Reading Until Infinity discussion

Come with us to the beach! Grab a book and enjoy some time apart from the craziness of the wold around you - either from your home or in the nature. We are very curious what kind of books you like to relax.

I'll do the beach reads of course! I have lots of books here to read, but I don't know yet what I will read. I guess I might work on:

A. Some ebooks I have
B. Books for the Popsugar
C. Books for my ABC challenge

I'm sure any of those would make good beach reads. 🏖🌊🐚🏖

Sarah wrote: "I'll do the beach reads of course! I have lots of books here to read, but I don't know yet what I will read. I guess I might work on:

A. Some ebooks I have
B. Books for the Popsugar
C. Books for m..."

Welcome and I'm glad to see you view it similar to me :-)

I would love some beach reads....

Not sure what I will pick but will work on a list.

Sallie(GeorgiaGirl) wrote: "I would love some beach reads....

Not sure what I will pick but will work on a list."

Glad you're joining us. And no worries - take all the time you need.

I'm thinking about picking The Jane Austen Society by Natalie Jenner. Books about books/writers have a certain charm to them.

Renata wrote: "I'm thinking about picking The Jane Austen Society by Natalie Jenner. Books about books/writers have a certain charm to them."

I'd love to know what you think about it.

Once again I'm starting early the monthly topic. As soon as I go offline I'm starting Aunt Bessie Considers by Diana Xarissa a light cozy mystery set on the Isle of Man. (My go-to series for the pesky X-author in the A-Z author challenges)

I added now (half a day later) Horyzonty uczuć by Dorota Schrammek (lit. transl: Horizon of Emotions - book 1 in the series I'd translate Neck of Happiness (refering to neck of the woods) if it were possible in English but fear I'll have to do with A Corner of Happiness) a polish chick-lit my father lend me last year (or was it the year before?!?) set in Poland (Balticum) so an area I'm familar with to a point. Despite the fact I'm not really a fan of this genre I started it because I need a bunch of books set in Poland & Germany and I was hooked before I finished the prologue.

I started early too! I started reading late yesterday and I got about half way through the book. It's a real page turner! Really loving it so far! I hope to get lots of books read this month. Oh this is a free ebook I have on my phone. I get them from Bookbub and read it through Google.

Sarah wrote: "I started early too! I started reading late yesterday and I got about half way through the book. It's a real page turner! Really loving it so far! I hope to g..."

Looks like you like you horror :-)

That I do! This is a teen thriller very similar to Stine's Fear Street books..and it has a supernatural twist too..

I'm almost through with Valley of the Dolls and loving it! It's light, entertaining, but has some good, deep themes. I love looking back on how the 60's were.

Colleen wrote: "I'm almost through with Valley of the Dolls and loving it! It's light, entertaining, but has some good, deep themes. I love looking back on how the 60's were."

That sounds like a tough topic. I'm glad you enjoy it.

I've finished The Boy in the Mirror last night and now I'm about a third of the way through which seems to be a teen fantasy romance. A girl and her mother move to their grandmother's house which is on a huge piece of land with woods. When she was young, the girl had been saved from freezing to death by a mysterious cute boy in the woods. But no one believed he was real. Now she found him again and he's very unusual. He can run through the tree tops like a monkey and is very mysterious! He's hinting at the fact he's not human but she's being a bit dense. I think he must be a fairy or an elf or something? There's also another boy in town who wants her too who's in a rock band and he has the ability to mesmerize people by playing music - he reminds me of Orpheus! The first boy loves her but can't really be with her - the price would be too high for him.

I really loved The Boy in the Mirror..it had so much mysterious stuff going on and it was creepy! It's apparently the first book of a series so it kind of ends with hinting of more to come. The author's writing style was very wonderful..it was supernatural too.. you could even call it a creature story too. A very satisfying read.

Both of these are great reads..

I have finished Hidden Deep... It was a teen fantasy romance about true love but also an impossible love..with elves.

Now I'm reading which is so far a coming of age story about a girl in a distopian society. She just doesn't fit in and now maybe she will find her place? I'm about a 100 pages in so far...

I finished and it was ok. Not very exciting but solid cozy mystery.

After stumbling at a hint of possible sexual abuse of a child in (lit. transl: Horizon of Emotions) I'm struggling with it right now. I still want to continue it because of the other characters but it will take now much longer than I originally expected.

Last night I started Book Club Bloodshed by Brianna Bates another cozy mystery and remembered I didn't mention the books I didn't finish last month. So additionally I'm reading also:
Damascus Cover by Howard Kaplan an espionage thriller - this book was made into movie - the new cover is similar to the movie poster
= Das Memphis-Dossier=The Bishop's Pawn by Steve Berry a mystery thriller with dual plot line about a possible conspiracy to kill Martin Luther King. If you like to learn new stuff and get information about various regions/wold even wrapped in action I can recommend this series.
High and Low: How I Hiked Away From Depression Across Scotland by Keith Foskett a travelogue of a very challenging hike
A Deeper Sleep by Dana Stabenow a series I love but struggle with this book because of the perp's evil character.

There are many books I struggle with too. Some books can take me weeks to read while others I can fly through in a day. It all depends on the book. Some just don't interest me at all and they are very boring plot wise. Others just make me upset due to certain things and I usually quit those books - one time I didn't quit it and I had nightmares for 3 nights.

The book I'm reading now has took an unexpected twist! I'm not sure where it's going...

I agree with the Scotland book even if I never read it. Walking or hiking is great if you are feeling upset or down or something. I also do a lot of walking. Many days I walk 10 or 11 miles. Getting out into nature is great too.

Well I've read and finished which I've actually enjoyed. I know a few people on reviews said it was stupid or whatever but I've actually really enjoyed it. It's about a teen girl living with very strict, super controlling parents. She's not allowed to have any friends. They move into a better area and she meets some teen boys in her neighborhood. They are decent people and really seem to actually care about her..so she starts to learn what having a friend is. It's not exactly easy as she has to do so much in secret and some of it is a little far fetched (I think) ... But then I do believe part of the plot is clearly based off of the Japanese anime. It's a harem story.

It's the first book in a series.

Sarah wrote: "Well I've read and finished which I've actually enjoyed. I know a few people on reviews said it was stupid or whatever but I've actually really enjoyed it. It's a..."

Wow that sounds very intense but also intersting. I'm so glad you mentioned it and it's free on Amazon so I downloaded it. Now I'll wait for the perfect timing for me to read it.

Yes the ebooks I've been reading lately are all free. Boy in the Mirror, Hidden Deep, the Woodlands... All free. I have a bunch of ebooks on my phone to read and clear out. Sadly I can relate well to the girl in the story.

I've started another free ebook which seems very short and I think it's a haunted house story. I've also started on the next book for my Around the World challenge (and my classic ABC challenge too!) Which is - and to my surprise so far I'm actually enjoying it. It's about a man and his daughter so far and the daughter has a spending habits he doesn't like (she is buying stuff on credit and they don't have the $ for - she actually bought a horse and the riding equipment plus the boarding the horse needs on credit!!) And he sells vacuum cleaners. This story was written in 1958 so the credit is not a credit card but the kind a store would lend you I think. So I think the father is going to get a better job with the British Secret Intelligence (like the British CIA)... I think they are called M.I.6??

I will let you know how these books are later when I've finished them.

Hopefully you'll enjoy Introductions the Academy. 😁 That one had really surprised me. I hadn't expected the book to be about that at all.

Sarah wrote: "Yes the ebooks I've been reading lately are all free. Boy in the Mirror, Hidden Deep, the Woodlands... All free. I have a bunch of ebooks on my phone to read and clear out. Sadly I can relate well ..."

Did you get Our Man In Havana free somewhere online or is it a paper copy? I heard much great stuff about this author and especially about this book (I love espionage thrillers - joined even several GR groups for this kind of books) and am looking for it quite a while now, but so far no luck. I think this one could've been made into a movie - at least I remember an espionage thriller with this title and so would love to hear your thoughts about this book.

I spent too much time online the last couple of days and didn't read as much as I wanted but hope to change it again tonight.

Agnieszka wrote: "Renata wrote: "I'm thinking about picking The Jane Austen Society by Natalie Jenner. Books about books/writers have a certain charm to them."

I'd love to know what you think about it."

I haven't finished it yet, but I like what I've read so far. The very concept of books/authors bringing people together is so charming in itself.

It's been raining here the last few days, so I picked up a book called "The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating" by Elizabeth Tova Bailey. An inspiring tale of the author (bedridden for 2 decades due to a debilitating disease), who discovers a hitchhiker of a snail in some flowers a friend picks from the woods near her house. The book covers the span of a year, and is about her observations of the little resident.

Renata wrote: "It's been raining here the last few days, so I picked up a book called "The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating" by Elizabeth Tova Bailey. An inspiring tale of the author (bedridden for 2 decades due to a..."

Thank you for mentioning this book! It sounds so amazing I set in on my Amazon watch list, discovered it was translated into German, checked my libraries and got it alread from my online library :-D

Actually I came online to mention this amazing book I got recommended from a GR friend and finished tonight: = The Bishop's Pawn by Steve Berry it's #1 in the chronological series order and for sure not the last one I'll read. I have to admit I'm knowledge junkie and this book has it all I love: thrill, suspense, twists I never seen comming, action and in-between hidden all those inforamtion gems. The only downside was the rather poor German translation though I plan to re-read this book in English and already set it on my wish list of books I want buy from the next gift card (I really hope to get for my birthday soon). Now I only hope my libraries have some of the other books in series so I can continue soon :-)

I hope to finished tonight my cozy and the other two books due very soon so I can read = The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating by Elisabeth Tova Bailey.

I am reading a paper copy of Our Man in Havana but you can read it free online here. They have several different editions on the site (don't know if that matters)...

https://openlibrary.org/works/OL10607...

I have just finished Secrets of the Greek Revival. You may be surprised to find out this is a pretty good mystery. It's not a horror story even if the cover image looks kind of creepy. The mystery is actually very well put together and has several twists. I did manage to guess a few of them. 😁

The plot revolves around a really old rundown house that for awhile was used as a "rest home" for disturbed women. Now three middle age women want to buy it and restore it....but the place is said to be haunted! There are also rumors of buried gold on the property! The main character, Ellen, is determined to research the history of the house so she can help put the troubled ghosts to rest so we learn stuff from 1880s and the 1930s. The story is set in San Antonio Texas. This is a free ebook. At the back of the ebook is a link to get many more free ebooks from the author.

That book about the snail sounds fascinating! I like reading and learning about nature. 🐌

The library here won't open until September...

I decided to read this on the spur of the moment: which takes place in the small town of Oracabessa, Jamaica. It's a true story. It follows Tall T (his real name is Uton) around as he tries to figure out how to earn money after his father decides to leave the family. And Christmas is coming too. But more important is getting enough money to cover the rent and to buy food.

I really enjoyed reading this because it truly gives you an idea what it's like living in Jamaica. The story is full of their unique words and customs and just everyday life. And we also learn how they celebrate Christmas with junkonnu which is a unique dance. And there's the obeah (witch) that lives next door to the family and the obeah fed his father a bowl of soup that contained oil-of-no-return and that's why their father left. The story is full of tiny little adventures, unique foods and yes, some very dangerous stairs carved out of a clay cliff fifty feet tall and you climb it by clinging to vines!

I plan to go look up junkonnu up later on YouTube, to see it.

For my Around the World challenge.

Agnieszka wrote: "Renata wrote: "It's been raining here the last few days, so I picked up a book called "The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating" by Elizabeth Tova Bailey. An inspiring tale of the author (bedridden for 2 d..."

It's an amazing book. I hope you enjoy it, too. I am missing reading German language books because the libraries are all closed here. Maybe I should check online libraries.

Sarah wrote: "I am reading a paper copy of Our Man in Havana but you can read it free online here. They have several different editions on the site (don't know if that matters)...

https://openlibrary.org/works/..."

I love reading about nature, too. Particularly when it rains and the creepy crawlies are up and about. "The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating" was so amazing. And the fabulous references - who would have thought so many non-academic books existed on snails!

Renata wrote: "...I am missing reading German language books because the libraries are all closed here. Maybe I should check online libraries."

Too bad we didn't have this chate two months ago. About six weeks ago there was a bunch of German ebooks offered free as part of the 'StayAtHome' action (usually you rarely get any traditionally published books free in Germany) so I got several. If Amazon.de had the option to lend books available I'd offer you to read anything you'd be interested in - unfortunatelly Amazon claims German law restricts it from happening.
If you use Kindle an option would be Kindle Unlimited. I've seen they have pretty many interesting books in German but since I can access some of them via libraries I got those in English first :-)

So (finally) I finished my cozy last night and it wasn't awful but I can't say I really enjoyed it either. So after giving this series two books to like it I give up on it.

After a small peak into (lit. transl: Horizon of Emotions) it moved to my primary book now - so I expect to finish it tomorrow. Luckily the hints at sexual abuse agains a child was a red herring but instead there's a strong intigue added which I don't like. I really hope I'd like this book enough to read the other two (since my father brought me all three in december) and I'd like to bring them back when all the corona limitations are completely lifted. Since I need this month some books set in Poland and Germany for a challenge anyway I try to read as many of his books as I can.

is back on as secondary book. I hope I finish it this month but it's a 580 page extreme-hiking-&-depression-overcoming-adventure so I won't force it. I'll read at a pace that's still okay to deal with for me.

Finally It's Okay Not to Be Okay: Moving Forward One Day at a Time by Sheila Walsh was today on sale (80 or 90 per cent off) so I grabbed it and while soaking in the bathtub read the introduction and first chapter. It's not an easy book, but one I think will be extremely helpful and important. Since I'll try to read one chapter a day (only) you won't see much of it in the next days.

Sarah wrote: "I am reading a paper copy of Our Man in Havana but you can read it free online here. They have several different editions on the site (don't know if that matters)...

https://openlibrary.org/works/..."

Thank you for the link!
It's sad you have to wait so long for your library to open though I think it's better than to face a second corona infection wave (which was prognosed for Germany for the autumn - people are too impatient to be rid of all the restrictions from the last weeks and some scientists say it's going too fast back to normal - and I really hope they are so wrong and we'll be spared of it)

That same website also has other books by Graham Greene. I might read his other book that's set in Haiti. Maybe I'll find that one a bit funny too. One can hope!

Truthfully I really don't know IF they will reopen in Sept. They said they would open before and they kept pushing the dates back farther and farther. Anyway I have lots of books in my apartment to read and I can get others online. Also I've been hearing different things about the virus too.

Early this morning I finished reading which I ended up loving. Some parts of this book made me laugh, which is the last thing I had ever expected. I went into basically with no expectations at all and no idea what it was about. I just needed to read a book set in Cuba and well this book fit! I'm doing the Around the World challenge and I needed it for the classic ABC challenge too.

So this is a spy story. The main character is a British man living in Cuba that sells vacuum cleaners. One day he is approached by a strange man who wants him to be a spy! The problem is Wormold sells vacuum cleaners...he's not really a spy. So why was I laughing? Because I found the things that Wormold did were outrageous...I couldn't believe he did that stuff. But spies do crazy stuff don't they? I mean I would never do that stuff...so it was a bit shocking and it made me laugh. This book is not James Bond.. (i.e. no explosions, etc)..and I normally don't read spy novels.

Then today I also read for the Popsugar challenge. The particular category it fits is "characters in their 20s". Mozart is 21 in this story. This is based off of his true life and his relationship with the four Weber sisters, one of who becomes his wife. And although the book is 350 pages I was so fascinated by it that I read it in a single day (and I still fit my cardio in too). It's the drama about 4 sisters who live with their parents in Austria and how they struggle to get income and make it in the music world. The sisters also try to slowly break away and get their independence from their mother, which isn't easy. Society had different rules then. We also see Mozart's struggle to get famous. The details of how they lived was just fascinating. And it's written in a very easy to read way..the story just flows so smoothly. It made me really think about how musicians made money back then, how they lived. While I was reading this, it made me think of other similar musicians we have these days that make the same type of music...instrumental. like John Williams, who composes music for movies..then later in the book I see Mozart made music for an opera. I guess in those days an opera was equivalent to a movie, as it told a story. It also made me curious to hear his music so I went to YouTube. 😁 This is a truly wonderful book and I highly recommend it.

PS...the book only deals with his early life.

Parts of the Mozart book took place in Germany too..in case you find that helpful? It starts out in Austria and then moved to Germany..

Sorry to hear your cozy book was not good. That happens sometimes..a book ends up being very different than what you had thought and you just don't enjoy it at all.

The hiking book: exercise releases natural endorphins in your brain which is one reason why hiking would help..if I get upset or angry about something I can walk incredibly long distances very easily!

It's always great to get a book on sale! I never tried reading a book in the tub before. I think I'd be scared of getting it wet! But if it relaxes you go for it..😁

Sarah wrote: "Parts of the Mozart book took place in Germany too..in case you find that helpful? It starts out in Austria and then moved to Germany..

Sorry to hear your cozy book was not good. That happens some..."

After not being very excited about book 1 in series I had no really high expectations for this one. I only read it because it fit the book club prompt for PopSugar and was rather short and my alternate would've been an plain romance (I must really be in the mood for to even attempt those) and was much longer, so I decided this was an option to finish it regardless how much I like it or not and for that it was better than I feared.

With normal walking/hiking I'd agree with in general, but extreme hiking is another kind of beast and you see in this book how he goes beyond his physical and mental capability and his condition worsens. Luckily he has this self-deprating (hope the correct expression) kind of humor and even if you seen deep, deep down in the pit you have to laugh. I think the many voices in the reviews mentioning this fact was the reason I attempted this book at all. Especially since I struggle with severe chronic depression and severe chronic pain for more than 25 years now (the hormones caused by pain kill usually any endophines faster than the body can create them). For a couple of years now I can only leave my flat if I use krutches (and still can go only very short distances). If you ever attempted it for more than a few weeks you'll be aware it's very, very slow and bad for you arms and shoulders so each time I have to decide if I accept the additional pain (which worsens the depression) of stay at home - most days home wins.

In all the years reading in the tub I only dropped one book (and it was really a mess to get it dried out afterwards) though I read ebooks in the meantime anyway but all the steam isn't that good for them either. My first iPad survied 7 years now and is acting up (though mostly because of age and the fact it's too old for any updates and most of the apps). When buying a Tolino I paid more to get the waterproof device and that's the same I plan for any future Kindle or tablet - it takes any residual stress away - even if I'd dropped it :-)

I finished (lit. transl: Horizon of Emotions) early this morning and even after a night of sleep I'm struggling to decide on the rating.
The author's writting is great (plus I discovered only two errors! and learned a handfull of new for me words - after more than 30 years in Germany and only limited access to Polish language I struggle more and more with my first native tongue - so any new vocabulary is always wonderfull. Additionally I discoverd a new, great Polish dictionary because I was too lazy to go from my sofa to my desk and used a smartphone :-)). Some of the characters are interesting and very likeable but then there're those acting so stupid and all the (in my eyes) unnecessary drama and conflict between them was partially rather painfull to deal with. Worst for me was the cheesy ending and over the top unrealistic Catholic elements in the last quarter of the book. I'll give it a few days and hope I'll be able to decide between 3 and 4 stars. Still I plan to continue this trilogy and hope it will get better.

For now I'm going back to my challenge books and start next Flight Risk Cozy Mystery Boxed Set: Books 1 - 12 with Murder at Macbeth by Susan Harper

I've been reading lots of books I might not have read otherwise for the Popsugar challenge too. Some end up being nice surprises like the Mozart book I just mentioned. Others maybe not so good. Some books just simply bore me. I've had the worst luck though with the book club books...some if those actually made me upset!

It's not always good to push yourself especially physically. As someone who does endurance sports (walking) I know that nutrition and also having days off to rest is very important. If you don't you can really damage yourself.. like with those protestors here (they are starting on the second week of protests but while protesting they are walking long distances down many streets).. they are often walking 10+ miles a day. The average person here in the US can't even do that. But now you have many people doing it. But what are they eating? Are they still eating SAD (standard American diet) which adds up to a lot of junk? You can't walk those long distances every day and then live on pizza, fries, soda, chips and sugar loaded cereal. It's not going to work. You really need to have good nutrition to keep your joints healthy otherwise you're going to run into problems! And you need rest days too.

I look up words on my smartphone all of the time!

Sometimes it can be very hard to rate a book. Or to write a review.

I too have problems with my shoulder and sometimes my elbows. I think I have undiagnosed EDS (Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome) - combined with my gluten problem it adds up to be complicated..but I'm very careful what I eat. My hips joints usually feel a bit tight after walking a lot and my lower back can get achy. Both my elbows and knees hyperextend naturally. I'm double jointed. I can put my thumb to my wrist of the same hand. Lately I've noticed that my elbows seem to get stiff when I'm simply walking and not carrying anything. I'm not sure why. It's very weird. And my arm muscles seem to get very weak feeling too, like it's difficult to bend my arm then. I guess it's the EDS. But I don't know why walking would bother my elbows. It never did before.

Some people with EDS also have very high pain tolerance. One person broke their wrist and it was broken for 5 days and they didn't know it was broken because they didn't have any pain so they kept using it for 5 days! Years ago back around 2000 I got bit by my cat. Within an hour my hand was swollen and red. Infection. The Dr gave me pain meds for the infection too but I didn't need any as I had zero pain. Of course eating hidden gluten can cause lots of pain! I'm totally grain free and I react to airborne and all of the derivatives, which truly limits my diet. They put corn in everything here.

I'm not too sure what book I'll start on next. Either something for the Popsugar challenge or maybe one of my PIFM books. I'll have to choose one later.

Sarah wrote: "...they still eating SAD (standard American diet)..."
LOL that's a good one and made me laugh.

If you still look for a book club book for PopSugar I listened to the German edition of The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend earlier this year (that was my original idea for this prompt - from the PopSugar group prompt recommendation thread) so it should work even if it's actually a book about a book store and I liked it very much. It's full of quirky characters.
Another possibility could be Hidden Hollywood in the Happy Endings Book Club series (if you read contemporary romance). The book set with the first three books in series Happy Endings Book Club Boxed Set Books 1-3 is still free on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Happy-Endings-...


I'm half way through Murder at Macbeth and love it. It's a fun short cozy mystery (all books in series are between 100 and 108 pages if the total page count for the book set on Amazon is correct) with two feisty ladies, a flight attendant from a small airline and a former flight attendant she met on the flight to London.

I started the follow up book to (lit. transl: Horizon of Emotions) Na brzegu życia (lit. transl: At the Edge (or Shore) of Life) though it's too early to say anything about it.

I read my book club book for Popsugar back on Feb 9. It was a fun entertaining read called where a bunch of ladies got in over their head casting magic spells even though they were just fooling around.

And I have another book here about a book club that im going to read for the one "a book on the cover" and that is

I might do the "book with 20 in the title " next... Because I have here...

When I said I had bad luck with my book club books I meant the round robin group I was in and i was receiving books & journals in the mail each month. A lot of the books the other members chose were the kind that made me upset if I tried to read it. In the year I had read 10 books from the club and 1 was my own book so 9 we're from other people and out of those 9 books 3 made me upset for various reasons. The worst one was The Room which gave me nightmares for 3 nights. It was about a boy being raised in captivity and abuse, locked in a shed.

Well I've finished Hardcore Twenty Four. It was a fun light read. It involves crazy characters running around with crazy situations. Very funny. The book made me chuckle two times (but I actually thought the spy book was funnier).. this story involves a bonds woman and her partner (the partner likes fancy clothes with ridiculous shoes) looking to catch people who don't show up at court. The plot involves zombies, missing brains, a giant snake, a bunch of ceramic gnomes and assorted nutty characters..a very fast read. If you enjoy zany books you'll like this.

Sarah wrote: "Well I've finished Hardcore Twenty Four. It was a fun light read. It involves crazy characters running around with crazy situations. Very funny. The book made me chuckle two times (but I actually t..."

I read all but the last Stephanie Plum books and while I enjoyed most of those between #5 and #12 I'm pretty much fed up with this series. Lula was fun in the beginning but after more than 20 books of same kind of (lame) jokes and her attitude I'm glad if I don't have to roll eyes at the stuff she's doing and saying. If it were not for Ranger and Grandma Mazur I'd be done with this series long ago. #25 Look Alive Twenty-Five was an all-time low for me and if the cliffhanger at the end of the book and the blurb for book #26 didn't indicate Granma Mazur will be a central character in the next one I'd be done with this series for good. Now I'm waiting for my library to buy and process a copy of that book and hope to like it way more than #25.

Last night I remembered I read last year another book club book and even if it was historical fiction I loved it. I'm so tired of historical fiction, especially WW2 so I didn't have high expectation but my best friend had a copy at home (even in English) so I gave it a try and loved it so much in the end I'm considering to buy it for myself. BTW the book was The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. In case you never read it I can recommend it without reservations plus it's also an idea for epistolary fiction tasks - something I often struggle to find appealing books for.

I read the first two of the cozy-mysteries in Flight Risk Cozy Mystery Boxed Set: Books 1 - 12 yesterday , today A Killing in Kenya and like this series very much. It has great characters with well done relationship development, interesting locations and is very, very fun and witty. If it were not for the somewhat lacking mystery part it could've become a favorite series though now it's fun entertainment and light distraction and that's well enough. Since I was aware 100 pages long cozies can't be perfect I was still very positively surprised and will look further into this author.

After a day with much of walking and somehow positive diagnosis from my new orthopedist (don't need new joint - an operation will most likely fix the issue and I'll be able to walk withought crutches again *grinning and mentally jumping up and down*) I'm done in and go to bed now (and it's not even 10p.m.) and hope to get caught up a bit on my challenge books.

Well #24 was actually my first Stephanie Plum book so I was new to all of it. I did think that Lula was very strange and impractical with her clothes as I don't see how she can do her job dressed that way.

I'm pretty tired of WW2 stuff too. There are lots of other time periods besides WW 2. I don't know why authors always chose that time period.

That's great news they can fix your problem with surgery! Hopefully it will become a reality! The news must be emotionally overwhelming!

I hope those short cozies continue to be great for you! 😀

So I have read these last night and today:

I read this for my classic ABC challenge, the letter "B". There are two plays in here from. 1959 and 1960. Truthfully these stories made no sense at all! They are just awful, left me confused and often the characters repeated the same stuff over and over. One of the worst things I've ever read.

this is my second book by Japanese author Kobo Abe, the first being The Woman in the Dunes. I read this for the prompt in the Popsugar challenge: a story in Japan. I realized going in that this story would be surreal and strange. It is that but I think it also has a lot of insight and stuff to say on various topics. About 3/4 through the book I had a revelation that people can be inside boxes without actually being IN a box. We do that by limiting our contact with others. We can have invisible boxes around us. The story is also about being homeless, the power of addiction (the character is addicted to being inside his cardboard box), agoraphobia (the fear of going outside), about pretending not to see unpleasant things and also about voyeurs (watching other people, especially when they don't know it). The book had a lot of depth to it if you can find it between the pages. There was also a big unexpected twist at the end! So I really enjoyed reading this but it did start out slow and the story didn't get interesting until after page 50 or so... But the author is known for writing surreal books and it's not for everyone. There were also very bizarre dream like scenes too...

If ever you decide to read Stephanie Plum series from the beginning I think it's good to know the first three are not that great but afterwards it gets much better for a while.
My biggest issues with the series are: Stephanie has no idea what she's doning and still manages to get her fellon and the fact that Lula is employed to file and does anything but that and still gets payed!?!?
My favorite parts: Ranger (IMO she should ditch Morelli, and be done with the relationship triangle and go for Ranger), the fact Stephanie is listed in Ranger's books as comic relief (and therefore provided with cars and help whenever she needs them) and the many creative and really fun ways her cars get destroyed (and it's almost never her fault - just bad luck) in most of the books, and of course Grandma Mazur :-)

It sounds like yesterday was a day with rather difficult books. I hope for you today will be better.

I'm going to start on as what could be a better beach read than reading about sharks? (Insert music from Jaws) 🌊⛵🐬

My one friend on here wants to do an animal read this month so hence I'm back on the animal topic again. 😀

Yes, the two books were rather difficult but I actually like reading Kobo Abe. I read his Woman in the Dunes last year: ...

It just took about 50 pages for the story to get rolling to a degree that it was interesting..but the book is not for everyone. The Box Man I mean.

I really laughed at how the cars were destroyed too...esp the one with that dead groundhog. And it was even funnier when Ranger's employee had driven by and they had already known about vultures flying about the car before she called them.

I guess in stories of that nature you are supposed to ignore the fact that Lula doesn't actually do anything..the zany stories don't always add up. Like snakes don't eat donuts. Or pizza. I'm sure the author knows that but Stephanie clearly doesn't. She likes that stuff so she thinks the snake would like it too. But stories like this are just supposed to be entertaining and make you laugh. They're not supposed to "add up" and be logical. Although sometimes they can still annoy us.

Yes grandma Mazur is funny too. How she hopped on to the plane to go see that guy in Florida! If I were to go down there, I'd go to see the beach and those attractions they have with animals. Places like the Everglades Outpost in Homestead Florida.

I realized I only have one more prompt for the "advanced" category on the Popsugar! Plus I had read a book that covered another category and hadn't even realized it! That's always good to find out! I still have a few of the regular prompts to finish though. I pretty much have all of my books picked out; just need to read them.

And I didn't realize Ranger had his own books...I wonder why does he put up with Stephanie constantly destroying cars?

Sarah wrote: "I'm going to start on as what could be a better beach read than reading about sharks? (Insert music from Jaws) 🌊⛵🐬

My one friend ..."

Shark Life is on my list, too. I read Meg last month and am keenly interested in reading more about marine life.

Sarah wrote: "And I didn't realize Ranger had his own books...I wonder why does he put up with Stephanie constantly destroying cars?"

I'm not aware there are any books with Ranger as MC. I re-checked her series and there are three with male MC: Lizzy & Diesel (paranormal spin-off of the Stephanie Plum Between the Numbers/Holiday Novels), Fox & O'Haare (ex-con working with the FBI) and Knight & Moon (can't even describe this one - not my stuff)
Ranger is kind of in love with her but he's not doing relationships plus he mentioned several times (in earlier books) that there's not much to laugh about in his line of work and each time he (his employees or his property) has anything to do with Stephanie, bad luck just happens but in a way he and his employees have to laugh and that's why all expenses connected with her are in the 'comic relief' account - to make his and his employees' lifes lighter.
I think that's the part you have to follow the series chronologically to really grasp.

I read today another of the travel cozies Homicide in Hawaii. It was ok, though my least favorite in this series.

Well I finished Shark Life. The large selection of true stories about encounters to sea life was interesting. Most of the stories I found fascinating, but at least one was dull (shark autopsy) and the opening story with the author in a shark cage was scary! I had no idea he did diving with sharks! I guess I just picture authors busy at a desk typing away, safe from such dangers and they only imagine it in their minds. But he's grown up around the ocean and diving, etc. The story about the dolphin at the end was shocking!

I'm now reading for the Popsugar challenge: a book written by an author in their 20s.. I found this one qualified by accident! I was going to read this anyway (I found it a few days ago when I read that other Jamaica book) and I was reading the blurb at the beginning where they were talking about the author and it said he was born in 1900 and he started writing it in 1928 and it was published in 1929... So he was in his 20s!

This is a very easy to read story. It's about some kids (who are kind of wild - they spend the days swimming, etc) who live in Jamaica and after a big scare, their parents decide to send them on a ship back to England. But the ship gets attacked by pirates! Basically it's an adventure story.

Thanks for explaining about the books with Stephanie and Lula and Ranger..I guess I misunderstood you.

I can understand that Ranger needs comic relief..I'm sure he and his crew do very dangerous stuff. It must be stressful. Maybe they enjoy seeing the crazy stuff she does to the cars. Maybe she'll drive one into a swamp. Or get one accidentally covered in cement! I sure laughed at that dead animal in the car!

Wow...what a brilliant pink sky here!!