Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge discussion

Happy Thursday, readers!!  It's really winter up here in New York now, we had temperatures in the single digits this week, and lots of snow, and even a snow day (but the snow day was for cold temperatures, not snow). My snow plow guy is finally earning his price!


Admin stuff
Our January monthly read of People We Meet on Vacation is on-going here:
January Group Read Discussion

Here's a discussion question to throw into the mix:  Why does this book have two different titles?  (UK: You and Me on Vacation)  Does the American title not make sense in England?  Was there another UK book with a similar title and they needed to differentiate?

A few people have mentioned interest in leading one of our group discussions.  It's very casual and there is no right or wrong way to do it! Everyone is welcome!  If you're interested, do not hesitate to give it a try!!  We currently have an opening to lead the March discussion of The Island of Sea Women. (More to come, as later months are chosen.)  Message me or Lynn if you're interested.



This week I finished 3 books, 2 for this Challenge, so I am now 4/50.

Places in the Darkness by Christopher Brookmyre - this was a decent sci-fi mystery; a lot of reviews are calling it "noir" but I don't see it.  It's got two POVs, so I checked off "book with 2 POVs."  

When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain by Nghi Vo - this novella was a lot of fun!  Recommended to anyone who enjoys mythopoeic stories.  I checked off "tiger" with this book.

Topography, and Other Poems by Ruth Stone - I haven't read a collection from Stone in decades, and it was lovely to revisit her work.



I'm very pleased with myself for prioritizing the Challenge this year (so far). I guess this goes back to Lynn's question last week! In the past, I would casually read what I wanted, some Challenge reads and some not, because I was confident that I would finish in Q3. But in 2021, that all went out the window. I didn't like the stress of finishing in the last week!

I'm currently reading book one in Kwei Quartey's Darko Dawson series (which I keep calling Donnie Darko), Wife of the Gods. I just realized that book three in the series (Murder at Cape Three Points) perfectly fits another Challenge category for me (sister cities). I toyed with just skipping book two, but I know that's not my style, and I can see Quartey is setting up some longer plot arcs about Darko's wife & son, so I don't want to miss anything. So I'll be reading book two, Children of the Street, too, but I'm not sure if I can find a Challenge category for it.







Question of the Week  
this question was suggested by Heather about a year ago:  
Are there any books that have sequels, but you wish they didn't?

Yes! I have a lot of grievances to share! I read these wonderful gems that feel so fresh and new and they stand alone on their own perfectly, with no need for a sequel. And then the sequel is published, and it's no where near as good, and it takes the story in places it didn't need to go, and it just ruins the whole thing for me.

Now that we are all looking for duologies to read, you might feel this way about a third book that turned the duology into a trilogy or ongoing series!

But for me, the first book that pops into my head IS a book that turned a stand-alone into a duology, and it really didn't need to happen, because that stand-alone stood just fine on its own.  Warm Bodies was such a great book, a clever, fresh, and different take on the zombie story.  But then I can only assume it was so popular that publisher pressed the author to write more of the same, and thus we were given The Burning World, which was blah and dull and just didn't thrill me in any way.  It really ruined the entire thing for me.  I see the author released a FOURTH book (four if you count the short prequel that was released between the first and second books) in this series (supposedly the final book), The Living, and I don't particularly care enough to read it.

Throne of Glass was a fun, fluffy retelling of Cinderella as an assassin, written by a teen, for teens, and I enjoyed it for what it was.  But then, it was an overnight sensation and Maas just didn't stop writing.  Yes, that series has a clear, enduring popularity, but if you ask me each successive book was worse than the last, it became clear that Maas had not had ANY of the ensuing plot arcs in mind when she started, she engaged in some serious character assassination (ironic, perhaps, in a series that began as a book about an assassin), and eventually I just stopped reading.  I know most people won't agree with me on this, because SOMEONE is buying her books, but I wish none of them had been written.

Similarly, I really enjoyed One of Us Is Lying, it was so fun and clever, I enjoyed all the characters, and it felt like a fresh take on a popular trope.  But the sequel was (in my opinion) a real dud.  And I see McManus has a third (and supposedly final) book coming out next year.

I feel this way about a lot of popular picture books, too.  Whenever a picture book is a hit, publishers want more of the same from that author, and I get it, little kids naturally gravitate to the familiar, so if they love a character, they want all the books with that character.  But sometimes I wish the author had just stopped at one.  Three that pop into my head are: Olivia, Pinkalicious, and Llama Llama Red Pajama.  I loved those books, they had that certain j'ne sais quoi that made the characters come alive for me, they stood head and shoulders above the other picture books, and that quality was lacking in the sequels.

I am super thankful for audiobooks this week. I had a pretty rough time with my booster shot last weekend, so I mostly stuck to laying in bed/on the couch listening to audiobooks. I'm feeling much better now and I have a 3 day weekend, so I'm hopeful to get back to some of my physical library books.

I am 10/50.

I finished:

Death on the Nile: A book set on a plane, train, or cruise ship: I love Agatha Christie, especially the audiobook versions, because it helps me to just enjoy the story rather than thinking about it too hard. I found this one really enjoyable, especially this idea that every character is suspicious, because everyone is hiding something, but not necessarily murder. This is the first Agatha Christie that I've read that I pretty much figured out early on, so I took one star off for that, but still a great story. Highly recommend the audiobooks.

Seven Dirty Secrets: A book about a secret: This book was entertaining and I finished it quickly, but it was a pretty repetitive and all over the place.

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo: A sapphic book: WOAH! I don't really have words. This book came with realizations to me. I don't think I rate books fairly sometimes, because when a book is as spectacular and special as this one, I want so much from it. I want it to be perfect and that's just not fair. There were things about this book that I did not like, but it is so much better than anything I normally read that it would be ridiculous not to give it 5 stars. I cried. I laughed. I thought a lot. I listened to the whole thing on a lazy Sunday. The audiobook is stellar and I find myself very glad that this was my first Taylor Jenkins Reid book, so I quite possibly have a lot more good books ahead of me. Also, one of the best last lines of a book ever.

Old Fashioned: A book with a recipe: Even for Konrath, this book was extremely unbelievable and over the top, but I still can't resist. It makes me laugh and roll my eyes. It did have one big timeline error that kept making me mad, but other than that, it was fast and entertaining. The more ludicrous, the better at this point.

Currently reading:

The Bone Collector: A book with a protagonist who uses a mobility aid: I love this movie, and I'm not normally one to read a book AFTER I've seen the movie, but this is great so far, except that as soon as I started to read it, I felt compelled to watch the movie again (which I did).

DNF:
This is my first time keeping track of DNF books, but I think it is going to be helpful long term. This week two books I had planned for the challenge didn't work out for me, so I'm hunting for new ones.

Ski Weekend: I liked the first two chapters, and then everyone got really stupid, really quickly and that's just not what I want in a survival book. I was going to use this for a book set in Winter, but I don't think it'll be hard for me to replace it.

Tiger Reef: I had trouble choosing one for the "tiger" prompt, but stumbled across this audiobook on Hoopla and thought I'd give it a chance, but the narrator wasn't for me. I'm back to the drawing board for this one.

QOTW:

I'm sure there are, but I can only think of times when a sequel was necessary but poorly executed, like the Divergent series.

Nadine in NY wrote: "Here's a discussion question to throw into the mix: Why does this book have two different titles? (UK: You and Me on Vacation) Does the American title not make sense in England? Was there another UK book with a similar title and they needed to differentiate?..."

As a Brit this confused me, because surely if there was a problem with the title it would have been the word "vacation".

Nadine in NY wrote: "But then I can only assume it was so popular that publisher pressed the author to write more of the same, and thus we were given The Burning World, which was blah and dull and just didn't thrill me in any way...."

Good to know. I adore Warm Bodies and I don't want it ruined.

Nadine in NY wrote: "And I see McManus has a third (and supposedly final) book coming out next year...."

I quite enjoy her standalone books but I don't get how she's managed to spin that story out into three books. Her books are quite samey anyway so if she doesn't change the characters, it's basically the same book three times.

I finished Lonesome Dove. It's my fave book and my fourth time reading it over about 30 years.

I'm about 3/4 of the way through Gay Girl, Good God: The Story of Who I Was and Who God Has Always Been

QOTW: What a timely question. I hate hate hate Streets of Laredo, the sequel to Lonesome Dove.

And I don't think Kingdom Come: The Final Victory the last book in the Left Behind series was at all necessary, and it kind of sucked.

Good morning from Columbus! Or well for me I’m still awake and mad at myself for it lol. My sleep schedule is all out of whack, I got hit with a positive test and covid symptoms Saturday which led to me sleeping a lot. Somehow a few days later and I’m still up at 6:30. Yeesh. But if this is the worst of it for me, I’ll count myself lucky.

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil for a book set in the 80s. This was a book I added to my tbr ages ago and forgot why, but immediately realized it’s because it’s about Savannah. My favorite city, and where I ultimately was supposed to go to college. This was a fun book, court drama, mystery, magic, comedy, interesting characters. What more could you want?

The Night Tiger for the tiger prompt. I’m glad I finally got to this book, I’ve had it since around the time it came out but never made time for it. This was a gripping story and I was desperate to figure out what was happening with all the fingers.

Sing, Unburied, Sing for the anisfield-wolf book award prompt. This was not what I thought it was going to be, but I always appreciate an unanticipated twist on southern gothic writing. It was very well written, I’ll most definitely want to read more of her work.

I’m still working my way through The Way We Live Now but I let my overdrive books pile up so I’m working through them before they run out of time.

3/40; 0/10 for Popsugar
0/24 for Book Riot
0/12 for Back to the Classics

Had my final endocrinology appointment this morning and my thyroid is officially back to normal. Consultant made me laugh when she was warning me that it could go wrong the other way and described hypothyroidism as " like how everyone feels in January but it goes on longer". Much love to the NHS as they have looked after me all through the pandemic even though my problem was fairly minor.

Finished:
A Pho Love Story by Lean Lo. Sweet YA romance across rival families. I mean their families really hate each other and I was invested in knowing WTF happened to make them that way. This hit all my challenges, initially I was reading it for ATY's food/drink prompt, but the parents talk in Vietnamese enough that I'm also using it for Popsugar's two languages. Plus it fit Beat the Backlist and Pick Your Poison.

When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain by Nghi Vo for the tiger prompt. Nadine used a fancy word for it, but yeah it was great. I've enjoyed both the novellas that can be read as standalones and I'm looking forward to seeing what kind of story is woven in the next one.

Where the Deer and the Antelope Play: The Pastoral Observations of One Ignorant American Who Loves to Walk Outside by Nick Offerman which I started listening to last year and put it on hold over the holidays. A bit meandering and I was hoping it would be more focused on the wandering round national parks side, and while I agree with him mostly, I also was not in the mood the listen to ways a country I don't live in is doing things wrong when I already hear about it more than enough. Plus lots of fanboying over James Rebanks that I felt I might have been better off just reading Rebanks' book (which I have). Using for ATY's long title prompt.

Echo by Thomas Olde Heuvelt for ATY (three continents - Europe). Has the creepiest opening chapter ever, it really got under my skin, so full marks for being an actual scary horror story. I loved HEX and this wasn't quite as good as the pacing was a little off but I liked the idea of a mountain doing the possessing. Horror often does not handle facial disfigurement well and it was interesting that he tried to explore this, Sam initially finds it difficult to deal with, but they work together to get past it and also deal with the possession. Some of the mountaineering detail could really have been cut out.

QOTW:
I have read some disappointing second books but usually they're part of a series. I don't think The Silence of the Girls needed a second book, she could have easily chosen someone else to write about as there wasn't much going on in The Women of Troy. I think she's even doing a third book...

Ellie wrote: "As a Brit this confused me, because surely if there was a problem with the title it would have been the word "vacation"...."

LOL good point,

Happy Thursday! Our winter is as fickle as ever, we had 2 cold days and we're back to spring/summer. We should have one more cold snap for the berries (the strawberries and blueberries). My husband would argue it has been cold at night, but really we've just lived down here too long lol.

I finished one book this week:
Rise of the Governor by Robert Kirkman, Jay Bonansinga - this has been on my TBR for several years now, it gives the backstory for The Governor based on the comics. I have only read a few of the comics, I'm mostly a fan of the TV show, but I felt this worked for me as well, it felt in line with the general tone of The Walking Dead (there was certainly enough blood and guts).

QOTW: Yes! Even when I like the sequel, there are times when I think it was unnecessary to write it. For example, I did enjoy Scarlett but I absolutely do not think Gone with the Wind needed a second book, and I think it took away a bit from the characters.

Other series that had one too many books are:
The Clan of the Cave Bear, most of the books in the series were good but the last one (The Land of Painted Caves) was not.

The Black Stallion - I loved most of the books in the series but lets be honest, The Black Stallion Legend was strange.

A Horse Called Bonnie - A Special Kind of Courage wasn't a bad book but it was the weakest book in the series.

Ellie wrote: "Nadine in NY wrote: "Here's a discussion question to throw into the mix: Why does this book have two different titles? (UK: You and Me on Vacation) Does the American title not make sense in England...

As a Brit this confused me, because surely if there was a problem with the title it would have been the word "vacation"."


Exactly my thought! If they are changing the title anyway, why didn't they change it to People We Meet on Holiday??




Nadine in NY wrote: "And I see McManus has a third (and supposedly final) book coming out next year...."

I quite enjoy her standalone books but I don't get how she's managed to spin that story out into three books. Her books are quite samey anyway so if she doesn't change the characters, it's basically the same book three times.


That's how I feel! I enjoyed her recent stand-alone, The Cousins, so it's not that I don't like other books from her. But I don't want sequels that are just churning the same thing up again and losing the freshness of the original.

Good morning from Akron! Still not much snow up this way, although apparently we should be expecting anywhere from .05" to 3ft of snow this weekend. We'll see how that pans out.

The heating element in our oven peaced out last week (in the middle of making steak for dinner, no less); we ended up finishing dinner with the toaster oven and it actually turned out pretty good! Heating element has been replaced and everything is back in working order. Still waiting for my car to get out of the shop (it was supposed to be done yesterday), but trying not to be impatient.

In Important Bird News, this morning I have discovered the great eared nightjar: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_e...
He looks like a tiny fluffy dragon! :D

My reading brain has decided to go all in on Pendergast, so those are the two books I've finished this week:
Brimstone - 4 stars Features two languages
Dance of Death - 4 stars Takes place during your favorite season - I bent this one to Takes place during the current season because the book kept mentioning that it was January. Calling it done!
The Bone Shard Emperor - DNF. I'm still in shock over this one, because I ADORED the first book. This one was dragging, and the pairing didn't make sense, and sloppy editing, and and and...

I've also quietly tucked Amra Thetys back on the TBR shelf and hope that my friend who highly recommended it hasn't noticed. It's an indie fantasy but it feels very middle-of-the-road to me so far. It's short, so I'll try it again eventually.

PS 2/50

Currently reading:
Women, Race & Class Different book by an author you read in 2021
The Silmarillion
The Book of the Dead possibly part of the Twin towns double-prompt

QOTW: Are there any books that have sequels, but you wish they didn't?
To Kill a Mockingbird comes to mind, although I suppose Go Set a Watchman isn't actually a proper sequel.

Happy Thursday, y’all.

So... I'm going back to school this fall. Decided that it's finally time I went to college, and am planning on finally pursuing a degree in either library science or creative writing (haven't decided which yet). Feels weird planning on going to college at 38, but hey, better late than never, right?

I know this is going to eat into my reading time, though... ah well. Sacrifices for the greater good, right?

Books read this week:

The Night of the Long Knives -- for “a book you can read in one sitting.” Okay, I read it in two sittings, but I could have finished it in a few hours had I not been interrupted, haha… Very Mad-Max-ish in tone, though kinda sexist at points. Gotta love ‘60s sci-fi.

Hidden Figures -- for “an Anisfield-Wolf Book Award winner.” I never realized just how closely enmeshed the stories of the Space Race, the Cold War, and the Civil Rights movements were. I just wish the book we'd gotten to tell these girls' stories had been better written... it was a slog at times.

Where the Drowned Girls Go -- for “a book published in 2022.” The Wayward Children series is one of my favorite series ever, and while this one leaves some unanswered questions, it’s still great to see where certain characters have ended up and what they’re doing now.

A Study in Scarlet -- for “a book set in Victorian times.” I’m finding I really enjoy Sherlock Holmes… though having the second half of this one (view spoiler)[suddenly take place in Utah during the Mormon settlement era (hide spoiler)] kind of threw me off. Wasn’t expecting that…

The Girl from the Other Side: Siúil, A Rún, Vol. 7 -- manga, not for the challenge. If you’re a fan of Neil Gaiman’s type of dark fantasy, you may like this series -- I’m certainly enjoying it.

DNF:

Whispers in Autumn -- originally for the “book with an onomatopoeia in the title.” The writing was overdone and the book was falling into some tropes that bug me (insta-love, super-special protagonist who has to keep her powers hidden, etc.), but I was going to stick with it… until it got weird regarding people of color. Not sure why the book had to make an excuse for why the population is predominantly white or not, but it came across as uncomfortable and I had to quit.

Currently Reading:

Carmen Miranda's Ghost is Haunting Space Station Three -- for “a book about the afterlife”
Winter Tide -- for “a book with a quote from your favorite author on the cover or Amazon page”
Ninefox Gambit -- for “an Own Voices sci-fi/fantasy book”
Children of Ruin -- for “a different book by an author you read in 2021”

QOTW:

Ready Player One, full stop. That book is a guilty pleasure for me -- not the best but still enjoyable. I don't see why it needed a sequel, except that the author was buoyed up by the success of the book and the movie adaptation and decided to milk the cash cow again.

Hello. I finished two books for the challenge in the past week, The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune for the book about a found family, and The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen. I was back and forth on what category to count it in, but since I just started its sequel, The Committed, I think I will use the pair for a duology.

I'm also slowly working on Reckless by Selena Montgomery (aka Stacey Abrams) for the BIPOC romance category. It's definitely not my thing, but reading more widely is kind of the point of doing the challenge.

I also just picked up The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu for the Hugo winner category.

As for books I wish didn't have sequels...I'll go for a big one: Dune by Frank Herbert. The 2nd book is readable, but still diminishes the grand sweeping scale of the first book, and they get weirder from there. Then they devolved into endless expanded universe novels from Kevin J. Anderson, who I consider to be one of the worst hacks to pollute the genre.

First check in of the year:

book with a party

Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid. Historical fiction about siblings. I really, really enjoyed this and had been avoiding Reid because of all the hype. I just got this book because I had read 3 of the 5 book of the years at book of the month and the other one I hadn't read interest me not at all.
And while I really enjoyed it. I also don't understand why she is hyped so much on facebook groups and booktok. But maybe I should read Seven Husbands and I'll understand the hype.

no prompts

The Viscount Who Loved Me by Julia Quinn. Historical romance. Good not great. I need more enemies before they become lovers.

Beasts of Prey by Namina Forna. YA fantasy. Good not great but I'll probably read the next in the series.



One of Us is Lying should have been a standalone. The Inheritance Games has a 3rd book coming out and I think it worked great as a duology. Hopefully, it works well as a trilogy.

Kenya wrote: "Ready Player One, full stop. That book is a guilty pleasure for me -- not the best but still enjoyable. I don't see why it needed a sequel, except that the author was buoyed up by the success of the book and the movie adaptation and decided to milk the cash cow again."

Seconded!!

PS: Best of luck with school, Kenya!

Tania wrote: "Yes! Even when I like the sequel, there are times when I think it was unnecessary to write it. For example, I did enjoy Scarlett but I absolutely do not think Gone with the Wind needed a second book, and I think it took away a bit from the characters...."

My opinion that nobody asked for, if a book doesn't leave something hanging, a different author need never write a sequel. Write your own book with your own characters.

Ashley Marie wrote: "The Bone Shard Emperor - DNF. I'm still in shock over this one, because I ADORED the first book. This one was dragging, and the pairing didn't make sense, and sloppy editing, and and and... ..."



I didn't even like the first book in that series, so I have serious misgivings about this one. Does it tell you anything more about the Alanga? That's what would get me to read it.

Nadine in NY wrote: "I didn't even like the first book in that series, so I have serious misgivings about this one. Does it tell you anything more about the Alanga? That's what would get me to read it."

By the time I gave up, it seemed as though (view spoiler)[Jovis and Lin both had Alanga powers. They hadn't met any of them yet though, as far as I could tell. (hide spoiler)]

Good morning, everyone! It’s been a pretty busy week so far, but I’ve still managed to find time for a significant amount of reading. I was even able to finish the Three Dark Crowns series this week, which was one of the series I started last year.

Right now I’m trying to get through my library books before they have to go back. I ended up borrowing a pretty eclectic assortment, and I’ve been enjoying the variety.

Goodreads: 22/200

Finished Reading:
~One Dark Throne
~Meat Cute: The Hedgehog Incident
~Two Dark Reigns
~Five ​Dark Fates
~Queens of Fennbirn
~What Did You Do In The War, Sister?: Catholic Sisters in the WWII Nazi Resistance

Currently Reading:
~The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien
~A Lesson in Vengeance

QOTW:
I can’t think of any specific titles off the top of my head that I wish didn't have sequels. However, there have definitely been times when I’ve picked up books that I thought were standalones, only to find that I was going to have to wait a year (or more) for a sequel that I wasn’t originally anticipating.

Nadine in NY wrote: "Happy Thursday, readers!! 

...

Similarly, I really enjoyed One of Us Is Lying, it was so fun and clever, I enjoyed all the characters, and it felt like a fresh take on a popular trope. But the sequel was (in my opinion) a real dud. And I see McManus has a third (and supposedly final) book coming out next year."

One of Us Is Next might have been a better book if the characters from One of Us Is Lying hadn't kept making cameo appearances, thereby reminding us of how this book was a pale imitation of the first.

Also, the point of the first book was that the were strangers thrown together by circumstances. In the second book, Maeve and her best friend accepted the slutty character (I can't remember 2 out of the 3 characters names) pretty quickly. It felt contrived and like it was desperately trying to hold onto the magic of the first book.

And I hate myself that I will read the third book.

Kenya wrote: "Ready Player One, full stop. That book is a guilty pleasure for me -- not the best but still enjoyable. I don't see why it needed a sequel, except that the author was buoyed up by the success of the book and the movie adaptation and decided to milk the cash cow again. ..."


Yeah that did NOT need a sequel. I thought "One" was good-but-not-amazing, so I never even considered reading the "sequel."

Matt wrote: "As for books I wish didn't have sequels...I'll go for a big one: Dune by Frank Herbert. The 2nd book is readable, but still diminishes the grand sweeping scale of the first book, and they get weirder from there. ..."


LOL yes! it definitely gets weird!! I never read them, I only know what happens from reading summaries on-line. That was enough for me to know I didn't need to go any further than the first book. (I wasn't the biggest fan of the first book.)

Ashley Marie wrote: "Nadine in NY wrote: "I didn't even like the first book in that series, so I have serious misgivings about this one. Does it tell you anything more about the Alanga? That's what would get me to read...


By the time I gave up, it seemed as though (view spoiler)"


Ugh. sounds like a long slow crawl. I'm not taking it off my TBR ... but I'll probably never get around to reading it, either.

Dubhease wrote: "... And I hate myself that I will read the third book ..."



LOL!! I've been there ... and I'll be there again, I'm sure.

Happy Thursday! I was supposed to be seeing my parents this weekend, but omicron is rocking their hometown, so we've decided to postpone. Over 50% of the students in the school have tested positive, and nearly everyone in town has some connection to the school. So not good!

Finished:
Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones- I thought this was really interesting- talked about how habits are formed and ways you can alter your behavior. Last year I read Cultish, about how cults and organizations indoctrinate people to do things, and this was sort of how you can indoctrinate yourself to change.

Currently reading:
How to Pronounce Knife: Stories-halfway through, really liking these short stories
14. A book with cutlery on the cover or in the title

Beautiful World, Where Are You- just started this, not sure if it works for an prompts yet.

QotW:
I can't think of any off the top of my head.

Question of the Week:

The Dark Forest by Liu Cixin

To be clear, this second volume in the series is great. It is the third volume, Death's End, that I wish did not exist. It still has some cool science ideas in it, but it feels every bit of its length and is overly depressing/pessimistic.

I loved The Giver by Lois Lowry. I felt that it told a complete story and made its point. I have not read any of the other books set in the same universe, and the synopses have not inspired me to add them to my TBR.

Finished:

The Buried Age by Christopher L. Bennett (reread, 4/5)

This tells about Captain Picard's life between losing the Stargazer and taking command of the Enterprise. The Buried Age excels at both science and character work.

Infection by John Gregory Betancourt (reread, 3/5)

It's a little weird reading about the crew of the Enterprise battling a plague while still in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, it is satisfying to have a cure that they can disperse through the planet's atmosphere at the end.

The Butlerian Jihad by Brian Herbert and Kevin J Anderson (reread, 3/5)

I love the story being told here. It would be an easy 4/5 except that there is a lot of gross detail included when the cymeks and Erasmus are killing humans.

The Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan (3/5, settings include Washington, D.C., and San Francisco)

There were some bits of humor and action that I quite enjoyed, but this one felt a lot more formulaic than the first two, and I wish Annabeth was not sidelined for most of the book. I still plan to finish out the quintet this year.

No major updates here--still on campus, still nervous. A coworker's husband and child both have covid, but since she has no symptoms, she still has to come in. Because of reasons that make no sense to me.

Also, it's cold-ish--in the 40s today. And tomorrow? 70s. I want snooowwwwwwwwwwwww!

Finished:
Nicholas St. North and the Battle of the Nightmare King by William Joyce: I love the movie Rise of the Guardians and this book was not disappointing. Beautiful BEAUTIFUL illustrations. I'm excited to read the rest in the series! I planned to start the next one this week and then life got crazy.

QOTW:
I may have to come back to this. I've been trying to think of some and I know I've read sequels that were disappointing, but I can't think of any off the top of my head. I can think of some series where I hated the end (looking at you A Great and Terrible Beauty) but that's different.

Brandon wrote: "I loved The Giver by Lois Lowry. I felt that it told a complete story and made its point. I have not read any of the other books set in the same universe, and the synopses have not inspired me to add them to my TBR."

I will say, I think the entire series is VERY solid. The second book, Gathering Blue, is actually my favorite in the series.

I obviously can't speak for what you'll like and dislike, but I have yet to talk to anyone who's read them all who thought the sequels weren't up to par.

Edited to add: The series also isn't a traditional series. They're kind of considered "companions" rather than a typical "this story takes place with the same characters after the events of the first story."

Brandon wrote: "Question of the Week:

The Dark Forest by Liu Cixin

To be clear, this second volume in the series is great. It is the third volume, Death's End, th..."


I really liked this trilogy. It was really weird, and each book went places I was NOT expecting, the third book especially, so I can understand why you might wish it hadn't happened.


And I also didn't understand why The Giver had a sequel. I didn't love The Giver, so I never put the sequels on my list to read.

Good Morning Everyone. I finished one book for the week. The Storyteller.:Tales of Life and Music by Dave Grohl. I used it for a book about a band or musical group. Dave Grohl has always amazed me that he survived Nirvana. He is so talented. Also I always wondered, "What Was His Mother Thinking", when he left to join Scream at the age of 17. I enjoyed the book a lot. It was a great way to fill this prompt.
Are there any books that have sequels, but you wish they didn't? I agree that Gone With The Wind by Margaret Mitchell did not need a sequel. I agree with the thought if nothing in the book is left unresolved don't write a sequel. I have to be careful with series because if they run too long the series becomes stale.

Sherri wrote: "Good Morning Everyone. I finished one book for the week. The Storyteller.:Tales of Life and Music by Dave Grohl. I used it for a book about a band or musical group. Dave Grohl has always amazed me ..."

Sherri, have you read Dave's mother's book? From Cradle to Stage: Stories from the Mothers Who Rocked and Raised Rock Stars. I liked the book well enough, but I also highly recommend the show of the same title on Netflix - it intersperses Virginia and Dave's story amid the stories of the other moms :)

Hi Everyone!

It's been a pretty low key week for me even though there have been some crazy things going on where I live. I live in Western Washington and as everyone knows... lots of rain! Well we got a ton of it very quickly right after it snowed a bunch so there was flooding basically everywhere. Roads and highways closed. Literally every pass from Western to Eastern Washington was shut down so that was insane. And COVID has been picking up so my work sent everyone home to work until February some time...maybe... TBD...

Anyways...

Finished Reading: The Tiger's Wife Still working on finishing up the 2021 challenge. Only a couple books left. But I did not like this book. I was bored... which is why it took me over a week to read.

Currently Reading: The Cuckoo's Calling So far so good. I like it more than the Tigers Wife... that's for sure. This is also for the 2021 challenge. Hoping I can pick up the pace now that I'm reading a book I like more.

QOTW: Book that shouldn't have had a sequel.. I cant really think of a specific book/series that shouldn't have a sequel. But one of my pet peeves is when an author writes a whole series and it's great and then they randomly write another book to go with that series but it's like years or decades after and doesn't really have anything to do with the previous characters. It's just weird. Like Extras from Scott Westerfields Uglies series. I enjoyed it but thought it was unnecessary.

I do like companion series though. Like Cassandra Clare writing all these different story lines in the same world. I haven't read everything by her but what I have read has been great.

I can't believe we're only two weeks into 2022. These past 13 days have felt like several months to me. Anyone else feeling like they're stuck in a time sludge?

QOTW:
I know they're not often thought of as a series even though they were written that way at the time, but I definitely have strong feelings about this regarding the four books from Madeline L'Engle that "follow" A Wrinkle in Time. I think it's because AWiT is one of my all-time favorites and the others are just not the same quality of storytelling, plot, and character that I feel like they could've just let AWiT exist on its own.

2022 Reading Challenge Progress:
Goodreads: 5/52
Popsugar: 3/50
Free Black Women's Library: 1/35
Feminist: 4/25
Nonfiction: 2/12

Women + Nonbinary writers/authors: 5/5
BIPOC writers/authors: 5/5
BIPOC Women + Nonbinary writers/authors: 5/5

Finished: 3 finished this week, 2 for Popsugar
Welcome to Your Authentic Indian Experience ™ (2017) by Rebecca Roanhorse, read by LeVar Burton on the LeVar Burton Reads podcast [⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐]: I enjoyed this short story laced with humor, sci fi, and horror. Rebecca Roanhorse's writing was one of my favorite discoveries of 2020 and LeVar Burton's voice work is an excellent addition. I generally prefer non-audio reading for visual learning and neurodiversity reasons but this one (and most of the other podcast episodes) was short enough to stay do-able. The original is online at https://apex-magazine.com/welcome-to-....
*Feminist: audiobook

The Thirty Names of Night (2020) by Zeyn Joukhadar [⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐]: This novel following the intertwined stories of a young Syrian American trans man and an immigrant Syrian woman took my breath away. I won't say too much because each plot share feels like a mini-spoiler (so fitting for a book about secrets) but would highly recommend to lovers of contemporary literary fiction centering themes of migration, gender, sexuality, identity, death / grief, and intergenerational relationships.
*Popsugar: about a secret
*Feminist: nonbinary author

No Planet B: A Teen Vogue Guide to the Climate Crisis edited by Lucy Diavolo [⭐⭐⭐1/2]: I work in youth organizing, so have been a frequent reader of Teen Vogue. I think this guide is a good introduction to climate reporting for youth and adults but since the anthology is primary a reprint of articles, it can be redundant if you're familiar with the source material. I also wish it had delved deeper into an anti-capitalist framework (the bread and butter of the publisher, Haymarket Books) rather than its focus on individual actions, which can sometimes be useful but will not solve the problem on their own.
*Popsugar: about a man-made disaster
*Feminist + Nonfiction: about climate

Currently Reading:
Teaching Community: A Pedagogy of Hope by bell hooks
The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story edited by Nikole Hannah-Jones
Ring Shout by P. Djèlí Clark

Current events - I dropped the lid of my moisturizer and it has vanished into the mess of my bedroom, possibly never to return. I am heart-broken.

At least I have books to distract me!
Finished this week:
A book published in 2022 - Uncontrollable Women: Radicals, Reformers and Revolutionaries
A book whose title begins with the last letter of your previous read - Twenty Years Later
A book featuring a party - Malibu Rising

Currently reading
An Anisfield-Wolf Book Award winner - The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family

Total: 6/40 + 1/10

Are there any books that have sequels, but you wish they didn't?
I can't think of any off the top of my head (alas this is how my brain works) but i definitely am not a fan of unplanned sequels - they always seem to mess up the story.
I agree with whoever talked about Throne of Glass above - I quit reading after the second book, I disliked it that much. It's what pivots the first book from a standalone to a series, reconfiguring the plot lines and whatnot, but I felt like it brought a lot of stuff out of nowhere just to make it work in the long form.

Is it Thursday already?? :o Geez.

Finished:
To Sir Phillip, With Love - For the "book by an author you read in 2021" prompt. 5th in the Bridgerton series. I may stop here, as I have basically no recollection of Francesca, Gregory, or Hyacinth from the show, and I don't think Quinn's writing is compelling enough to entertain me on its own. While I did enjoy this entry, book!Eloise and show!Eloise are pretty different characters, and I didn't love how it handled (view spoiler)[Marina's suicide. Phillip almost seemed to blame her for being depressed, and while that may be period-accurate, it left a bad taste in my mouth. I wonder how the show will treat it if they get that far. Maybe they'll link it more conclusively to postpartum depression (as TV Marina doesn't seem to be depressed,) or just do a straight-up accidental drowning. (hide spoiler)]

Currently reading: The Devil and the Dark Water for the planes/trains/automobiles ship prompt. I LOVE it.

QOTW: Are there any books that have sequels, but you wish they didn't?
This seems to be more common with YA, which I rarely read. That said, I can't count how many times this year I was researching possible options for a prompt, found something that seemed interesting, saw it was part of an ongoing series and wrote it off. I don't want to start another series unless it's complete!! *cries in Winds of Winter*

Good morning! Life continues in Santa Fe much as it always has... The boys are driving me a little nuts, but I've joined a women's social group that's been really fun. It's hard to make friends as an adult in a new city (especially during a pandemic).

Challenge Progress: 6/50

Completed:

The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life: There's a lot of good ideas here. It's not about abdicating responsibility; it's about prioritizing the things that really matter. ★★★★

Such a Pretty Smile: Gritty and compelling combination of horror mashed up with women's issues. It took awhile to really get going, but once it did I couldn't put it down. They're fighting the patriarchy instead of vampires here, but at the end I felt like it was almost a Buffy origin story. I really enjoyed this one. (PS33: A social-horror book) ★★★★

The Arrangement: Cliched... Missing the depth and grit I felt this story really needed. I had guessed the ending well before everything was revealed, and the reveal itself was clunky. I expected more. (PS40: Previous Challenge 2021 - A book with something broken on the cover) ★★★

Our Home in Myanmar: Four years in Yangon: Fascinating insight into the political and cultural upheavals in Myanmar from an expat/journalist POV. Very interesting. ★★★★

Cackle: Thoroughly enjoyable! Sort of a rom-com with a witchy twist... some dark moments, but the story is a little more lighthearted than you might expect. ★★★★★

The Soulmate Equation: Just as I expected from Christina Lauren... Fun, sexy, and sweet! River and Jess had amazing chemistry (I loved their geekiness). PS49: Two books set in "sister cities" - San Diego/Edinburgh) ★★★★

L.A. Weather: Almost all the way through I kept thinking, "This is a 3-star read," but when I got to the end I smiled and sighed. Wait! That's 5 stars! I'll be thinking about the Alvarado family for awhile. (PS6: A book by a Latinx author) ★★★★★



Currently Reading:
The Promise
The Sweetness of Water
Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001
Midnight in Washington: How We Almost Lost Our Democracy and Still Could
The Jane Austen Project
Flipping the Circle
Trick Mirror

QOTW: Does anybody remember when Alexandra Ripley wrote a sequel to Gone with the Wind? Completely unncessary.

Hi all! I've been super busy because we updated the software platform we use for our whole program, and transition/cleanup has been a LOT.

I haven't finished anything, but I'm pretty embroiled in One of Us Is Lying - glad for the warnings last week and this that the sequel isn't worth it.

I started Good Omens: A Full Cast Production as my new "bedtime story" now that I'm done with Persuasion. It's great! One of the few things I disliked about the TV adaptation was Frances McDormand as the narrator (I love her, she just isn't right for this, IMHO), so it's nice to hear a more congruous (to me) British voice in this version.

I was wondering why I had made so little progress on reading, but then I remembered that my husband and I binged The White Lotus and The Nevers in the past week! I regret nothing. I especially loved White Lotus - it was so bonkers, but also very thought-provoking. And the soundtrack is 🔥🔥🔥

QOTW

Nothing directly on point is springing to mind, but I can't begin to express how disappointed I was with the Dark Tower series starting around book 4. That one is probably perfectly cromulent as a story, but it was SO frustrating to wait SIX YEARS for the next installment and then find it's 98% flashback. Books 5 and 6 are complete trash fires, no matter how much I sympathize with the personal trauma King was dealing with. 7 is middling at best. Would it have been better if he just left The Waste Lands hanging? I'd rather be left wanting more than having the story fouled up!

Laura wrote: "Such a Pretty Smile ... They're fighting the patriarchy instead of vampires here, but at the end I felt like it was almost a Buffy origin story. ..."



Say no more. I've pushed it to the top of my TBR pile based on that reference alone.

@Ellie: glad your thyroid is normal again. My sister has a non-working thyroid, she's on medication the rest of her life. We're so glad the docters discoverd it on time... it was exhausting her.

@Christine: I’m kind of starting what you’ve been doing: we’re changing the software for our webforms next week. And after that we start with changing the software for our website. Enjoying my last easy days at work for the coming months.

I’m out of quarantine and we stayed covid-free. We missed nothing while in quarantine: weather is grey, fog all over and it’s just depressing and boring.
Early Sunday morning (9 am) I went to the local vaccination center and got boostered. Wanted to get it over as quick as possible, I’m not a hero (blood, needle, docter... brrrr). I had the same side effect as I had after the first 2 shots: I was a bit tired for 2 days. Sometimes I even didn't know what I was doing 2 minutes before... Ah well, all's well again, I'm pretty lucky with such mild side effects.

Finished nothing, so still 1/40

Currently reading: House of Gold by Natasha Solomons
Haagse jaren: De politieke memoires van Ruud Lubbers - memoirs of a Dutch prime minister

QOTW
I loved The Tea Rose. The sequel was not that good and the next sequel was even worse. Don’t know why I even read that last one. Guess that’s my nerdy self: if I start a series, I want to finish it. The only series I ever quitted was The Clifton Chronicles by Jeffrey Archer. It was very poorly written, like a very predictable and poorly acted soap opera. And it went on and on and on and on…

Well, I made it less than a week into the new year to keep my resolution to read less. There's too much bad stuff going on to avoid something that gives me solace. Maybe when case counts go back down, I can renew it.

10/50

Finished: A General Theory of Love I had to hurry and finish this in one day because I was suddenly informed that it was due back at the library. I ended up using it for misleading title because it seemed to indicate that it was a philosophy book about love, but instead was a bunch of research gathered from different scientific fields about emotions and relationships.

Life, the Universe and Everything used for prompt a different book by an author you read in 2021. This one wasn't as funny as some of the others in the series, so I'm taking a break from Douglas Adams for a bit.

The Odyssey This one I read in part because of a local library challenge to read an epic retelling. Don't think it counts for anything for our challenge though.

Continuing: I just have to mention The World Between Blinks again because it's so much fun. In the parallel world are many things lost from this world, including... light brown M&M's! Loved that detail.

Started: The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity Guys! This is AMAZING! The first chapter critiques some well-known historical visions such as Jared Diamond's and Steven Pinker's. Then the rest of the book uses historical documentation (and prehistorical fossils) to chart a whole new theory of history. They started out by wanting to answer the question, "What is the origin of inequality?" And then began to realize how many assumptions that question makes. The book is a hefty commitment (691 pages) and I don't think it meets any of our prompts, but it's worth it!

Qotw:
I would have to say Love, Stargirl I fell in love with the character of Stargirl from the first book. But the magic dies in the second book. Partly, it's because it's epistolary and I don't really like that format. Partly, it's because I don't enjoy the other characters at much. But mostly she's just not as magical when not seen through Leo's eyes. I only gave it one star.

Up to 1/13;
Popsugar 13/50
ATY 12/52
So that's an additional 7 prompts filled since the following week. Pretty happy with how this is going this year. I did not even come close to finishing last year, but I'm optimistic about 2022!
1. Ring Shout by P. Djeli Clark for #7 - Onomatopoeia in the Title
2. The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix for #32 - Book with a Quote from a Favorite Author (Charlaine Harris has a quote on it.)
3. Queen of Babble in the Big City by Meg Cabot for #28 - Book Set During a Holiday (Thanksgiving, then Christmas)
4. Queen of Babble Gets Hitched by Meg Cabot for #25 - Book About a Secret (Love Triangle)
5. Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo for #48 - Two POVs
6. The Walking Dead Vol. 25 by Robert Kirkman for #29 - Different Book by an Author You Read in 2021
7. Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins for #16 - Book about Witches
Also almost done with The Last House Guest by Megan Miranda, which I'm going to use for #20 - Last Letter of a previous read. Hex Hall - The (L)ast House Guest. I think that works, since I'm not counting the as the first word, which will put me at 14/50.

Work and life have both been pretty slow for me lately. Just hiding out in my house and going out once a week for groceries and errands, as usual.

Finishes this week:
Takane & Hana, Vol. 18 - no prompt. The last volume of a manga series I've been reading from the library. Overall I'd give this series 3 stars. It started strong and funny, although the age gap between the characters is weird. But then it got kind of muddled in the middle, and there was a plotline in volume 11 that left a bad taste in my mouth and brought everything else down.

MEM - book with a palindromic title, 3,5 stars. I enjoyed it for the most part, but it dragged a little in the middle.

Under the Whispering Door - book about the afterlife, 5 stars. I cried through the last 25% of this book. Really loved it - I could see this working very well as an animated, Pixar-style film.

Currently reading:
Into the Dying Light - currently have this slotted into my favorite past prompt, a free book from your TBR list. I kind of regret not rereading the previous books of the trilogy, because the author just throws you back in without any recap. It took me a few chapters to get my bearings and remember what had been happening with the characters in book 2, which I read last year.

QOTW:
I agree on Ready Player One. I haven't read all of book 2 yet, but my partner was listening to the audio version and I heard some of it. Felt very unneeded.

Dash & Lily's Book of Dares worked well as a feel-good romance standalone, and the second book has enough negative reviews that I haven't felt compelled to read it yet.

I’ve been busy at work. Start of a new semester always is… But still trying to read just as much as possible!

We have also hit winter weather in Indiana. Over a week ago I got in the car and it was 1 degree Fahrenheit with a wind chill that made it feel like 14 degrees below zero! I hate winter weather. I really need to move to a more temperate climate…as if that’ll ever happen! LOL

The heated therapy pool was closed for 10 days and I’m just now getting back into my regular workout/teaching routine, so that’s good! These bionic knees must have regular workouts! (As well as the shoulders, feet, hips, spine, and everything else affected by osteoarthritis!)

I am thrilled to see some members starting (or restarting) to participate in the Weekly Check-Ins! That’s so much fun!

Admin Stuff:
In addition to the January 2022 Monthly Group Read discussion of People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry is the opportunity to post any book you read to satisfy the #BookTok prompt here. (I ended up really enjoying this one!)

Thanks go to Sherri for offering her guidance for the February Monthly Group Read discussion of Get a Life, Chloe Brown! THANK YOU!! 😊 (I'm really looking forward to this!

And next week we’ll post the April Monthly Group Read nomination poll for your consideration! That book can be used to fulfill prompt #26 A book with a misleading title. In honor of April Fools’ Day! 😳😊

Question of the Week:
Are there any books that have sequels, but you wish they didn't?
There are a few series which I’ve not continued after reading the first book, but I honestly cannot think of a sequel (or multiple sequels/series) that I did not enjoy. I typically read the first book in a series and if I like it enough, I’ll plan to continue the series and if I don’t like it, then I don’t continue with the sequel(s).

For instance, due to the fact that a dear friend is absolutely enthralled with Louise Penny’s Inspector Gamache series, I read the first book Still Life and really wasn’t impressed… When she and I discussed it later her comment was, “Oh, well, yeah, the first book wasn’t that good, but her writing improved vastly from that!” All I could think was, if you didn’t impress me with the first in the series, then you missed your opportunity. 😋

Popsugar: 9/50
ATY: 22/52
RHC: 2/24

FINISHED:
Murder on Black Swan Lane (Wrexford & Sloane #1) by Andrea Penrose ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ was an amazing read! Penrose is perfect in her depiction of the gloomy sooty “stews” of London during the Regency period and her characters feel so real! Anxious to continue this series!!
POPSUGAR: NEW #9-Charlotte and Raven and Hawk are definitely “family”!, #25, NEW #36, #40-2016 prompt #27: A murder mystery, #46-Charlotte/A.J. Quill
ATY: #4-A book relating to Catch-22—Charlotte is definitely caught in a “catch 22” with Wrexford’s offer, #6-street lights, NEW #9-England = Europe, NEW #11, NEW #12-Glass was one of the ingredients in the secret chemical compound, NEW #21-Top Hat, #36, #40-Death, Justice, Judgment, The World, NEW #44, NEW #49
RHC: NEW #24-2016: Read a historical fiction novel set before 1900

Murder at Half Moon Gate (Wrexford & Sloane #2) by Andrea Penrose ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ was another absolutely excellent read for me! I am in love with Andrea Penrose! LOL This series is amazing, blending scientific and technological history with secrets and a complex mystery with a bit of romance thrown in! Her writing makes the overall atmosphere yet another character. This was a January Buddy Read.
POPSUGAR: #9, #25, #46
ATY: #4-A book related to Shelley's poem Ozymandias (Nadine’s proposal): well those passions read-we’re finally getting to see some of the shared passion between Charlotte and Wrex, #6, NEW #14, #21-Top hat, NEW #26, NEW #27, #33, #40-The Lovers, Justice, Death, Judgement, The World, #44, #49
RHC: #24-From 2016: Read a historical fiction novel set before 1900

People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ for our January Monthly Group Read. I loved the first chapter. Very clever, IMO! I really enjoyed this. I felt it was a bit more complex than just a “romance”/”rom com” and that added greatly to my enjoyment. (Whew! Got that #BookTok prompt fulfilled!)
POPSUGAR: #9-Poppy and Alex definitely were a “found family”!, NEW #11, #25, #28-In certain parts of the world “holiday” means “vacation”!, #40-2016 prompt #25-Takes place during summer (each vacation is during the summer)
ATY: #1-Alex, NEW #3, #4-A book related to Shelley's poem Ozymandias (Nadine’s proposal): Tell that its sculptor well those passions read, Unfortunately, neither Poppy nor Alex appear to read each other’s passion well!, NEW #34-Alex is a teacher, #40-The Lovers, The Sun, The World

CONTINUING:
I Am Not Sidney Poitier by Percival Everett for his author visit later this month. I thought this was going to be a rather absurd read and I was correct. Trying to withhold judgment until I get further into it…since I'm only on page 25! LOL
The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race by Walter Isaacson for a January Buddy Read. This is so interesting! And timely. Hoping to finish it over the upcoming 3-day weekend!
*Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston for the February Monthly Group Read. I'll wait to restart and then finish this one now...
Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family by Robert Kolker
Paradise by Toni Morrison to fulfill the 2020 Reading Women prompt #25 A book written by Toni Morrison. You know, Morrison is such a skilled writer, but I find her books to be really intense!

PLANNED:
To complete some 2021 year-long challenges:
1) Yes, Chef by Marcus Samuelsson I'll probably start this one next...
2) Marjorie Morningstar by Herman Wouk
3) The Beautiful and Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald
To complete the 2021 Read Harder Challenge:
*Get a Life, Chloe Brown (our February Group Read! How convenient! LOL)
*Ordinary Girls
*Death Comes to Pemberley
*Cleopatra: A Life
*Yes, Chef

Doni wrote: "Started: The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity Guys! This is AMAZING! The first chapter critiques some well-known historical visions such as Jared Diamond's and Steven Pinker's. Then the rest of the book uses historical documentation (and prehistorical fossils) to chart a whole new theory of history. They started out by wanting to answer the question, "What is the origin of inequality?" And then began to realize how many assumptions that question makes. The book is a hefty commitment (691 pages) and I don't think it meets any of our prompts, but it's worth it!..."


That does sound fantastic! But I know myself and I know I'm not reading any long books this year, so it is not happening for me.

Happy check-in. It's great to have so many people new and old participating this year!
I managed a lot of reading this week, because it's safe to do. Also had my visit to the vampires to donate my blood.

Finished Reading:

High Jinx ⭐⭐⭐ (2015 magic)
Favourite author, not so favourite series. This is book two and the Greek mythology aspects are great I just don't like the two main characters. Usually I think characters are Armstrong's wheel house but I guess it shows range even if I don't like them.

The Trouble with Twelfth Grave ⭐⭐⭐ (2022 board game in title)
One more to go in this series, which I intend to finish this year. Like most in the series, the book is boring until the end where everything happens and you need to know what happens in the next book.

Paper Girls, Vol. 2 ⭐⭐⭐
Originally I wasn't going to continue this series because the first one wasn't so good but it looked at me in the library and it's Vaughn so. This was actually better than vol. 1 but not set in the 80s fyi.

Where the Drowned Girls Go ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (2022 read in one sitting)
This was fantastic. I really liked Cora so I was glad she got her own book. The last book was a bit of a let down in terms of the series. This is a commentary on conversion therapy fyi.

Tales from King Arthur ⭐⭐⭐ (2015 supposed to read in school)
I enjoyed this and thought it was funny. Every story was Sir so and so went here, met a knight, fought/killed them. Every now and then someone would discover they were killing the brother because they didn't wear the right name tag and every problem resulted in threatening to burn Guenevere at the stake it seemed.

Born to Be Awkward: Celebrating Those Imperfect Moments of Babyhood ⭐⭐⭐
A lot of unhappy babies.

Awkward Family Holiday Photos ⭐⭐⭐
The Easter bunnies were so so creepy! Thanks mom and dad for never dressing up and just putting vhses and chocolate in the Easter basket.

PS 2022 6/50
PS 2015 2/50
Goodreads 12/165

Currently Reading:
Badger to the Bone
Jade City
Apple: Skin to the Core
Silver Shadows

QOTW:
The only thing coming to mind are the sequels to A Curse So Dark and Lonely. This was a great retelling on the beauty and the beast story. Each sequel made me question the author and like the first one less, resulting in a lowered rating for book one.
I loved Ready Player One so thanks for the heads up about the sequel.

@Nadine good BOTM questions.

I'm assuming the US released first and they wanted to appeal to people who hadn't travelled in a while as opposed to selling it as a romance, which it is.

It's like mid-January 2022 already. I feel like the month is racing by and at the same time that it's still early in the month. I'm very unsettled is I guess the answer. I have been incredibly busy with work, so busy that keeping an eye on the less urgent matters has been challenging, especially as I'm really in a 'what day/time is it?' funk!

What is moving apace is my reading! That may be more the result of finishing my longest in pages 2021 read of a A Suitable Boy that I finished on December 28 after 5 weeks of reading nothing else. My reading has returned to books mostly between 300 to 400 pages and they speed by in comparison!

I'm 4/50 for PS!

Finishes:

Dune - Hugo Winner - enjoyable read that I liked but did not love and had some critiques. No desire to read more.

Zero - book about a secret -- excellent thriller, 8th in series but works as a stand alone - it's about someone rich and powerful and the lengths gone to protect his and his friends dirty little secret, which ultimately fail because our deep dark spec ops team saves the day.

The Masterpiece by Fiona Davis - book with 2 POV. Both eventually overlap in modern time too. This is an author whose books generally will work for this prompt.


Currently Reading:
A Game of Thrones - very slow paced read along with friends to discuss in depth. My 3rd time reading.
The Martian - not for PS - thoroughly enjoying!


QOTW: You know, there are certainly many that I could point out except I can't quite pull them up in my memory! I know I have had discussions with friends, both of us declaring that author should have stopped at one, or far earlier in the series - but the names elude me.

Except.....

Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series. I read 8 to 10 of them and then just stopped. I enjoyed Grandma and Lulu and Stephanie, but I was so sick of the 'which guy' trope between Ranger and Joe - literally could not read it any longer. I understand from friends that it still is a back and forth and the number of volumes is in the 20s. Should she have stopped the series? Maybe not, but let's move the characters on!

And maybe Lilian Jackson Braun should have stopped her Cat Who series waaaaaaay before she did because they stopped having any real mystery element at all after a certain point. However, they were still fun reads with the characters and all. So maybe those are fine.

Theresa wrote: "
Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series. I read 8 to 10 of them and then just stopped. I enjoyed Grandma and Lulu and Stephanie, but I was so sick of the 'which guy' trope between Ranger and Joe - literally could not read it any longer. I understand from friends that it still is a back and forth and the number of volumes is in the 20s. Should she have stopped the series? Maybe not, but let's move the characters on!
"

Lulu is fantastic. I stopped around 14 because the characters weren't getting anywhere. It was the same thing over and over and over. Choose one of them or both of them but the constant "I don't know" got old

Back to work full time this week so not as prolific as last week - still maintaining my target of finishing at least one book a week, if only for the purposes of holding my head high while contributing to this group haha! To those people who manage 6 books, one question: how?! Agree with the confusion re the Emily Henry title - People We Meet on Holiday seems like a much more sensible title for the British version.

Erin wrote: Beautiful World, Where Are You- just started this, not sure if it works for an prompts yet. I also have this on my list - my plan is to try to sneak it in the twin cities for Dublin and hopefully find a book set in Beijing, Barcelona, or Liverpool

Finished
Clap When You Land for 6. A book by a Latinx author. Finished the audiobook of this early in the week and thought it was great. Don't often read novels written in verse and found it brought a really refreshing cadence to the narrative. Struggled at points with the Spanish words I didn't know due to the audiobook - but apart from that it was great. Next audiobook not available until 20th Jan so a bit stuck without an audiobook at the moment - I like to have an audiobook, e-book, and physical book on the go at once.

Currently Reading
The Hate U Give - making good progress with this now - Starr's self-moderating and her fluidity of her identity required to thrive/survive in the different contexts of her life alone is striking.
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - getting to the climax of this with the Sacred Text podcast. When re-reading HP, I often skip through because I know it so well, but enjoying reading it more slowly and with a theme each week.

QOTW: Are there any books that have sequels, but you wish they didn't?
Go Set a Watchman possibly? I loved Ready Player One and haven't got round to the sequel yet... the comments on here may well have made my mind up for that one!

Theresa wrote: " Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series. I read 8 to 10 of them and then just stopped. I enjoyed Grandma and Lulu and Stephanie, but I was so sick of the 'which guy' trope between Ranger and Joe - literally could not read it any longer. ..."


Yeah I read this series pretty faithfully when it first came out, but at some point in the teens I just got sick of it. I dropped it for a few years, then I would read them now and then, but mostly I was not reading it. And a few years ago the Challenge needed us to find a book with "20" in the title, so I read 20 (or maybe it was 21 - whatever), and to my surprise I really enjoyed it! So, I don't know if my long break made it feel fresh again, or if the series actually gets better.

Nadine in NY wrote: "Happy Thursday, readers!! It's really winter up here in New York now, we had temperatures in the single digits this week, and lots of snow, and even a snow day (but the snow day was for cold temperatures, not snow). My snow plow guy is finally earning his price!"
Oh, ugh! At least we've not had any snow accumulation yet! Just a few dustings and that's it. Fingers crossed that it stays that way! LOL

"Here's a discussion question to throw into the mix: Why does this book have two different titles? (UK: You and Me on Vacation) Does the American title not make sense in England? Was there another UK book with a similar title and they needed to differentiate?"
I haven't a clue...

"A few people have mentioned interest in leading one of our group discussions. It's very casual and there is no right or wrong way to do it! Everyone is welcome! If you're interested, do not hesitate to give it a try!! We currently have an opening to lead the March discussion of The Island of Sea Women. (More to come, as later months are chosen.) Message me or Lynn if you're interested."
Definitely no rules or right/wrong! Just jump in if you're interested in giving it a try!

"Places in the Darkness by Christopher Brookmyre - this was a decent sci-fi mystery; a lot of reviews are calling it "noir" but I don't see it. It's got two POVs, so I checked off "book with 2 POVs." "
Looks interesting!

"When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain by Nghi Vo - this novella was a lot of fun! Recommended to anyone who enjoys mythopoeic stories. I checked off "tiger" with this book."
Huh. I have the first book on my TBR listing. Definitely sounds interesting!

"I'm very pleased with myself for prioritizing the Challenge this year (so far). I guess this goes back to Lynn's question last week! In the past, I would casually read what I wanted, some Challenge reads and some not, because I was confident that I would finish in Q3. But in 2021, that all went out the window. I didn't like the stress of finishing in the last week!"
Good for you!

"I'm currently reading book one in Kwei Quartey's Darko Dawson series (which I keep calling Donnie Darko), Wife of the Gods. I just realized that book three in the series (Murder at Cape Three Points) perfectly fits another Challenge category for me (sister cities). I toyed with just skipping book two, but I know that's not my style, and I can see Quartey is setting up some longer plot arcs about Darko's wife & son, so I don't want to miss anything. So I'll be reading book two, Children of the Street, too, but I'm not sure if I can find a Challenge category for it."
I read the first installment in 2012. I really enjoyed it though admittedly I don't remember much about it.

"Question of the Week
this question was suggested by Heather about a year ago:
Are there any books that have sequels, but you wish they didn't?

Yes! I have a lot of grievances to share! I read these wonderful gems that feel so fresh and new and they stand alone on their own perfectly, with no need for a sequel. And then the sequel is published, and it's no where near as good, and it takes the story in places it didn't need to go, and it just ruins the whole thing for me."
You crack me up!

"But for me, the first book that pops into my head IS a book that turned a stand-alone into a duology, and it really didn't need to happen, because that stand-alone stood just fine on its own. Warm Bodies was such a great book, a clever, fresh, and different take on the zombie story."
No danger of me reading about Zombies. 😀

"Throne of Glass was a fun, fluffy retelling of Cinderella as an assassin, written by a teen, for teens, and I enjoyed it for what it was. But then, it was an overnight sensation and Maas just didn't stop writing."
Ha! Well, strike while the iron is hot, I guess!!

"Similarly, I really enjoyed One of Us Is Lying, it was so fun and clever, I enjoyed all the characters, and it felt like a fresh take on a popular trope. But the sequel was (in my opinion) a real dud. And I see McManus has a third (and supposedly final) book coming out next year."
I really enjoyed the first one but have yet to read the second one!

"I feel this way about a lot of popular picture books, too. Whenever a picture book is a hit, publishers want more of the same from that author, and I get it, little kids naturally gravitate to the familiar, so if they love a character, they want all the books with that character. But sometimes I wish the author had just stopped at one. Three that pop into my head are: Olivia, Pinkalicious, and Llama Llama Red Pajama. I loved those books, they had that certain j'ne sais quoi that made the characters come alive for me, they stood head and shoulders above the other picture books, and that quality was lacking in the sequels."
But...I love all those books!!! LOL 😊