ŷ������

@Nadine and @Ella - lay-off or made redundant, whichever you call it, is never fun, never easy. Wishing both of you all the best.

Nadine in NY wrote: "Milena wrote: "Nadine, so sorry to hear that! I hope you got a severance package to tide you over for a bit."


Yeah they provided something, but it was not a lot. And of course I signed my voice a..."

I'm sorry to hear about your job too.

Erica wrote: "@Nadine and @Ellie so sorry that you have to be on the job hunt.

@Bea it really is upsetting that covid makes it difficult to read. I'm glad you're on the up swing but those side effects of paxlov..."

Erica, my medical team and I have decided to stop the Paxlovid. (I had 2.5 days of the 5 day regimen.) Some symptoms have poked their heads out now that the med is no longer fighting them but only mildly (dry cough at times, stuffiness in nose) while the dryness is slowly improving. Here is hoping that my body is able to win the fight and that my energy level will improve. My quarantine was to end today, but I think I will still limit people contact and errand running over the weekend just to be sure. No fever...so that means I am no longer infective.

Finally some good news in my life. I applied to an undergrad program and I got in. I will be going for my second bachelor's degree, but with a focus in education so I can hopefully gain my teaching certification at the end.

While it wasn't my first choice, at least my backup plan worked. Originally I wanted to get into a fast-track teaching certification program which would've been a graduate one, but I didn't have the GPA. Fell short by one point.

Oh well, at least I had a backup plan so that's something at least.



Given all of that now with classes starting in the fall, I may not have a lot of time to read.

My goal is to hit 50 books by the end of August. I'm currently at 46, so I should make it pretty easily.

Megan wrote: * Travels in Alaska by John Muir;

No way! I've had that book on my tbr cart for a few weeks now. It's one I want to get to before September rolls around.

Nadine in NY wrote: "your health advice is the exact opposite of mine! I need to START going on walks!

I'm sorry something you felt good about has been taken away from you.

And I'm glad Mickey is hanging in!!"

I am 100% sure if I were to talk to my doctor (and maybe even my food lady, she keeps saying 'exercise won't break anything' WHICH SJDGHKSLGD) she'd still tell me to go for walks, because doctors only care about losing weight *single tear* But yeah we'll see. Hopefully the foot support thingies I'm getting will mean I can do the walks again!

It really is sad, though. I liked the walks. Low entry, too, cuz all I had to do was put shoes on and step outside. Music on, timer on, and go! I believe in you!!

And thanks <3 He's a little fighter, so fingers crossed!

Kenya wrote: "In the Lives of Puppets -- I can’t believe I DNFed this one�� but I DNFed this one. I LOVED The House in the Cerulean Sea and Under the Whispering Door so I should have loved this one -- it was Klune with ROBOTS, for crying out loud! But I couldn’t connect with it, and the wacky sidekick robots just killed my interest in reading further. K2SO from Rogue One and C3PO from the main Star Wars movies did the “grim sadistic robot�� and “neurotic robot�� roles MUCH better."

I still enjoyed it, but it physically hurt me to give it 4 stars instead of 5++++++. For me the pacing was off!

Doni wrote: "I'm AFK and therefore unable to do any fancy html coding. Just wondering though, if it's halfway through the year, does that mean we get another mini-challenge? :):):)"



I think Lynn has something in the works there - but she's probably distracted by her readathon right now!

Finished:

Avatar: Book One of Two and Avatar Book Two of Two by S.D. Perry (rereads, 4/5 for each, not for a prompt)

It's such a different feeling reading these again now. I was in college when they were published in 2001, and I definitely have a changed perspective on the world and fiction compared to that time.

Perry does an excellent job making new characters like Shar, Vaughn, and Jast feel so relatable and complex in such short page space. DS9 had a big cast shake-up at the end of its run, and it was vital that a new, viable mix of returning and original characters be established by the end of this duology.

The Kiss Album Focus, Vol. 3 and The Kiss Album Focus, Volume IV by Julian Gill (4/5 for each, not for a prompt)

These two books take us through the KISS projects from 1997 to 2013, just before the 40th anniversary tour. I'm not sure the author expected them to still be playing concerts in 2023, their 50th anniversary as a band. Overall, this is a good project with tons of information on the band's activities, recordings, tours, and related items.

Superman: Funeral for a Friend by Dan Jurgens and company (4/5, reread, not for a prompt)

QotW:

My PS progress is 41/50, and I have books figured out for most of the remaining nine, so I'm doing just fine in the challenge. One of my spring 2023 books was pushed back to August, but I will still count it if I strike out with my other possibilities for the prompt.

Hi everyone! This past week I have been barely sleeping because my nose is so congested and I can't breathe at night. I first thought it was allergies but then the day it first happened, I was walking back home from the train station and the smell was horrendous. That is when I learned about the wildfire in Canada. NYC was so bad omg. The museum had smoke inside as well and idk why we were even open! Also why are people not wearing masks!? There are families with their babies and children and have no mask outside. My job also provided us with masks but since I had one already on me, I just let someone else have it.

My sister sprained her ankle yesterday so since I got to leave work early yesterday, I got to help her for whatever she needs. My dad is out of state for this weekend due to my grandmother's health. Don't wanna get to personal about it but since her birthday is this weekend, I got her a gift from the museum that my dad really liked. I hope she likes it too. Every weekend, my boyfriend and I go see his mother but I told him that I won't be going. I just saw on the map the air index is getting better but maybe my answer will change by tomorrow.

I finished two books this week and one completed a prompt for this challenge!

1) This Isn't What it Looks Like by Pseudonymous Bosch: This is the fourth book of The Secret Series and since this is a reread, it is a 5/5 like the first time I read it. There was one scene that had me cry because I was imagining it happening to my boyfriend and I and damn it was breaking my heart. I think this is my favorite in the series (I will know for sure when I finish the final book, which I am currently reading right now). This book completed the challange of "A book you read almost 10 years ago."

2) Kindred by Octavia E. Butler: This is my second book from Butler. I read Dawn in college and thought it was so good. This time it was for a prompt in the 52 Book Challenge. Anyway, the audiobook was phenomenal. I thought the concept was so scary. As much as I like to read realistic fiction more, this was an easy read for the science fiction genre. 4/5

QOTW: My progress is doing pretty good! I have completed 29/50 prompts so far so that already past halfway done! My other challenge I am doing, I am 26/52 completed and I would say it is a bit harder finding books to fit some prompts but two books I am currently reading will actually complete two prompts from that challenge. Now with my overall tbr pile, I am doing well on it. I only read from that pile anyway, so I do complete whatever I put on it. It will increases though lol.

Happy Friday.

Books I finished:

Rusted Veins ⭐⭐⭐⭐
ATY Reject: Set during a holiday (Halloween)

The Cruelest Mercy ⭐⭐⭐⭐
PS: Book with a map.
I had a tough time getting through this mostly because I just wasn't in the mood for YA.

Girly Drinks: A World History of Women and Alcohol ⭐⭐⭐⭐
ATY rejects: A book about colonialism or imperialism.
This was even better than The Lady from the Black Lagoon: Hollywood Monsters and the Lost Legacy of Milicent Patrick, and by that I mean the authors writing style and the balance between information and author commentary and humour was better.

The God of Lost Words ⭐⭐⭐⭐��
A reread.

Because He's Jeff Goldblum: The Movies, Memes, and Meaning of Hollywood's Most Enigmatic Actor ⭐⭐��
ATY: Full name in title.
It was interesting and funny, but it was too much. The author spent so much time trying to be clever and going off on tangents and it was a little exhausting.

In Progress:
An Unexpected Kind of Love
Sera and the Royal Stars, Vol. 1

Stats
PS: 30/50
ATY: 50/100
ŷ������ Choice: 14/30
TBR: 6/10

QotW

Well, it's not quite the halfway point, but I am halfway done most of my challenges so I'm happy. And I have managed to get most of the 'hard' prompts out of the way. I do feel I've been cheating a bit on my TBR challenge: I made a goal to read at least 10 books out of my physical pile of books that I've picked up at various book sales and on loan from patient relatives. And so far, most of the books I've read have been books that I didn't add to the pile until this year.... so my pile is still growing instead of shrinking.😝

wow. i have a new three day weekend coming up next week. our governor signed a bill making Juneteenth an official state holiday.

the crappy thing about it is that i have to move move summer reading program to tuesday the 20th.

Mandy wrote: wow. i have a new three day weekend coming up next week. our governor signed a bill making Juneteenth an official state holiday.

Am I wrong, but isn't this already a national holiday that Biden signed in to law already? So shouldn't that count?

Wahoo, Bittersweet: How Sorrow and Longing Make Us Whole is being released in paperback on June 20th!

On her Instagram, Cain has said that if you showed proof that you pre-ordered it, you'll get a signed template from her. So of course I just had to do so! She's my all-time favorite author and she's written one of my all-time favorite books.

I have 3 copies of 'Bitterweet' in hardcover and 4 copies of 'Quiet' in paperback, so I really can't wait to add the paperback version of 'Bittersweet' to the collection. And I'm sure like 'Quiet', I'll be adding more paperback copies in the future.



I know Bittersweet was just released in 2022, but I really hope she writes more in the future.

Okay so my copy of Christendom: The Triumph of a Religion, AD 300-1300 is arriving today which I will be starting. I am not a religious person, but I have always been fascinated at the history of how Christianity came to be the dominant religion. I had just never really found any good books that piqued my interest in the subject.

I discovered this one in the World History section at BN and I thought about getting it, but found it for half the price on Amazon (even with my BN discount, Amazon was still cheaper).

Now this will be book 3 in terms of the WH books I'm reading. While they're history books so I know I won't finish them by the end of June, what with the annotations and all, I will still count them towards my monthly total.

Ron wrote: "Mandy wrote: wow. i have a new three day weekend coming up next week. our governor signed a bill making Juneteenth an official state holiday.

Am I wrong, but isn't this already a national holiday that Biden signed in to law already? So shouldn't that count? ..."



Most workplaces do not give you the day off for every federal holiday.

Ron wrote: "Okay so my copy of Christendom: The Triumph of a Religion, AD 300-1300 is arriving today which I will be starting. I am not a religious person, I have always been fascinated at the history of how Christianity came to be the dominant religion. ..."



It's not dominant everywhere! I will be interested to hear if the book discusses that. I suppose religions are spread along with the conquering nations, so imperialism/colonialism have a big effect on the local religion, but some former "christian" colonies are not predominantly Christian countries today - Egypt & India are prime examples, both former British colonies. Of course some Egyptians and Indians are Christians, but it's not the dominant religion in those countries.

Nadine wrote: It's not dominant everywhere! I will be interested to hear if the book discusses that. I suppose religions are spread along with the conquering nations, so imperialism/colonialism have a big effect on the local religion, but some former "christian" colonies are not predominantly Christian countries today - Egypt & India are prime examples, both former British colonies. Of course some Egyptians and Indians are Christians, but it's not the dominant religion in those countries.

Oh, I guess I'm just used to seeing it spread out everywhere then. Even though I'm familiar with other religions, at the same time the ones I hear most of are the Christian-centered ones.



I'm looking forward to discovering more in that book that I'll be getting. It's over 700 pages long so I'm sure there will be a lot to learn.

Another beautiful weather weekend in Chicago, and I am housebound due to some internal health issues. I do have a follow up with my Doctor on Monday, so hoping for some relief soon. Hoping to get some chores done and reading completed.

38/75 GoodReads Challenge
32/50 PopSugar Challenge

Finished:
1.) Everything's Fine by Cecilia Rabess (No PS Prompt) ��: This was just not for me, frustrating and tropey didn't make for a good reading fit.

2.) Rabbit Cake by Annie Hartnett (#24- Rabbit on Cover) ⭐⭐⭐⭐: Hartnett does quirky characters the best, and this was another study in unique and special characters that deal with tough subject matter with a bit of animal whimsy.

3.) Someday, Maybe by Onyi Nwabineli (No PS Prompt) ⭐⭐⭐⭐: This was a beautiful, gut-wrenching read about grief. The writing for a debut novel was really brilliant.



Currently Reading:
1.) The Count of Monte Cristo
2.) The Rachel Incident

[bookcpver:The Count of Monte Cristo|7126]

QoTW: We have just passed the halfway point for the 2023 Popsugar Challenge. How would you rate your progress thus far?
I'm feeling great about the challenge, 64% completed so far. However, this second half of the year has to be more intentional to complete the challenge which makes it a little harder. I slot it books that I read that fit prompts throughout the year until I have the "harder" more intentional prompts left.

L Y N N wrote: "Our Tigger is still recovering. She had a setback yesterday morning and refused to eat and was totally listless again, but as of last night she was obviously feeling a bit better and finally ate after 20 minutes of coaxing and cajoling from me!."

Oh Lynn, sending my continued well wishes to Tigger. Hope she continues to recover and rest. It's so hard when our furbabies aren't feeling well.

Nadine in NY wrote: "Happy Thursday!  It's been a weird week.  I got laid off, and I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do next.  I plan to use my extra time tie-dyeing, reading, and cleaning the house (believe me, it ..."

Oh no Nadine. I'm sorry to hear about your job situation, but sounds like you've made the most of it in this first week. Sleep is so important and cleaning and reading are top of my list to catch up on this weekend.

Ron wrote: "I have got to stop going to BN now for real. They're starting to know me and the kind of books I like. Just today for example before the cashier rang up my books and even looked at them she looked ..."

This is BEST case scenario for me!

Mandy wrote: "As Bartok says, "Stress. It's a killer!""

This has me rolling with laughter! I love that movie. :)

Bea wrote: " I suddenly got very sick with deep cough and fever. And, by Monday, my MD confirmed COVID.."

Oh no Bea. I hope you are feeling better and get well soon. The fatigue was the worst for me too.

Ellie wrote: "I'm being made redundant again. They asked me to stay on a bit but I just want to move on and find something else. They can pay contractor rates if they need someone for the job they apparently hav..."

Sorry to hear that Ellie. Hopefully you'll find something more worthwhile soon.

Britany wrote: "Mandy wrote: "As Bartok says, "Stress. It's a killer!""

This has me rolling with laughter! I love that movie. :)"

Thank you. I have to make jokes while stressed or pull my hair out. Laughing is a better solution. All those happy chemicals released.

Absolutely! "... and then I kicked her sir"

Britany wrote: "Absolutely! "... and then I kicked her sir""

🤣

Thank you! I needed that.

I died laughing like the hyenas!

Late check in this week. A lot of rain the last few days but today was beautiful. Spent the day at the Bunker Hill parade. I always find it strange celebrating a battle in which the British won. But I suppose people like commemorating historic things.

Finished:

Artificial Condition (no prompt) 4 stars. Murderbot #2. I love this series! Murderbot doesn't want to be around humans. They just want to watch their serials. Why do they have to keep saving dumb humans!?

Rogue Protocol (no prompt) 4 stars. Murderbot #3. Murderbot has to save a bunch of dumb humans. Again.

Daisy Darker (PS alliteration) 2 stars. Alice Feeney is great at writing twists and her settings are always excellent. The problem is she does not write good characters. I didn't care about any of them.

The Daughter of Doctor Moreau (ATY tropical setting) 3 stars. This was a good book if a little predictable.

Currently reading:

Home (ATY theme of returning home)

Upcoming:

Last Night at the Telegraph Club (ATY pride)

QOTW: My progress is pretty good. I'm a little ahead of where I need to be for the popsugar challenge. I am a little behind for ATY. I've kept on track pretty well during the year.
PS 23/50
ATY 20/52

I found Fire and Flood in paperback so this is one I'm anxious to get to. I have two copies in hc and it was one of my favorite books either last year or the year before.

In the meantime I've got 3 books going, and possibly a 4th. Three of them are history books so I know I won't finish them by the end of the month, but when it comes to history I tend to count them towards my monthly counts because I read a good portion, they just take forever to annotate because there's so much information.

I think since it's been so long since Thursday, I'll just answer the QotW and wait to update my reading progress till next Thursday...

QotW: I'm 84% of the way through my personal reading challenge, 100% through Nadine's mini-challenge, 94% of the way through the Mount TBR Challenge, and 52% of the way through the Summer Reading challenge. So pretty good on all fronts!

L Y N N wrote: Our Tigger is still recovering. She had a setback yesterday morning and refused to eat and was totally listless again, but as of last night she was obviously feeling a bit better and finally ate after 20 minutes of coaxing and cajoling from me! And this morning she seems back on track to recovery! The mass has greatly decreased in size, but is still there! :(..."

I hope Tigger feels better soon! It sounds like she has a good friend to help her recover.

I am finally really feeling the effects of the smoke in our air from the Canadian wildfires. That’s not a good thing, but it could always be worse�� At least I’m not living in the midst of them!...

I was in New York during the worst of the smoke, but it was only really bad for a couple of days.

June is PRIDE month!! And although Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston is definitely a favorite book for me, HERE is a ŷ������ listing of “New and Upcoming Books to Discover This Pride Month��! I can never have enough diverse books on my TBR listing!...

We have a local LGBTQIA bookstore to which I subscribe a monthly middle reader. I haven't read all of these yet, but they tend to be pretty good if anyone is looking for suggestions in that genre...

Small Town Pride
The Language of Seabirds
Ellen Outside the Lines
Where the Lost Ones Go
You Only Live Once, David Bravo
Alice Austen Lived Here
The Secrets of Stone Creek
World Made of Glass
Dear Mothman
Ellie Engle Saves Herself

And that's all I can see from my vantage point conquered by my cat!

Okay picked up another Dan Jones book. It was recommended to me that I look into The Templars: The Rise and Spectacular Fall of God's Holy Warriors so I'm hoping to read this one in July.



On another note, randomly discovered these.

Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain

Reader, Come Home: The Reading Brain in a Digital World

First I noticed 'Reader Come Home' and then it mentioned 'Proust and the Squid' which is the first book and they had it right next to it so I picked up both.

I've always wanted to read about the history of reading and I checked the reviews here on Amazon and ŷ������ and they seemed like they were right up my alley.

Ron wrote: "'I've always wanted to read about the history of reading and I checked the reviews here on Amazon and ŷ������ and they seemed like they were right up my alley."

For this, I can recommend A History of Reading. Alberto Manguel is a fantastic author, and just writes so engagingly.

Very late check-in, but I might as well do it. Saw the musical "Hello Dolly" last weekend. It isn't my favorite musical, but this version was done so beautifully - spectacular dancing, beautiful costumes, amazing sets. I went with my mother, sister, brother in law, and BIL's mother. It was just wonderful!

I got sucked into the "Firefly Lane" series on Netflix this weekend (both seasons). That was an emotional journey for me. It had so many situations that I've lived through that I was quite gutted watching it. And family situations - well, it was pretty exhausting. I will not be reading the books. I can't go through that again. I was getting a bit tired of the main characters by the end, though. Talk about a weird friendship.

Finished
An Ideal Husband by Oscar Wilde - 4 stars; PS #26 shortest book in TBR
I had seen the movie back in the day (and watched it again when I was finished with the book). Quite an entertaining mix of characters and situations.

Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo - 3 stars; PS #22 queer lead
I wanted to love this more than I did. I found the historical parts very interesting, and I felt for the characters and what a tough life they were forced to lead. But I didn't connect emotionally with the writing.

QOTW:
I stand currently at 43/90 for ŷ������ (48%) and 34/50 for Popsugar (68%). I'm very pleased with where I am this year - much better than last year.

I'm so sorry for everyone who had difficult weeks. Good luck with job hunting, health challenges, pet illnesses, etc. "You have to fight through some bad days to earn the best days of your life."

Mandy wrote: "🤣

Thank you! I needed that.

I died laughing like the hyenas!""

LOVE 💕

I feel so slow cause I'm just realizing you've been quoting Anastasia and I love that movie so much. haha

Joanna wrote: For this, I can recommend A History of Reading. Alberto Manguel is a fantastic author, and just writes so engagingly

Thanks, I've seen this book around. I just keep forgetting about it.

Teri wrote: I got sucked into the "Firefly Lane" series on Netflix this weekend (both seasons). That was an emotional journey for me. It had so many situations that I've lived through that I was quite gutted watching it. And family situations - well, it was pretty exhausting. I will not be reading the books. I can't go through that again. I was getting a bit tired of the main characters by the end, though. Talk about a weird friendship.

I'm with you there. I read the first book right around when S1 was released. There has never been a book in my life (and I'm being serious here) that has made me cry. I'm not the type of person to cry over books, but this one just hit hard.

It's because of the way the book ended that I have not been able to bring myself to finish the series with S2. I so badly want to though because I love Katherine Heigl so much, but I just can't. I don't think I can bring myself to see that ending play out on screen.

Okay, so I was skeptical when it came to the sports/athlete prompt. While I love sports (hockey, soccer, football), when it comes to reading about them I'm not into them as much.

I did however, find a couple that interested me:

Redskins: Insult and Brand

Call Me Indian: From the Trauma of Residential School to Becoming the NHL's First Treaty Indigenous Player

Path Lit by Lightning: The Life of Jim Thorpe



I had been wanting to get the Jim Thorpe book for a while, but when it came to this book, because I'm not into sports reads I wasn't going to spend over $30 for the hardcover. It's now been released in paperback so I got it for $15 which works.

So of the three, this will be the book I end up going with.

Is anyone else having problems looking up books on ŷ������? I can search a book, but when I click the link it informs me "sorry, we can't find the page you're looking for." Makes it hard to look up titles...

Yep. Mine also included lines from Harry Potter and Robert Frost, which to me says someone is taking the time to make funny error pages and not fix the problem....

Gah so stoked. Today I got a signed card from music artists Tegan and Sara! Early on they said that if you sent in your information to their official website showing proof that you pre-ordered their graphic novel Tegan and Sara: Junior High , then you would get a signed card and sticker.

I totally forgot about it so I was shocked to find the package at my door.

Kenya wrote: "Is anyone else having problems looking up books on ŷ������? I can search a book, but when I click the link it informs me "sorry, we can't find the page you're looking for." Makes it hard to look ..."

not really. it's been working fine for me on my work computer

Ron wrote: "Gah so stoked. Today I got a signed card from music artists Tegan and Sara! Early on they said that if you sent in your information to their official website showing proof that you pre-ordered thei..."

Oh that's cool that they made a graphic novel.

Oh that's cool that they made a graphic novel

Yeah, very cool. I'm super excited to read it.

Picked up some new books.

I'm seriously starting to ask myself this question:

At one point is the spending my bipolar disorder (since that's a major symptom) or is the spending becoming an addiction?



In honor of the loss of Cormac McCarthy, I picked up his Border Trilogy which I have been wanting to read for a while. I've wanted to read his work in general and have a collection of his, but I found the individual paperbacks so that works.

All the Pretty Horses
The Crossing
Cities of the Plain



This other book came up in my BN e-mail and it sounded intriguing so I picked it up too.

Fire Weather: A True Story from a Hotter World

Aw, I knew I had this edition lying around:

The Border Trilogy: All the Pretty Horses, The Crossing, Cities of the Plain

I got it a year ago at my favorite indie bookstore. I never opened it so I never read them. Now I'm glad I didn't. This edition has now become extra special given where I got it and now given Cormac's passing.

I do look forward to reading the paperbacks come July.

I had errands to run today and figured I would do my weekly update when I got home. Imagine my surprise when I got home and there was no new update. Doh! Still Wednesday... :)