EPBOT Readers discussion

Hi all,

Quiet week this week. Teddy continues to be doing well, although we still need to give daily medication until July 11th when there's a recheck. Looking forward to being able to cut most of it out, and actually plan a little vacation, or do things that involve being out of the house all day.

Book Club I put up a thread for the book club next book suggestions: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

This week I finished:

The Duke Who Didn't - fun brain break from some longer reads. I liked the two main characters, and it didn't go the way I expected.

Women's Work: The First 20,000 Years: Women, Cloth, and Society in Early Times - I'm doing a genre genius challenge at my library, and there's a bunch of nonfiction for it. Trying to work some into my reading so I don't end up with only those at the end. I really like Bernadette Banner's fashion history youtube videos, and so this seemed interesting. It's not very new, but it's mostly dealing with stuff from 20000 years ago, and the author seemed to be pretty even handed about focusing on more than just Europe, even if it doesn't cover the entire world. There was plenty of information from the Middle East, and areas of Asia, as well as lots of information on Egypt.

Warrior Girl Unearthed - Did the audio book for this, it was pretty good. it's a sequel of sorts to The Fire Keeper's Daughter, taking place about a decade later and focusing on different characters. But the events from the first were brought up several times as well as various characters.

Currently reading:

Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law - i'd heard a lot of good things about Mary Roach, so I picked this up in my nonfiction efforts. I don't know if I'm just not in the mood for it, or this isn't one of her best books, but I'm kind of struggling to get through it. I thought it'd be funny but educational, and it's more kind of depressing to read about all the ways humans kill and otherwise harass animals who dare to simply be animals in their territory that humans moved into.

Fractal Noise - audio book, that i admit i got mainly to listen to Jennifer Hale read me a story again. It's not a BAD sci fi book, just i probably wouldn't care as much about the series if my favorite voice actress wasn't so GOOD at performing them.

The Sisters Grimm - another book from my TBR challenge. This one is also not really grabbing me, even though the story sounded really interesting from the blurb. Jumping around too much, making the narrative feel too disjointed.

QOTW: Do your prefer used or new books?

I don't MIND used books, as long as they're in reasonably good condition. I don't really like buying used ones that look like they've already been through some stuff. I know books can get damaged from carrying them around, and generally just handling them, so I don't really want to start one one whose binding already looks like it might loosen or whose cover is all tattered and looks like it could come off. Also any more I tend to buy books more to have them on my shelf, otherwise I borrow from library or buy an ebook deal. So in that case, I want the book to look nice on my shelf. So i'd tend towards new unless I lucked out and found a great condition used.

Fuzz is also the only Mary Roach I've read, and I had some issues with it. Looking back at that post, I see Susan reported liking it least out of the 3 she'd read, so maybe that one's just a dud. (And, yeah, I know you like bears, and the bear section is just so much "seriously people, can we not handle some mild inconvenience to mitigate these issues?")

Margaret's Unicorn - I checked out this picture book that seemed cute, and the illustrations are a remarkable mix of atmospheric and adorable, just lovely. The story I found kind of meh. I did also consider that, in this day of people picking up bison and stuffing elk into their cars, maybe instead of bringing home a lost baby unicorn, we need a book in which Margaret calls a wildlife rehabilitator before touching any animals, and heeds their advice even if it is "leave it alone".

A Game of Cones - This is the second in a series about a Black woman who runs an ice cream shop and solves murders. I liked the first one OK, but the writing felt clunkier in this one, and I didn't really get into it until halfway through. The mystery was fairly poor, and the two best friends annoyed me even more in this one, so I don't think I'll be reading the third. I did pregame this time with a visit to our newish local Black-woman-owned ice cream shop so I wouldn't be craving ice cream the whole time, and it was amazing, so at least that was a win.

QOTW: I pretty much only buy books for the following reasons: I want to support the author; I want to display the book for its aesthetic or as a representation of my interests; I want to have the book available for reference or frequent rereading; I want to read the book and can't get it from the library. That's basically a continuum from "must buy new" through "as long as it still looks nice/won't fall apart" to "doesn't matter at all".

Happy check-in, everyone! I had a busy day at work yesterday, so I wasn't able to post sooner.

Finished:
Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston - 4 stars - for Popsugar's book becoming a show or movie in 2023. I liked it better than the last book I read by this author, One Last Stop. I think what I liked most about this book was its optimism about culture, diversity, and politics.

Comics & manga:
Komi Can't Communicate, Vol. 25
Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun, Vol. 3

Currently reading:
Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin - for Popsugar's book that takes place in the decade I was born. I'm just starting it now. I'm pretty sure I read it once before but I don't really remember; I loved the PBS series that came out back in the 90s.

Upcoming/Planned:
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke - for Popsugar's book your friend recommended.

QOTW:
I buy books for the same reasons as Rebecca. Mostly, I buy favorites new in hardcover format for display purposes, and if it's just something I want to read or something that's out of print, I'm okay with used as long as it's in good enough condition to read.

I...didn't read anything last week. Last week of school and in the frenzy of finishing grades and sheer exhaustion I didn't have the energy (plus I can't find my kindle!). But now I'm done!! I just have to find the kindle....

I did finish my bedtime read of Dragonsong with my son, so there's that!

QotW: I don't have a strong preference, as long as the used books are in reasonably good shape; I feel better about not wasting resources (and saving money!) when I buy used, but I almost never buy books at all except when my few must-buy authors have new releases, and in that case you can't really find them used yet because they've just come out.

Oh, and I agree that Fuzz is not my favorite of Mary Roach's books. My favorite is Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers, if you can stomach reading about dead bodies (it is FASCINATING). I also loved Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex and Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void.

I've heard good things about Stiff, but my library has it on audio. I think I could READ about dead bodies ok, i don't know if I actually want to hear it out loud though. I'm kinda fussy with audio books at times. I tend to not want to hear anything too steamy read out loud, anything too violent, or just gross stuff.. I like the option of skimming if necessary. (the library might have stiff in hard copy too, i just never think to specifically check)

...OK, actually, looking at Stiff, I think I did read it and then conflated the memories of it with Caitlin Doughty's books. That probably says more about my memory than about the book.

I have read will my cat eat my eyeballs and got through that fine, haha. And I do want to read the other one, when smoke gets in my eyes or whatever.

I just returned from a week-long family reunion vacation at a lake. Although everyone brings books we often don't read as much as you might expect since we all live far apart and don't see each other often. So we talk a lot instead.

Rebecca, I hope you give some other Mary Roach a try. I enjoyed Stiff and Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal.

I did manage to finish one book this week, The Maid. I enjoyed this pretty well. It got better the further into the book I went. I liked it well enough that I will likely read book 2 sometime, which apparently came out last week. The main character takes a lot of pride in being a hotel maid and it gave me a lot of reason to think about people who perform often-overlooked services like that. We're quarter-share timeshare owners in a hotel at a ski area and we've seen firsthand how terrible some guests leave rooms.

I'm still listening to Lessons in Chemistry. It is for neighborhood book club this coming week. I didn't get a chance to listen last week because I was always walking with my sister. So I moved the speed to 1.2 and will need to get on that to finish.

I don't know what I'll read next yet.

QOTW:
When we buy books, we tend to buy new books and often they're a gift for the holidays or birthday. My husband and I don't purchase too many books - he tends to want them more than me.

We have purchased used books when our adult kids want some out of print or very specialized book that is hard to find. Or sometimes at the library book sales.