ŷ������

Nadine wrote: "For every one of his books, I would rigorously write down EVERY character as soon as they appeared, and then write down all their nicknames and relationships. (Of course, now I guess we have Wikipedia that does all this for us.)"

Yes, but if I write it down I am much more likely to remember it, rather than reading it from a source.

Happy Thursday! I made an advent piece last Sunday as a slow start to Christmas. Sunday we get all our Christmas decorations from our attic. At least our home feels like normal for this time of the year. So that was all the excitement life wise�� on to books!

Finished
Just as boring: finished nothing. Still waiting for my last challenge book. The library is doing an awful job: the book is available, but I'm already waiting over 2 weeks now and still no sign of it...

Currently reading
The Silence of the White City
Arnhem: The Battle for the Bridges, 1944

Qotw
This is a list to stretch my reading and that’s what it is for. But is really nice to see my favourite genres in this list. I love historical family saga’s, so my favorites are ‘a book with a family tree�� and ‘a book featuring three generations��. And I love magical realism, so that’s a favourite too.
I’m dreading on ‘a locked-room mystery��. Seriously? I’m done with lockdowns, my whole life has turned in a kind of locked-room mystery: "When do we get our lives back?". Sorry, I just hate mystery's. I hope this one surprises me.

I know most of y'all are probably waiting to start the 2021 challenge in 2021. But for me, it's like getting a little preview of the good that is to come and I can't wait!!! Maybe I should at least not count books that I read before the challenge came out, but it's still fun to see what new categories the books I read fall under. With that in mind,

Finished: The Throne of Fire for book that takes place in multiple countries. This was a re-read. I remember being really impressed with the structure of this book last time I read it between alternating chapters of the main characters and the usual deadline that Riordan utilizes. It didn't strike me as extraordinary this time, but it was still an enjoyable read.

The Truth Matters: A Citizen's Guide to Separating Facts from Lies and Stopping Fake News in Its Tracks for shortest book on your TBR list. This works better as a reference book than a book that you sit down and read, despite its brevity.

Eco-Socialism: From Deep Ecology to Social Justice for book that is black and white. This one is a little stretchy because it's actually black with silver lettering. So maybe I'll have to update it with another one in the future. It was an interesting read, delineating the commonalities and differences between socialism and anarchism and how these schools of thought could be applied to the green revolution. I've been meaning to read this one for years now. Unfortunately, I could probably use a re-read on this one already since I stretched the reading over so much time and jumped around in it. But it let me to Kropotkin's Mutual Aid, which I'm interested in reading soon.

The Googlization of Everything: Favorite prompt from previous challenges: a book about social media. I didn't enjoy this one as much as the author's book about Facebook. It tried to convince that Google is scary. I didn't come away convinced.

The End of Advertising: Why It Had to Die, and the Creative Resurrection to Come This book was just so-so.

Farsighted: How We Make the Decisions That Matter the Most I think this one fits blogger/vlogger because he has a podcast. I didn't come away with any strong take-aways on this one, even though I was hopeful because he starts the conversation where other authors left off instead of just hashing through old material.

Wow! I've got through more than I even realized before making this update.

Started:A Tale of Witchcraft... Excited about this one. Already deeply political like the first in the series.

The Serpent's Shadow re-read.

True to Life: Why Truth Matters I'm using this one for topic I'm passionate about.

Boards That Make a Difference: A New Design for Leadership in Nonprofit and Public Organizations Research. Using this for book that has fewer than 1,000 reviews on ŷ������.

QotW: I'm most excited about the dark academia prompt because I didn't even know that was a thing before this challenge. But one of my all-time favorite books falls under that category: Special Topics in Calamity Physics so I'm hoping that I'll like other books in the category similarly well.

I'm most dreading a book from your TBR list chosen at random because the hardest prompt for me last year was book chosen with eyes closed. At least I have more room for a different algorithm with this year's prompt... And also, oof, the longest book on your TBR shelf, because man, it's a doozy!

Happy Thursday. I'm hoping to decorate for Christmas this week, so that's something to look forward to especially because most of the Christmas events I look forward to each year have been canceled. Basically, it's Hallmark Christmas movies and eggnog lattés that are keeping me happy despite everything.

Books I finished:

Binti & Home - I read them before the list came out, but there is no way I'll be able to wait for 2021 to read #3 so I'll just have to read something else for the Afrofuturist prompt. I really enjoyed the books, but they were a bit depressing at the same time.

Second Chance Summer - Its another silly romance. Jill Shalvis has been my new find for the year.

Bone Crossed - Continuing my reread. I decided to skip book 3 this time around and just go on to this one.

The Poison Squad: One Chemist's Single-Minded Crusade for Food Safety at the Turn of the Twentieth Century - It was interesting. I was already in the habit of reading food labels, but this has definitely made me look at them in a different light. And I know that the rules are different in Canada but still...

The Silver Chair - I needed to read something by C.S. Lewis for the ATY fall challenge, so I did a reread of my fav. Narnia book.

Books I made progress on:

Silver Borne

About That Kiss

Seventh Grave and No Body

QOTW

I like the TBR prompts, although I've reworded them to just be a long book/short book etc. I hate super specific prompts - I want options.

I really hate the zodiac prompt. I didn't like the author in their 20's prompt from this years list, and this is even worse. I do not want to have to stalk authors to figure out when the were born.

The Women’s Prize for Fiction prompt is too restrictive (It should have been open to nominees as well).

I love eggnog lattes!

Erica wrote: "Read a reasonable cookbook?"

Off topic, but I just realized a cookbook would be perfect for the "different format" prompt. I get recipes online but it's been years since I've looked at an actual cookbook.

Hey all happy check-in. I feel like the new list has totally stolen the thunder for check-in day. I forgot it was Thursday and have been going through and planning my books for next year. I'm making a plan despite knowing I won't follow it. ;)
I concur that this group of regulars that check-in have helped me survive 2020 so thank you!

Finished Reading:

Daughter of the Pirate King Daughter of the Siren Queen both ⭐⭐⭐s but very entertaining.
So the first was a BOTM that I thought I would read seeing as how the library is weird and won't let me keep books until I read them. ;) These were basically unputdownable for me.

Eighth Grave After Dark ⭐⭐��
Major changes for the series at the end of this one. 5 more to go.
Brighter Than the Sun ��
This short novella was only available as an audiobook. I hated. IT was disturbing and I kept zoning out because it was an audiobook. But I have read one this year so that's good.

Fangs ⭐⭐⭐⭐
This was super cute and funny. A werewolf and vampire love story. There's not much text so it's like an adult picture book.

Currently Reading:
Three Parts Dead
Soap and Water and Common Sense: The Definitive Guide to Viruses, Bacteria, Parasites, and Disease

QOTW:
The new list works for me. I'm going to try to limit myself to books already in my tbr list and books that aren't ya. haha we'll see how long that lasts. There are a few prompts that will be a challenge but that's okay.

I mentioned this in the format thread, but I'll throw it here too. My husband pointed out that there's Virtual Novels that are video games, you can get them on consoles or on steam for desktop computers. They're basically interactive stories. We actually started one a while ago called Coffee Talk that was on demo, but it's on gamepass now. I think I'll start it over again in January and take the lead in playing instead of just watching him play. You play a barista that is new and learning to make drinks and you listen to the various patrons and their stories while you mix them. but the mixing part is pretty simple, if i recall, mostly you're following the story. They're also known as talking simulators haha.

Happy List Week! Unsurprisingly, I didn't get much reading done. The cat has decided to be very cuddly today and now it's hard to type!

Finished:
Thinking About It Only Makes It Worse: And Other Lessons from Modern Life

Never Have I Ever


Currently Reading:
The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More

I've been looking at book things instead reading so it hasn't really come up, but I would like to look at the list in relation to books I would read soon to see if I'll regret that in a month!


QOTW:
I'm looking forward to locked-room mystery and a subject you are passionate about.

There aren't really any this year that make me want to fling myself to the floor kicking and screaming. I'm not happy with the zodiac prompt. I'm also not sure how to handle all the TBR stuff since I don't have a set TBR and have never been concerned with making it smaller.

Hi everyone!

I finally finished The Woman's Hour: The Great Fight to Win the Vote by Elaine Weiss. It was really good, but extremely thorough, so it took me a while to dive in. I realized I can use it for my book set in the 1920s though, so another prompt down!

Currently Reading

The Truths We Hold: An American Journey by Kamala Harris. This book is great. I'm so looking forward to her vice presidency. She seems like a genuinely great person.

How to Behave Badly in Elizabethan England: A Guide for Knaves, Fools, Harlots, Cuckolds, Drunkards, Liars, Thieves, and Braggarts by Ruth Goodman. I'm listening to the audiobook and it's delightful so far.

Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett. I'm giving Discworld another chance, since I already owned a copy. This one already seems better than Color of Magic.

A Visitor's Companion to Tudor England by Suzannah Lipscomb. I went to England exactly a year ago this week, so I'm being nostalgic, since I don't know when I'll ever be able to travel again between Covid/finances.

QotW

I'm looking forward to the advanced challenge. It actually fit perfectly with my plans to only use books I own already. I used to buy a lot of books and I could never catch up with them, so aside from a few very special exceptions, I'm not buying any new books in 2021 and can therefore only complete the challenge with owned books or library books. I've managed to fill nearly every prompt with a book I already had!

That said, I'm actually excited about the whole list. I guess the book set in a restaurant might be outside my normal reading preferences. I'm probably most excited to read the book that's been on my tbr the longest. That poor, poor book. I bought it six years ago! Lol

I finally finished the challenge!

I'm so glad I waited for Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas for the prompt A book by a trans or nonbinary author. It's just a wonderful YA, urban fantasy and I loved it.

and I read A book set in Japan, host of the 2020 Olympics ノラガミ 21 by Adachitoka which is a good series but starting to drone on a bit.

and I think I forgot to post this one Read a banned book during Banned Books Week I read Alice's Adventures in Wonderland / Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll

QOTW Honestly I'm dreading a lot of it. I think I'm starting to feel like others, this is becoming a chore rather than something fun. So I've given myself permission to not make myself nuts fulfilling them all. I have so many books just sitting around gathering dust because they don't fulfill challenge prompts so it's getting a little crazy.

I'm looking forward to ones on my OWN shelves that fit these prompts so I'm very much looking forward to the advanced ones other than the DNF one which makes no sense to me. Why would I read a book I DNFed (so basically whatever book I started but set aside because it didn't fit a prompt this year is going for this one)

Hello. Hope everyone is doing well. I missed last week caught up in my little family holiday. It was just the three of us but it was absolutely wonderful.

I am doing a read-a-thon on bookstagram. Found a bunch of short audios to do one a day and some novellas and whatnot. It is going well so far.

38/40 Regular
8/10 Advanced

Finished

7. Picked without looking






Currently Reading






Question of the Week
Which topic on our new list are you most excited about? Which topic are you dreading?
I just looked over the list and I'm not gonna lie I'm pretty excited. I think the most exciting is Afrofuturist. I saw something on GoodbooksAtl insta yesterday that fits the genre and looks pretty cool. Plus it's a genre I have never read.

I'm least excited for the astrology prompt. I don't really want to have to track down authors ages or birthdays. It's often very difficult when the authors aren't super famous. I didn't like an author in their 20's this year for the same reason.

I'm not thrilled for the internet star one either but I guess that will force me to finally read Lilly Singh's book as she is about the only person I can think of that I could tolerate.

I actually checked on this thread when there were only 2 posts but was not able to post myself due to work pressures. Ah well, here I am now.

Finishes:

Two Old Women: An Alaskan Legend of Betrayal, Courage and Survival - wonderful! And with this book by an indigenous author, I finished the Unofficial Fall challenge!
Thanksgiving - light romance set in contemporary Colonial Williamsburg - also part of my Unofficial Fall Challenge - brown and orange cover
Sanctuary Cove - lovely read about loss and second chances - filled with great info about Gullah culture and traditions in contemporary South Carolina. - this too was part of Unofficeal Fall challenge - book of Black Joy. Will definitely read more by this author.

Currently Reading:
The Agatha Christie Book Club
Rebecca
Grand Hotel

I have 4 left to finish 2020 challenge - and I'm reading the book club one now.


QOTW: I'm not super excited by any one prompt but by most of them because I can easily fulfill one of my main goals every years quite easily it seems at frst glance: To fill prompts from my massive print and ebook TBR Towers. I own a LOT of books, very eclectic, and it's going to generally be super easy to fill almost all the prompts.

Which one am I not looking forward to: not quite sure. I haven't looked at the list that carefully yet. Get back to you when I finish with the zoom board meeting I have now.

Lynn wrote: "Lauren wrote: "Happy Thursday! I'm leading the discussion of The Vanishing Half this month and hope folks will join us over there. The timing is difficult with the release of the 2021 list... My no..."

Yes, after finishing Obama's book I read the description and this is just one of multiple installments. It wasn't bad, and I enjoyed hearing his voice, but the timing was just off for me. I work in politics and this week was my first time taking off work this year, so I was not in the mood for an extremely long "work stuff" book. ;)

And I'm sorry about your experiences with therapists. Reading this book made me want to find one again, but I know they've been in high demand this year with everything going on, so I'll wait until I have a serious need to look into that. Reading this book might help provide an inside perspective for you, and in these times where everything is virtual, you wouldn't be limited to just the options in your area if you wanted to try again. :)

Drakeryn wrote: "Erica wrote: "Read a reasonable cookbook?"

Off topic, but I just realized a cookbook would be perfect for the "different format" prompt. I get recipes online but it's been years since I've looked ..."

Ooooh! I may go this route! I've been dreading this one because I'm not fond of audiobooks...

Heather wrote: "I’m dreading the body positivity prompt because I’m worried about triggers."

Only read after listening to Lizzo. Then more Lizzo. Actually just advice for everyone in general. MORE LIZZO!

Drakeryn wrote: "Erica wrote: "Read a reasonable cookbook?"

Off topic, but I just realized a cookbook would be perfect for the "different format" prompt. I get recipes online but it's been years since I've looked ..."

What a great idea, Drakeryn! Prompt solved. Thank you. I inherited a couple of really cool cookbooks published before my mother was born, so I'm even more psyched about this prompt now.

I work right across the street from the city's Christmas Village, and the lights are so beautiful and make me happy. In spite of it all, and not knowing how the holiday will actually turn out, I'm enjoying the month so far.

I haven't finished anything since I checked in on Monday.

ŷ������: 105/100
Popsugar: 54/54
PS Fall: 7/10

QOTW:
Most excited for locked-room mystery, body positivity, fresh starts, and most of the TBR books
Least excited for longest TBR book

Actually, I'm pretty excited about all of them. I almost always find something that fits that I like or love, and anticipate doing so again.

Happy Thursday and Happy List Week!

This week has been a busy one, with clients frightened about unemployment and eviction moratoria ending, plus my own visa work.

Finished:

Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption. Oh. My. Goodness! Best book in a long time!! I can't remember the last time I cried so often: happy tears for the indescribable compassion of Bryan Stevenson and for each and every win, and sad bitter tears for the situations of condemned people he worked with. Just substitute the word “Indigenous�� for “African-American�� , and some work was super close to home �� so more sad bitter tears.

But Oh. My. Goodness. Bryan’s a holy man, I swear. His writing is so compelling and full of companion that he had me not only reading every. single. note.of his, but he also re-ignited my love affair with Lexis-Nexis. Sort of a digital compendium of legal cases. Can LSATs be far away? Can I cope with the heat, humidity and political atmosphere of Alabama enough to go work for EJI?

Holiday Hexes�� I entered a giveaway, didn’t win, and suddenly received lot of emails from cozy mystery writers. One was so sweet and merry, from J.L. Collins that I joined her FB page. I won this as an ARC, and it’s a very sweet paranormal cozy (almost twee, but I like the writer!) about witches, working at the North Pole, Christmas markets, with a little romance and a little family issues tackling. Put me in a festive mood 😊

Moccasin Square Gardens: Short Stories- I love Richard Van Camp. His stories are rooted Tlicho Dene First Nations mythology and folklore, and he mixes in horror and humor like no one else. 5 stars

We Sang You Home �� Did I mention I love Richard Van Camp? A beautiful picture book about welcoming infants, lots of love, no horror. There’s nothing he can’t do.

QOTW:
This is the first year that I am not dreading any of the prompts! My favorites are locked room mystery, magical realism, diversity prompts, BLM, and social justice. I was not overly psyched about the family tree prompt, since I envisioned sprawling family sagas, which is just not my thing. But�� I found a great non-fiction read, so I’m pleased.

The TBR prompts are clever, but I’m not overly attached to my “list�� such as it is. Mine is just a nest of “cool things I found at one time��. It’s more a reminder list than anything else.

Remember that QOTW from about a month ago? I was so embarrassed by my messy digital list that I culled ruthlessly, one day when I couldn’t walk lol. I found literally hundreds of books that were “things I could read for prompts I hate in case I hate the book I’ve picked��. I slashed a third of my entries, like that. I also found that I had over 100 book that I had READ!!
So, I’m ready for the TBR prompts! Not to clean it out, because I don’t care if I finish it, so much as more discovery fun.

Harmke wrote: "Still waiting for my last challenge book. The library is doing an awful job: the book is available, but I'm already waiting over 2 weeks now and still no sign of it..."

Is it maybe due to quarantining the books before lending them out again?

Drakeryn wrote: "Erica wrote: "Read a reasonable cookbook?"

Off topic, but I just realized a cookbook would be perfect for the "different format" prompt. I get recipes online but it's been years since I've looked ..."

Great idea!

Erica wrote: "Daughter of the Pirate King Daughter of the Siren Queen both ⭐⭐⭐s but very entertaining.
So the first was a BOTM that I thought I would read seeing as how the library is weird and won't let me keep books until I read them. ;)"

That got a chuckle and smile from me! :)

Sheri wrote: "I mentioned this in the format thread, but I'll throw it here too. My husband pointed out that there's Virtual Novels that are video games, you can get them on consoles or on steam for desktop comp..."

Wow. That sounds...weird! But you have to realize, I don't even have TV, so...nor do I play video games. Definitely a different format!

Hi all, Nothing much new around here, but I am also in the "I can't believe it's December" camp. This time of year flies, my anniversary was last week, my Birthday's in 2 weeks, then Christmas then New Years... then 8 more months (or so it feels in NY) of winter!

Didn't finish anything this week.

Currently working on Rest in Pieces: The Curious Fates of Famous Corpses, which is interesting, but it's due back at the library and I'm only halfway through it.
Getting started on Off the Page and The Season of Styx Malone.

QOTW: I'm most excited for the TBR prompts. Just like any other prompt, if the first book doesn't work, I'll go to the next. My longest length book is Gone with The Wind, if I can't get into that, then I'll go with the next in line... and so on. I guess the one I'm dreading the most is zodiac, but only because that could be hard to track down.

poshpenny wrote: "There aren't really any this year that make me want to fling myself to the floor kicking and screaming."

LOL Has that happened in the past? ;)

Elaine wrote: "I'm probably most excited to read the book that's been on my tbr the longest. That poor, poor book. I bought it six years ago! Lol"

That made me laugh. :)

Cornerofmadness wrote: "I'm looking forward to ones on my OWN shelves that fit these prompts so I'm very much looking forward to the advanced ones other than the DNF one which makes no sense to me. Why would I read a book I DNFed (so basically whatever book I started but set aside because it didn't fit a prompt this year is going for this one)."

I think that is a fair interpretation. :)

Lilith wrote: "But Oh. My. Goodness. Bryan’s a holy man, I swear. His writing is so compelling and full of companion that he had me not only reading every. single. note.of his, but he also re-ignited my love affair with Lexis-Nexis. Sort of a digital compendium of legal cases. Can LSATs be far away? Can I cope with the heat, humidity and political atmosphere of Alabama enough to go work for EJI?"

Told ya! Road trip? LOL

Lynn wrote: "poshpenny wrote: "There aren't really any this year that make me want to fling myself to the floor kicking and screaming."

LOL Has that happened in the past? ;)"

Yes!

Back with QOTW: The prompt I have most trepidation over: #31 - A book by a blogger, vlogger, YouTuber, or other online personality.

Soooo not anything I follow! Thank you whoever mentioned John Scalzi was/is a blogger! That may be one of first I read as a result!

For people struggling with the online personality one, Jenny Lawson is a blogger and her books are amazing. I just read Broken (In The Best Way) and was laughing and crying and cry laughing. Her other books, Furiously Happy and Lets Pretend This Never Happened are great too. Also over heard nothing but good things about Allie Brosh’s books. She just had a new one this year Solutions and Other Problems.

I think I might read a David Wong book, he’s a Cracked writer. I figure that while Crackrd is a magazine, most their content is humor and lusticles do their writers aren’t nevysysbdartd journalists.

Drakeryn wrote: "Erica wrote: "Read a reasonable cookbook?"

Off topic, but I just realized a cookbook would be perfect for the "different format" prompt. I get recipes online but it's been years since I've looked ..."



I've got a cookbook rec that is a REALLY good read!!! Tomato Blessings and Radish Teachings by Edward Espe Brown

it's very readable, really almost more of a memoir than a cookbook. I LOVED this book and I think of this guy every time I sharpen my knives and I wish he wrote lots more books!!! (I'm not actually sure if I ever tried any of the recipes! I own the book, it's around somewhere in this mess of my house ... I guess I could dig it out.)

Lilith wrote: "Did I mention I love Richard Van Camp? ..."


Good to know! At some point about a year ago, The Lesser Blessed ebook was free, and I downloaded it, and I STILL haven't read it. I keep meaning to get to it ... so many books, so little time!

Theresa wrote: "Back with QOTW: The prompt I have most trepidation over: #31 - A book by a blogger, vlogger, YouTuber, or other online personality.

Soooo not anything I follow! Thank you whoever mentioned John Scalzi was/is a blogger! That may be one of first I read as a result!

..."


I didn't see that, and I'd been dreading that prompt for the same reasons, but last night I also figured out that Scalzi had a blog, AND his book Old Man's War is on my list of books I'm promising myself to read next year, so that was a match. I love SF and I've never read Scalzi. I'm looking forward to it.

Nadine wrote: "I didn't see that, and I'd been dreading that prompt for the same reasons, but last night I also figured out that Scalzi had a blog, AND his book Old Man's War is on my list of books I'm promising myself to read next year, so that was a match. I love SF and I've never read Scalzi. I'm looking forward to it. "

I've only read a few of Scalzi's books, but I've really enjoyed them. I haven't read Old Man's War, but I can definitely recommend Lock In, Head On, and Redshirts.

Drakeryn wrote: "Erica wrote: "Read a reasonable cookbook?"

Off topic, but I just realized a cookbook would be perfect for the "different format" prompt. I get recipes online but it's been years since I've looked ..."

I just realized that too. I've never read a cookbook before. I've owned some, but I always skip anything that isn't the actual recipe.

As much as I feel December came by quickly, I'm soooo ready for colder weather and cozy clothes. My husband even lit a fire last night and it was so nice! Ok, on to the updates!

I'm at 83/100 for my ŷ������ challenge, and 45/50 for Popsugar. Womp womp! I might pull off the Popsugar challenge, but probably fall short on my ŷ������ goal.

Since my last update, I've finished The Bone Charmer and Catch-22. I'm currently reading Redshirts, Through the White Wood, and LaGuardia and I should finish all 3 by the end of the weekend, so that's exciting because it'll put me closer to finishing the Popsugar challenge.

QOTW: The topics I'm actually excited about are books by a Muslim author and an Indigenous author. I think it's so important to read books from different perspectives. The only topic I'm not excited about at all is "a book by an author who shares your zodiac sign." I absolutely loathe anything having to do with zodiacs or astrology and I was immediately annoyed when I saw this topic lol. Some other topics are just plain weird. Still haven't decided if I want to do any challenges next year.

Hi all
I dropped out of the challenge and the checkins sometime through the year. But I'm back and really excited for next year's list!

Question of the Week
Which topic on our new list are you most excited about? Which topic are you dreading?

I'm really excited about the advances prompts. I'm going to use my physical TBR (anyone else have double-stacked shelves of "soon" TBR?), and I'm looking forward to starting off the year by tackling that. Also excited about this year's genre prompts. Last year I was urgh medical thriller, and then covid hit and I just couldn't make myself read one. It was actually one of the reasons I dropped the challenge, because I knew I wouldn't finish anyway.

There are really no prompts I am dreading, though I know a few will take a bit more thought. The Women's Prize for Fiction is a bit too restrictive, I think the short list instead of winners would be better, but I can work with it.

For cookbook fun, I discovered that graphic novel/comic book cookbooks are a thing. I read Cook Korean!: A Comic Book with Recipes this year for a different challenge, and I have to say that a cookbook with pictures for each step of the cooking process was very, very welcome. Warning, it will make you want to cook something Korean.

I'm planning on finding Let's Make Ramen!: A Comic Book Cookbook next.

Melissa wrote: "For cookbook fun, I discovered that graphic novel/comic book cookbooks are a thing. I read Cook Korean!: A Comic Book with Recipes this year for a different challenge, and I have to..."


I enjoyed Let's Make Ramen!! I learned a bit about the history of ramen! I got hungry!! then I was disappointed because the recipes really require A LOT of ingredients and fridge space to hold stocks, most of them are not vegetarian-friendly, and the authors assume I'm ready to actually, ya know, make the ramen NOODLES ... so I ended up only giving it two stars. But I still recommend it!! if that makes any sense.

I read Maangchi's Real Korean Cooking: Authentic Dishes for the Home Cook for Read Harder this year, it was a pretty good book. She's Korean but lives in America and I think Canada for a while. So she gave a lot of advice for stuff like acceptable substitutions if you're in an area without any kind of Asian market, giving both the English and Korean names for some ingredients so you know what to actually ask for if you DO have a market, websites to order some things etc. I haven't tried any of the stuff yet, mainly just do to...everything...this year.

Nadine wrote: "Drakeryn wrote: "Erica wrote: "Read a reasonable cookbook?"

Off topic, but I just realized a cookbook would be perfect for the "different format" prompt. I get recipes online but it's been years s..."

I recommend two cookbooks that can be read as books: Hot Sour Salty Sweet: A Culinary Journey Through Southeast Asia reads like a travelogue and culture essay as much as a cookbook and New American Table where Marcus Samuelsson celebrates and tells stories of the ethnic diversity of American cooking.

Nadine wrote: "Theresa wrote: "Back with QOTW: The prompt I have most trepidation over: #31 - A book by a blogger, vlogger, YouTuber, or other online personality.

Soooo not anything I follow! Thank you whoever m..."

I have Lock In which was going to be my medical thriller this year, and fit another challenge too, but I went in another direction. Thrilled I can use it for this prompt!

Anyone looking at Scalzi for the blogger promp (or anything else), I loved the Interdependency trilogy. It's quite feminist without actually pointing that out.

The Collapsing Empire

On December 1st, we had our first awesome snow here in Zurich, Switzerland. I've learned that we are not the most snowy of locations, despite all the dreamy photos of snow-coated Alpine villages, but rather, we succumb to fog and mist and rain a good part of the winter. So, this beautiful snow absolutely lifted spirits. We are slated to get more snow this week, so I will content myself with little things. I am also happy for the 2021 list.

Finished my 96th book this week. I started the year wondering if I'd be able to finish the PS Challenge because I had moved to a new country, new job, new life ... but BOOM! lockdown. I raided our school library and went through the piles. My students challenged me to get to 100 by 2021. They check up each week on where I am. I also joined our faculty team for Battle of the Books to challenge our students on the school teams.

Nowhere Boy - YA ... LOVED IT. So good. An American boy moves to Brussels and must go to a French-language school, so he's constantly bullied by classmates and feels like the failure in his family. Ahmed is a Syrian refugee with no family as he makes his way with his father's friend to Brussels. Their lives intersect in the middle of the refugee crises, terrorist attacks in Europe, on a street known for its WWII history. Beautiful story.

The God of Small Things - one of those books you want to DNF, but then you keep reading, and then you get sucked in, and then you just want to know how it all happened. I did like it, but it didn't knock my socks off. At least, not completely.

If You Tell: A True Story of Murder, Family Secrets, and the Unbreakable Bond of Sisterhood - triggers everywhere in this book, but it showed the power of sisterhood and resilience in spite of every horrible thing these women went through at the hands of their mother.

The Great Cities in History - interesting book, though I felt like it could have been done more in depth versus just quick peeks into some of the cities. I'm a glutton for urban design and histories.

Now reading ... yet more books raided from our school library ...
Book #97 - No Fixed Address and #98 - Charlie Thorne and the Last Equation.

Question of the Week
Which topic on our new list are you most excited about? Which topic are you dreading?

Alright, I'll own up to some 'meh' topics this year, but the more I do research into possibilities, the more I see which ones I have that might fit. English language books aren't the cheapest or easiest to come by here, so I do want to stick to my current stash.

I'm excited about 'a book set in multiple countries' [yay, armchair travel!], a place I want to travel to in 2021 [and use up all my airline vouchers], a book about art or an artist, Indigenous author, and Muslim-American author.

I'm not looking forward to the Advanced DNF prompt. When I DNF, I DNF with no looking back. Like I give that book away or leave it in a little library and just walk away. There are way too many good books out there to spend time suffering through a book that's not doing anything for me. BUT if I have to return to one, it's The Narrow Road to the Deep North because a good friend of mine loves it and swears I'd love it too if I gave it another chance. We shall have to see ...

I haven't finished any books for this check-in period, but DID add a book to my overall reading challenge total. I saw that one of the books that I read in October (With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo) was featured as a POPSUGAR recommendation for the "bildungsroman" prompt (how I didn't know this list existed until now is a mystery to me!). I am now at 36/40 and 9/10 for my totals. Having just five books left to read before the end of the year seems much more reasonable than six for some reason :)

Finished:
* nada

Currently Reading:
* The Kindest Lie by Nancy Johnson, which I plan to finish this weekend;
* Begin Again: James Baldwin's America and Its Urgent Lessons for Our Own by Eddie S. Glaude Jr.;
* My Ántonia by Willa Cather, which I'm using for the western prompt (and a re-read for the final Modern Mrs. Darcy prompt!);
* The Lady Upstairs by Halley Sutton, which I won this week as a ŷ������ Giveaway! :-D I'm going to use it for the "pink cover" prompt.

QotW:
Which topic on our new list are you most excited about? Which topic are you dreading?

I am really excited about all of the Advanced prompts! I love the idea of using my TBR list to fulfill all of these and am going to try using only books I own that are on my TBR list. I've already confirmed I can do this for the shortest and longest prompts AND the book that's been on my TBR list the longest amount of time! :-D I'm even looking forward to the DNF prompt because I've got a couple of books that I've started and set aside that I want to read. I DNF'ed them only because the timing wasn't right, so they are sitting on my bookshelf patiently awaiting my return :)

I'm actually not dreading any of the prompts this year (a first!). The one that's least exciting to me is probably the "main character works at your current or dream job" because I'm not sure my dream job actually exists and there's no way I want to read about some poor character being saddled with my current job after me being stuck doing it all day long (ha!ha!). My dream job is to get paid to sit on a beach and read all day. Someone would send me free books to read, but there would be no book reviews, no social media posts, and no feedback required to anyone. Just me getting paid to receive books and read on a sunny beach, while the waves gently crash against the sand and I sip a cool beverage. Like the adult version of Ramona Quimby's Sustained Silent Reading! :) If only that were an actual job and not just my retirement plan :)

Lynn wrote: "Told ya! Road trip? LOL"

OK, I'm packed. LOL!

Nadine wrote: "Lilith wrote: "Did I mention I love Richard Van Camp? ..."


Good to know! At some point about a year ago, The Lesser Blessed ebook was free, and I downloaded it, and I STILL haven't ..."

Me too, Nadine! I really need to get to this book. Maybe I can count it as on my home bookshelf longest. I need to check.

Johanne wrote: "Hi all
I dropped out of the challenge and the checkins sometime through the year. But I'm back and really excited for next year's list!

Question of the Week
Which topic on our new list are you mos..."

Welcome Back!

Happy Friday everyone. I'M FINISHED! Woohoo! Both this challenge and ATY.

Finished
Wrath of the Bloodeye - 27. A book featuring one of the seven deadly sins

Out Now: Queer We Go Again! - 26. A book with a pun in the title

Hogfather - ATY20 A 20th book

The Black Flamingo

Progress
PS - 52/52 | ATY - 52/52| BR - 22/24

Currently Reading
The Nightingale

QOTW
I'm most excited for magical realism, body positivity, and dark academia. Dreading the 90s bestseller and anonymous author.