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It is Thursday! The last day I have to work here in the office until Monday, January 3! Whoo! Whoo! I admit that I would love it if I could obtain a job working from home and never have to return to the office! My fingers are crossed! LOL

And I am soooo excited! I finally have a copy of Malibu Rising in hand! Yes!! Can’t wait for tomorrow when I can devote my whole day to reading it!

I am currently participating in an ATY Winter 2021 Team Read-a-thon (GO TEAM PENGUIN!) and the Individual Challenge that goes along with it December 18-26 and Dewey’s Holiday Informal Readathon December 17, 2021-January 6, 2022! It is helping to motivate me to spend every spare minute I can reading!! Well, okay, admittedly it’s really not all that difficult to motivate me to read in every spare moment I have, but…it sounds like a good reason, doesn’t it?!? 😊

I guess there will be no 2022 Reading Women Challenge. So I will simply finish the 2021 Challenge in 2022 and then proceed to work my way through the past challenges at my own rate. Those prompts really did force me into unknown realms, so I’ll keep working on them all…Being the obsessive booklisting nerd that I am, I already have a comprehensive listing of all 2018-2021 challenge prompts and have begun to select books to fulfill them. Trying to fit in books I already have selected for Popsugar and ATY in 2022!

ADMIN STUFF:
December's Monthly Group Read is Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid and that discussion is here. Teri is the most gracious volunteer who is guiding us. As always, there is also a thread for you to post any books you have finished reading to fulfill prompt #1 A book published in 2021 as well. I'm so anxious to finish with this one in 2021 and then... (the perfect lead-in to)...
POLL RESULTS and 2 NEW POLLS!
In January 2022 we will be reading People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry as the Monthly Group Read! This can be used to satisfy the 2022 POPSUGAR Reading Challenge prompt #11 A #BookTok recommendation! I’m excited for this one! And we will need a discussion leader for this one! Please message either Nadine or myself to volunteer!

In addition, we now have the final selection poll for the February Monthly Group Read posted here. Please vote for the book you want to read which will satisfy the 2022 prompt #18 A romance novel written by a BIPOC author! This is in recognition of Black History month in Canada and the US, and Valentine’s Day which is celebrated around the world on February 14th each year!

And finally��a nomination poll for the March Monthly Group Read which can be used to fulfill prompt #3 A book about or set in a non-patriarchal society! If you have a write-in nomination, please get it entered early on so others will have the option to vote for and support that selection!

Question of the week:
Is there any book from your 2021 reading that you were really excited to read and then it disappointed you? Has that changed your opinion of an author or series or genre or��?
I wasn’t certain what to expect from The Laws by Connie Palmen which I selected to fulfill ATY prompt #12 A book eligible for the Warwick Prize for Women in Translation. I didn’t feel I really connected to the writing style and I found the theme to be pretty “meh�� overall�� I probably will not try any other of her books.

The Lady Matador's Hotel by Cristina García was definitely a disappointment for me. I thought the cover image was rather provocative and was hopeful for the interrelatedness of the characters. I did appreciate the interrelated characters, but the ending didn’t really stick for me and left me pretty blah overall. I realized in the aftermath that this read much as a noir novel to me, and I truly dislike noir…so that probably explains much of my disappointment with this one. I'll not purposefully pursue any of her other books at the present time.

The Secret History by Donna Tartt was a big letdown for me since I loved The Goldfinch. Again, this one read much like noir to me, probably explaining my disappointment to a large degree. But I would definitely read more of her writing.

I had to DNF Curva Peligrosa by Lily Iona MacKenzie after just a few pages. It was due to my dislike of explicit sex in my books, I guess especially female masturbation with a human bone and then from the motion of riding a galloping horse. It’s just not me. My sensibilities are disturbed by such fare, particularly when there are two such scenes within the first few pages. That does not portend of an entertaining or enlightening read for me! But at least I tried it! I definitely would not read any other of her books.

Popsugar: 46/50
ATY: 52/52 DONE!!
RHC: 19/24
Reading Women: 16/28
I have begun reading all the other books for Popsugar except Bel Canto. Fingers crossed that I finish those last four!

FINISHED:
The Gift of the Magpie (Meg Langslow #28) by Donna Andrews ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ was for the IRL book club meeting this past Sunday at my favorite used bookstore. The discussion of the actual book lasted 20 minutes or so out of the 1 hour and 25 minutes of the meeting. But it was okay�� I thought it was adorable and informative and will definitely add this series to my TBR listing.
POPSUGAR: #21- Animals, Cozy Mystery, Fiction, Humor, Health & Well Being, Mystery, #27, #30-Virginia, #33, #36-217 reviews on ŷ������, #37, #38-Quilting and entertainer, #43
ATY: #3- Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes (They finally got some snow for Christmas!), When the dog bites (Thank goodness for Meg’s dogs!), Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens (Awwww…the adorbs little stray kitten!), #9-The Holiday Season at the end of the year!, #10-the supposed online friend, #18- The past can have a HUGE impact upon the present and perhaps make for a better future!,
#23- Animals, Cozy Mystery, Fiction, Humor, Health & Well Being, Mystery, #27-Death, The World, The Fool, #29, #31, #42, #49, #52-There was a much happier ending than I expected!
RHC: #24

The Book of Unknown Americans by Cristina Henríquez ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ was absolutely AWESOME! If you identify as white/Caucasian I consider this to be a “must-read��! I put this in now to fulfill the ATY Winter 2021 Team Readathon prompt of “Mexico�� and I am just sooooo glad I read this!
POPSUGAR: #18-Respect for all humans! We are more alike than not��., #21- Coming-of-Age, Contemporary, Fiction, Immigration, Race, Romance, Young Adult, #27, #34-Respecting others, #37, #46
ATY: #1-In the beginning, optimism was high, #3-Mayor just wanted to show Maribel the snow and the ocean, #6, #8-Delaware, #9-Winter—snowfall!, #20-Hopefully, the future will be much better!, #21, #23- Coming-of-Age, Contemporary, Fiction, Immigration, Race, Romance, Young Adult, #24, #27-Death, Judgment, The World, #28, #34, #39, #49, #51
Reading Women: NEW#12

The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother by James McBride ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ was also awesome! What all his mother (and her sister and mother) endured as a result of her father’s abuse and downright meanness was sickening! Too bad he wasn’t accidentally shot or killed. (It would have been a service to society!) He was a white Jew living in the southern U.S. at a time when the only thing worse was to be dark-skinned�� But, alas, he managed to survive and thrive despite his evil ways. I cannot begin to imagine living as one of 12 children in a household. I am an only child and raised three children of my own, but…wow��12!?! I truly cannot imagine��
POPSUGAR: #15, #18-All humans deserve respect and safety!, #20 (It should be, IMO!), #21-Autobiography, Nonfiction, Race, #27, #30-Virginia, New York, #33, #34-Respecting others who are different from yourself, #37, #38-McBride is a writer and musician!, #46
ATY: #4, #5, #7 (contained within), #8-New York, #18-Ruth had so much to overcome in her past to make a better future!, #23-Autobiography, Nonfiction, Race, #24, #31, #36, #39, #41, #51, #52-In the end, Ruth accomplished so much!

CONTINUING:
Until We Reckon: Violence, Mass Incarceration, and a Road to Repair is chock full of important shifts that need to be made within our criminal justice system.
Waiting to Exhale by Terry McMillan
I am so anxious to finish this one this next weekend! I love McMillan’s writing!
Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid
I’ve wanted to read this in forever!
Gold by Chris Cleave
Just about 20 pages in, but very good so far! I'm sorry I didn't get to it sooner, but better later than never!
Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
I am really hesitant about this one, but determined to conquer it once and for all! 😊
Eva Luna by Isabel Allende to fulfill the 2020 Reading Women prompt #26 A book written by Isabel Allende AND the 2021 Reading Women prompt #6 A book written by a Southern American author in translation. I am determined to finish this one in 2021! I guess it’s obvious that I am not finding it to be a compelling read.

PLANNED:
Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family by Robert Kolker
Paradise by Toni Morrison to fulfill the 2020 Reading Women prompt #25 A book written by Toni Morrison. I admit the beginning of this really threw me off. But I feel as if I really need to finish it!
Many others for the Reading Women and Read Harder challenges...

I finished The Homecoming. Solid Christmas read. Now I want to see the movie again

I'm about hafway through Intimacy with God: Revised and Updated: A Bible Study in the PsalmsIt's not the best bible study I've ever done, but it's OK.

I'm doing my yearly read of A Christmas Carol. Last year I read it out loud in one sitting on Christmas Day (seriously, I had nothing better to do). This year, I'm reading one stave a night to finish up tomorrow night after Church if I have the energy, or maybe Christmas morning.

I'm reading Fatal Throne. I don't know what my fascination is, but I love Henry VIII stuff. Even from before when it was super popular.

QOTW: Maybe The Far Pavilions. I love epic historical fiction. But, IMO, this one was awful. I see that I gave it 2 stars, so I must have liekd at least part of it, but I certainly wouldn't recommend it.

Kingdom Come: The Final Victory was the last book in the Left Behind series that I finished eons ago and really enjoyed. This last book was pointless and contrived.

What a week it's been! I got my booster shot on Sunday and the soreness moved from my arm into my shoulder into my armpit, and it's lingering. So that's fun. No other side effects besides a splitting headache all day Monday; if that's the worst I have to deal with, I'll gladly take it. We made gingerbread cookies for Yule on Tuesday :) They turned out so yummy! I picked up a new part-time job that started yesterday, for a combined 14hr day on top of my day job. Woof. And I got my holiday shopping done this morning! Happy Festivus! Now to go home and wrap everything before hubby and I celebrate our tiny Christmas tomorrow morning :)

I finished three books and DNF'd another one this week:
The Complete Art of Fullmetal Alchemist - 5 stars. It was really cool to see all the collected artwork in one book, and to know that she actually paints the color images with acrylics!
Jade Legacy - 5 stars. Probably my most-anticipated new release of the year and it didn't disappoint. Series of the year for me, for sure!
So Many Beginnings: A Little Women Remix - 5 stars. As the title suggests, this is a Little Women retelling starring a Black family set in the Roanoke freedmen's colony during the Civil War. The change in setting really brought the story to life. It was so charming and beautifully written. Adenrele Ojo narrates the audiobook.
Island Beneath the Sea - DNF. Allende appears to be very hit or miss for me.

Currently:
The Mountains Sing
The Bone Shard Emperor

I'll be happy to close out the year with both of these; I had hoped to sneak in The Long Way Down as well, but that might be better off waiting until the new year. New year, new series, yadda yadda. I've read over 150 books this year, which is leaps beyond what I normally read! 2021 was clearly a rough year if I dove into that many books :D

QOTW: Is there any book from your 2021 reading that you were really excited to read and then it disappointed you? Has that changed your opinion of an author or series or genre or��?

I was hoping I would love ����ō���ܲ�, but I ended up DNFing it because life is too short for massive sloggy books. It's probably a good thing though; it doesn't seem to have aged well, so I'm glad it's off my TBR and my bookshelf.

Other unexpected disappointments include The Historian, The Conductors, and The Ghost Bride. The Historian is one I've been wanting to read for YEARS, and my sister had bought me a second copy with a beautiful cover. Alas. The Conductors seemed like something that was totally up my alley with its historical fantasy twist, but I didn't gel with it the way I thought I would. Ghost Bride was another been-on-my-TBR-for-years book that sounded beautiful in theory and didn't hold my interest.

These are mostly one-and-done's for me; I've never read any of these authors before these books, and while I may try Yangsze Choo's other book and Nicole Glover again if she writes something aside from the Conductors series, I won't be overly surprised if I don't enjoy myself.

Good morning! Merry Christmas to everyone who is celebrating this week!

It has been a very busy week, so I haven’t been able to do as much reading as I would like.

I did manage to get my COVID-19 booster shot this week, and I’m really glad to have that taken care of. My arm is a bit sore, but that seems to be the extent of my side effects this time around.

POPSUGAR: 50/50
Beat the Backlist: 52/52
ŷ������: 318/200

Finished Reading:
~The Throne of Fire
~The Serpent's Shadow
~Call the Nurse: True Stories of a Country Nurse on a Scottish Isle

Currently Reading:
~The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien
~The Lady of the Lake
~Nurse, Come You Here!: More True Stories of a Country Nurse on a Scottish Isle

QOTW:
I did have a few books that I DNF-ed because I was not enjoying them, but there weren't very many in 2021. Of the books I read to completion, the only title that stands out as a disappointment was The Tale of Genji, by Murasaki Shikibu. I don’t really know what I was hoping for from this book, but I found it a pretty boring read.

Lynn wrote: "I guess especially female masturbation with a human bone ..."



LOL I'm generally fine with explicit scenes, but, uh, yeah, that would put me off, too!!

Happy Thursday!  Today is Festivus! It's a Festivus for the rest of us!!    

I've gotten very little reading done in my first week of vacation!  oops :-)  I'm still plugging away at my longest book (A History of the World in 100 Objects), sigh.  (Only 12 chapters left!!! I'm up to the 1700s now;  I feel confident I can finish before the 31st!! If Christmas didn't get in the way, I'd be able to finish this week!)  And I'm reading the last book from my list of 21 books in 2021 (A Most Peculiar Malaysian Murder).  But I haven't FINISHED any books this week, so I remain 49/50 with this Challenge.



QotW
Yes!  And I hate when this happens!  And it happens A LOT - I guess I get excited about books a lot, and then I have high standards. It doesn't change my opinion about a genre, but it can definitely change my opinion about the author, and put me off reading anything else from them.  It's so much better when it's the reverse: a book you weren't expecting much from turns out to be fantastic.

Most recently, I was disappointed in The Removed by Brandon Hobson.  I had been looking forward to read that author for a while, and it was so deflating to read. I think I'll try one more book from him before I decide if I just don't like his style.

Night of the Mannequins by Stephen Graham Jones - I gave this 3 stars but looking back maybe it was more like 2 stars.  I bought a copy of the book to give to my daughter, and changed my mind after I read it - it was too disturbing.  If she finds the copy I bought and reads it anyway, that's fine, but it's not a good gift. I will still count SGJ among my favorite authors, I hope this was just an anomaly.

Every Vow You Break by Peter Swanson- I thought I loved this author, and this book made me angry with how bad it was.  one star. I've realized that I only truly LOVED the FIRST book I read by Swanson, I wasn't all that impressed with the next two, and I hated this one, soooo ... maybe I don't love this author after all. I'll give him a few more tries, though.

Animal by Lisa Taddeo - this sounded so dark and edgy and right up my alley.  I hated it.  HATED it. It was endless navel gazing, and "I'm not like other girls" nonsense.  One star.  Will probably never read this author again.

The Widows of Malabar Hill by Sujata Massey - I'd heard such good things about this book!  I even bought a copy to read last summer when my library system was down after being hacked, but I never got around to it, so I added it to my list of books I MUST read in 2021.  What a let down. It was slow and the plot had zero momentum.  I doubt I'll continue with this series, and I may not read anything else from this author.

Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey - another book that is raved about, it's on all the Best SFF lists, so I added it to my "must read in 2021" list and ... I DNF'ed it. It was so incredibly dull and padded with ludicrousness.   I'm DEFINITELY never reading any more from this author.

Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey - ANOTHER book from my "must read in 2021" list!  I was so excited to read this.  Everyone said it was great.  It was ... not great.   I tried the TV show next, and that wasn't so great either.   I'll never read anything from these guys again - they clearly don't understand that women are fellow human beings. People say the series gets better, but ... life is too short for me to waste any more time on hoping these two guys figure out how to write women.

Picnic at Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay - yes, another book from my 2021 list.  I thought it was going to be a page-turner with a creepy mystery, but it was slow and plodding and the mystery was never properly explained. I don't think this changed my opinion on anything in particular - this author didn't really write much anyway.

Rosewater by Tade Thompson - yet another failread from my 2021 list (the list wasn't ALL bad! I had 10 four & five star reads!).  My last name is actually Thompson so I was extra excited to read this, and I just expected too much.  The plot sounded so good. But it was kind of confusing, and the women characters were pretty flat. I just didn't like it.  I'll give this author another try, but my expectations will be a lot lower next time.


that's turned into a really long list, so I'll stop there :-)

Nadine in NY wrote: "Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey - another book that is raved about, it's on all the Best SFF lists, so I added it to my "must read in 2021" list and ... I DNF'ed it. It was so incredibly dull and padded with ludicrousness. I'm DEFINITELY never reading any more from this author."

I have a memory of reading this when I was in high school, and looking at it now I have no idea how I did it (and not just this one, but the first pair of trilogies! SIX BOOKS!). I briefly considered a reread a year or so ago and just... no. So I guess I'm glad to see my tastes have changed? Bahahaha!

Ashley Marie wrote: "Other unexpected disappointments include The Historian, The Conductors, and The Ghost Bride. The Historian is one I've been wanting to read for YEARS, and my sister had bought me a second copy with a beautiful cover. Alas. The Conductors seemed like something that was totally up my alley with its historical fantasy twist, but I didn't gel with it the way I thought I would. Ghost Bride was another been-on-my-TBR-for-years book that sounded beautiful in theory and didn't hold my interest...."



I was super disappointed in Ghost Bride, too. Fantastic concept, completely boring execution, with some errors that should have been fixed in editing. I have not read anything else from Choo and I've been really reluctant to give her another try, because I think all of the issues I had were due to her writing style, and I don't expect that to change.

Finished: Candidly Cline This was a fun read! Could be used for either book about a band or sapphic novel.

This Year I Will...: How to Finally Change a Habit, Keep a Resolution, or Make a Dream Come True

Design Your Day: Be More Productive, Set Better Goals, and Live Life On Purpose

Craft a Life You Love: Infusing Creativity, Fun & Intention into Your Everyday This was my favorite of the three on goal-setting.

Our Animal Neighbors: Compassion for Every Furry, Slimy, Prickly Creature on Earth I preferred this picture book.

Finding Wild

Started: The Lost Art of Good Conversation: A Mindful Way to Connect with Others and Enrich Everyday Life re-read

Life Isn't Binary: On Being Both, Beyond, and In-Between for book on gender roles. Re-read.

Qotw: I agree with you on The Secret History, Lynn. I was excited about dark academia prompt since I wasn't familiar with this genre and one of my favorite books, Special Topics in Calamity Physics was included. But I found Secret History to be rather boring. I also DNF Amari and the Night Brothers. It had a very similar plot to one of the Rick Riordan presents books which I didn't finish as well, so it didn't feel fresh or interesting.

Happy Thursday, y’all.

So guess who gets to spend Christmas stuck in my room while I quarantine with a mild but annoying case of COVID-19... Yeah, I was really looking forward to Christmas this year, too. It's not TOO bad because I spend a ton of time in my room anyhow, but still obnoxious, especially around Christmas. Ah well... better i my room than in the hospital...

Books read this week:

The Serpent King -- listened to this as an audiobook while driving to/from a relative’s for the weekend, and ended up crying in the car on the way home. Heartbreaking and hard to read/listen to at times, but GOOD. And I appreciated that the audiobook version had different narrators for each of the three POV characters -- it really added to the story in my opinion.

Prosper's Demon -- meh. I appreciate what the author was trying to do, but I never felt drawn into the world or characters. Some clever, devious plotting though.

Wolf by Wolf -- interesting alternate-history novel, and I enjoyed the heroine, though I wasn’t so fond of the attempts to wedge in some romantic tension. Not every YA novel needs romantic tension, people��

DNF:

The Petrified Flesh -- I usually really love Cornelia Funke, so it was disappointing to come across a book that I just couldn’t get into. It kind of feels like she was trying to write for a more mature audience but missed the mark.

Currently Reading:

Skeleton Crew
Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus

QOTW:

I usually love books by Riley Sager and Grady Hendrix, so it was a bummer to be disappointed by both their books this year -- Survive the Night and The Final Girl Support Group. Just not up to their usual standard, I felt. I plan on giving both authors another chance, though, and even have two of Grady Hendrix's books slotted in for next year's reading challenge (My Best Friend's Exorcism for "takes place in the 80s" and We Sold Our Souls for "about a musician or band").

Happy Thursday! Yay for the last day of work before holiday break - I'm off until Jan 3 too.

I have finished the PopSugar 2021 challenge, thankfully - the last few books were really slow reads, and I'm glad to just be done. I've finished most of the challenges I expected to finish, and I'm not surprised by the few I didn't. I'm still short of my 150 books for the year, so next year I'm going back to 125 which is a more realistic goal I think.

Finished this week:
The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead - well-written but really slow going for me; Used for another challenge.

The Haunting of H. G. Wells by Robert Masello - half of this book was riveting and the other half was not. Which led to an oddly uneven reading experience. Finished for another challenge.

Merlin by Norma Lorre Goodrich - very dry research book on the existence and history of the real Merlin. Merlin is an interesting topic to me, but this book read like a textbook. This was the longest book on my TBR, and let me finish the PopSugar challenge for 2021 - but now I know why it was there for so long, lol.

When Stars Are Scattered by Victoria Jamieson, Omar Mohamed - graphic novel written for the middle-school age group, absolutely phenomenal book. It tells the story of a Somalian refugee (Omar Mohamed) and his years in a Kenyan refugee camp. I highly recommend this book.

The Best Nest (Beginner Books(R)) by P.D. Eastman - chose this ebook for a light read, it was just ok.

Grandfather's Journey by Allen Say - children's picture book which tells the story about the author and his grandfather's shared love for two countries (Japan and the U.S.). Artwork was gorgeous and the story was endearing.

John Doe by Tess Gerritsen - a Rizzoli and Isles short story, read for another challenge. It's a great choice for fans of the duo (either from the book series or tv series).

I'm so relieved to be on the other side of so many challenges, reading one last challenge related book to finish that one off but otherwise expecting my reading to be leisurely for the first time in a couple of months.

I'm happy to see that the first few group reads will be prompts I was not looking forward to filling (because nothing on my extensive TBR seems to fit and I think they are the types of categories that will require books selected just for them, vs something I happen to be reading). I'm planning to just let the group choose for me, hoping to be able to find them free or cheap but it seems like it will be worth my sanity even if it costs a little more.

QOTW: I feel like I was disappointed by a lot of books this year. I know the challenges are supposed to take us out of our comfort zone, but I feel like sometimes I settle for a not-great-for-me book just to fit a challenge category (including books that I know are good, but I just don't like), and that's why the more specific prompts are so annoying to me. Southern Comfort by Fern Michaels was one of them - used for the "book that has the same title as a song" prompt. Doubly disappointing because it was the first book I read for the year, and I like to pick a winner to be first lol.

Kenya wrote: "Happy Thursday, y’all.

So guess who gets to spend Christmas stuck in my room while I quarantine with a mild but annoying case of COVID-19

Oh no, Kenya. That stinks! I hope any planned festivities can be moved to next week. Glad you're not bad off, but it still stinks!

So this week I started my 2022 reading. I always consider Christmastime as counting toward either reading year.

Finished

Man, Fuck This House - this is bonkers, and the editing is a trashfire, but I still loved it! So, so weird. Fulfills A book with a reflected image on the cover or "mirror" in the title

Currently Reading

The Count of Monte Cristo - so here's the thing. This book made me realize how important a good translator is. I tried the free Amazon Classics version first, and I was like, "The language seems pretty stilted - what about Penguin's version" and OMG it's so much better. But this means that the audio book I was planning to switch off with isn't going to work - I'm now addicted to Robin Buss's masterful use of language!

I'm also reading Winter's Myth, which is on Amazon Vella - an experimental serial fiction area of their site. I only tried it because someone in my trivia league is the author, so I'm hoping this will be my A book you know nothing about

QOTW

Nothing But Blackened Teeth - ugh, such a great premise. Such a great cover! And the story was just bad, in so many ways!

Ashley Marie wrote: "What a week it's been! I got my booster shot on Sunday and the soreness moved from my arm into my shoulder into my armpit, and it's lingering. So that's fun. No other side effects besides a splitti..."

I had the armpit pain after my booster as well, and it felt like it lingered FOREVER! It was such a relief when it faded. Not to bum you out, just to give some encouragement that it does get better. I felt calmer about it when I read that it was a fairly common side effect with the booster, because it did freak me out when it happened.

I'm now on vacation and working on all my December books.


Currently reading:

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall - About 60% done

Mind the Gap, Dash & Lily - About 80% done

The Flame - My Advent calendar book. About 85% done.

A Slow Fire Burning - 60% done. Waiting to get another copy - will probably happen in 2022


QOTW: Is there any book from your 2021 reading that you were really excited to read and then it disappointed you? Has that changed your opinion of an author or series or genre or��?

Fortunately, I didn't get any bone masturbation scenes.

Our House (same book as a song title) was the worst mystery. They tell you who did it from the start and the thief writes a boring explanation. The book was from three points of view and a I skimmed one of the points of view. I don't think I'd ever read a thriller by the author again.

The Kite Runner had been on my TBR list forever. I finally read it. Khaled Hosseini is an amazing author. It would not surprise me if he won the Pulitzer Prize or Nobel Prize some day. I was shocked at how violent the book was. I'm not saying it's wrong because it's hard to tell a story set in Afghanistan without being graphically violent. But I don't think I could read another of his books.

This week is flying past. Been reading, doing jigsaw puzzles and eating lots of unhealthy food! Gave myself a terrible paper cut doing the recycling so no more housework until after Christmas if I can avoid it. 🤣

Finished:
Once Broken Faith by Seanan McGuire. Trying to get back into the October Daye series and I guess this was a good one to do that with since there are so many returning characters with reminders on who they are and their purpose in the series. Which I guess might not be great if you're reading them all together but it worked for me.

Far Sector by N.K. Jemisin + Jamal Campbell. Some gorgeous artwork in this, the first issue was a little bland writing wise but once I got into it, I liked the world building and the mystery. It wasn't very subtle in its messaging though.

Stay Another Day by Juno Dawson. This is probably more new adult than young adult, but had all the drama, feels and Christmas togetherness I want in a festive read. Trigger warning for eating disorders.

QOTW:
I try not to get my hopes up too much. I found out that I am not a fan of T.J. Klune this year when it seems everyone else loves him. His writing is just so twee. I guess I was a bit disappointed in The Apollo Murders but I felt I'd been warned about it by the the I got round to reading it. Winter's Orbit was another one that had a lot of excitement but I just found it OK. I usually give authors two books before I write them off completely unless they are particularly terrible though.

Tania wrote: "Ashley Marie wrote: "What a week it's been! I got my booster shot on Sunday and the soreness moved from my arm into my shoulder into my armpit, and it's lingering. So that's fun. No other side effe..."

Did you guys have the Moderna one? My boyfriend got the armpit pain which we thought was a bit weird but everyone else we know has had Pfizer or AZ, and this was the first time he had Moderna.

Ellie wrote: "Tania wrote: "Ashley Marie wrote: "What a week it's been! I got my booster shot on Sunday and the soreness moved from my arm into my shoulder into my armpit, and it's lingering. So that's fun. No o..."

@Tania: Good to know, thanks!

@Ellie: I've gotten Pfizer all three times now

Lynn wrote: "I wasn’t certain what to expect from The Laws by Connie Palmen which I selected to fulfill ATY prompt #12 A book eligible for the Warwick Prize for Women in Translation. I didn’t feel I really connected to the writing style and I found the theme to be pretty “meh�� overall�� I probably will not try any other of her books.
"

You shouldn't. Imho her books are quite overrated, I don't even get why they did the effort to translate it. She hasn't changed her writing style, so this just isn't your cup-of-tea.

It’s Christmas! Well, almost. Tomorrow we have an extra day off from work, so for me it’s Christmas already. And it feels the same way as always: exhausted, really needing this break and so on. We have been in a small bubble this week so we can be with our families this weekend. More important than ever! (Sorry Kenya, thinking of you, hope you can celebrate Christmas-New Year's Eve next week.)

Finished
Marking Time by Elizabeth Jane Howard ⭐⭐��

Currently reading
Slavernij: Een geschiedenis by Dirk J. Tang
De vriendschap by Barbara Keating

QOTW
The English Patient. It was boring. And although I like slow books, this one was slow and boring. This was the only book I’ve read by this author and I haven’t any other books on my TBR, so it doesn’t change my opinion (for not having any).

Hello! My husband and I are leaving for Oklahoma this evening, and my list of stuff to get done before then is ever expanding. I've also been on vacation since Tuesday, but worked four hours yesterday and two today to get all the work deadlines met. And we found out that my brother-in-law is unvaccinated, so my husband and mother-in-law are very upset with him (he didn't tell his mom, my husband had to). Christmas is going to be a joy.

Finished This Week:
A Deadly Education / The Last Graduate by Naomi Novik. After watching the Hugos, I felt an urge to reread both of these again. Still love them, very aggrieved book 3 isn't for 9 months.

Currently Reading:
At Dawn We Slept: The Untold Story of Pearl Harbor by Gordon W. Prange. Got distracted by fiction. Bringing on road trip to Oklahoma, so expect to get it read then.

Nervous Conditions by Tsitsi Dangarembga. This is for either Read Harder or Reading Women. About a third of the way through, very different than what I normally read.

Up Next:
Bittersweet by Colleen McCullough. I have the paperback packed and the audiobook downloaded for the road trip. Need for oxymoron title.

QOTW: Is there any book from your 2021 reading that you were really excited to read and then it disappointed you? Has that changed your opinion of an author or series or genre or��?

I'm going with Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë. I'd heard for years from my mom that it was one of her favorite books, and it took me multiple attempts to read past chapter two, and even then, I only finished it because I was determined to. Turns out Mom doesn't really remember the plot, just that she liked it. Very disappointed.

Kenya wrote: "Happy Thursday, y’all.

So guess who gets to spend Christmas stuck in my room while I quarantine with a mild but annoying case of COVID-19... Yeah, I was really looking forward to Christmas this ye..."



oh no! I hope you have lots of good books, and someone to bring you treats.

Probably everyone knows this, but just in case someone is worried: you have lymph nodes in your armpits, and it's not uncommon for them to swell and be tender when fighting off a virus. That's probably why there's been armpit pain for some. A strong reaction is a good sign, it means your immune system is getting stronger!


(My daughter and I get our booster on Tuesday. Fingers crossed!)

Kenya wrote: "Happy Thursday, y’all.

So guess who gets to spend Christmas stuck in my room while I quarantine with a mild but annoying case of COVID-19... Yeah, I was really looking forward to Christmas this ye..."

Agh, oh no! Feel better, Kenya!

Finished:

Night of the Wolves by S.D. Perry and Britta Dennison (3/5, reread)

This gets a bump up from my reading of it on initial release. I gave it two stars then. It was released the month after the masterful first book in this trilogy, and my expectations were not properly aligned. If you want the fleshed-out versions of the backstory and flashbacks given on the TV show Deep Space Nine for Bajoran and Cardassian history, then this series will satisfy that craving.

DNF:

Greater Good by Timothy Zahn (stopped after Chapter 13 and Memories V, just over halfway through the book)

I liked the first book in this trilogy just fine, and I was hoping for much more from this story. There just wasn't forward momentum for any of the storylines. The scenes and characters are good in isolation, but the overall shape of the story was flat and uninspiring. I like Zahn's work in general, but he can have duds, too.

Currently reading:

A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher (for January's book club meeting)

The Butlerian Jihad by Brian Herbert and Kevin J Anderson (reread, part of a chronological Dune read and reread project for 2022)

Question of the Week:

My DNF from above was a disappointment because I know that the author can do better.

The Chronicles of Harris Burdick: Fourteen Amazing Authors Tell the Tales had such great story prompts, and most of the stories in the volume were less exciting and creative than the ones our 5th grade class wrote from those titles, pictures, and captions.

Death's End by Liu Cixin was a dreary follow-up to two excellent books, and I was glad I spared myself reading more than a summary of the last 400 pages.

Merry Christmas to all who celebrate it!

Happy Thursday and happy birthday to me! It's been a great birthday so far, and two people bought me books...that don't really fit the 2022 prompts! Yikes!! I'll have to squeeze them in somewhere. :D

Finished 51/50

Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation (not for the challenge). I finished an extra book! Wow! This was really good. Helped me connect some dots about issues I had back when I was evangelical. I think every American Christian should read this with an open mind and humble spirit.

QotW

I was really excited to read The Arabian Nights since I love stories from that collection, but the first volume really dragged and was very crude in many places. It made me not want to continue reading the rest. Some of the stories were great, but most got fairly predictable. And it was fairly racist in parts too. So, I probably won't read volumes two and three. At least I can say I tried!

Alex wrote: "QotW

I was really excited to read The Arabian Nights since I love stories from that collection, but the first volume really dragged and was very crude in many places. It made me not want to continue reading the rest. Some of the stories were great, but most got fairly predictable. And it was fairly racist in parts too. So, I probably won't read volumes two and three. At least I can say I tried! ..."

I agree. I read that this year, too. A couple of the stories were good. Most were just awful, especially Aladdin, which is pretty much the headliner you always hear about.

I haven't checked in for a few weeks, but I don't have a lot to report. I have been continuing to try to make the most of the Kindle Unlimited subscription before it expires, so I keep working my way through the Jack Daniels series and Tracy Crosswhite series before the challenge starts. I did find that the newest Jack Daniels book will work for "a book with a recipe" so I'm glad for that. I overly planned my 2022 challenge for the first week or so after it was released, and then I stopped looking at it. I pulled it back out today and was easily able to find books to fit all but 2 prompts, so I'm properly excited to get started now.

QOTW:

I don't keep track of books I DNF, and I do that a lot, so I'm sure that there are quite a few that I tried for the challenge and gave up on, but the one that I finished that let me down the most was The Bookish Life of Nina Hill. I thought it was just okay and I really expected to love it. I noticed I have another book by her on my TBR, so it must not have completely changed my mind about her.

Katy wrote: "I finished The Homecoming. Solid Christmas read. Now I want to see the movie again"
Cool!

"I'm about hafway through Intimacy with God: Revised and Updated: A Bible Study in the PsalmsIt's not the best bible study I've ever done, but it's OK."
Sounds as if you're getting something out of it though! 👍

"I'm doing my yearly read of A Christmas Carol. Last year I read it out loud in one sitting on Christmas Day (seriously, I had nothing better to do). This year, I'm reading one stave a night to finish up tomorrow night after Church if I have the energy, or maybe Christmas morning."
I love that you read it aloud! I miss doing that with my children when they were young!

"I'm reading Fatal Throne. I don't know what my fascination is, but I love Henry VIII stuff. Even from before when it was super popular."
IMO, you need no other reason than the fact that you enjoy it!

"QOTW: Maybe The Far Pavilions. I love epic historical fiction. But, IMO, this one was awful. I see that I gave it 2 stars, so I must have liekd at least part of it, but I certainly wouldn't recommend it."
Oohhh...sounds like one to avoid!

"Kingdom Come: The Final Victory was the last book in the Left Behind series that I finished eons ago and really enjoyed. This last book was pointless and contrived."
Ooohh...sorry it didn't end with a good read!

Happy Thursday!

My to-do list is getting longer as it gets closer to Christmas! Eeek! But all my presents are wrapped and my apartment is clean (for now).

Almost done with both Popsugar and ATY - later than last year but will finish before December 31st. I'm on my last book!

PS: 49/50
ATY: 51/52

Finished:

Girl A by Abigail Dean. This was well written but the story fell flat for me. I didn't love the story but I would read another book by this author depending on the subject.

Continuing:

The Little Giant of Aberdeen County by Tiffany Baker. About half way through this one and it keeps my attention but I haven't had much time for reading this week so once Christmas is over I can finish it.

QOTW:
I wasn't crazy disappointed by a book this year, but I struggled through some books this year. I am glad I got them off my list either by finishing them or by realizing that I didn't want to waste my time.

Alex wrote: "Happy Thursday and happy birthday to me! It's been a great birthday so far, and two people bought me books...that don't really fit the 2022 prompts! Yikes!! I'll have to squeeze them in somewhere. ..."



Happy birthday!

Mary wrote: "I don't keep track of books I DNF, and I do that a lot, ..."



How do you remember which you DNFed and how do you keep yourself from trying to read that book again in a few years?

Ashley Marie wrote: "What a week it's been! I got my booster shot on Sunday and the soreness moved from my arm into my shoulder into my armpit, and it's lingering. So that's fun. No other side effects besides a splitting headache all day Monday; if that's the worst I have to deal with, I'll gladly take it."
Ugh. I'm always so jealous of those who have no reactions to these vaccines! My husband, for example! 🤨

"We made gingerbread cookies for Yule on Tuesday :) They turned out so yummy! I picked up a new part-time job that started yesterday, for a combined 14hr day on top of my day job. Woof. And I got my holiday shopping done this morning! Happy Festivus! Now to go home and wrap everything before hubby and I celebrate our tiny Christmas tomorrow morning :)"
You are ready!

"I finished three books and DNF'd another one this week:
The Complete Art of Fullmetal Alchemist - 5 stars. It was really cool to see all the collected artwork in one book, and to know that she actually paints the color images with acrylics!
Jade Legacy - 5 stars. Probably my most-anticipated new release of the year and it didn't disappoint. Series of the year for me, for sure!
So Many Beginnings: A Little Women Remix - 5 stars. As the title suggests, this is a Little Women retelling starring a Black family set in the Roanoke freedmen's colony during the Civil War. The change in setting really brought the story to life. It was so charming and beautifully written. Adenrele Ojo narrates the audiobook."
Sounds like you really enjoyed all these!! YAY!

"Island Beneath the Sea - DNF. Allende appears to be very hit or miss for me."
Well, if Eva Luna is an indication, I don't know if her writing is for me or not...

"I'll be happy to close out the year with both of these; I had hoped to sneak in The Long Way Down as well, but that might be better off waiting until the new year. New year, new series, yadda yadda. I've read over 150 books this year, which is leaps beyond what I normally read! 2021 was clearly a rough year if I dove into that many books :D"
Perhaps. And yet, at least you had books to distract you!! 😊

"QOTW: Is there any book from your 2021 reading that you were really excited to read and then it disappointed you? Has that changed your opinion of an author or series or genre or��?

I was hoping I would love ����ō���ܲ�, but I ended up DNFing it because life is too short for massive sloggy books. It's probably a good thing though; it doesn't seem to have aged well, so I'm glad it's off my TBR and my bookshelf."
Now THAT is a positive spin!

"Other unexpected disappointments include The Historian, The Conductors, and The Ghost Bride. The Historian is one I've been wanting to read for YEARS, and my sister had bought me a second copy with a beautiful cover. Alas. The Conductors seemed like something that was totally up my alley with its historical fantasy twist, but I didn't gel with it the way I thought I would. Ghost Bride was another been-on-my-TBR-for-years book that sounded beautiful in theory and didn't hold my interest."
It is really interesting how some books just don't do it...

Lynn wrote: "It is Thursday! The last day I have to work here in the office until Monday, January 3! Whoo! Whoo! I admit that I would love it if I could obtain a job working from home and never have to return t..."

I'm so glad you're reading Until We Reckon: Violence, Mass Incarceration, and a Road to Repair! It might be a stretch for most folks who aren't personally affected by our carceral systems, but justice advocates LOVE it and hope to see more people reading it. Thanks for being open to the ideas the author is sharing. :)

I completely forgot it is Thursday! Usually I have to go to work at around 2am Thursdays, but that got pushed back a day unexpectedly, so now I'm all thrown off! I should be going to bed! Quick check in, I hope.

50/50 I finished!

Finished
Piranesi - This was my last book for the Challenge! Woohoo! And I liked it! It's nice to wrap up with something nice instead of a slog. I think I enjoyed listening to it much more than I would have if I read it on paper. Being narrated by Chiwetel Ejiofor certainly didn't hurt.

Marley - This was me attempting some holiday related reading. It was fine but I feel like I might be missing something, but maybe not? Marley is super dodgy and uses a lot of alias's, and some are the name of characters on other Dickens books. The two I noticed, I've read one and not read one. So, I'm wondering if this book is saying those characters were actually Marley, which would be fun, or if they were just nods. BTW the book is not Christmassy.

A Very Scalzi Christmas - I've had this sitting in my Audible for ages and finally pushed play. What fun! Amusing little stories and things, plus one sad one. I actually laughed out loud at one. Like, really laughed. It was my favorite, and it's called Interview with Santa’s Reindeer Wrangler. The audio performances were great.

Sherlock Holmes in the Hound of the Baskervilles: A BabyLit® Sounds Primer - Ah, reading the board books as you wrap them. How lovely.

Moo, Baa, La La La! - Fun to sing as if it were a Lady Gaga song


Currently Reading:
Murder at Melrose Court: A Country House Christmas Murder - Does what it says on the tin.


QOTW:
How the One-Armed Sister Sweeps Her House has a pretty cover, had good buzz, and I went in pretty blind. OOOF! What a depressing book about things I absolutely did not expect, but not in a good way.

I thought Slippery Creatures would be a fun Christie-esque book, but gay, but BOY HOWDY was it explicit. I mean, FFS. I'm not reading anything else from that author.

I heard so many great things about Goldie Vance, but I do not like her. She does whatever she wants (like driving off in cars left with the valet) and doesn't care how it affects anyone around her. Blech.

The reveal in Ace of Spades did not live up to the build-up. I was genuinely confused that that was it.

Lynn wrote: ""I'm doing my yearly read of A Christmas Carol. Last year I read it out loud in one sitting on Christmas Day (seriously, I had nothing better to do). This year, I'm reading one stave a night to finish up tomorrow night after Church if I have the energy, or maybe Christmas morning."
I love that you read it aloud! I miss doing that with my children when they were young!."

But, I read it to my cat. Who doesn't at all pay attention. My last two cats liked being read to better. And by that I mean they just liked to lay in my lap.

I finished the 2021 challenge! I really squeaked by this year. I started the challenge on Christmas Eve last year because we have a family tradition of exchanging books and reading all night on Christmas Eve. I needed to finish before tomorrow, and I just made it.

I’m on the fence about doing the 2022 challenge. To finish the 2021 challenge, I had to set aside a lot of books I wanted to read and choose shorter books that I’m not really interested in. There are so many books I want to read that I’m not sure will fit into the very specific 2022 prompts. I’ve been putting some of these books off for years to read challenge books instead. It might be time to take a year to read for myself only.

Finished
Marvel's Voices: Indigenous Voices #1 (a book by an Indigenous author). This is my second comic book of the year. I never read comic books because I find the visual/text format and layout difficult to follow. I might be getting the hang of reading panels because I didn’t have that experience this time. I enjoyed these stories a lot.

Macbeth by William Shakespeare (your favorite prompt from a past popsugar challenge - a play). Fantastic! I’ve watched several modern adaptations, but this was my first time with the original text. It’s one of my favorite tragedies.

Twice in a Blue Moon by Christina Lauren (a book featuring three generations). I cannot stress enough how little I cared about these characters. I wish I had finished this book earlier and ended the challenge with a better book.

Reading
Leviathan Falls by James SA Corey

Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse

QOTW
A Beginning at the End was a disappointment. I loved Here and Now and Then so much, and this book was such a letdown. It really suffered for being about a pandemic, but written just before COVID. Some of the things like the main characters refusing to wear masks because they didn’t want to live in fear really hit differently now than it might have pre-COVID.

I might take some of the vacation time I am supposed to get next month to see if I can find picture books/graphic novels to fill all the prompts. That way there would be a list for anyone who wanted to try PopSugar Lite.


I work in retail. Seeing all of you and your time off during holidays... yeah I'm jealous. I do save some for January though. I'm not stupid.

Although I do have to get up for work in about 5.5 hours, so... maybe I am.

Ellie wrote: "Tania wrote: "Ashley Marie wrote: "What a week it's been! I got my booster shot on Sunday and the soreness moved from my arm into my shoulder into my armpit, and it's lingering. So that's fun. No o..."

Yes, mine have all been Moderna

Merry Christmas! I hope all are enjoying the season of light, hope, joy, peace and giving!

I am at 49/50. I finishing nothing this past week because I'm reading that longest in pages book which I foolishly left to the very end. However, a week ago I thought I still had 2 to finish but a little judicious study of the 160+ books I read this year disclosed that I had indeed picked up and read 3 different books that were previously DNF. I picked the one that had been DNF for several years and plopped it right into the challenge: Provençal Cooking: Savoring the Simple Life in France which had a bookmark at about a third through for at least 4 years, probably longer. Yes, I had to start it over but I still used that bookmark.

Currently reading: just one book A Suitable Boy which at 1465 pages or so is the longest in pages on my TBR. I'm 62% done and plan to read all weekend. I fully expect to finish it by early next week. It is fabulous btw, engaging, fascinating, gripping. If work and family matters had not kept me so incredibly busy this month, it would be done.

QOTW: Oh let's see:

Normal People - read for dark academia prompt. I had looked forward to reading this book by one of Ireland's leading feminist women writers -- and was underwhelmed. I gave it 2 stars. I also wonder how so many considered this as dark academia and include it on lists as such. I won't be adding any more Sally Rooney to my TBR.

Turn to Stone by James W. Ziskin - for Locked Room Mystery prompt - awful - weak writing, weak characters, weak premise, and excessively weak mystery. In fact, once again, though repeatedly lauded as a locked room mystery, it was anything but. Plus it is the 7th in a series and I will for sure never read another. I can't believe this series has sufficient followers to have reached 7 to it. It too got a 2 star rating -- and it only got that because there was one scene in it as they drove from FIrenze to the country villa that was great. Oh and to add insult to injury, this was a Edgar nominee this year - thought thank goodness a better nominee won.

Puzzling Ink - first in a series featuring a constructor of crossword puzzles and it was set in a restaurant -- food and crosswords - how bad could it be? Really really bad, another 2 star read. It got 2 stars because the crossword puzzle included was really good but... the writing and plot were terrible. I mean TERRIBLE! Especially as the puzzle, which you can solve yourself, is ruined if you don't solve it before reading the book due to how it was incorporated into the mystery. I will never read another book by this author who btw has other series AND teaches writing! OMG she should be teaching how not to write!

The Penelopiad - I'd had this on my TBR for a while, was really looking forward to it -- I mean Penelope, Odyseus's long suffering wife telling her story? It fit genre hybrid prompt beautifully -- and was a total disappointment. It did eke out a round up to 3 stars from 2.5. The total of the experience just did not work and in fact, I think Atwood failed in what she wanted to accomplish. After I read it, I learned that it was part of a project of noted authors doing retellings of myth. We have seen so many better ones from young authors like Madeline Miller.

Before She Was Helen - another 2021 Edgar nominee that utterly failed -- another 2 star rating. Bad mystery, bad premise for the entire story, bad characters. Fortunately it had broken sunglasses on the cover so it was of use for that prompt.

The Last Book Party - in February 2020, before the world changed, I was very early to meet someone on a bitterly cold day. The local NYPL branch was open and I wandered in to wait. A couple of print books caught my eye on the 'new' shelves, including this one, and I checked them out. The other book I read right away and returned. This one I renewed and planned to read it after I finished a big work project...then pandemic and lockdown descended and I just never got to it. Plus if I had, I could not have returned it anyway. So it lived on my nightstand until January 2021 when I read it for the prompt of a book in a different format than what I normally read -- print library book (okay okay maybe that was stretching it but I read eclectically and I had not borrowed a physical book from the library in over a decade). It was so disappointing. I disliked Eve the heroine, just wanting to slap her into sensibility. The whole thing was predictable even boring. It got 2 stars.

Nadine in NY wrote: How do you remember which you DNFed and how do you keep yourself from trying to read that book again in a few years?"

It's a struggle. A lot of what I DNF are free books from Kindle that I have "bought", so I'll see that I bought it at one point and know not to read it. I haven't found a way to keep track that doesn't mess up my other systems (I'm still haven't mastered how shelves work on ŷ������. I tried to make a DNF shelf this year, but it was still counting the book on one of the original three shelves and I don't like that).

poshpenny wrote: "Moo, Baa, La La La! - Fun to sing as if it were a Lady Gaga song"

💀💀💀

My life will be forever better now that I have this in my head.

Mary wrote: "(I'm still haven't mastered how shelves work on ŷ������. I tried to make a DNF shelf this year, but it was still counting the book on one of the original three shelves and I don't like that). ..."


If I am any example, the more you read, the harder it gets to remember! Hopefully I can help ...

To create an exclusive DNF shelf: create your new shelf, name it "DNF" or whatever else works for you, then on the desktop version of ŷ������, go to MyBooks, and click on "Edit" next to Bookshelves in the left margin. You'll see options with checkboxes under them:
feature sortable sticky exclusive recs


And over in the right margin is an explanation of all those options so I won't go into it here. Just click "exclusive" for your new DNF shelf. It will ask you if you're sure. Of course you're sure! Then you'll have a shelf for your DNFs, and these books will not appear anywhere else. If you do not want your DNFs to count towards your yearly total or to show up in your year in review, do not give them a "read date."


When you're done, scroll to the bottom of the page and click "I'm Done"

Mouse Update:

I saw one a few days ago, again early in the morning, and again running in the correct direction (which is: away from me, towards the basement). But yesterday my daughter saw one in the afternoon! We thought we were "safe" during the day!!!! She had even more of a freak-out than I had. A few hours after that, I was making dinner, and SUDDENLY the dogs ALERTED and became very very interested in that spot where Lily saw the mouse, which is a spot right in the middle of the kitchen floor full of a few random boxes and bags and crap that clearly we need to get rid of so the mice do not have a place to hide. I was thinking "do NOT tell me that little mouse is still there!!" I gave them twenty minutes to hunt, but they came up with nothing. At least they finally acted interested.

It's time to clean out that crap. I just need to figure out where to keep that stuff. That's always the problem, and t hat's why stuff accumulates in random places: I don't know where to put it. I need Marie Kondo.

poshpenny wrote: "I might take some of the vacation time I am supposed to get next month to see if I can find picture books/graphic novels to fill all the prompts. That way there would be a list for anyone who wante..."



Oh that would be a fun post!!! A few years back there was someone doing the challenge with her young son and we had a post to suggest picture books, didn't we? That was fun! Let's do that again!

poshpenny wrote: "Piranesi - This was my last book for the Challenge! Woohoo! And I liked it! It's nice to wrap up with something nice instead of a slog. I think I enjoyed listening to it much more than I would have if I read it on paper. Being narrated by Chiwetel Ejiofor certainly didn't hurt...."



Oooh! I admit, I sit FIRMLY on the bench for those who hated Johnathan Strange & Mr Norrell. Reading that book felt like punishment, and I read the whole thing, hoping it would get better. It did not get better. So I decided I was never reading Clarke again. I don't care how much Neil Gaiman praises her. BUT I like Chiwetel Ejiofor. And everyone loves Piranesi (hahaha you all don't fool me - everyone loved JS&MN too and that was an awful awful experience for me!!!) So, I'm a little bit tempted, but mostly very very VERY wary. I'm not putting it on my TBR, nope, not doing it.


QOTW:
How the One-Armed Sister Sweeps Her House has a pretty cover, had good buzz, and I went in pretty blind. OOOF! What a depressing book about things I absolutely did not expect, but not in a good way.

... The reveal in Ace of Spades did not live up to the build-up. I was genuinely confused that that was it.



Oh dear. I want to read both of those. I will still plan to read them, but with expectations much lowered.

Heather wrote: "... QOTW
A Beginning at the End was a disappointment. I loved Here and Now and Then so much, and this book was such a letdown. It really suffered for being about a pandemic, but written just before COVID. Some of the things like the main characters refusing to wear masks because they didn’t want to live in fear really hit differently now than it might have pre-COVID. ..."



Oh, yikes another book I'm planning to read!!! I LOVED Chen's newest, We Could Be Heroes, and based on that, I decided I should read all the rest of his books. I shall proceed with much caution.

Theresa wrote: "... I am at 49/50. I finishing nothing this past week because I'm reading that longest in pages book which I foolishly left to the very end. ..."



Haha you and me both!! I didn't leave mine til the end, I've been reading it for months now. I just ... never want to read it. But I'm energized now! I've got only TEN CHAPTERS LEFT! I can do this!!

My mom is arriving today so I won't get much reading done this weekend. The irony is that this is exactly the kind of book she would enjoy. Maybe I'll give her the hardcopy I've got borrowed and I can read the e-book (that I also borrowed - I'm tackling this book from multiple directions LOL) at the same time.



QOTW: Oh let's see:

Normal People - read for dark academia prompt. I had looked forward to reading this book by one of Ireland's leading feminist women writers -- and was underwhelmed.

Haha everyone seems to dislike Sally Rooney! (I mean, not necessarily everyone HERE, but just in general.) I still haven't read any of her books, but I am DEFINITELY going to try one in 2022 just to see what all the grumbling is about :-)

Nadine in NY wrote: "Mary wrote: "(I'm still haven't mastered how shelves work on ŷ������. I tried to make a DNF shelf this year, but it was still counting the book on one of the original three shelves and I don't li..."

You're awesome! I don't know how I missed that.

Mary wrote: "Nadine in NY wrote: "Mary wrote: "(I'm still haven't mastered how shelves work on ŷ������. I tried to make a DNF shelf this year, but it was still counting the book on one of the original three s..."


I'm glad it helped :-)

Hello and Merry Christmas to all who are celebrating today! I’ve spent a good portion of the last two days watching holiday movies and not much reading. “White Christmas�� is on right now.

I haven’t checked in in about a month, or finished many books. Like Poshpenny I’m currently in retail and so tired when I get home at night it’s all I can do to make it through a page or two before I start to fall asleep, never mind an entire chapter. 😕 While I have completed my ŷ������ challenge, I stalled at 46 for this challenge.

ŷ������: 123/120
Popsugar: 46/50

Finished this month:
I’ve been in a holiday romance kind of mood �� short, light reads

* Tis the Season by Vicki Lewis Thompson
*A Husband for Christmas by Jo Ann Algermissen
* Once Upon A Christmas by Holly Jacobs
* Dashing Through the Snow by Debbie Macomber

Currently reading:
* The Mistletoe Murder And Other Stories by PD James


Question of the week:
Is there any book from your 2021 reading that you were really excited to read and then it disappointed you? Has that changed your opinion of an author or series or genre or��?

I suppose the book for an “oxymoron�� would qualify here. I had three books by Nora Roberts that worked. While I normally like her rom-suspense, I made it through 3/5 of Divine Evil before setting it aside. It was getting a bit too dark and creepy for me at the moment, and I just couldn’t get into it anymore. It had me wishing I’d chosen one of her other two books with oxymoronic titles. It hasn’t soured me on the author or genre, and I’m sure I’ll finish it eventually, but probably not before the end of the year. Oh, well. I’m good with 46/50.

����Բ��� I read Bel Canto for this challenge in October and really liked it. I would definitely read something else by this author.