. But, overall, hilarious.
Last, I finished The Year of the Witching. I used this for the summer prompt for a scary book around the campfire. It was good, I liked the writing and the characters. The story was a little clunky in places. Like, things would just all of a sudden HAPPEN, and it didn't always feel quite natural. Also, it read very YA, even though I don't think it's being marketed that way. That isn't necessarily a problem, but it felt like it could have been more fulfilling with more adult themes, I guess. Overall, I enjoyed reading it, and it was a good Spooktober read (even though I didn't finish until November.)
QOTW: I don't think I have anything that I'm super excited about left on my TBR list, but I did have a hold come in at the library today, which are few and far between during COVID, and I'm pretty excited about that! It's Atomic Love, and I'm looking forward to starting that this weekend.
Good morning, everyone! It’s been a very busy week in terms of writing. Not only am I writing a significant number of post-Readathon book reviews for my blog, but I am also participating in NaNoWriMo. I’m having a lot of fun doing both, however, so it’s been a pretty good week…at least for me.I learned last night that my best friend has been exposed to COVID, courtesy of one of her students. At this point, she does not know if she has contracted the virus, but is supposed to have a COVID test on Friday to find out. She’s currently quarantined just to be on the safe side. I beg you, please be sure to continue wearing masks and washing your hands. The pandemic is most definitely NOT over yet.
POPSUGAR: 50/50
ŷ: 215/150
Finished Reading:
V for Vendetta
If you’d like to read my thoughts about this book, you can find them at .
Currently Reading:
The Hobbit: Illustrated Edition
Kingdom of the Wicked
QOTW:
There are several books that I’m planning to read before the end of the year, but the one I am most looking forward to reading is Warmaidens, by Kelly Coon. It’s supposed to be released on December 15th, but I’ve been looking forward to it since I read Gravemaidens (which I received as a Christmas present last year).
Happy Thursday. I read 3 books for the week. Stormy Weather by Paulette Jiles. 3 stars. I liked it but it was just alright. I read it for a face to face book club but the date of the meeting was changed & now I can’t attend. Don’t you hate when that happens? I really want to read News of the World by the same author but it’s on hold.
The Heiress Effect ( Brothers Sinister #2) by Courtney Milan. 3 stars. I needed something short to read before Nonfiction November started. I also wanted something I could get from Overdrive & didn’t have to buy.
Never Caught: The Washingtons� Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge by Erica Armstrong Dunbar. 5 stars. Nonfiction. This was a surprisingly good book. Very well researched & written. Fascinating. I basically read it in a day. I have found as I age my views & opinions about our founding fathers has drastically changed. I realize that the Virginia History I was taught my entire life was one dimensional. There is a whole lot of truths not covered probably even today in schools. I could talk at length on this subject but will stop here.
QOTW: I can’t think of any books I’m dying to read before the end of the year. The one book I was excited for The Mirror &The Light (Thomas Cromwell#3) by Hilary Mantel I read in April. I’m currently reading Becoming by Michelle Obama. When it came out I wanted to read it but had to wait so long to get it I lost interest. My face to face book club gave it mixed reviews so I didn’t push to read it. I saw where it has been available on Overdrive for awhile so I borrowed it for Nonfiction November. I’m not far into it but so far so good.
England is back in lockdown from today, I managed to get out for a birthday lunch on Tuesday, places were busy but everyone was behaving. Lockdown has shaken some Ikea delivery slots free so I didn't need to go stand in a massive queue to get a desk chair. I'm working from home permanently now so not much has changed for me.Getting close to finishing Popsugar now, got three prompts left and currently working on two of them. This week I finished:
Cat Among the Pigeons for a 20+ book series. I was quite surprised at how progressive the headmistress was for an Agatha Christie story, correcting some people's opinions about foreigners and young women...I usually have to skim over these bits. It was a bit silly but fun enough read to get this tricky prompt out the way.
Becoming Unbecoming for a bildungsroman (although technically to fit the definition I should have used fiction but hey ho), this is a graphic memoir about sexual abuse against the backdrop of the Yorkshire Ripper cases. Quite affecting.
These Witches Don't Burn for ATY (witches). This was a cute, queer, witchy YA which I really enjoyed despite it feeling like I was reading the second book in a series. I think the events of "before" could have been introduced in a flashback or prologue or something, but once I confirmed I hadn't missed a book out, I liked it.
Currently reading Followers for social media and listening to 21 Lessons for the 21st Century for 20 in the title (it's close enough).
PS: 47/50 | ATY: 48/52 | GR: 100/100
QOTW:
Um well I suffer from anxiety so I don't associate the word with a positive feeling. So no, I'm not anxiously anticipating anything book related.
I'm looking forward to some books out this month, The Betrayals by Bridget Collins and the next book in the Invisible Library series, The Dark Archive. I pre-order books all the time and then don't read them for months or years, so I'm not sure there are any specifically that I want to get to this year.
Happy Thursday Everyone! I hope that you're all staying safe and healthy! Wow it's been an age since I've checked in. (I looked back and haven't since October 1st - oops!) I have been reading plenty just forgetting when it's thursday apparently. On the bright side, I've finally finished all of my reading challenges for the year and now I'm into reading all the sci-fi and fantasy that I've been meaning to get around to! I think I might try to do next years challenge entirely with SFF books if I can? I'll decide how doable that is when I see the prompts. I've been finding though that I've ended up putting off so much of it for challenge books instead that I end up not loving as much. :(
Current Progress
✔️PS: 50/50 | ✔️PSS: 20/20 | ✔️HP: 56/56 | ✔️ATY: 52/52 | ✔️GR: 116/100
Read since my last check in - (Oct. 1st)
The Heart of Betrayal (Remnant Chronicles #2) by Mary E. Pearson ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Morrighan (Remnant Chronicles #0.5) by Mary E. Pearson ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Beauty of Darkness (Remnant Chronicles #3) by Mary E. Pearson ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Elantris by Brandon Sanderson ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Hope of Elantris by Brandon Sanderson ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Emperor's Soul by Brandon Sanderson ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (4.5 Stars)
Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Storm Front (The Dresden Files #1) by Jim Butcher ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Red Rising (The Red Rising Saga #1) by Pierce Brown ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Before She Knew Him by Peter Swanson ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (2.5 Stars)
Used for: PS - 14. A Book by an Author with Flora or Fauna in their Name (Swan)
Jade City (The Green Bone Saga #1) by Fonda Lee ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (3.5 Stars)
Final Girls by Riley Sager ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Dragon Republic (The Poppy War #2) by R.F. Kuang ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Used for: ATY - 26. A Book from the 2019 ŷ Choice Awards (it was a nominee in Fantasy)
Evolution (Awaken Online #3) by Travis Bagwell ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (2.5 Stars)
Used for: PS - 28. A Book with a Robot, Cyborg or AI Character (AI character named Alfred)
ATY - 35. A Book with a geometric pattern or element on the cover (I'm considering a Helix a geometric pattern/element)
Currently Reading
The Final Empire (Mistborn #1) by Brandon Sanderson
QotW
YES! There are 3 books that I'm highly anticipating getting to this year still and I have the same reason for all of them as to why I haven't yet - they aren't released yet!
The Fires of Vengeance (The Burning #2) by Evan Winter - releases Nov. 10th
The Burning God (The Poppy War #3) by R.F. Kuang - releases Nov. 17th
Ready Player Two (Ready Player One #2) by Ernest Cline - releases Nov. 24th
*Wil Wheaton is narrating the audio for this again so I'm stoked and have preordered it on audible already! :)
I would also say I'm anticipating Rhythm of War (Stormlight Archives #4) by Brandon Sanderson however I'm not caught up on the series so I doubt I'll actually get to this in 2020 with all the buddy reads I've got happening in the next couple months!!
Hi everyone, I'm also feeling all the anxiety this week. In fact woke up at 2 am and couldn't get back to sleep for a long time because my brain wouldn't stop fretting. Super tired today. Did figure drawing last night and a game night the previous night (both virtual) to help keep my mind off stuff.
This week I finished:
I'm Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness - short read, but good to get more perspectives of feminism and intersectionality. Always hard to say I "enjoyed" books like this, but they're important to read.
Night of the Mannequins - This seemed like a timely read just before Halloween, being a horror story. It was also by an Indigenous author so can mark that off the fall reading challenge. It fell a bit flat for me. I guessed what was going off within the first chunk of the book and was waiting for the author to surprise me and it didn't really happen. At least it was short.
Pumpkinheads - got this on a sale recently, seemed like a good time to read it. Short and sweet, lovely art, I really liked it! Counting for the strong friendship fall challenge.
Going Postal - this is my book that's been on my shelf since at least last fall, I don't remember when I picked it up but it was pretty deep in my kindle shelf. I liked it, although it's not my favorite Pratchett like some people say.
Dracula, Motherf**ker! - i admit to getting this from hoopla just because of the title haha. I thought it was a proper graphic novel, but most the page count seemed to be behind the scenes filler. So I'm thinking this was actually just a first issue with bonus content, which is a little annoying. I prefer to read by trades so I can actually get a good chunk of story at once.
Sheets - One of the comic artists I love has highly recommended this, and used it as reference for a lot of comics classes and when preparing for her big graphic novel project, so thought I'd check it out. I liked it, cute story. Loved the color palette of the art. Really kept a lovely style throughout.
Quince - fun story about girl who gets superpowers on her Quincenera but they last only the year she is fifteen. It was cute, I liked the art.
Done with the fall challenge!
QOTW:
Not really, I'm not a "must read books at a certain time or certain year" type person. Might try to get some re-reads in now that i'm basically done with challenges, while I don't feel guilty doing them. I know it's silly, but i always feel like I shouldn't be re-reading while I have prompts to fill. I still do it sometimes, but it's easier once I don't have to worry about finishing challenges.
I’m glad I spent so much time reading over the weekend because I haven’t picked up a book since Tuesday. I’m one of those people who has election coverage in the background pretty much all the time. I do take breaks for meal times. I don’t think my digestion could handle this stress. I have a doctor’s appointment today with a doctor who is always behind schedule so I’ll take a book.Finished
The Dreamers by Karen Thompson Walker. If you’re looking for a book about a novel viral plague with exponential growth rates, quarantines, masks and physical distancing, triage hospitals, panic and hoarding, and superspreader events, boy have I got a recommendation for you! I thought I’d have to DNF, but actually, I loved this book so much. The writing is vague and dreamy, and the illness is different enough from coronavirus that it’s not panic-inducing to read. This book was published a year before the pandemic, but wow is it accurate regarding human behavior.
DNF
The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson. Sadly, a DNF. I wanted to love the book, but it was so brutal. The writing wasn’t great, and then the story violated its own scientific laws. DNF at 25%.
Reading
Do No Harm by Karen Miller
The Will and the Wilds by Charlie N. Holmberg
The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee: Native America from 1890 to the Present by David Treuer
QOTW
I’m super excited for two books. Ready Player Two will be released later this month, and Forever Wild will be released December 1st. They’re both sequels to books I loved.
Happy Thursday! I'm also feeling anxiety about what's going on with the election so didn't read anything yesterday. Today I'm listening to an audiobook at work to get some reading in. Finished:
The Winter People - I was trying to get one last spooky book in last month and was able to finish this on Halloween. I didn't find it very spooky though. I liked the story, but felt there were a lot of unanswered questions. 3 stars
One by One - Ruth Ware is one of my favorite author's, but sadly this was not one of my favorite books by her. I felt there were two many characters to keep track of, and I didn't really fell a connection with any of them. I will continue to read Ware's books though because I do enjoy them. 3 stars
Challenge Progress:
I'm still at 43/50, but I'm making books for my last prompts a priority.
Currently Reading:
Legendary - I'm hoping to be able to finish this one today or tomorrow. I am enjoying it, but liked Caraval better.
After All I've Done - I have an ARC of this, and I'm enjoying it so far.
Twenties Girl - I'm reading this for prompt #42 - a book with twenty in the title.
QOTW - What book are you most anxiously anticipating to read before the end of 2020? Why did you wait until now to read it?
I have a few that I'm really looking forward to reading before the end of the year. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is probably the one I'm most excited about. I just got my copy last week, but plan on reading it this month.
Mod
We've had our first snow here, so it's winter now. The maple tree is bare, except for about four dri..."
I had a nice reply composed and then inadvertently shut down my computer before realizing I'd not posted it!
No snow here. In fact, we are in the midst of an early November "heat wave" with temperatures in the 70's every day for a while into the future. I'll take it!
I am anxious to read Transcendent Kingdom. I thought Homegoing was amazing!
When I read your question of the week I thought, "Oh, I'll just list those brand-new releases I am anxiously anticipating which are due to be released before year's end. I won't list all the books I intend to read." Then I saw your answer and now realize I should update (read--increase) my listing before posting! LOL
I have always assumed Oyeyemi's writing would not be compatible with my preferences, but Boy, Snow, Bird is the one book of hers I do have on my TBR and decided I might read in the future. So I'll be interested in your reactions to that one in particular!
Magpie Murders and A Curious Beginning are initial installments in series I wish to try as well!
I recently read The Guest List and enjoyed it. Definitely creepy, IMO. And I particularly appreciated the way she interconnected the characters' lives. I found it to be a relatively quick read.
Oohhh...Tana French is one of my favorites, so I may break down and get a copy of The Searcher before year's end.
I admit that I gave up on using the library. It was just too confusing to me because I have no self-control! I would end up will gazillions of library books as well as books I owned and then felt compelled to read the library books first because there is a time limit, after all. I just decided I could afford to purchase books cheaply enough to simply own the ones I want to read. Then their is the challenge of "decorating with stacks of books" throughout my house as someone else here has mentioned before! LOL But I have peace of mind without juggling library books as well. :)
I love your list of books and wish you well on your goal!
Oh, this election! I'm trying to stay away from the TV, but I'm so distracted (and anxious and hopeful) that I can't really get much reading done. Stress eating, stress baking, stress cleaning.Challenge Progress: 50/50 Still rounding out a few categories. I've got two more "countries that start with C" books to complete, and my copy of The Bronze Horseman is ready for pickup at the library. And that'll be it! My ATY challenge is not nearly as complete. I think I've got seven more books to read there.
Completed:
Next Year in Havana: I debated whether to give 3 or 4 stars, but ultimately decided to render the benefit of the doubt. I enjoyed the parallel timelines (and stories) of Elisa and Marisol as well as the depictions of life in Cuba, but I really don't believe in love at first sight. That's lust. Sure, it can grow into love, but that takes time. Overall an enjoyable read. (PS19: A book set in a country that starts with C - Cuba) ★★★★
The Twelfth Victim: The Innocence of Caril Fugate in the Starkweather Murder Rampage: Yes, Caril Fugate probably was an innocent swept up in Charlie Starkweather's murderous rampage through 1950s Nebraska, but this one-sided polemic was poorly written and really kinda dull. In deft hands this could have been really interesting. ★★
The Witches: Salem, 1692: Extensively researched... and extensive in length. Oh my, this was a long one! Parts of it were fascinating, but I think I prefer my nonfiction to be a little more narrative. ★★�
Currently Reading:
Fruit of the Drunken Tree (PS19: A book set in a country starting with C - Colombia)
The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein
A Fish Caught in Time: The Search for the Coelacanth (PS19: A book set in a country starting with C - Comoros)
You Couldn't Ignore Me If You Tried: The Brat Pack, John Hughes, and Their Impact on a Generation
Rebecca
QOTW: I haven't really been putting anything off, but I've got a stack of books to read. Several new releases (The Once and Future Witches, A Deadly Education, A Wild Winter Swan) and a load of books to be picked up from the library (The Bronze Horseman, Hyperbole and a Half: Unfortunate Situations, Flawed Coping Mechanisms, Mayhem, and Other Things That Happened, The Constant Rabbit, The Wild Girl). Why do all my holds always come in all at once?
It's hard to keep track of the days during this stressful week, but I guess it's Thursday? Here are my books for the week: Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know About the People We Don’t Know Ah, this was tough. I enjoyed some parts, but felt really uncomfortable with others... I couldn't give it a rating.
Currents Unfortunately nearly all of these poems were over my head. Oh well. No rating on this either.
If I Had Your Face I enjoyed this, although some characters were much stronger and more interesting than others. 4 stars
Nervous Conditions This was a slow read for me, but the ending was strong. 4 stars
Death in Her Hands I'm not sure I really "got it" on this one. No rating for now, but I'm hoping some to get clarity when I hear the author speak about it at the Texas Book Festival soon.
This Is My America Excellent YA story about our horrific criminal justice system. 5 stars
A Thousand Splendid Suns This was tough to get through with all the abuse of the women, but the ending was nice. 4 stars
American Dervish A similar theme as the book above, but from a different perspective. 4 stars
I'm currently listening to The Purpose of Power: How We Come Together When We Fall Apart and reading Blue Bear Woman in print.
QOTW: I'm excited about some books that haven't come out yet, like One Life and A Promised Land, but for books that I already own, I've been itching to start on Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, Her Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed and The Fire This Time: A New Generation Speaks About Race. I have book club discussions for both of these next month. Oh and The Vanishing Half! I'm leading the group read discussion for this next month and can't wait!
Happy Thursday from sunny Arizona! I am thankful to all those in my state who were able to shift from blind party loyalty to vote for candidates and measures that have a chance of improving their lives.Finished:
The Antares Maelstrom by Greg Cox
This book gives each of Kirk's main crew a crisis or problem to deal with, and they rise to the challenge in creative and inspiring ways. The antagonists are generally greed, bureaucracy, human nature, and irrationality instead of a foreign power or criminal group. The author knows and loves TOS, and the prior events of the show are used to good effect.
DNF:
The Last Dance by Martin L. Shoemaker
For the first five chapters, I was completely on board. You had characters I could root for or relate to, and the science of traveling to and settling on Mars was very interesting. I hit a brick wall with Chapter 6. Although subdivided into other sections, it is still a 100-page flashback that was not very compelling and not adding much to what we already learned about the accused character in previous flashbacks.
Note to authors: Do not include outrageously long chapters unless you are delivering something truly special that could not be achieved in a different way.
Currently reading:
Rebel Dawn by A.C. Crispin
This is a reread of an old favorite. She gives us some of the best Hutt scenes and characters of anybody, and even Jabba's struggles are relatable.
Question of the Week:
My answer today is Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise by Ruth Reichl. I loved her book Save Me the Plums: My Gourmet Memoir, and i have been waiting for the library to get their copy to me for quite a while.
National Novel Writing Month has officially started, but the election has thrown off all my writing. I'm not getting books read because I should be writing, and not writing because of political stuffs. My eyes are bothering me again, so no ebooks at night for the time being (and computers at night are hard too). I made an eye appointment to get everything checked out. Hoping it's just time for a new prescription or different frames. I was able to get a little reading in this week, both very short books, and started a history book.Finished This Week: Story Sparks: Finding Your Best Story Ideas and Turning Them Into Compelling Fiction by Denise Jaden. No prompt. I was trying to figure out what to do for NaNo. Most of her suggestions involve going out in public and talking/observing people, which doesn't fit the current times.
The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie. Using for series with more than 20 books (although I'd already read Murder on the Orient Express). This is the first Poirot book, so it was good to see the origin story for him after reading a book that was much later in the series when you're supposed to know who he is.
No progress made on any of the challenges. I remain 1 left in PS/RW/ATY, 2 in RH. Just couldn't make myself read about climate change or refugees this week, and my witches book isn't ready at the library yet.
Currently Reading: The Battle of Midway by Craig Symonds. I've had this from the library since July, but hadn't dug in because it's a dense naval military history. Started it last night because I know the ending - the US Wins! It starts on Christmas Day, 1941, so no Pearl Harbor, but getting everything from that winter/spring of 1942 until Midway in June. I've just finished the Doolittle raid. I learned that the battle scenes early in the movie Midway were the carriers checking out the Marshall Islands to see if the Japanese had built any defenses there (they had!), and that O'Hare airport is named for Butch O'Hare, the first US pilot in WWII to be designated an ace (he shot down five planes in a single engagement when they came for his carrier and his plane was the only one with fuel and working guns). Looking forward to the rest of the book.
QOTW: What book are you most anxiously anticipating to read before the end of 2020? Why did you wait until now to read it?
I don't normally say "I'm reading this book this year!" outside of a challenge. Most of what I anticipate reading in a year is what's coming out this year, so my answers would be The Burning God and Ready Player Two like others have said. I'm number 70 in line for Ready Player Two, so I may not get it this year. It depends how many copies the library gets, and I'll likely wait to buy it in paperback. I'm only #9 in line for Burning God, but I still haven't read The Dragon Republic, which I bought over the summer. It also depends on number of library copies, but I'm likely reading those fairly soon.
Eagle Day: The Battle of Britain by Richard Collier. I read a very, very dry history of the Battle of Britain last year, and thought this would be better. I checked it out on a whim from the library over the summer. The library is automatically extending due dates for physical materials, so I know I don't have to return it any time soon. I know once I read it, I'll want to re-read Connie Willis's Blackout/All Clear, which are set during the Blitz (and why I read the first history book), and don't really want to commit to reading all of those right now. Probably in December, once NaNo is over.
Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado-Perez. I had to return my library ebook because my eyes hurt, but the wait list is short. I'm hoping I'll get it back in December and will be able to fully appreciate it then.
Happy Thursday! We made it through another week. Rainy and v. windy here in the PNW. Leaves, leaves everywhere! I forget how colorful the trees can become this time of year with red, orange, brown, yellow, and still some green *deep breath*.Anyway,
Finished:
Pachinko by Min Jin Lee (Book set in Japan). This was a last minute switch up for me. I wasn't planning to read this book for this category but moved some books around and needed a book for this category. I understand why it was so highly regarded (it was a finalist for the National Book Award) based on the lengthy saga surrounding a small family and the history of the Korean-Japanese relationship. However, some of the character storylines just simply end with no conclusion. There are a lot of characters to remember and how they are connected. If you are still looking for this category I recommend this book but otherwise I probably wouldn't have read it.
Still Reading:
The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix - I have been working on this book for almost a month! I thought it would be a quick read for me. I finally sat down last night and read almost 50 pages but ended up falling asleep face-down in the book for I don't even know how long. I need to finish this book over the weekend. No distractions.
Started:
Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden (Book set in the 1920's) - I didn't realize that this book starts in 1929 so it is really only set in the 1920's for a little while, oh well. I already started it and I like it so this can be my "cheat" book. I borrowed the digital audio version from the library (which is currently closed through December for HVAC repair, ugh). This was one of those books that I have had on my self since the early 2000's and couldn't part with it but also never read it. I figured Audio version would be faster since I can listen to it at work.
QOTW:
I am taking a different approach to the 2021 reading list based on this question. I usually fill in all the prompts in January and then end up being behind because an author I love has a book coming out later in the year. A lot of my favorite authors had books come out in 2020 (Lindy West, Ruth Ware, Robert Galbraith, etc) so I had to make some room on my list and shuffle everything around. Kristin Hannah has a new Historical Fiction coming out in February 2021 (which I have pre-ordered!) so that will have to fit something on the 2021 list. I pre-ordered Lindy West's Shit, Actually: The Definitive, 100% Objective Guide to Modern Cinema but realized I hadn't seen half the movies so I am trying to get through those before I read the book.
Happy Thursday! I have switched off all media and news outlets for the foreseeable future. I consider it an act of self-care. Just because the world is going insane doesn't mean I have to go with it. So. I'm peacefully living in my bubble (with one ear open for explosions).That being said...
Finished 45/50
I haven't finished anything this week. But I'm so close!
Currently Reading
Words of Radiance for "book with a main character in their 20s". I am SO HAPPY to be back in this world. I missed Kaladin (who is in his 20s as is Shallan and Adolin, all main characters).
Building Your Mate's Self-Esteem for "book with more than 20 letters in the title". Halfway through, almost. It's better than the last marriage book I read!
The Wilderness Journal: 365 Days with the Philokalia for "book whose title caught your attention". I'm ready to be done. So ready. It's losing my attention.
QotW
I'm eager to read The 10th Kingdom and Silence and Beauty: Hidden Faith Born of Suffering before the end of 2020 since they're the last two books I need for the challenge! But my library system doesn't have them, so I'm waiting for them to come through InterLibrary Loan, and that is taking FOREVER all of a sudden! I swear I've been waiting on 10th Kingdom for a month now. Crossing my fingers that they get here in time!!
I was incredibly anxious all day yesterday but today I've just sort of shut all the emotions down. My coworkers won't stop freaking out and predicting doom, and it's really hard for me not to spiral. I already did the one thing I can do: vote. Tracking everything and thinking about all the possibilities only makes me freak out, which doesn't help anything.The weather has been beautiful--I did laugh when I saw someone mention an "unusually warm" November with temps in the 70s--here in Texas, we're all talking about how lovely it's been with temps in the 70s lol!
Finished:
Highfire: A book published in 2020. My mom won this in a ŷ giveaway, but we didn't realize it was an ARC. So I read it WAY past when we were supposed to. Oops! It was a clever premise but the writing wasn't for me. It felt too much like the author was trying too hard to make sure nobody confused this with his typical middle grade writing (which is sad because that writing is so good!).
Currently Reading:
Victorian Fairy Tales
A Proud Taste for Scarlet and Miniver: this will be my (fictional) book about a world leader
QOTW:
Man, two weeks in a row making us share our reading shames! There are quite a few books I wanted to read this year that I won't be getting to. Highfire was one that I'd planned on reading all year, but I kept putting it off because I just wasn't in the mood.
If we're talking about books I'm itchy to read and not just the ones left on my challenge list, the main one I can think of is The Girl in the Tower. I thought I'd put all three books in the trilogy on my list for this year, but realized yesterday that I'd only fit two in...so I suppose the third would also fit this question, but I doubt I'll actually get to it this year.
And the reason I've put it off? It feels like a cold-weather book.
Hello everyone, hope you're managing to stay sane wherever you are and whatever is going on!? We are on a 4 week national shutdown from today so it's going to be a long month ahead....Finished
I've managed to finish.... nothing this week I'm afraid. Oops. I'm still on 1 book left for the challenge
Currently Reading
The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman
I've had all of those on the go for weeks and they're all nearly finished. The Thursday Murder Club in particular, I'm starting to really enjoy - it's a really dry sense of humour but I don't think it would make sense to someone who wasn't British!
QOTW
Hmmm I've borrowed My Dark Vanessa from the library this year about 3 times and never started reading it so I'm really keen to get to that one! I also really want to read City of Girls. I only read from the library so honestly if I haven't got to something I'm really excited about it's probably to do with annoying hold timing from the library....
We're also getting a mini-heat wave over here. 70 degrees yesterday and it's supposed to hit 70 again today.Finished reading: (35/50, or 44/50 with double-dipping)
A Deadly Education (author is a woman in STEM, passes Bechdel test, 2020 release) - This was great! An entertaining spin on the magical school trope, where the school is full of deadly monsters who are hungry for young wizards.
Re: last week's discussion, I didn't think the book was problematic/racist. The school is international, and a lot of the kids naturally hang out with people from their own country or language group. So the main character will talk about "the Mandarin speakers," "the Dubai kids," etc. - but not in a derogatory way, it's just a neutral descriptor. The main character is herself multilingual and views language-learning from a very practical perspective, which only makes sense in a place full of deadly monsters where knowing spells from different languages can be the difference between life and death.
She's also biracial Indian/white, which forms a core part of her identity as a kid who doesn't fit in anywhere. Physically, she takes after her Indian father, so she constantly faces othering from white neighbors back home (even though her white mother is respected, loved, etc.), but she's also estranged from her father's side of the family. So it's not token diversity; you can really see how it impacted her childhood and her entire outlook on life.
Anyway this was my first Naomi Novik book and I'll definitely be checking out more of her stuff in the future.
QotW: There are a bunch of 2020 releases I haven't gotten to yet. Harrow the Ninth and Ten Arrows of Iron, both sequels to books I loved, were released in August. Phoenix Extravagant, which I admit I bought for the amazing cover, was released in October.
Also, These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong releases later this month; it's a Romeo and Juliet retelling set in 1920s Shanghai and sounds amazing.
That said, finishing the challenge takes priority, so I'm not sure if I'm getting to these books before year's end.
Happy Thursday, y’all.I'm so tired... this has been a horribly long and hard election. At this point I just want it to be over, even though I'm nervous that the candidate I hate is going to win...
Books read this week:
EMP -- Maybe this is the wrong time to read an apocalypse book� though this one was surprisingly boring. More of a “prepper’s utopia� type of book than an actual post-apocalyptic one.
Juice Like Wounds -- Part of the “Wayward Children� series, and a “missing scene� from In an Absent Dream. It was nice to get another glimpse at the Goblin Market and Lundy’s adventures, even if it made me tear up.
The War of the Worlds -- First time reading this one, and it was pretty fascinating. Not just a statement on colonialism, but an eerie prediction of things to come (seeing as it was written before London came under attack during WWII�)
Heart and Brain: Body Language: An Awkward Yeti Collection -- Another cute comic collection. How does this guy make internal organs so adorable?
Currently Reading:
The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories
From a Certain Point of View
House of Salt and Sorrows
QOTW:
At this point I just want to finish my stack of books on my table, haha... Titles are as follows:
The Once and Future Witches
The House in the Cerulean Sea
I'm Only In It for the Parking: Life and laughter from the priority seats
Parable of the Sower
The Song of the Quarkbeast
A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking
The Awkward Yeti Presents: How I Broke Up with My Colon: Fascinating, Bizarre, and True Health Stories
Gooood morning from good ol' central California where we've decided fall is overrated and therefore still experiencing 80 degree weather! [insert eye roll here] My husband and I spent the weekend in Portland, Oregon so I actually got to wear warm, fuzzy things which was exciting! Plus I came home with 5 new books from Powell's lol. Other than that, my reading has been non-existent these past few days. Maybe it's the time change, but traveling always tires me out for a bit. Hopefully I'll perk up this weekend because I'm actually really excited about my TBR this month. Book updates! I'm at 80/100 for my ŷ challenge and 42/50 for my Popsugar challenge. A little behind, but I'm feeling pretty positive that I'll finish both challenges by year's end.
I finished The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires last Thursday and I'm still working my way through Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers. I also started a reread of one of my all-time favorites, Catch-22. I think Stiff will take me a couple of more weeks to finish, but I'm hoping to binge or at least make good progress on Catch-22 this weekend.
Question of the Week:
I'm pretty excited about all the books I have planned to read for the rest of the year, even those not being used for my Popsugar challenge. I'm FINALLY going to finish the Harry Potter series in December. Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI has been on my TBR for a really long time and I'm SUPER eager to read Rob Halford's Confess: The Autobiography (Judas Priest is one of my favorite bands and I have so much respect for Halford!). I also really want to read Ember and the Ice Dragons since I won it in a ŷ giveaway and it sounds like a fun winter read. So yeah...LOTS of books to read before the year ends lol.
Hey y'all! I'm actually feeling pretty good this week. On Tuesday I went apple picking with a good friend, which was a wonderful way to reconnect with the good things in life. I'm still at 48/50 for Popsugar, and I'm not super inspired by my two remaining prompts, so we'll see if I complete the challenge this year. I've already finished my ŷ challenge, though, so I'm getting lots of reading done.Finished this week:
The Third Gate: oh dear, this was just terrible. I keep my expectations low for this series, and it couldn't even meet that. Just go ahead and skip it.
The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club: a fun Lord Peter Wimsey book. I remembered the "how" from the BBC series, so I could nod sagely at a lot of the clues, but I didn't remember whodunnit, so there was still suspense. There is some problematic excusing of bad treatment in a marriage.
Currently reading:
The Kiss Quotient
Assassin's Apprentice: How am I just now reading this series? It seems written specifically for me.
Network Effect: Oh, ART.
QOTW: I generally don't worry about reading books in a specific year, though I would like to get a few more countries checked off my list before the year ends. Most years I try to read a certain number of nonfiction books, but I'm putting that on hold for this year.
Mod
BTW, I did listen to part of an interview with New York Mayor Cuomo this morning who stated that much of the COVID-19 transmission right now is due to "small gatherings." In other words, thinking that we cannot contract this disease from our friends/family! WRONG! Be careful, wherever and with whomever! :)
Then I was ill on Monday and unable to go to work, but only read about 25 pages that evening because I slept off and on all day long. � Wish I had felt good enough to read throughout the day, but then I would have gone to work, so still no time to read. I haven't even caught up on notifications or recording my last two books completed in various challenges. Definitely first-world problems!
I did manage to finish two books and made significant progress on a third. Seriously hoping to finish both Popsugar and ATY in November. And then the other year-long challenges in November and December. But honestly, I have read 119 books this year! I can’t believe that! (I have secretly set what in the past would have been an utterly unattainable goal of 130 books read in 2020. Shhhh…don’t tell anyone! It's just between us!)
I did complete the 2020 Reading Challenge Adventure Club challenge and I couldn't resist setting up the 2021 ATY Challenge when these prompts were released. I just love listing books! :)
Popsugar: 48/50
ATY: 50/52
RHC: 22/24
Reading Women: 18/26
Just 3 more books to complete these first two! Halfway through Amrita and the other two are next on my list!
FINISHED:
China Rich Girlfriend (Crazy Rich Asians #2) by Kevin Kwan. Such an enjoyable read. I believe I enjoyed this even more than the first installment! 😊 Go Rachel! Anxious to finish the trilogy. Though these people are somewhat sick overall. Thank goodness for the few who are decent folks!
POPSUGAR: #3-“…�, #6, #12, #15, #20, #22-Rachel is an economist, #24-I know nothing about elitist lifestyles, #27-Pride, Lust, Greed, Envy, Sloth, Wrath, #34, #35, #50
ATY: #2, #15, #18, #25, #33, #34-Romance, #40, #43-Death, #52
The Cleverness of Ladies (No. 1 Ladies� Detective Agency #12.6) by Alexander McCall Smith. I was a bit perturbed with myself for having missed some of these smaller ‘in-between� installments in this series, so am catching up with them. One of my early 2021 goals is to catch up with this series as well as his Isabel Dalhousie series.
POPSUGAR: #3-“It was a slack time at the No. 1 Ladies� Detective Agency, the only detective agency in Botswana.�, #12, #20, #24-I know nothing about being a private detective or living in Africa, #27-Pride, Lust, Greed, #43,#46, #47, #49
ATY: #2, #3-The Minor Adjustment Beauty Salon (No. 1 Ladies� Detective Agency #14), #7, #9, #29-underrated and lesser known, #41, #43-Death, War, #45, #50, #52
RHC: #3
CONTINUING:
Ken Liu’s The Grace of Kings (Dandelion Dynasty #1) for a 2020 Reading Challenge October Buddy Read. Still working on this one. Really trying to finish it this coming weekend.
Amrita by Banana Yoshimoto, translated by Russell Wasden. This is turning out to be much more interesting than I thought it might. I can only imagine how difficult life would be if you had only partial to little access to your memories of your past. And then what if you were only a child but had prescient visions? Who could you trust to even believe you, let alone change behaviors among others to avoid disasters/deaths you have foreseen?
How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi for the campus White Racial Literacy Project book club on campus. Three more chapters to read for next week’s Zoom meeting/discussion.
*Come back to me! 😉*
The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B. Dubois, White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo, Learning Race, Learning Place: Shaping Racial Identities and Ideas in African American Childhoods by Erin Winkler, and Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi, are all on hold for now. I hope to reunite with them in
PLANNED:
The Wall of Storms (Dandelion Dynasty #2) by Ken Liu for a November-December Buddy Read. Gotta finish the first one! 😉
Strange the Dreamer by Liani Taylor to complete Popsugar #18-Book with a made-up language
The Transit of Venus by Shirley Hazzaard to complete ATY #21-Book related to Maximilian Hell, noted astronomer and Jesuit Priest born in 1720
Question of the Week:
What book are you most anxiously anticipating to read before the end of 2020? Why did you wait until now to read it?
There are several new releases I hope to read yet this year:
The Searcher by Tana French which released in October. I may not get to it before the end of 2019, but I hope to do so. She is one of my absolute favorite authors.
The 27th installment in the Stephanie Plum series, Fortune and Glory, due to be released November 10th! I think it rather strange that she has now abandoned the numbering sequence for this series.
And, finally, A Promised Land by Barack Obama, due to release November 17!
As to why I have yet to read these books…because I do not have 24/7 to do nothing but read. Darn it all! Life can be so unfair!
And then all the books I wish to read before 2019 ends to complete challenges:
Home Fire
The Red Rooster Cookbook: The Story of Food and Hustle in Harlem
Our Women on the Ground: Essays by Arab Women Reporting from the Arab World
Sulwe
Paradise
The Japanese Lover
Lily and the Octopus
The Talented Mr. Ripley
The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother
Flight Behavior
Animals Make Us Human: Creating the Best Life for Animals
A Study in Scarlet Women
House Made of Dawn (especially for November Native American heritage month)
Home (Binti #2) and The Night Masquerade (Binti #3)
Mod
Ha! Ha! I consider this to be one of the very few perks of being older. It is easier to not remember certain portions of books I've read, thereby making rereading even more enjoyable! :)
Mod
Sorry, but I had to laugh at thinking you liked it! :)
Mod
Uhm. Just that I really do not appreciate being reminded of the limited length of time to complete challenges! LOL :)
Happy Thursday! Nothing going on, so straight to books. Finished
I'm Staying Here - Nice read on how world history influences the lifes of ordinary people a small town in South Tyrol, Italy. About how families and friendships are torn apart. And lifes destroyed. And how a complete town disappears in the name of progress: the story is located at the Reschensee, famous for the steeple of a submerged 14th-century church. It’s a story about big emotions written in a modest way. Sometimes it’s not necessary to use big and loud words. Impressive story giving food for thought!
Prompt: a book with an upside-down image on the cover
Currently reading
Arnhem: The Battle for the Bridges, 1944
House on Endless Waters
Qotw
None. I did save A Christmas Carol, for obvious reasons. It’s my last book for the challenge! Never thought I would actually finish this challenge.
Mod
I agree! However, I feel this has much to do with the fact that other perspectives are finally being published and pushed into the mainstream media to a great degree. I attribute much of that to increased diversity among writers/journalists, etc., and increased awareness of diversity and alternative perspectives to that of the typical "white male" finally being heard!
Mod
Ellie wrote: "Um well I suffer from anxiety so I don't associate the word with a positive feeling. So no, I'm not anxiously anticipating anything book related."
Good point! Anxious has different meanings for different people.
Mod
Whoo! Whoo! Congratulations! Not bothering with check-ins probably gave you more reading time! :)
"Ready Player Two (Ready Player One #2) by Ernest Cline - releases Nov. 24th"
Oh, my! I totally overlooked this one when I posted! Yes! Can't wait!
Mod
I have looked at this book repeatedly. Glad to know your reactions. I'll definitely move it up in the queue!
Happy Thursday. The weather has been really nice for the past week, so I've ended up doing a bunch of yard work before the normal November weather returns instead of reading.Books I Finished:
When Time Stopped: A Memoir of My Father's War and What Remains - I was looking through my library's available books on overdrive, and this book jumped out because I had just been looking at the ŷ Choice Awards. It was interesting and well written. Sad of course.
Breaking Dawn - And my reread of the series is done. I tried to hold off on reading this to give me an incentive to finish the library books I already have out..... eventually I just gave up and read it. I'll finish my library books later.
The Far Side Gallery - I needed a bit of a laugh.Books I made progress on:
Fifth Grave Past the LightQOTW
I don't plan ahead what I'm going to read. All the books I was looking forward to being published in 2020 have been published and I read them. Plus I feel virtuous because I managed to get 5 books off my long-term physical TBR and I finally read Jane Eyre. Most of my challenges are done, so I'm just reading what I want now.
Mod
I am finding it difficult not to obsess over this election as well! I keep running a mantra through my mind... :)
"The Witches: Salem, 1692: Extensively researched... and extensive in length. Oh my, this was a long one! Parts of it were fascinating, but I think I prefer my nonfiction to be a little more narrative. ★★�"
I hate to admit this, but I won a copy of this book a few years ago and have since acquired a copy of Cleopatra: A Life very cheaply. I keep meaning to read both of these...
Finished: Umm... nothing, apparently.Started: The Attention Merchants: The Epic Scramble to Get Inside Our Heads
Culture Jam: How To Reverse America's Suicidal Consumer Binge - And Why We Must
QotW: I don't really have anything I feel like I urgently need to finish before the end of the year.
Mod
Darn! I also forgot to list this one! I am looking forward to it as well!
Mod
Sure hope your vision is corrected easily! That's miserable, especially for a reader! :)
Understandable about the election. I am here at work and relatively distracted from it all, then one of the faculty comes up and starts talking to me about the AP call of Arizona, etc., etc., etc. Ugh. I'm trying not to obsess!
Hello all! So, this week is still going on. I think I've aged 20 years in two days. I do have hope, which is weird, because I'm usually a doom-and-gloomer. Still, I smoked my first cigarette in five years to cope yesterday. I'm not going to start up again, but man did it feel good.Did I finish a book since last check in? I don't think so. The last thing I finished was Pet Sematary on Friday. It's been rough.
Currently Reading
The Woman's Hour: The Great Fight to Win the Vote by Elaine Weiss, which I thought would be a comforting read this week, but it's just stressing me out lol. But I will admit, it's good to see what we've overcome in the past. Even if it did take like 80 years of work to achieve.
On the Come Up by Angie Thomas. So far, so good. I love Thomas's writing. This is for my bildungsroman.
On that note, I only have four books left! I'm going to finish this challenge! I've never finished a Popsugar challenge before. Which reminds me that even though this year has been HELL, I've accomplished a lot of things. I hope this year has a happy ending, but even if it doesn't, at least I did all I could do personally to better my life and the state of the nation.
Oops, forgot the QotWI really want to read This Savage Song, Our Dark Duet, and The Dark Vault, all by Victoria Schwab. I want to read them this year because I've read almost every other one of her books this year. It could be my Year of Schwab. Lol. But I've put them off till now because I've been working through challenge book/seasonal books. I think I'll get to them either end of this month or in December.
Mod
I honestly believe I would love anything Hannah writes! I didn't realize that Firefly Lane has been adapted into a movie to be released on Netflix in early 2021! I love that book! And The Nightingale is currently in production! Cool!
Mod
And the reason I've put it off? It feels like a cold-weather book."
I love this reason! :)
Mod
Mod
I have a copy of this on the way. It is a November monthly read for Bookworm Bitches. I've been wanting to read it...
Been too upset to do much readingFor the prompt A book that won an award in 2019 I read
Pumpkinheads by Rainbow Rowell & Faith Erin Hicks which was very sweet and I enjoyed it.
For the prompt A book with a three-word title I read
Off the Rails: Book 1 in the White Rose Railroadby Sine peril which was a good historical mystery
QOTW Ooo easy, Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas. I wanted to read this for the trans author prompt and I've been following him since before the release. I've waited until now because it kept getting pushed back because releasing a book this year is a thankless task
And The Tinderbox: Soldier of Indira by Lou Diamond Phillips because I've been listening Lou talk about this all year and his wife's art is worth the hard cover price.
Nadine wrote: "LOL the kids and I have been complaining about how hot it is in the house today, and I finally thought to check the temperature outside ... 71 F. So we're having a heat wave here too!!! Just a few ..."I would be miserable wherever you are--my apartment's at 75 F and I'm wearing warm leggings and sweater, plus using my seat warmer while I work! 70s is beautiful weather! XD
Mod
Yep! And really, that's all any of us can reasonably accomplish!
Ugh what a stressful week. Just... ugh.Finished:
Picture/board books
Sheep in a Jeep - meh
Isle of You - Wanted to love this but didn't
Because - Mo Willems - LOVE this!
Tractor Mac Farmer's Market - meh
The Barnabus Project - I want to own everything the Fan brothers draw
I Can Build It! - I like that she wears a poofy purple skirt while inventing and building things.
The Reluctant Adventures of Fletcher Connolly on the Interstellar Railroad: Book 1-4 - Stress listen. Thought it'd be amusing snarky sci-fi, and it was, but I could have lived without the constant misgendering of a trans character. Ugh.
The Library of the Unwritten - Magical libraries are fun, even when they are in Hell
Currently Reading:
Black Sun - More high fantasy than I usually like but it's fine
The Windsor Knot - Too stressed on election night and grabbed this audiobook arc about Queen Elizabeth solving crime.
QOTW:
The one's I'm most excited about aren't out yet. Soon!
The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse - I ADORE this book but I'm super curious how you can get an hour's worth of audio out of it? I'll be grabbing this the day it drops.
Moonflower Murders - Oooo will this be a series? I'm in! Follow up to Magpie Murders
Ready Player Two - Of course.
Then there are books I'd like to finish because their authors were born in countries I haven't read yet this year and I could mark them on my map. But if not, I can mark them on next year's map.
The Darkness
The Birdwoman's Palate
The Light of the Fireflies
Frankenstein in Baghdad
Celestial Bodies
I almost forgot! I just got a gorgeous signed UK copy of D: A Tale of Two Worlds and I'm so excited to read it, but I haven't been reading paper at all lately, and I can't go sit in the coffee shop, (or maybe I could, but I won't) so for the past two days I've just been staring at it longingly instead of reading it.
Finished:-Hyperion by Dan Simmons (loved)
-Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
Currently reading:
-Howl's Moving Castle by Dianna Wynne Jones
Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge
Books mentioned in this topic
Elizabeth and Hazel: Two Women of Little Rock (other topics)Across the Green Grass Fields (other topics)
These Things Hidden (other topics)
Room (other topics)
The Wonder (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Emma Donoghue (other topics)Ibram X. Kendi (other topics)
Bryan Stevenson (other topics)
Heather Gudenkauf (other topics)
Charles Todd (other topics)
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We've had our first snow here, so it's winter now. The maple tree is bare, except for about four dried, withered leavesstill hanging on.
Admin stuff: Our November group read of Where the Crawdads Sing is ongoing now in our monthly group read folder.
No word yet on the 2021 list. We are all waiting with excitement. I keep checking the FB page for updates.
This week I finished 3 books,1 for this Challenge, so I am now 49/50. So close!
Wytches, Volume 1 written by Scott Snyder- I read this on Halloween night, which was perfect timing, but unfortunately the book was pretty bad.Looks like there was never a volume 2, so maybe I wasn't the only one who wasn't in love with this.
The Rain in Portugal poems by Billy Collins - I enjoyed this collection of poems, they are quite witty.
Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi- I was really excited to read this, but I ended up feeling rather nonplussed. It was ... good. I think. Anyway, emblazoned on the cover is a badge that says "#ReadWithJenna" so I checked off "recommended by a blog" with this book. I've never heard of this Jenna Bush book club before, but I looked it up, and she seems to be choosing some good books!
Question of the Week
What book are you most anxiously anticipating to read before the end of 2020? Why did you wait until now to read it?
LOL Soooo many!!! Why do I wait? Short answer: because I was busy reading something else, or because it wasn't published yet.
In an effort to finally read some of those books that I keep saying "I really want to read that!" I've created a short list of books that I MUST read each year, either read or finally take off my TBR list. My success has been mixed here - turns out I'm not actually willing to take some books off my TBR even when I'm also not interested in reading them right now. Why? I don't know.
Books still to be read on my "must read in 2020" list:
Downbelow Station - I OWN this. I bought it two years ago when my library closed down for a few months due to simultaneous construction and cyber-attack.
Magpie Murders
Boy, Snow, Bird - I had this borrowed from the library, but it turned out I just didn't want to read it. I should just take it off my TBR. Oyeyemi gets good reviews, so I think "I should read that!" but then for whatever reason I'm just never interested in her books.
A Curious Beginning - I've been meaning to start this series for years now. It's ridiculous. I need to just do it.
And two books lingering from LAST year's "must read" list (see my note about mixed success):
The Reckless Oath We Made - I LOVED the other three books Greenwood published. I preordered this one. Why do I keep putting it off? idk
The Price of Salt - I own this ebook, too. Owning a book means I constantly de-prioritize it in favor of all the library books that I'll have to return soon.
And there are LOTS of new books that I'm excited about!!!Books published in 2020 that I have right now:
Afterland - I'm reading this now. I'll finish soon. Maybe it doesn't belong on this list, since I'm not "anticipating" it, I'm reading it. Well, I anticipate finishing! it's kind of dragging in the middle.
The Only Good Indians - I pre-ordered this!! It's been sittingnext to my bed since the day it was published ... sitting ... accusing me ... as I read library books instead.
Black Sun - just started reading this last night!
Empire of Wild - just got this from the library too!
The Night Watchman - just got this from the library too!
Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning - another book I have borrowed right now - luckily, it looks like I'll be able to renew it. I'll need the extra time.
The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water - I've got this checked out from the library. It's short so I should be able to read it in just a few days.
Winter Counts- I've got the ebook borrowed.
The New Wilderness - I've got this e-book borrowed.
Books published in 2020 that I'm waiting for on a holds list:
You Had Me at Hola - I actually had this borrowed from the library, but I didn't get a chance to read it in time - I'm waiting on the holds list again.
Island Affair - this was going to be a Latinx Heritage Month read for me ... hahaha I've been waiting on hold for a long time!
The Searcher - I'm #84 on the holds list. With book quarantining rules now, it's going to be a long wait, but I'm super excited.
Valentine
Elatsoe
Imperfect Women - I don't even know why I've got this on hold.But I do. So I'll try to fit it in.
If I Never Met You
Troubled Blood - amazingly, I'm hold #4 for this now. I guess I got on the list early. Or everyone is just done w/ Rowling.
The Girl from Widow Hills
The Guest List
Simon the Fiddler
The Game
I read pretty fast, but there are only two months left in the year, and my focus is shot, so I don't think I'm going to get to everything in 2020.