EPBOT Readers discussion

Hi everyone,

Hope you all are hanging in there!

As a book club note: I still haven't gotten my shipment for Fifth Season yet. If I don't get it by next week I'll try to get it from the library so I can at least start putting up some discussion questions. Sorry for the delay! I knew it was back ordered, but had no idea just how long it'd take to come back in.

This week I finished:

Showtime at the Apollo: The Epic Tale of Harlem’s Legendary Theater - graphic novel history of the Apollo Theatre in Harlem. I thought it was interesting, sort of a history of music as well. I liked it, although I think some of the high-text pages could have been organized better.

The Dinner - popsugar book that is set in a city that hosted the olympics, this was set in Amsterdam. Although honestly I don't really remember that being specifically mentioned, just that the people were Dutch. but whatever, it came up on a list of books set in Amsterdam so I'm going to go with it. It was not a good book, i don't know why it was a best seller and they made a movie off of it. I also don't really know why it's considered a thriller, it was about white people trying to cover up their teenage sons crimes because "it could ruin their future". So I mean I guess it's a way to see that mentality occurs in other countries than America, but still not something I want to see or read.

Such a Fun Age - I liked this, was a nice brisk read. It also kind of made me re-examine some of my past behavior. A lot of white people really want to be perceived as being woke, progressive, etc. while still doing a whole bunch of problematic behavior and unconscious microaggressions. Always trying to learn and improve, but there were a lot of cringey moments that felt uncomfortably close to something i might have thought or done in the past, and makes me want to make sure I don't do them now or in the future.

Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America - counting for popsugar book on a topic you know nothing about. It was downright upsetting to learn so much stuff that was NEVER taught in my American history classes. I grew up with teacher parents, and always railed at the idea of standardized testing/teaching for a test in general due to it being unfair to students who learn differently and test poorly, and not really teaching in a way to retain information or to LEARN things. So to read that the IQ test and the SAT and others were specifically created by eugenisists to prove that white males were superior just left me with my jaw hanging down going "WHY ARE WE STILL USING THESE?!" Lots of other examples too.

The Bluest Eye - I found this pretty upsetting to read, but it really was well done and I appreciate what it was trying to do.

currently reading:

Untamed - kept seeing people raving about this, giving it a try. I am not blown away so far, but I can see some good advice in it. I just wish it was wrapped up in less...flowery language? I can get behind "stop tearing off pieces of yourself to fit into society's mold" alright, but "women spend time shaking their inner snowglobes to ensure the dragon within stays hidden" is a bit much for me.

Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights - popsugar book with 20 in the title. I couldn't really find anything else that looked even kind of interesting. I heard this isn't Salman Rushdie's best book but I do like Djinn and I've found it interesting enough so far. Library only had the audio book digitally, so only about an hour in.

QOTW:

What's your reading history? Have you always been an avid reader or is it something you got into more recently? (I'm using avid to less describe amount you read and more your interest in it. I'm kind of assuming if you care enough to have a social network just for books you read, that you have a good amount of interest in reading as a whole, regardless of how many you finish in a year)

I had a hard time learning to read in early schooling, I guess I could read individual words but I just couldn't connect them as a sentence. So I started first grade in the lowest reading group. But apparently something clicked that year and i finished the year in the top reading group and devoured stacks of picture books. My mom always read books with me, so that probably encouraged an early love it it. I was also the first second grader to finish every single Clifford book, so I was first to get to take home the giant stuffed Clifford for the weekend. (I think i finished them all in less than a month, I WANTED that plushie, and there was no way my mom was going to let me have one that big, so taking it home for a weekend was the best I'd get haha. )

I remember that while other kids might have their tv or early computer time taken away for watching too much or playing too many early video games. Instead my mom would threaten to take my book and hide it until I finished my chores or went outside for a while haha.

Last week I finished:
Hamilton's Battalion: A Trio of Romances - this was my Popsugar anthology, a set of three romance novellas loosed connected to the story of Alexander Hamilton, through the battalion of soldiers he led during the American Revolution. I loved Courtney Milan's entry, which I'd read as a standalone novella last year. The other two were not as good but still enjoyable.

Comics/short stories: Hatsu*Haru, Vol. 2, Bingo Love Volume 1: Jackpot Edition, St. Valentine, St. Abigail, St. Brigid

I'm currently reading Peace Talks. This is my Popsugar book by an author who has written more than 20 books. I've kind of reached the point with the Dresden Files where I'm really invested in the characters, so I just roll my eyes at some things in this series (like Harry ogling women) and try to ignore them. So far, this one's good, with lots of familiar characters coming back into the story and a twisty, if somewhat slow to start, plot. I have a suspicion that this book and the next one Battle Ground (coming out in September) were originally one long book which the publisher cut in half, which might explain the somewhat slow pacing thus far.

QOTW: I've pretty much always been a voracious reader. I was an early reader, too, and my mom used to joke that I'd sit at the breakfast table and read the cereal box when I was little. I was like that too, Sheri, with the threats to take away my books. I also used to get sidetracked while doing stuff like cleaning my room; in the middle of straightening my bookshelves, I'd open a book and get sucked in. The funny thing is, neither of my parents were readers, although they encouraged me to become one.

I'm actually probably less of a reader now than I was, simply because I don't have as much free time. I also have lots of other distractions for my free time, like games & such. But I do still love to read.

Three finishes for me this week:

L'Étranger, which I used for the Ravenclaw/Beauxbatons/French author. I wasn't sure whether I'd read this before, because I remembered the start of the book, but that may have been in some lit class from years ago. It's a quick read and I'm not sure what I think of it. Maybe it's because I am a "not like other girls" girl or because I am solitary and contemplative/detached by nature, but the alienation I think I was supposed to feel felt quite familiar in a lot of ways.

The Handmaid's Tale, which I used for Hufflepuff/Cedric Diggory/a tragedy. I remember seeing the movie as a naive older teenager when it came out and not "getting" all of it. This is a fabulous, horrifying read.

And on a completely different note, I read The Old Dog Barks Backwards., which I couldn't fit into any One PHRC reading challenge prompt, although I did fit it in other challenges I'm tracking. Light-hearted, pun-based poetry from the late sixties, I most enjoyed the accompanying illustrations by Robert Binks, which reminded me of Yellow Submarine in style.

44/60

QOTW: I have been a reader for as long as I can remember. I grew up surrounded by books. Oddly, I don't remember my parents reading to me (I'm sure they must have, though) but I remember both my parents reading, for themselves and for pleasure.

I lapsed somewhat in early adulthood with the rise of the internet. I was still reading a lot, just online instead of books. I've really gotten back into it in the last 5 years or so.

My first book this week was Hollywood Ending. In the first installment, Hollywood Homicide, we met struggling actress Dayna, who decides to make ends meet by solving a crime for the reward money with the help of her friends: her high-school crush, now starring in a popular TV cop drama; a woman trying to become tabloid-famous by wearing only red; and a reclusive tech-genius whose identical twin sister is a movie star. In the second book, Dayna is working as an assistant to a private investigator, but still bumbling from clue to clue and suspect to suspect. Both were fun, funny, fast reads. This one had a lot of copy editing issues, unfortunately, and I'm still trying to find mysteries by Black authors that are more in the whodunnit style.

Next I finished Disintegrate/Dissociate, a short book of poetry by an Indigenous trans woman. Although it had some similarities to Milk and Honey, I liked this one better. I think it felt more grounded in the author's life, with references to specific people or places she has lived. Content warning for sexual violence.

Today I just finished The Billiard Room Mystery. This is the first in a series by a prolific but largely forgotten Golden Age mystery writer. My favorite mystery blogger discovered and loved him - and then managed to get the first ten books reprinted in the UK. I'm not sure why this one and only this one was available on Project Gutenberg. The amateur detective character is sort of a posh public school Sherlock Holmes (tall and thin but athletic, grey eyes, scornful of literary detectives). The actual mystery... well, the least-spoilery way to put it is that it doesn't adhere to Knox's "Ten Commandments". There is a spoilery reason to consider that I might like one aspect of subsequent books more, but I'll have to wait until either they're released in the US or come into the public domain after about a decade.

QOTW: Oh, always always. I was "reading" before I could read, with my parents, library story time, read-along records that said, "You will know it is time to turn the page when you hear the chimes ring like this..." I can't even remember learning to read; certainly I could by the time I started school. They gave us these mimeographed story sheets, and we were supposed to start on the side that had pictures inserted, like "The [drawing of farmer] went to the [drawing of barn]" but I found that so annoying I would just flip to the side that had the words.
I did a lot less reading for pleasure in college, when I was doing a lot more reading for class, but I did take advantage of the availability of a few titles in the campus library that I couldn't get in my hometown. Other than that, I think I've pretty much always had a book going.

Hi all! I spent most of last week wrestling with White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism, which was a REALLY important book for me to read. I needed to give my brain a break afterwards, and Zoe's Tale for my other group was a perfect choice. It re-tells the happenings of The Last Colony from a different POV and I was pleasantly surprised at how much Scalzi was able to add to the story to make it interesting, when the reader already knows what's coming, plot-wise.

I also re-read the The Fionavar Tapestry trilogy for the thousandth time. Like visiting old friends. And good news, my loan for Space Opera FINALLY came through so I get to start that tonight!

QOTW: Yeah, I've always been the type of reader whose parents had to yell at me to get my face out of a book. I was reading before kindergarten, and have a vague memory of being pulled out of class with the one other student who already knew how to read so we could practice with the classroom aide while everyone else learned their letters and sounds. My now fourth-grader was a struggling reader at first, and it wasn't until 2/3 through second grade that it really clicked for him - proudest moment as a mom was the first night I had to yell at him to put the book down and go to sleep :)

Rebecca wrote: "QOTW: Oh, always always. I was "reading" before I could read, with my parents, library story time, read-along records that said, "You will know it is time to turn the page when you hear the chimes ring like this..."

Oh yes, those Disney 45s were a big hit with me too, although mine were in French! Were those chimes associated to Tinkerbell in English too?

Daniele wrote: "Were those chimes associated to Tinkerbell in English too?"

Most of mine were actually Rainbow Brite (and 33s), and the chimes were just chimes. I did have a Star Wars 45 and have been trying to remember what the sound was - R2D2, maybe?

I also had Teddy Ruxpin, who read his stories from cassette tapes inserted in his back. I can't remember his page-turning sound, either, even though we were married several times (there was a book/tape of love songs that came with a little tuxedo for him, so we had to have weddings).

I didn’t have disney 45, but I did have a big bird player and a bunch of read along books. Also had a talk and play thing, where it had tapes and books and you pushed buttons to trigger stuff.

This talk about the read-along books sparked a memory. I'm suddenly reminded of these other tapes I had as a kid. I don't think they were read-along with a physical book, but it was a little like an audiobook, where the narrator would tell a story, and then have you draw what you saw in your imagination. I want to say it was called Little Thinkers or something like that. I loved those when I was little.

I'll get to the current reading momentarily - but first...THERE WAS A TEDDY RUXPIN TUXEDO?!?! My elementary school somehow obtained a Teddy Ruxpin (which everyone, including the teachers and principal, called Teddy Ruxbear, so that's how I still think of him), and for special occasions we would gather around and listen to him. I think there was just the one story that he came with, but I don't really remember the details of the story, just the excitement of Teddy Ruxbear day. If there had been a tuxedo, I don't think the school would have survived the reaction.

Fast-forwarding a few decades to the present day, I did finish both The End of My Heart and The Escape Artist at long last, and both were disappointing, unfortunately. End of My Heart, especially, because I was so excited for it and really wanted to like it - but it just didn't work. The plot made no sense, the characters weren't developed - I really like Gayle Forman most of the time, but maybe she tried too many things that were new to her all at once with this one (historical setting, adult characters, audio only format). The Escape Artist also needed some fleshing out of the plot and characters, which was made worse by it seeming like it was 1000 pages long. I was really hoping for a fun, thrilling adventure - but that was not it.

I'm now back to Big Red Tequila, which is finally starting to pick up at the 70% mark. Most of it is a less original knockoff of every Kinky Friedman book, but at least the plot is starting to really come together - something i'm not taking for granted after those last two!

I've also just started listening to the new Audible version of The Sandman (I can't find it on Goodreads to tag it since there are so many editions and none seem to be this new one). I'm less than an hour in, so I'm reserving judgement until I get farther - but it certainly has an impressive cast.

QOTW: I read all the time as a kid - all kinds of books for both kids and adults. Then, in middle school, when we started having specific assigned books we had to read, I stopped. And I didn't start regularly reading non-assigned material again until about 10 years ago.