Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge discussion

Welcome to March everyone! Every time I think winter’s grip on us is lessening we get another blast of cold air. I’m ready for spring, longer evenings, and more motivation to walk my poor dog!

**Admin note: With a new month begins a new monthly discussion. March’s group read is Where'd You Go, Bernadette. You can find that discussion here: March Monthly Read

Also, please consider volunteering as a discussion leader for June (Crazy Rich Asians) (ETA: We have a volunteer for April!). You can look at past discussions to get an idea of what other leaders have done. Also, many books have reader guides in the back or on the author’s website which would provide some questions to get you going.

If you would like to volunteer I recommend DMing either myself or Nadine. Posts in this thread can easily get overlooked.

On to the reading check-in!

Books finished:

Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman. I listened to the audio of this book, and I loved it! Neil Gaiman is a favorite narrator. His narration of these Norse stories just made it so fun. I’m using this for a book set in Scandinavia. It would also work for a book featuring an extinct or imaginary creature or the mythology prompt.

Currently reading:

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban – continuing with my reread of the series with some friends. This is one of my favorites in the series for sure!

An Old-Fashioned Girl by Louisa May Alcott – when I was a teenager I had found a copy of this book laying around my house and picked it up. I don’t remember the story that well, but I do remember loving it. It crossed my mind the other day so I decided to read it again.

The Road Back to You: An Enneagram Journey to Self-Discovery by Ian Morgan Cron – As I’ve said before, I’m a personality typing geek. I’m still learning the Enneagram system. I’ve been back and forth on what number I am, but after reading through some of this book (and talking to others), I gaining confidence that I’m a 9. Still gotta figure out that wing though. Anyone else into Enneagram?

Enchantée – This book I keep picking up, reading a few pages and putting back down. It’s interesting, but maybe it’s just not the right time.

The Nature of the Beast by Louise Penny. I took a break in this series after reading so many in a row, but it's time now to dive back in and catch up. This one is #11 I think.

16/50

Question of the week:

Question from Serendipity - Do people agonize over what star rating to give a book (or is that just me) and how do you decide?

I (Sara) will add in some additional parts to this question:

-Do you have any guidelines for how you rate books?
-Are you stingy with your stars? If so, why?
-Do you rate books you don’t finish?


A friend of mine recently made an observation about this that really stuck with me. She said that she had noticed her average rating was climbing. It’s not that she’s frivolously giving out high ratings. She’s cultivating her reading tastes. She is honing her skills at selecting books that she will most likely enjoy. She also is not afraid to abandon a book. As a result, she’s reading more 4 and 5 star books than she used to.

I’m experiencing a similar trend. Books that aren’t for me I will usually abandon before I reach 25% (and I don’t usually rate those books). I can be pretty ruthless at this stage. If I go past that point, most of the time I’m enjoying it enough to give it at least 4 stars. There are rare occasions when I will DNF later in the book, and those usually get low ratings.

I firmly believe that we are all entitled to rate books however we want. For me, personally, I read mostly for enjoyment, and I am ok in rating a book fairly high if it accomplishes that. Here’s a rough idea of where my head is when I’m rating a book.

5 stars - I reserve this for books that leave a lasting impression on me, or that I return to again and again.
4 stars - If a book entertains me, engages me and I love the characters this is the rating I usually give. Maybe I’m just not that hard to please, but I look at it as having a broader range of reading taste. Most of my finished books fall into this category.
3 stars – Books that I finish but are just ok. I don’t expect I will ever read it again. Often this is when the characters just don’t click with me. Sometimes I can look back and say that the books are outside my typical reading tastes anyway.
2 stars – I see serious flaws in the story or writing of a book. These are more likely to be DNFs than completed books.
1 star – I don’t give these out often. The primary reason is that most books that would warrant this low of a rating from me are either never picked up or abandoned so early on that I don’t rate it.

Spring is running late this year (last year was a late spring, too) - usually my snowdrops & early crocuses are pushing up buds now. Too much snow on the ground for that yet. March is the most frustrating month: the rest of the country is enthusing about SPRING and we are still wearing our winter coats and shoveling snow in northern NY.

This week I read 5 books, 2 for the challenge, so I am 29/50.

99 Percent Mine by Sally Thorne - I thought this was just as much fun as her first book. I used this for "published in 2019."

My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite- this was good, but not as good as I expected; I thought it would have a darker more Highsmith-type vibe.

Farewell, My Lovely by Raymond Chandler - this was fantastic!!

The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin- my "puzzle or game" read - this was good but not as great as I expected.

Snapshots of a Daughter-in-Law poems by Adrienne Rich - as part of my Women's History Month reading, I'm reading an early book of poetry and a later book from Rich. This was the earlier book, its surprisingly uneven, she's still trying to find her voice, and then in 1961 something changes and she starts to shine through.

QOTW

No I just go with my gut! And my rating indicates how much I enjoyed reading, it's got nothing to do with the "quality" of the book (I'm no English major, what do I know about the quality of a book???).

5 stars = this was awesome!
4 stars = very good
3 stars = good
2 stars = meh, this was okay
1 star = I did not like this at all

I'm not particularly stingy with 5 stars or 1 star - if I loved the book, 5 stars, I don't spend time thinking about it. Same if I hated the book: 1 star, done. My rating is my rating and doesn't affect anything else, so I don't worry too much.

Sometimes I will go back and adjust my rating up or down (up if the story really sticks with me, down if I realize the things that bothered me REALLY bothered me). I DNF sometimes, too - if it's because I'm hating the book for reasons, yes I will rate the book. When I rate a book low, I try to give my specific reasons, so other Goodreaders can decide if those things would bother them, too.

How is it Thursday again already? I'm so reliant on audiobooks right now, I just don't seem to be getting any time to sit down and read. I have a long weekend but we are hoping on going camping so I probably won't read loads then either.

I finished The Siren which wasn't for any challenges, I just needed something non-taxing to listen to and the library had it available.

I also read three paths from Romeo and/or Juliet for choose your own adventure. This was fun if a bit silly, although the alternate paths were much more entertaining than following Shakespeare's path (it marks the choices you would need to take to get to the original ending).

Eat Up: Food, Appetite and Eating What You Want for ATY (related to food). Plenty of common sense from Ruby about how our relationships with food affect our mental well-being. She has previously suffered with an eating disorder so she's very against fad diets with controlling aspects.

Still reading The Kingdom of Copper for ATY (periodic table). I'm past half-way now and I am enjoying it, just life is getting in the way.

Currently listening to Do You Dream of Terra-Two? which will either be for space or question in the title.

PS: 15/52 | ATY: 14/52 | GR: 27/100

QOTW:
Mostly I come up with a rating pretty easily, but sometimes there are cases where I've struggled with a book, but I can see its merits, or I half loved half hated it! I usually end up at 3 stars for these. That's good middle ground (I don't think 3 stars is anywhere near a negative rating).

I don't rate DNF books and this is why I don't tend to give out one star any more. Why would I waste my time on something I dislike so much? I'm probably more likely to persevere with a 2 star book if it's on audio. I don't rate DNF's because maybe there's something later on that would turn it around for me and sometimes it's just not the right time for that book, not that there's anything wrong with it.

5 stars = Loved it, moved me emotionally, gripping and/or extremely thought-provoking. Beautiful writing may be involved but by itself, not enough.
4 stars = Really enjoyed it, this is kind of my default until something annoys me or turns amazing.
3 stars = Decent book, has some things not to my taste or maybe it was just not capturing my attention much.
2 stars = It's OK, there was something about it that made me finish it, so can't be that bad.
1 star = Who let this dreadful thing into the world?

My average rating last year was 3.7

Nadine wrote: "99 Percent Mine by Sally Thorne - I thought this was just as much fun as her first book. I used this for "published in 2019."

Really?? You didn't find the characters grating and the plot clumsy? I mean...I'm glad you liked it ;)

PS - I'll try to send some warm spring breezes up to you as soon as we start getting them! :)

Hello hello everyone! Sending love from a very whimsical Netherlands, where we can have 20+ degrees celsius with sun one day, and rain and heavy winds the next. Such fun ha!

Due to the ATY readathon, I've made quite some progress! (though yesterday was a mess due to appointments and seeing Captain Marvel, and today is full until 4pm as well...) It still doesn't feel like much, even if I know it is. Why's that??

Read/Finished

The Gilded Wolves for wanting a movie, I think. I can't remember haha! Really enjoyed this, and the ending made me want the next book RIGHT. NOW.

The Binding for published in 2019 I think. A book about books or reading for ATY. I loved this book. It broke my heart multiple times over but also pieced it back together again. It is definitely one of my favorite books of all time, I already know. Would most definitely recommend. I already want to reread it!

Geekerella on audio, not for a prompt (yet?). A book from my backlist, and I was very pleasantly surprised! Really loved this, would love to own a physical copy because it's just so beautiful (purple is my favorite color so no surprises there).

The Penguin Lessons on audio, for book with an accessory on the cover (penguin has a scarf), and intriguing title for ATY. Apparently it had been on my TBR since December, but I had forgotten about it. I saw it in Waterstones in London last February and here we are. I cried multiple times. I saw the video of Juan Salvador after I finished and cried some more. Bill Nighy narrates it and he does it wonderfully. Would also definitely recommend.

As you can see, it's been a beautiful week- I loved them all!
This brings me to 15/50, 9/52, and 30/75.

Currently Reading

My Oxford Year in Dutch (Een jaar met jou, so pretty) for book on a school/college/university. It took me a while to get into, and it's definitely got some things I'm annoyed with, but still enjoying it and now that I'm used to the writing/language, it reads quite easily, so hopefully I'll be able to finish it soon.

The Night Circus on audio, no prompt yet, but a backlist book. Not sure about this one yet tbh, but I'm only 1h13 in so we'll see how it goes.

Technically not yet started, but really should, my ARC of The Princess and the Fangirl. It's a sort of sequel to Geekerella, which is why I didn't start it just yet as I didn't want to spoil myself (the summary already did sooo).

QOTW

I definitely agonize sometimes, especially because I get easily influenced by other people and their reviews/ratings. I've gotten better at giving books lower ratings if I didn't like it, no matter how popular and loved it is, but it's still a struggle, and often needs me adjusting the rating afterwards. I've definitely gotten more strict with them as well, as I've started recognizing good and not-as-good writing. I've gotten better in evaluating a book.

I do rate my DNFs, though I always mention it's a DNF and to where I'd gotten, and why I DNF'ed. I say always, but it's only happened twice xD. The second one was recently, and I made clear that it wasn't terrible, but just not for me. Not rating doesn't affect the overall rating, and I feel like it should reflect the ratings of people who couldn't finish it.

I had a lot of books with 3 or less stars last year, and am glad that so far this year seems to be better. Perhaps I'm getting better at picking as well, and hopefully my second DNF means that's improving as well!

I don't really follow a system but roughly it's like this, keeping in mind that I would love it if GR added half stars!:

5 stars - I LOVED THIS. Not all of them end up on my recently added Absolute Favorites shelf, but all those books do have five stars. I only add the first books of series to that shelf, but if the first is on there, the rest is most likely a favorite as well, and prone to many rereads.

4 stars - I really enjoyed this, but it's not perfect. 3,5 is more of an 'I enjoyed this, but it wasn't great and probably has issues'. I used to give out 4 and 5 stars a lot but I've gotten a lot more critical.

3 stars - This was okay. Meh. Just good. Alright. *shrugs* Often it's either not my thing, or there were just too many things wrong with it, so to speak, things I didn't enjoy.

2 stars - This is quite a rare rating for me, I only have 21 and the kinds of books are all over the place, but basically it says that I didn't like it, but that it also wasn't the absolute worst, and probably had some redeeming qualities. For example, All The Boys has 2 stars because one character deserved a full star. It would have been a 1-1,5 star otherwise. Just not for me, or either terrible in terms of writing/stories, imo.

1 star - Generally reserved for my DNFs. I only have 6 books of 1 star; one is a terrible picturebook, one an ARC I felt I had to finish, the dreadful Lavender Morning from last year that I really should have just DNFed, and a bookcrossing book that at least was a quick read. So yeah, it's rare.

Sara wrote: "Nadine wrote: "99 Percent Mine by Sally Thorne - I thought this was just as much fun as her first book. I used this for "published in 2019."

Really?? You didn't find the characters grating and the plot clumsy..."


LOL no it didn't bother me! Partly because my expectations were low, since a lot of readers were saying they didn't love it. But, I found the characters in The Hating Game to be just as ridiculous and the plot was just as contrived as this one! So, I enjoyed it, but I didn't LOOOOOVE it. It was 4 stars for me (The Hating Game was 5 stars.)

Happy March! I have no motivation to walk my dog either. I don't mind the cold itself, but I hate the heaviness of all the layers that a 20 minute walk requires.

Finished:
Next Year in Havana
Becoming on audio for book recommended by a celebrity
Warcross on audio for LitRPG book. I did not care for this narrator, way too dramatic. The book was fine, better than I expected from LitRPG.

Currently reading:
Middlemarch for the first time. Using it for a bunch of challenges.
Case Histories for book with a two word title. This book reads pretty literary for a mystery. This is my first mystery by Kate Atkinson, and it's more similar to her literary fiction than I would have thought.
Florida A book of short stories.
Just started the audiobook of A Man Called Ove.

QOTW:
I absolutely agonize over ratings. Sometimes I let other people's opinions sway me if I am between 2 ratings (3 and 4 usually).
My rating system is more similar to Nadine's, although for me 2 stars is less than okay. I think I have only given two 2 star ratings, and never a 1. I guess I have also gotten pretty good at picking books I will like. Although, I need to stop listening to Reese Witherspoon. I almost always like her picks less than I think I will, especially the thrillers.

Carmen wrote: "Hello hello everyone! Sending love from a very whimsical Netherlands, where we can have 20+ degrees celsius with sun one day, and rain and heavy winds the next. Such fun ha!

Due to the ATY readath..."

Carmen, I just added like 3 books to my TBR based on your update!

Happy Thursday!
15/50

Completed:
22.) The Bitter Season by Tami Hoag; I do love a good thriller! This is a current murder of a college professor of Eastern studies and his wife dying at the hand of an intruder wielding the professor’s own samarai sword and nunchuks, as well as a cold case of a police officer. This one was fun.

For fun, The Murder Room: The Heirs of Sherlock Holmes Gather to Solve the World's Most Perplexing Cold Cases by Michael Capuzzo. My parents’ neighbor lent me her copy. It is not what I’ve expected , and honestly, it was just too jumpy. Some murders solved in a chapter, some took the whole book -- for no real reason.

Another one for fun Death Comes to the Fair by Catherine Lloyd, since I’ve got a logjam at the interlibrary loan. For a cozy, this was a disappointment.

The 17th Suspect by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro brings the 17th episode of the Women’s Murder Club installment. Lindsay Boxer is entering dangerous political territory as she investigates a serial killer murdering the homeless while Yuki tries a rape case that has some unexpected twists and turns.

In Process:
1.) Ophelia by Lisa M Klein, but I didn’t know that this was YA – insert big annoyed groan. Clearly it’s based on Hamlet, but from Ophelia’s point of view. She’s been written with a much stronger feminist arc, of course. YA loves putting today’s social issues in historical works.

The One That Got Away which I was going to read for the season, except it ended up occurring over a year. Drats. Bethany Chase pens a not quite romance that takes some interesting twists. Honestly, I'm not adoring her characters.

The Boy by Tami Hoag is just getting started.

QOTW
Do I agonize about stars? Yes, yes I do. I like to be a bit of a book snob, so I hate when I despise a raved about book or adore trash. Additionally, if I get an ARC, I really want to round up. My most recent ARC got a 3 ½ stars from me and I was the lowest (at the time) rating it had. I really thought it was a 2 ½. (It has since had lower reviews, and those reviewers have had the same concerns I have had.) I find if I get verbose in my critiques, people can read between the mildly inflated lines.

Good morning all! Kind of struggling today--the weather is just beastly, and I found out this morning that my best friend's grandma passed away. She basically raised my friend after her parents' divorce, so it's hitting her pretty hard. I wish I could be there with her to help, but she lives 4 hours away, and I'm a little worried about her. So it's not a happy morning in our house :/
On the reading front, I started Beloved this week, and it's an amazing book (Toni Morrison is a genius) but so sad!! I might have to put it aside for a few days and read something a bit more cheerful. But I never read cheerful things so I don't have anything queued up... hmm.

Read this week:
An Unkindness of Ghosts - For the "space" prompt. I'm cautiously tiptoeing into the scifi waters, so I don't have much to compare this to, but... I think I liked it? My mind is still spinning a bit, to be honest. There's a lot to like here, but I'm left with a lot of questions about the main character, the world building, what happens next... Not sure if these things were purposefully left unexplained, or if I'm simply too dense to pick up on subtext. I'd read the author again, though.

Currently reading:
Beloved - for the "ghost" prompt
Joyland - just for fun, not for the challenge

QOTW:
I have a strong aversion to rating/ranking things (not sure where that comes from,) so I don't.

Hello everyone,
I hope all those who were dealing with health problems and losses last week have had a better week. My idiot friend is still AWOL and I'm still worried sick.
Marking has picked up too so only 1 book this week. However I adore my y10 class and they make it worth going in and dealing with the challenging year 9s. Y10s have been in doing extra science every recess and lunch this week. So curious it is just brilliant.

Finished:
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? which was for the title with a question prompt. Thought it was OK but the author may have been on too many imagination enhancers for me to get it all. It scared me that a world could be that cold, no animals and needing a box to control emotions...…. Sounds totally horrid and not like living at all.

Currently reading:
Bird Box not sure what prompt or if I will use it.
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine for my monthly book club which meets next Thursday, not really getting into it right now.
Dracul Prompt 50.
I Am Malala: The Story of the Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban just don't like the writing
On Natural Selection because I should.
Requiem for a Species: Why We Resist the Truth about Climate Change Loved it years ago when I first read it so doing a reread.
Yep I have started loads and just am not focusing at all.

QOTW
I always finish a book eventually even if it is a few pages a week till it is done. I don't rate unless I finish.

5* means brilliant, I haven't read anything quite like it before, it really got to me in some way and will be remembered in a year or more.
4* Very enjoyable and had something that drew me in. Both 4 and 5* are usually ones I read fast because I am pulled in.
3* OK passed the time but wasn't anything special.
2* certainly wouldn't read it again, pretty bland or had some aspect I didn't like.
1* For non-fiction I found mistakes or outdated info thus can't encourage anyone else to read it. For fiction there was something I found offensive.

Carmen wrote: "Hello hello everyone! Sending love from a very whimsical Netherlands, where we can have 20+ degrees celsius with sun one day, and rain and heavy winds the next. Such fun ha!..."

I learned so much about Argentina from The Penguin Lessons, it was a great little book which I think I only bought in the first place because the cover was cute. I must bump The Binding up my TBR a bit, once I get back into a reading hardbacks place.

It is snowing again. Why won't the snow please go away? Sorry for being grumpy, but I am really ready for spring.

This week I continued my Gaslight Mysteries series. I am enjoying them, but think I might need to take a break. A whole new genre might be a good idea.
I also read The Clockmaker's Daughter which I enjoyed. It wasn't my favorite Morton, but I am glad I own it.
Shatter Me which I felt was a solid YA novel. There was more teen love than I needed to read about, but the main plot was interesting. I did feel it ended abruptly and I won't be reading the next books in the series, but if a young person is looking for a book I would likely recommend it.
I also read a children's book called Freya & Zoos (which I can't get to link for some reason). It was not my favorite. There was no real resolution. At the end I was kind of thinking "This is it?"

QOTW:
I struggle a little with the stars, because what if I missed something? I have loved books that others have said things about the writing being flat or character development having been lacking. Then I think 'what else did I miss, I must have been pretty dumb to have missed all of that.' For years I wouldn't even rate books because my ratings might be 'wrong.' Finally, this year I decided to get over myself and rate the books. I feel like a three star rating is a solid rating.
5= Wow! That was amazing! I will be thinking and talking about this book for a long period of time. I rarely give five stars.
4= A really great book. This book will stick with me and I will recommend it to lots of people.
3= A solid read. Good, worth the time, and lots of appeal.
2=I really don't like the book, may be because I didn't enjoy the plot or the writing was poor.
1= Yuck. I only read this because I made a commitment (like my youth reading committee) to read this book.

In my rating world you have to work pretty hard to get a 5 or 1 star. I don't rate books I DNF because I don't feel I have full information. I might have decided to quit reading just before the book really took off.

Happy Reading!

I finished Hiddensee: A Tale of the Once and Future Nutcracker as my retelling of a classic. It was alright I guess, but I wouldn't recommend it. I'm not sure if the fact that I'm not really all the familiar with the original Nutcracker tale had anything to do with my apathy towards the book.

I'm now reading Devil's Brood as my book with multiple POVs. I love Sharon Kay Penman, but her books are long, so I will probably be at this all the way until next Thursday.

QOTW: I thought it was just me. I wish the ratings had a 0 star option and/or went up to 10 stars.

Becaue there is no 0 star option I give 1 star to books that are so bad I can't even finish them. I think it's self-explanatory as to why they deserve none. Then I have to give 2 stars to books that I manage to finish, but didn't really like which I would prefer to give 1 star to. That means that a book (like Hiddenssee) that is just OK gets a full three stars. Books I really like but have some flaw get 4 stars, and books I love get 5.

I would just like a little more nuance in there, but since I doubt anybody is paying attention to what I rate books, it probably doesn't matter all that much.

Only two books this week and I don’t think either one ticks off any prompts.

Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas. YA fantasy, 2nd in the series. They are enjoyable so far.

Anatomy of a Scandal by Sarah Vaughan. This went back and forth in time. I didn’t really care about any of the characters. I feel like none of them were really fleshed out.

QOTW:
I feel like I give 3 stars more than anything else. If it’s an okay book, that’s what it gets.

I do give 1 stars to books I do not finish because I’ll finish practically anything or books that are really problematic.
Also, when I’m reading reviews online, I tend to go to the three star reviews. I feel like they are the most honest about why they did or did not like something. Lower ratings are often just random rants and high ratings are sometimes just fans who will give 5 stars no matter what. For instance, five starring books on goodreads that haven’t come out yet and the review only reads “I love everything this author does”. Not that anyone in here does this.

And honestly, I wish we could do half stars on goodreads. I always round up but half stars would be awesome.

Good morning from Columbus! It’s been depressingly cold but the forecast for this coming week is looking much warmer at least. Happy Lent to anyone observing! This is my favorite time of year 😍

The Man on the Mountaintop: An Audible Original Drama I didn’t think I’d use this for a challenge, I’m just getting though my unlistened Audible originals. But I decided to *also* take on Marisha Pessl’s reading challenge (I do believe it’s on her Facebook if you’re interested) and put this in the audiobook slot. I do believe this was based on an actual book the author wrote, but adapted to a full cast production. Tbh I only picked it because Stanley Tucci narrated it, but I quite enjoyed the story. Holy Man Joe lives on top of a mountain and every year, countless people line up for days to speak with him for a few minutes. The story is about many people he interacts with, and how seemingly simple advice can have profound impact. I’d be very interested to read the book it was based on if it’s easily available.

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader one of the prompts on Pessl’s challenge is a series, and since I was already making my way through these I decided to use this series for that prompt. This was vaguely Gulliver’s Travels-esque. In a fun kid-friendly kinda way. Lucy and Edmund and their weird cousin Eustace are swept off to Narnia to adventure on a ship with Caspian. The king is searching for friends of his father, banished after he was usurped. They visit many distant, barely known lands and travel to the end of the world. I enjoyed this more than the previous, it was quite a bit of fun.

Bird Box for Pessl’s an author you’ve never read before prompt. Believe it or not, I haven’t seen the movie but I was intrigued with the general plot that when I heard it was a book first (probably in this group but I don’t remember lol) I put a hold on the audiobook. I’m not sure how the book and movie differ but the book was great, I couldn’t put it down and it triggered that awful anxiety I get when I think about surviving in a post apocalyptic world. And alone with 2 babies? I was so tense the entire way though.

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark this feels like cheating to use this to fill a prompt, but all the talk about the upcoming movie and the previews made me want to revisit these stories. Mainly because I always though these were meant to be funny? Like, funny-scary with creepy pictures. But I’ve come to realize a lot of my peers were absolutely traumatized as children by the stories that were explicitly meant to be funny. That scarecrow story (that must be in the other books) was the only one that creeped me out. But anywho, the previews for the movie give me goosebumps and raise all of my “nope” red flags, so needless to say I’m very excited to go see it 😂

Fingersmith for the popsugar article of clothing on the cover prompt. I somehow missed that this was based on The Woman in White when I picked it, and I just happened to read both in within a few weeks of each other. This book was intense. I think much more so than TWIW. It seemed so much more... sinister and coniving. And there was just so many details that I really got lost in the narrative. Between this and The Little Stranger, I’m very keen on reading more from Sarah Waters.

16/40; 1/10 for popsugar, 1/24 for bookriot, 1/12 for back to the classics, and 5/37 for Marisha Pessl’s challenge.


QOTW: I’m not critical at all so it’s usually
5- amazing 4- good 3- okay 2- didn’t like 1- hated

Happy Thursday y'all.

Been a rough week, and am fighting a HUGE case of the don't-wannas this morning -- the library I work at has initiated some HUGE changes that I don't agree with and make my job more miserable, and I'm seriously considering calling in sick despite knowing that will only delay the inevitable. Bleh...

Okay, moving on.

Books finished this week:

Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore -- for "debut novel." Mystery involving a bookstore clerk, and quite enjoyable even if it's not as suspenseful as I was expecting.

N.P -- for "novel written by someone from Asia, South America, or Africa" (Japan in this case). Four young people's lives are caught up in a book where everyone who attempts to translate it ends up committing suicide. Not as good as the author's first work, Kitchen, though I'm left wondering if that's the fault of the author or the translation.

Geek Love -- for "book with love in the title." THIS IS NOT ABOUT NERD CULTURE. It's about circus freaks -- the original meaning of the word "geek" meant a circus/carnival performer who bit the heads off live chickens. This would have been DNF if I hadn't actually paid for this book... EXTREMELY unpleasant.

Here and Now and Then -- not for the challenge. A time-traveling secret agent must break all the rules of his organization to save his daughter who's stuck in the past. A wonderful book, and very sweet! Would also work for the "debut novel" prompt.

Regular challenge -- 28/43
Advanced challenge -- 5/10
Non-challenge books -- 10

Currently Reading:

Death Troopers -- "book that makes you nostalgic" (I binge-read a LOT of Star Wars novels in my teens and early 20s, so big nostalgia here...)
Circe -- "book written by an author whose first and last names start with the same letter." Giving this one another attempt after DNFing last year.
The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl: Squirrel Meets World -- "book about someone with a superpower." Very cute so far.

QOTW:

For me, I judge based on how much I enjoyed the book. Yes, technical aspects such as writing, characters, pacing, editing, etc. will factor into that, but if a book is well-written but I still hated it ("Geek Love" falls into that category), I'm still going to mark it down. Five-star books, for me, tend to be ones that are either very well-written and I loved, or books that I loved enough to overlook some of the flaws (such as Awoken, though some of that one's flaws are intentional given that it's a parody).

I tend to save five-star reviews for books I absolutely love, and one-star reviews for books so bad, offensive, or obnoxious that I hated them. And I will occasionally leave ratings for books I didn't finish -- but make it clear in my review, if I leave one, that I'm ONLY judging the book for the portion I read. Because I believe the review of someone who didn't finish the book can still be valid if they A) give the reasons why they DNFed, and B) ONLY judge the portion they read.

I haven't checked in for a while. So hello, lovely reader friends!

I've been in a bad slump with reading. I blame The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. This book was short but took me forever to finish. I hate to say that I didn't care for it at all. Hoping to watch the movie soon.

I also "read' my choose my own adventure. I went with The Office. I'm like other people and not sure when to actually call this finished but I went through a bunch of paths so I guess I'll call it done.

Currently listening to Every Breath.

And I got a free 60 day trial of Kindle unlimited so I'm hoping that'll pull me out of whatever reading funk I am in.

8/42, 1/10, 2 For Fun

Hi everyone!

It was a decent reading week for me. Two finishes, which seems to be my average so far this year, which brings me to 19/50 for the challenge.

Finished:

American Gods Technically I read it when it first came out, and I don't normally allow re-reads for my challenge. But, since I read the author's preferred text (extended edition) this time, which had a lot of extra material, and it's been over 10 years since I read the original, I counted it. It was excellent. I really enjoyed the extra text that was left out of the first publication. Five star read, of course, and I finished it just in time to watch season 2 of American Gods when it comes out in a few days. I haven't figured out which prompt I'm using this for yet - the edition I read fits the plant on the cover prompt, as well as mythology and imaginary creature prompts.

Bird Box, which I'm either going to use for the musician, debut novel, or two-word title prompt. I honestly don't think I liked this one. At first, it seemed promising - I devoured it in two days, thinking it was a unique concept and suspenseful page turner. But the farther I read, the less I liked it. Maybe I'm desensitized from a lifetime of reading and watching horror, but while I liked the concept, I honestly didn't find it creepy or scary, and the suspense seemed to fizzle out. I was surprised, because this one has so many five star reviews. Ultimately I wanted to give it only two stars, but I'm going to think on it and come back to that rating :( I tried watching the movie afterward, and really didn't care for that either.

Currently reading:
Britt-Marie Was Here on audio
Children of Blood and Bone
I'll Be There for You: The One about Friends

QOTW:

I do agonize over ratings sometimes, but it's usually over the lower ratings.

I know this sounds crazy, but for me personally, when it comes to contemporary books, I have a tough time with the rating system. Even though the ratings are supposed to be subjective and a measure of how much that individual reader liked or disliked a book, they can still affect the success of the book to an extent. So I do agonize over low ratings, as I want to make absolutely sure the book truly deserves the low rating, that I'm not just giving a low rating for frivolous reasons. If it's obvious that the book was well written but I really didn't like it because it just wasn't my cup of tea, it was a genre I don't usually like, or some similar reason, I usually won't give it a low rating, I'll either rate it a little higher or leave off rating it altogether.

However, I have no problem giving a book a low rating if the reason I didn't like it was due to major objective problems (grammar / bad editing, so much rambling the story is almost incoherent, book was marketed as something totally different than what it actually was, etc).

So while I'm not stingy with five star ratings, I'm stingy with anything in the one to three star range.

I don't rate DNFs because I generally DNF by 25%, and I figure if I'd kept reading, who knows - maybe I'd have a completely different opinion of the book.

However, I don't have to agonize over low ratings too often anyway, as I've experienced a phenomenon similar to what Sara has mentioned: I've gotten pretty good at picking out books I know I'll like, and I'm not afraid to DNF. So I tend to wind up reading and rating a higher percentage of five star books just because of that.

The ratings for me:

Five stars: I loved it. Amazing writing. Stuck with me, something I'd read again. Every book I pick up starts out with an assumed five star rating, but loses stars as I go if there are issues.

Four stars: I really liked it but there was something somewhere (a plot hole, etc) that knocked off a star.

Three stars: Liked it, but it's probably forgettable, and had more star-reducing flaws than a four star of course.

Two stars: Somewhere between "hated it" and "liked it". If I'm going to use this I have to feel there are really major flaws in plot, writing, editing, etc. Otherwise I'll just leave off the rating.

One star: Hated it. Used incredibly rarely, and generally only on books that either have such severe issues (grammar, editing) that they're nearly impossible for me to read. Most books will get DNF'd before they make it to one star.

Hello from St. Louis! It's finally starting to warm up. We'll get above freezing today! I finished two books this week for the Popsugar challenge, so now I'm 18/50.

Slayer: This was my nostalgic read. I miss "Buffy" so much! This was a fun spin-off from the series, picking up just after Season 7 and told from the Watchers point of view.

As Long as We Both Shall Live: I thought this was great and really well-written. Chaney's cynical platitudes had me pulling quotes left and right - that's not something I usually do with a thriller! Twisty and fun. "People say diamonds are forever, but marriage is, too. Forever and ever, until the bitter end." I decided that wedding rings were accessories, so I used the clothing/accessory prompt for this one.

I also read Drawn to the Marquess because I just can't stay away from trashy regencies (although this one wasn't particularly fun). Currently reading The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls, Waisted, and Killing Adam.

QOTW: I rate every book I read, and I also write a review. My average is close to 4 stars. I rarely rate/review books that I DNF... there has to be something really egregious about it to make me do that. Most of the time I figure I just didn't make a good choice about what to read.

Sometimes I have trouble picking a rating because of the vast differences in the quality (seriousness? purpose?) of the book. How can I compare a classic like A Farewell to Arms (which I seriously didn't like) with Slayer or As Long as We Both Shall Live?

5 - loved it
4 - enjoyed it a lot, but I'm not going to recommend it all over the place
3 - good
2 - okay... but left me disappointed somehow
1 - hated

Laura wrote: Sometimes I have trouble picking a rating because of the vast differences in the quality (seriousness? purpose?) of the book. How can I compare a classic like A Farewell to Arms (which I seriously didn't like) with Slayer or As Long as We Both Shall Live?"

I keep in mind that I am rating my personal experience with a book. I mean I gave both Black Leopard, Red Wolf and The Siren 3 stars lately and they are vastly different books, and I wholeheartedly appreciate that Marlon James put a lot more work into his, which has so much more depth. But at the end of the day I had zero-effort fun reading one, and the other didn't reward me enough for the effort I put into it.

My 3 star ratings are for a wide variety of books because of scenarios like these.

Dani wrote: " ... Fingersmith for the popsugar article of clothing on the cover prompt. I somehow missed that this was based on The Woman in White when I picked it, and I just happened to read both in within a few weeks of each other ..."


I've never heard this, and I've been sitting here trying to twist my head around it. I don't really think the Fingersmith plot follows The Woman in White plot. There are some similarities, but not a huge amount.

What a week! It's been one problem after another at work, and I haven't been in the mood to read after work. I need something a little more mindless to unwind after the days I've been having so I've been watching a lot more TV than usual. Hopefully I can recharge this weekend.

Finished
The Girl in the Tower by Katherine Arden (a book inspired by mythology/legend/folklore). I loved this book, and I immediately picked up the sequel after I finished it.

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy (a book you see someone reading on tv or in a movie). I have a love/hate relationship with this book. I hated almost all of the characters (even Kitty and Levin, sometimes). But the central themes resonate with me. Maggie Gyllenhaal was a fantastic narrator.

Currently Reading
The Midnight Witch by Paula Brackston

The Winter of the Witch by Katherine Arden

Witches seem to be taking over my reading at the moment :D I've only read a chapter of each book, so no opinions yet.

QOTW
I don't agonize over ratings. It's one of the rare things I don't overthink! I reserve 5-star and 1-star ratings for books I have a strong emotional response to. They're kind of "extreme" ratings for me. I'm much more likely to give 2, 3, or 4 star ratings.

5* - absolute delight
4* - really, really good
3* - good
2* - didn't like it
1* - absolute garbage

I change my ratings a lot, especially if I keep thinking about a book after I finish it.

I don't rate books I DNF because I'm such a mood reader that I'm not always sure it's the fault of the book I didn't like it. I come back to DNFs quite often so I reserve judgement.

Finished

The Poppy War - What a roller coaster this turned out to be! It started pretty predictable for me. Really interesting setting, but it seemed to be following standard fantasy novel tropes and plot points, so I wasn't caught up in it the way I wanted to be. And then the last quarter or so came along, and this thing went OFF THE RAILS, in a good way! It took some extremely dark turns, and some of the characters really surprised me in decisions they chose to make. I tend to like beginnings the best, but this was the rare book that got better as it went on. Read for the book with POP, SUGAR, or CHALLENGE in the title prompt. 4 stars.

Total complete: 13/50

Currently Reading

Miranda and Caliban

QOTW

Do people agonize over what star rating to give a book (or is that just me) and how do you decide?

Nope! I usually have a star rating in the back of my mind as I read a book, and it fluctuates as I go. By the time I finish, I'm pretty settled on what I think.

Do you have any guidelines for how you rate books?

5 stars - I absolutely LOVED this book. I got completely swept up in the story, forgetting about the outside world entirely and losing myself in the narrative. I was deeply emotionally invested in the characters, story, or world. I would definitely reread this and recommend it to everyone.

4 stars - This was enjoyable! I liked reading it and might read it again in the right mood, and I would recommend it to people who have a particular interest in its genre or subject. Most books I read get this rating.

3 stars - Mediocre. Didn't hate it, didn't love it. I probably had to consciously push myself to finish this one, because I just wasn't immersed or emotionally invested enough to be carried along with the story. Not something I would reread in whole, though there may be individual scenes or chapters that I would revisit.

2 stars - Disappointing. I really didn't enjoy this one. There was something off about it, either a boring plot, uninteresting characters, or just subpar writing. I would not recommend this one and will probably end up forgetting it exists.

1 star - I actively HATED this book. Something about it upset me while I was reading to the point that I'll not only refuse to recommend it, I will RANT about it when it comes up in conversation. It takes a lot to get one star from me. Usually these are books I haven't chosen for myself, but ones I've been assigned or had to read for some other reason.

Are you stingy with your stars? If so, why?

Nope! I'm very good at choosing books that fit my taste, so most books I read get 4 stars. I'm not hesitant to give a book 5 stars at all. I will say that I am pretty stingy with adding books to my "all-time favorites" shelf. Those are books that are almost part of my core identity, so it's hard for something new to touch me that deeply.

Do you rate books you don’t finish?

I finish everything I read, so this isn't an issue.

I think I missed last week's check in I'm now up to 31/50 popsugar prompts and 88/365 books for the year.

This week I read

Wundersmith: The Calling of Morrigan Crow
Pride and Joy
Gone With the Nerd
Bygone Badass Broads: 52 Forgotten Women Who Changed the World
Sanity & Tallulah
Girls of Paper and Fire An Asian author - I am thinking this counts because she was raised between Malaysia and the UK and is Chinese in descent.
Hunted
Evermore

On ratings: I tend to be overly *nice* I think, and round up. My basic formula though is

1 - Offensively bad, probably DNF'd.
2 - Didn't enjoy it, might DNF but not because of poor writing or gross characters, I might give an author another shot or try the second in a series, but might not.
3 - Meh. Nothing great but didn't actively dislike it. Average, but why would you want your entertainment to be average. Solid enough that I will probably try the author again (I'm looking at you Claire North) especially if a synopsis sounds amazing. I'd maybe recommend to someone that that type of book appeals to.
4 - Liked. This was fun, but just didn't fully catch me. I would recommend to someone who like the genre, and might reread later. I would be excited to try the author's next book.
5 - Loved. This caught me right in the feels somehow. I laughed, cried, felt anxious or otherwise emoted along with the characters. I'm immediately picking up other things by the author if they're out. Recommend highly, possibly even to people that it's not their typical genre. I probably want to buy it.

I rate half stars for my own personal records (typically rounding up for goodreads), and I will go back and change the more I think on it.

It's hard to compare though, because a 5 star middle grade fantasy, a 5 star romance, and a 5 star memoir, don't have much in common and aren't a similar reading experience.

Hi all! Happy March! I promise spring is coming in the Northern Hemisphere... eventually...

Finished 6 books this week, 4 for the challenge, leaving me at 30/50.

Finished:
Lost in Austen: Create Your Own Jane Austen Adventure- (A choose-your-own-adventure book) This one was great! It took me four tries to marry Darcy as I kept going down side paths into Austen's other works but at last, success!

The Iron Trial- (A book by two female authors) I tried to go in with an open mind, but this did read like a poorly written version of Harry Potter as there were too many similarities beyond just the magic school part. I was bored, unable to connect or care about anyone but I have heard kids tell me they loved it!

Circe-(A book inspired by mythology, legend, or folklore)- I listened to this as an audiobook. I'd never heard of Circe before, so I didn't love it as much as others seem to, but the narrator helped me stick it through and I did like it just fine.

Red Seas Under Red Skies- This was my third try reading this. Halfway through things finally picked up and I flew through the pirate part, but boy was the setup to get there tedious and dull.

Rain Dogs- (A book with a zodiac sign or astrology term in the title)- I love this detective series so much.

Sunny- Was not a fan of the "Dear Diary" format as compared with the first person narrative of the first two books. It made everything that happened feel distant.

Currently Reading:
After She's Gone
Lu

QOTW:
Yes, I do aganozie when giving out stars! Usually, I go into books expecting them to be 3 star books and adjust them as I go. Three stars for me is a book I liked just fine but there wasn't anything special about it. I reserve 5 stars for books that blow me away. I do mostly try to follow the Goodreads star system: 1 star- did not like (actually hated), 2 stars- it was okay (I was super bored but there was nothing wrong with it per se). 3 stars- I liked it, 4 stars- I loved it, 5 stars- IT WAS AMAZING!!!!

I don't rate books I don't finish, but I might write a brief review saying why I didn't finish- usually, I quit within 100 pages if it fails the "Do I care: Y/N?" test.

Good morning everyone!
I only finished 2 books this week

Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl- I put this in my favorite prompt from a past challenge: Nonfiction from 2015
Educated by Tara Westover- A debut novel. (Children of Blood and Bone was here, but I moved it to think should be a movie)

QOTW:
I do agonize sometimes over the rating I give books. I am way too nice with my stars actually. I think I just enjoy finishing books so much that I often rate books higher just because I like the sense of accomplishment.

Within series my star ratings are wonky as well. If I have given the first book 3 stars, and decide the 2nd book is much better, it might get 5 stars even though it's definitely not as good as other 5 star books.

I'm a mess.

Hello from freezing Montréal,

I can't believe it's so cold and now I can't wait to have 32 F temperature.

I finished:

Big Little Lies I found no prompt for it, but I'm glad I read it. It was intriguing and I love the character of Madeline. I'll try to watch the serie now.

My Favorite Thing Is Monsters, Vol. 1 fo the debut novel's prompt. The drawings were fabulous, but I didn't find the story too engaging. Sometimes I was distracted from the story by how beautiful the art was.

I am now reading:

The Supernatural Enhancements for the puzzle prompt. Not sure what to think yet.

The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared that I could use for Scandinavia I guess. Not a big fan so far.

QOTW:
I don't agonize over my ratings. I change them sometimes and I use it just for me. No real guidelines. And I don't rate books that I don't finish. They tend to disappear from any of my lists.

PopSugar Challenge-13/40
Goodreads Challenge- 18/60

Finished this Week:
I haven't been able to finish any books this week. I have been crazy busy at work and then when I get home I just seem to veg out doing nothing. Lol I have got to get back on track.

Still Currently Reading:

The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle Took place on one day I am working through this very slowly for the moment, not that it isn't interesting its just that it is my 'home' book and I have been doing a bunch of more things at home other than reading physically more listening to audiobooks and some political podcasts.

I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer A book published posthumously I am reading this as an ebook. I am almost through this book and it is captivating. I wish I was able to read more this week. I have been fudging at work to "read just one more chapter."

The Time Traveler's Wife A book you see someone reading on TV or in a movie This was read by Rory in Gilmore Girls. I am listening to this as an audiobook I am a little over half done. It is so much better than the movie.

Question of the Week:
I don't antagonize over the ratings. Sometimes I feel I am too nice with my stars and I let other ratings influence me except for the books I hate. I definitely give those an accurate rating in my mind.

Ellie wrote: "Laura wrote: Sometimes I have trouble picking a rating because of the vast differences in the quality (seriousness? purpose?) of the book. How can I compare a classic like A Farewell to Arms (which..."

I completely agree with that. I think everybody knows, or should know, that the GR ratings system is completely subjective.

Someone once said to me that JRR Tolkien was a better writer than Charles Dickens. My feeling on the matter was that was like comparing apples to oranges and Tolkien is a fantasy writer and Dickens is a classic writer. But, I have no issue with anybody preferring Tolkien to Dickens. If that made any sense.

I guess what I'm saying is that it is easier to directly compare two different writers from the same genre and time period than two writers of different genres of different time periods. But, that doesn't mean you can't prefer one to the other, or hold them at the same level of enjoyment.

Happy March! I'm so loving the weather in Phoenix right now and I'm spending as much time as possible outside - reading and otherwise. And possibly because of that, I finished a bunch of books this week.

21/50 challenge books completed

Finished
Singin' and Swingin' and Gettin' Merry Like Christmas (Modern Mrs Darcy challenge - 3 books by same author) I love Maya Angelou's autobiographies. This is the third one, and follows I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings and Gather Together in My Name. She lived the most fascinating life, and writes about it in a matter-of-fact, but also beautifully-written, way. This installation had some lighter subject matter than the previous two, but was still fantastic.

Native Son (1. becoming a movie in 2019) This book you guys. It was so intense. It'll stay with me for a long time. It was published in 1940 and Richard Wright wrote it to highlight the horrible state of race relations at the time. I think he accomplished that goal. He essentially asks in the novel: what happens when you oppress a people for so long? What will those people eventually do? There are parts that are violent and hard to read, but the book is incredible and important and I highly recommend it.

Warcross (45. LitRPG) This is not my genre. Like - at all. But I did enjoy this more than I expected to. And, in my opinion, it was similar to, but way better and way less misogynistic than Ready Player One. I listened to it on audiobook and I felt that the narrator did a nice job, though her British accents were a little cringy. Mostly I'm just happy to be done with this prompt.

Bridget Jones's Diary (15. retelling of a classic) This is a REAL LOOSE re-telling of Pride and Prejudice. I expected to like it because I loved the movie, but I just don't think it aged well. It was published only about 20 years ago, but the fat-shaming and casual sexual harrassment were quite jarring to my 2019 ears. I didn't love it.

Statue of Liberty Adventure (42. choose your own adventure book) I think this is the weirdest prompt this year. I read these all of the time as a kid in the 80's, so it was kind of fun to revisit it, but also weird. Again, at least it's done.

Currently Reading
The Birchbark House (44. read a book during the season it is set)
In This House of Brede (50. a book set in an abbey)
The Portable Dorothy Parker (2. book that makes you nostalgic)

QOTW
I agonize about star ratings much more now that I'm also posting reviews and ratings to Instagram. Somehow Goodreads ratings felt like they were more for me, but Instagram for everyone.

I give a lot of books 4 stars. For me, 4 stars means I really liked the book and wouldn't hesitate to recommend it. I reserve 5 stars for books that really blew me away and will stay with me for awhile. It's not uncommon for me to change a 4 star rating to 5 when I can't stop thinking about the book after a time. 3 stars says the that book is pretty good or okay, but I might have reservations about recommending it. 2 stars goes to books that I finished but really didn't like (I'm looking at you Ready Player One). I've hardly given out any 1 star ratings, because if it's that bad I almost never finish it. Last year I gave out just one 1-star rating, and the only reason I finished the book was because it was for an IRL book club, and I always finish those. It was a cozy mystery that felt like it was written for a 5th grade creative mystery writing project. It was so bad.

Hello feom WI.

This week I completed 5 books and had one dnf.

I am embarrassed to say I could not finish A Vindication of the Rights of Woman by Mary Wollstonecraft. This is a well regarded feminist classic. The language was well, honestly, I'm not sure how to describe it. It's a treatise on why women should have equal rights which is my wheel house. It was just so wordy and repetitive. Arg.

Finished:
Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple for PS prompt #1 book becomjng a movie. I liked this one. It took me by surprise and changed half way through. I had to think about why I liked it.
Under Fire: Reporting from the Front Lines of the Trump White House by April Ryan for RH prompt # 5 book by a journalist. This book surprised me. It was more a memoir with some journalism. It was scattered and it felt rushed.
Men Explain Things to Me by Rebecca Solnit for PS prompt #49 book that inspired a common idiom (mansplaining) I really loved these essats. They ranged feom funny to I'm lighting the word on fire. It framed my anger at so much of what's going on with women right now.
Once Upon a Marquess by Courtney Milan for RH prompt #16 a historical romance by a POC. I really needed a light read here.Not her best but still got the feels.
Queenie Candice Carty-Williams for review. I was so excited to read this book. My expectations were way to high and I blame the publisher. They compared it to Americanah which is on my list of best books ever. However, once I stepped back I enjoyed the book on it's own merits.

QOTW
I do agonize over ratings. I give out a lot of 5s. When a book engages me and I fall in love with it or the characters its a 5. I do appreciate others low reviews and explanations for them. I hate when someone rates a 2 and says rubbish. We all know one persons trash is another persons treasure. I love reviews that say I gave it a 2 for bad language and sexual situatiins. Now I know, thisis not a reason I wouldn't pass it by. It tells me something.

Tara wrote: "Happy March! I'm so loving the weather in Phoenix right now and I'm spending as much time as possible outside - reading and otherwise."

Me too! I got a sunburn the other day because of that - it seemed like the first nice day we'd had in Phoenix in quite awhile, and I was outside for probably way too long reading in the middle of the day. :) But I'm certainly not complaining, I'm going to soak up as much of this as I can before it goes up to 115 out.

Winter is making me sluggish. Just a few short stories read this week.

Angel of the Blockade - Sci-fi story about a blind smuggler, the best in the business. She takes on a dubious smuggling job and gets into more trouble than she expected.

Knowledgeable Creatures: A Tor.com Original - Story about an ex-cop dog who now works as a private investigator. He also takes on a dubious job (a murder investigation) and gets into more trouble than he expected.

A Dead Djinn in Cairo - Story about a special investigator with the Egyptian Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments, and Supernatural Entities. She ALSO takes on a job (a murder investigation) and gets into more trouble than she expected. I guess that's the theme of the week.

(fyi, if you don't mind using short stories for prompts, Angel of the Blockade is short, it's set in space, and you can read it for free here)


QotW: I rate things pretty easily, but I often go back and adjust my ratings. I also have a shelf for my reading each year, and I rank all the books from favorite to least favorite. So I can look back and see, e.g., The Devil in Silver was my 57th favorite book in 2018.

3 stars is my default rating, and it's a good rating: it means I enjoyed the book!

4 stars means the book stands out in quality, and 5 stars is reserved for my favorite books. I'm pretty stingy with 5s; I usually give out two or three a year.

2s and 1s are less common, because I'm generally good at picking stuff that I'll like. A lot of my 1s are books I read for school where I had no choice. (Not to say that school books are generally bad! e.g. I loved Lord of the Flies and Ben Jonson's The Alchemist. It's just that, if I don't get to pick, there are going to be some duds.) Also, standalone short stories: I read those pretty indiscriminately because there's no point consulting reviews that are going to be nearly as long as the story itself.

Finished this week:

Hey, Kiddo by Jarrett J. Krosoczka graphic novel nominated for national book award(ATY) but also very much a book about a family and maybe a multi generational saga depending on how you define saga. Boy raised by his grandparents due to his mother's drug dependency. This was well done and there were clearly places where he used real artifacts from his life in really moving ways that illustrated the story in a very authentic way. And the afterward left the room a little dusty. This was nice.

Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor The Binti tirllogy has been my jam since I read the first one the year it came out. So I was excited to go back and read her earlier works. This is YA and it very much spends too much time on a soccer match in the middle (like this is the Nigerian Harry Potter or something) but I liked it enough to put the next book on my list at the library.


Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford For the bitter/sweet whatever prompt here! I read a non-fiction book about the internment camps last year and this is more about the people left behind than the camps themselves but as somebody whose family was in Seattle at that time it was interesting to see how and where the story happened there. Every time they mentioned Boeing I was like, "Hey, my grandfather is working there right now when the book is set."

Bingo Love by Tee Franklin LGBTQ grandmothers! What's not to love? Well, for me? This book. I wanted to love it. The art was spectacular. But the story itself felt kind of missing. Girls meet. A couple panels and they've spent 4 years together becoming besties. They kiss a few panels and they're caught. Girl moves. A few panels 50 years and 3 kids have happened and passed. Girl moves back. A few panels... A lot of this story got dispatched in a few admittedly beautifully drawn panels and other things got dismissed in "look for this story in...." a book you can't buy separately and have to rebuy a longer version of this book. The subject was lovely, the art was great. The characters were people I wanted to get to know... I just still wanted to get to know them at the end of this book.


Currently reading
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo I'm totally going to get this confused with Evelyn Hardcastle for YEARS. I adore this book. Only halfway but every time I pick it up I have to remind myself that I'm busy this week and there are things I have to get done. I wish I'd picked it up on lazy Sunday so I could have just gone right through.

QOTW
I'm a star slut. I like most things well enough.

A 5 star read is usually a really, really, really good read. One I tell people about. One I vividly remember.

But a 4 star read, yeah, that could be anything. I was genuinely glad I read it.

A 3 star read there was nothing terribly wrong with the book, but there was something that bugged me.

A 2 star read had serious issues. I don't recommend it.

I'm not sure I've ever given a 1 star review. I dont' DNF many books but i think if I hated something enough for it to be a 1 star review I wouldn't muddle through. But it would have to have like no redeeming qualities and most works I think have a turn of phrase or a way of looking at something that earns a second star from me.

Hi all. A couple more PS prompts ticked off this week.

I reread The Renegades of Pern for 27. imaginary creature (dragons!), and it also worked for this week's ATY book. Not one of my favourite Pern books, but you need to read it for the main story arc.

I also read Cat About Town, by Cate Conte for 35. Author with the same letter for both names. An enjoyable cozy mystery with some interesting characters.

Last, but not least, was Farewell to Felines for the SRC, although I haven't found a PS prompt for it.

Currently reading: It Happened One Knife, because its been on my TBR for a really long time. I also need to read Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine for my ftf book club next week.

Question of the week: Do people agonize over what star rating to give a book (or is that just me) and how do you decide?

-Do you have any guidelines for how you rate books?
-Are you stingy with your stars? If so, why?
-Do you rate books you don’t finish?

Most of my ratings are two, three or four: okay/meh, liked it, liked it a lot. If it wasn't clear cut, or I think it should have had a half star, then I mention it in the review.

I save ones and fives for either really awful books, or something special in some way, respectively. I very rarely DNF a book - like maybe half a dozen in the last five years, but if I do, I'm more likely to just delete it from my GR list than rate it.

Hi Everyone!

Did not have a very book-full week, I went to Disney World and was rather too busy to read!

All I finished was The Windup Girl. This is my ATY book about food, as weird as it sounds. Genetically engineered food, diseases, starvation, food blight, calorie counting etc. was all the backbone of this dystopia. Kind of on the fence about this. Parts of it were good, but I felt like it jumped around too much, it was really hard to figure out where the plot was going. and even when it ended it left me feeling very "ok...?" Also, while I admire that a white american dude managed to write a book set in Thailand with primarily PoC characters, I really did NOT like how he wrote Emiko.

Currently reading:

Bel Canto - This is for my book club meeting next week, I'm not sure if it'll count for any challenges yet. Just started it, don't have any opinion yet.

QOTW:

I do agonize to some degree. Usually most when my opinion differs greatly from the norm. I always worry that I'm missing some crucial point and that my low review is just indicative that I "didn't get it". Overall I tend to rate based on my enjoyment, although to some degree I will rate a book highly even if I didn't ENJOY it, if It really made me feel. Such as something like Roxanne Gay's Hunger: A Memoir To My Body. It was really upsetting to read, but it was powerful. So I rated it high, even though I'd never read it again.

I've been trying to think harder on ratings lately though because I found that a lot of books that I gave 5 stars to because I enjoyed them a lot at the time, I can't even remember why I liked them later. Also I feel like I rely on the 3 star too much, when I'm ambivalent. there's 3 star books I liked and would read again since they're part of a series or some such, but others that I really didn't like that much but felt like they weren't quite bad enough to rate a 2 star.

I don't know why, I feel guilty giving out really low ratings, like the author is going to look at all them and know. I usually give out 2 star ratings if I really didn't enjoy it at all, but it wasn't bad enough to make me DNF.

I generally don't review DNFs because I figure I can't really properly give a review, if I didn't finish.

Hi all, it's definitely a snowy winter day here in Northeast Ohio.

I didn't finish any books this week. I was working on a knitting project and was consumed with that.
I DNF'd The Windup Girl. It was a selection for my IRL book club. They met Tuesday of this week and I didn't bother to go. I got to 90 some odd pages and I was still confused as to where the story was going. I decided this morning not to even waste anymore time with it.

I'm currently reading Circe for prompt #12 A book inspired by myth/legend/folklore. I'm only 30 or so pages in and I like it so far. I really love Greek Mythology so this is right up my alley.

QOTW
Do people agonize over what star rating to give a book (or is that just me) and how do you decide?

I don't agonize over a book's rating because I'm reading it and my opinion is important. Rating books is a very personal thing to me. I'm not concerned with how others see the book(s)

Do you have any guidelines for how you rate books?
5 stars-Absolutely one of the best books I've read. Makes an impression.
4-Really good but a few parts could have been better
3-Good. It was a decent. Some things could have been better but overall a good story.
2-Meh The story was not that good.
1- Really bad. I don't rate books a 1. I just abandon them.

Are you stingy with your stars? If so, why?
Yes, I've become stingier with my stars since I started writing more so I read as a writer and a reader now. If I felt the book should have been edited better I'll give it a lower star rating.

Do you rate books you don’t finish?
It depends if the book was just down right horrible and I had high expectations I will as well as writing a serious review.

PS: 7/40 GR: 14/70

Hi everyone! This has been an awful work week, and the cold, gray weather has only made it worse. Work doesn't look like it is going to get better for quite some time, but at least it is finally warming up today.

15/50 for Popsugar
18/52 for Around the Year
3/26 for The Reading Women Challenge

Books I finished:
The Ex-Wife by Jess Ryder (Popsugar #4: A book that should be turned into a movie) This was an entertaining read with a couple of twists. With the right writer and director, this could be a great movie, although it is more likely to be a Lifetime movie.

Whose Body? By Dorothy Sayers (Popsugar #16: A book with a question in the title) This was a fun book, the first in an old British detective series. Not as good as Agatha Christie’s Poirot, but still good.

On the Come Up by Angie Thomas (Reading Women: A YA book by a woman of color) I think Thomas did an excellent job once again with this book. It is somewhat related to A Hate You Give because it takes place in the same L.A. area city with the same gang activity one year later. The shooting was mentioned a couple of times and helps set the tone. I loved it and would definitely recommend it.

Glory in Death by J.D. Robb (Around the Year: A book with a monstrous character) This is #2 in the In Death series, which I will definitely continue. The case in this one involves someone killing strong women in the public eye.

The Perfect Friend by Barbara Copperthwaite (Around the Year: A psychological thriller) Lots of twists and turns in this one. Overall, though, I wouldn’t recommend it despite truly being surprised at the ending. Lots of really bad choices made by the characters as well as domestic violence.

I am currently reading:
My Lady's Choosing: An Interactive Romance Novel by Kitty Curran & Larissa Zageris (Popsugar #42: A choose your own adventure book)
The Proposal by Jasmine Guillory (Around the Year: A book from the top 5 money-making genres)
Fascism: A Warning by Madeline Albright (Around the Year: A book with a mostly black cover)

QOTW: I'm going to have to come back to this when I have more time, but after a brief glance at other readers' star systems, mine is pretty similar.

Hi, everyone! It's been about a month since I've posted a weekly update. I'm currently sitting at 8/10. Book #7 and 8 were finished this week: Americanah and Red Queen. Americanah was fantastic. Red Queen (and the rest of the series) will be my palette cleaners.

QOTW:
I don't stress over ratings. If I can't decide, I simply don't rate a book. To give a 5, the book has to really affect me in some way. I don't rate books much, though. Everyone gets something different out of every book. My 4 might be another's 1. My 2 might be someone's 5. I've chosen books based on ratings and wondered after why the heck I did that.

Happy reading, y'all!

Hi Everyone!

I know its only March but I'm just about ready for some warmth! I want to go camping and hiking and put my state park and national park pass to good use!

Anyways, back to the books! I wouldn't say I'm necessarily in a book slump but I've only been reading about one book a week. I was hoping to be a little quicker than that but its okay. I also think my slowness has something to do with going through the Outlander series and they're each about the length of 3 books.

Finished:
The Sun Dwellers Prompt #41 A Cli-Fi Book⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ This series is so so so so so so good!

Currently Reading:
A Breath of Snow and Ashes

Fire Country

QOTW

I don't tend to agonize over what rating to give a book. It's usually pretty easy. Sometimes I think I give too many 4 and 5 stars but I'm not very picky.

5 Stars - I LOVED it!! Its now a favorite. I consider the author a story telling wizard.
4 Stars - I really enjoyed it but it didnt make me want to cry tears of joy or sadness or anything.
3 Stars- It was okay. More of a Meh.
2 Stars - I just didnt like it. I dont give a lot of these.
1 Stars - I HATED it for one reason or another.

If I DNF a book I dont give it a rating because you cant have an opinion unless you've fully experienced something.

Horrible reading week for me but headed to India tomorrow and should be able to get a bunch read on the plane. Although I usually watch movies or sleep, so we'll see.

Finished:
Educated by Tara Westover - 4 stars - I don't know whether it fits any prompts but it was a great book. A bit slow to start but really good when it got going.

Currently Reading:
The Water Cure by Sophie Mackintosh

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

The Court Dancer by Kyung-Sook Shin

QotW:

I don't know if I've ever DNF a book. I always finish. It's a bit of an OCD thing.

I generally get a feeling about a book while I'm reading it as to what number of stars I'm going to give it. Sometimes I'm in the middle between two levels and I'll wait and think it through. I sometimes feel I'm a bit too generous with 5 stars and 3 stars. A lot of times if I don't get a feeling about a book I'll just give them 3 if I had no problems reading it. I definitely take a lot of things into account when I'm rating.... How easy was it to get through, did I fly or slog? How was the story? Could I put it down? Is there anything about it that just really pissed me off? I can think of three books off the top of my head that left me feeling pissed lol.

Three books done

Becoming for favorite category from 2015 (Memoir). Amazing

Renegades for A book about someone with a superpower

And the book I am recommending to EVERYONE I meet

Zeus Is Dead: A Monstrously Inconvenient Adventure that I used for:A book inspired by myth/legend/folklore. I have never laughed harder or louder for a book than I did this one.

QOTW

I only agonize when I"m torn and would much prefer to give a 1/2 star rating to something. Then I usually round up but put in my commentary/review that it would have been a 1/2 star if goodreads allowed.

Happy check-in day! I skipped last week's check-in but I only finished one book in the past two weeks anyway. I read Between Shades of Gray for "becoming a movie in 2019." I really loved this book. I like to think I've read extensively about World War II but this was an aspect that I was clueless about and that's a shame. I look forward to seeing how this story is brought to life on the screen.

QOTW:
I am very generous with my 4 and 5 star ratings. I very rarely give a 1 star and I don't rate books I don't finish. To me, that would be like rating a movie based on the trailer (looking at you, Captain Marvel haters). If you want to warn people about the book, you can still leave a review without giving a rating.

Hi all! I am FINALLY back on track with my Goodreads reading challenge after a bit of a reading slump. I'm feeling so much more motivated to read than I've felt in months which is a wonderful feeling!

I finished 3 books this week! First was Heavy: An American Memoir by Kiese Laymon, which I couldn't fit into any of the prompts I had left. Really struggling with nonfiction and these prompts working together. I enjoyed this but it was a rough listen as it dealt with... heavy topics. I listened on audio and thought Laymon did an excellent narration!

Next was Useless Magic by Florence Welch which was my book by a musician. This was a collection of Florence's lyrics, art, photos, and images that have inspired her. Plus it has a bunch of original poetry at the end. I ADORED this, but I'm a huge fan of Florence + the Machine. I got this from the library, but I need my own copy now because I can see myself picking this up again and again.

Lastly I finished Wildcard by Marie Lu for my LitRPG book. I really enjoyed the first book and felt a bit let down by this one. It didn't handle some aspects as well as I wanted, but I still liked reading it. Marie Lu is a good writer to get absorbed into.

Currently I'm at 13/50 for the challenge. Although one of those books is half of the "same title" prompt, so it feels weird because I haven't truly completed the prompt yet? But that's me just being a little too specific, I guess.

QOTW: I'm realizing I put WAY less thought into ratings than most of you. I mean I care what I put down, but I definitely don't agonize except very rarely. I do wish goodreads would introduce half stars, but I normally note that in my review if I feel strongly about it. I have gone back and changed ratings if I realized days, weeks, or months later that the book didn't sit well with me or if I can't stop thinking about it. I remember changing my rating on The Love That Split the World down after reading an article by a Native American writer detailing the things she found problematic in the story.

Well it was -20 this morning but they say that's the last cold day (but of what? The week? If so, it's Thursday so not sure that's very reassuring). I'm heading to NYC with my 15 year old for a few days next week for our March Break here and I'm hoping it's warmer!

I keep thinking I've read more than I have - but I am determined not to beat up on myself and compare to all you crazy readers out there - reading should NOT be a competitive sport, right?

Finished:

The Clockmaker's Daughter by Kate Morton - Finally! I partly blame this book for slowing all my other reading down. I read it as part of the monthly read for ATY (dual timeline) and I think it took me almost 3 weeks to get through it! I don't know why really - it's long but not THAT long and I liked it well enough, although I felt that it dragged in the middle. Anyways, that's the first Morton I've read and I wouldn't say no to reading another one although not sure I'll seek them out.

In Our Mad and Furious City by Guy Gunaratne. Using this one for a debut novel so far (can't figure out another place for it), and I have to say I really liked this one. I was a bit put off by all the street slang at first but once you get over that, it was a really powerful novel and I raced through it by the end. It was a 2018 Booker nominee (I'm about halfway through the longlist now. Sometimes I think I should have stuck to the shortlist, but then I would have missed this one, so maybe not). IF I rated books, I'd give this a 4.5.

Currently reading:

Blood, Bones, and Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef by Gabrielle Hamilton - got this out of the library a few weeks ago after I watched a few episodes of Mind of a Chef featuring her and decided I wanted to read her memoir. I'm enjoying it so far and pairing it with Sweetbitter by Stephanie Danler for ATY's prompt for 2 linked books. Although I also just realized I could use that for the Popsugar "bitter" or "sweet" prompt ... if only I were double dipping.

QOTW: I've never rated a book for Goodreads. But I appreciate all the thought and effort of those who do!

Hello,

Doing a two week catch up as last week I was in Vancouver for a work convention. I am feeling upbeat as it looks like the weather here is finally starting to turn we are expecting temperatures to be above 0 C for the first time in a month and a half. Can't wait to hear the sound of all the snow melting.

Finished three books over this time.

Ghost Detective for the prompt a ghost story. I enjoyed the overall theme of this book as it is a detective that due to being shot can see all the ghosts that are wandering the earth and there is a lot of them, as apparently we never leave. The story itself was okay, very sad, lots of twists.

The Selection I have not put a prompt on this as of yet. I was hoping to use it for the wedding prompt. Really enjoyed the story and characters, But it is one of those books that ends in the middle of the story, Which always irks me a little as I find it is a poor tactic by the authour to make you read the next book in the series, so if you start it have the next one ready.

Circe for the prompt based in Legend etc.. I liked this one I really enjoy Madeline's side stories to the odyssey. Hopefully she continues to write many more.

Currently reading
Where'd You Go, Bernadette I though I would join in the monthly read of this. Only about 15 pages in and I am not sure if I am liking it or not.

QOTW

I am fairly stingy with my 5 stars, A book really has to impress me to get one.

On the other end of the scale a book has to be really really bad to warrant a 1 or 2.

So as a result most books rated are 3 or 4's.

Cheers everyone
Happy Reading

Nadine wrote: I've never heard this, and I've been sitting here trying to twist my head around it. I don't really think the Fingersmith plot follows The Woman in White plot. There are some similarities, but not a huge amount.

Reading articles, it’s always listed as a “reimagining” of TWIW and less a retelling. I think I would have picked up on it without reading that though, just from reading them so close together. The neurotic uncle, the marriage for money, the mad house switcharoo. They’re most both very different books though, despite the similarities.

12/50

I haven't checked in in a few weeks so I have a bit of catching up to do here.

Completed Prompts

Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine was my pick for a book recommended by a celebrity you admire. It has been on my TBR for a while when I saw it listed on Reese Witherspoon's book club.

The Goddess Test was my pick for a book inspired by myth/legend/folklore. While I liked the book, I wish the author had done like, a LOT more research in to Greek mythology before writing this. A lot of liberties were taken, many of which did not make sense.

To All the Boys I've Loved Before for the February challenge of A book with LOVE in the title. As I mentioned on the discussion board, I preferred the movie over the book.

Worlds Collide and have finally finished the series with my son. I put this under the prompt for a book with an extinct or imaginary creature.

On my nightstand:

Care of Wooden Floors, Coming Home, Annabel

QOTW:
I do. Sometimes I struggle with putting a book in the 2, 3, or 4 category.

Five stars are books that are some of my favorites that I've ever read, that I can go back to and read again and again. These are the ones that I tell my friends "You HAVE to read this!"
Four stars are books that I really enjoyed reading, was sad to have it end, and was well written.
Three stars are books that I liked. I'm glad I read it, but not something to rave about.
Two stars are books that I didn't really like. I didn't like the characters, or the story line, or was not well written.
One star for books I hated, I did not finish, or could not wait to finish.

Kristina wrote: "Three books done

Becoming for favorite category from 2015 (Memoir). Amazing

Renegades for A book about..."

looks hilarious. I just added it to my TBR list! Thanks for the recommendation!