Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge discussion
2018 Weekly Checkins
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Week 41: 10/4 - 10/11
It's unseasonably warm in England too! I'm usually in jeans and jumpers by now, but it's just been too hot. My last two prompts are now started! Saying that, I've not really been in much of a reading mood this week, so final progress is slow. I'm looking forward to seeing the new list next month (fingers crossed).I finished Rituals. Happy to have a conclusion to Cainsville even if the story dragged out a bit.
I finished listening to Sawkill Girls which was a disappointment. Then I wanted something happy so listened to The Greatest Love Story Ever Told. Nick and Megan are my favourite celebrity couple and I liked the conversational style and had a few chuckles. It veered off into "this is what I did in my career" territory a bit too often.
So I'm currently read Muse of Nightmares for time of day in the title and The Halloween Tree for a book set on Halloween. And then I'm done.
I also started listening to Washington Black. I've seen loads of snobby reviews for this by people who didn't think it was Booker material (because it's an adventure/accessible/etc etc). Which made me want to read it even more.
48/50 | 99/100
QOTW:
I've seen BOTM around on Instagram, but always posted by Americans so I haven't looked into it. I remember the mail order book clubs in the past, and their too good to be true introductory offers. I haven't seen any like that crop up in the UK again.
I do subscribe to Illumicrate which is a quarterly subscription box (more focused on YA fantasy) and I eventually get round to reading the books. Sometimes it's something I don't want but they are often exclusive editions so I can always give it to someone who does want it.
Hello, still warm and humid down here as well. It rained yesterday and just made things worse - walking outside was like walking into a wall of steam. But it could be worse, watching hurricane coverage of affected areas this morning.This week I finished 4 books, but still 42/50 for the challenge.
Phasma by Delilah S Dawson - this would work for anyone still looking for a book set on another planet, it's the backstory of Captain Phasma (Star Wars: The Force Awakens) and part of new Start Wars canon. It's good, and takes a close look at the unforgiving planet Captain Phasma came from and how closely she resembles her environment.
The Freaks Shall Inherit the Earth: Entrepreneurship for Weirdos, Misfits, and World Dominators by Chris Brogan - this was my pick for a nonfiction challenge, and is a really great book whether you are interested in being a business owner or simply want to be a stellar employee. While encouraging people to stand out and challenge the norm, the author also acknowledges how much harder it is for women to do that as employees (vs as business owners).
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling - wrapping up my first (gasp, yes first) reading of the Harry Potter series, amazing finale
The Wolfling: A Documentary Novel of the Eighteen-Seventies by Sterling North - rereading a childhood favorite, set in rural Wisconsin in the 1800's
Right now I'm working on two challenge books, for the prompts female author using male pseudonym (The Mill on the Floss) and a book set in the decade you were born (Surfacing)
QOTW: I remember those, but I am not a current subscriber. I used to decline most of the books (you only pay if you let them send it to you, but you have a chance to decline it) and just order books I wanted, and found eventually that it was too much trouble to remember to decline the books. Same reason I quit the Columbia Records club, it's just one more thing to have to remember.
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Oh it didn't even occur to me that Book of the Month was an American thing, but of course it is! I am so sorry to come up with such a US-centric QOTW. But I'm interested in hearing about book crate programs, too! I don't do any of them, but they seem interesting.
Also: how is Muse of Nightmares? I'm looking forward to that one, but I'm kind of "saving" it until I get through all the books I "have" to read this year. (Also, I think it fits a 2019 AtY category, but I can't remember which now ...)
Happy Thursday!I had my AC on yesterday as well and will probably have it on again today. (I'm in central Ontario, Canada) although out in western Canada (Calgary) they have gotten lots of snow in the last while haha suckers! :P
I had a very slow reading week only reading 1 book because I spent lots of time with family over the weekend - Happy Canadian Thanksgiving! Also because hockey season has started, I've been watching a lot of the games to see how right/wrong I think my NHL standings predictions will be this year! Go Jets Go!
49/52 for Popsugar!
Finished
Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ as a non-challenge read, enjoying the series so far but will probably read something else this week before I pick up the third book. :)
Currently Reading
Orange Is the New Black by Piper Kerman for ATY's Narrative Non-Fiction ....yes still working on this....all my reading went on hold for Outlander series & hockey! :p
QOTW
No, I'm Canadian so it's not a thing here. There are book box/crate options here but they are REALLY expensive for 1 book, the cheapest is like $35/month. I like to check in with my sister, friends and some best book type lists about once a month though to keep up with what's current! :)
Nadine wrote: "Ellie wrote: "It's unseasonably warm in England too! I'm usually in jeans and jumpers by now, but it's just been too hot. My last two prompts are now started! Saying that, I've not really been in m..."It's definitely a read slowly and savour it type book, much like Strange the Dreamer was. A bit too much time spent of the sexual tension between a certain two characters so far but I love all the rest of it.
Good Morning! I am in the USA, accompanying a student exchange for three weeks. I haven't finished any books this week because of jetlag and all the other things I had to do or wanted to do.
Where I am (Wisconsin) the weather is a bit weird.
It was warm the day before yesterday and yesterday, but today it is much colder, about 15° Celsius less. Brrr.
Currently reading the new Robert Galbraith, which so far is a bit slow.
And listening to an Icelandic noir which is good. Hope to finish both of them this week.
QOTW:
Not a thing in Germany, I think because we have fixed prices for books. I don' t know exactly about the specifics but you can only sell books cheaper under certain regulated situations, so Book of the Month would be too expensive I guess.
Checking in from a holiday cottage. It's the school holidays and we've come to Wales to chill out. We went to a fishing town called Tenby yesterday, and the weather was so nice the kids got some time on the beach. In October. Cray...I finished one book this week, taking me to 48/52 (40/42, 8/10). So close I can taste it. So I've got cocky and thrown in my first non-challenge read of the year to read whilst we're on holiday - Brave, Rose McGowan's autobio.
Anyway, challenge. I read Valley of the Dolls for prompt #28 song lyrics in the title. This story of three friends trying to make it through the Hollywood ringer in the 1940-1960's hasn't aged. It strips any illusions of glamour away from the lives of those trying to make it, and shows the sexist, shallow underbelly. Women being used for what they can give to make men rich, valued only on their appearance and with no thought to their humanity. Given the reports that come out of Hollywood these days, it's scary to see how many of these scenarios still play out today. This has been classed as a trash novel, but I couldn't disagree more. It is a page turner filled with dark, observational humour and an unflinchingly honest look at how women desperate for acceptance, fame, money or love can be manipulated, abused and worn down by a business which pretends to make dreams come true but which is actually a living nightmare. I can't say I cared for any of the characters through the whole book. Most of them appealed to me at some point along their journey, but as the worst of their personalities were uncovered by those journeys they became less sympathetic. But that didn't stop me enjoying finding out where those journeys took them all.
Do you subscribe to a Book of the Month club? Do you read that book every month?
I'll plead some ignorance on this - is this a subscription thing, where they send you a book you haven't chosen? Either way, I don't subscribe to any book-picking thing. I like to choose my own reads. Plus, I'm stingy - I never pay full price for a book, and on the rare occasion I do it has to be one I know I'll like. A subscription sounds too much of a gamble to me.
Hi everyone! It's been a few weeks since I've checked in due to life craziness and business travel. I'm in town for at least the next 2 weeks, though, so I can get caught up with friends, housework and relax on my couch reading. I've experienced all the weather in the last week. It was hot and really muggy in Dallas last week, then I traveled to Napa, CA for an early birthday celebration where it was a perfect 75 and sunny. (My birthday is tomorrow and I always find a way to celebrate over multiple weekends...LOL) I stopped in Denver for a day and it was in the low 40's (and actually snowed yesterday!), then back to Dallas where it poured rain. It is supposed to be in the low 50's early next week in Dallas, which is December weather, not mid-October. But at least I can sleep with my windows open!!
I've finished a ton of books since my last check-in, but here is what I finished in the last week:
Breakfast at Tiffany's - I loved the movie and had never read the book. I liked it, but it felt a lot different than the movie.
Blood Rites - Continuing with the Harry Dresden series. This was my favorite so far! There was a lot of action, as usual, but this also revealed a couple of big things about Harry's past that will most likely have a big impact on future storylines.
Underground Airlines - An interesting alternate history story. What if the Civil War never happened in the U.S.? I liked it, but I wanted more from it.
Currently reading:
Forward: A Memoir
The Female of the Species - I should finish this later today
Every Secret Thing - I saw this movie a few years ago and had to get the book when I learned the movie was based on something by Laura Lippman. I'm finally getting around to reading it.
QOTW:
I am a member of the Book of the Month club. I joined about 18 months ago because I am a sucker for free stuff (in this case it was, of course, a book). I've read a handful of the books I've bought from them since, but many of them are sitting in a pile on my table. So many books, so little time.
I'm so glad it's Thursday. This week is really dragging. It's been so humid outside that I feel sluggish all the time. But the weather is supposed to turn tonight/tomorrow. We're in for a crisp, autumn week!Finished
Frankenstein - This book was assigned reading in my senior English class and I ... just didn't read it. I've always felt guilty about that, so I decided it was time to pick up the book. This year is the book's 200th anniversary, so perfect timing! I'm glad I read it, even if I am 16 years late finishing the assigned reading. I'm reluctant to read classics, but this was a good book.
Shadow Libraries: Access to Knowledge in Global Higher Education - I read this for work. It was really eye-opening about how access to information is a privilege and that copyright law is often a barrier to education in the developing world.
Reading
Flowers in the Attic - I'm reading this on the recommendation of a friend. When I was at the library checking it out, 3 separate people saw the cover and stopped me to tell me how much they love the series. I hope everyone is right about this book!
Circe - Still listening to the audiobook a little bit every day.
QOTW
I'm curious about some of the book crates, but they're kind of expensive and I'm never sure if I'll like the monthly book selection.
I finally finished the challenge! Woo hoo!Finished Reading:
An Inconvenient Princess: A Retelling of Rapunzel A fun version of the story, not my favorite by the author, but better than some others in the series written by different authors.
The Power of When: Discover Your Chronotype--and the Best Time to Eat Lunch, Ask for a Raise, Have Sex, Write a Novel, Take Your Meds, and More I listened to this on audio, so I have the print book on hold at the library now so I can peruse some of the smaller sections and graphs more easily. I didn't love the self-help hype toward the beginning (this book might make your life better, but I doubt it will fix *everything* that's wrong with your life) or how he had to make up a special name for every possible life 'rhythm', but the actual information seemed interesting and potentially helpful. A lot of it was basic stuff we all know (get to bed on time, don't use screens right before bed, etc), but I think the personalization for different biological schedules makes it feel more doable.
The Secret of the Mansion I had a nostalgic need to re-read Trixie Belden. :-) It was actually still pretty fun.
Inferior: How Science Got Women Wrong—and the New Research That's Rewriting the Story I finally finished my last challenge book, about feminism! I disagreed with the author's perspective a lot, but did find some of the research fascinating. Plus, she gets credit just for pointing out that scientists DO have a bias that will affect how they interpret their results.
Cooking with Scraps: Turn Your Peels, Cores, Rinds, and Stems into Delicious Meals This week I also finally finished this cookbook that I had to review from NetGalley. I wouldn't use all the recipes in here, but a lot of them at least sparked ideas of what parts of food CAN be used, and I enjoyed her approach to food in general.
The Strange Case of Origami Yoda I read this after some of you mentioned it recently, and it was fun. I think I want to read the rest of the series too.
Grandmaster A book about chess, mental health, and that moment when you discover that your parents are real people who had real lives before you were around to know them. I enjoyed it, but didn't love it.
Currently Reading:
The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements I finally managed to get this audio book hold to come up when I could finish listening to it. Yay!
My Russian Grandmother and Her American Vacuum Cleaner: A Family Memoir Getting back to this now that I'm done with the challenge.
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Almost done listening to this audio book with my husband.
The Holy War Started this for my Sunday afternoon read a couple weeks ago, but haven't gotten very far yet. I had a semi-dramatized children's audio version I listened to a LOT when I was a kid (like, I had it mostly memorized, and could recite the lines along with the cassette) but I'd never read the original book before.
QOTW:
I'm not a member of any Book of the Month clubs; the closest thing is that for a while I had a subscription to a surprise used book based on my preferences every month. (I'm in a facebook group that sells used books, and for a while she was offering the subscription service, but it turned out I was the only one using it so she discontinued that and changed up how she was doing things.) I read, or at least tried, a lot of them, but I think I still have a couple hanging around that I haven't gotten to yet.
QOTW: No. I used to be in the History Book Club, but I usually turned down the monthly selections. Unless I forgot. which is why I ended up cancelling. I did end up reading a couple of books that I never would have read that ended up being pretty interesting. And I gave a couple of WWII books to a friend of mind.
Good morning from a finally cooled down Columbus. It looks like today is going to be the start of chilly autumn weather. My son is doing constraint therapy, which involves me sitting in a lobby for three hours, and then he goes to school which is two and a half more hours in a school parking lot. You’d think I’d be done with my book by now, but alas. No finished books this week, but I’m like 3/4 of the way through Les Misérables
QOTW: I am! I’ve been a member since November 2016 and I haven’t skipped a month yet. I actually joined because Anthony Bourdain was the guest judge that month. I most definitely am way behind on reading my BOTM books but I do eventually get around to them and I always really enjoy them. I got Circe, Little Fires Everywhere, The Woman in the Window, and other great books before they really blew up. I’m actually scrolling through my BOTM bookshelf and there’s only one book I’ve read that I didn't adore, and that’s just because it was a bit too YA cringey romantic monologuey for me lol.
I tried to put up Halloween decorations, but the heat and humidity melted the adhesive I used and a bunch of stuff fell down. :(Currently reading:
A Night in the Lonesome October - reading it to my 10yo this time!
House of Leaves because it's October and I'm in the mood to be creeped out by this weird, wonderful book again.
The Library at Mount Char - I'm confused! And horrified, and I've already cried once. But all of that in a good way! This is super, super weird and will not spoon-feed the reader the background facts and rules of the book universe. It's very rewarding for someone who likes to puzzle things out along the way - like me!
Sherlock Holmes: The Definitive Audio Collection - I still love Irene Adler, but honestly "A Scandal in Bohemia" is pretty thin. Not much happens, and Sherlock is uncharacteristically dim. Still mostly fun though.
QOTW
My tastes are far too abstruse for a book club! I also hate feeling obligated to read something. My version of this is to put in a bunch of hold requests at the library, and read whatever comes up in that "lottery."
I finally finished The Race, and found myself confused. I think it was a good book, but not what I expected. I actually want to convince someone else to read it, so I can talk about it and clear some things up.My reading pace is definitely slower since work started up and fatigue set in. I’m on pace to easily make my overall book numerical goal for the year, but it will be a close thing to finish the popsugar and read harder challenges on top of AtY, which I am doing in order.
A chilly and damp hello from Idaho!Read FIVE books this week. To be fair, at least three of them were short-ish YA reads (under 200 pages):
The Dreaming Jewels -- I kept hearing I needed to read something by Theodore Sturgeon. There, I read something, now people can stop bugging me about it. XD Seriously, the ideas here are very unique, it just didn't grab me like I expected it to.
Swan Song -- FINALLY finished this 900-page monster. *faints* Brutal yet thrilling and fantastic. I'm told I need to read The Stand now to compare and contrast the two books, but I don't think I can handle another doorstopper post-apocalyptic novel right now...
Bridge to Terabithia -- for our library's book club. I'd already had the ending spoiled for me, so I knew what I was getting into, but it was still a good and bittersweet read.
Dust -- H. P. Lovecraft meets the Dust Bowl days in a small Canadian town. Interesting premise, just wish it had been written better.
The Halloween Tree -- figured that even if I'm done with the challenge, I should read a Halloween book this month. Not Ray Bradbury's best, but still a beautifully written chronicle of why we celebrate Halloween.
DNFed Not Even Bones -- a little TOO dark and graphic even for me -- though I recommended it to a co-worker who loves his literature pitch-dark, so at least some good came of giving it a peek, right?
Currently Reading:
Mistress of the Solstice
The Girl with the Red Balloon
Through Violet Eyes
And almost 90 percent done with Lovecraft. Yay!
QOTW:
I don't belong to any book-of-the-month clubs. Heck, my book-of-the-month club is just snatching up books at our library's book sales, which means I need to whittle down this stack in my bedroom some before I buy anything else...
The weather in Wyoming is crisp. It snowed yesterday. This is fine except my heater isn't working and I don't know when it will be fixed.I'm at 51/52. I'm also on a comic kick. I have a couple holds at my library, and am waiting to start a buddy read until my other person starts, so I've been filling that waiting time with comics and really enjoying them. Some of them are really helping my A-Z challenge too.
Batman, Volume 5: Zero Year: Dark City by Scott Snyder
Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl for Made into a movie I've seen.
Batman: Eternal, Volume 1 by Scott Snyder
Avengers vs. X-Men by Brian Michael Bendis
Batman, Volume 6: Graveyard Shift by Scott Snyder
Batman: Eternal, Volume 2 by Scott Snyder
QOTW:
No. I like the idea of those Book of the Month clubs but I just don't like spending money when I don't need to (because, libraries). I don't have space to keep a lot of books either.
Quick check in for me - busy work day.Finished two last week - none for challenge.
The Midnight Star. Finished this series. I was disappointed in it. I like her other series but this fell flat for me.
Undead Girl Gang - enjoyed this one. quick read!
Currently Reading - All Your Perfects
Regular - 34, Advanced - 7, 18 Non Challenge reads.
Not a good week (or year for that matter.....cyclone, earthquake, moving house, dodgy builder issues etc). The light of my life (Zeli who was in a picture I posted in the week with the pets QOTW) went out. She could hardly walk for 5 days in a row (had perked up before but not after so long) so we visited the vet and the vet suggested it was time. I brought her home gave her everything she liked to eat (cheese, ham, ice-cream, free-range (only free-range not the cheap stuff) chook) and then cuddled her while she was put to sleep in her own home. Zeli was 14 and 9 1/2 months, we were originally told her hips would last to about 7. She had lived with me for longer than anyone including my parents and my routine for the last 4 years has revolved completely around her meds to keep her mobile and pain free (6 types of drugs at different doses in different combinations 3 times a day). Needless to say I have no idea what to do with myself now and can't really focus for long without random crying. Not ideal for getting the marking done. Back to work Monday so will have to pull myself together to get the kids through over exam time esp since I have y12 psych and chem.
Did finish 4 books while I was cuddling Zeli and still hopeful.
Year One was one of my faves for the year. Have never read Nora Roberts before as I heard they usually have romance in but this one had a description I liked so I gave it a go. Will be reading the next of this series but still don't think I'll go for any of her others.
Out of The Ice: Found this one a huge disappointment. Seriously if your main character is going to be an expert marine biologist and diver at least get the terminology right so an average y9 can't find problems with the science. She was also really needy and kept throwing herself at men so I'm not sure when she had the time to become an expert (but that may be why she had forgotten her basic science and diving knowledge).
The Enchanted Wood: Liked it better than the wishing chair ones as the kids seemed more normal even if the scenarios aren't.
People Like Us: Would work for the death or Grief prompt which is unfortunate since I was in the middle of it as I had to face up to letting Zeli go. However it must have been good because even though the timing sucked I couldn't not finish it. Dana Mele was another new author for me this year. Her description of the antics of all girls school students was rather similar to my own experience (minus the murder) which may be why I was glad to be expelled. Horrid place!
Currently reading: The Martian (enjoying lots) and How The Brain Works (nice pics but very out of date content) which will complete A to Z for objects on the cover. Was reading I am Malala but it is too deep for me right now. Finished both PS and GR challenges already so not really phased what I read now other than no more death and no love stuff.
QOTW
No clubs at all. Like Christine I know my tastes and rarely like what others come up with. I do like suggestions/ideas though so if anyone has ideas for light with no death or love let me know. I think I will be reading none emotive stuff for a while.
I am wearing leggings and a chunky sweater today IN SPITE of the humid weather. I'm trying to force fall to happen.Finished: The Secret Wife for book club. Guys, I wanted to love this book and did enjoy the first 200 pages but then figured out the plot twist with 100 pages to go and from there on out it was not gripping. I didn't hate it, I just.... blah.
A Royal Pain because Rhys Bowen has thoroughly charmed me.
A Notorious Vow, which totally redeemed Joanna Shupe for me (the first book I read by her I DNF'd).
Currently reading: Hallowe'en Party... on audio! The narrator is good and I have some driving to do this week so it helps.
Bridge of Clay NEW MARKUS ZUSAK. I just found out about this last week, placed a hold, now it's here!!! 30 pages in and I'm already sighing with delight.
QOTW: I subscribed to BOTM for two years an really loved it. Found a lot of great books, loved how they looked on my shelf, etc. I cancelled recently because I just have TOO MANY BOOKS but want to go back someday.
Jen wrote: "Not a good week (or year for that matter.....cyclone, earthquake, moving house, dodgy builder issues etc). The light of my life (Zeli who was in a picture I posted in the week with the pets QOTW) w..."I'm so sorry to hear this. At least you got to bring her home and she got to have some of her favourite foods.
Jen wrote: "Not a good week (or year for that matter.....cyclone, earthquake, moving house, dodgy builder issues etc). The light of my life (Zeli who was in a picture I posted in the week with the pets QOTW) w..."I'm so sorry you're going through this.
Apparently I read a lot of love stories, so I have very few recommendations that fit what you're looking for unless you want to go with nonfiction (Blood, Sweat, and Pixels: The Triumphant, Turbulent Stories Behind How Video Games Are Made) or middle grade (The Bridge, The Castle in the AtticMark Tidd in Business), Michael O, Halloran, etc). Even half the middle grade stories seem to have a romance going.
Oh Jen, I'm sorry to hear about Zeli. *hugs*
Only two books this week but one checks off a promptBook with your favorite color in the title
Ice Blue by Anne Stuart.
I searched “romance novels blue” and this came up and it has really good reviews on amazon and goodreads. But, ugh. The hero is an assassin which is not a problem because I love a good anti-hero but he continued thinking about killing her through a good 80% of the book. Also, the sexy times seemed to come out of nowhere and there was no emotional development but then they were in love and the ending was super abrupt. I hated it.
War Storm by Victoria Aveyard. The last? In the Red Queen series. I liked it. It took me a minute to get into because of all the different points of view. And the ending didn’t bother me at all.
QOTW:
I do subscribe. I have for a couple of years. I’ve skipped maybe two months during that time because none of the books appealed to me. I’ve enjoyed most of what I’ve picked. I generally don’t get around to reading it that month but I do read them. I picked Hank Green’s book because my niece and I were just talking about it and I was going to order it from amazon and then I got the BOTM email.
Stupid question -- is anyone who's leaving reviews on Goodreads having issues leaving links to other books in said reviews? I try to use the "insert book/author" function, but I type in the title and click the "search" button but nothing happens. Weird...
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Hello from Las Vegas where we are finally cooling off. I hope everyone in the Southeast is safe and keeping out of Michael's way.I am still struggling to catch up on my book count but I think I have figured it out. I'm am trying to make myself read books I don't like and I can't push myself through. So I am going to drop the ones I've been working on but don't want to finish. Ther are too many books in the world to read things I hate.
35/52
Finished
47. Fruit or Veg in title
Currently Reading
I'm using this as a bedtime story of sorts so it's taking a while to read
Reading for bookclub, not a fan so far
QotW
Do you subscribe to a Book of the Month club? Do you read that book every month?
I am a member of BOTM!! I love it. I joined December 2017. I have skipped one month. I have a tendency to buy books and not read them straight away. I joined with some ladies from my bookclub. I have not read all of the books I have purchased. Some months I get extras. You can get 3 a month. The club is $14.99 a month. Credits roll over for future months if you don't use them. The 14.99 gets your first book that month and for 9.99 each you can add up to two more. That is good pricing for a hardcover book. I have read a fourth of the books I have purchased. . I have a problem. I will say I have read 5 books I heard about from botm but did not buy. If nothing else I like to look at the selection and add to my list for the library. Also, since my girlfriends are members too we collaborate about which we are gonna buy and we share!! I love it. I can't wait for the new choices every month. I also love amazon kindle firsts, So fun.
Kenya wrote: "Stupid question -- is anyone who's leaving reviews on Goodreads having issues leaving links to other books in said reviews? I try to use the "insert book/author" function, but I type in the title a..."I think it may have something to do with adobe. On some computers I have that problem. Check to make sure you have the most up to date adobe.
Jen wrote: "Not a good week (or year for that matter.....cyclone, earthquake, moving house, dodgy builder issues etc). The light of my life (Zeli who was in a picture I posted in the week with the pets QOTW) w..."I'm so sorry for your loss.
Jen wrote: "Not a good week (or year for that matter.....cyclone, earthquake, moving house, dodgy builder issues etc). The light of my life (Zeli who was in a picture I posted in the week with the pets QOTW) w..."I'm so sorry for your loss. :( It sounds like you've had a rough year... I hope things get better for you.
4 books this week! 2 of them fulfil Popsugar prompts, so currently 36/50. One of the others could slot into a prompt, but I'm not sure whether to put it in.The Lifted Veil (Popsugar #11, a book with a female author who uses a male pseudonym) - I love George Eliot but this was very underwhelming. Too short to allow for the promised suspense and the only actual "spooky" thing happened a few pages from the end.
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde - Quite enjoyed this, different from what I expected but A+ Victorian creepiness. I do like old classics with a horror theme, the most awful horrifying things can be happening and it's still all couched in this verbose, melodramatic, monocle-wearing "most unorthodox!" tone.
Rosewater (Popsugar Advanced #2, a cyberpunk book) - Really enjoyed the concepts and world in here, and it was very much a page-turner, but the actual story lost me a little bit - it was told in a non-linear fashion with like 3 or 4 plots, each taking place a few years apart from each other. So almost as soon as you'd started a chapter and managed to resituate yourself in that timeline, the next chapter came up and you were back in 2040, or 2066, or 2050-something. Additionally, the main character can be quite sexist - he's intentionally written that way and the other characters call him out on it, but it got grating. Still plan to read the next book at some point though, especially as it switches protagonist to one of the female characters.
The Trials of Morrigan Crow - I LOVED this. Proper classic middle-grade fantasy. Felt so much like something I would've read when I was 10/11 that I'm convinced it got lost in spacetime. It's magical.
It could fit into the "book set on Halloween" prompt - it actually covers a whole year but there are several important chapters taking place on the night of a Halloween parade. Should I count it for the challenge? Advice please.
Currently reading Wives and Daughters.
QOTW: No, I don't subscribe to anything bookish, mostly because that kind of thing isn't really available in the UK. If it was I'd give it a shot.
Chrissy wrote: "I finally finished The Race, and found myself confused. I think it was a good book, but not what I expected. I actually want to convince someone else to read it, so I can talk about..."
Oh, I have that on my Kindle! Don't think I'll be able to fit it in before the end of the year though, unfortunately.
Jen wrote: "Not a good week (or year for that matter.....cyclone, earthquake, moving house, dodgy builder issues etc). The light of my life (Zeli who was in a picture I posted in the week with the pets QOTW) w..."
I am so, so sorry. It's obvious you gave her the best 14+ years a dog could wish for.
Happy Thursday and Happy Fall! My kids have been on Fall Break for the last week and a half and the weather has been AMAZING here in Phoenix so we've been spending lots of time outside. My favorite activity has been sitting in a chair on the driveway reading a book while my kids ride bikes and scooters. Our fall is kinda like everyone else's spring, in that we stay cooped up inside for a good 4-5 months all summer and then we finally get to go outside and we take full advantage of it. Anyway, all that sitting outside means I've finished quite a few books this week.Finished
Sex, Murder And A Double Latte I did it! I read a cozy mystery, and I enjoyed it. I read this for the Reading Women Challenge prompt, "a book in a genre you've never read." I've never read any mystery novels other than Nancy Drew because I'm a big wimp, so I decided to give a cozy mystery a go, and chose this book that was recommended by a friend. It's about a mystery writer who becomes the center of a real-life murder mystery. It was fun and engaging and all in all, pretty cozy.
Ready from Within: Septima Clark and the Civil Rights Movement I consider myself a student of nonviolent resistance movements, and I am particularly drawn to learning about the Civil Rights Movement. Earlier this year I finished Taylor Branch's three-volume series about the Civil Rights Movement (it starts with Parting the Waters: Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights Movement 1954-63 and it is excellent) and I loved learning about Septima Clark in those books and wanted to learn more about her. She was an older black woman who set up Citizenship Schools throughout the South in the 1960's that taught black citizens how to read and write so that they could register to vote. This book was her oral narrative about her life and involvement in the movement that was recorded and edited by another author. I loved it.
Ramona the Brave My daughter and I are reading through the Ramona series. She likes it more than I do, but they are fun books.
To All the Boys I've Loved Before I loved the Netflix movie so of course I had to read the book. It was delightful, and I'm looking forward to reading the other two in the series.
The Heart's Invisible Furies You guys - this book. It might be my favorite book I've read this year. One of my favorite books of all time is I Know This Much Is True, and even though the plot points are different, they had a very similar feel to me, and I loved both so much. It's about a gay man, born in Ireland in 1945, where homosexuality was illegal until 1993. The book spans from 1945 to 2015. The writing was beautiful, the characters were compelling but complicated, and I adored it.
Currently Reading
Swimming Lessons Reading this for IRL book club and really enjoying it.
I Feel Bad about My Neck: And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman I'm listening on audio and I might abandon. It's not as funny as I want it to be.
QOTW
I don't do Book of the Month Club and don't really plan to. I rarely buy new books. I'm a heavy library and used book sale user instead.
Rainy again here in NJ. Weather's been bipolar- yesterday was 90 and sun, today it's 70. Finished 4 books this week, none of which for the challenge. Oops. Still at 47/50. Read:
Among the Walking Wounded: Soldiers, Survival, and PTSD- Great look into the mind of someone with PTSD, but at the same time the almost hallucinatory prose made it hard to follow. However, I noticed a lot of similarities in it with another book when an Iraqi war vet mentions a roadside bombing attack, so perhaps the prose is reflective of a chaotic mind in the midst of trauma.
The Cobra King of Kathmandu- solid children's fantasy. Quick read and easy to follow.
Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis- I'm a sucker for well written memoirs of those who've had traumatic lives and I liked listening to this one. It made me realize more of why we have such an opioid crisis in America.
Faith of My Fathers: A Family Memoir- no offence to the late John McCain, but his book was a slog. It read more like a history book with no emotion and I had to suffer through 100 pages about his father's and grandfather's service before we got to him. Nobody cares! (Actually, I guess some people do. I tried to complain about how boring this book was to a coworker, and she went "I loved that book!") It did get better when he started talking about his experiences as a POW, but overall the prose was more telling me facts than anything else.
Currently reading:
The Midnight Mayor
The Blackthorn Key
Coraline
QOTW:
Never heard of a Book of the Month Club. *shrugs*
Jen wrote: "Not a good week (or year for that matter.....cyclone, earthquake, moving house, dodgy builder issues etc). The light of my life (Zeli who was in a picture I posted in the week with the pets QOTW) w..."I am sorry to hear that. Sounds like a good way to go, when it is time - in your own home, with your loving person and your favourite foods.
Happy Thursday! It's been so hot the past few days, but it seems like the weather has finally cracked, so it'll be properly fall soon! I finished two books this past week, although neither count for the challenge.First was A Duke by Default by Alyssa Cole. I loved this! I've become such an Alyssa Cole fan this year, and this series is excellent.
Also, I finished Unmasked by the Marquess by Cat Sebastian. I didn't vibe with this romance, although I quite enjoyed the heroine. I'm definitely planning to pick up more from Cat Sebastian since I definitely want to add more LGBTQ+ stories to all the romances I read.
I'm currently making my way through Don Quixote (finally finished part one!) and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone on audio. Both will be part of my reading challenge when i'm finished. I'm also reading The Governess Game by Tessa Dare, her newest release. I also put a bunch of books on hold that will help me knock out my remaining challenges!
Hello all!Seriously depressing reading week, challengewise. My family has had a stomach virus going around, starting with me on friday. So I´ve been on a romance binge, which is kind of like binging on mindless television to me.
I am going to finish The Language of Thorns: Midnight Tales and Dangerous Magic tonight. It´s the Danish translation that I got for a review (which was due monday, but with everyone in the house taking turns being sick not much gets done, so I got the deadline extended. On to it right after checking in). New fairy tales with a distinct old folk tale feel to them, in the Grishaverse. I like it, I am a sucker for darkish fairy tales. Going to use it for time of day in the title.
I am kind of letting go of the challenge. I still want to participate, but I don´t want to stress myself over probably not finishing (or finishing with not perfect fits). I may feel differently about this tomorrow or next week though, when I hopefully have my energy back.
QOTW
I don´t know what it is, but I get the idea. We have something similar in Denmark, but the answer is no :) I am quite particular about which books I want to own, I work at the library and my TBR pile is massive already. Mainly, though, I know I would never get down to choosing or sending them back (if that´s what it is). I know this because I subscribed on a monthly book-you-can-always-say no to thing in the past, and I ended up with a lot of books I didn´t really want to read, let alone own.
Cendaquenta wrote: "The Trials of Morrigan Crow - I LOVED this. Proper classic middle-grade fantasy. Felt so much like something I would've read when I was 10/11 that I'm convinced it got lost in spacetime. It's magical."Wasn't that such a good book?! I read that a few months ago and adored it! I honestly haven't been so charmed by a story since Harry Potter. I have my fingers crossed that this is the start of an amazing series.
Hi everyone!It was warm and summery earlier this week, then abruptly a 30 degree drop overnight. These abrupt shifts wreak havoc on my head and energy levels!
this week I finished:
The Shadow of the Wind - this remains weird for me. I enjoyed the story over all, it was interesting and I liked the ending fine. But it just took me SO LONG to read, and it just kept dragging. I think it meandered too much, backtracking into flashbacks too much.
The Best Paranormal Crime Stories Ever Told - Decided to finish this up, it was pretty much standard for short story books. Some of the stories were good, some were ok, some were 'how did this make it into this book?' .
I also was reading some comics, caught up on Invader Zim Vol. 4 which is always fun, along with other solo issues of other comics I read.
Currently reading:
Spinning Silver Really loving this so far. I don't think it'll have the "must read again" factor of Uprooted, but it is such a rich story. I like how most the protagonists are women, and exploring class issues for women and how they do their best to work within them. It still retains a fantastical fantasy element.
QOTW:
I don't do book of the month clubs. I'm pretty picky even within my favorite genres, I won't just read ANYTHING. Even half the books I impulse buy from bundles or book perks and the like I don't get to in a timely fashion. I wouldn't want a bunch of random ones to be added to the pile.
Raquel wrote: "The Secret of the Mansion I had a nostalgic need to re-read Trixie Belden. :-) It was actually still pretty fun. "What a great idea! I should do this sometime. I loved these books when I was growing up.
Hi All!I'm back! I've been having a pretty big reading slump since about August when I finished the challenge so it's been a while since I've checked in. To try to get out of it I've been listening to some audiobooks while I work and when we went on vacation I did grab some physical books to read by the pool.
So this week I listened to:
Decluttering at the Speed of Life: Winning Your Never-Ending Battle with Stuff and How to Manage Your Home Without Losing Your Mind: Dealing with Your House's Dirty Little Secrets both by Dana White. I really enjoyed How to Manage Your Home. I am honestly clutter blind. I just do not notice clutter or messes until they become overwhelming and incredibly hard to deal with (so I then keep ignoring them while they become more and more harder to deal with). This book is specifically written for people like me (the author was a self-professed slob before she decided to do something about it). I've read other cleaning books before and I know how to clean and organize but I don't know how to maintain and this book really puts things in simple logical manner in ways that make sense to unorganized and messy people. Most of it is that obvious stuff that once someone says it to you, you wonder why you never figured it out on your own. Totally recommend to anyone who constantly suffers from a messy house.
I Am Malala: How One Girl Stood Up for Education and Changed the World. I already was impressed and admired Malala beforehand but now that I've really read her story I'm just blown away by her. I pretty much never like memoirs/biographies but this one was so inspiring. Such an incredible young woman.
Astrophysics for People in a Hurry: I've got to admit, I did catch my mind drifting a few times while listening to this. We've watched Cosmos a few times and my husband (who is a scientist) constantly picks documentaries and movies with more educational themes to them so a lot of the content was somewhat familiar (which kind of surprised me). I still think I need to listen to this one a few times if I really want it to sink in though.
The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference: This one was just fascinating. Surprisingly short but very interesting.
The Ferryman Institute: one of the few fiction books I've read since my slump started but this was actually the first physical book I really didn't want to put down. The story is about Charlie, a ferryman who helps recently deceased people cross over to their afterlife and how he saves a girl from committing suicide and the aftermath that causes. It reminded me of Dead Like Me but Charlie lives in the Ferryman Institute which is kind of between our world and the afterlife, so not much interacting with humanity (initially). Fun story, fast paced and nice world building.
You Can't Touch My Hair: And Other Things I Still Have to Explain: I've been trying to track down this book for a while and am so glad I finally found it as an audiobook. I've been really trying to break out of my cultural bubble by reading books about and by authors of different races and ethnicities to try to learn more about their experiences. I am cognizant to the fact that I have subconscious biases and how I'm completely oblivious to the challenges that less privileged people endure. I've been making an effort to educate myself into other cultures and the oppression that they deal with on a regular basis. There were so many parts of this book that I found myself internally saying 'I had no idea' which really just hit home how blind and segregated my life is and how so much of my life is surrounded by only representations of 'me'.
Next week (hopefully)
Lethal White: I requested that our Library order this when it came out and was absolutely delighted to have received a call that evening from one of the librarians saying that they were ordering it and by requesting it I get to be the first person to read it when it comes in. Imagine my horror to discover later that when I had got my library card my name and email had been entered incorrectly (which explains why I've never gotten any emails from them). When in to correct it the other day, there was Lethal White, rubber banded to someone else's hold pile. I'm now #3 on the hold list. *sobs*
QOTW:
I am not part of a book subscription service and probably won't ever be. A few years ago I came to the frankly life changing realization that I am not a re-reader. I also realized that I am ok if the only books on my shelves are the books that I truly adore and nothing else. I had a pretty big collection of books that I ended up donating to my library and ever since then I get all my books almost exclusively from the library. The book subscription clubs that I have looked at, haven't really offered anything that I thought I might cherish enough to want to own. With the exception of Lethal White, my library has managed to have all of the new releases that I've really wanted to read and I can usually snag a copy in the first week or two that they receive them so it just doesn't seem to be worth the money to me. If I love a book I'll go out and buy the nicest looking hard cover version I can find but I probably won't buy it before I get a chance to read it.
Yay, it's Thursday finally! Here in NYC it is mid-October and I am still wearing summer dresses and sandals. Seriously. Humidity is so bad, you would think this is the tropics!Finished:
Artemis - LOVED this! No one is more surprised than I am as I do not like SciFi in truth. But as someone at some point suggested to me, this is really SciFi Lite. Funny, great heist(s), and a terrific kick-ass heroine. One minor niggle - a little too much science/tech/welding info. But really minor niggle. did I mention it was really funny???? I slotted this in to ATY 2018 week 3. A 2017 Good Reads Choice Award Winner.
Only one more book and I'll have finished ATY 2018 as well as Pop Sugar 2018.
Also finished:
Two contemporary Christmas romances by Debbie Macomber - Alaskan Holiday and Merry and Bright. They were fun and exactly what I needed to transition to the more serious books I have from NYPL to read.
Currently Reading:
Such a Long Journey - set in India at the beginning of the war with Bangladesh in 1971 - a bank clerk gets drawn into something dangerous. Only at the beginning. This was not a good transition for either Artemis or the Christmas romances, so moved on to:
The Fifth Season - actually close to finishing this - probably sometime tomorrow. I am enjoying it but not crazy in love with it. But I'm not a fantasy reader so take that with a grain of salt. I tend to like fantasy that reads more like historical fiction (what little I read) - George RR Martin, Guy Gavriel Kay, Patrick Rothfuss (reads like Dickens) and Tolkein (LOTR not the Hobbit). But The Fifth Season is in many many ways pretty damn awesome and I expect to read the other 2 books in the trilogy. No question.
QOTW: Like Nadine, I had no idea that BOTMC still existed until I saw it mentioned by some of the group in posts. Nope, I do not participate in any such regularly shipped book plan.
Cold weather hit us fast and furious here in Utah. We had no rain in September, and have had a bunch in October (with snow on the highest mountain peaks). Dragged out a winter sweater today since my office has been very cold since they haven't turned on the heat yet.My office overlooks the park where the local Christmas Village is located, and they are starting to put up the Christmas lights. I am not a fan of winter, but the view from my window in December is spectacular!
I finally got out of my reading slump and read two books this week. I'm finished with the challenge so it hasn't been a big deal and I guess I needed a break.
Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan
I saw this movie recently and didn't love it like everyone else. I figured I'd try the book because the book is always better, right? Didn't love the book either. Maybe a lot of people enjoyed the excessive wealth and ridiculously extravagant lifestyles, but it offended my socially-conscious soul. There wasn't any likeable people at all because apparently wealth makes you a terrible person if this book is any indication.
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
I saw the play "The Iliad" last Saturday, and since The Iliad is the source material of this book, I was glad I had already gotten it from the library. I finished the book in one long sitting. I was blown away by the play and by this book, and I'm so glad that many of you recommended it. Now I need to read The Iliad itself.
QOTW: I rarely buy books anymore because of limited space and my great love of the new library in my town, so I haven't joined any book clubs for many years now. I used to get Readers Digest Condensed Books for many years (would have 3-4 abridged books per volume). I loved these because they looked great on my living room bookshelf and exposed me to many books and genres I would have ignored.
I just looked at the BOTM club website and was tempted to sign up because books! But I regained my senses and remembered my circumstances.
Yesterday I had on the AC, today the fireplace. And all last week it rained.... still gloomy here, but it is drying out.I’m at 44/50. Getting closer, but still scrambling for a few prompts.
This week I finished:
The Distant Hours - Twin book. I really liked this, a spooky house, unbalanced old spinsters with secrets. I haven’t read Kate Morton before, and am likely to try another. My biggest complaint is that it was so-o long and at times really slow. Are all her books this way?
The Great Gatsby- Allegory. I hadn’t read this since high school, and I wasn’t so fond of it then, but it really blew my socks off this time. The themes resonated much more now that I’m in middle age. Loved it.
Currently reading:
The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs: A New History of a Lost World - For my RL book club, but it also a good microhistory. This is a such a fun book. Interesting history of the pre-historic world, with an explanation of how scientists know what we know about dinosaurs through geology and paleontology. I’m not a dinosaur nut, but this book is well written and beautiful to look at.
Pachinko- Read by a stranger. This has been on my shelf for a year, I’m so glad I saw a lady in the airport reading this. It’s great. A wonderful family saga.
I had a good reading week!
QOTW: I belong to BOTM. Pachinko was a selection, but I chose something else that month! I have gotten some great books - Manhattan Beach, Swing Time, and A Gentleman in Moscow. BOTM only sends a book that you choose, and if you don’t like one of the 5 selections you can skip, and I have been skipping a lot lately. The recent selections seem to be more chick lit, YA and thrillers, less literary fiction which I like. To their credit, I have chosen a couple of real duds, and both times I hated a book BOTM Credited my account! I too have a friend that also joined BOTM so we coordinate and share selections, so I end up reading quite a few of the choices.
Mod
I actually had to look at last weeks post to remember what Ive read. Finished the last 2 chapters of Doing Harm: The Truth About How Bad Medicine and Lazy Science Leave Women Dismissed, Misdiagnosed, and Sick for my micro history . It was really .......scary. Fortunately my appointment with the latest Dr went way better than expected, and he took me very seriously. Good news, but also some pretty unfortunate guesses as to what is going on. But at least I feel like we're getting closer to an answer ( although it involves another CT scan, probably another surgery, and several more consults with specialists) and he didn't just brush it off as "depression".
Listened to about 1/4 of The Snow Queen for weather element . Ugh, audio. from what little Ive caught this sounds interesting so far. Its only just over 6 hours long, so I may try and check it out on overdrive or from the library.
Read maybe 2 more chapters of Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine. Ive been reading this on my phone off the kindle app at Dr appointments.I really want to finish it because I am enjoying it so much.
And halfway through American War, which I am also really enjoying, and Im dying to see what exactly happens with Sarat and learn more about the character who speaks in the prologue.I'm going to try and read most if not the rest of it tonight, but honestly Ill probably curl up in bed with it and pass out. Maybe tomorrow will be better?
Yesterday it was 80 degrees and humid in CT and Im still wearing my flip flops. Today was in the mid to high 70s and 98% humidity, and like Nadine said the sky finally opened up and we had quite the downpour. Things have cooled off a lot after that but I still have the AC on in my bedroom for comfort.....The Humidity!!!!! Its like the tropics! I feel like I'm living in some bizarre joke of a cli-fi novel. I am struggling to figure out how to dress the girls for school every morning.
QOTW:
I did belong to BOTM for several months, however I had no self control, so instead of picking a monthly choice and leaving it at that, I kept buying 2 extra books for $9.99 every month. I have them all on my shelf in my room and they're so pretty:
I have not read a single one of them yet, but they are almost all on my challenge plans for this year. Meanwhile, I had the sense to cancel my subscription and started using my library. Guess what guys?? FREE BOOKS ! ALL YOU CAN READ.
This week really flew by! I finished: Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life - I enjoyed this! I saw a few reviews about it making readers feel bad about eating/buying things like bananas, but I tend to take what I like (or can easily implement) from these types of books, and don't let the rest of it get to me. I know I'll never be able to grown my own food, but this book inspired me to start doing more of my grocery shopping at local farmers markets. And their meals sounded pretty good; I look forward to trying to make vegetables more interesting like they do.
The Heart Goes Last - I enjoyed the first part of this book, and then it just got too weird. I felt like it was getting into porn fantasy territory, and maybe it was just the audio version, but about halfway through the female character sounded completely different (and annoying) and I couldn't figure out if that was on purpose. It was an interesting idea to start, but just didn't turn out how I would've liked. Oh well.
I'm currently listening to Of Bees and Mist, which is great, and reading Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About the World – and Why Things Are Better Than You Think on kindle.
QOTW: I don't belong to any official Book of the Month Clubs, but I did sign up for the Next Big Idea club where we get three new books every quarter, so I guess it's similar. Since I have four in-person book clubs with monthly reads I can't keep up with that one though, especially since I'm much slower at getting through hard copies. I usually do audio or kindle versions for my book clubs.
Good evening from Louisville! Fall has finally arrived in the south and I am taking full advantage--my evening has been nothing but red wine, kitty cuddles, and soup-making. Quality! I am looking forward to a weekend of hibernation and football.Only finished one book this week, but it was a long one--Dragonfly in Amber. I felt myself losing interest once Claire and Jamie left France, but it picked up again toward the end and the excerpt from the next book did whet my appetite for the next installment. I think I will continue the series, but not until the 2019 challenge :) My yearly Ghouly Reads have kicked off with Let the Right One In, which I am LOVING despite the surprise pedophile and acid-induced disfigurement. (O_O) This should be a fast read for me, although I may take a short break for The Witch Elm--I'm planning to marathon read that one! Love Tana French, she is one of the few authors whose books I buy immediately upon release.
With the change of season, I am beginning to feel reflective about the past reading year... I reviewed my reads and was disappointed to discover I only read two authors of color, and one LGBTQ+ work this year. I'd like to change that in 2019. I hope the new categories will be challenging :)
Wow, has it been a weather week in the Midwest! Rainy and chilly all weekend, then in the mid-80s and hot for three days, then plunging into autumn temps in the 40s with frost expected tonight. I'm getting all my seasons in this week!However, that's made for increased reading. Now that I'm done with the PopSugar reads for this year, I'm adding on to my list and still catching up with the suggestions in this group.
This week I finished: Property: Stories Between Two Novellas - I enjoyed the short stories more than the novellas. They ran the gamut of funny, sad, surprising, and downright interesting about how people view property.
I finished The Victoria Vanishes - it's my second Bryant & May detective book in the series, and I love them. Fowler has a good grasp on London history in his books, and they take on the interesting topics of the Tube and its stations, pubs, churches & graveyards ... if you like Midsomer Murders, I recommend this series. I picked up two more at the library this week.
I tore through The Tattooist of Auschwitz in a day. I couldn't stop reading it. I waited two months for the book from the library, and I was glad to have snapped it up when I did. It's still haunting me. Lale Sokolov's story is compelling - and what he did in the meantime to survive and demonstrate empathy & selflessness was incredible, despite the risks involved.
I'm currently working on The Art of the English Murder: From Jack the Ripper and Sherlock Holmes to Agatha Christie and Alfred Hitchcock by one of my favourite historians, Lucy Worsley. I hadn't considered all the ways Georgian and Victorian England set the tone for mass consumption of crime, such as we see today. It works well with reading Judith Flanders's The Invention of Murder: How the Victorians Revelled in Death and Detection and Created Modern Crime.
QotW:
I was tempted to start the BOTM box I see advertised on TV and FB, but I've stopped myself a few times. After all, my library is free, and I can get generally any book I'm interested in. Besides, my TBR shelf is going to cave in on itself if I don't get on to those soon.
As everyone has said, the humidity is unbearable. I know the cool down is coming, can't wait.Finished:
The Little Prince
Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine
The Kiss Quotient
Altered Carbon
Currently Reading:
The Widows of Malabar Hill
Transcription
QOTW:
I am so happy with the library, I see no need to buy books.
Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge
Books mentioned in this topic
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The Feather Thief (other topics)
The Preacher (other topics)
Ready Player One (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Zora Neale Hurston (other topics)Agatha Christie (other topics)
Amy Tan (other topics)
Jack London (other topics)
Ruth Ware (other topics)
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I hope everyone is enjoying their October and I hope you are all safe from the new hurricanes moving in.
The October monthly read is going on, and I've got Hallowe'en Party on hold at the library so I can read it too!
This week I read 4 books, none for the Challenge (but I really am
currently reading my last challenge book!!) so I remain 49/50.
Gone Rogue by Marissa Meyer - I'm glad I read this, because I love The Lunar Chronicles, but this was just okay.
Along the Infinite Sea (audiobook) by Beatriz Williams - after the Sausage Fest that was I Am Legend last week, I was in the mood for something with WOMEN. I really enjoyed this story, but the ending left SO MANY loose threads hanging, that I felt rather unsatisfied. I understand that many of my questions are answered in other books, but that didn't change how I felt at the end of this book.
Providence by Caroline Kepnes - this was ... okay. It was quirky and different and probably the most disappointing read of 2018 for me.
Nobody Move by Denis Johnson - (audiobook) I guess I was in the mood for some macho grit after the rather feminine Williams audiobook ;-), and nobody delivers spun out grit the way Denis Johnson does, especially as read by Will Patton.
Question of the Week
Do you subscribe to a Book of the Month club? Do you read that book every month?
I don't. Honestly I thought the "Book of the Month Club" had gone the way of Columbia Record House "deals" (you know, 13 vinyl albums for ONE PENNY followed by an endless stream of albums of the month that you actually did not want) and I was startled when I started seeing some of you talk about it! So I'm interested to hear all about it! Has it always been there, or is it new? Do you pay for a year, or do you pay by book?