EPBOT Readers discussion

Hi everyone!

After a busy weekend in Cedar Point last weekend, I managed to pick up germs and be sick all week, booo.

Hope everyone else is doing better!

This week I finished:

The Murmur of Bees - this was just ok for me. I think the writing was fine, but it's just not my style of book, too slow and kind of depressing. Read harder own voices from Mexico

Educated - Wow this was good. I couldn't put it down! Hard to imagine her having that kind of upbringing and managing to break free and succeed so well! This was for reading women, shortlist pick.

The Fairy Godmother - reread as a break, book hangover recovery

Sweetness and Lightning 1 - read harder manga. I liked it ok, but felt like it just barely got started and it was over. The site i found it on only had first vol free, and i didn't see it on library's site so probably just calling it good.

The Vine Witch - reading women book about nature. This was a fun fast read. I liked it, will probably read the next.

Currently reading:

Legendary - Been on the waiting list for a while, i like it ok. Not as big of a fan as some people.

QOTW:

Still sick, so being lazy and borrowing from Popsugar again. What are some of your recent 5 star reads?

Mine are

Educated - great writing style, fascinating story

Middlegame - loved this one a lot, it was twisty and fascinating and really engrossing. Long book but didn't feel long.

Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup - another great nonfiction, read like a thriller.

Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine - i thought i'd not really care for it, ended up loving it

This week I finished two books.

The first is slightly a stretch because I did not like it and just skimmed the second half of the book and called it done. That was Me Talk Pretty One Day. I really did not care for this. I gave it 1 star. Reading the reviews they're all over the place. I am not a millennial and there was nothing in this book even remotely entertaining or engaging to me. I think David Sedaris might be the cilantro of authors.

The second book, Lock In I finished as an audiobook. I loved this. I would walk around my house doing laps just to listen more. This book definitely feels like it will be made into a movie. Although I finished the book, the audio recording has a bunch more content about "background of the syndrome". I have no idea if that is part of the actual book or not.

There are some interesting things about this book when I looked at the GR reviews (after finishing). First, this book has 2 audio versions. One by Wil Wheaton (what I listened to) and another by Amber Benson. The main character's name is Chris Shane and it is told from the first person. John Scalzi purposely never indicates the gender of Chris. People who listen to the audiobook tend to associate the gender of the character to that of the narrator. People reading the book were mixed. Further searching, just now, I find this blog from Scalzi from last year. https://www.torforgeblog.com/2018/04/...

The other interesting thing is the spelling. In my head I spelled it Hayden, and it is really spelled Haden. I know not a big deal but it was just a bit of a shock to my eyes to see it incompatible with my mental thought.

I just started The Friend Zone by FoE's own Abby Jiminez.

QOTW: My recent 5 stars are:
Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup - still recommend to everyone and happy you liked it too! I somehow feel responsible if I make a recommendation.

Lock In - enough said above already.

The Android's Dream - I'm becoming a bit of a Scalzi fangirl I guess. I find his writing style and storytelling works well for me.

This week I read This is How It Always Is for my IRL book club and really enjoyed it. ( I don't often pick just regular fiction.) Would recommend for anyone concerned about parenting decisions or with gender identity.

Susan, your comment about David Sedaris being the cilantro of author's is hilarious. I have also become a Scalzi fangirl because of FoE. I have a few of his left unread but I try to space them out so I have a new one every few months between new books.

Also reading and enjoying the first of the Rivers of London series.

My most recent five star books have been Reticence by Gail Carriger (#4 in Custard Protocol) and the first and second Veronica Speedwell books.

This week I finished:

This Is How You Lose the Time War - a fantastic, bizarre novella about opposing time-traveling agents in a war.

The Bear and the Nightingale - my latest 5-star read. This was a gorgeous historical fantasy deeply rooted in Russian folklore and culture. I absolutely loved it.

Comics/manga: The Ancient Magus' Bride, Vol. 10, and Pumpkinheads, the latter of which was another 5-star read for me, mostly because I think it hit me in the feels at exactly the right time.

Currently reading: Gideon the Ninth. So far it's a little slow to get started, but hopefully it will pick up soon.

QOTW: Despite the two I mentioned above from last week, I'm usually not that generous with the five star ratings.

Some other recent ones were:
Minor Mage and Swordheart by T. Kingfisher - I just love her writing, her characterization, how she just pulls me into the story. And she has some really fun, original concepts.

Circe by Madeline Miller - Greek mythology has always been a love of mine, and this was just so well-written and beautiful.

Middlegame by Seanan McGuire - It just blew my mind, it was so fascinating to unravel the mystery.

I think "the cilantro of authors" is the best thing I've heard in a long time...I personally do not enjoy David Sedaris' writing, either - I enjoy his This American Life pieces (although he hasn't done one in quite a while), but it just doesn't work in written or longer form for me...I'm not a millennial either, but he sure isn't - he's no spring chicken these days!

At last check in, I was reading The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb, which I really enjoyed - it's a fictionalization of her real life, so I was able to enjoy it much more than the alleged non-fiction books that purport to tell the reader what someone was thinking without any supporting evidence. I've heard good things about many of the author's books, so I will definitely be seeking out more of them.

I'm currently reading Enchantee, which is kind of meh - I had heard such good things, but the characters aren't interesting enough to hold my interest, and the plot is all over the place. I'm over halfway through, though, so I'm sure I'll finish (not that I ever don't). :)

My last five 5-star reads:
The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb
Undying
Dates! Volume 3
Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company that Addicted America
Grave Mercy

Tragically, no reading this week. But I am back from my 5-day retreat that I help lead, the stuff is all unloaded and put away, and the event books are closed out. I have my life back, and my book queue is ready! Off to the library!!!!!

QOTW: I am extremely stingy with giving 5-star ratings: like "only a couple a year" stingy. It typically needs to be flawlessly executed and make me swoon or or completely surprise me. It also needs to somehow stick with me, or affect me on a deep level to get one. This goes for both fiction and non-fiction. Books I really enjoy get 4 starts, just so there is still that level remaining to acknowledge something that truly stands out for me. A few that I've given in the past year or two:

The Ravenmaster: My Life with the Ravens at the Tower of London. Interesting doesn't even begin to describe this book. Skaife is blessed with the golden combination of not only having one of the most interesting jobs in the world, but also being a fantastic enough storyteller to do it justice.

A Memory of Light: The slow burn through the 14-book Wheel of Time series was either going to have an epic ending or be a massive letdown. Warmest thank-yous to both authors for it being very much the former.

Oathbringer The backstory of my favorite character, the upending of a social hierarchy that I'm still analyzing over a year later, and over 1000 pages of ink-space to enjoy the ride. Aww yeeeaahhhhh!!!

Finish: Give Yourself the Gift of Done. All of Acuff's books have gotten 5s from me over the years. And when I switched careers a few years back, this "series" is how I did it. Practical and realistic advice, written with a warm sense of humor from one who has obviously been there.